Italy - Milan, Milano

Trip: 12th March 2013 - 14th March 2013

12th March 2013

Our last city for Italy: Milan! We didn't expect much though because it's a city and so it's like meh. But the Duomo is beautiful.

Piazza del Duomo

And there were like a lot people feeding the birds and taking photos just like in Venice.

Feeling hungry, we had our dinner at Burger King (and also use free wifi hehe).

This burger taste awesome seriously! Like so rich with beef and bacon and garlic. Really craving for it.

And I have to reassure you that it's good. HAHA.

Saw this portrait nearby and I really love it. It kinds of give a message that beauty comes in all forms :)

And then we went back to our hotel. We were struck by the news that it was snowing in Germany. Living in a country where it is summer all year round, I was really excited. It is not usual to be snowing at this period of time!!! And yay I still get to see snow for the first time in my life! (and so are my parents). 

13th March

Our breakfast at the hotel. Damn awesome!

We went to walk around the shopping areas. Well basically Milan is more of a shopping area I think~

Columns~

And then we got tired and went to eat!

My apple pie McFlurry, Mozarella cheese sticks and the typical McNuggets meal!

Went to walk around randomly again and came to a park.

And I found a swing! Wee!!!

Me and the very "you qing diao" trees hehehe.

McDonald's Happy Meal was having a very cute toy at the moment and so we bought McDonalds and Burger King for dinner back to the hotel. Seems like my parents have to eat fast food with me very often here. HAHAHA.

LOOK AT THAT JUICY BURGER LOL.

14th March
We woke up really (I think like 4am?) and the private taxi drove us to the airport - towards Germany!

And we waited until 7am outside McDonald's for their breakfast to begin! hahaha. Die-hard McDonald's fan XD

Italy - Venice, Veneto

Trip: 10th March 2013 - 12th March 2013

10th March 

It was evening when we arrived in Venice. We had to take a water taxi from the main train station to the hotel. Gosh! We had so many things (actually mostly my stuff rather than my parents...)! Had a hard time loading them onto and down the water taxi, and also to pull towards the hotel since there are like tiny bridges  with stairs around.

On the train ride to Venice. There wasn't really place to park our luggage, and so we ended up having one below the table, one on the table and the last one (which is mine and also the biggest hahahaha) sitting on a chair.

Typical view of venice

Near the main station

Gondola!

That's my own room hahaha. Apparently we had two rooms that are connected and so YAY miss lightbulb is finally dimmed for Venice trip!

 After checking in, we went out to jalan jalan and also search for dinner.

Crowd waiting for the flag ceremony

In the end we got this portion of pasta with only tomato sauce for 8 euros! The food inside the old town is really too expensive and we don't have a choice. :/ 

11th March

And so morning we set off with a guided tour for the main places in Venice.

Mum took a shot of me looking unamused by the hotel's breakfast. LOL!

A typical street view of Venice~

A very pretty clock tower

Gondola!

This is actually supposed to be a form of vandalism but it's too pretty to be considered one.

Beautiful buildings~

After the guided tour, we still had some time and went back to the hotel. I suggested going to the islands near Venice because they are very pretty. Actually my parents have something else in mind, but in the end they gave in and went to the islands with me.

Initially what I thought was... After some time in Venice, all the buildings look about the same to me and I wanted to see something different. Plus the fact that I have been to quite a few cities in Europe and honestly, I am a bit immuned to most of the old European buildings (but nevertheless they are still very beautiful). After which I felt kind of guilty. I have not considered that this was the first time my parents are in Europe and everything is still fresh and fascinating to them.... Hopefully, I have a chance, time and money to bring them to Europe to tour again, and including Venice again.

A few gondolas parked along the shores

The island I have in mind was Burano. To get there, we have to take a ferry (about 1-2 hours) to Murano first, and from there take a ferry to Burano.

While waiting for the next ferry at Murano, we decided to walk in to see a bit. Murano is an island where glass is manufactured and thus there are a lot of art pieces made of glass around.

Murano, near the ferry terminal.

And tada~ This is the Burano that got me all excited....

So many colourful and beautiful houses!! The bright colours and serenity of Burano really brightened me up. This seems like a place that I would really love to stay in.

That's me looking really happy hahaha.

And the good thing is the groceries and snacks here are not as expensive as that in the Venice old town. So we bought a Burano-made biscuit that taste really awesome!!!  We even bought 4L of drinking water just because it's one-fifth of the price we bought in the old town.

Saw this really cute cat licking herself hehe. And so many people taking photo of this cute tabby cat!

Me eating gelato heh. :D Pistachio and coconut flavour!

Cute glass candies in Burano!

After which we took a ferry back to Murano to change the ferry back to the main island. But we took the wrong direction and made a detour hahaha.

View of Burano from the ferry

Bought our dinner at Burano : Burano made pastries! Very delicious and so much cheaper than pizzas/pastas on the main island. And more filling as well :)

12th March

Venice was probably too short a trip for us :( Have not really finish exploring Venice (which makes me even more guilty). But nevertheless still able to admire some scenery on the water taxi before taking the train to Milan.

