Rome - day 3
Posted by ver0n1c4 at 05:26 PM on August 2, 2009.
We started the day not as early as the day before. Our destination was Colosseum, Palatino Hill, and Foro Romano. The ruins 
So we had breakfast in the small cafe at Termini. Inspired by Katherine from Desperate Housewives, I ordered Panini. When I said, "One Panini, please", the uncle said, "Panino!", I was confused, "err you mean Panini?", and he replied me even louder "Panino!" Lol... whatever you said as long as I got my sandwich =P (After reaching home, I googled about this Panini and Panino... and here is the reason why he insisted saying Panino)
From there we headed to Colosseo metro station which is located right in front of Colosseum. We were wow-ed by the ruins which once hosted a spectacular game, Gladiator. Along the way to Colosseum, there are lots of people dressed as Roman soldier, but this time we were smarter. We didn't even look at them =P Near the Colosseum gate, we met a girl which offered us guided tour to Colosseum which costs EUR20/person. It includes the entrance fee of Colosseum plus additional tour to Palatino Hill and Foro Romano. So we decided to join the tour. We waited for around 30 minutes while she was gathering more people to join the tour.
The weather was so hot and I was a bit disappointed with the tour guide. A middle-aged woman who spoke so fast and didn't bother if we even understood whom she was referring to (She just mentioned lots of names one after another...) But at least now we know the structure of the seat in Colosseum, where the animals come from, the rules of the game, etc. After that we were given some time to explore Colosseum by ourselves while waiting for the next tour.
The next tour guide was excellent. Although it was supposed to be a free one, he was very patient in explaining one by one about the history of the place, the culture at that time, and how one place used to be. Some people from our group even said that they would like to join another tour to Vatican if the tour guide is him. He was indeed very good.
When we finished with the ruins, it was already around 1-2PM. We were very hungry and we decided to eat authentic Rome food. So we just went to one restaurant recommended in the book which was located at Via Della Croce; close to Spanish Steps I ordered Saltimbocca which literally means "Jumps in the mouth" and it was fantastic ^.^ so was the price =P but we didn't mind because we planned to skip dinner to compensate the expensive lunch. After lunch we spent some time in Spanish Steps, strolled along the street (it was a street full of branded and luxurious boutique), and did some window shopping.
Since this was our last day in Rome, we decided to go Trastevere. If you read travel book for Rome, it will usually say that Rome is divided into few districts such as, Vatican, Ancient Rome, Old Rome, North Center, and Trastevere. So we planned to walk along the Via Del Corso again, took the bus to Termini, and took bus H to Trastevere. But we ended up walking to the wrong side of Via Del Corso (it was a long street!) and found more stores to shop in =P At the end of the road, we realized that this is not the same road as we took yesterday, and we arrived at Piazza del Papolo. So we took metro from there to go to Termini and took bus H.
Trastevere was really beautiful. We just stopped around Ponte Garibaldi area (which looks and feels like Clarke Quay) and enjoyed beautiful scenery there. After that we ate at a restaurant recommended by the hotel receptionist (it was good and cheap!) I ate oxtail in pasta style and Merry had Gnocchi. When we finished our dinner, it was around 9.30PM already. We waited for the bus for quite some time and headed back to Termini.
In the hotel, we packed our belongings since we were going to catch the morning train to Florence. Before sleeping, Merry was reading her Florence book and planned which place we should go to first once we arrived there. And that was the end of day 3 in Rome.
xoxo McJuicy
National Day
Posted by ver0n1c4 at 03:23 PM on August 9, 2009.
Happy National Day! This is the first time I am listening to Majulah Singapura =P
Something nice always happens on National Day
Florence day 1 and 2
Posted by ver0n1c4 at 04:04 PM on August 17, 2009.
We were a bit sad to leave Rome. We were just starting to feel familiar with the city. The road name, the bus, the large Termini session. But it is time to go to Florence. We woke up early because we are still uncertain about which train we need to take. Since we don't have any reservation, we can't just take any train to Florence. So we just went ahead to Termini, bought Panino, and walked to the train platform. Talking to Italian is another challenge because if they don't understand English, they will just walk off and we might think they are offended or angry.
To cut the story short, we manage to find regional train (with symbol R in the timetable). We were happy because that means we don't have to worry about train anymore throughout the journey. As soon as we reached another city we just need to check the timetable to know which train we need to take to another city. The journey to Florence was memorable. While chatting and telling stories, we remembered there was a Ch*na guy sitting in the same wagon. He tried to talk to us because we are Asian but we pretended that we don't understand Chinese. We just kept talking in Indonesian (for time like this, it is lucky to have mother tongue other than English =P). In the middle of 3 hours journey, that guy started listening to Ch*nese song without earphone. And the worst part is, he kept listening to the same song LOL.
