My dreams of dancing like Madonna on a gondola in her Like a Virgin video have been dashed! We got to the train station @ 8:20 and found that all the trains to Venice were sold out 'til noon!! That would mean half our day would be gone just being on the train to go to Venice!! No thank you! Instead this has become our free day in Florence to do whatever the heck we wanna do!
After being brutally rebuffed @ the train station, we went to see the duomo in Sta. Maria Novella. It was quite "interesting" that we had to pay €3.50/ea to go inside a church. It was amazing to see the art work of Bochelli and other artists. What disturbed me was Giotto's depiction of the crucifixtion. Waaaaaaay graphic complete with blood spurting out of Christ's side. Lovely. There was supposedly a 14th century optical illusion if you stood in the middle of the nave, but we couldn't see it, try as we might.
Oh I forgot to mention that prior to going to church, we went to the Officiana Profumo-Farmaceutica di Sta Maria Novella. It was some fancy shmancy perfumery that's been around since 1612. When we stepped in, the place looked like an old church (sans pews) with glass cabinets showing off their wares. They had a large "menu" of products in many different languages, but no prices! Where I come from when they don't show you the price of anything it usually means it's expensive! Guess what? It was VERY expensive!!
I would mill about near the cash register to hear prices for what people were buying so that I could guage if I could buy anything. Every time I saw what ppl were buying, it was always bars of soap! I kept wondering what was so great about these soaps that everybody was buying them. Everytime I saw someone being rung up their purchases, they were always bars of soap and sometimes lotions. I sampled their differnt perfumes and thought about buying one of those. My favorite scent was called Angels of Florence! I sprayed some on the list of stores they have world wide (FYI in California, the one and only shop is on Melrose!) and stuck it in my new Mandarina Duck purse. My cousin, Arlyn, also enjoyed the smell of that perfume and was gonna buy a bottle. I thought, "Great! She'll find out for me how much it is!!!" Arlyn gets to the front of the line, asks the bitchy sales lady how much for the perfume and she says €100!!! When I left America it was $1.40 = €1. There's no way in hell that I'm gonna spend $140 on a bottle of perfume!! While my cousin was being helped, I put on my scarf and sprayed that perfume on my scarf and on myself!! At least i'll smell very nice for one day!! :-D
After this little adventure, we headed back to the hotel to drop off my cousin's purchases as well as to use the restroom and plan out next adventure. They had planned on going to the Piti Palace, home of some of the Medeci's. I asked if I could sit this one out since my feet are KILLING me!!!! Tomorrow we have a walking tour of Siena. I'd rather save my feet for then rather than run around Florence more.
I'm sitting in my lovely hotel room overlooking the Arno River, enjoying the silence! All I hear is the bustling of the scooters, horse drawn carriages, and foot traffic below. After posting this blog, I'll take a pic of my view and post it on FB.
Ciao for now!! TTFN!!!!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
IT'S TOO EARLY!!!!
It's 7:00am!! The earliest I've ever been up while here!! Ok bathroom's free gotta get ready now!!!
Galileo's Finger
Just came back from seeing Galileo's finger. What can I say? That really was his shriveled and dried up finger! Well fingerS to be exact! At first I was excited to see that it was hid middle finger on his right hand! Then I looked at the jar next to it and found that they also have his right index finger, right thumb, and a tooth to boot!! Yeah, I know you're jealous of my experience! :-p
Just what does Galileo's centuries old fingers look like? Well let me tell you! They look like dried twigs!! I didn't even know those twig looking things in the jars were Galileo's fingers until I read the little placards below them. Then the stupid twigs took on a different meaning to me. Then it became a morbid curiosity. My cousin, Armine, and I stood there staring @ these oddities. The odd thing is that the index finger looks longer than the middle finger. Reason being is that the index finger and thumb are attached, so they had to cut further down to keep them attached. What I'm wondering is they've already got 3 out of 5 of his fingers, what stopped them from taking his whole right hand?!?!
