My last Italian Job!

NOOO!!!! Its not robbery, but nanny-ing instead and yah! In Italy, mind you!

Our coach drove for a few hours from Venice – way up north to Sorrento – way down south. A very scenic route indeed, we cross the Napoli mountains with snow top (this is the city that is synonymous with pizza!) , pass by Pompeii (yup! The city that got swept by Volcano ashes) AND saw Mount Vesuvius from afar (still active and it was regarded by the Greeks and Romans as being sacred to the hero and demigod Hercules). Now I understand when people say : it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Agree! Very enriching!

We were day-dreaming while listening to Mambo No5 during the journey, as the coach maneuver around the hills and going thru a tunnel; that was when I caught a glimpse of Bay of Naples from higher grown, the view was MAGICAL & MYSTICAL.

Our coach zig-zagged down the hills to the town, we stopped at an old mansion where we end up staying. We realized that there wasn’t anyone at the front counter to receive us, nor was there any sign of other staying guest. We called out for attention and a gentleman came out from one of the doors at the lobby which shocked us off our skin. Once our check-in cleared, we carried our bags up, we turned the door knob and heard a squeaking sound, we saw the sheer white balcony curtain was moving blown by the wind. We tip-toed in the room, checking whether everything was A-ok, ended up, it is. Suspense neh… No kidding, this actually happened, we were kinda of panic back then.

History says that Sorrento was built on top of 2 cities that were swept away by Mount Vesuvius volcano (twice). We went to the site that show the “stacking” cities – AWESOME. Basically the current city is being built on a “grave yard” (that explained the eerie feeling, hehehee….).

If you ever heard of Isle of Capri, then this is THE port where you start your mystical & awesome journey. When I was a kid (am not that old yet), I recalled there was a 90s TV show tittled 'The Lifestyle Of Rich & Famous', I am always in awe of the places they aired, and one of it is Isle Of Capri, thus you can imagine my joy knowing it's so near within my reach. I was excited thinking that I might be able to step foot on this isle but nooooooooo we didn’t. Sigh…. Sob Sob…

Well, I guess… I need to do a sequel huh…

Credits : Wikipedia & Italian Visits

Rambling

Have you ever had one of those days when your mind just went blank?

Hahahhah…. I somehow felt, this sentence is sooooo overated, you either saw in on the net or TV. Anyway, this is one of the days lar… no mood, no idea, no inspiration BUT just feel like eating chocolate. Actually right, that is the main reason, I just need something to munch munch munch, I've learnt that one tend to eat when at stress, for me…… I can’t be idle, I will need to move either my hand or mouth and more obviously now! My mouth and taste buds seems to be more demanding and controlling. THAT’S ITS, I’ll go down grab some munchkins.

Aaaaaa…. Felt better now, not that am more inspired or anything but definitely HAPPIER! Yeay!

OK! Now I need to focus on what to blog, hemmm… I kinda find blogging my ancient trips abit tougher then what I initially thought. For one thing, memory lacking, inexperience of capturing infos then (blaming it on the unavailability of internet), no research and every other excuse under the sky, moon, sun etc (in denial here!). So, here's my so called “fantastic” plan, I will jump here and there on the countries I visited (not in order) depending on… my mood. Hemmm…. That sounds like a darn good plan. Liking it already!

Now? Watching Boys Over Flower, a current Korea TV series hit. Yeah! After this whole TV series (glued like super duper elephant glue), am targeting to go… WAIT! PLANNING to go to Korea, WAIT! CONFIRMED going! With.... both my sis and I lar. Oh! Did I tell you guys before, my sis is a KOREAN freak, she said she wanna work, married and live, eat & breath KOREA (so she said, we see lar hor). At the same time, I kinda hope it’ll happen, boleh tumpang sekaki. Hehee…..

After doing some background “research”, I kinda like the idea too, perhaps; 7-14 days trip, cover all the other smaller cities as well. See the Sakura, Apricot bloom, Lavender field, blah blah blah…. I even thought of what to wear there (I‘ll tell you about my dressing quarks in next entry, am crazy on this; so I‘ve been told). AND last but not least, the entertainment industries, MUST MUST see at least one of the concert OR showcase - FT Island, 2PM, Girl Generation, Jewelry etc. But first, must loose weight (my life long battle, I can have another entry on just this alone, JUST ON THIS. Hahhahahha… should not bore you with that “YET“).

My upcoming trip?

Colmar - NO!!!!!!!! Not Colmar France (Dream on! Don’t mind going if it’s FREE though. Hint Hint Hint). Colmar Tropicale, Bukit Tinggi for my recee trip.

