Summer Holiday in Italy #3

If you know me well, you should know that I try my best not to consume alcohol. So going to a village known for growing and brewing the finest wine in the world may sound ridiculous. Wine may not attract me, but beautiful vineyards and sweet grapes are definitely my cup of tea.

One of the many Chianti wine districts.

We took a bus from Florence immediately after breakfast to a village 31km away called Greve. The bus ride was very bumpy and passes many vast fields of olive plants and vineyards. After visiting so many popular tourist locations, we finally settled in a peaceful village where their tourism industry is still in its infancy stages. Along the bus ride, we also noticed numerous travellers in full bicycle gear roaming through the narrow streets to enjoy the fresh air with the sweet scent of grapes breezing pass. We decided to rent bicycles as well for a round trip.

There were many wine tasting centres, but not everyone are free.

We got a map and some recommendations from the tourist information centre before heading out to a wine tasting centre just a few steps away from there. This centre had a vast range of wine at an old wine store. There are many round counters surrounded by 15-20 bottles of Chianti hooked into individual dispensers. With just €1-2, wine enthusiasts can get a small sample before deciding to buy their favourite bottle. We spent some time admiring a sample of wine history and continued our journey to the neighboring village. Along the way, we had to cycle in single file to avoid traffic. I was guiding the convoy at the front for a while before looking behind to find half of our convoy stopping at a vineyard taking photos. This vineyard was one of the few easily accessible from the road and is the first time I get to see grapes growing from a tree at close proximity. Many of my friends even took a few nibbles on the sugary sweet grapes... OOPS!!!

Little black wonders of nature cultivated only for one purpose.

On the way to our next destination, one of the bicycles in our convoy broke down. So we had to return back to Greve to return the bicycle and have lunch. Our convoy was divided into 3-4 groups (I don't really remember now), one group had lunch at a restaurant, one group had gelato, one group continued to cycle around town and I hiked up a small hill to get a better view of the fields. I read about a nice lookout point from the map showing a small village named Montefioralle which was just roughly a mile away from Greve which was rated as the most beautiful village in Italy. It took me 20 minutes to reach the village and I wasn't disappointed at all. The map boasted that this village doesn't have a single car, so the air there is almost totally unpolluted.

Continue to see rows of grape plants all over.

Awesome view from the top of a slope near Montefioralle.

It was definitely a long, hot and lonely journey to and from Montefioralle.

After returning to Greve, I met up with the rest of the group and took the bus returning to Florence. Everyone was exhausted that day. The guys planned to catch a football match at a pub near the hostel (AC Milan vs Barcelona) while the girls had dinner and rested at the hostel. The next day we had to travel to Isola de Capri. The journey includes a 5+ hour train to Naples, travelling to Mollo Beverello jetty and another 40 minutes ride on a hydrofoil to Marina Grande, Capri.

Marina Grande looks really beautiful

Planning for the Capri part of the trip was quite chaotic. When we arrived at Naples station, the planner didn't find the way to get on a boat to Capri! I was so surprised by the question "Where is the water?" when we were at the train station asked by the organizer. I remembered that I read about the hydrofoil ride starting from several jetties, the largest was Mollo Beverello, and I went to a convenience store to ask for directions. After several bumps and guidance from police officers and bus conductors, we were on our way to Marina Grande.

Taxis at Capri all had open tops, first time seeing this but no money to get a ride in it,

The frustration didn't end there. The hotel that we were staying in wasn't in Capri town itself but in the other side of the island known as Anacapri, which was another 20 minute bus ride from Marina Grande. Buses between Anacapri and the port is not frequent in the evening and we had to wait for more than an hour since we missed a bus (too many people, too infrequent). The planner only booked 9 beds for 11 of us since the hotel rates were astronomical there, this means that 2 of us had to avoid getting caught by the owner while sneaking in and out. (Bloody stingy Asians... lol!!!)

Mussles and clams on the stone-baked pizza.

We had one of the best pizza dinners in Italy that night thanks to recommendation from Tripadvisor. The restaurant Trattoria il Solitario served pizza that was baked using special wood oven. Besides that, their pizza was also served with some seafood from the port. The atmosphere there was also nice because the tables were all arranged in a garden of local flowers.

More of Capri Island in the next post... To be continued

lalanandaFRY
10/10/2012

Summer Holiday in Italy #2

Where was I? Oh right, La Spezia...

I have only one thing to say about this place. Of all cities, all towns and all villages I have been in my life so far, this is the most beautiful, most spectacular, most awesome-licious. Alright, maybe I am a little overwhelmed by the wonderful memories of this small town, but believe me, all Italy tours should include La Spezia and Cinque Terre in them (they normally don't) or else just don't waste your money. I am dead serious...

Just take a look at this and tell me whether I was right?

Well, La Spezia by itself is not so much an appealing town, but its charms come from its easy access to the Cinque Terre or the Five Lands. The train station at La Spezia offers direct access to all five villages of the Cinque Terre using just one ticket for visitors. The train ride will not only bring you to your destination, the journey itself is a pleasure since the view out of the window is also breathtaking.

