Escape to Italy

The Colosseum

Although my life in the day of New Year 2012 was quite boring, which was stayed in my dormitory room for the sake of saving the mushroom kingdom, I had so much fun on the Christmas Day 2011. I traveled to some cities in Italy, including Rome, Pisa, Bologna, Venice, and Milan. So, here's my experience in each city:

Rome:

I stayed in Rome for two days. While in Rome, I went to Vatican Museum, Vatican City, Rome's Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Navona, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, and walked through history in the Roman Forum.

Horse Bite

Vartican Museum and Colosseum are absolutely places that you have to go in Rome (I guess everybody already know this). But did you know that the entrance ticket for the Colosseum is free during Christmas season?? Hehe. Personally, I like the view at the top of Colosseum and also from outside of the Colosseum (from the Colosseum Metro station, then go to northeast). Nevertheless, I did not see anything special from the inside of the Colosseum.

By the way, I almost lost my wallet when I was in the Metro station. Thanks to my jeans, the thief was (she) failed to steal my wallet. But lucky does not come twice, because I got fraud when I was in Colosseum by two clowns who dress like a roman soldier! They greeted us with smile and offered us to take pictures with them. *They never told us that we ought to pay them for the pictures* Because I thought they were a part of the Colosseum performance, I agreed to take pictures with them. In the end, they asked our money for the pictures (€20 / person)!! *GOSH* That price was really too expensive for the photos that they took (believe me, the result are very UGLY!). After bargained, we managed to reduce the price to (€10 / person). Finally, we pay them and walk away.

Thus, please be careful if strangers suddenly approaching you and be nice to you. Whatever their clothes, how big their smile, and their languages, just walk away from them. Don't receive anything from them and don't agree to them. They don't deserve even a single penny of your money!

Pisa:
On the third day, I left Rome and went to Pisa by train. The main attractions in Pisa are Cathedral Square, Baptistery of St. John, and Tower of Pisa. All of those buildings located side-by-side. Thus, you can really save your time and still get great pictures. From the main train station, I took a yellow bus to go Pisa Tower. Interestingly, I found many Indonesian tourists in this city, maybe around 5 groups. But, I did not say "Hi" to them or trying to communicate with them.

From top-left, bottom-left, right: Cathedral Square, Baptistry of St. John, Tower of Pisa

Bologna:

Comune Di Bologna

We treated Bologna as a side-quest of our journey in Italy. We visited the city for less than 4 hours. Nothing much to see and do in here, I also don't know much about the city. But at least, I saw a big Christmas tree and a live concert that singing some Italian songs. Not bad!

Venice:

Small Alley in Venice

In Venice, prepare the map of Venice and be ready to get lost. You will not find any Metro stations or any buses in this beautiful city. Venice uses boats as its main transportation service, either it is the normal boat (€6.5 for a single trip) or the expensive gondola tour (prepare about €20 to €30).

As you can see from the photo on the right, that's how small the alley in Venice can be. The normal road probably size to 3 to 4 times bigger than that. So, prepare your foot if you want to travel in Venice.

I went to St. Mark's Basilica, Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Square, and the east port area of Venice. The first three places are located in the same area. The city is divided by Grand Canal and all buildings seem like floating in the water. In short, although Venice is not beautiful as in my imagination, I still like the scenery and atmosphere of Venice.

Milan:

One Example of A Deceive Trick in Europe

I went to Milan's The Duomo and Castello Sforzesco in Milan. Overall, I prefer to travel in Milan than Bologna.

The photo on the left give you an example of an old deceive trick in Europe. I have seen this trick in France, Spain, and Italy. They said they will give a bracelet for free, but later they will ask some money as compensation. Actually, they are not really bad (if you compare them with the thief or those clowns!) because they are not trying to steal our money. They just do this kind of "job" for living.





That's all, thanks for reading my review about Italy. So, what do you think about Italy? Do you still want to travel to there? If you guys would like to ask anything, feels free to ask in the comment section. Grazie! :)

Here are some photos from my Italy trip:

Venice and Milan Scenes

Paper Mario (N64) at New Year 2012

The Star Rod

What did you guys do in New Year 2012?
Well, I saved Princess Peach and the entire Mushroom Kingdom from the hand of the evil King Bowser!

Paper Mario is a game sequel from the video games Mario Bros series which is published for Nintendo 64 platform. In order to save the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario has to find seven "Star Spirits" to negate the effects of the captured Star Rod, which grants invincibility to Bowser.

Turn-Based Battle System

Paper Mario offers a really different game play from the usual Mario Bros that we played in Nintendo system. In this game, Mario travels along with a number of partners to help him solve puzzles in the game's world. Moreover, the battle is based on turn-based battle system, which we usually find in most RPGs.

King Bowser and Princess Peach

This game launched in 2001 and becomes the top 200 Nintendo best games (ranked at number 64) in 2007. If you guys are classic gamer (meaning you are not really interested with games like Halo, Call of Duty, and such), Paper Mario is definitely worth to play! :)

Would you like to try it?

The End