Broga Hill in Semenyih. This is gonna be a tough one as it’s a day trip - HIKING UP! But I know one thing for sure, the view gonna be MAGNIFICENT! Thus, I will climb, regardless…

Raya visits - not a trip par say, but nevertheless, I will blog and brag about it. Muahhaha….

The Land of the Long White Cloud - trying to see whether its do-able to blog daily for this…. Isk isk… big task here gurl!

Sabak Bernam Kelong stay - ahh….. This! you guys must try. Not that I think it will be terrific but should try to stay at least 1 day in the sea.

Hong Kong - going with a bunch of relatives…. Gonna have great fun!

Hemm… I think I have covered almost all. But first, need to rest and heal my injured knee. Till then…..

Credits : Wikipedia, Kelong Paradise, Kuan Hoong, Berjaya Hotel Resorts, Ish Gallery, Pixel Armour & scholez18

Sinking Venice

City of Water

I bet none of us know that Venice historically was once an independent nation. Right? Right! Right! Regardless whether it is known as known as "City of Water", "City of Bridges" or "The City of Light", one must agree that undoubtedly Venice is one of the most beautiful city built by man.

Yeah yeah… 118 islands, 177 canals, 400 bridges, water everywhere, a city that sinking fast, really; imagine in another 10 years time, what will become of Venice by then. Sigh….

Oh! Funny! I know! I know! Hahahhaa…. Upon arrival, we stop by this quaint café for a drink. We placed our order as asked to, drinks arrived, drank happily, the bill came, cost a BOMB ofcoz, we walked out of café and saw a signage…. The cost of drink standing versus sitting is different!! Speechless beyond words!! What else, but to burst out laughing….HAHAHHAA…. From then on, every time I travel to Europe, I will check on the signage, is there a “sitting” or “drinking” cost :-P


We walked around San Marco square, the tour guide told the history of the St Mark Basilica; made famous my its architecture & mosaics. We saw Bridge of Sighs, as the name suggest -prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice out the window before being taken down to their cell. Sad huh….

3 things that I bought in Venice foir no apparent reason, I believe it is called IMPULSE purchase. But no regrets here…. :)

Dolphin pendant - Still have it and still using it.

Silk scarf - Seriously don’t know why I buy but at the end, everyone loves it.

Green Murano Watch - I fell in love with its “flowers” unfortunately it’s spoilt now. Anyone going??? Help me buy one!

Result = HAPPY :D

Credits : Wikipedia, The Find & BBC

My Picasa's Picaso

Have always wanted to put my first attempt on Picasa.... am very proud of this, felt like Picaso himself....ahhahahaaa... PERASAN! Basically this represents almost all countries that I ever visited lar. ALMOST!

Sneak preview, sort of.


Credits : Wikipedia

Isola Bella

Dia Isabella, lambang cinta yang lara, terpisah kerana adat yang berbeza…

Romantic! Sigh…

One thing I do know, there’s loads of villa in Lake Stresa, Stresa has been a popular retreat for Europe's aristocrats. I suspect this small fishing village is the getaway for the rich and famous those days. And most of it has been converted to hotels… TUVUAST ME! MUST MUST got to Stresa! Cos the hotels are simple BEAUTIFUL! The decors, the mountains, the villas, the lake, the island - breathtaking. Words can not do it justice.

Stresa is 45mins from Geneva, I was informed that most of the locals work in Geneva. In fact, the interesting part is that, the postcard I sent was posted from Geneva as it’s the closest town to Stresa (instead of somewhere in Italy). Hemmm....

One place that captivate me most is an island called Isola Bella, I thought it sounded faraway and romantic UNFORTUNATELY I didn’t manage to step foot on it…. (ARHGJJBEDK!!!). Its winter and no one goes there apparently. Sigh… just my luck! There’s 3 island on this lake, mainly "Isola Bella (“Beautiful Island”), Isola Madre (“Mother Island”) and Isola Superiore, or Isola dei Pescatori (“Isle of the Fishermen”). And "Isola Bella is the largest of the three Borromean Islands and is almost entirely taken up by the Borromeo Palace.

Strolling by the lake and around the fishing village.

See you in next entry, in City of Water - Venezia

Credits : ItalianVisits, Fotografieitalia

Romeo, Romeo, where are thee Romeo….

Romeo & Juliet - Star of me heart.

Ahh… Me no see no Leonardo DiCaprio answering my call here…. Sigh… Asking abit too much huh!


