Italy 4 - Venice 2

And finally after losing our way for a few times, we reached Piazza San Marco.




There are lots of pigeons there. Good for posing.


But sometimes u have to sacrifice to get the photos taken...


...and be alert to avoid having accidents when the birds fly - they really don't care and may just fly into u!


Expensive cafes by the Piazza.


Gondolas...


...gondolas...


...and butts. :D




Saw a rehearsal of an orchestra at the Piazza.


Enthusiaitic conductor.


The strings.


Gorgeous audience.




Gondola. The black and white stripe shirt and hat is the uniform for the boatmen.


Oh oh... we've reached a low bridge.


No worries...


Venice is beautiful but one thing bad was the unbearable hot weather during the day which made us unable to really enjoy ourselves. When the night fell and the sea breeze blew gently, this place turned even more attractive and romantic.




Reflection.


Idle.




Romance.

Italy 3 - Venice 1

Land is really precious in Venice. See the long queue outside the tourist information office which is barely 2 metres wide!


The Grand Canal.




There is a reason for tonnes of tourists to come to this place. It's just hauntingly beautiful!!


Can u feel the beauty?


Narrow canals everywhere.


Took us a bit of effort to locate this restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. It's I Quattro Rusteghi, at Campo del Ghetto Nuovo, Cannaregio 2888. The food was really nice - I would say the best we had in Italy - and the location is on a quiet square away from the big crowd of tourists.








We had a mix plate of seafood appetiser - octopus sald, sarde di saor (fried sardines marinated in vinegar and onions - a Venetian specialty), dried cod fish with polenta, and shrimps. Superb!


Spaghetti ragu.


Moscato D'asti. Love the sweet smooth taste.




Mysterious man.


Mysterious Venetian masks.




Famous Murano glass. These 2 pieces costs thousands of Euros each!!


Everybody gets lost in Venice. See? Which way to go?


So u just walk!


Beggar.

Italy 2 - Verona

Verona is a small town midway between Milan and Venice. It became famous as Shakespeare set Romeo and Juliet here.




Piazza Bra.


The Arena, the 3rd largest Roman amphitheatre in existence which was built in the 1st century.




"Gladiators".


Pizza - this is Italy mah!!


The streets.






U can find taps like these easily in Italy.


Beautiful.


We wanted to visit Casa di Giuliettta, home to the fictional Juliet, but people were shooting a film there. So I missed the chance to rub the breast of Juliet's statue in the courtyard - superstition suggests that by doing so u'll get a new lover. And Sah was relieved! :P


The actors.


View across the river.


Sah tired of walking.


But could still run for photos.




Spotted this couple.


Sexy eh?






Italian dinner.

Italy 1 - Milan

We flew by Ryan Air from Bristol to Milan, Italy. Initially Milan was not part of our itinerary but since it is the only city in Italy which is connected by Ryan Air from Bristol, we decided to just make a stop. So no, we didn't go and see Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" which was already famous and made even more famous by Dan Brown.


It was already evening when we arrived in Milan. Poor Sah was looking tired in front of the Milan train station with her big backpacks.


Beautiful balcony...


...but everywhere was filled with graffiti...


...any available space.

The overall appearance of Italy was not appealing. It's sort of like a 'post-war city' kind of look. And the weather was terribly hot like back home in Malaysia.


But being a fashion city, u won't be disappointed in Milan. Almost everyone around looks and dresses like a supermodel.


See this...


...and this. Cool eh?


And mind u not only females. Men too!


Purple!




Stylish cyclists!




Attractive window displays.


I love this suit!!


Marvellous flower arrangement.


Tram.


Metro.


Passed by a jewelry exhibition.


Gelato!!! It still makes me drool now!




Classic architecture everywhere.


Duomo on a cloudy backdrop.






The classical dome of the interior.


Sah drooling... hahaha!




These two young violinists caught our attention. Click on the video below to see how well they played the violin!

