{ May 2011 - Florence, Italy } The official name is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore or Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower in English. However, it is simply known as the Duomo. The facade of the cathedral in green, pink and white is beautiful, elaborate and yet soothing in its simplicity of colour. The dome is a masterpiece, and the gothic interior is vast and simple, yet filled with elaborate frescoes. This cathedral in Florence, Italy is in a class of its own. { Click here for more postcard from... posts and other travel tales from Italy }
image by harriotc Off to Cameron Highlands for Chinese New Year! This is probably the first time that my family has planned a trip away from home on Chinese New Year. Could this be a start of a new travel ritual? Wishing everyone a prosperous year of the Dragon! Happy Chinese New Year! This is a scheduled post. Cut off from the virtual world for a week!
{ May 2011 - Florence, Italy } Florence is the birthplace of Renaissance. From Renaissance masters Michaelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci*, to fashion designers Roberto Cavalli and Guccio Gucci, many artists had once called Florence home. So, with all the marvelous art that surrounds the Fiorentini, it would not come as a surprise that they are an artistic and creative group. There is just an artistic air in Florence. You just have to see the road signs all around city. Of course, not all graffitis are encouraged. And this I love, just because I think the car is cute! There are a lot of small tiny cars on the Italian roads, one smaller than the next, to manoeuvre around the narrow streets. Even the city's coat of arms looked cooler than the rest. The artistic Florence was mellower than all the other cities that we went to in Italy. It has such rich history with countless masterpieces, and yet the people are friendly and generally rel
{ May 2011 - Florence, Italy } I have seen more statues and painting of naked men and women during the trip to Italy, than I have ever seen, and will probably ever see. You just need to scroll through all the photos I have posted under Italy to see some of the many that I have seen. And Florence, the birth place of Renaissance, probably has more statues and paintings of naked men and women, not to mention, of Gods, Goddesses and their children, then any other cities in Italy. David If there is one masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture, it has got to be David by Michaelangelo. The 17-feet marble statue of a standing male nude, is definitely an exceptional piece of sculpture. It could probably be due to the position in Galleria dell'Academia that houses the sculpture, or just the tall white polished marble. But I stood right in front of it, and walked around it, a couple of times, awestruck by the imposing and yet relax statue. Muscular and yet gentle. Photos were not allowed
{ May 2011 - Florence, Italy } Where Rome was massive, Florence was compact. Where Rome has its ancient treasures, Florence has countless Renaissance arts. If Rome is the political centre, then Florence is the artistic city. If Rome is the pulse and heart of Italy, then Florence is the soul. Walking from the train station towards Piazza del Duomo, we caught a glimpse of the green and white facade of the Duomo from a distance. The basilica looked so different from all the ones we have seen in our travels in Italy thus far, that I knew that Florence was going to give us something new. And, the best part was that there was an event happening right on the piazza. Sbandieratori, it's called. The art of flag-throwing was from the medieval times, and we were lucky enough to be right there when they started performance, with luggage in tow. Still not sure what the point of the whole thing was, but this I know - two groups of Italian men in tights, waving and throwing flags towards e
wicked, the musical, that is. while, i could not finish the book , the musical was light-hearted, with just enough violence and evil to keep it in check. the music was beautiful, and catchy enough, that a couple of songs kept replaying in my head after the show. the set was impressive, the cast (from Australia) amazing. wicked was wickedly good
{ Chiang Mai, Thailand - Feb 2011 } I didn't expect to fall in love with them. They are huge - I am probably just the size of their leg. They are strong and have always played an important part in the logging business. However, I went with an open mind, but thinking that I'll probably be keeping my distance. While still at the deck receiving an introduction of the park and safety instructions, a mischievous young one destroyed the fence, and used his trunk to steal some fruits on the deck. Now, I don't usually endorse bad behavior, but it was so endearing that I could not help but smile. Some form of activities with the elephants are on the list of almost every visitors to the northern city of Thailand, Chiang Mai - be it a ride on the elephant, a show where the mahout showcased the elephants agility by playing football and painting or just admire them behind the fences. After searching the many parks in Chiang Mai, I decided that I would do something different -