Roma (Part 2)

1) Vatican City

2) Saints

If the rest of Rome was crowded, the queue to get into the Vatican City was insane. We bought queue-jump tickets and by-passed hundreds and hundreds of sweaty people waiting under the sun. I knew I was very blessed to be back again, so I was determined to admire the artwork inside for as long as it took.

3) Part of Raphael's The School of Athens

4) Raphael's The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple

We were packed like sardines inside the Sistine Chapel. Ventilation was poor and tour groups were quickly herded through the room like sheep. I wonder if anyone actually saw the beauty Michelangelo created. We were lucky enough to grab seats as soon as a couple left. We sat there for ages listening to our audio guide and we took our time appreciating the paintings. My neck ached like crazy because the ceiling was very high, but I knew that I couldn't take my eyes away from the world-famous Sistine Chapel ceiling. I kept staring and staring at The Creation of Adam until the image of God's hand giving life to Adam was burned into my mind. The Last Judgement is also another Michelangelo masterpiece I'll remember for a very long time.

5) Spiral staircase

6) The Mouth of Truth

Fans of Audrey Hepburn who've seen the movie Roman Holiday would know that the Mouth of Truth would bite off your hand if you were a liar. Well, I'm glad to report that both of us have still got our hands intact. I guess we're very honest people.

7) Inside a mini church

8) Piazza Navona

9) Artist at work

10) Tiramisu

11) Protest

On the last night we were in Rome, there was a peaceful protest just right outside our hotel. We weren't caught in the commotion, but did have a bit of trouble getting back into the hotel. It was peaceful, though, so there was no cause for worry.

I realized I'm not very good at talking about my trips, but they say a picture paints a thousand words so this post and the last should be worth a lot. I hope you've enjoyed the pictures, anyway.

Check out Roma (Part 1) here*click*!

Roma (Part 1)

Here are a couple of outfits I wore while I was rome-ing (geddit? GEDDIT? haha) around in Rome. I think most days I was a walking advert for H&M and the other days, Primark.

1) Vittorio Emanuele II Monument

Heart-shaped sunglasses: H&M
Cardigan with elbow patches: H&M

Scallop-edge vest: Wholesale Dress

Alexa-inspired satchel: Random blogshop

Vintage cameo brooch: Vintage fair

Paperbag skirt with heart prints: H&M

Lace up floral brogues: New Look

2) Sitting on the Spanish Steps

Cardigan with elbow patches: H&M
Beatles t-shirt: H&M

Paperbag trousers: H&M

Alexa-inspired satchel: Random blogshop
Lace up floral brogues: New Look

3) Ancient ruins in the Roman Forum

Cardigan: Primark

White blouse with ruffles: Primark

Alexa-inspired satchel: Random blogshop

Floral shorts: ASOS.com

Shoes: Primark

4) Light a candle

It is undeniable that Italy has the most beautiful cathedrals. A lot of them are huge, with extraordinarily high ceilings and beautiful carvings. Paintings on the wall date back to hundreds and hundreds of years. Sometimes, if we were really lucky, a choir group would be singing and to be sitting in a 16th, 17th or 18th century cathedral, listening to such angelic voices truly is a great experience.

5)Altar

Although I'm not a religious person, I appreciate the beauty of these places of worship. The artists and architects commissioned to build these places really have put in a lot of love and effort, and it shows.

6) Humongous organ

7) Theatre of Marcellus

8) Ruins

While we were rome-ing around, we came across plenty of excavations still going on. Rome is full of such ruins. Tiny pieces of history. Evidences of Roman kings and their empires. It will only be interesting if you know your history and if you've read up before you came.

9) The Pantheon

Perhaps the most well-preserved building in Rome. Look at it! Practically the whole thing is intact!

10) The dome

The only source of light for The Pantheon. According to our guidebook, when it rains or snows, the sight of water/snow falling through the hole to the floor of The Pantheon is absolutely beautiful. Too bad we weren't able to witness that.

