i'm bach

bye bye world...

the european diaries...

i din keep a journal
cos no pt
1) i nv reread them
2) i always misplace them
3) i cannot read my handwriting. lol

so i will attempt to piece my trip from memory now

will keep this dynamic

cos i wanna put in the 大纲 first
then flesh it out

cos it's all fuzzy fuzzy now also

except that my original plan of:

sin-lon-amst-paris-alsace(st louis+basel)-salzburg-venice-florence-pisa-pompei-roma(+vatican)-sin in 23 days

was shortened to:

sin-lon-amst-paris-alsace(st louis+basel)-salzburg-venice-florence-pisa-pompei-roma(+vatican)-sin in 19 days


all becos of a certain ms conceited-stupid-childish-spoilt princess...

hai~

dun wanna waste too much time tokg abt her now


i go prepare the template for the different cities i visited

laterz

London

i reached in the nite of 12012005 i think

saved shitload of money cos i din take the heathrow express (hint: take the tube... it's WAAAAAAAAAAY cheaper. ask the office of directions)

i think i saved like 11 pounds?
that's like 33 SGD!!!!!!!

yeeeha!!!!


my hotel
Baker's Hotel at Warwick Way was nothing to shout about
but ok lah

"all i want is a room somewhere
far away from the cold night's air..."

yeah

but a certain lil ms princess kept complaining endless
hai~

that marked the start of my pain

(actually,
my pain started long before that.
but that's another story for another time)


we spent 2 days 3 nites in london
the whole of the 3rd day was spent sojourning from London to Amsterdam on our cruise ship Queen of Saanich (yeah rt. that's from Vancouver to Victoria. i cannot remember the name now except it's called StenaLine.)

book ahead
u can get it as cheap as 25 pounds.
but wait a min!!!

that's like a frickin 75 SGD!!!!!!

tough luck
you're in Europe mate

yeah

when on hols
the best thing to do is to think in absolute numerical values
hey!
after all
the people there earn the same numerical wage as us mah....
(i think i lost u)

anyway

what did i do in london?

lemme recall

(not in order)
TATE MODERN!!!! (must go. 10 stars) FREE!!!!
vvvv cool and interesting museum

Saatchi museum (yawn.... paid so much somemore.. i think 7 pounds or somethg!!!!) it was my idea... opps

Tower Bridge (walk thru it)

Saw London Bridge and Millenium Bridge but din cross them tho(there are a 1001 other bridges....)
anyway
the London Bridge is not the original one also

Westminster Abbey (outside only)

Big Ben

Buckingham Palace+ Change of Guards

the MALL... (the Champs Elyses and Via Dei Fori Imperiali of London?)

Portobello mkt

Nottinghill (?)
you say it best
when u say nuttin at all

met their fashion fren too
kept telling them
"mst shop mst shop!!!!"
*-)
had dinner at his place the first nite
and fish and chips with him the second

saw london eye (closed for maintenance)

took the tube

took the bus (to the elephant and castle roundabout)

took the cab (!!!!!)
"when in london mst take london cab"
wtf
someone din inform someone this is a BACKPACKING TRIP!!!!!
it doesn't jst mean carrying a backpack eh?!

oh oh oh!!!
dun get me started
i specifically told them NO travellons
and guess what?!

ms princess mst bring it along
and pull it like vvv 可怜 liddat

then what she expect me to do?
watch and gloat?
of cos i gotta help =S
stoopid
stoopid stoopid
PITAN!!!!
OCCULAY!!!!!!!

stupid rich girl living in her ivory tower
making stupid comments
that doesn't fit into reality

"i think hiring a maid is a must
my time is more precious..."
oh pls
the time of scum of the earth has no value
the more time u hv
the more money u waste....

