Friday, July 20, 2007
@12:37 PM
Back Home
Now that I've returned home, I'm suffering from jet-lags. I feel wide-awake at night, and wake up late at noon. Oh well. I need to adjust to the time difference soon!
It was greeaat travelling around Europe.
I start to miss my Besana hosts, Marina and Simone. Marina may be busy with her travel agency work but she still took care of me and Xinhui well. She made sure we eat, play and sleep well. On top of that, she helped us with our laundry, and ironed all our clothes before returning them to us. When we went on our extension trip, she smsed for our well-being, and ensured that everything worked well for us. She's so motherly that I thought she almost became our Godmother! Haha. Marina occurs to me as an indepedent woman, who loves nature and treasures friendship and kinship. She reads and thinks alot, which make her an open-minded person. We would discuss issues like religion and relationship over our meals. It is rather inspiring at times talking to her. As for her boyfriend Simone, though he doesnt speak and understand English well, he still tried to communicate with us at the best of his abilities. Sometimes, I wish I know more about Italian to understand Simone and his family better.
Talking about Simone's family, they were really nice pple! Hospitable like Marina and Simone, they welcomed us with great smiles. Oh, how I missed his mom's cook! I tasted the best hand-made lasagne in one of our lunches. For our desserts, Simone's grandmother was really sweet to bake us a big sponge cake. =D How could I forget Simone's twin sister, Ilaria? Ilaria looked after us when Marina was busy. By the way, Ilaria is Marina's employee in the travel agency, where they worked from home. See how these people are interestingly linked? Simone's family stays just beside Marina. =)
Besana is a countryside of Milan. It is really a nice place to relax. My host's apartment at Cortenuova is a fine example. In the day when I sat at her house's balcony, I bathed in the afternoon sun along with the cooling breeze. I breathed the fresh air of greenery as I enjoyed picturesque views of pasture, mountains and Swiss alps (maybe?) before me. I listened to the happy chirpings of the birds and the melodious bells of the church beside my host's apartment, that would diligently sound every half hour. At night, the darkness and quietness enveloped me. But the starry night was too beautiful to ignore. As I looked up, I saw countless twinkling stars dotting the night sky but I missed shooting stars. Though the night there was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop, the melodious bells still sound. The church's clock tower eventually became our big watch. Haha. Still, the tranquility of the village is a feeling I don't find it here living in HDB flats. I really missed that. I actually thought of retreating there after I retire next time. Did I think too far? *shrugs*
The band of festival was considerably smooth-sail. We held concerts at Medolago, Besana and Brugora. Some of my bandmates also performed with the Concert Band of festival. Of all concerts, we performed the best at Besana. Though we felt jittery at the importance of this concert and the large audience base, we calmed our nerves down and put up a musical performance. We had fun playing for the audience, and the audience themsevles enjoyed listening. For the first time, we won standing ovations not only from the Besana folks but also, the Italian conductor, Armando. He was later being sabotaged by the emcee to conduct us on "Radetzky march." You couldnt imagine how stressed he was. But frankly, if not for our music director, Maestro Tan, we couldnt have played so musically. All we did was to respond to his musical conducting and it did magic to our performance. Mr Tan is truly one of the best music directors I've ever come across. He's inspiring, encouraging and highly efficient. I'll remember his 3 ground rules for band practice: 1. When I talk, you listen. 2. When I stop conducting, you stop playing immediately. 3. Whatever I do up here, you respond. These speak volumes for an efficient band practice. Besides these concerts, we also have a marching show, which I was most afraid of cos' I havent trained myself to play and march well. Still, we enjoyed some glorious moments as we marched past the streets to Besana square. Our effort from all the marching practices paid off.
On a side note, I tasted the world's best gelato at Cortenuova! The different fruits' flavours that I tasted are so fresh, so smooth and so yummy. My host told us that people who come to Besana will not miss visiting this gelato shop; and if you ask any Besana folks about it, they'll know where the shop is. The boss who own the shop is a nice guy too. He let us taste the flavours of the gelato before we decide which to order. Mentioning about flavours, he has one spicy peppermint flavour that aroused our interest, cos' the name of the flavour changes everyday to hide its true identity. It could be 'Hello Kitty' one day and 'Spiderman' the next. (I cant remember exactly but something along that line.) My host says that the man is crazy. haha.
On the other hand, I don't fancy the buzzing traffic and urban rituals in the heart of Milan. The bustling city feels like Singapore though. But of course, the great difference would be the architecture there in Milan. The biggest attraction is the awe-inspiring cathedral Piazza del Duomo. The gothic cathedral looks like a big awesome poster hanging from the sky, because her structure stick up from the rests.Walking into the cathedral, her vast interiors and splendid stain-glass windows were impressive. On the dark side, I heard awful stories of my bandmates being cheated of their money pockets when they were taking photos with pigeons near the cathedral. By the way. Italy is populated with pigeons. I saw plump pigeons whose neck are lost to fats making Italy their home. Gosh.
