Travelogue | Italy Part II - Florence, Pisa & Cinque Terre

We arrived in Florence late in the evening of the next day. We took a stroll around the city to find some decent food to eat, preferably kebabs since it was cheap. It was surprisingly a bit hard to find it in our area and when we actually found one, the Pakistani workers kept on asking us questions like where do we come from and etc. Man, I was really hungry and I couldn't really bother giving them any answers. All I did was just nodding and said 'oh' and 'uh' to what he said while muching my kebab without even looking at him. Well, I was hungry and the kebab was way more important than his questions. So Miza was the one being nice and all, answering his questions. Upon leaving the place, one of the workers said something that made me cringed and laughed at the same time. He said with full of confidence, "Very hot..girl!"

Whatever, there's no way I'm going back to eat there. Lol. 

Anyway, the next day we went to Pisa. It was quite far and the ticket from Firenze Rifredi was around €8 I think. Can't really remember. But honestly, there was nothing in Pisa but there was pizza, geddit? Alright that was hambar. Sorry. But really, there was nothing in Pisa except for that Pisa Tower. Geez. Gimme back my money please. And do you know that they rarely check our tickets while we were on the trains? Like if you need to go to Firenze Rifredi to Firenze Santa Maria Novella which is just a station away, don't bother buying a ticket cause there'll no inspection. But there will be if you're taking a train to another city such as Milan - Venice or Venice - Florence. Somehow you can be nice like us you know, we bought every single ticket :p

I'm so sorry but I can't help but take this picture. Makcik tengah buat apa tu cik? Haha

Then we hurriedly went to Cinque Terre as it was almost noon. It took about one hour journey from Pisa to the Riomagiorre (one of the villages). I know I've said this a few times already but Cinque Terre was amazing! The sea was sapphire blue, and you can see the fish swimming across the water. The colored buildings somehow surprisingly complement the sea.  Everything was magnificently beautiful. I was just sitting by the water and listen to sound of waves hitting the stones. I could sit there all day long.. but I'll get sunburned. Teehee. So we went to next village, Manarola. This is the village that usually would popped up when you google 'Cinque Terre' and hit the search button. But I think I like Riomagiorre better. It's smaller and there were less tourists. I mean, how can you enjoy the nature when there are a lot of people? Can you? I know I can't. 

We wanted to visit Vernezza too but time was too constraining since the last train back to Firenze Rifredi was at 5.30pm. It was really frustrating when the train delayed. I could've went to Vernezza. Haih. But anyway, if you're planning to visit Italy, put Cinque Terre on top of your list. You won't regret it. Trust me on this. As for Pisa, well, it's really up to you. If I were you, I would spend my day in Cinque Terre and do some bonding session with Mother Nature or swim at the sea and jump from the cliffs into the water. Just refreshing. I really wish I did that. 

p/s: didn't stay long in Cinque Terre but I'm tan now

Alright, scroll down for pictures :)

Travelogue | Italy Part I - Venice

It was almost midnight when we arrived in Venice. So we spent the next day exploring the city. Our apartment was outside the main city, so we had to take a bus that took us directly into the heart of Venice. Beautiful is the only word I can use to define the city. Everything was very pleasant. The weather was not too chilly and not too hot. Just perfect for us to spend our day strolling around.

Venice or Venezia is a city comprises of 118 small islands and these islands are linked by bridges. Since Venice is well-known for the beauty of its setting, we wanted to have a fine meal, so we decided to go to one of the restaurants. I was being a bit adventurous and tried the famous cuttlefish ink spaghetti. It was good but not thattt great. The taste was a bit bland because there were just some cuttlefish and nothing else. It cost me like €14 per plate and I thought, it's alright it's fine. After this I will just eat €3.50 kebabs lol. However I had a taste of the seafood spaghetti and it was really good tak tipu. But I have allergy towards shellfish, so I had to skip ordering it. It was pretty mouth-watering watching my friends enjoying the spaghetti sobs.

So makan makan makan, we asked for the bill and oh god, we had to pay like €110 for total of six people. So expensive. We had to fork out our purse and pay. Okay I exaggerated. But the coperto (some kind of tax) costs us like extra €15. A bottle of mineral water was €4.50. Mahal nauu. And at that very moment, everything tastes bitter and we hurriedly got out of that restaurant. 

To turn the frown upside down, we rode on the famous gondola and we were taken around through the canals of Venice. We paid €80 and the maximum people people per gondola is six. But if you're travelling alone or with a friend, you might want to choose the cheaper alternative which is the boat. I think it costs you aroud €7 or so. So basically, the gondola is only worth the money if you're traveling in six pax. We're not cheapskates but you will only be on the gondola for 15-30 minutes. Sooo, if you have extra money and don't mind spending it, please do so. €80 is actually expensive alright. 

Venice is also very famous for its Mask Carnivals. So you will see a lot of masks sold in the shops. Each mask has its own distinct features with a very exaggerated decorations on it. Expensive ones would be hand painted, some would actually add gems, feathers and other luxurious things on them. I would want to buy one but even the simplest (pretty) one cost me at least €15. So it's alright, thank you. One of the owner of the shops told us that we were two weeks early for the mask festival. Would love to see one actually but it's okay. Tak ada rezeki lah kan. 

So what else? Oh we stayed at an apartment 20 mins (i think) from the railway station. It doesn't have internet access which is quite a bummer. BUT the apartment is very cool and pretty. It has stereos in the kitchen and even in the bathroom. You can play songs from numerous collections of CDs and cassettes. Just pick your choice and the song will blast through speakers all over the house. So if you feel like listening to Coldplay while taking a bath, you can. So although there was no wifi, I still think that the apartment is worth it. I mean, once in a while, you have to live without wifi. What's travelling if you keep on scrolling through your phones and gadgets, right?

So the link to the apartment is down below, just in case you're interested 

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/5515449?eluid=1&euid=04be7db5-7574-9388-2067-75b15f0ae500

And oh, scroll down for more pictures in Venice :)