BAH

i am incensed
cos she costed me my trip

not only did i waste so much
i am also not entitled to bitch abt it
cos she is babie's bestfren
PITAN!!!!!

hai~

there i go again
off tangent

hai~

stupid stupid

lemme tok abt Amsterdam next k

Amsterdam

arm-star-dum
as the stupid bitch got into the habbit of calling it
(it's the european way)

irritating antics

nice place that it is

in fact
i read that
Venice is known as the Amsterdam of the South!!!

and i tot Venice was very original!!!!

anyhow

we stayed at Durty Nelly's (15 Euro a nite)
above a pub
breakie included

this is where ms bratty's true colours came thru

"i need to rest
the smoke getting to me..."
yeah rt
why i nv heard u kbkb when u go and cheong?
tok like u some super cool shite
and some small smoke in the pub on the way up only

BAH

checked into a 3 stars hotel
was like 70 Euro a nite i think
her dad's money anyway
wastrel....


that notwithstanding
amsterdam was good

Durty Nelly's was right smack in the red light and coffe shop district
but they were pretty cool
they hv security
and the map they give us
flank the "dangerous" areas
(it's not dangerous lah
jst the feel)

went to:

Anne Frank's house
apparently her full name is Annelius Marie Frank

Rijkmuseum(?)
dunno how to spell it
not bad lah
but was quite agst going cos many sections were closed for renovation
but the princess chut stunt again
"when in amsterdam mst go the royal dutch museum...."

why not
"when in france mst eat french fries"?

VAN GOGH MUSEUM!!!!!!!
not that i am a big arty farty doode
(HEY! i'm not even into art!!!!)
i cannot draw matchstick figure for nuts
it's the star power i tell u
and my shallow nature
yeah

we walked a lot also
to see the bridge of 15 bridges (but nuttin leh)

the giant playground (nite time close liao)

the Centraal Station is a monument in itslf

we din go to the coffee shop cos they allergic to the smell
but we did venture into the redlight for like 3 minutes
(and yes.
ms prissy did hv her fair share of comments....
"i dun believe that i went!!!... it's below me....")
BAH!!!
POOT!!!!!!
stupid bitch

me and bie went to the sexmuseum ourselves cos ms prissy deem it below her
after some soul searching aft the redlight stint
*-)
good also
gimme and bie some time by ourselves
and i nonid to bear w her stupid face for that period


we spent 2 days 2 nites in Amsterdam
left for paris aft the 2nd day

quite enjoyable if not for the stupid egyptian(?) restaurant
that cheated us of so much money
1.40 Euro for a small cup of hot water anyone?!
BAH

interestingly
ms prissy kept quiet abt the whole incident
so did bie
they are notorious for their exacting demand when it comes to money and service
bie said cos we're overseas
dun play play
ms prissy is jst an idiot who need us to do everythg for her


oh yah
she reminds me of babie's other fren....
who only noe how to tok tok tok
make comments
give suggestions
dunno how to execute
dunno how to say and do it
say and expect me to do it
or babie to do it
like we're her dog liddat
stupid idiot

i noe u're dad is rich
but now u're overseas
din u hear before?
虎落平阳被犬欺
hahahahahahaahaha

u wanna chut pattern chut in singapore
u wanna chut w me overseas?
siao bo.....

next stop Paris!!!

Manu awaits....

Paris

Manu fetched us at the station
Paris Nord
we left from Paris Est

his bestfren was w him
Maud (pronounce Mood)

brought us to our hotel
Hotel Moderne St Germaine (75 Euro a nite)
bo bian
we were paying for the location
he said it was pretty cheap for a 3 star hotel
but it was small small small
ms prissy got her own room despite the exorbitant price
hai~
"backpacking"..... *-)


anyway
none of my business
jst that i dun like stupid pple on my detail....