Bustling Milan aside, I had a pleasant time sailing through Lake Como - a tranquil getaway from crowds and traffic. During the 2 hour ride on the ferry, I was overwhelmed with scenic mountains and villas. I found myself clicking on dear's camera almost every moment.Eventually, I settled down on video taking (despite battery-consuming) to capture the undescribable beauty of mother nature surrounding me. Halfway through the journey, I splurged abit on the food on board along with Mr Tan (my music director), dear, Jin Xun and Sharon. The meal was worthwhile; We were served with 3 different course; pasta, meat then cake. For 15 euros, we ate till we could hardly move. =P We then alighted at Bellagio where dear and I spent abit of our 'er ren shi jie' ('couple world' in English). =D
Venice was where the 6 of us- me, dear, Daniel, Cedric, Xinhui and Erina separated from the main band; the start of our extension trip. But we spent our 1st day of Venice with the rests of the band, cos' it was part of the trip itinerary. Venice is a tourist attraction itself. It explains why the fish island (the map of venice looks like a fish) is very crowded. I even suspect that tourists make up the main population in Venice. Who knows? *shrugs* The influx of tourism jack up the prices of food there, causing them to be the most expensive in Italy. My first lunch in Venice was at a restuarant near Rialto bridge. We did not only pay for the food and service charge, but our seats; the fact that we sat down and ate in the restuarant itself. Gosh. But Venice is unique, cos' the main transport there is not bus or car but boat, which is known as the 'vaporetto'. In Venice, the roads there are the canals. The main one is the seamless Grand Canal that swims through the heart of Venice. Besides vaporetto, there are other kinds of boats; You'll find there one of the most expensive form of transport, the water taxis which usually ferry tourists with big luggages to Marco Polo Airport. Along the narrow canals, there are personal motorboats, just like our family cars parked at the houses. Of course, there are gondolas for tourists. I didnt plan to take it at first cos' I know it costs a bomb. Still, I took it; not once but twice. Gondola service is a perfect competition there in Venice. Down the role of gondoliers, we asked about 4 before we fetched our first relatively cheap ride on the Gondola; 100 euros for 5 people. Breaking it down to per pax, and converting to SGD, the ride may be costly but it's worth the price. I took my first ride along with Cloud, Xinhui, dear and Mr Tan. For my second ride, I thought my extending clicks who didnt get to sit on the gondola should not miss this opportunity. So for the sake of Erina, Daniel and Cedric, I didnt hesitate to take the ride again. Well, the ride is great anyway. Why not?
Well, our hostel Venice Rooms is not in Venice though. It is situated at Mestre, which is a causeway away from Venice (just like Singapore and Malaysia, only that we don't need passport to travel from Mestre to Venice). Accomodations in Mestre are alot cheaper, same goes to the food. On our second night, we have our 0.67 euros dinner that filled our stomach to the brink. We shopped at the nearby supermarket for spaghetti, meat, some sauces and juices. Dear, Xinhui and Daniel were in-charge of cooking our dinner; me and Erina our laundry and Cedric, washing plates. haha. This is one thing good about Venice Rooms; the kitchen and washing machine are at our disposal. As for my room, it's a little prison-cell look alike; differing standards from Xinhui and Cedric's rooms. (But that is not the worse. Read on and find out).
Munich is splendid. However, the weather there was unbearably cold due to rain, and probably the fact that we came from a hot Venice oven. I wore 3 to 4 layers of tops, long-john bottom and jeans. But the merciless cold winds penetrated into my skin. *blurr* I bought a shawl from H&M, a popular store in Germany (It's found almost everywhere) to keep my neck warm. Sidetrack a bit, I think H&M should bring its business to Singapore, cos' the clothes there are really nice! Back on track, we were by ourselves in Germany. In Venice, at least we could seek help from people at Besana who are about 4hrs drive away.Also, the transportation system is not too difficult to understand. On the other hand in Munich, we're the only extending group exploring the city. On top of that, we had a hard time deciphering the train system and stuffs. When we were at the ticketing machine, the words were in German and we know nuts about the language! The inital crowds at the ticketing counters reduced to only the 6 of us, still trying to buy tickets. Luckily there were English translation on the machine, and we managed to get the right tickets.
