3 weeks in Italy : Natale e Cappodanno!

Edit: I've failed to post this within the month of January. There's no excuse for my procrastination really, but I really need to change this habit! Will do my best! Also, apologies in advance if there are any typos or missing words because I type faster than I think sometimes, and I don't care enough to proof read hahahaha. I promise I speak English fluently!

Hello! Long time no see blorg. I've missed you. I promise, in 2016, I will post at least one entry a month. I will keep to this promise by starting off the new year with a post about my trip to Italy for Christmas and New Years! :)

Sooo, I'm back in Glasgow after spending 3 amazing weeks back in Italy. It's my 4th time back and I'm still amazed at how much history and culture you can continuously discover; this applies to re-visiting all countries which I wish I had the means to do. I visited a lot of new cities and tried more food; it was GREAT! I still haven't visited the south of Italy though and methinks that'll take another minimum 6 months to explore! Anyway, I'mma let the pictures speak for itself! Lots of pictures of architecture, scenery and FOOD WINE FOOD WINE FOOD!

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PADOVA

Gian is from Padova so it's only natural that I mention this city which I consider my second/third home. It's located 20 minutes away from the train station that'll bring you to Venice, and it's the city with one of the first universities in the whole Western world. I can safely say that you can find MANY things to do here.

Btw, Christmas 2015 was great. I got so many things I wasn't expecting like wow. So much clothes and like 5 bottles of wine or something along those lines. Can't even keep track! But daym I got some new elegant threads and Vernaccia awesomeness oh yes.

I donwanna be biased, but I really do love Padova's city centre. It's not too big, not too small, and you have a lot of things to do and a lot of things to see if you're as curious as I am. Walking around the biggest square, you stumble upon architecture like this! It's quite difficult not to like.

On the left is the Scrovegni Chapel and on the right is a Battistero in the city centre! I mean ... cmon. When I walked into both I was just in awe THE WHOLE TIME. Please. People be doin' amazing things WAY before technology advanced! This was after the Etruscan Period! Ages ago! How can you not love it! The topic of the al fresco is always of the bible though, but hey, as long as they were beautifully illustrated, I ain't complainin'. 

We also finally visited the University of Padova, one of the first universities in the whole Western World, and one of the first to illegally perform dissections of dead bodies stolen from grave yards in the name of medicine (lol). But without this, modern medicine wouldn't be what it is today! All these "radicals" who came to Padova to learn about the human body actually changed the course of history. That's something to acknowledge! 

Also, Galileo taught many of the most important, prestigious and intelligent people around the world here at the time, before he was condemned by the Vatican for saying the sun didn't revolve around the earth (also lol but amazing facts). FYI, the church only recently acknowledged Galileo's statement, and didn't apologize for condemning him and essentially ruining his life *cough organized religion cough*

An amazing thing is that these doctors, astronomers etc had to learn everything within their practice, not only "biology". They were exploring architecture, space, human anatomy, literature, structure ... why aren't we as curious anymore? Methinks we should go back to this practice. No one can be just one profession anymore in this day of age!

And I don't know how much people realize it but I am a full on creep when it comes to creepy things. I like surrealism, I like weird looking heads and faces, I like deep sea creatures cause they're ugly but awesome, I like medical documentaries and shows like The Knick, I like paranormal stuff ... is this new? No. I just don't talk about it. So this led to us going to the Museum of Medicine in Padova. An AMAZING interactive museum tbh it was so fun and I learnt so much about the history and development of medicine and its practice! The only downside is that 75% of it is in Italian so ya gotta know some of the language or else you'd just be staring at things making assumptions of what they are lulz. I saw A LOT of awesome things in the museum andddddd ...

... I'm just gonna put this mermaid baby and siamese twin right here.

Most of the times in Padova were spent lounging around looking for coffee, food, chocolate, wine or spritz. That's the life ey? Just eat and drink, and a city as picturesque as this! 

I like this portion of Padova! It's humble. I photographed 2 nuns walking by here hahaha It's one of my favourite pictures to date, but I ain't gonna show it cause IT'S MINE. He's one of Gian on the bridge instead.