Alas, I get to see thee Juliet balcony “jadi lar kan”… It’s a small town, but somehow or rather I fell in love with Verona, the people are superbly friendly versus the past few town that I've visited so far. They have this “night market street” (not sure whether is there daily or just weekends or during festive season, but I felt the sincerity and warm of the locals; perhaps its not a huge tourist site thus making it more authentic. I can still remember, I love it so much that I insisted I must buy a souvenir form here, and... I bought a nougat, this longish sugary sweet almondy desert. Unlike those you get in Australia, this one taste nicer despite it more chewy. Or maybe, my love at the first sight to Verona kinda supersedes everything that’s common (yeah! I think this sounds right, ahhaha….)


That’s too much of a sidetrack, where was I…. hem…
There was this legend that say if you were to stroke her right breast brings a new lover. I did that and yet am still single…. I suppose that’s why you call it a legend. Hahanah….. Unfortunately I cant find anything much on this in google…sigh…. BUT some says you wish be rewarded with good luck. Well… lets no think about it :p


We walk quite a fair bit, mainly around the Roman Amphitheatre (The Arena) and Piazza del Comune. Because of the value and importance of its many historical buildings, Verona has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Aren’t I lucky! We stayed in Verona for 1 night and off we head to Lake Stressa….

Just before we call it a night.

Credits : Leonardo DiCaprio, AbsoluteShakespeare.com, Wiki, Destination360, Gustiamo.com, Intesys

Pizza? Piazza? Pisa!

Pisa - The Leaning Tower

Pisa Pisa Pisa….. When I was young I always thought it is spelled as Pizza and that this is birth place of Italian finest Pizza… silly aren’t I. Well…. You can’t blame all of it on me; we don’t have google back then… (plus the fact that am too LAZY to read lar). I have no expectation on Pisa sincerely, except for the tower that was leaning and still leaning. Heheheh…. Told most of my friends who haven’t been there that the only thing you can see in Pisa is The Leaning Tower of Pisa and nothing else. SERIOUS! I think it was a 2 hours or so train trip via coastal road (by the way, the view is superb, highly recommend you guys to try), we reach the train station, our coach pic us up. It took us to the tower of which you can see from afar….

You tend to get excited and giddy at the same time not knowing what to expect… then…. Wah la……. The Leaning Tower of Pisa before you eyes. JUST the leaning tower with it’s baptist church, monumental cemetery and “huge lawn” where lotsa of student lepak (lazing). After all the excitement of photo taking, we asked the tour guide, where else to go from here (knowing Italy, everything but EVERYTHING is on foot), he said; itu saja (meaning “that’s it” in English). Took us to lunch area which is about 100mtr from the tower before adjourning to the bus heading to Verona. I was feeling like “cah tou” or in Malay “ek allaa…”, I don’t know how to translate that in English though, perhaps…. “you gotta be kidding me…” with eye rolling etc!??!!? Am sure you got what I meant…. Right? Right? Right!

The thing about this tower is that from the pic that I’ve been “exposed” to I assume that it’s leaning ie leaning lar kan…. Apparently, there’s cables pulling the tower so that it won’t lean further, I guess they took all precaution that is available to ensure the tower is still standing still, or perhaps LEANING STILL! They closed the tower to the public quite sometime back, dangerous I supposed.

The sight actually consist of 3 buildings, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, cathedral & the Baptist church. All great thing comes in three :)

I was told that Pisa is a university area hence you will get local student “lepaking”. Ready we are to Verona, aaahhh….. Romeo & Juliet! Just the balcony and Juliet statue, wouldn’t want to disappoint you people you see. Till then….

Credits : Wiki, Destination360, Behind The Tower, popular Mechanics

The blogging continues…

Florence… City of Renaissance Art

Hahaaa…… the city where everyone wants to go, and all I did was a stopover :p


God! Seriously! I don’t know what & how to write on Florence. It was and IS a beautiful city nevertheless; I manage to visit few significant places. Hemm… Is this all I can come out for Florence? I need to try harder… Think Lily, THINK! You can still remember Doreamon after 10 years, am sure you can do this! (Yeah right!). *Or perhaps I cut & paste from Wiki!??! Hehhehee…. Sinful laugh*

Before I try my “level” best to describe my experience in Florence, I just remembered one beautiful place I’ve forgot to mention in previous Rome blog - The Sistine Chapel.