our stop was Maubert-Mutualite (mor-bey mu-ture-lit-tey)
the metro in Paris is easy to use
but u need to noe where the monuments are!!!! lol

we got the 3 day visite paris pass
for like 6.80 Euro we get unlimited travel
each trip wld hv costed us ard 1.40 Euro
and inasmuch as i wanted to walk in London and Amsterdam
Manu's the host in Paris
and also
we dun hv much time to be wasted on walking too i guess


we went for dinner at some kebab place
and then a short tour of the area
saw Notre Dam in the nite
and the Pont d'arc (howchamaspellit)
and many areas that i cannot remember

we saw:

Tour Eiffel (tho the first time there was a fire drill exercise.... so we cldn't get up stupid)
when we returned on the last day (only cos there was a strike at the Lourve, we cld only get to the 2nd floor....)

once in 10 yrs- snow in Paris

once in 10 yrs- strike at Lourve

ever so common- nasty Parisians
waiter at restaurant to passerby, "u dun want dinner? u're stupid!!!!"
bitch at arc de triomph, "nonononononono" when babie want to take the elevator down
ms pathetic was able to take it cos she is thick skin enuff to force her way in....

one in 1000000- a vvv pleasant and smiley Parisian waiter

Invalides (built for veterans)
Napoleon's tomb is here too

Pantheon
where great pple are entombed
pple who did the republic a great service (non-military)
largely philosophers and writers

Concorde (Egyptian obelisk Napoleon dragged back to France!!!!)

Mont Matre and the Sacre-Couer
vvvv nice overview of the city and nice church (basilica/cathedral/church/abbey
got nice artist colony up there too

oh oh oh
i think that's where Vincent wanted to start a colony too!!!
in the "yellow house"

what else?
lemme think....

Arc de Triomph (DUH!!!! i mentioned it earlier....)

Champ Elyses (the shopping street)
and directly down from the Arc's Etoile


gotta poo

laterz

<------------------------------------------------>
oops
that was a long one. lol

my bad

not in the mood to think

but i will endeavor to do it lah
do it once
do it nice
take a chance
and roll the dice...

where was i
*reads up*


okok

we had a good French meal in a proper restaurant
but i got the worst deal. lol
some fatty pork thingy
with funny vege

but stl
they said it's a traditional delicacy

i guess it's what durian is to them eh?
lol

but it was tasty lah
tender and all
jst not when i'm staring at their fish and steaks. lol

Maud works at Gallarie LaFayette
and aspires to work for LV
(which a certain someone we all noe got a job at
all thanks to her powderful dad)

BAH

anyhow
Paris was ok on the whole
except that all the once in 10 yrs thing happened to me
all at once
and in 3 days!!!!

moving rt along
we took the 5 hour train to St Louis, Alsace

but not before we experience the super inefficient French queuing system at Paris Est
nor the dangerous and inconsiderate "immigrants" (as Manu will call them) in and ard the train station and train

Alsace- St Louis

we were met by Emilie and Oriane at the train station
the former is Manu's gf

and the latter, sista
she was on her way to Switz to meet her bf for the wkend

Manu house is humongous!!!!
yeah
vvvvv beeg

his mum cooked a great meal for us the first nite we arrive
(it wasn't the last)
we had escargot, gratin and beef
Emilie made us some crunchy and apple pie

yeah
we had it good in Alsace ;)


the nxt day
we went to Basel, Switzerland
(100m from his house?
Germany is 100m the other way)

Basel

we mostly shopped here

had a HUGE and good bratwurst for lunch
yeah

1 Euro = 1.5 Swiss Franc = 2 SGD

other than that
we bought shitload of chocolates
and decimated the candy store's supply of caramel
(not that it is incredibly tasty
but Manu said it's their specialty)

we walked ard a bit
had to be here jst becos it's Switzerland i guess. lol

stupid girl kept gaping at the shopping shites

saw a nice fountain by Tinguely
some dude who like to design fountains from scrap parts
quite cool

took a auto ferry across the river for less than 2 Francs

what else?
cannot really recall

only that we went back for a really good meal at a traditional Alsacian restaurant
(Manu's favourite)

the meal was great
and his parents treated us!!!! ^^
i bet it was darn expensive

i think i had veal
and kerbie had the steak
her fren had cannard (duck)

there was plenty to drink
and food to go ard

some flaming dessert "pizza"
typical Alsacian as we were told

aft that
we went back to prepare for the nxt day
a BEEG day it was
SKIING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but not before we go to Manu's fren's for some unspeakable fun :X

