Random Flowers shot in Italy

When I was touring Italy  and Switzerland in 2006, half of the photos that I snapped were the beautiful flowers collected from all over the places that we went. It was more than 500 shots that I'm sharing a few with all of you. Enjoy!

Groups of Daisies

Groups of Lillium

Yellow Tuilps in Lake Lugano, Switzerland

Groups of Roses

Italy - Lake Como, Lombardy (2006)

Day 7 & 8 in Italy : 6th & 7th May 2006

Lake Como seen from the city of Como, photo courtesy from Wikipedia

Being overnight for 2 nights in Hotel Regina Olga at Lake Como, remarked our last 2 days in Italy. The hotel is offering panoramic views over Lake Como situated in Cernobbio Piazza Mazzini. It provides an outdoor swimming pool and a lake-view terrace with bar service. The hotel’s restaurant “Cenobio” serves Italian and international cuisine, and specialities from the Como area. Restaurants, shops and ferries are all within walking distance. The A9 motorway is a 5-minute drive away.

The fountain facing Lake Como

Though we theoretically were there for 2 nights but not much time can be spent as we went out the whole day on 6th May touring Switzerland. Lake Como is merely 5km from Italy/Swtizerland border and the immigration checkpoint reachable onto Via Bellinzona. We spent full day shopping and visiting the famous chocolate factory, Alprose in Switzerland. Whilst on the 7th May 2006, we were busy in a hotel packing our luggage for departure back to Malaysia via Milan International Airport @ Milano Malpensa Airport. 

The above photo was snapped at a beautiful garden of Hotel Regina Olga, the back yard whilst below was snapped at their entry and exit point. Baspi Bus, seen in below photo was the bus which took us around of more than 2000km on road and also crossing Switzerland border and back.

We had more than 20 Malaysian in our group. All of them were very nice and generous coming from different background. Sadly that none of us stayed in contact. Zuri & I were closed with Doreen and Mel during the whole week but did not prolong the said friendship. The girl in below photo was the only solo traveler who happened to join our group. She's a very independent girl.

If I were to return to Italy again in the future, I would prefer to have a trip with my husband, the 2 of us on our own. Though we had planned each other how to spent our time together during our retirement, but I strongly feel that we can made an exemption of dropping by in Venice, at least, to enjoy any of it's summer season, maybe.

Last but not least, I would like to add on that 50% (over 1000) of photos I snapped during my visit were a collection of flowers as we were there during spring and the garden was blooming. Though most of soft copy photo were no longer in my hand, I will separately share in "Flowers" entry some of it that I still kept save in my facebook.

As a final tip to everyone, I would like to share the major cities Italy map and our full itinerary touring Italy in a week. You may need slightly longer days should you choose to arrange your own transportation but it is advisable if you could follow our travelling map with all places that we have visited, mentioned in 9 earlier entries, summarize in a link below:-

Italy in 2006 -Glimpse of itinerary

Italy -Rome (2006)

Italy - Naples/Capri/Sorrento (2006)

Italy - Assisi (2006)

Italy - Pisa (2006)

Italy - Florence (2006)

Italy - Venice (2006)

Italy - Verona (2006)

Italy - Milan (2006)

I hope the map above will somehow help you to decide of your own travelling plan to Italy. Wish you luck and have fun.

Italy - Milan (2006)

Day 6 : 5th May 2006

The distance from Verona to Milan is more than 170km. As we left at 2pm, we reached Milan city border 2 hours later. We had a late and quick lunch stop at the highway rest & service area to save time.

The itinerary for our short Milan City Tour were as follows:

• Walking tour of Milan to admire the interior of the magnificent Duomo, among the largest cathedrals in the world;
• View the La Scala Opera House and marvel at the architecture inside the glass-domed Victor Emmanuelle II Galleria; and
• Milan Shopping - Have ample time to experience the famous Via Montenapoleone and its adjourning streets, which house all the top designer brands.

First and foremost, I chose to explore the magnificent Milan Cathedral or called Duomo in Italian. It was constructed in 1386 but this Gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is the 5th largest cathedral in the world and the largest in the Italian state territory.

Fine arts of Duomo window with crafted glass beautifully viewed from inside

The cathedral was built as a dedication to Saint Mary Nascent is at present the seat of the Archbishop of Milan. The construction was commissioned in 1386 by Archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo. 3 buildings were demolished for the works to take place; i.e. the palace of the Archbishop, the Ordinari Palace and the Baptistery of St. Stephen at the Spring, while the old church of Sta. Maria Maggiore was exploited as a stone quarry. A large sum was collected from donations to allow the work to progress. It was initially planned to build the cathedral from brick in Lombard Gothic style.

