A Week in Italy
Yes I'm back ... A week now. And my workplace has been calling me about random stuff since. I'm expecting some changes, as almost every single time I go on vacation, some kind of change takes place.
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And the moment you have all been waiting for (or not)......... ha .... Pictures from my week in Italy.
Day 2684 ( Qatar Air to Qatar )
Monday, July 27, 2015
Went to the Haneda airport today, not far from where I live (about 50 mins by train). Saw my friend who lives in Toyama at the airport by total coincidence.
Took Qatar air from Tokyo to Doha in Qatar. Qatar is the world's richest country per capita. And the population is about 90% expatriate. You will see quite a bit of Africans and South East Asians there. I highly recommend Qatar air.... Top quality service.
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Day 2685 ( Venice, Italy Day 1 )
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
So yeah landed in Qatar then flew from there to the Marco Polo airport in Venice. While in the Qatar airport, a Nepalese guy saw me wearing a Bob Marley shirt and asked if I was from Jamaica. I said yes to which he said people in Nepal love Bob Marley. I remember hearing this from another Nepalese guy who owns a curry restaurant near to my former office in Yokohama. He even showed me a video of Nepalese dancehall/reggae. Oh wait you don't believe me? Ok here it is ...
So yeah... At Venice now.. and the first thing was to find my hotel. Which was near but it took about 45 mins to find it because hey, I don't know the area and maps make absolutely no sense to me unless its a GPS kinda thing.
Then took a boat stroll on a Gondola. It was very interesting to see around Venice via the Gondola.
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Day 2686 (Verona
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Took a 1hr 30 mins train ride from Venice to another city Verona, home of Romeo and Juliet. My Ghanaian friend who I met in Japan in 2012 so happens to live there. Just coincidence made me know that he was there. I made a post on facebook to which he made a comment. So he showed us around Verona.
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| The Balcony of Juliet |
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| Statue of Juliet |
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| Random Photo Bomber |
Went back to Venice from Verona in the evening. Summer in Italy, the sun starts going down at around 9pm. Venice was filled with beggars.... Actually pretty much all of the cities I went in Italy. My Ghanaian friend said many of the Italians in Verona are racist especially against Blacks. Maaan we don't get a break anywhere it seem. He said they are not so bad in Venice and the other bigger cities, the further south you go in Italy. I was surprised to see so many Africans though.
So started packing up my stuff because tomorrow will be Florence.
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Day 2687 ( Florence, Italy Day 3 )
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Took a 2hr train ride from Venice to Florence. Hey on the regular trains, no one inspects the tickets!!! Only if you go to the 1st class seats or take the fast trains. So pretty much people can jump on the train for free. If they do catch you doing this though, you are in biiig trouble.Or maybe not. The people in Italy don't seem to care one bit about what is going on.
Anyway, got to Florence and had no idea where to go to find my hotel. So as much as I was trying to avoid turning on the data roaming on my phone, I had to do it in order to find the hotel. It was about 7 mins away but not so easy to find.
A lady from my work place in Tokyo, told me that I should try the steak in Florence. When she told me, she actually got so excited... so I decided to try it. Cost about 22 Euros (3000 yen/US $25) but it was sooooooooo good. Also ate a lot of vegetables there. There was no Italian dressing... Vegetables were served with olive oil, salt and this other thing you spray on it, can't remember the name.
The Florence Cathedral (Duomo), started in 1296 and completed in 1436. A World Heritage Site.
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| Touching the Uffizi Museum |
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| This guy went to Jamaica in April this year |
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| Bought a watch from Fossil |
Florence was fun. I like this city. I remember eating at a restaurant and getting some stares though. My guess is that its not normal for blacks to eat at restaurants here???? I don't know.
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Day 2688 ( Pisa, Italy Day 4 )
Friday, July 31, 2015
Did I mention that Italy is freaking hot !!! It's like the sun is shinning only there. Took a 1 hour train ride from Florence to Pisa today. Had to walk for about 30 mins in the Sun to get to the Leaning Tower of Pisa another UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After leaving the leaning tower, I bought a Bvlgari cologne there in Pisa at a shop name Coin
My feet were tired from walking all day. Then had to go back to the hotel to pack for tomorrow and head to Rome. I must say this has been one of the best trips so far in my life.
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Day 2689 ( Rome - Italy Day 5 )
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Went to Rome from Florence by fast train. It took 2hrs. Again, the first thing after arriving, was to find the hotel. This time, the hotel was near and very easy to find. Only 5 mins from the station. After checking in, I walked to the Colosseum, yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was about a 20 mins walk from the hotel and was quite impressive. Can you believe this was built between 70-80AD?
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| Random Roman Architecture Buildings |
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| Vittorianno - The symbol of New Italy |
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| The Fountain of Trevi - Under reconstruction |
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| The Spanish Steps |
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| And another random building |
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Day 2690 ( The Vatican City - Italy Day 6)
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Another hot day in Italy. Took a bus to the Vatican city, which is the smallest country in the world by size and population. It is a country but owned by the Holy See - Head quarters for all Catholics and controlled by the Pope. So the pope is pretty much a president in his capacity.
I wanted to see inside St. Peter's cathedral but the line was possibly the longest line I've ever seen anywhere... And it was in the sun !!! I'm estimating a 3 hrs wait. So just took some pictures outside. It is believed that Peter, the apostle of Christ came here and established the church. In other words, he was the first pope.
After Vatican city, went to the mouth of truth ..... Another loong line of mostly Asian tourists... Why?
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Day 2691 ( Rome, Italy Day 7 )
Monday, August 3, 2015
Well it's time to leave Italy. It was a good 1 week. While there, it felt like it was about a month. But looking back it flew by really quickly. I would definitely come back here again but spend less time in Rome.
Checked out of the hotel but stayed in the lobby for about 2 hours. We have to pay like 7-15 Euro for city tax after checking out of each hotel. After checking out, I stored my luggage near the station, then walked around a bit and did some last minute shopping.
Went back for my luggage then took a train to the airport in Rome. Here is a 8 mins video I made of the trip to Italy. Enjoy.
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