Manu was really darn funny on the way there
winding down the window, screaming
dancing at the red light IN FRONT OF OUR CAR!!!!
(yes. he exited.
he also danced in the nite train lugguage car. lol)

i was choking even before i started the nite nite...


i slept well that nite


SKIING

kerbie woke up w vvvvvv bad asthma =(
mst be the cat, dog and smoke the nite last
hai~

she cldn't hit the slope
but cos she dun wanna disappt the stupid fren
she had to
and wasted 32.40 EURO jst to find out that the idiot ger is a gutless chicken too
yeah

ended up i had to hang ard too..

however,
she picked herslf up later
but as we were abt to start skiing
Manu and Emilie returned
cos the slopes were closing
aieeeeeeeeeee


we thn went to the confectionery
where they make sweets
and show us the entrie process!!!!
yeah
it was pretty cool
tho the mint was pretty piercing


dinner was a painful affair
as we were all hungry
but NO restaurants were opened
yeah
they are all closed for winter
cos they've earned enuff during summer(?)

we finally found a nice farm auberge
a title that only establishments that raise and grow their own livestock and plants and use them in their food can call themselves
auberge simply means a place to eat and rest
and farm dictates jst that

Manu said these pple are sometimes wonky
cos they spend their entire lives working in the place
cooking, washing, laundry, farm.... day in day out

true enuff
the lady was pretty weird
she kept looking at us
(Manu said we mst be the first chinese she had ever seen in her life! lol)

after the meal
she asked if we were reviewers from the lonely planet.... lol
to which Manu had a great reply
"whether we are or not
is not an issue
cos ur food and service are really great"

wowow
i'ld hv nv tot of somethg as nice as that!!!!
yeah

anyway
we had an orgy
a cold cut of meat
a roasted cut of meat
(very) smelly cheese + potato
bratwurst + potato
2 X omelette
Alsacian beer
wine
and more smelly cheese + bread!!!!
(it really smelt like salted fish or my sock
but i guess i am a cheese person
so it's all good)
(("a cheese person" as in i like cheese but i am not a cheese expert tho))

we went back and concussed


Ski II

kerbie and the fren slept in
my angel cos of her asthma
the other cos she is spoilt and idiotic

i had a great time skiing!!!!

Manu made me do some warm up
(my first ever!!!!)
and we hit the RED slopes immediately. lol

aft that
he told me
"u hv jst clred the toughest slope in these mountains
now we can go anywhere"

woohooooooo


i fell but once this whole trip
but also cos i skiied little


we had a great meal in the Auberge mid-mountain
some traditional french food
7.60 Euro for the meat loaf and potato
2.90 Euro for the beer
(yes. i drank while i was skiing!!!)

the last part of the trip was quite tense
cos Manu and Emilie got into a fight
and Manu was pretty mean
thn again
perhaps she's used to it
cos he uses the word "stupid" pretty often
and liberally

but i cannot imagine myslf getting away w it on angela
yeah
under no circumstances
even cartoon i also kana jialat jialat liao


we hurriedly went back for our rabbits...
but not before picking up the gers who had a 3 hr lunch

we had a great dinner
tho i bet Manu's mum mst hv tot we din enjoy the rabbit
strangely enuff
i was pretty full that nite
tho i cld use more boneless meat. lol

Jean-Luc(?) brought a LOT of cheese for us to try
goat and cow
in all shapes and sizes too!!!
one even in the shape of a human breast!!!!

we had wine of cos ;)

so much food
such GREAT times!!!


