#Italy #Rome #Day 7

Wo, here we come...Rome!This is one of the cities I l always want to go for, plainly because I read a lot of legend stories of the places and it sounds interesting to me!

First arrival here , we visited another country instead which isVatican!We went to 2 places which is Vatican museum and St. Peter’s Square & Basilica FREE

 The Vatican Museums are the museums of the Vatican City and are located within the city's boundaries.
The highlight of it is the The Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is the personal chapel of the pope and the place where new popes are elected. But its claim to fame is its paint job: colorful frescoes by Michelangelo, depicting the entire Christian history from the Creation to the Last Judgment. 

Then, we took metro back to Rome. After having our dinner, we visited Spanish Steps & Trevi fountain

Trevi Fountain is a fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Pietro Bracci. Standing 26.3m high and 49.15m wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world.

A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. Coins are purportedly meant to be thrown using the right hand over the left shoulder. 

The Spanish Steps are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. The Scalinata is the widest staircase in Europe.

But for us, we came out with our own story. Girl should throw the coin whereas guys should picked it up so that they can find their love one! Believe it or not, it is just a legend.

#Italy #Pisa #Day 6

Early in the morning, we woke up and packed our stuffs. As we were not allowed to leave our luggage in the apartment. We carried our luggage with us and headed to Duomo. Then, we took turn to take care of the luggage while the rest climbed the staircase up to the tower.

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the main church of Florence, Italy. 

Then, we took train to Pisa. 

All of us were so tired that none of us realise that we didn't verify our tickets while we entered the train and so we were fined! 120 euro! And all of us slept like log without knowing it until we arrived.

Then, we checked in the hotel in Pisa and walked to Pisa Tower!

The Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply the Tower of Pisa (Torre di Pisa) is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its unintended tilt to one side. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure.

That's all for the sixth day!

#Italy #Florence #Day 5

We reached Florence in the afternoon and we were not allowed to check in first so we put our luggage in the train station and proceeded to Uffizi Gallery.

The Uffizi Gallery is one of the most famous museums in the world given the rich amount of unique artworks and masterpieces conserved within its walls, the majority from the Renaissance period.

Located in the heart of Florence, the Uffizi Gallery hosts works of art by great Italian artists such as Botticelli, Giotto, Cimabue, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaello, just to name a few of the most famous. Its large collection has works from all centuries but a large part dates back to the periods between the 12th and 17th centuries.

The Uffizi Gallery is a must-see destination for anyone visiting Florence and Tuscany and welcomes over a million visitors each year. The Uffizi, together with the Vatican Museums in Rome, are the top two most visited museums in Italy by visitors from all across the world and the long lines at the museum’s entrance are almost as famous as its masterpieces!

The thing is that, Ben and I really took our time to enjoy every single piece of art!

We began our tour by walking up the four long flights of the monumental staircase to the top floor. 

The U-ffizi is U-shaped, running around the courtyard. We saw the Madonna and Child (circa 1310)  

Mary and baby Jesus sit on a throne in a golden never-never land symbolizing heaven, The Annunciation 

As you go, notice many of the same medieval features: religious subjects, gold backgrounds, two-dimensionality, and meticulous detail.

Once in Room 5, stop at the ornate, golden-framed painting at the far end, showing a parade of people coming to greet the baby Jesus,  Adoration of the Magi (1423) ,The Birth of Venus (c. 1485), Adam and Eve, Raphael — Pope Leo X and Cardinals (c. 1518) 

We didnt able to finish appreciating ever single painting though, and we were late for the next guided tour in Palazzo Vecchio! And we were so sorry about that. However, I really appreciated the way the ancient people decorated their house with the secret passage and stuffs! WOW!

The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy. This massive, Romanesque, crenellated fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany. Overlooking the Piazza della Signoria with its copy of Michelangelo's David statue as well as the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi, it is one of the most significant public places in Italy.

Hehe, the next highlight of the day! David Michelangelo!The muscle man! =in the Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, It is the home of Michelangelo's sculpture David. 

Michelangelo's David is the symbol of the Renaissance, and one of Europe's great thrills is actually seeing it in the flesh. 

The story of David....