11) Fountain of Trevi

Fans of the popular TVB drama Triumph in the Skies (Chung Seong Wan Siu) would recognize this place. It's really quite pretty, but always crowded. We managed to squeeze in and threw some coins into the fountain. Legend has it that if you threw a coin into the fountain, you'll return to Rome. Well, I threw a coin into the fountain 4 years ago and I did return, so I guess it's true!

12) Risotto 1

13) Risotto 2

14) Night view

15) The Colosseum at night

Venezia (Part 2)

1) Hello! I'm a tourist!

Venetian gondolier hat: Random souvenir stall

Lace embellished, polka-dotted blouse: Wholesale Dress

Cameo brooch: Vintage fair

Alexa-inspired satchel: Random blogshop

Paperbag trousers: H&M

Lace up floral brogues: New Look

Doesn't my outfit just scream "tourist"?
Cheap "Venetian hat" on head? Check!
Camera around the neck? Check!
Guidebook in hand? Check!

2) Gorgeous pins made by a local designer

3) Tiny, tiny hand-painted masks

4) Elaborate Venetian mask

5) Masquerade! Paper faces on display! *brownie points to you if  you know where that came from*

It was extremely difficult to photograph the Venetian masks as nearly all the vendors in Venice have a very strict "No Photography" policy. They have their reasons, I suppose:
1) Pesky tourists coming in and taking pictures all day long without buying anything must be pretty annoying
2) They fear their original masks designed and lovingly made by local craftsmen will be copied and mass-produced

6) "No China"

I guess it's pretty clear what this shopowner is saying ;) There are also plenty of posters around appealing to tourists not to buy "Made in China" masks, but to support the Venetian mask-makers, a dying trade. In Murano, it was the same as the glassblowers face stiff competition from imported goods.

7) Pizza made by a husband & wife team

8) Rialto Bridge

9) Saint Mark's Basilica

10) The boyf and I on the veranda at Saint Mark's Basilica

11) The Campinile at Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Square)

12) Ooooh my legs look so long. Yeap, this photo serves no purpose :P

I

13) Where the gondolas (and tourists) congregate

14) Spaghetti cabonara

15) Spaghetti frutti di mare

16) Gelato in yummy flavours

We had quite a lot of gelato the whole time we were there because it was so frigging hotomgyouwontbelieveit! I wore trousers and pulled on the cardigan because we were going into the cathedral and we had to dress decently. I swear I almost had a heatstroke! *drama* Anywayz, yummy scoops of gelato (which, according to our guidebook, has less fat than normal ice cream. WIN!) saved me from potential embarassment of fainting from the heat.

17) Oh, Venice, you're so pretty!

18) Bus Vaporetto stop

Last day in Venice.

19) On the Bridge of Sighs

Remember I talked about the Bridge of Sighs in my first Venice post*click*? Well, this was the "last glimpse" I was talking about.

20) Piazza San Marco again

On the last day, the weather became much cooler because it rained the previous night. Though I loved the entire Venice trip, I think I liked this day the best because of the cooler weather and also because it was slightly less crowded. So my tip would be to visit Venice during the colder months.

21) The view in front of the Doge's Palace

22) Inside the Doge's Palace

23) One of the cosy, little restaurants not infiltrated by tourists (except us haha!)

24) Mixed platter

25) Homemade lagsana

Oh, by the way, I know the squid ink spaghetti in my previous Venice post looks quite gross, but it actually tastes pretty good! It's a local delicacy apparently, so we had to try it. It was good, but I must admit that halfway through, it kind of got a bit too rich and I got sick of it. It was nice to try it once, but we never ordered it again during the rest of our trip. I don't know how to describe it, but I think it tastes a little bit like Marmite? Haha, I know Marmite's one of those things where you either love it or hate it.

And that concludes my trip to Venice!
Next up, ROME!

Check out Venezia (Part 1) here*click*