One great thing about Munich was we found a free tour around the heart of the city. With a tour guide, we know what we're looking at and taking pictures of. It makes the trip more meaningful this way. The tour is free but it works on tips. We could choose not to tip the person at the end of the tour if we thought the guide isnt good. That'll make it free. But how could we not? The guide who show us around the city is awesome! We also took a tour to the first concentration camp of Nazi at Dachou. I'm glad we chose to pay 10 euros to go with a guide. The guide from Ireland kept us occupied for that 4 hrs, showing us around the camp, and explaining its history. Certain things that he pointed out sets us thinking about them even after the tour. I am truly inspired by how he brought the history across to us. Now I feel like reading more out about it to match what I've seen.
Munich is well-known for its 'Beer Capital of the World' title. That's why the most famous beer festival, Oktoberfest is found right there. So how could I leave the city without tasting her beer? First time in my life I took beer in the famous beer hall, Hofbrauhaus along with some good foods there. I cant comment about the taste but to me, I thought it tasted not-bad!
Dark side of Munich. Some unplesantries happened during our stay at Jaegar's Hostel. Dear got an electric shock while fixing the adapter on our first night. Luckily dear wore a pair of rubber shoes so he was ok, but it left a scar on his palm. Our towels were stolen on our last day; we left it to dry in the dryer while we were out on the streets. When we came back to collect before we left for the airport, they were gone. My 6 euros towel! gosh.
Berlin was a mad rush, cos we've less than 24hrs there. We arrived late at about 11pm and we left at 7pm the next day. However, I love the accomodation there the most! We stayed in this gothic Hotel Pension Charlottenburg, ran by a this old man who carries a sense of humour. He told us that running the hotel is a one man's show. *shrugs* He's a very nice man and he helped us cook instant noodles for supper though he had to go to bed. It's interesting to know how he cooked the noodles, cos' this is the first time I saw anyone doing it this way and it still turns out nice; He used a plate, yah a plate, pour the dry noodles in, heat it up with some hot water then put the fillings and stir. I wanted to laugh as I helped him with it. Haha. My room is great! I shared with Erina and Xinhui. The most comfortable stay ever during the trip. Unfortunately it only lasted for a night. The next day, we went on another free tour around Berlin. We learnt quite alot about the history of East and West Berlin and the Berlin wall. But most of the time, I was a walking zombie so I didnt know as much. Oops.
Stockholm is our last stop. Dear told me that Stockholm is famous for its awe-inspiring architecture. He's right. I marvelled at the impressive architecture that splashed the streets of Stockolm. It is indeed a beautiful capital of Scandivanian. But the stay at City Lodge Hostel was terrible! The size of the room is comparable to my brother's room. Yet we've 3 double decker beds, 3 tall and thin cupbards and a sink squeezed in it. We hardly have space to put our luggage, let alone to mobilize around the room. Worst, the ventilation was so bad that the 6 of us thought we might suffocate anytime in our sleep. So some of us left our door open through the night for better ventilation. But dear was so worried about the insecurity that he watched the door and didnt sleep the night. Second night was better, cos dear managed to get a fan from the reception. Still, the stay at City Lodge was undesirable despite being the most expensive hostel we paid for. Despite our bad dorm, the facilities are good. So we exploited the kitchen to cook instant noodles and milos, and its free internet access. haha. We met the rests of the extension group at City Lodge. It was pure coincidence that both groups booked the same hostel. But after we detoured for awhile, I felt great seeing the rests again, safe and sound. We talked alot and shared our experiences; they told us about Florence and Rome, and we related to them about Munich and Berlin.
Back in Singapore, I ate the food I missed the most; my mom's cook. All the time in Italy, we ate pasta, salad, spaghetti, pizza, bread, ham cheese..in Germany, we ate bread and hotdogs..But in Stockholm, we tasted the original meatballs!! Yum yum. However, I've to mention that the salads and fruits especially the apricots and peach I ate at my host house are really fresh! They are freshly plucked from a vegetation land situated beside my host's apartment.Ah. I missed the peach tea my host gave me. I bought Yeo's peach tea from Carrefour yesterday. Oh well. It's sub-standard.
All in all, I truly have fun at Europe with NUSWS people. I'm glad to know them better through the trip, and they're all really nicey bandmates. I also had a great time exploring Venice, Munich, Berlin and Stockholm.with my Haising seniors, Daniel and Cedric, peer, Xinhui and junior, Erina. Daniel was a great entertainer in the trip with his craps, jokes and whatnot. His super matching partner, Cedric did a great job too in sending us to hilarious laughters. A hidden talent, Erina could miraculously hit an all-time soprano note on her vocal during the trip. haha. Needless to say, she was all smiles at Munich cos' it was her world of lions. =P And how could I forget, my dear Ian, who hung around me like my guardian angel wherever I went, and never failed to protect me from harm? Thank you, dear and everyone who's contributed to a great trip =)
*I'll upload my pictures soon once I'm done sorting them out. 1000+ photos!!! Gosh.
Yearn for the days of innocence