In 1501, Michelangelo Buonarroti, a 26-year-old Florentine, was commissioned to carve a large-scale work for the Duomo — Florence’s cathedral. He was given a block of marble that other sculptors had rejected as too tall, shallow, and flawed to be of any value. But Michelangelo picked up his hammer and chisel, knocked a knot off what became David’s heart, and started to work.

The figure of David comes from a Bible story. The Israelites, God’s chosen people, are surrounded by barbarian warriors led by a brutish giant named Goliath. The giant challenges the Israelites to send out someone to fight him. Everyone is afraid except for one young shepherd boy — David. Armed only with a sling, which he’s thrown over his shoulder, David cradles a stone in the pouch of the sling and faces Goliath.

In this carving, Michelangelo captures David as he’s sizing up his enemy. He stands relaxed but alert, leaning on one leg in a classical pose known as contrapposto. In his powerful right hand, he fondles the stone in the pouch of the sling, ready to fling it at the giant. His gaze is steady — searching with intense concentration, but also with extreme confidence. Michelangelo has caught the precise moment when David is saying to himself, “I can take this guy.”

While Cindy and I wandered around the Accademia, the others went to checked in the luggage. Then, we celebrated Rachel's birthday!Pizza feast!

#Italy #Venice #Day 4

Our first stop is Mercato Rialto, Venice's colorful open-air market (or "mercato") bustles in the morning but is quiet the rest of the day. This is a great scene to wander through, full of locals buying their cuttle-fish, calamari, soft-shelled crabs, and other delicacies.

As we rounded the corner, we met with one of Venice's most impressive views — the Rialto Bridge.

 A major landmark of Venice, the bridge is lined with shops and tourists. 

As you pass under the fat arch of the bridge, notice the echoes. Gondoliers take full advantage of its acoustics: “Volare, woh -oh...” 

  After passing under the bridge, we approached the Rialto vaporetto stop. Rialto is the geographic and commercial center of Venice. 

The area near the Rialto dock is popular with gondolas. With about 500 gondoliers joyriding amid the churning vaporetti, there’s a lot of congestion, and this is where many accidents take place. 

We didn't take it , hehe, lol, just to save money! =P

 focus on what she is holding! Carciofi!A- muz-try food!

Our next stop is Murano city.
Murano is known for its glass worldwide. Besides that, there is not much else you need to buy besides the normal tourist objects, such as postcards and other souvenirs.Many souvenir shops try to pass off cheap Chinese counterfeit glass as real Murano glass.

glass-making factory

We ended our trip earlier as we need to take train to our next destination which is florence！

P.S.I found my triangel!

But I didnt buy it....haha, maybe a photo with it is more than enough to me~=)

#Italy #Venice #Day 3

Wow!I love Venice, the city of Romance!

Furthermore, we have a tour guide, Gabrielle's mum friend who is a priest! 8 which mean that we don't have to worry about direction.

He is so good- in the sense of he know exactly what youngster nowadays looking for!- Best spot for photos! =P

He even helped us to find the best angle!LOL

We woke up quite late so our plan to watch sunrise failed!

Our journey is normally on a public-transit bus-boat called a vaporetto.

As we waited for the boat, the scenery attracted us! Venice is a barrage on the senses... water, boats, tourists with luggage, locals with briefcases, old buildings, modern bustle. We relax, enjoy a lot just by looking at it!

The first station is the Burano!

I am totally falling in love with it!

Many international magazines include Burano among the top 10 most colorful cities in the world

All visitors of Burano remain intrigued by the many colours of houses that are reflected into the green waters of channels, by the Oblique Bell Tower, by the tranquility and the calmness with which the elderly ladies embroider by their tombolo, while they are laughing and chatting in squares among them. It seems to be in paradise. Children who dart freely with their bicycles, balconies with multicolored flowers, fishermen who put up fresh fish from their traditional boats.

The different colours of the houses, which today rappresent the our island main feature, at a previous time was useful to delimit the properties. Notwithstanding an ancient legend narrates that fishermen painted their houses to see them from long distance when they were far away for fishing.

Then, we went to St Mark Basilia

Right behind St. Mark’s Basilica in terms of actual attractions worth visiting in Venice is the Doge’s Palace. 

The palace also housed the city’s court, and convicted prisoners would take a one-way trip across a tiny bridge into the prison in a building across a tiny canal. 

There are two major highlights on a tour of the Palazzo Ducale. One is the truly massive painting of “Paradise” by Tintoretto which covers one gigantic wall in the Council Hall. 

