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 |
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| 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.