the next morning was when idiot ger got us into trouble
read: gave me even more problems than she alrdy was giving

wtf

stupid stupid ger

lemme reiterate

the stupidest
most conceit
childish
idiotic
anal shithead in the world....


hai~

why the hell did i even let her on in the first place? =(

i bet she is stl:
1) living in oblivion or denial whatever the fark she did wrong
2) think that it's her divine right cos she is rich to screw my ONCE IN A LIFETIME, DREAM HOLIDAY

not to mention waste shitload of my money...

i jst realised i shld hv screwed her for my tickets
i figure i lost 200 USD on them cos of her

to which kerbie said
nobody wld hv known

true
nobody wld
but all signs pointed to trouble since day 1

pooey

if i cld
i wld spit on her
hai~


>(


the nxt day
we were snowed in
snow arrived 2 days too late!!!!
but gd also
as jiejie pointed out
otherwise we wld hv been snowed in
and not be able to ski at all....

we were unable to go to Strasbourg (capital of Alsace) as planned
and spent the whole day sitting ard
packing
in the evening
Manu and Emilie sent us to the train station
where we set off for Salzburg
the city of Mozart....


YIPEEE>> idiot ger was left behind
cos she cannot take the ruggedness of backpacking anymore
getting her prissy butt back

but as i mentioned,
not before screwing us up big time >(

the trip henceforth was so much more enjoyable
cos i nonid to pretend everyday
and control myslf

it was jst me and my babie
yeah
it was all gd

what babie wants
babie gets

idiot ger wun hv this privilege


but i feel sorry for Manu
cos idiot ger really gave him a lot of trouble
making him drive her into Switzerland despite the conditions
she really cannot take hints!!!!!
always making things difficult for pple

who the hell she think she is?

but we dumped her for good


woohooooooooooooooo

Salzburg

to a certain extend
u can say that i like Salzburg a lot
not necessarily the most
but it's really A LOT

yeah

nice quaint place that it is
not to mention small
(i dun like large cities
1- u cannot see everythg
2- vvv hard to plan)

Salzburg poses no such problems
yeah


the only regret is that we had but 2 days
yeah

so no time to go to Untersberg where we can pull a Jasper...
Hellbrun does not open in Winter

we did however managed a Mozart quartet concert
(it was Mozart week)
and did the main sights
less the SOM tour. lol


the moment u step into Salzburg
u are greeted by a magnificent sight-
the Festung
yeah
it was a fort where the archbishops built for seeking refuge in bad times

btw
Salzburg name comes from salt

kerbie and i did Festung in day 1
it was real bad cos we got there at 4am
and she was hvg her asthma

so we decided to rest til noon before taking off

had a chinese lunch at some restaurant
and off we go to the train station for info

bot the 24hr transport card
but not before being greeted by a grouchy old man at the tabak (tobacco shop)
so we bot it from another

only to find out we shld hv bot the Salzburg card instead!!!!
cos it includes everythg + transport for 24 hours
and cost 19 Euro

the transport card cost like 3.60 Euro(?)

anyhow
the man was nice enuff to let us trade-in and pay the difference^^

HOWEVER
aft using the card at the Festung
we were horrified to find out that it was a dud.....

why do such things keep happening to us?!?!?!!?!
it's really interesting the kind of situations we always get ourselves into!!!

anyhow
we got the problem fixed the nxt day
with a full refund!!!

yeah
so effectively we got the Festung for free ;)

anyhow
the hike up was bad
kerbie's asthma din make it any better
so on we trudge

but it was B E A utiful i tell u
yeah
definitely worth it

okok
mebbe cos i like such views ba
i dunno

but kerbie think it's pretty too
in her 奄奄一息 state...

i felt quite bad driving her liddat
i dunno :S


the descent was much better
and we met this old man who was on crutches
making his way uphill!!!!!!

