We’ve never really gave this part of the trip a name. So just wrote it as The Great Crossing in our schedule and name stucked somehow. It’s the bit where we cross the whole European continent along the Mediterranean in one trip, from Istanbul to Barcelona.
We started off with a flight from Istanbul to Rome via Turkish Airlines. Pretty much a non-event because I was so flat out tired from the Conference.
When we got to Rome, the Airport “Express” was late and drove us nuts. Fortunately in a very Italian way, the train to Civitavecchia (Rome’s seaport) was late as well so it worked out.
This is one big chuck of a ferry. More like a cruiser but not really a luxury liner. It’s like a four star hotel on water with propellers. It was a good break cruising for two days on the Mediterranean.
My dad always claim that everything was invented by the chinese. It’s true sometimes, like the compass, paper, and silk. Some rather outrageous ones include pasta and pizza.
I believe it was the American Italians who invented it. Regardless, this one’s crispy crust is paper thin with a very juicy topping. No regrets!
This is really cool for me because just ten months ago I had a tour of the “Silk Road” in China. Now I’m standing on the other end, it’s magical !
Gondolas
And their owners, business doesn’t seem to be too good …
The city is at least ten times more confusing, but it was actually fun getting lost! After an hour I got tired of it and decided to pull out the map, only to find that it was completely useless. And we’re not alone, every two or three corners we turn, there’s a bunch of people there trying to figure their maps out. Venice’s a tourist trap? Hell yeah.
After some Venetian Pac-Man, we miraculously found San Marco’s square.
Back in France, we bought a 40 ounce jar of Nutella thinking it was a good idea. You know, easy to use, high in energy and long shelf life. But after two weeks, it’s proven a drag carrying it around. So on the train from Rome to Venice, I had a Nutella binge.
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 …
