eat, drink, travel

Sunday, July 15, 2007

the summer sale started in Rome yesterday and boy was it crazy! we walked along Via Nazionale at first, nothing exciting, until we got to Via del Corso. in Zara, everyone was grabbing clothes and shoes off the rack, males and females alike, pretty exciting. the discount for shoes was as much as 60%, and i scored a pair of flats. at the branded boutiques, especially Burberry, bags were flying off the shelves...and Gucci had a long line in front of the store. Via del Corso was jammed with tourists and Italians alike, not too bad for soaking in some summer atmosphere. :p

we visited a flea market at Porta Portese today morning, clothes were going for as little as 1euro - imagine a pasar malam-ish place, except rowdier with the stall vendors yelling 'prego, prego!' when we enquired the price for a pair of berms, we could practically see the gears turning in the vendor's head 'cheat the damn tourists'...hur.

after that it was Circo Massimo, the Forum, Colosseum and a glimpse of Palatine hill. no matter how many pictures you see of the places, seeing everything right in front of you still takes your breath away. and now i kinda get what peleggi meant by that it is difficult to construct a comprehensive metro system in Rome...this place is incredibly historic.

and the Trevi Fountain, filled with tourists but magnificent all the same. of course, we did the usual 'toss a penny into the fountain backwards' tradition, but only after dawen wondered at length who clears the fountain of the pennies at night. right.

the Spanish Steps...didn't do much for me. it was just a place where tourists crowded at, just er, sitting on the steps. perhaps due to the fact that much of the historical buildings of Rome are undergoing restoration at the moment, and the beauty of the Spanish Steps was taken away because of the scaffolding which obstructed the view.

the sun, the sun. the Italian summers are too hot to handle.

Labels: Italy, Rome

8:44 PM

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leaving the sunny island of Singapore for exchange at Newcastle for six months, to explore what life has to offer on the other side of the world and excite the senses.

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