How I travel in Italy

My exchange journey in Vienna began in January 2016. After meeting a bunch of new friends, we went together to so many places in Europe. In May 2016, I travelled to Italy together with ten other friends. We went to Rome, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Milan and Venice.

Rome - Home of my Religion 

I only spent one day in Rome as I had class and had to join later. Another friend of mine had the same problem so we flew to Italy together on the third day of the trip. After considering all the tourist spots, we decided to spend our only day in Vatican City, the home of the Roman Catholic Church. We visited the Vatican Museum and the magnificent St. Peter Basilica. All the artwork and architecture are truly mesmerising.

Florence - Off the Beaten Track

The next day, we joined our friends and headed to Florence. We only had one day in Florence too. We decided to rent two cars and drive to the vine yard for the beautiful scenery. On the way, we stopped at a restaurant to have some food and wine. The owner was so kind that he offered us free dessert in the end. At around 6, we headed back to the city. My friends booked a Michelin Guide restaurant but apparently it was too expensive for me. So I went out with another friend who was as broke as me to some cheaper restaurants. We spent half an hour enjoying the sunset at the bridge. Then we spent only 15 Euro for a decent and nice meal. After that, we walked around the city at night. The city feels a lot safer than Rome.

Pisa - Just for the Leaning Tower

We spent less than half a day in Pisa. We took the train from Florence to Pisa in an hour, hopped off, take crazy funny pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, then go.
Tips: Remember to buy and validate the bus ticket from Pisa train station to the Leaning Tower. I got checked four times in the two-way journey.

Cinque Terre - The Five Fairy Tales

Cinque Terre means Five Lands. The main attractions are the five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Since we only spent one day there, we only managed to go to Vernazza and Manarola. They are coastlines lined with pretty colourful little houses. The peaceful and dreamy towns made me feel like entering a fairy tale. We also swam a bit in Manarola which is an absolutely crazy idea because the water was freaking freezing in May. There were tonnes of people looking down from above, laughing at us as we screamed in the cold water. We did jump of the tiny cliff too. After all, you can only do such crazy things when you are with your friends.

Manarola

Vernazza

Milan - More than Just Shopping

Finally we were spending more than one day in one place. Unfortunately, it was Milan. Well, I am not that into shopping when I can't even afford a Michelin dinner. Yes, we shopped in Milan for the first day. Then we went to a city tour and into the Milan Cathedral on the second day. The city tour was free, but you will pay tips in the end just because the tour guide is too amazing. In the city tour, you got to get away from the famous shopping street and the cathedral to some really cool places. We went to the a church filled up with skeletons and a giant middle finer sculpture right in front of Italy's major stock exchange, the Borsa.





This is an art piece by Maurizio Cattelan. People would have thought that the sculpture means "fuck the corporates". But if you consider the orientation of the sculpture, it's actually the stock exchange fucking all the small investors. The artists wants to illustrate how the corporate power in Italy is ignoring the rights of the people.

The Milan Cathedral is a must-go. Spend some extra money to go up to the rooftop and get close to the architectural details up there.






























Of course, do not forget to get as much gelato as you can. My highest record was 9 scoops a day.

Venice - The Most Romantic City of All Time

Angelina Jolie driving cooly on a speed boat, Johnny Depp jumping across windows on the walls... How many beautiful movies taken here in Venice. This is my favourite city of all times. Again, I only spent one day in Venice, as I had been there before and I got my Finance exam the other day. So I spent that day touring around on a gondola and had afternoon tea at St Mark's Square. The gondola was expensive for two but definitely affordable if you are going as a group of 5 or 6. I didn't know how to get them singing though. For the afternoon tea, the Tiramisu is a must-try. It was the best Tiramisu I had ever had in my life.

Tiramisu

By the end of the day, we headed back to the Venice train station. However, the water bus is unexpectedly slow. Be sure to check the duration and timetable if you are catching a train. At last, we decided to get off the water bus and take a water taxi instead. And here comes another surprise. The water taxi is almost like a private speed boat while the night view on the boat was simply amazingly stunning. It was even cheaper than a gondola. It probably serves as a good option to float on the water for a short distance.

First Place to Go After Getting Off the Plane in Bali

Jimbaran Beach is so close to the airport that you can even see planes landing on and going off the runway. Nevertheless, it does not destroy the peacefulness of the stunning beach. 

I did it this way - I got off the plane in the afternoon and arrived at my hotel in Kuta at around 3 pm. We took our keys, settled down and hired a driver at the hotel counter. The driver took us to the Jimbaran Beach before the sun goes down completely. 

We arrived at Jimbaran Beach at around 5pm. We reserved a table at one of the seafood restaurants the driver recommended us, then we headed down to the seashore. Waves clasps the seashore rhythmically as the sun begins to set. 

We soaked our feet in the water until the sky gets dark. We then headed back to our dinner table on the sand and started to order seafood. 

Nothing could go wrong with seafood freshly caught from the sea. The Indonesian way-of-cooking just means an extra unbeatable seasoning that further brings out the freshness of the seafood. 

Besides "delicious", the other word I could thought of describing this amazing seaside feast is "romantic" - absolutely romantic. It is so romantic that two of my friends started dating each other after this. 

They put this little candle light on the table that adds to the romanticism. There are also traditional Indonesian dance performances from time to time. Besides the sound of clasping wave, you also hear small bands hopping across tables performing one song of their own and another of your choice. The tables are not far from each other. That means you basically get to enjoy "Make you feel my love" from the table on your left and "All of Me" from the table on your right. Of course, it will be great if you could also give a little tips. Bali is all about tipping everywhere. You can always bargain at the markets, but it also worths consideration of not going too far when they actually produce everything with their bare hands to earn a living. 

Lastly, just note that your driver is likely to take you to touristic places where price would be much higher than local business. It easily charges you up to a few hundred thousand per person for dinner as such. Quite a number, I know right? 

Of course, in Indonesian Rupiah! 

Padang Padang Beach

During my 3-day trip to Bali in summer 2015, I went to different beaches every evening for the breath-taking sunsets. On the third day, I went to Padang Padang Beach, my favourite beach of all.

I entered the beach by walking down a dark swampy stairs. It was so dark that I needed to turn on my phone torch. When you thought you were walking down to a muggy damp cave, you arrived at the door of a wonderland.

The pictures pretty much speak for themselves. The sun sets right in front of you till it reaches the same horizon you are standing on.

My friend and I walked around a bit. We started off with the comfy white sand on the beach, then walked towards the water. The water was shallow at that time. There are little islands of stones and rocks among the shallow water. We walked and skipped across the little pieces of lands as we saw algae flickering under the sunlight.

After walking for around 10 minutes, we arrive at a large piece of land with millions of green algae. 

When you stand on the algae land and look ahead, you see the firing skyline and the huge roaring waves. When you look back, you see the peaceful and clear water reflecting the sky and clouds. The magnificence and dynamics of nature are opulently set before you as you turn 360. 

As the sun sets, it gets darker and I dare not to walk too close to the ocean. I headed back and it has turned completely dark when I reach the sands again. My friends have been waiting for the two of us but we were captivated by a few caves before us. So we quickly took a peep and the most surprising thing happened. We saw little yellow lights blinking and dancing in the dark. It's fireflies! We dare not to breathe for fear our noise would scare the beautiful creatures away. Both of us watched quietly in awe. We tried to walk closer into the cave but we stopped as soon as we heard sounds of flapping wings. Bats, i guess? 

We went there for a short 2 hours, but it definitely has become one of the most memorable experiences in my life.