yeah


it was pretty cold in Salzburg
so we kept hopping indoors to warm up

of particular interest was the nice cakeshop that we revisited the 2nd day. lol

we spent so much there can?
getting tea and cakeS
and coffee and more cakeS again the day after. lol


at Yoho,
we had a great pizza
even tho i think it's the frozen kind
but yeah
it was tasty tasty
and the beer was pretty cheap lah

kerbie was chatted up by this medical student
(whom i was pretty sure her mum wld definitely approve of)
tony is his name

apparently
he is some concert nut
and came all the way to Europe from NZ jst to see some concerts

thn again
he is a ski nut too
not unlike me. lol
but he is definitely 1000X better cos he was an instructor in the states before!!!!

anyhow
he recommended us to see some concert
tho i'm pretty sure he wanted to bring kerbie out >(

to which we did
but we bot the wrong tix
ho hum

anyhow
we took pix w him before lvg and he dares put his hand ard my babie's waist!!!
*HIYAK!!!!!*
poot


anyway
we went to Mozart's house the next day
and walked all over the old town

we went into the new town to buy some stuff tho
they cost 50% less there!!!

we also saw the Mirabell Schloss (palace)
where some scenes from the SOM was filmed
yeah

but snow snow snow
everythg was covered

it felt like Calgary all over again...


Salzburg is so small
that u might end up on the other side of the town if u are not careful
or make a wrong turn

yeah

i am not exaggerating

but it is exactly what makes it so navigatable. lol

perhaps not navigatable
but non-tiring. lol

we also met this doctor from Mexico
Hosea i think
yeah
he look damn young
but he's a doc liao
and waiting to do his specialisation
that's why on hols now

quite cool eh?

thn again
i cld hv said i am anythg too

lol


x files
trust no one......

our train was at 0135
so we snuck back into Yoho to eat dinner and hang out
and Hosea's was 0200
so we went to the station tgt

it happened that our trains were the same!!!
(what the hell.
it's darn confusing)

the same train has different number and goes to different places...

it's like taking an airplane
and the first class is going to US while the Economy class goes to Africa leh

dunno lah

i think they couple and recouple us somewhere
while we were slpg i guess


oh
the trip to Venezia was pretty nasty
cos of these loud ger
yakking and yakking endless

irritating ger that she is
yeah
it was late
and nite

but on she goes
yakking and yakking endless
her poor companion was like grunting
"yeah. yeah."
"yeah. yeah. yeah."

heng i drowned it out and slept
but poor kerbie din slp a wink :S


aft she left
all was good

in the morn
before reaching
we chatted w the ger
found out that she's from Argentina...
(how come Argentinians all so rich ah?
i tot their economy collapsed?
mebbe they're like the indo chinese liddat....)

anyhow
she's been away for like what?
9 mths now?
yeah
her parents dunno where exactly she is
except that she's in Europe. lol
and she dunno how much she got left too
except that she alrdy got her ticket home
and bot her eurail pass

so she has no worries
jst play until the pass expire
and go home
cool

as for us?
idiot ger ensured that we wasted so many days on the stupid pass....
pitan!!!

okok
Venezia liao

another story for another time eh


bye bye Salzburg... :~(

Venezia

ahhhh

the home of antonio and shylocke


i always wanted to see venice
esp since mdm tan
my braggart of a chinese teacher in pri sch told us abt it
showed off abt her son
some scholar dude who went to cambridge
and the class had only 3 pple
only for the brightest pple....

how she go europe to visit him
and he brought her ard
and all the places she's seen


venice
the land without roads
where vaporetto and gondolas reign
and glass is king
not to mention masks and floods!!!

yeah

we stayed at this place called
agli agoli artisti
or so i think
(lazy to check it out now lah.
ever)

jst one street away from the train station
which is pretty cool
but as their roads are not prominently labelled
it cld be quite tricky

that's why we found a place near the station
shld be more touristy and well labelled

trinita was our first choice when the bitch was ard
cos it houses 3 for 50 Euro
AAA cost 40 for 2
and no breakie somemore!!!