The cathedral however did not fully completed due to upgrading and refurbishment in the next centuries to come involving 77 architects and engineers throughout the process, from 1387 till 1988. On May 20, 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte, about to be crowned King of Italy has ordered the facade to be finished by Carlo Pellicani. As a form of thanksgiving, a statue of Napoleon was placed at the top of one of the spires. Napoleon was crowned King of Italy at the Duomo.

In the following years, most of the missing arches and spires were constructed. The statues on the southern wall were also finished, while in 1829-1858, new stained glass windows has replaced the old ones, though with less aesthetically significant results. The last details of the cathedral were finished only in the 20th century (nearly 600 years). The last gate was inaugurated on January 6, 1965. This date is considered the very end of a process which had proceeded for generations, although even now, some uncarved blocks remain to be completed as statues. The Duomo's main facade went under renovation from 2003 to early 2009. As of February 2009, it has been completely uncovered, showing again the colours of the Candoglia marble.

The Duomo facade was under renovation works the year I visited, but the inside cathedral was really impressive to see. It was the glass arts, sculpture and painting inside the cathedral that made you appreciate the Duomo more from inside. It's beauty is far from your imagination.

Anyway, Milan is the capital city of Lombardy and the second largest city in Italy. It has over 1.35 million population. Milan was founded by a Celtic people, later was conquered by the Romans, becoming the capital of the Western Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages, Milan flourished as a commercial and banking center and eventually annexed by the new Kingdom of Italy.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the world's oldest shopping mall.

During the early 1900s, Milan in 1859, led the industrialization process of the young nation, being at the very center of the economic, social and political debate. Badly affected by the World War II devastation, and after a short Nazi occupation, the city became the main centre of the Italian Resistance. In post-war years, the city enjoyed a prolonged economic boom, attracting large flows of immigrants from rural Southern Italy. During the last decades, Milan has seen a dramatic rise in the number of international migrants, and today more than 1/6 of its population is foreign born.

My faith was tempted/ruined inside the world oldest mall, LV and Prada were my early collections :( 

Milan is the main industrial, commercial and financial centre of Italy and a leading global city. The city is a major world fashion and design capital. Thanks to its important museums, theatres and landmarks (including the Milan Cathedral and Santa Maria delle Grazie, decorated with Leonardo da Vinci paintings, a UNESCO World Heritage Site), Milan attracts more than 2 million annual visitors.

After an educational visit inside the Duomo, I entered the world oldest mall, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is the world's oldest shopping mall. It housed within a 4 storey double arcade in central Milan. The Galleria is named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877. I passed by the entrance door, window shopping (rather passing by) and went ahead to the back door to the La Scala Opera House. Took few snapped of the opera house and found the statue of Leonardi Da Vincci and his student. Years later, I had read a full biography of Leonardo and very sad to learn that this learned and wise man that I adore so much was a gay. 

When I returned back to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, I found myself alone and I entered Prada boutique, alone. I came out from Prada with a shocking pink purse before I entered LV boutique, again alone. I went out from LV boutique with the devil face turning into shopaholic and handbags maniac until end 2012 now (now under serious therapy, mentally). By 5.30pm, we left Milan town to Lake Como. Though the distance is merely 85km but the journey takes longer due to a winding road by a hilly mountain nearing Switzerland mountaineers borderline. We reached Lake Como very late and could not appreciate anything due to a long tiring days. We had a deep sounded sleep that night.

The beginning of the craze and the crave over branded handbags, God save me!

For the record, we did not spent any night in Milan city as our last 2 nights in Italy was at the romantic Lake Como, a small hilly town of Lombardy.

Italy - Verona ( 2006)

Day 6 : 5th May 2006

We travelled from Venice to Verona at around 9.30am on day 6 in Italy, a bit late than usual but 2 hours later we had arrived in Verona city, another UNESCO World Heritage Site , after travelling nearly 160km on the road. The city is famous with ancient Roman monument, among others is Verona Arena.

with Juliet's statue

Verona is a city straddling the Adige river in Veneto, northern Italy, being the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of northeast Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km2 and has a population of over 720 thousand population. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy, owing to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows and operas, such as the lyrical season held out in the Arena, the ancient amphitheater built by the Romans. The city has been awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.

An entrance to the house, believed belong to Juliet's parent

Beside the Arena, Verona is also famous for the Juliet's balcony. Since the 1930s, letters addressed to Juliet keep arriving in Verona. As of 2010, more than 5,000 letters are received annually, three quarters of which are from women. The largest single group of senders are American teenagers. The letters are read and replied to by local volunteers, organized since the 1980s in the Club di Giulietta (Juliet Club), which is financed by the City of Verona. The club has been the subject of a book by Lise and Ceil Friedman and is the setting for a 2008 book by Suzanne Harper and a 2010 USA movie, Letters to Juliet.