Anyway we arrived in Florence, hungry and sleepy. The central terminal in Florence is Santa Maria Novella. No subway in the city. Only bus. So we alighted there, checked the train timetable to Venice, and realized that this time we need to make a reservation because no Regional train to Venice. While waiting for Merry to make a reservation, I am looking around the terminal trying to find a cheap map of the city. Oh I think I skipped the part where we left the Florence guide book in our Rome hotel room (refer to the previous story where Merry read the book before sleeping =P). After that we walked to the hotel. We got a room in level 2 but again we started from level 0, and there was no lift, so we had to climbed the stairs twice.
Florence was a small city. We managed to finish our itinerary within half a day only. After getting some lunch, we went to Santa Maria Novella church. Had to pay EUR 2.50 so we skipped it. I only thought, this church couldn't be better than Sistine Chapel =P so we headed to the Duomo. I think placing Florence after Rome is a but unfair to Florence. The city looks too simple and dull if we compare it with the basrelief and sculpture in Rome. Same thing with Duomo. There is not much to see. We have two options there. Went up to the tower or went in to baptistery. Merry took the first option while I took the other one.
Above are the Duomo and Santa Maria Novella.
From there we went to the shopping area. There were so many shoes and leather stall. Merry managed to get new shoes while I got some cute and unique mini wine bottles. Then we went to Piazza della Signoria. We saw the reconstruction of David (not the real one) by Michaelangelo which is said to be the most perfect masterpiece with perfect human body anatomy. There are some other interesting sculptures but too bad we don't know much of the story behind it.
We also took a walk by the river all the way to hotel. After that we were just too exhausted. We went to sleep as soon as we finished taking a bath and touched the bed.
The second day was dedicated to Pisa. We took the train to Pisa Centrale, get a seat, and suddenly everything was turned off. Some people started to alight from the train but we didn't really understand of what is going on. Then few middle age woman walked pass our wagon while saying "Uno Parto". The man beside us said it means the train was not departing. Being away from internet and newspaper made us didn't aware of what happened around us. Turned out that there was an explosion the day before. The train consisted of fuel was exploded. It felt out of the rail in the area where the train to Pisa needed to pass by. So all trains to Pisa were not departing that day.
We had few options. Went to Sienna (another small city nearby) or stay in Florence. But what is left to see in Florence was only either Academia or Uffizi Museum. I think our level of arts was not that high to spend the whole day looking at the painting or sculpture =P Then we went to the officer to ask some question. We just said, we wanted to go to Pisa. Then he said that we can take the train to Livorno. I asked, "Is it going to Pisa?" He answered, "Yes, why not?" in high tone. Haha they are just being Italian ^.^
So we took the train to Livorno which eventually went to Pisa. Pisa was even smaller city that we were confident to walk without a map. We just walked straight for around 20-25 minutes and arrived at Leaning Tower of Pisa, which is not that leaning. Turns out that not only the tower which was leaning. All the building nearby were leaning too. Nothing is too spectacular there so that I thought that if it is not leaning, people would surely not going to visit this city. Then we had a lunch and took a train back to Florence.
That day I realized that I am very tired and I had some rashes due to sunburn so I decided to take a nap at the hotel, while Merry was visiting Uffizi. Too bad she can't take any picture there so I have no idea about Uffizi. But according to her, her level of art was upgraded to next level because she can now appreciate paintings hohoho. We met again for dinner at Kebab place. Happy to see rice again ^.^
That was all about Florence. Sorry if any of you have Florence as your favorite city. But to me Florence was not as exciting as Rome. ^.^
xoxo McJuicy
Fated to Love You
Posted by ver0n1c4 at 09:05 AM on August 27, 2009.
I mentioned before that I only like Jap drama. Short, meaningful, funny, smart, and expressive. But, lately my addiction is Fated to Love You... Taiwanese drama... 24 episodes =P
I started watching it when I was on day shift and just finished watching Heart of Greed from Channel 8 @ 9PM. Then I switched to Channel U and found this drama. What I like is that this drama is animated and not exxagerating. The girl is not crying so much as well. So now I watched this drama everyday @ mysoju.com ^.^
After that I will have to catch up with Heart of Greed from dramacrazy.net. Do you have any other recommendation? Otherwise after I finish these 2 series, I will go back to my Jdorama.
update:
Just watched the drama until episode 17 last night! Feels very sleepy now... Haha but I like Anson, the sissy guy; the Grandma; and XinYi's 2nd sister... so cute ^.^
xoxo McJuicy