This is Titi. She's the house dog. Diva is the second in command but I couldn't photograph her because she's a 6 month old giant puppy that won't stop moving. I miss them! Was so nice to come back home to happy pups giving you hugs. :'(

Everyday, breakfast looks like this. Fresly baked brioche or croissants with chocolate in it and an extra foamy cappuccino. Every. Single. Day. I loved it so much! Btw, that's my analog camera I thrifted for 10GBP! Super steal, and photographs like a charm.

And almost every time my glam bam fam cooks, I feel fat but in a good way. I mean, look at that risotto. So simple, yet so delicious. I'm struggling to get back to my 1-course-a-meal diet because I got SO use to having like 4 courses, sides, wine and coffee during every meal that my stomach can't handle the emptiness. I can't afford luxurious meals tho ;_; sorry tummy.

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TOSCANA: FIRENZE

While in Firenze I thought, "Dang this place is dope but the crowd is killin' meh". Ain't it the same for all beautiful cities though? Venice is the same. I love Venice. But how I wish I could go there without someone trynna sell me a selfie stick. I didn't spend nearly enough time in Firenze though. I hope to go there and stay there for minimum a week at least, so I can go to the Uffizi gallery for 3 days straight and avoid the massive crowd waiting to take a selfie with the statue of David. =.=

On the left, you see an amazing door that is not translated well through my lame ass photo. Those panels were hand-sculpted by Lorenzo Ghiberti, an early-Renaissance sculptor and gold-smith. He's known for his attention to detail and 3D effect in his work! If you saw it in real life, you'd be so amazed bruh. How is it possible that you can sculpt something flat into 3D? With perfect perspective and proportion? A whole landscape out of metal? With your own bare hands? TELL ME? I can't even write straight sometimes.

The photo on the right is from an arcade of just statues. AMAZING STATUES. MADE OF MARBLE. Of Galileo, Giotto, Redi, ALL THEM GENIUSES. Gian and I were commenting on how astonishing the details are! The texture of cloth, hair, props, even the skin of the subjects were so real. These were done during the Renaissance period? GUUURL what has happened to our generation then?!

I don't even know how to express how much I love this Cathedral of Santa Maria with exterior walls made entirely out of marble and stone like omg kill me I am not worthy of such talent ... ;___;

There's a wee nook at the big square in Firenze city centre with a public collection of sculptures by many Renaissance artists. They're exquisite, really. So realistic, so detailed! My favourite is that green one of a man beheading another man. Violent yet graceful as fuq. 

Here is a picture of me looking like a fat kaleidoscope potato with my nerdy partner in front of the famous Circolo del Bridge where olden day jewelry-smiths use to make and sell silver jewelry! There's still a rustic feel to it, but far too touristic for my liking. Didn't even bother snapping pics of it haha. The exterior of the bridge is more fascinating to me! Squint your eyes and you'll see wee structures poppin' outta the bridge with windows and roofs. Those things are being held up by timber beams ... JUST TIMBER.

Here is a relatively impressive picture of Gian taking a picture of the bridge (how META of me lulz). Anyway, LOOK AT THE TIMBER BEAMS. What even ... So coohl haha.

Another fat potato pic except this one has naked Neptune behind us and a flying bird to complete the composition. Me likey.

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TOSCANA: SIENA

Siena, even though quite small, is probably a city I prefer over Firenze. Yes I know, Firenze is full of culture, full of history, so much architecture, food and design, it was practically the "tech-hub" of the 12th century, but the crowd all year round doesn't do it for me! We were there during winter and there were still far too many people, can't imagine going there during summer! Anyway, back to Siena.