I remembered vividly we went into this chapel and there’s fresco on the wall, ceiling and everywhere. It has this really beautiful painting on the ceiling by Michelangelo. Contrary to popular believe, he did not paint it lying on his back (but my tour guide told me otherwise, I only knew the “truth” while googling for this blog. Tipah tertipu). In order to preserve the paint & colours, they don’t allow any pic take inside here… sigh...

Ok! Ok! Ok! Back to Florence. And ofcos, what is Florence without statue of David by Michelangelo right? (Yup! Pic got chopped off - no mindshare obviously). We walked quite a fair bit, saw a lot of cathedrals, plenty of frescos and pigeon pooh. After you been to the city, see alllll the cathedrals, suddenly they almost look the same. Not to forget, I have 5 more cities to go, if you ever need to check out more, I recommend you to visit Florence culture & tourism guide websites.

Everything you do/see will be on foot in Florence, and if the locals says it “nearby, few blocks more or just around the corner“, Oh boy! You better prepare yourself for a good LOOOOOOOOONG walk.

Me liking the tales/myth of god/goddess of Greek/Roman mythology, was excited to “bump” into Mr. Neptune’s fountain (I actually googled for Jupiter than realized, OPS! Wrong god…ehehheh, Btw, the other name is Poseidon [Greek] - God of the Sea). Fountain is fountain lar, what else for me to story right :p Throw coin, close eyes, wish, and wa laaa…. Nothing happen!! DOINK!

Feeding birdie at the city square.

Next? Pisa and city of Romeo & Juliet - Verona …….

Heheehehe…. Just my luck, Florence falls under UNESCO list since 1982. YEAY!

Credits : Mr Dowling, Wiki, Florence In Italy, Italy Guides & Thinkquest

10 years of blogging to catch up….

.... starting with Italy.

Yup! True! 10 years, sigh… Let's see, Italy is not the country that kick-start my travel-bug - for sure. But it is definitely the one country where I don’t mind going twice, thrice, fourice (!?!?) hahahah…. (not sure there is such word). The best way to rattle about Italy is to break the cities by entry, there is no where I can “brag” it in one entry. I do hope I can do it justice as I have a feeling I'm gonna miss out some of the good stuff here and there (after all, I went there 10 years ago).

Well, our entry/exit point is obviously Rome (I mean where else right, duh Lily!), the minute we landed we checked in into Selene Hotel WHICH rated 3-4 stars on their front entrance. I remembered the front office was very proud of it.

We did a quick city tour around Rome upon arrival. Stop by Emanuele II Monument or better known as the Typewriter Building; since we went in a big group, we couldn’t run across the street to take good pictures (and ofcos at that point of time, I don’t have a camera of my own also lar. sob sob).

Am sure you guys have seen this staircase in a lot of books/movies/posters etc, well; it’s like a “dataran” or a meeting point where everyone will lepak at the steps or around the area while waiting for their friends. The view in front of Spanish Steps…. Ta daa…. Gianfranco Ferre/Channel etc (hey! they have Sogo too). Yup! All the branded stores are there! Me? I sit at the steps lar (duh!).

Colosseum, have always wanted to visit this place. Back then, before “googling” was popular (exist!); I have to hang out at bookshops to check out on countries or places. And what I thought I knew certainly didn’t prepare me for what I was about to see in front of me. It’s like “DOUBLE JAW DROPPING WOW!” Yeah! Even WOW was under rated. I mean… you have to understand here… this place can fit 50,000 spectators, 12-15 story building, WELL PLANED emergency escape, able to convert into armada fighting “show” (to the aristocrat) etc etc etc (the list goes on and on and on). Apparently, even NG simulate the whole Colosseum and base on their research, it suggested that the whole place was covered with sailing canvas (need verification here). Remember! Remember! Remember! This building was build hundreds of years ago, with no machinery whatsoever! Unfortunately, we couldn't go inside the arena. Sigh... what a spoiler lar!!!

The smallest country in the world! The Vatican City! With only 0.2 square miles. My Unesco site achievement! Having said that it’s the smallest country in the world, the cathedral size is surely NOT!, this cathedral is super mega HUGE! Check out the door size versus human - goodness gracious!

Ah! I recalled Auntie Tessie when inside the cathedral and pray, then Abang Syed said that this must be the Mekah version to Auntie Tessie; I burst out laughing. By the way, do you know that Vatican only issues diplomatic and official passports and held by mostly clergymen and others who represent the entity abroad. They even have their own currency (btw, total population is around 900 people ONLY).

Next city, Florence....


Credits : Wiki, Selena Hotel, Gianfranco Ferre, Channel, Great Building, About.com & Unesco