19 Aug - 3rd Sept 2012 Italy + Paris

The 15.5 days of touring in Italy and Paris had officially ended.

The trip was excellent and a dream fulfilled. Memories from this long trip would be treasured and reminisced in the years to come. It was tiring lugging a backpack half my size and a spoilt hand luggage across 5 cities (Rome-Florence-Verona-Venice-Paris) but a trip well worth it. Instead of doing a pure recap of the places traveled to, I will instead list the small memorable parts of the trip for keepsake memory.

Day 1: Rome
We were shocked to see a lift within our hotel (WRT Roman Terrance, a free upgrade from WRT Terminal). It took us a few minutes to figure that that is a lift and how to operate it. The rest of the day was at the famous Colosseum area. Came back to hotel by 5pm for a nap after suffering from jet lag, ended up napping till 9pm before we head for dinner downstairs with the much touted for carbonara spaghetti.

Day 2: Rome
Arriving early at the Vatican, happily gloating of our early arrival ahead of the queues, we were appalled to realize that we started off at the wrong queue. Upon getting to the right queue, it took us about an hr before reaching the gates of the museum. Nonetheless, a great day at the Vatican city and St Peter basilica. This was followed by Spanish steps, Trevi fountain etc. Thankfully, with the cold fountains and refillable drinking taps, we were able to save some money on water and quench our thirst under the hot weather in Rome with temperature reaching 37 degrees. We had our first cooked maggie mee for the trip with canned food brought from Singapore.

Day 3: Rome
Took a bus to the small island in Rome and completed the walk in 30min, explored the area. It was a free and easy day with no exact plans, hence we decided to travel to a castle. This sums up our Rome nicely with a good view overseeing the city of Rome. Dinner was chinese food that Mr Ong could not stop salivering over and insisted on having that for dinner. 

Day 4: Rome - Florence
Stayed in a 4-star hotel a tram stop away from the city. Mainly florence city sightseeing. Had our 2nd cooked noodles meal.

Day 5: Florence
Excitedly, we embark on our day tour around Tuscany a beautiful city of churches, wine and Pisa. Had our 3rd cooked meal with rice = ) our one and only meal with rice.

Day 6: Florence
Highlight of the day was space outlet where we spent the afternoon shopping for others. It was a place with good bargains, just a pity that we did not get anything for ourselves. Nonetheless, it is a trip worth it.

Day 7: Florence
My most awaited Clique Terre trek along the Mediterranean sea. Beautiful. Limited by time, we grabbed MacDonalds for dinner to head back to our hotel to collect our laundry for washing. Reaching the laundry at 9:25pm, we were rushing to place our laundry to the washing machine. Darling was so kan jiong that the washing powder was placed in the wrong places. I was mad but it was so adorable to see him scooping out the washing powder like a little boy to the right places that I couldn't help but burst out laughing, driving away all unhappiness.

Day 8: Florence - Verona
Verona city is small and we covered most grounds quickly despite only arriving in the late afternoon. We were warmly greeted by the restaurant staff where we had our lunch with their local wine. Great taste. Lots of skilled street baskers with 2 leaving the deepest memories. 1 was able to hold on to another person sitting down with just a stick for a couple of hours that we were roaming there. Very impressive. Another was the row of 3 dressed up mummies standing outside the their Roman arena. We had so much time that we decided to head back hotel early for our 4th cooked meal. Running out of canned food, we bought local spaghetti and ham.

Day 9: Verona
Traveled to Lake Garda, 45 min away from Verona city. A scenic place with clear waters, swans and ducks. However, was convinced to go to the other smaller town, only to realize the shops are mainly close between 1pm to 4:30pm. Wandered and lazed around, finally settling down for a drink to chill out for the afternoon, absorbing in the way of life of the local. Our 5th cooked meal.