Siena is known for the Il Palio, a horse race that happens in the main "square" that's not really a square, more like a lop-sided semi-D shaped thing. Families from different clans (since the 12th century) in Siena race to see who reigns supreme for the year! It's now more of a tradition than for gaining dominance (sorta). The horses are usually in a tough situation when racing at high speed and have to do a sharp turn at the pointy part of the "D". You can imagine the drama that ensues when a horse trips/loses balance and crashes into the crowd or wall or on the rider himself.
~EXCITING~

This event is during summer so Gian and I still have to go back to experience it! But this isn't the only reason why I'd go to Siena.

I mean like wowwww lookit dis place. The location of Siena is great! On top of a hill, over-looking err'thang. Back in the day, Siena and Firenze use to fight for territory, which explains the geographical location of the city. Siena was pretty dominant until Firenze became more wealthy which is a shame.

The picture on the left is of the palace in the lop-sided semi-D square, and the photo on the right is the view of the Siena Cathedral over-looking the city on lower ground, completely covered in mist! It's a special view to me ... very ... MISTical ... ba dum tss

Now, at this point in my life, I have seen SO many religious buildings from around the world that I don't ever care enough to count, from temples to mosques and especially cathedrals (seeing as I'm in the motherland of Catholism), however Siena Cathedral has got to be my absolute FAVOURITE. Why? Because it's very dark and gothic. It's got sculptures of heads lining the arches. It's got so much gold on navy that my inner designer weeps in happiness (dis colour combo tho). It's not as big as St Peter's or Santa Maria Cathedral but daymmmmmm son ... I love it a lot! Small in size but so intricate! You don't know where to look because every single part is beautiful!

Unfortunately they covered the floors of the cathedral! That's another element of the building thats amazing! It's completely covered in artwork so fine that it would take 5 days to understand each one of them. I didn't get to see all of them though and it was impossible to snap a pic clear enough to see the imagery so ... oh well.

This is probably one of the highlights of the cathedral. La Libreria Piccolomini. I can't ... I love al fresco so much. T_T This takes the cake! The al fresco is by Bernardino Pinturicchio, with the paintings depicting the life of "Siena's favourite son", Piccolomini. I spent half of my time in this little library, observing all the paintings and trynna figure out the stories portrayed. Absolutely GORGEOUS. The amount of talent is unfathomable. There's so much depth in each painting, with the arches, colours and subjects themselves. I didn't even know where to look because there was far too much to process!

This is the Battistero of the cathedral. Can you imagine being baptized under this????? 

And lastly, the crypt of the cathedral. The crypt is actually super huge and goes underground for another like 3 storeys! There are original al fresco everywhere of, again, stories from the bible. It's cool to see how the structure still stands after centuries! Arches, painting ... SUPER ENGINEERING!

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TOSCANA: SAN GIMINGANO

We stayed in San Gimingano while in Toscana and well, I absolutely loved it (what don't I love tho)! A medieval town dating back to the Etruscan period, preserved (and restored) buildings and amazing views of vineyards, how can I not like it! It's definitely not the norm to stay in this wee village, but it comes with a lot of rich history so it's worth it!

These are the towers we woke up to every morning! Blue skies, history ... everything seemed so poetic. San Gimingano is an interesting spot because back in the day, this medieval town was used as a "pit stop" to get from Rome to the south side of Italy. It's a town strategically places in the middles of the route between the north and south, and so, it was booming! It's also the closest town to Pisa, where the ports were, so logically it was meant to develop into richness. This is also where merchants and travelers came to rest and stock up on goods before continuing on with their journey!

It was also one of the only places harvesting saffron, which was then used not only for cooking, but also for dyeing clothes and medicinal purposes! The saffron grown in San Gimingano was super special because of the micro-climates and eco-systems the hills create and so, that stuff was expensive!! It was a thriving medieval town until the Firenze government took over and slowly, the town lost its wealth. Which is a shame.

The towers were built as a way for rich noble families to show off their wealth! "I can afford all these materials therefore I will build the tallest tower to show off my dominance!". Yup. Like comparing who has the longest d*ck. The towers were of no use too, no rooms, no functions, just an empty void which was occasionally used as a observation-point, so you can tell that it was only for competition purposes. However, studies have shown that buildings and palaces built around these towers have the strength and balance to withstand the strongest of earthquakes! Researchers say that this structure is the most stable of them all! That's super coohl, since these were built in the Etruscan period!

