one of da sweetest VII

September 2007/15 - Florence

dun really like this toilet. Haha. What i like was its elevator. This hotel has an old old type of elevator, which u need to pull the gate before u press the buttons. Few of us tried to squeeze into the small space, and right after it lifted up, we all went "WAHHHHHHHHHHH~~~~" until ppl downstairs heard our voice. -__-

Breakfast – Continental breakfast, coffee (nice!), orange, egg, ham. Like usual. U can see that i was busying cutting my bread.

Our 1st visit of the day was to a leather shop, if not mistaken. U can smell the odor. Maklumlah, for me, i only can see but not owning anything from that shop, albeit they gave us discount coupons.

pei sun took this pic, as i cant get myself into the crowd. I think this Sifu is trying to inlay the gold onto errrr, notebook or purse. Sudah lupa. hahaa. Cool craft!

after that we went for breakfast (brunch??) at a restaurant nearby. Italian restaurants always hv dim dim lightings. It doesnt make me feel good in the morning. Hahhaa. Self service~
errr, had lasagna, not very nice ler. They ordered pasta, oso not very nice. Hahhaa. The tiramisu was just fine.

wah, expensive pinya baked potato, it cost me €3.50. Since it's very nice, so i forgive the potato. XD

Meanwhile we went to some tourism spots, where few of them located quite near to each other.

wonder if they serve it with peanut butter~

lots of distraction behind the artist.

this is nice, kok loon took it with his fav sephia effect.

The Palazzo Vecchio (IPA pronunciation: [palatzo vɛkio]) (Italian for Old Palace) is the town hall of Florence, Italy. This massive, Tuscan Gothic^[1], crenellated fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany. Overlooking the Piazza della Signoria with its famous copy of Michelangelo's David statue as well the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi, it is one of the most significant public places in Italy.

Originally called the Palazzo della Signoria, after the Signoria of Florence, the ruling body of the Republic of Florence, it was also given several other names: Palazzo del Popolo, Palazzo dei Priori, and Palazzo Ducale, in accordance with the varying use of the palace during its long history. (wiki)

fuah, wiki this Palazzo Vecchio, u can see a resemblant photo of which i pasted here.

this is Loggia dei Lanzi, where u can notice there are few sculptures under the canopy. I look took few photos of the statues in front cuz lazy to walk further. Hehe. It's just right opposite Palazzo Vecchio. At Loggia dei Lanzi, we hav :

a.k.a the Rape of the Sabine Women

Perseus with the Head of Medusa.
I love those stories behind these statues. Some are sad though.

This gate is the masterpiece of Lorenzo Ghiberti. Michelangelo defined the door as the Gate of Paradise
天堂之门.

i cant remember what inspired us to pose in such way. However,it wasnt the 1st time we pose like this, we've done that in Liverpool Museum.

The water came out from the boar's snout. People said that rolling a coin down its snout into the fountain brings good luck, and that whoever does so will not fail to return to Florence one day. I only managed to do tat in my 3rd attempt. Err, or 2nd. Hmmmmm...

ah seng... our Dai Lou. Stepped out from his own shop. XD I tried to highlight the name of the shop, but failed to do so. =P

we're bored.

dunno what does this piece called. Pensione means guest house in italian.

err, they're standing in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, where next to it is Uffizi Gallery with lots of people wandering in front of it. Haha, jk nia. I guess most of them wanted to join the queue for the gallery tour.

Michelangelo's David. Stood in front of Palazzo Vecchio. There's this very nice frontispiece at its entrance. Somehow i didnt upload the photo here. ahahha, forget to pick.

i dunno wat this type of tunnel/bridge/rooms/corridor/blarblar are called. Can see these type of architecture structure everywhere in Italy. It normally connects a building to another. I heard the tour guide said they build toilet in between, so that people who stayed in diff blocks could share the toilet (??!?!!?) hmmm. This tunnel/bridge/rooms/corridor/blarblar here links btw Palazzo Vecchio and Uffizi Gallery.

Hehe, i like this cupid here. Very expressive!

a view from behind. Teeehee.

The statue of Hercules and Cacus. Other than David, this statue placed in front of the entrance of Palazzo Vecchio as well.

This is the alleyway btw the two buildings that i mentioned earlier. Before we're leaving, saw this guy here. Maybe he's from China or Taiwan. I thought that he would draw me my name or 四字真言 FOC. Ahaha.

along the Arno river bank~~

behind joce, cassie n ivan is the Ponte Vacchio. Ponte = bridge.

fisheye effect! with my nikon-chan!?!?

This is the famous Ponte Vecchio that was built over Arno river. The corridor in the middle upper part of the bridge called Vasariano Corridor. It links Palazzo Uffizi with Palazzo Pitti. The bridge is inhabited, mostly by goldsmiths and silversmiths. Last time were some food shops. =)

i think phei ling took this on Ponte Vecchio.

the Fountain of Neptune (Fontana di Nettuno), at Piazza della Signoria and in front of Palazzo Vecchio.

other than posing like this, we took some stupid photo too. hmmm. but dun feel like putting here. ahhaha.

this is not an ad. This is a photo of a very thirsty guy. 饥渴的男人~~ muahahaha

lots of beggars in italy~~~ Especially Southern parts... and these 3 here are from msia.

I guess the sun was just too glaring. hehe, this cute little doggie walked all the way from dunnowhere, and then lied down in the middle of the piazza.

...a failed parody.


Then we went to the place where TVB shot their Triumph In The Sky (????) 冲上云霄.
Giardino delle Rose = The Rose Garden

okay, this is soooo lame, that i cant think of any title. Pls dun scorn me.

so nice~~~ we can see the campanile of Palazzo Vecchio, err. and Ponte Vecchio. Ah, and Arno River. Actually the view is from Rose Garden.

I think there's a name for this staircase. San Salvatore steps??

some silhouette effects. The idea to form a love shape with arms came from DA. Hehehe. Since joce and i thought were very romantic and sweet.

Mr. David at Piazzale Michelangelo. La-la-lum took this before the bus departed, as i forgot to take his front portrait. Pls dun be sad, David.

Dinner at AutoGrill… service station pinya pizza chain. Quite ok laa… but had communication gap with da counter bello… €6.00 for hash brown, ¼ of pizza and coke.

Hotel - IL Roscio … Nice lerr…room 15. Comfortable, hahahahahah, syok!! Like da wallpaper and the bed sheet. Got air-con summore…Pei sun’s room’s better~~ Ah, not to forget the warm mushroom soup that pei sun and phei ling gave us~ YUM!

dun really like most of the photo effects in this entry. Some were OVER! I am way too lazy to re-amend, so suan le ba.

*Song of the moment : Katie Melua - Piece By Piece[2005][CD+Vid+Covers]\02 Katie Melua - Nine Million Bicycles.mp3*