We reached La Spezia in the afternoon and decided to travel to just Vernazza after checking into the hotel. I don't remember why we went there, but i guess it was to have dinner at Il Pirata Cafe as recommended on Tripadvisor as the best restaurant of that area. Too bad that shop was fully booked when we arrived and we decided to book for lunch the next day. We were also surprised to meet up with another group who also planned to have dinner there.

Disappointed and hungry, we returned to La Spezia and had dinner at the town area. Initially we planned to walk along some of the Heritage Trails of Cinque Terre to admire the highly praised scenery the following day. When we reached Monterosso al Mare, the weather was really good, a little too good "sunny" to walk and everyone chose to take the train all the way except for the famous Via Dell'Amore (the shortest). I won't explain every one of them in detail, so just enjoy these pictures.

Monterosso al Mare has a long beautiful beach, too bad we didn't have time to enjoy the water.

Had lunch at Il Pirata Cafe and was introduced to a short climb up to a lookout area of Vernazza.

We had to climb 382 steps up to Corniglia, known for their famous lemon gelato.

Nothing much to say about Manarola except its long narrow streets with bright coloured buildings.

We were walking through when the sun was setting, imagine how romantic that would be for couples to have their honeymoons there! :D

Known for being uber romantic, the Via Dell'Amore has thousands of murals drawn by couples professing their love for each other over walls and ceiling.

We were all tired by the time we reach Riomaggiore, so only a few of us walked up a short trail to enjoy the view of the marina.

Our next stop was supposed to be Florence, but we were told that since we had open tickets, we can stop by at Pisa just to get a peek of the leaning tower and rush back to catch a train to Florence. That plan turned out to be both tiring but yet satisfying. The Piazza del Duomo, where the leaning tower stands, was around 1.5km away from the station. It was really a torture to carry our luggage in the hot blazing sun to and from the piazza, but the feeling of actually standing in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa was satisfying enough.

Since so many people did the "leaning" pose, I decided to just straighten it with my huge hand.

The whole piazza was very crowded with only tourist and local authorities.

The next stop was Florence, home to Vespa and universal geniuses Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. We arrived in Florence at late afternoon. After checking into the hostel, washing clothes and settling in, a few of us took a short walk around the town's many street markets. The markets are filled with tourist and resembles Petaling street with numerous stalls selling pirated products and souvenirs. Too bad I was too busy looking at keychains and T-shirts that I didn't take any picture.

Florence is also famous for their bistecca alla fiorentina aka T-bone steak. I didn't try it but I got a glimpse of it from my friend's. I had a Panzanella salad with lots of parmesan cheese and slices of beef, feeling healthy but was overdose with ricotta leaves.

Florentine steak in Za-za.

After dinner, we explored the night view around the city visiting majority of the landmarks within walking distance. Of course most of them were closed but the outer piazzas were still crowded with tourists and street performers. Florence city center reminded me of the majestic setting for the movie Hannibal where the infamous cannibal Hannibal Lecter posed as a library curator. Several of the iconic killing scenes were film by Ridley Scott near Palazzo Vecchio and Ponte Vecchio.

The Duomo is also known as Santa Maria del Fiore.

The Arcone at Piazza della Repubblica looks like the entrance of a galleria but is actually a triumphal arch like Arc de Triomphe in Paris

Palazzo Vecchio, the old town hall where Michelangelo's David sculpture was, they replaced it with a replica while the  actual one is at the Accademia Gallery

Just next to the palazzo is the famous Uffizi Gallery, one of the oldest art galleries in the world and  home to "The Birth of Venus" and "The Annunciation".

Ponte Vecchio is one of the oldest bridges across Arno River which has shops on both sides.

The next day, we took a trip to Greve in Chianti to visit the birthplace of world famous Chianti Wine. To be continued...

lalanandaFRY
9/10/2012

because Blockbusters are too mainstream

Recently I have been idle at home and I found that there is a trend of reviewing stuff on Youtube. Almost anything can be reviewed, but those reviewing films and movies seem to attract me the most and seems to be the most popular of all. I guess this is becoming an industry by itself since it is making tonnes of money through DVD sales and advertisements.

This rising trend continuously remind me more than ever that the film industry is not about making money, it is an art. I am sure you have heard of movies like E.T., The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Dark Knight and also the Star Wars saga. Have you ever wondered why these movies were so successful? Sure you can point out that they were made by some of the most talented minds in Hollywood and that all of them had great stories, memorable characters and wonderful sets. But first let me introduce you to a movie named "The Room". I heard of this film from fellow reviewer Obscurus Lupa, Cinema Snob and later in the notorious scandal involving the Doug Walker's Nostalgia Critic.

First of all, this movie was not a blockbuster (duh!), nor was it in anyway a good film, in fact, it is one of the most horrible piece of junk to ever reach the screen (that is an understatement). But somehow this film became very memorable and can be considered a success. I admit that I have no right to talk about film making since I am in no definition a film maker. I have only made several clip shows, an event commercial and a line of short introductory videos for a university orientation. However my only redeeming factor is that I have watched hundreds of film making documentaries and reviews which helped me understand the processes from both a producing and an audience perspective.

