. deLuxique .: Italia I - Roma & Firenze

My annual trip came and went!

This time, we spent 18 days in Europe visiting Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

This shall be the travelogue to record my memories.

Enjoy!

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Roma

Our trip was meant to stay 3 nights in Rome, but as we get bored fast and 2 nights were all we stayed in the beautiful ancient Rome.

Day 1 : Colosseum & Stuff

Weather's exceptionally cold when we arrived. Lazy me didn't want to take out warmer clothes and as we reached Rome as early as 830am, the hotel was not ready yet.

We left our luggages in the hotel and charged down to the cafe next door to grab our first bite. You see, we didn't eat much on the plane - food wasn't that important as we needed to catch our sleep!

It was roasted half a chicken each with nice hot coffee!

Visiting the Colosseum on foot was great. Walking in the cold weather is an excellent experience. You never need to worry about perspiration or getting tired. Surprisingly, many famous sites are within walking distance in many places.

Besides the Colosseum, there were many similiar 'ruins' in the city too. The feeling of being immensed into a new city mixed with thousand year old ruins is beyond words can describe.

Day 2: Vatican City

The Vatican City is a small self-governed state within Rome. It is also the smallest State in the world. Its Head of State is the Pope. It is very convenient to travel there by their Metro.

Michelangelo is the famous artist who painted the Sistine Chapel. His paintings are wonderful, but a pity we didn't manage to visit it because we went there by ourselves and by the time we finished the , crowds formed and we were too put off to visit.

That's the problem when one does not do enough homework before visiting a historic site. We went to St Peter's Basilica without knowing, and realised it was a place to house all past Pope's tombs. Every inch was beautifully carved and the tombs weren't scary at all. Some of them even had the remains of the Popes carefully displayed.

Inside St Peter's Basilica

The Swiss Guards

St. Peter's Square

Day 3: Spanish Steps - Piazza di Spagna

I was getting bored and a good thing that my good friend told me to go visit Spanish Steps.

It was good thing we were there! It's full of fashion labels to choose from! The famous Spanish Steps were constantly full of people, and life there seemed so carefree and relaxed as we observed people gathering and enjoying each other's company - whether at the steps or the Cafeterias.

Narrow Streets of Spanish Steps

"Ang Moh" Roast Chestnuts!

Mom would be equally surprised when she hears this.

The roasted smell is very different from Singapore's.

Famous Spanish Steps

Day 4 - Firenze (Florence)

After being in Milan, I can now confidently confirm that I still prefer Florence to Milan. Simply because the shops are more organised, and it's more beautiful.

We took the easy way - Hop-On, Hop-Off topless bus to tour the city. I am glad we did that! We got to visit the top of Florence - with beautiful landscape of the entire city and through the super narrow streets to places like Salvatore Ferragamo's house, Galileo and Tchaikovsky's neighbourhood not forgetting the famous Duomo and shopping street Via Tornabuoni.

We spent our time visiting the night markets and streets of shops selling all kinds of stuff. And yes, their leather goods are in abundance. Imagine the entire market selling leather products in all kinds!

The famous Duomo

View from Top of the Bus

Panoramic View of the Florence City

Pardon his inmodesty.

View Along the River During Our Bus Ride

This is better than the Louvre.

You don't have to queue or fight with crowds to see.

There's a policeman with eagle eyes to ensure NO ONE touches them!

There are many of such 'hangers' attached on the buildings.

We figured out it was meant to tie the horses, just like how we park our cars along the buildings these days!

Leather Market - Bags, Jackets, etc etc!

House of Salvatore Ferragamo.

It is now a boutique and a museum.

Viewing is available by appointment only.

Day 5 - The beautiful Pisa

Pisa is another town which is near to Florence. According to our tour guide, there are 5 towns in Tuscany altogether and Florence is the biggest. Our bus ride was 1.5hours and we basically spend a good 2 hours at Pisa's Miracle Square.

Miracle Square got its name because it's an enclosed area that has a Baptistry, Church, Hospital and Cemetary - everything a man needs in his entire lifetime. And of course, it is also home to the super-duper famous Leaning Tower.

Oh by the way, the Tower was built just to store bells. And it is not the only building that was leaning. The Baptistry was leaning too, but it wasn't as bad as the Tower. Otherwise, I think the Baptistry would be be more famous.

Entrance to Pisa's Miracle Square