Every story comes to an end...

PISA

Yup, the this is the real thing and it's truly leaning to one side. I expected to be leaning more but it wasn't so obvious when I was looking at the tower but now looking at the picture, OH MY GOD!!!

FLORENCE

Another beautiful (aren't all the Italian cities beautiful?) place that is must see would be Florence, known for their jewellery and leather products and yes, they are expensive stuff cuz both the gold and leather are imported from elsewhere. And yes, we caved in and bought something gold and something leather .... But other than shopping, there are HEAPS to see and you have to be a few days to see everything that Florence has to offer so looks like I have to return to check them out again.

This is not the real David but this is the one that you can take a picture of (well you could try to sneak a shot like SOMEBODY I know did). The real David is really amazing...the details on him, I expected him to just take a step forward and start walking out cuz he looked like the real thing!!! AMAZING!!!
SIENNA

We only had a few hours to see this lil town and had lunch there. We were there over the weekend so it was real pack with lots of people out, probably shopping for Xmas.

ROME

Tour over and we had a few days to ourselves. So we visited Spagna or the Spanish Steps and I guess I expected something more but it was just a whole lot of steps for us to climb. Guess I was feeling a lil grouchy cuz the weather wasn't nice (drizzling) and there were heaps of people out ...tourists and locals.

And how can we not see the Trevi Fountain although it wasn't part of the tour (very odd there). But thankfully we had some time and yes, I threw a coin in and made a wish .....

While waiting to meet up with the others for Xmas Eve dinner, we went on an open top bus ride and these are some of the pictures from the bus ride. Not bad considering how bumpy the ride was.

St Peter's Square on Xmas Eve with lots of people waiting to go into the Museum as well as the Basilica. We were happy to just wander about the square as we watch the people prepare for Xmas Midnight Mass that evening.

You cannot be in Italy and think that you won't put on weight. Gelato greeting you at every corner and pizza and pasta for several meals a day, oh I do miss those wonderful days...

One of the many things for Xmas Eve dinner, three flavoured pizza - Magherita, Seafood and Anchovies!

Here's just a sneak peek of my Italy trip. For more, head to flickr!

Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo ....

RAVENNA

Also known as the City of Mosaic, it's just amazing seeing the mosaic pieces on the walls. If nobody told me that they were mosaic pieces, they just look like them paintings. Totally inspiring and I wished I could do more mosaic pieces (not like the ones you see below) but rather simple pieces.

VENICE

Yes, Venice = gondolas (among the many many many other wonderful things you can see there) and you have to take a ride on the gondola. Commercialise and all but just take a ride! Unfortunately, our gondoliers were not dressed in their typical attire (blame the cold weather for that) so you have to be there in summer to see that. But it also means having to bear with the stench (I was told about the stench due to the change in the temperature) that comes from the channels .... Anyone can verify if there's true?

Look pass me and see how gorgeous Venice is but just be prepared cuz everything there is much much more expensive as Venice is suppose to be the most expensive place in Italy.

COMO

Like Capri, Como is the playground for the rich and famous. On our private boat tour, our dear guide pointed out which Villa belonged to which famous people, like George Clooney, Saudi Royal family etc. But forget all that and just look at how beautiful Lake Como is...

VERONA

If you're wondering what's at Verona, well let me tell you. Romeo and Juliet. Do they really exist? Beats me. But somehow, the balcony you see below is suppose to be the balcony where dear Juliet looked down to poor Romeo.

Beauty of Italy - the love story continues ....

TRAGEDY OF POMPEII

Eruption of Mount V and the impact it had on Pompeii were things we studied and taught but actually seeing Mount V is a Geographer's dream come true (for me at least) and I just had to make sure I got a souvenior and took a pic with Mount V behind (below).

It was kinda eerie when I saw the expression on the plaster 'people' below. You can just sense the pain that they went through ...

As we walked around Pompeii, it included a visit to the brothel and like our fast food restaurants today, they had the menu (different positions available) painted on the walls (see below) for the customers to pick and choose from.

AMALFI

Amalfi was just a few hours stop and below you can see me hugging my shopping. Yes, guilty there cuz I spent most of my time there...shopping. I just love these little towns and places that we visited cuz each area had their speciality and I just want to take each of that home.

CAPRI

Where the rich flocked to would be Capri (below) and yes, you can just see why cuz they lived in beautiful houses on the slopes that gave them a gorgeous view of Bay of Naples. I want a place there too!!!

ASSISI

My favourite (okay, one of my favourite places in Italy) place has to be Assisi and again, my regret is that we didn't have much time there. Assisi will always be a place with great memories for me cuz that was where I first saw falling snow (hey, I'm from the tropics so that's a BIG thing for me), had my first snow fight, see how snow can make a place look so beautiful (below), felt the fear of falling when I tried walking on ice with wrong pair of shoes and also it's a beautiful place where St Francis was from (am a fan yes).

This picture below reminded me of postcards that I have received but never seen for myself and now I can say that I have seen how beautiful it can be ....

I left my heart and lots of Euros ... in Italy!

Yes I have been silent for a while considering that I came back from Italy on 26 December but I've been busy catching up with work plus trying to sort out my pictures and getting others from Jas. Also, have been trying to figure out how I am going to put my pictures from Italy on my blog and decided that it's not possible. What I can do is just put the very best of Italy (from my point of view which may differ to yours but that's okay) on this post, and refer you to my flickr page for a few more pictures and if you want to see the whole works, will just have to meet up and then I'll show you them pics with stories to go with the pictures!

ROME

Had my first taste of hot chocolate Italian style when we were exploring the neighbourhood where our hotel was at. And what's different was that the hot chocolate was nice and thick..it was like eating liquid chocolate and it's super YUMMY! I ended up using the spoon to scoop up the chocolate. That wasn't my last hot chocolate but it was the cheapest that I paid for throughout the trip!

In Rome, we visited the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica. We were there unfortunately only for a few hours and I guess to fully see everything can take a day (or more). I was wowing away at the sculptures, paintings, tapestry...everything. It's truly amazing and a must see at least once in a lifetime! Below is just one of the many rooms that we went in to admire the paintings.

It's hard to choose one thing that's the best in the St Peter's Basilica cuz there's just too many so below is just one of the many. The grandeur of the interior will impress anyone and yes, you do not have to be Catholic or very religious to be amazed by what's in the basilica.

Another must see would be the Colosseum (below). I have seen pictures of it, read stories about the Gladiators, and to finally see it...it's just different. It's HUGE and you can just imagine what went on there in the past and how many people were seated around the colosseum. Another wow!

Opposite the Colosseum was the Roman Forum that had beautiful structures and ruins from the past. What struck me as we walked along the cobbled paths was how they managed to build such structures with the technology that they had back then.

The Capital Building is a memorial that was built to remember the fallen soldiers and sculptures that were found there caught my attention, especially the one below.

And last look of Rome below, by night ..