The famous Juliet's balcony in Verona

Due to the attraction of Juliet's balcony, I will not write in length regarding the Verona history in this entry. In short, Verona's history is similar with others city in Italy, it started with the Lombard King passed down the throne to King of Franks, Charlemagne, down to Otto 1, the Duchy of Bavaria, later the city was under Napoleon Bonaparte and in the end, the unity of Verona is becoming part of the unification of Italy, today. What attracted tourist to Verona is mainly attributed to the famous English poet and playwright, Shakespeare, who had created a playwright of Romeo & Juliet's romance extremely famous originally held in Verona. The playwright was written by Shakespeare,  an Englishman, in 1595, who sat across 1400km from the play set in Verona. But the story background was clearly in Verona, see the link of Romeo & Juliet to read what the Wikipedia has to say.

I’m sharing here what was written by Shakespeare in Act 1 of Scene V;

"Romeo:

If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

Juliet:

Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,

Which mannerly devotion shows in this;

For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,

And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."

After having enough with the crowds surrounding the Juliet's house, we moved on to see other's attraction the Verona City has to offer, the famous Arena @ Colloseum seated at Piazza Bra.

After a quick briefing of the Piazza and it's attraction, we were given a free time to have our own arranged lunch. We chose to have Mc Donald and had a nice lunch with a small group of 4.

Piazza Bra, often shortened to Bra, is the largest piazza in Verona, Italy, with some claims that it is the largest in the country. The piazza is lined with numerous cafés and restaurants, along with several notable buildings. The Verona Arena, originally an amphitheatre built nearly 2000 years ago, is now a world-famous music venue with regular operatic and contemporary music performances. Verona's town hall, the Palazzo Barbieri, also looks out across the piazza.

A garden within Bra is shaded by cedar and pine trees. It surrounds the fountain of the Alps and a bronze statue of Victor Emmanuel II (not in the picture). This monument to the first king of Italy, in which he is sat atop a horse, was inaugurated on 9 January 1883, five years to the day after his death. There are many significant buildings within and around Bra, with construction taking place over many centuries.

The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre (seen in above photo) in Piazza Bra, which is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind. The building itself was built in AD 30 on a site which was then beyond the city walls. The shows and games staged there were so famous that spectators came from many other places, often far away, to witness them. The amphitheatre could host more than 30,000 spectators in ancient times. Muse, Elton John, Rod Stewart and many others has been performing here.

I was tempted at seeing the Louis Vuitton boutique but dared not enter as I had no intention to purchase any. Until.. the devil really tempted and seduced and I felled for the gorgeous LV handbag in Milan. When I asked Zuri to snap below photo, I thought that a photo was suffice for my temptation. 

We explored others ancient preserved building in Verona, while shopping for souvenirs before it was time to take a bus to the next destination. Due to a short distance between Milan and Verona, a visit to the 2 cities were combined in 1 day. 

in Piazza Bra

Final shot of Verona City in below photo before saying farewell to a beautiful ancient city.

The next entry would be an experience in a shopaholic city, Milan and how I becoming shopaholic myself.

Italy - Venice (2006)

Day 5 : 4th May 2006

What do you think of Venice? City of Romance or City of Marco Polo? The city in it's entirety has been listed as a World Heritage Site including it's lagoon.

Crowds in front of St Mark's Basilica

Anyway, Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". Luigi Barzini (Italian famous journalist, writer and politician) described it in The New York Times as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man". Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities. For me, Venice is a city of Marco Polo and that was the justified reason why I wanted and was there on 4th May in 2006. Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta are a truly world class traveler who had inspired me since long ago. This is a home birth and where he, Marco Polo died in 1324.

Florence to Venice is about 343km in distance, but with toll road it can be reach within less than 3 hours with a travelling distance of 260km. However, our starting point was in Pistoia where we stayed for 1 night after an exhausted walks in Palazzos and Piazzas of Florence. The bus left the hotel at around 8.15am. We reached the port to Venice for our waterbuses (vaporetti) ride by noon time. We had lunch at 1 of the rest and service area along the highway earlier that day and were already in a waterbus by 1.30pm where we berthed in Venice, not far from St. Marks’s Square.