After looking @ Galileo's lopped off digits, we spent the rest of the day souvenir shopping. Someone's gonna get a replica of David's "junk!!" ;-p j/k! One of the guys I purchased souvenirs from said to me, "I'll be back" on his best Arnold Schwartzenegger when he found out I was from California. Great! Even the Italians know how stupid our governor is!!
Ok time to take a very careful shower in my shower curtain-less tub! Gotta wake up early tomorrow to take the train to Venice! TTFN!!
Just what does Galileo's centuries old fingers look like? Well let me tell you! They look like dried twigs!! I didn't even know those twig looking things in the jars were Galileo's fingers until I read the little placards below them. Then the stupid twigs took on a different meaning to me. Then it became a morbid curiosity. My cousin, Armine, and I stood there staring @ these oddities. The odd thing is that the index finger looks longer than the middle finger. Reason being is that the index finger and thumb are attached, so they had to cut further down to keep them attached. What I'm wondering is they've already got 3 out of 5 of his fingers, what stopped them from taking his whole right hand?!?!
After looking @ Galileo's lopped off digits, we spent the rest of the day souvenir shopping. Someone's gonna get a replica of David's "junk!!" ;-p j/k! One of the guys I purchased souvenirs from said to me, "I'll be back" on his best Arnold Schwartzenegger when he found out I was from California. Great! Even the Italians know how stupid our governor is!!
Ok time to take a very careful shower in my shower curtain-less tub! Gotta wake up early tomorrow to take the train to Venice! TTFN!!
Ciao Florence!!
I'm in the beautiful city of Fiorenzia or Florence in English. Great thing about this city is that it's flat and not very big! It's like wondering around a Hollywood backlot because it's so small.
This morning we took a tour called "The Best of Florence." Our tour guide, Francesca, is a native of Florence (or so she claims) who very enthusiastically took us around the city. Highlights of the tour included going into the more historical duomos (that's churches to us English speakers) and we got to see THE David by Michelangelo. Very awe inspiring to see the original David. I must say though that he is as large as the replica @ Caesar's Palace in Vegas!
One more thing about the David, the people around here are obsessed with his...ummmmmm...his...his "junk!" there are postcards, mini sculptures, aprons, t-shirts, and boxer shorts of David's junk!! WTF?!?! I know this is allegedly Michelangelo's most perfect sculpture, so doe that mean that David's junk is THE most perfect junk?!?! Just food for thought.
Ok gotta go! We're off to the Science Museum to see Galileo's finger. Which finger? I dunno, but I'm gonna find out! TTFN!!!
This morning we took a tour called "The Best of Florence." Our tour guide, Francesca, is a native of Florence (or so she claims) who very enthusiastically took us around the city. Highlights of the tour included going into the more historical duomos (that's churches to us English speakers) and we got to see THE David by Michelangelo. Very awe inspiring to see the original David. I must say though that he is as large as the replica @ Caesar's Palace in Vegas!
One more thing about the David, the people around here are obsessed with his...ummmmmm...his...his "junk!" there are postcards, mini sculptures, aprons, t-shirts, and boxer shorts of David's junk!! WTF?!?! I know this is allegedly Michelangelo's most perfect sculpture, so doe that mean that David's junk is THE most perfect junk?!?! Just food for thought.
Ok gotta go! We're off to the Science Museum to see Galileo's finger. Which finger? I dunno, but I'm gonna find out! TTFN!!!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Ciao Italia!!
I'm in Italy!!! I FINALLY have Internet access!! First blog in Italy!
What you've missed so far was me in Rome. It was surreal to be in a place that I had only seen in tv, movies, textbooks, and replicated in Vegas! I call shenanigans on all of you who have been to Italy and never told me about the crazy "Kilikili Power" (that's B.O. to all you non-Filipinos)!!! I understand that Eurpoeans don't like to bathe daily, but would it kill them to use deodorant?!?