Avebury & Bath

Avebury is about an hour from Stonehenge. It is another World Heritage Site with similar prehistoric stone structures.


A portrait first.


The stones arranged in circle.


Us. (photo by Irene)




Motion vs. stillness. (photos by Sah)


Trying to be funny. :D (photo by Irene)


Found this great spot for photo. This is Sah posing.


Me in tree pose. (photo by Irene)


Irene - natarajasana pose.


Hug hug. (photo by Irene)


In front of a dovecot in the village. (photo by Irene)


Avebury Manor.


Walking past a cemetery in front of St. Jame's Churh. (photo by Irene)


Silbury Hill - the largest man-made mound in Europe, completed in around 2400 BC.


The Cherhill White Horse from afar.


Zooming in.

Our next destination was Bath, one of the most romantic city in the world.


World heritage site.


The Royal Crescent - built in the 18th century.


City view.


The abbey.


At the bridge. (photo by Irene)




We arrived late so the magnificcient Roman Bath was already closed. :( This was a snap shot from the fence - the best i could get.








Fish and chips for dinner.


Ended out tour back in Bristol. This is the Clifton suspension bridge.

Will be off to Milan, Italy tommorrow!

Bristol & Stonehenge

After 9 hours of torturing journey in Megabus from Edinburgh to London, we had to hop onto another bus and continued our journey for another 2.5 hours before reaching Bristol yesterday. Our butts were real painful!! Met Irene at the bus stop and we went straight to her studio apartment to take a nice good shower before walking around Bristol.


The weather forecast said that it was supposed to rain, but we brought sunshine again! :)


So the locals went crazy again.


So were their dog!


The harbour.


Bristol used to be infamous for pirates and slave trade. See the pirate ship on the logo of this bar?


And inside the bar there's this secret tunnel which were said to be used by pirates to hide themselves.


Irene cooked dinner for us. Yummy yummy especially the soup!


We managed to grab the last available car for rent in Bristol - a silver Peugeot 308, for today's trip.


The mysterious Stonehenge was our first stop today.


Closer look.


Even closer.


From another angle.


Crows and the more than 3000-year-old stones.


Everyone with the same posture - listening to the audio guide. :)


A snap of us there. (photo by Irene)


Classic jump @ Stonehenge. (photo by Sah)

Another day in Edinburgh

The admin building of the University of Edinburgh.






(photo by Sah)



Short visit to the Museum of Scotland.


Decapitation device.


Thumb crushing device to punish the witches.


Tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots.


Sedan chair used by doctors of Edinburgh in the 18th century.


Medicine jars.


Obstetrical forceps, 1830.






(photo by Sah)


(photo by Sah)


(photo by Sah)


Formal wear.




Typical souvenir shop.


Scottish ale.


Scotch whisky.

The Scottish Highlands 2

Very nice breakfast. Had a try of the traditional Scottish haggis as well but couldn't stand the strong smell and taste!

Three healthy beautiful horses.

(photo by Axxu)

(photo by Axxu)

Dreamland.

We went for the bull search next. (photo by Axxu)

As if entering Jurassic Park.

There they are!

The Scottish highland cattle.

Cool eh?

Eyes to eyes. Can u see us? Ur hair got ur eyes all covered! (photo by Axxu)

The cow must be puzzled. (photo by Axxu)

Same same huh? :D

Come on baby! *snout* (photo by Axxu)

Ouch! (photo by Axxu)

Like my butt? (photo by Axxu)

With Jenny, the owner of the lodge. (photo by Axxu)

At the Fort Augustus lock.

A yacht coming in.

We din spot the real Nessie so had to settle with a fake one. (photo by Axxu)

Urquhat Castle.

In the evening, Li Yin and Loh gave us a treat at Hotel du Vin Bistro in Edinburgh. (photo by Axxu)

Nice steak.

Sah and Cai Yun.

At Axxu's place.

Oh, by the way, Michael Jackson couldn't make it to UK after all...