but trinita is in ulu pandan
but we had to take it that time cos no other 3 bedders

waste our time....


anyhow
venice was super pretty
but i wasn't as awed by it as i imagined
not so quaint
nor special
but ok lah

perhaps i've travelled a wee bit too much by now

but it's still gd lah

first day
we went to murano
cos we tot better to kill far away stuff first
so 2nd day nonid to rush

we spent 2 days 1 nite in Venezia

murano was more like a shopping trip
tho we din plan for it

cos glass wares galore!!!
but i suspect we got ripped
and bot from the low qlty ones
hi qlty ones wld hv cost gazillion buckeroos
not that we paid cheap for our stuff

anyway
it was ok lah
we din do much but shop and shop

at least we got to see an apprentice at work
pulling a horse out of molten glass
yeah

besides that?
zilch

we got the rolling Venice card
that gives us 24hour from validation
which was cool

the vaporetto ride was like 1 hr man...

and it was pretty tough to find directions

i realise each number got 2 stops on the same side of the canal
and u hv to be at the rt stop
or risk being deport back the other way

headache headache

the 2nd day
we took the vaporetto down the Grand Canal st to Piazza San Marco
here we see the San Marco Basilica where Mark is supposed to be buried
quite cool lah

imagine
the body of this great dude
in person
except dead

it was interesting that this piazza (square) is always flooded
i dun understand too

interesting to note also that only San Marco can be called "Piazza"
all the other squares are called "Campo"


oh
everybody, including kent's, advice was to buy a map when i reach Venice
due to it's notorious small alleys and bag signage
but amazingly
kerbie and i had no such problem
(tho we did hv a map from the hotel
FOC!!!)
it was gd enuff for us to navigate ard a bit

perhaps also cos we din go to our ulu-er parts
like arsenale....

we chanced upon Vivaldi's thingy tho
mebbe it was his home
but i think it's jst a museum
abt the history of violin

but apparently
he was from Venice.

Vivaldi
Venice
chance? ;)
lol

food was ex and sucky
and i dun like italian service
bad bad bad
yeah

i had the worst pizza in my life in italy!!!!
can u imagine anythg worse?
perhaps that is thn the authentic pizza
but it sure was crummy
poooey

also
they like to charge "cover charge" and "service charge"
dunno what the hell they're for
Emilie warned us abt it liao
said somethg abt hvg to pay for using their cutlery... *-)

anyhow
at this stage
i was quite very willing to splurge liao
1) bitch is no longer ard
2) we're going back earlier so let's live happier i guess

so we ate well
and lived well
at least we tried to


we wanted to try fragolino the first nite but to no avail
and when the chance came on the 2nd day
we jumped at it

kerbie had a meringue and i had a glass of fragolino (strawberry wine)
they were good
caffe del doge

the only thing is
1 glass = 4 Euro
1 bottle = 7.5 Euro
poot

i think the service be pretty ex

well
i read
once u sit down
the prices skyrocket
but we were tired
and jst wanted a place to sit and chill out too
and warm up too. lol

aieee
i am all over the shop
this event too place on the return leg to Santa Lucia
where we were supposed to lve for Roma


okok
Piazza San Marco
what was there?
oh!
the Carnavale was ard the corner
in fact it starts the day aft we lve!!!
and the piazza was flooded w face painters
trying to create an atmosphere

this particular one was jst dogged
her: "face painting for u sir?"
me: "no thanks" *walks away*
her: *springs along* "u noe u want it"
her: *springs along* "u noe u want it"
her: *springs along* "u noe u want it"
her: *springs along* "u noe u want it"
her: *springs along* "u noe u want it"

me: *diown*

but no
i nv cave in
no such money to spend lah

i'm tired

laterz

Pisa, Firenze and Pompei

BITCH ALERT!!!!