Santa Maria della Salute

Our guided tour programmed has given the following Venice City Tour:-

• In Venice, entrance to a glass factory is included to watch the fascinating art of Venetian glass blowing;
• Cruise along the canals of Venice on a waterbus (a given opportunity to snap various photo of the city);
• Walking tour to see the island’s most iconic landmarks - St Mark’s Square, the Byzantine Basilica renowned for its golden mosaics, the famous Bridge of Sighs and the Venetian-Gothic styled Doges Palace;
• Free time to shop for souvenirs or relax at an open-air cafe in St Marks Square; and
• An optional gondola ride which Zuri and I shared with Mel & hubby and Doreen & hubby.

Piazza San Marco, Campanile and Doge's Palace

1 of a beautiful sight of Venice and the trade mark gondola & St Mark's horse

In short, historically, the lombards (Germanic tribe), migrated and ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 568 to 774, leaving it to the Byzantine to rule Venice thereafter. The city became a flourishing trade center between western Europe with the rest of the World, including Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world. By 13th century Venice was the most prosperous city in all of Europe but started to decline in 15th century . At that period, Sultan Mehmet II of Istanbul (new Constantinople) has declared war against Venice, Christopher Columbus found the new world and the Portugal found a sea route to India, destroying Venice land route monopoly. The city again changed during Napolean Bonarpate conquering period, towards 18th century before it's finally join the new Kingdom of Italy in 1886.

Doge's Palace turn museum at the San Marco Square

Tourism has been a major sector in Venetian industry since 18th century, when it was a major center for the grand tour with its beautiful cityscape, uniqueness, and rich musical and artistic cultural heritage. In the 19th century, it became a fashionable centre for the rich and famous, often staying or dining at luxury establishments in the city. Among others, it's attraction include St Mark's Basilica, the Grand Canal and Piazza San Marco. 

Closer looks of Doge's Palace in white marble

Piazza San Marco or better known as St Mark's Square is the principal public square of Venice, where it is generally known just as "the Piazza". The piazza @ the square is attributed to Napoleon who calls the Piazza San Marco as the drawing room of Europe. It is one of the few remaining great urban spaces in Europe where human voices prevail over the sounds of motorized traffic.

Entrance door to the St Mark's Basilica

The Piazza becoming a major tourist meeting point where it covers the important monuments of Venice, i.e, western facade of St Marks' Basilica, Doge's Palace, Campanile (Bell Tower), the arcades which was rebuilt by Napoleon in 18th century and the Clock Tower. It also accommodate the buildings known as the Procuratie Nuove (new procuracies), which were designed by Jacopo Sansovino (Italian sculptor & Architect) in the mid 16th century but partly built after his death by Vincenzo Scamozzi and finally completed in 1640. The ground floor has shops and also the Caffe Florian, a famous cafe.

Waiting for coffee at the San Marco Piazza by the famous Caffe Florian

Venice is famous for its ornate glass-work, known as Venetian glass. It is world-renowned for being colourful, elaborate, and skilfully made, developed by the 13th century. Toward the end of that century, the center of the Venetian glass industry moved to Murano. We had a glass tour inside Murano glass factor that day. Murano glass is one of the most renowned types of Venetian glasses, which has been a famous product of the Venetian island of Murano for centuries. Located off the shore of Venice, Italy, Murano was a commercial port as far back as the 7th century. By the 10th century it had become a well-known city of trade. Today Murano remains a destination for tourists and art and jewellery lovers alike. Do not forget to bring back at least paper weight from Murano shop, though it's expensive.

The Famous square becoming a filming centre in numerous famous film pictures, worldwide

6 of us decided to share 1 gondola (with the gondolier who no need to sing) for a beautiful gondola ride experience and to enjoy a closer view of the city. While standing there, I thought of Marco Polo and his travel to China. In December 2006, I was thinking of Venice while taking nearly the same pose in below photo) by the Hutong River in Beijing as it has a view of Venetian Bridge. I opined that the Venetian bridge in Hutong was engineered by Marco Polo during his stay in China.  

It was a truly great experience by gondolo through the grand canal as it lead us to spot of the famous painting title "The Grand Canal in Venice from Palazzo Flangini to Campo San Marcuola", painted in 1738 by Canaletto, now kept save in the J.Paul Getty Museum. I managed to capture the famous Rialto Bridge, which the photo was placed inside my introduction entry to Italy, Italy in 2006 - Glimpse of Itinerary.

After the gondolo ride, we walked to the Rialto Bridge for shopping and shopping, before ending the Venice tour. We stayed for a night in Venice at Omnia Hotel situated at Rialto, 1, 30020 Noventa di Piave. The hotel is very well placed for shopping at the nearby Outlet Center which has many quality international brands, where we again stop for a quick shopping and having dinner at a nearby area. Facilities at the hotel are good and the staff very helpful, not forgotten, the breakfast was excellent.

Photo not relevant to Venice but to share how big is a slice of pizza in Italy.