Our hotel room in Rome was like a closet!! I've sustained some bruises on my legs and arms from bumping into corners of walls, towel racks, doors, luggage, and sometimes a cousin!
First stop in Rome was the famed Colosseum! Let me tell ya that thing is a lot smaller than I expected!! It's not nearly as big as the Colosseum in South Central if you can believe that! The stairs were quite steep and uneven, so it was scary @ times going up and down them.
Across the way from the Colosseum was Palatine Hill. This is allegedly the birthplace of Rome. This is the hill where the she-wolf fed Rome's founders Romulus and Remus. It was also the home of all the Caesars.
On the other side of the hill was the Forum. Again, nothing like I expected. In all honesty I was expecting to find the ruins of something resembling The Great Western Forum in Inglewood. NOPE! All I found were ruins!! What I found inneresting was I got to visit the gravesite of Julius Caesar!! It wasn't fancy, just in a 3 walled brick building and a mound of dirt with flowers on top. For all I know there's nothing there but a big pile of dirt!!
Another underwhelming site was Circo Maximo or Circus Maximus in English. It's where all these great sporting events and fights took place but now it's just a big dirt ditch!!
Next day found us in a different country...Vatican City to be exact! Like good Catholics, we paid homage to THE church of all churches! We took the big two hour walking tour of the Vatican. Our tour guide was very accommodating about our comfort, very knowledgable, very funny, and looked very much like Jeremy Piven!! The inside of the Vatican is very impressive and very massive! I stood in awe of the many works of art as well as being in the same room as the many Popes who have occupied those rooms for centuries. I was most awestruck when I went into the Sistine Chapel. I was impressed by the infamous ceiling, but I was more impressed by the painting @ the front altar, "The Last Judgement." it was one of Michlangelo's last works. It depicted heaven, purgatory, and hell. After this tour my cousins and I were wiped! Wiped out enough to take a taxi back to our hotel.
This morning we said arrivederci to Rome and ciao to Florence!! What I will miss about Rome aside from all the historical monuments, the faboo coffee that came with my brekkie every morning. That was THE smoothest and richest coffee I've ever had!!
We arrived in Florence around 2 in the afternoon. Our room is gi-normous compared to our room in Rome. We also (obviously) have Internet access and it's free to boot! Downside is our bath tub has NO shower curtain!! This should be very interesting! Only thing we've done today is shop and eat even more gelato!! In 4 days I've had gelato 5 different times from 5 different places! Each and every one of them was faboo!
Ok time to sign off for now. Gotta figure out how to take a shower without a shower curtain!! TTFN!! ;-p
What you've missed so far was me in Rome. It was surreal to be in a place that I had only seen in tv, movies, textbooks, and replicated in Vegas! I call shenanigans on all of you who have been to Italy and never told me about the crazy "Kilikili Power" (that's B.O. to all you non-Filipinos)!!! I understand that Eurpoeans don't like to bathe daily, but would it kill them to use deodorant?!?
Our hotel room in Rome was like a closet!! I've sustained some bruises on my legs and arms from bumping into corners of walls, towel racks, doors, luggage, and sometimes a cousin!
First stop in Rome was the famed Colosseum! Let me tell ya that thing is a lot smaller than I expected!! It's not nearly as big as the Colosseum in South Central if you can believe that! The stairs were quite steep and uneven, so it was scary @ times going up and down them.
Across the way from the Colosseum was Palatine Hill. This is allegedly the birthplace of Rome. This is the hill where the she-wolf fed Rome's founders Romulus and Remus. It was also the home of all the Caesars.
On the other side of the hill was the Forum. Again, nothing like I expected. In all honesty I was expecting to find the ruins of something resembling The Great Western Forum in Inglewood. NOPE! All I found were ruins!! What I found inneresting was I got to visit the gravesite of Julius Caesar!! It wasn't fancy, just in a 3 walled brick building and a mound of dirt with flowers on top. For all I know there's nothing there but a big pile of dirt!!