Roma

was quite a disappointment...

okok
i guess as much
since it's all but ruins
but still...


it was THE city that i wanted to see
yeah
the city of gladiators
of opulent and magnificent structures

i guess i was mistaken
only rubbles
and city city
yeah


certain installations were ok lah
but still
it was waaaay off the mark for me T.T


i think the nxt place for such grandeur is Greece
which hitherto
is not in the pipeline
whatwith my ski trips all lined up


anyway
we saw the coloseum
not much there...

nero's golden house
definitely not worth going!!!!

the mouth of truth
quite cool^^

ancient rome...

palatine hill

Trevi fountain
nice beautiful place

spanish steps
??????

via condotti
shopping street

piazza novono(?)
got 4 fountains there
and got this conster
heng lisa warned me abt strangers trying to tie strings to ur hand...
thn later charge u money for it!!!!

he went
"kombanwa..."
"annyonghasaeyo..."
"ni hao..."
ha

we walked a lot
and took the metro some too

DUN BUY THEIR "24 HR" METRO PASS!!!!
it's a con job!!!!

it's a day pass
not a "24 hr" pass.....

con job
masked by the excuse of lousy interpretation
hai~

also
the metro closes damn bloody early lah
so no pt also

and everywhere is walkable lah

unless it's to vatican city

but yeah
pretty much everywhere is walkable
and u can get a gd tourist map from the tourist offices
which is cool


apparently coloseum used to be a huge pond
courtesy of nero
but his successors tot it too opulent to maintain
and i guess to a certain extent
wants to dismiss his legacy
so they built the coloseum there
yeah

it's the Flavian Theatre
coloseum only cos it's colossal(?)
my guess lah

or did the word colossal came from coloseum?
lol


anyhow
laterz
need to prepare for AFA

keck

Vatican City

we got into Vatican museum for free
cos it was the last sunday of the mth^^

but it also meant
everyone was clamouring to get in
and the queue went beyond the block!!!
honest!!!


the school of athens by raphael
the final judgment by michaelango
apollo
the torso thingy

what else?

sistine chapel mentioned liao
notable statues mentioned liao
cun remember much leh

anyway
the museum is darn big and badly labelled
(bie and i got lost for like 20min before we decided to buy the guide bk
which fyi is of no use outside the museum cos there's no pic.
even w the bk
we got lost and spent another 25 min at least
getting our bearings...)

thn again
we get lost driving in Singapore too. lol

oops


anyhow
the bk gave us somemore insights lah
but not much
cos i'm not a museum person
(read: i am shallow
only gunning for the famous stuff)


we dinno that it was the last sunday of the month
when u travel
u dunno and dun care what day it is!!!!

so we walk walk walk
and suddenly found ourselves inside the compound
which got me worried
cos what if we get fined?!

heng ah


aft that we went to St Peter's Basilica
note that previously
we went to St. Pietro in vin coli
it houses ah pete's chains

this houses ah pete's body


quite nice lah
walk ard
see see
look look
take picture

we went up michaelango's cuppola also
quite ex i think
and tedious too
300+ more steps after taking the lift!!!!

but it was all worth it
if not for the constant threat of babie shifting into asthma gear
how to evac?!!?!?!

i pushed her all the way up
yeah
some places were super narrow
some winding
but it's all gd

we hv a gd view of the square
but it was cold....


what else in vatican?

cannot remember much liao
lemme see my pics

oh
Alex was saying my blog vvv mean to shithead
cos i'm posting on the www
but what to do?

he also commented pics will be nice
but i'm lazy lah

mebbe nxt time?!


yeah rt
my exchange pics i also hvn't sorted yet
not to mention korea
and australia

europe will hv to wait!!!!


jialat
when will i be able to complete my canadian album =(


hai~

i am leonardo da vinci
except not so talented
but jst as messy and incomplete...


okok
my travellogue is getting off tangent
off i go!!!