The other highlight is walking across the famous Bridge of Sighs – the only way you’ll get to walk through this passageway is by going on the tour of the Doge’s Palace. This tiny bridge connects the palace with the prison, and the bridge leads from what was once the court room directly into the prison.

The Bridge of Sighs got its name for the sighs prisoners would emit upon seeing their beloved city through the bridge’s tiny windows for the last time before descending into the window-less dungeons. Many never saw daylight again. 

Sunset bathes the buildings in gold, and nighttime brings its own magic.

Then, we had our lunch in one of the curch in Accademia, where the priest studied。

We had our own time wondering around, taking photos, enjoying good food and all.

#Milan #day 2

We woke up quite early in the morning. But before we went out, we spent an hour recording a video! All of us took a role of a superhero and doing "trampoline" on the bed instead and rescue our boss - Esther!

Our first stop is the Branca Tower near to the Sfroza Castle.
Torre Branca is an iron panoramic tower located in Parco Sempione, the main city park of Milan, Italy.
However, again, it was under renovation when we arrived.

So, we went to Climitero Momumentale after this.

The Cimitero Monumentale is one of the two largest cemeteries in Milan, Italy.

The memorial of about 800 Milanese killed in Nazi concentration camps is located in the center.

The weather is so hot! I felt like I am back to Malaysia. But the thing is that I miss everything in Malysia, but not the weather!

Wow, epic of the day,the well-known must-see last supper painting by Leonardo Da Vinci in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy.

It seemed like he did a lot of thinking of this painting beofre he drew. 

He began working on it in 1495, and finished "The Last Supper" in 1498. This is worth noting, as Leonardo was a known procrastinator with a marked tendency to leave projects unfinished.

"The Last Supper" is Leonardo's visual interpretation of an event chronicled in all four of the Gospels (books in the Christian New Testament). The evening before Christ was betrayed by one of his disciples, he gathered them together to eat, tell them he knew what was coming and wash their feet (a gesture symbolizing that all were equal under the eyes of the Lord). As they ate and drank together, Christ gave the disciples explicit instructions on how to eat and drink in the future, in remembrance of him. It was the first celebration of the Eucharist, a ritual still performed.

Specifically, "The Last Supper" depicts the next few seconds in this story after Christ dropped the bombshell that one disciple would betray him before sunrise, and all 12 reacted to the news with different degrees of horror, anger and shock.

Well, that' all for second day...

#Italy #Milan-#Day 1

We took the flight early in the morning at 7.30am and reached Milan / Linate at 11.00am.

Then, we  redeemed our Milano card in Milan Centrale.

Our princess, Ben left her bag with her passport inside in metro station. Everyone went crazy searching everywhere but luckily her prince, the security guard came along and said he found her bag!

The princess was sooo happy and she held his arm and said “I love you!”

Then, we headed to B&B Music hostel. Since we were quite late, we rather waited for Cindy and we went out together instead of the original plan to going to meet in front of the church.

Around 2.00pm, we went to Sforzesco Castle. It was partly destroyed. Well, I think it is famous maybe because Leonardo Da Vinci helped out in decoration work. 
Well, people are not all good! There are always black sheep that disgrace their own race. A lot of black people selling bracelet here. They approached you and said the bracelet is for free and bring you good luck!
However, they forced you to wear it and then only they asked for money!

Since we were quite late, we didnt go for Teotro Alla Scala which is a place where for lot of performances such as ballet, mask show, opera and on and on.

Then, we went to the Galleria Victtoria, which is the world's oldest shopping mall!Apparently, although there are nothing much inside, still, it is a place worth visiting!

The most interesting part is that on the ground of the central octagonal, there are four mosaics portraying the Coat of Arms of the three Capitals of the Kingdom of Italy (Turin, Florence and Rome) plus the Milan's. The tradition tells that if a person put its right heel on the bull's genitals depicted of the bull from Turin Coat of Arms and turn on himself three times, this will bring good luck. This practice causes damage to the mosaic: a hole developed on the place of the bull's genitals.

After that, we went to Milan Cathedral but too bad it was not open for visit. So instead, we changed plan and went for a hearty dinner before we went back to hotel! But still, it look amazing from exterior!

Dont forget to try the famous risotto!