Another underwhelming site was Circo Maximo or Circus Maximus in English. It's where all these great sporting events and fights took place but now it's just a big dirt ditch!!
Next day found us in a different country...Vatican City to be exact! Like good Catholics, we paid homage to THE church of all churches! We took the big two hour walking tour of the Vatican. Our tour guide was very accommodating about our comfort, very knowledgable, very funny, and looked very much like Jeremy Piven!! The inside of the Vatican is very impressive and very massive! I stood in awe of the many works of art as well as being in the same room as the many Popes who have occupied those rooms for centuries. I was most awestruck when I went into the Sistine Chapel. I was impressed by the infamous ceiling, but I was more impressed by the painting @ the front altar, "The Last Judgement." it was one of Michlangelo's last works. It depicted heaven, purgatory, and hell. After this tour my cousins and I were wiped! Wiped out enough to take a taxi back to our hotel.
This morning we said arrivederci to Rome and ciao to Florence!! What I will miss about Rome aside from all the historical monuments, the faboo coffee that came with my brekkie every morning. That was THE smoothest and richest coffee I've ever had!!
We arrived in Florence around 2 in the afternoon. Our room is gi-normous compared to our room in Rome. We also (obviously) have Internet access and it's free to boot! Downside is our bath tub has NO shower curtain!! This should be very interesting! Only thing we've done today is shop and eat even more gelato!! In 4 days I've had gelato 5 different times from 5 different places! Each and every one of them was faboo!
Ok time to sign off for now. Gotta figure out how to take a shower without a shower curtain!! TTFN!! ;-p
Friday, October 1, 2010
PROCRASTINATING
I'm still in the middle of packing. I lost my momentum to pack when my mom called me @ work and told me that I had to babysit my nephew for a few hours while she goes to my cousin's bday lunch. On one hand, I got to hang out w/my nephew and had a great time! On the other hand, it's almost 1:00 am and I'm still packing. Ok, I have to admit, I took a 30 min FV break to harvest my raspberries. They're only a 2 hour crop and I gotta get my fill of farming before I leave! Now I'm taking a who knows how long break to write this blog 'coz I've gotta work up the motivation to continue packing.
I hate packing for trips! It's hard for me to set up outfits for what I'm going to wear days ahead. I sometimes change 3 times in the morning before I run out the door for work! I don't quite get that luxury when I go on vacation, so it makes it quite hard to pick out outfits. Not to mention that I'm going to a country that I don't quite know what the weather's like. Sure weather.com tells me that it's going to be around the 70's, but how do I know that 74 degrees in Florence feels like 74 degrees in California? Oh and I've also got the added "pressure" of trying not to look like a tourist! I don't know why I'm even trying given that my face is kind of a dead give away!
I went to exchange money this afternoon during my lunch time. It's was sooooo depressing to find out that I had to pay $1.40 to get 1 Euro. *sigh!* My American pennies aren't going to take me very far in Italy!
Ok, I'm getting up now and I'm going to start packing again. For real! Ok! Now! C'mon Dora, LOG OFF!!
I hate packing for trips! It's hard for me to set up outfits for what I'm going to wear days ahead. I sometimes change 3 times in the morning before I run out the door for work! I don't quite get that luxury when I go on vacation, so it makes it quite hard to pick out outfits. Not to mention that I'm going to a country that I don't quite know what the weather's like. Sure weather.com tells me that it's going to be around the 70's, but how do I know that 74 degrees in Florence feels like 74 degrees in California? Oh and I've also got the added "pressure" of trying not to look like a tourist! I don't know why I'm even trying given that my face is kind of a dead give away!
I went to exchange money this afternoon during my lunch time. It's was sooooo depressing to find out that I had to pay $1.40 to get 1 Euro. *sigh!* My American pennies aren't going to take me very far in Italy!
Ok, I'm getting up now and I'm going to start packing again. For real! Ok! Now! C'mon Dora, LOG OFF!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)