This is the view of the vineyards and saffron farms within the vicinity of the town. It was super foggy at the bottom of the hill but bright and sunny on top!

While we were there, we took a free tour of the city! Locals who are extremely knowledgeable and passionate, brought us around and told us about all the stories, architecture and basically everything you need to know about this wee medieval town! At the end of the tour, we were brought to the Vino Museo to sample some delicious Chianti, Vernaccia and also Pecorino cheese! ALL FOR FREE. I loved it SO MUCH! We even had such a beautiful view while having wine! 

Our peaceful view as we sipped on glasses of Vernaccia and devoured Pecorino!

Just had to mention this amazing Vino Room located in the city centre! It looks small from the outside but when you enter the shop, you're lead downstairs to this amazing basement of arches! It's such a gem and super funky too. 

So, if you're in Toscana, please take a day or two to visit San Gimignano! It's small, quaint, but filled with culture and history! So much to see and so much to eat, I kid you not. 

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TOSCANA: VOLTERRA & VINCI

We also dropped by Volterra and Vinci. Volterra is like a much smaller version of Siena so it's nice to go just to wander around and have some coffee. Vinci, is where Leonardo Da Vinci was born, so if you're a fan of his, take a day to visit the small town! There's nothing much really other than the museum and his place of birth which is a house 3km away from the city centre.

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BASSANO

This is my second time in Bassano, and I was there on my own for the afternoon! It's a great place to visit for a day! There's the famous Ponte Vecchio, a bridge designed by Andrea Palladio, beside the pedestrian entrance to the city centre (seen in the image on the left) and also the lovely view of the mountains along the Viale Dei Martiri, a row of Memorial Trees in remembrance of the soldiers fighting against Nazis and fascism. 

One thing I love about Bassano de Grappa is ... yes ... the grappa. Haha! I'm not a big fan of grappa itself however, they have a museum that you simply must visit if you're there! It's called Poli Museo della Grappa. It's free, and you can learn about the history of making grappa!

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TESERO

Skiing time! The glam bam fam and I drove up to Tesero for a few days of skiing and snow! Gian and I were the only ones who skied though haha. The parents and Genny were just chillin' most of the time with their family friend up in the mountains.

On a clear day, this is most of the view while you drive up the mountains. Super surreal and beautiful! Especially when the sunlight brushes onto the textured rocky mountains!

We stayed in this gorgeous cozy lodge in Tesero! It was a proper mountain lodge y'all! Very German influenced, with lotsa timber. The photo on the right is of Nibia, the owner's shepherd dog. The SWEETEST ball of black fluff I have ever had the honour to encounter! So cute and so warm! She'd come to say hi to me and Gian every single day before we left for skiing. Methink she just wants a belly rub. LOOKIT DAT FACE THO! Loveeeee!

The owner of the lodge owns a farm! She produces her own cheese, meat, milk, jams and she also bakes, REALLY well. Every morning, she'd prepare these spread of awesomeness! She'd also let me and Gian pack up food for lunch, so we'd save money on buying expensive fritte patate while skiing haha. It was so great! Every day, we were well fed!

Oh hey! Here's a photo of me awkwardly smiling with my skis on (probably trying my hardest not to slip on the snow). I've gotta admit, I've become quite decent at skiing! Still have my moments of clumsiness here and there but hey, not bad for a tropical girl who has the greatest fear of falling! It's seriously one of the scariest sports ever invented omg. So scary. But I still like it (when I'm confident and not panicking of course). This photo was taken at the Alpe di Pampeago! Probably the easiest slope to ski on for me (even though I stayed in the beginners slope like everyday haha).

Those mountains fill my heart with gleeeeeeeee.

This was the view for me at Alpe Lusia! Probably the most relaxing skiing spot for beginners, because the route is super wide and not too steep! It get steep only at the end of the trail! Loved it. And when the sky cleared up, it was magical to see those mountains covered in a blanket of snow!

