lil’ snow white

it was our first time stayin in a hostel, possibly our last time too. e entire buildin looked pretty dodgy, wif rooms built in a very unsystematic way. we cld imagine it to be some palace in e past, or a dungeon wif secret passages.

after e shock, xing xing decided to treat ourselves better on e trip. we decided to drown our sorrows after dinner.

unlike venice, e entire city is not at all well planned. streets sprang frm everywhere, continuing in all sorts of directions, joinin wif other roads out of e blue, n led us to nowhere. e streets were also dirty n dusty, n e air was polluted too, thanks to all e vehicles stuck in e small jams on e narrow streets. my fren pointed out tt only singaporeans will think this way.. well perhaps japanese like me too bleah..

luckily e next day we went to the Mall, away frm e filthy city of Florence. (i think im e only one who says that cos everyone says florence is so beautiful etc.. yah yah. everywhere is beautiful as long as it’s europe rite..)

after a gruelling 1hr bus ride out to e countryside n up the mountains, we finally arrived at THE MALL! yippee! below: that’s me poutin in e bus. we both ended up feelin nauseous frm e bus ride.

im seen carryin a maroon tods bag above. really chic but i din get it cos it’s too exp even at The Mall haha. n then we got back to Florence at nite.. me poutin again cos i din get e Gucci bag i wanted. ended up wif a burberry bag which is lovely as well. somehow i keep endin up wif burberry these days.. it’s not a conscious choice.. it jus happens. i jus end up wif it. HAH sounds like how i ended up wif xing xing! wahaha.

btw, my burberry bag was retailing at €1300+.. BUT! BUT!! i got it at just €300!! can u believe it??! no defects watsoever, it’s jus a leftover frm last season haha. i’m so gonna make a trip back to e outlet before i start work again haha.

n then e followin day, lucky for us again, we went on a day trip to see e Leaning Tower of Pisa! while walkin to e site, we chanced upon a small gothic church.. n beside it a bridge wif picturesque view.. check out that pic tt looks completely like a painting!! it’s unbelievable! hah..

pics frm pisa turned out really nice.. they look so good, they look like they’re photoshopped n we were superimposed! haha..

we, being big time suckers, decided to go up e leaning tower. it was €15 per pax for a short 10 min up there. so up we climbed.. it was a queer feelin cos as u climb u can feel e tower’s inclination n u feel like gravity’s pullin u frm e side haha. so at e top, e view was… well nice, but not fantastic. we concluded that we’re both “凱子” aka “菜頭”!!

n then i had ice cream before we left!

on our way back, i caused a car accident! i dashed across e road when e car din wanna let me pass even tho e green man was on. he had no choice but to jam brake n ended up wif a dent on his bumper haha! it was pretty dangerous for me, on hindsight.. but heck. he deserves it!!

it was our 1st Anniversary! we decided to have a nice dinner at a restaurant wif ambience hah. e 1st course was good. my spaghetti n xing xing’s lasagne tasted pretty good! n then.. i cant rem if it was 2 or 3 course lar.. cos after e first course we were quite full alrdy, and e rest of e food really jus sucked. my 2nd course was beef stew wif very tough beef, n xing xing had some chicken that was totally dry n hard. i was pretty sure we can cook better than that. sigh.. our meal shld’ve jus ended wif our first dish. damn..

our 2 (or 3) course meal..

the final day, we decided to explore florence, since we havent done much here in this 鬼地方. we went ard Piazza della Signoria, which is like a free outdoor museum. im sure u dunno most of e names of e statue here, but i do! cos i travel wif a knowlegeable travel partner called xiao xing n we’re both interested in these arty farty stuffs! if u’re interested too, e names r wif e pics on my multiply.

statues galore at Piazza della Signoria

n then we chanced upon Ponte Vecchio..

mirror image

have u ever seen anyone who eats an entire cup of whipped cream?
now u have..

for lunch we decided to have some chinese food since we havent had chinese food for more than a wk alrdy. we had this duck wif orange dish, but it tasted better without e orange sauce. we also ordered a beef dish which was not bad, n another tofu dish wif very cheap, lousy tofu. oh well at least it cured our crave for some oriental food haha.

our final stop’s the city’s Duomo or cathedral - Santa Maria del Fiore. below (frm left to right):

us at Santa Maria del Fiore, the East Doors of Baptistry, Chapels at the East End

the Last Judgement fresco on e dome, awaiting e arrival of e Holy Infant (at midnite on xmas)

me wif my audio guide, e very unique 24hr clock tt goes anti-clockwise n starts at 6am,
me in the Duomo.

audio guide is a must for us since we’re 知识分子. i seriously hate e idea of gg ard lookin at things n duno wth they are.. however, in order not to be 菜頭 like us, i suggest tt u bring ear phones cos most audio guides allow u to put ur ear phones in n u can save money by sharin it wif a fren.

basically, Florence has totally failed to impress me. everythin is more expensive than elsewhere in italy, n yet lousier. dirty environment, expensive things, lousy food. we will never go back to this place except to visit The Mall again..

verdict: not recommended at all unless u have e time n money n u’re stuck in italy for god-noes-why.

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