Milan & Venice

Ramadhan reminded of Milan, which I visited last year. After finishing my work in Stockholm, I took Ryanair's budget carrier to Bergamo aiport in Milan. Once arrived, my host, Rosalina was supposed to pick me up via the train but couldn't make it as the train was on strike. In Italy, there is a strike everyday from the service industry - one minute its the airline, then its the taxis, and so on. Thank God I arrived safely in front of Rosa's apartment gate. Rosa had been in Milan for about two years now. She's not Italian, mind you. But her name does sound Italian, or is it Spanish...? Anyway, the next morning we were joined by Jam and Ms JB who flew in from Paris after a tradeshow. They checked in and then was ready for a short city tour. We went to the square which is the Piazza del Duomo with the background of the magnificent Duomo di Milano, the second largest church in the world.

Some pics at Piazza del Duomo

The next day, we went to Venice a.k.a Venezia by the locals. Of course the souvenir items caught my eye, especially the colourful masks worn during the carnival, the Murano crystal ware and beads, the leather goods and period costumes that people wore during the Carnival.

O f course, going to Venice isn't complete with a ride on the gondole. It costs about Euro80.00 per gondole during off-peak, but in summer it is double that price. My feeling riding the gondole? It's almost the same as if I'm riding the bot penambang from Kuching Waterfront to cross to Fort Margehrita, and it only costs me about RM0.50. Except that the view was quite nice, we rode in the canal in between the Venetians' homes.

View of the canal

The gondole

Our gondole-man

The bigger canal

Rasa cam naik sampan jer.....

Delicious cookies....tapi tak boleh makan sbb bulan posa huhu

All in all, it was an expereince of a lifetime to go to both Milan and Venice, eventhough it was a very short visit. But at least, I've been there and seen for my self the famous Venice.