So, Alpe Cermis Cavalese was probably my favourite mountain to ski on, but that being said, this was my first time going to the absolute top of any mountain! This was probably one of the only ones we went to that actually had a beginners route from the top to begin with! Haha. SO, yup. Loved it. The photo above of Gian posing like a peacock was taken before we skied down. It was kinda cloudy in the morning so everything just looked super white.

But as you can see, it cleared up quite nicely and well LOOK AT THOSE MOUNTAINS. How beautiful is that?! I thinks 30% of the day for me was just stopping somewhere random and looking at the view. It's soooooo breathtaking! 

Doesn't it look like a scene from the movies? Can't believe I was so high up on that mountain! Surrounded by fresh, luscious snow!

Anyway, definitely visit the alps in Italy for some skiing! Tesero is the nearest spot (about 3-4 hours drive away) if you want something relatively close to the cities of Venice, Bologna, Padova, Ferrara etc. It's also worth to visit the mountains just because it's so goddamn beautiful! You can visit all the alps, sit in the lodges, watch people ski by, soak up some sun and drink some egg nog. PERFECTION!

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BOLOGNA

My first impression of Bologna was more or less like, "This place is so hip and happening!". Gian explained that Bologna is where most of the young creatives, art students and general liberal folk tend to gravitate towards. And for good reason! This city is awesome and beautiful! It has a certain character to it that I can't quite pinpoint, but I loved it the minute we stepped out of the car! It's a shame we didn't get to stay longer!

In the city centre, there's a really tall tower. Unfortunately, I don't know much of the history behind it, but that's okay because I choose to leave it a mystery til I return! Next to it, is another tower ... but it's ... slanted.  Yeah ... like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, except not so glorious in architecture. You can see it in the picture above! That's just the base of it but dear god, it's off by like I dunno ... 10 degrees? Haha. The square these towers reside in a gorgeous though! Filled with life! Perfect for people watching.

The photo on the left is of Neptune. There's an inside joke about dearest Neptune, and it's pretty funny, but you have to be there to see it! Basically, when you observe the statue from a certain angle, parts of the bodies transform into phallic things hahahahaha it's pretty hilarious when you discover it. On the right is one of the many hundred arcades in the city! Did I mention that Bologna is famous for having SO many arcades? They have like over 600+ in the city. It's basically embedded in their architectural characteristics, which is pretty coohl! Kinda like how the five-foot-way is embedded in the shophouse culture in Malaysia!

Now here my friend, is the treasure of all treasures. This is the Gelateria Gianni, the best gelateria in Bologna. YES. THE BEST. Oh shit the gelato was so good! If I lived here, I'd legit gain about 20kgs on gelato alone. This no-fuss gelateria has been here for over 60 years, practically an institution, and has so many interesting homemade flavours and even vegan options made of olive oil! It was SUPER good. Definitely pay a visit if you're ever in Bologna!

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VICENZA

Vicenza is the home of the famous Andrea Palladio. A pioneer of architecture, his work, til today, is considered as amazing marvels! I agree that he's an absolute genius, and I'm super glad that I could visit his work, seeing as we studied his buildings during my degree years in Taylor's! We didn't get to go to the Palladio museum though. We'll definitely go when we head back to Italy.

This is the Teatro Olimpico. My photo is not at all doing any justice to this magnificent piece of architecture. It's UNBELIEVABLE. How in god's name did people create something as beautiful as this during the Renaissance era, I will never understand. 

Every statue in this space is different, made of marble and still well preserved today. The centre of the stage, where you can see a perspective of buildings, was designed by Palladio to give an illusion of distance (something like 10km?) but it's actually just an extra 12 metres to the back. It's AMAZING! If you see it in real life, you're able to see ALL the details and how much of a challenge it must've been to actually construct this! You absolutely must go and see this if you get the chance!

The second must-see is Villa la Rotonda itself. Finally! I've seen it with my own eyes! I remember someone in Taylor's made a cross section of this building for an assignment out of balsa wood! My has time flown by! Never have I thought that I'd be able to visit Palladio's most famous creation.

