I have updated some of the earlier posts to include some pictures... you can see my Singapore Sling in the Raffles Hotel and the crazy Fiat 500 and strange gambling game from the village festival in Italy!
Please do take a look!
Hey everyone!
Sorry that it has been so long without an update -- I have been away from any internet~
So much has happened since I last wrote that it would be impossible to put it all here. So I'll just make a list:
- We stayed at a winery in Tuscany owned by a Japanese man, and we had dinner with him one night. It turns out he is very closely connected with both the Italian and Japanese car industries: he worked with Giorgetto Giurgaro, met Enzo Ferrari, had a collection of classic cars including the Riley that the US General rode into Berlin after WWII, and had wine labels designed by Goro Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. Amazing!!
- We attended a medieval wedding in Suvereto, Tuscany. We had to dress up in olde fashined medieval garb, ate a ridiculous 12-course meal and were entertained by swordfighters and fire breathers! It finished at 2am :S
- Matteo and I were taken by some Italian guys to a 'discoteca' (club). It was... interesting. The music was pretty trashy (they played YMCA) but the girls were very nice. Apart from the fact that most of them smoked :S
- I had a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel. I have been wanting to do this for a while, now my trip is complete!
We are in a region called the 'Garfagnana', right up in the north of Tuscany. We have rented a villa owned by an Australian woman, and it is situated in a teeny town up a hillside. The view from my bedroom window is fanstastic... I can see rolling, forest-covered hills, small medieval towns, a magnificent fortress, and mountains in the distance....
Right now, I am in a town a little further down the valley, and, while it is a bit bigger, I am on what I believe to be the only internet point (on the only computer) in the valley. Haha...
Last night, we went to a local festival. It was in a little pair of medieval towns nearby, and it was dedicated to 'faro', which was some form of grain (I thought it looked a lot like wheat). Anyway, it was quite entertaining, and very well organised for such a remote vilage festival. We payed at a 'cassa' (counter) at the beginning, and went through a series of stations, each where we were served a small portion of food, usually made from this grain (when I say 'usually', it is because we were served things like sausages and ribs.... haha) as well as wine (there were 8 stations, and you could have a glass, or more, of wine at each of them!!).
Perhaps the most entertaining things to be seen at the festival were not actually part of the stations per se. The first was an old Fiat 500, in racing livery with fat (and flat) tires and a MASSIVE engine which protruded from the rear of the car, parked on wooden blocks, apparently a monument of sorts. I'll show you guys a pic sometime-
PS: Let me just say again how much I detest the european keyboard layout... so annoying...
Right now, I am in Verona.
Those of you who paid any attention in English may remember that this is the city that Romeo and Juliet was set in. Indeed, you can go and find Juliet's house, complete with famous balcony! The walls of the courtyard and surrounding street are covered with the graffiti of countless lovers.
What these lovers fail to realise is that Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story -- both of the lovers died. I think I would choose some other place to write of my unending l0ve for someone...umm... just as soon as I find that someone :P
I don't think I will be able to write any more blogs for a little bit, as I will be isolated in a villa, up a valley somewhere in Northern Tuscany. Until I write again: Happy Holidays!
I don't have all that much time to write this blog, and the Italian keyboard is annoying me greatly, so Iìll keep this brief.
The day before yesterday, we went to visit the Maserati factory in Modena. It was great!
The new GranTurismo S is very nice. However, the best car being made at that factory was not, in my opinion, a Maserati. It was the Alfa 8C Competizione. I love that car!!
It was also interesting to note that the Alfa, as well as the Maseratis, are practically Ferraris. The engines and the bodywork are made completely at Maranello before being transported to Modena -- and the rest of the car is put together by hand. No robots.
Anyway, I have to go!
EDIT: Here are some pics! Also, a MiTo I saw in a dealer...didn't know they were out yet!
Hey again everyone!
Well, right now I am in Modena, in the hotel room, using my bro's laptop and the wireless connection here.
But first, I had better (briefly) explain my trip so far...
It turned out that my flight from Singapore wasn't 15 hours after all, but rather we touched down in Bangkok for an hour or so. The airport there is really nice, I'll have to show you guys some pics in a while - or maybe I'll post them up here.
Anyway, the next leg of the flight was to Zurich, and then off to Milan (that was only a 40 min flight over the Alps).
On this flight, I watched some weird Bollywood movie....it was overall pretty terrible, and it ripped off 'Attack the Gas Station' -- specifically, the scene where the bikie gang fought the gangsters with the 4 guys in the middle (it was identical, it even involved a bikie gang and some gangsters), and then the police came in and one dude squirted them all with gas etc... but it was alot worse than the original :P
From there, we picked up our hire car (a Volkswagen Passat Wagon), and drove to the Franciacorta area (lit. 'little france), a little north of Milan. While on the topic of station wagons, I must mention howmuch more sensible they are than having an SUV. The Europeans have it right...:P I may as well continue with the observations on cars... there are a lot of Audis and Mercs, andI think the new Fiat 500 is very very cool!!
Ok, I think I should get back to explaining things... the Franciacorta is an area with mountains and a nice lake. The scenery was fabulous, and so was the food -- we wasted no time in ordering a pizza! However, I was dead tired (only 2 hours of sleep out of 48), so I collapsed to bed.
On the second night, we had dinner by the lakeside... the food was just ok, but the scenery was wonderful! (see pic)
Today, we left for Modena (I wonder what comes from here??). When we got here, we checked in to our hotel... only to find that it was one with no air con (30+ degrees and humid, bad start...) and the toilets/showers were communal. Needless to say, we left and found another hotel (where I am now...).
Tomorrow we go on a tour of the Maserati factory (woohoo!) and then we head up to the Veneto.
I think I have written enough for now, thanks for reading!!
Hello to everyone who reads this -- whoever you are~!
Right now, I am in Changi Airport in my departure gate, on one of the internet computers here. It's little under an hour to our Swiss Airways flight takes off, for the 15 hour (!!) flight to Zurich.
The flight here was not bad -- the Qantas in-flight entertainment actually worked, which was nice. I watched an Israeli movie and a Chinese movie, which weren't too bad. Also, I was listening to the 'Tokyo Take Out' radio station whilst reading when I heard 'Tohoshinki', which immediately caught my attention. They then proceeded to play 'Wild Soul' (one of the Trick singles) -- Junsu!!! Needless to say, I was pleased ^___^
We haven't had much time at the airport here, just ate some food and checked out an electronics store (nice phones and my walkman for ~$330 AU >.> ).
Anyway, I feel I am hogging this termina, so I'd better end it here~!
Hopefully I will keep in touch some more!