The parts we haven't explore :(

Me on the water taxi

Writing this post and looking at the photos makes me want to go home right now and hug my parents.

Italy - Florence, Firenze

Trip: 9th March 2013 - 10th March 2013

We reached Florence on the 8th but stayed in for the night and was unable to find food!! In the end we ate the cup noodles that we brought and boiled our own water. Apparently the water is really hard and there is this thick white calcium carbonate layer when the boiled water settles. But well, didn't have a choice and the cup noodles tasted kind of weird.


9th March

And so we set out to the old town~

While crossing the river from our hotel

The sky was really blue!! Damn pretty!

As seen from the opposite side of the bank :)

While going up to Piazzale Michelangelo :)

And that's the statue of Michelangelo! And me trying to imitate him hahaha

After coming down from the Michelangelo place, we saw a (almost) full rainbow! First time in my life to see almost the whole stretch of it!!! So beautiful!

As we continued walking down, I got a bit mouth-itchy and bought gelato. Pistachio and Tiramisu flavours :) How can you not eat gelato when you are in Italy? Haha! :D

One of the nice architectural buildings around

10th March

Before leaving for Venice...

The Duomo :) But they were having a service when we there and thus no visiting allowed.

Italy - Rome, Roma

Trip: 5th March 2013 to 8th March 2013

5th March

Bye Singapore for 5 months! 

I was half-excited and half-worried. Excited because I'm going for an adventure - traveling, meeting new people around the world, seeing different things and lastly away from the crowd :D But somewhat worried because there was no news of my hostel accommodation at all! Believing that things will fall back into place eventually, I began my journey.

A view from the plane. Really pretty!!!!

Somehow the 14 hour flight doesn't feel as long as compared to 2 years ago. Perhaps I was really too tired and was sleeping throughout. We reached Rome in the early afternoon and decided to go out for a walk :)

Pretty horse carriages!

Boat fountain

Me looking a bit shagged. Haha.

Nice drawings.

A "you qing diao" stall. Lol.

This is a must-take photo whenever I'm overseas with my parents! Haha!

 Feeling a bit hungry, we went to McDonald's for a tea break :)

McCafe have so many desserts and they all looked really delicious! This is so different from the McCafe in Singapore.

Being a McFlurry and ice cream fan, the apple pie flavoured McFlurry really fascinated me :D and it taste really good as well!

The larger-than-my-palm and delicious burger :D

 6th March

Since I'm traveling with my parents, we stayed in a hotel and the breakfast is awesome! Had a hearty breakfast.

Croissants never tasted this good! :))

The relatively empty street in the morning, yet beautiful :) Just on this street alone, me and my parents took a lot of photos here! Haha!

Trevi fountain. Really magnificent.

Towards the vatican city!

The iconic vatican city. Apparently you need to queue really long to get through the security scan in order to visit.

Beautiful ceiling inside the vatican church!

This sculpture was done by Michelangelo when he was young (I can't remember if it's 23 years old). It's protected by a glass layer because a few years ago, somebody threw a hammer at the sculpture and partially destroyed some part of it.

And not forgetting to visit the vatican museum!

One of the corridors inside the museum with an extravagant ceiling.

Feeling hungry, we went to hunt for food...

Ate this at Rome's Hauptbahnhof. Apparently it's pretty expensive for this portion size! But we were too hungry already.

And then we passed by a döner stall! It's much cheaper than a plate of pasta and taste better as well. Also the first time that my parents tried döner!! Yums

7th March 2013


So we visited the famous Colosseum in Rome! :)

Outside the Colosseum

Entrance ticket with the colosseum picture!

Inside the colosseum

And that's me posing for a photo! :) Pretty place!

Colosseum as seen from another angle outside :)

Then we continued on to the roman forum nearby. Apparently it's the same entrance ticket as the colosseum one (as I overheard a conversation hehe) and skipped the queue^^

At the Roman Forum

Hehe taking a selfie :) May not be very pretty but whatever, as long as I'm enjoying myself! :))

Saw these two lovebird cuddling and cuddling. Jealous die me.

Orange trees!! Never have I seen it before! :D

An overview of the rest of the Roman Forum.

Two relaxed seagulls basking in the sunlight and then cuddle. So sweet!!!

More of the Roman Forum

And more...

One last one...

I think this was the Rathaus. Forget already heh :X

And 马路 is called 马路 for this reason!

Saw a leather bag shop and entered. And these are the returns. LOLS.

This is our dinner on the second night, bought near our hotel. Although it looks normal, surprisingly it tasted really good!

8th March

We still had sometime before leaving for Florence, and thus went for a stroll.

At Piazza del Popolo

Looks really good with instagram ;)

It was kind of drizzling and so me and my umbrella dance! Hahaha :D and my new leather bag ;)

And being me, I posed for this photo with judging passerbys... but whatever! :D