Trip

Greece: Day 1 to Day 3

Greece

Athens

The olympic stadium and the view on top of a tall hill/short mountain... it was tough climbing up to the top of the hill... felt like a marathon... ok... i exaggerate... but the view was great... din know greece was so built up... always had the idea that athens was an ancient city in ruins... oh well... i was wrong... but there was little town planning i must say... the streets look like Johor Bahru... Nevertheless... seeing the city amongst hills, mountains and coasting the mediterranean... it was beautiful... and the breeze was great... The olympic stadium is not an ancient find but modern... but is quite old... as in a couple of centuries old i think... i dun know its details but one thing i know... its made of marble and is very grand... greece, if you dun know is actually very hilly and its not surprising should marble be a common commodity... it is unique in that for an ancient cradle of civilisation... i dun remember any river that flows through athens... a common sight for any other ancient city in the world... which is wierd... oh well... kudos to the athenians...

Greeko teenage hobby

Vandalism is a problem... but sometimes... it isnt... If only bored adolencents would take up art class before roaming the streets... greece would be so much better... Either that or buy them a TV...

Parthenon

Heh... now this is the athens i always felt it should be... ancient and in ruins... i wasnt expecting the restoration work and scalfolding though... it just spoils everything in the name of restoration... Anyway... the buildings (or whats left of them) are huge with a capital H U G E.... i would guess about 4 to 5 storeys high... the ancients really have nothing better to do but build big stuff... haha... once again... the lack of a TV leads men to greater deeds... haha... piles and piles of hand crafted and meticulously placed white marble... it was awe-inspiring and incredible... just standing there was humbling for me... i wonder what would the ancients have felt... it must be supernatural... the work of zeus himself!!

Acropolis

hey... more ancient stuff... well... all i can say is that i pity the statues... where have all the heads and noses gone??... haha... go wiki and find out... i think wiki has info about it... anyway... the problem is there really isnt much left of this ancient greek city... a few stones here and there and they say it was the temple of zeus... i saw a water well... the sign read.. "ancient water clock"... haha... i dun trust historians... and history is what we want it to be... maybe those stones here and there are part of an ancient toilet and not some great temple or forum... and maybe that water hole is just a humble well... i mean why use a water clock when u can just use a simple sun dial... anyway... the place is full of history... and it is the place where democracy and the modern western education system stems from... rich in culture... a once great city... its great to stand there and soak up the atmosphere... but i admit that a lot of imagination is required...

Santorini: Day 4 to day 5

Santonini

The famous island with all the blue and white houses!! its santorini and they must really love their national colours... haha... but it really looks mediterranean... the blue and white is also very calming and peacful... very nice... relaxing... honey-mooners paradise too... its beautiful and rightly so... the beaches there are black sand beaches... interesting... and the crescent shaped island is the top of a volcanic crater flooded with crystal blue sea water... clearly santorini has both natural and man-made beauty... too bad the water is still too cold to swim in... but at least we beat the summer tourist crowd... and the frenzy and price hike that comes along with them... haha...

Day 5 and 6 were spent on the road or on a boat... :( ... i will never do that again...

Napoli and Pompei: Day 7 to Day 9

Napoli

Well... napoli or naples was and still is an important port... and unlike many of the touristy places where the local economy have eroded to point of being totally dependent on tourism... naples is growing and expanding... becuase it was always such an important port... it has buildings with architecture from every century and age... castles, fortification, cathedrals, modern stadiums, etc... its nice... the people are friendly and the vespas are crazy... reckless driving is the norm... but anyway... its a beautiful bustling city... with rich architecture... with lots of piazzas (squares), parks and fountains to make your just that much better... a city-port with a dense history... and future as well...

Pompeii

Pompeii and a photo of her patron volcano... haha... ok... not exactly patron but they come together... of course, natural disasters are terrible stuff... but if it has not been that ultra think layer of hot ash that covered the ancient city... pompeii would not have been one of, or even the best, preserved archeological site in the world... shedding light on what life was roughly like... giving those historians much to talk and discuss about... both greek and roman architecture can be seen here... and i guess this city must have been culturally rich until its demise... but i am no historain... so dun take my word for it...

Rome and Vatican City: Day 9 to Day 12

"All roads lead to Rome" and hence, after travelling, we inevitably find ourselves there... and anyway since its easter break in europe... we decided we might as well find benedict!...

Rome!

The Coloseum!!