The most famous merchandise, the Johnny Bobble-head.

OK, this film was made by a man named Tommy Wiseau, a film maker who spent $6 million to create a dark comedy. Written, produced, directed and starring himself, this film was given a cult status after its small release in 2003. At first his passion for film making reminded me of Sylvester Stallone and his struggle to create the Oscar winning masterpiece that is Rocky, then I watched this film and it was like comparing Haagen Daaz to cow dung. However this film somehow got a cult following including frequent reruns and lots of merchandise.

Some of the reviewers from thatguywiththeglasses.com

After watching all of Brad Jones's videos on his website, I have a feeling that there are actually many lesser known gems in the film industry that deserve more interest. I also find that the budget of a movie does not always determine the quality, for example, Star Wars Episode I, Transformers 3 and Batman and Robin. So instead of watching huge blockbusters, why not look out for B-movies with good storylines. Of course remember to consult these guys first.

lalanandaFRY
6/10/12

Summer Holiday in Italy #1

LONG LONG OVERDUE POST from over one year ago (September 2011). So I'm posting this by memory... some maybe inaccurate!

As promised, I'll write about my Italy trip. Before I elaborate on the entire 2 weeks, I'd like to sum the whole trip in 3 words.

HOT, TIRING, FUN

Being in Italy was like returning to Malaysia, the weather was above 30°C but instead of the usual humid air, it was really dry there. One thing I found out there was that food and drinks are really expensive, much more than Glasgow. Simple food like pizzas and pastas costs up to 15 euros per person. Mom and dad, please forgive me for spending too much, I've tried my best by eating plain buns for at least 4 lunches.

Ryanair was quite good actually!

Okay! We started our journey in the morning as we took a train to Glasgow Prestwick Airport from Glasgow Central Station. Our flight didn't take us straight to Milan but instead we had a transit at London for several hours. We reached Milan at night and we spent our first night in Milano Centrale Train Station a.k.a the worst place to sleep ever, so that we could catch our train to Venice at 6.35am.

Many of us played Monopoly Deal and Cho Dai Di without sleeping the whole night although we were all exhausted.

In a blink of an eye, we were at Venice. Venice is no doubt a beautiful city with rich history but it has way too many tourist making it really congested with its little walk ways and everything is more expensive. Hoorah TOURIST TRAP! Besides, the streets are very very narrow with uncoordinated direction signage (reminds me of where I'm from) and we actually got lost several times looking for those famous landmarks like Rialto Bridge and Piazza San Marco.

Rialto Bridge

Piazza San Marco

You may already know that Italy is home too lots of our staple delicacies such as pizza, pasta and tiramisu. In recent years, there have been numerous shops starting up in KL selling Italian ice-cream aka Gelato. Since we were already in the home of Gelato... you get the idea.

First of many many Gelatos throughout the trip

We were there for 2 days and we stayed at a Chinese hostel at Mestre who cooks lovely Chinese food for breakfast and dinner. We also had the luxury to visit other Venetian islands like Murano, Burano and Lido.

Murano 玻璃岛 famous for glass making

Burano famous for all the bright coloured residential buildings

Lido famous for hosting the annual Venice Film Festival

 After spending 2 full days in Venice, we returned to Milan for a day. Of all the Italian cities, this was one of the bigger and higher profile ones because of their abundance of designer shops. Besides visiting Piazza del Duomo, where all 3 prominent landmarks of the city are situated, we also visited the Quadrilatero della moda (Quadrilateral of Fashion), the high class shopping area housing most of the world's largest fashion houses.

Duomo Milano

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in the evening

Parco Sempione overlooking Pota Sempione (the arch of peace)

One of the many high end boutiques along Via Montenapoleone

Then we travelled to La Spezia via Italian Eurostar. To be continued...

lalanandaFRY
6/10/2012

Uni-6-disaster Sum-UP

I don't think anyone in my course would disagree that this semester is one of most difficult semesters, comparable with the final semester.

While trying to settle in a whole new world, we were presented with 3 subjects:

1. PP3 - Gotta be very efficient in time management and familiar with UK pharmacy laws.
2. FMT1 - Probably the easiest of the three but can't be taken lightly.
3. FMT2 - Gotta think and solve issues instead of memorizing facts.

Fortunately, I managed to crawl through this semester and pass all the subjects. So it is time for a little intermission and travel around during the short break. So far I've only been around Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Scott Monument, our first stop.

Attended the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

my first time planning an excursion

I wouldn't say Edinburgh is more beautiful than Glasgow, just more well spread.

I also visited Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park

haven't seen some of them for almost a year

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Museum side

Art Gallery side

Riverside Museum

I haven't seen such a large transportation museum

 Living in Glasgow is really delightful with so many friends getting so much closer then we were in Malaysia.

It is so nice to live with great cooks and best buddies!

Celebrate happy occasions together

Meet up with old friends and get to know new ones

study and live together.

I hope you enjoy these pictures. It is 3am in the morning now and my brain is kinda lazy to think of stuff to write. I'm going to Italy very soon, so I shall be writing about that trip in the next post. Till then... arriverderci!

lalanandaFRY
3/9/11