There are street names but no street signs, the bus maps are close to useless and the tourist information is no help at all. We had to ask for directions along the WHOLE way. Eventually for the last few stops we resorted to taxis to get from landmark to landmark. Just can’t be bothered saving anymore, we only have one day to see everything.
Colosseum. Many “gladiators” outside provoking us for photos.
Some people could not get in because they were “dressed inappropriately”. The smarter ones brought scarfs and sarungs.
Pantheon. The span is at least 20 metres, built 380 A.D. I think. Civil and Structural engineers, there’s no keystone in the middle. Architects, there’s no glazing for the 2 metres gap, what about the rain? Now Go Figure!!
Fontana di Trevi. I saw some people fully dipping their heads in, and others drinking from it. Ewww…
Spanish Steps. At night lots of people just hang out here, other than that, nothing special.
Oh yea, I also managed to bump into the Italian stage for Live 8 at the Ancient Auditorium.
July 4, 2005 at 12:02 pm · Filed under Food, Italy
Why the first meal in Italy has to be pasta. Florence is the next closest town I could get to Bologna, so the spaghetti bolognese has to be authentic. Finished it in 3 minutes!
I could not locate the famous “Baby Yoghurt” until the next morning. And it’s closed in the mornings because it’s a Sunday … and my train is scheduled to leave at 10:00am. Such is life!
When we finally got there (after harassing 10 other people to join us along the way), I made friends with tons of cool people. A Texan mother who looks waaay younger, a couple of ladies from Chicago, a Japanese-French Aussie dude from Melbourne and two friendly Californian girls.
Later that night, we walked around the streets of Florence waking people up with Irish songs and Waltzing Matilda. One of the lads practically harassed every passer-by with “Legato e MIERTE!!” (trans: My cat has DIED!).
I was convinced we’re going to get arrested by the Italian police at some point. Took us a good hour to finally locate the kebab shop to shove our mouths shut.
Later that night one of us tried to grab David’s butt! Now I know why they switch the original with this replica!
Michaelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello … and rest of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, all come from this place.
David’s butt, a less famous view but just as finely sculpted by Michaelangelo.
The famous Ponte Vecchio, rows of shops on a bridge. What’s with the squatting motif beside a river?
The Duomo, impossible to grab a snapshot of the entire building.
By the weirdest coincedence, we met someone from UNSW! She was standing two persons behind us while queuing for David. Junyi and Jeff were stunned staring at each other for 5 seconds.
Funny bit is she decided to tour Italy only a few days ago, but to meet of all cities in Italy, in such a big place as Florence, to be in the same queue, two people apart, at the same time, is just …
a young capricious bloke with a penchant for the strange, unknown, and exotic. Here lies the journals of my worldly travels, as I trot around the globe in search of adventure!