Day 10: Verona - Venice
Had some difficulty finding our hostel in the outskirts of the Venice city, nonetheless with darling's good map reading skills, we manage to successfully locate it. A very nice homestay with all the essentials required for our stay comfortably with a Taiwanese lady and her Italian husband. The city of canals were filled with tourists and the shops look somewhat the same after a while. After many attempts, we found the only MacDonalds in Venice city to settle our dinner.

Day 11: Venice
Toured the islands in Venice, away from the crowds. Nice islands of Murano and Burano, respectively famous for their stained glass and pretty colourful buildings. At the end of the day, we sold our partially utilized youth pass for 10euros each from our initially purchased price of 22euros. Kudos to darling.

Had our last big home cooked meal with our travel pots. Bought marinated cooked chicken wings from the supermarket and heated up our canned luncheon meat. Finally we got to fry some luncheon meat! Thought embarrassed that we fried and left some lingering smell in the kitchen, we really loved that meal as we had difficulty finding meat in Italy. Lol...

Day 12: Venice - Paris
Our first day in Paris started late, after meeting with train faults for the airport. We only managed to catch our lunch at 4pm where we saw a good deal for a set meal and gobbled up our food in the stipulated 45min at 11.40euros each, a very affordable price including starters and dessert. Travelling to La Vallée Village, it took us 1hr 40 min to reach with the train heading there stalled. Not a good impression to the start of Paris, experiencing 2 train breakdown within a day. Luckily, the shops closed at 8pm that day and it was sufficient time for us to look around.

 Transportation is very expensive, spending 43euros each for a zone 1-5 pass for 3 days. False information was given by the airport staff, informing us that the youth pass is only eligible to age 18. Though annoyed, it was too late for us to do anything about it too.

Day 13: Paris
A day trip out to Versailles, 1.5hrs journey to reach from city. A huge palace with a a very pretty garden and lake, no wonder it is for the royalties. We spent a long time wandering around the palace admiring the sculptures and the delicate designs of the palace and its surroundings. Our journey back to the city was very smoothly, taking only 40minutes, time saving of half the journey from a kind lady lending us a helping hand to direct us to the right direction and a direct train.

Day 14: Paris (Disneyland)
Darling's 26th birthday was celebrated at Disneyland this year, specially coincided. Being there at a right time, the closing hours were extended to 11pm and the pass allows special admission to 2 themeparks within a day in celebration of its 20th anniversary. Definitely a day is not enough to cover the 2 parks, but every moment there was a magical experience. The fireworks was well worth the wait.

Day 15: Paris
Museum day where we only covered Louvre museum for the famous Mona Lisa painting. Spend a while at Notre Dame before quickly heading back to hotel to prepare for our simple shoot.

Day 16: Paris - Singapore
Home Sweet Home.

Back to the trip, I learnt a lot, learnt the cultures of 2 European counties and learnt the rich history. Rome is not built in a day but through centuries. It is amazing how each city within Italy are different from the other through just a train ride, each city rich in its own culture. Despite spending most of our excess cash on souvenirs for others rather than for ourselves, I love the trip to bits and pieces because witnessing the country through my own eyes and bringing back the pictures with our memories was the best gift from the trip. I have learnt how gracious and environmental friendly the Europeans are, and I have witnessed the talented performing arts and passion of the people there, something it will be hard to witness in Singapore. Through this trip, my eyes and horizons have widened. It gives a totally different experience from Asia, the areas I have usually been traveling to. I love traveling in Italy and Paris, but I know the moment when I stepped back home in Singapore, this is home. It is time to face reality with a different perspective, this time a widely perspective of life.

During the trip, there were moments where we thought the trip was too long, a little tiring. There was moments where I turned very grumpy either at the unsettled work or from walking under the scorching sun or from just randomness at losing our way. But your patience was greatly appreciated, never throwing temper but kept the map safe in your hands guiding us to the destinations. YOU ARE GREAT. No complains of my laziness at map reading, no complains at my whines and tandram throwing, no complains of your tiredness or aching body. Your eye for details were great and I appreciate every moment with you around. Thank you.