This building is a marvel because of it's symmetry and huge use of volume; the cube and sphere. When cut in half, the building boasts a mirror-like image, which is something Palladio is known for. He loves symmetry! He practiced it a lot in most of his facades, arcades and villas! I think he had an OCD tbh but hey that's just my own theory haha.

He was commissioned to make this building as a "urban getaway" for a person from a noble family. It wasn't really a getaway because it was so close to Vicenza, but it was isolated! It sits on a hill, with views of every angle (like a compass), and over-seeing the city around it.

I didn't get to enter the villa unfortunately, because it's not open during the winter, but will definitely pay a visit again! It's really worth it! I love this villa a lot!

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FERRARA

Gian and I went to Ferrara for NYE! Small and quaint city, very nice to stop by for a day or so. Gian use to study music here, so he was super happy to be back!

So, we spent our NYE quite fancily this year! Hehe. We went to see an art exhibition by De Chirico and other surrealism artists. I am in love with surrealism art. It's my favourite movement by far, and the more I learn about it and the more artwork I discover, I'm convinced that this is the artistic language that I adore and would love to experiment with myself!

Anyway, I didn't know too much about De Chirico, other than him being a pioneer of metaphysical paintings, so it was great that went over to see his work! I like it a lot, his theories are interesting and experiments with composition, colour and "pictures within a picture" are both modern and uncomfortable (which is why I like surrealism haha). But personally, I'm not the biggest fan of his work. I only like a handful of his creations, one of which being the Disquieting Muses, which you can see in the photo above (second from the left). It's eery, and questionable. You don't really understand the relationship between his subjects in that painting, which is what intrigues me.

Anyway, I loved the exhibition so much! It wasn't just work by De Chirico, there were also pieces by my fav Magritte, and others like Dali, Le Corbusier and Morandi. I loved learning about the relationships and support this art movement developed among artists with similar visions! How one theory can shake up so many opinions and ideas! It's fascinating! 

However, in terms of De Chirico, I don't know how to explain why I'm not totally in love with his paintings, and I don't have to try and explain myself either. That's what I like about art, it's subjective. You kinda just ... feel it. I feel love for Magritte. Like an unhealthy obsession towards him and his work. He's a god to me. De Chirico is great too but not god-like. It's personal I guess. I appreciate his contribution to the movement though! Without their contemporary mindsets, there wouldn't be artists like Otto or Moonassi today!

Gian booked a super nice dinner for us at a small family owned restaurant called Lemoko Pesce e Vino which fits only a max of 20 people a night! He planned it way in advance! So sweet of him :) Basically, we went for a dinner that we knew nothing about; we were being served food chosen by the chef. He would choose which appetizers, mains etc we would get, and they were all prepared freshly right in front of us! Was super coohl!

A bit experimental because they used steam and pressure to cook a lot of their food too. The photo on the left is of Gian with our raw salmon with garnish; super simple but delicious! Not sure what combo of herbs and ingredients they used, but the flavours were super strong and delicious! The one of the right is tuna tartare, probably my favourite dish the whole night! SOOO beautifully done! Along with my vino bianco, it was amazing! Everything else we had was delicious too! We had like 6 courses, all made fresh and with pretty presentation!

And NYE was celebrated watching the castle "catch fire". It was super fun and new! Crowded though, but that's okay because it was cold and the crowd kept us warm haha. The fireworks were synching with music so it was pretty damn awesome. Enjoyed it a lot!

Anyway, this is my fourth time in Italy and I still haven't had enough! I'm blessed with having an Italian partner and family because without them, I wouldn't have learned so much and discovered as many things as I have today! I honestly can't wait to go back and continue traveling all over Italy because I know it has so much more to offer! Already making plans to drop by hehe. Perhaps, during summer this time, so we can go to Sardignia and swim! Who know. 

Gotta get back to work now so shall abruptly end here.

BYEEEEEEEEEEE!