Day 5: Florence
We took a walking tour immediately after breakfast and saw the Santa Maria del Fiore (Saint Mary of the flower) Firenze Cathedral and basilica.
Florence refers to flower, in particular, the iris which represents the city.
It was a Sunday, so there was mass on. We went into the church to pray for a while and look around. I think Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Galileo Galilei were buried under the church - you could see the marking outlining their tombs on the floor. Along the tour, we also got 2 more handbags at a side market beside the statue of a hog. Mum got me an orange handbag (the one I subsequently brought to Austria and London so maybe I should call it my Europe bag) and a beige & brown one for herself.
It was a Sunday, so there was mass on. We went into the church to pray for a while and look around. I think Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Galileo Galilei were buried under the church - you could see the marking outlining their tombs on the floor. Along the tour, we also got 2 more handbags at a side market beside the statue of a hog. Mum got me an orange handbag (the one I subsequently brought to Austria and London so maybe I should call it my Europe bag) and a beige & brown one for herself.
Every now and then, one would come across art students painting the streets. I guess these paintings would get washed away after a few days, and then they would just paint new ones.
We then drove to Assisi.
The bus stopped along the highway for lunch at Autogrill, which had really good pesto and lasagne and delicious strawberry tart. The carbonara was too dry though.
We rested at the hotel for a while, then headed out to see a church.
We had more gelato along the lane going up the hill where the church was, and Rachel's pistachio gelato was surprisingly good, despite my prior immense dislike towards pistachio ice cream. A lovely lady sewed Rachel's & my name on paper as free samples of her work (she personalises aprons, keychains, etc). Dinner was eaten back at the hotel but it was really quite bad and Rachel declared too loudly that she was "not going to eat this crap".
We had more gelato along the lane going up the hill where the church was, and Rachel's pistachio gelato was surprisingly good, despite my prior immense dislike towards pistachio ice cream. A lovely lady sewed Rachel's & my name on paper as free samples of her work (she personalises aprons, keychains, etc). Dinner was eaten back at the hotel but it was really quite bad and Rachel declared too loudly that she was "not going to eat this crap".
The hotel had TV but all dubbed in Italian with no english subtitles, so I caught an episode of Glee without understanding anything.
Day 6: Rome
We stopped by a pottery and goods factory on the way to Rome. Mum bought a magnet while I tried all their free truffle samples. Then they gave us free raffle tickets and I won a ceramic jug, which was rather nice since I (almost) never win lucky draws. Then we went to Rome and basically did a lot of walking and sight seeing.
The Pantheon is quite an amazing building, for however old it actually is, it looks brand new inside.
The Pantheon is quite an amazing building, for however old it actually is, it looks brand new inside.
We walked through a square in which many vendors were selling art, and Mum picked up a couple more pieces from here.
We also walked along a bridge lined with many angel statues. Apparently this bridge was referenced in The Da Vinci Code (or featured in the movie) but I don't quite recall which because I hadn't read the book at the time so I couldn't make the link.
Day 7: Rome
It was absurdly hot. We went to Vatican City in the morning, where we got to enter the beautiful St Peter's Basilica touch the feet of St Peter. We also went to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, except that was all rushed and we only got 10min inside the Sistine Chapel which had an entry fee of 40 euros (64SGD). This is a fault with our own tour, not the Italian side, but I wished we'd gotten to stay inside longer.
We then went to the Colosseum. It was cool to see it in real life, but really the main things going through my mind at the time was "too hot, too crowded", and "Romans and all their gladiator shows are so sadistic".
Following that, we went to the Fountain of Trevi, in which we threw three coins a la Three Coins in a Fountain, before going for gelato once again. Then we walked to the Spanish steps. Mum made Rachel and I have our portraits drawn. (Rachel's was better because I looked fat in mine, and it's probably due to eating gelato everyday.)
Mum bought yet another painting (she'd gotten one everyday starting from Venice). We found more handbag shops and got more. Then we returned to our hotel and headed out to the nearby pizzaria, this small little place run by 2 Egyptian men, but it had such amazing cheap delicious pizzas and kebab wraps.
We then went to the Colosseum. It was cool to see it in real life, but really the main things going through my mind at the time was "too hot, too crowded", and "Romans and all their gladiator shows are so sadistic".
Following that, we went to the Fountain of Trevi, in which we threw three coins a la Three Coins in a Fountain, before going for gelato once again. Then we walked to the Spanish steps. Mum made Rachel and I have our portraits drawn. (Rachel's was better because I looked fat in mine, and it's probably due to eating gelato everyday.)
Mum bought yet another painting (she'd gotten one everyday starting from Venice). We found more handbag shops and got more. Then we returned to our hotel and headed out to the nearby pizzaria, this small little place run by 2 Egyptian men, but it had such amazing cheap delicious pizzas and kebab wraps.
I scribbled this in my diary to take note of in the future:
Near Marriot Central Park Rome, yellow Pizzaria sign, run by 2 Egyptian brothers, food is cheapcheapgoodgood.
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