Officially known as the Flavus Amphi-theater... Commonly known as the Coloseum... and known by the ancients as Stadio di World Wrestling Entertainment... hmm... haha... lame... ok... fine... i know... anyway... the coloseum is huge... probably as big as modern day stadiums... its sad that much of the original marble is gone and what you mostly see are reconstructions from restoration works... its sad... just imagine it to be entirely made of marble... and it was all thnx to popes of past who are too lazy to dig up new marble and decided to go green... reduce, reuse and recycle marble from the coloseum... haizz... the vatican city is made from recyled materials... but still... the coloseum is big and grand... and a structural achievement... i can only imagine it in its glory days and state...

Vatican City... St Peter's Basilica

benedict's residence/workplace... and i must say that this is huge!!... its just natural instinct that when you enter... you will look up and go "wwaahhhh"... drool all over the floor... clean the floor and repeat... its magnificent... a grand palace for his holiness... just take the pic on the bottom left... look at the people and use them as a scale for the building ... den realise how huge and high the cathedral is... and then drool, clean and repeat... haha... anyway... its humbling just to stand at the grandeur of it all... its marvelous... its like stepping into the presence of God... but then u realise that this is all the work of man and not of God... and hence you carry on taking photos... haha... we went there on good friday eve... aka thursday... and there was a service... a lot of different kinds of costumes for different kinds of priest and nuns... but the theme seems to be black or white... lots of people... lots of security... and the swiss guards... haha... the nicest costume of them all... will show the pic next time...

Vatican Museums and the Sintine Chapel
Very nice, lots of art, every wall got art... even the ceiling got art... the pope and his merry men like art a lot... very artsy... and they also like statues of naked men and women... lots of them too... haha... just joking... i am sorry but no photos were allowed in the sistine chapel... however you could buy mass-copied photos at the book shop at the exit... haha... commercialism at its most holy... haizz... i say make a whip and chase these merchandising from church courts... and make entry free for people like me!!.. heh...



Pantheon and other stuff
Aparently this is famous... its a catherdral... its still in use... and its crowded...

oh... and check out that zebra crossing... its at least 5 lanes long... no traffic lights... just stripes on the road... and cars will actually give way once you have enough confidence to step out onto this busy junction at a busy round-about... another thing about italian roads... they dun have driving lanes!!! wth!!!... it is own time own target... create as many lanes as you want!... surprisingly, i never witnessed any accident... this is truely the land of ferrari and alfa-romeo...

Florence and Pisa: Day 12 to Day 14

Florence
Another arty farty place...but by this time... its was culture overload... anyhow... it was great to see works of leonardo and michangello and filipino lipi and other great arty farty people... the city itself was beautiful and filled with tallented buskers (and not-so-talented illegal piraters... Gucci/Prada handbags for 30 euros anyone??)... you tot piracy in Singapore was bad... you are so wrong... at least the singapore police have the authority to catch and jail piraters... the italiano polizio are only here to play a cat and mouse game... polizio come, piraters go... polizio go and the piraters are back in half a second... it was funny watching them go back and forth as we queued to go see more art at mesuems...



Pisa and its badly engineered tower

hey! its still there!.. havent fallen yet! quick take picture before it goes!... haha... although its more well know for its inablility to stand upright... i must say that this bell tower with the church and its baptistry are beautiful architectures... made of grey and white marble... and the grass lawns are great for lazying around and soaking up the mediterranean sun... only realised that the lawns were out of bounds when the police came to chase everyone off it... you know... i always felt that pisa sounds like pi3 sai4...

Venice: Day 14 to Day 16

Venice

ahh... the water republic... very beautiful... very nice... and very slow... haha... another day on this island and i will buy a jet-ski... haha... but of course... slow has its advantages... its the ultimate R & R... no traffic jams... fresh air... unique and gorgeous scenery... and lots of pigeons... haha... really... they have more pigeons than new zealand has cows... Anyway... venice lives up to its name as the place of romance... you cant go worng with that much water and no cars in sight... unfortunately that comes with a large price tag... haha... the venetian high life... good stuff... even the cafes at st marks square have bands to play soothing music as you sip your macchiato or Château de Tracy 2005... haha... whatever... my wallet not there yet... life of the student class... got time no money... the life of the working class... got money no time... thats life... haha... the most wait for CNY to fall on a monday... haha..

Murano and its Glaseware in Venice
Venetian glass is really really beautiful... and they are really really interesting... and they are really really expensive... but i guess they are worth their penny because they are really unique and mind boggling... as in the designs are nice and at the same time you have no idea how they did it... interesting stuff no less... you just have to see it for urselves... i dun have the purchasing power to buy one back...