DareToDreams Blog on RealTravel

Siena journal: Day 6: Excursion to Siena and San Gimignano

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:23:49 GMT

Too much of art in the hustle and bustle cities that we desired a getaway to somewhere less crowded and with a different flavor.. I gave up Cinque Terre because it required hiking, which can be too physically demanding for both of us. A day excursion to Siena and San Gimignino sounded perfectly.

Right before we walked into the bus station for our trip to Siena, we were already talking about going to toilet as soon as we bought the ticket. We were at the ticket counter at 9:05am asking for two tickets to Siena. Little did we know that the agent right away gave us two tickets with the ...

Rome journal: Day 3: Rome

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:28:07 GMT

After mapping the places of our interest for the day with the metro and bus systems of Rome, we chose to buy a daily pass (4 euro each) to cover a wider area of Rome. There are only two metro lines: Red and Blue lines; they cover all the points of interest in Rome. For those who are interested in visiting Catacombs and Vatican city on the same day, my recommendation is to take Red line to Vatican city and then take Bus# 81 from the bus station in Vatican city to San Giovanni and change to Bus# 218 to Catacombs or vice-versa. In spite of meticulous planning, due to the long queue in St. ...

Florence journal: Day 4: From Rome to Florence

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:21:14 GMT

Time for the world famous Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.

It was Monday morning around 8am when we left for Vatican museum. The Termini Station was packed with streams of people. We were literally sandwiched between people, rubbing against each other in order to get into the subway.. The presence of the armed policemen alarmed me tremendously, not of pickpocket but of terrorism. Man! I sure have lived in the States for too long. For some reason we had totally forgotten about the danger of pickpocket until we were reminded by one of the police. My niece quickly held on to her ...

Oxford journal: Day 1: Oxford, From Chicago to UK

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:40:33 GMT

After a seven-year drought of traveling, I decided to rekindle my travel passion through backpacking, something new to me, instead of joining a tour group. On the 8-hour flights to UK, with a 1-1/2-hr transit in Toronto, Canada, I came to realize the true reason behind the drought. My previous depressing job had indeed suppressed my travel passion.

Because of the excitement, I didn't rest on the transatlantic flight. With the advantage of the tailwind, the plane reached London sky 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled time. But the plane was forced to circle in the sky due to the ...

Europe journal: Italy And UK Trip in Sept. 2007

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:40:32 GMT

My 11-day whirlwind trip with my niece to Italy and UK.

Florence journal: Day 5: Florence

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:22:07 GMT

Side Note: For whatever reason, I wake up finding my face filled with tiny pink spots. No itch, no pain. Just tiny pink spots. Yuck!!! Cheese and too greasy food must be the culprit.

According to the map provided by the hostel, the size of Florence may be at least 3 times smaller than that of Rome, but I am seriously doubtful if the number of visitors in Florence is 3 times fewer. I found Florence to be more congested than and as air polluted as Rome. It is quicker to walk than to take public transportation in the historical area of Florence. The buses were just crawling thru ...

Bath journal: Day 11: Bath .. Back to Chicago, USA

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:35:50 GMT

Rainy and gloomy.

We left home for Bath as early as 8am from Bristol. On the way, we stopped by Irene's office to say hi to my other cousin.

Bath is astonishingly beautiful.. a hilly town. Rain did blur a lot of scenic views. I could only snapshot pictures from inside the car, except at the Crescent buildings. The rain prevented us from visiting the Roman Bath.

Flew back to USA.. With a 250 ml bottle of red wine, I slept pretty much the entire flight to Montreal.

Cambridge journal: Day 10: Cambridge .. To Bristol

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:25:12 GMT

Our flight touched down at Stansted airport around midnight. We didn't see our cousin Irene at the arrival hall. Since my niece prefered to go back to Oxford, therefore I arranged her to get on coach/bus to Oxford first. Fortunately, there was a bus ready to depart for Oxford. Making sure she knew which bus to get on, I walked back to the airport. I waited for 2 hours before my cousin showed up. While waiting, my mind peacefully worked on Plan B, which was, 1. get a good night sleep. 2. call my nephew to get my cousin's phone number. If failed, then check into a hostel in London ...

Venice journal: Day 9: Venice. Saving tips... To UK

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 12:28:23 GMT

We started our day by taking a water bus at the first stop nearby train station for a Grand Canal tour for 6 euro per person. We sat in the front row of the boat, the whole Grand canal scenery appeared wide open before us. Sunny day. The glittering water beatified the murky water of Grand Canal quite a bit. The waves created by the passing motorboats definitely make the rowing much harder for gondoliers. Quite frankly, 80 euro for a 45-minute gondola ride is NOT truly that expensive considered the physical work involved to row in Grand canal filled with motorboats. But if a six-dollar ...

Venice journal: Day 8: Venice

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 11:50:24 GMT

When we were in Florence, our Japanese roommate, who travelled solo, deliberately excluded Venice in her itinerary. When asked why, in her broken English and a bit sad tone, she simply said it is for couples. Her countenance was a bit downcast. Maybe she was going through some brokenheart experience. That was why I was silent though I disagreed. If I want to see a place, as long as I remain single, nothing other than safety issue can truly STOP me.

Venice - is it truly a city for romance? Some people come here for honeymoon or for the surprised proposal to their loved ones. Either ...

Florence journal: Day 7: Florence to Venice

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:15:09 GMT

We wake up to a rainy day... Indeed, rain can do much damage to a trip let alone to the emotion. "Sigh! My food allergy reaction still showed on my face", I said to my niece. My niece kept reminding me not to touch it with my hands lest it got worse. "Never in my life had I such a rough facial skin." :-(

As I promised my niece, we had 7 hours till 3pm for shopping, and the rain would NOT stop us. Eventually it was not a vain effort to bring the two umbrellas from the States. I discarded the original plan to see the statue of Michelangelo's David at the Academia for the reason of ...

Florence journal: Great location and spacious and clean room

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 06:33:50 GMT

A decent place to stay. Easy to find.

Florence journal: Super Hostel in Florence

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 06:30:25 GMT

Cheap, safe individual storage in the room, DELICIOUS buffet style breakfast, great location... anything good you can think of to make your trip economical....

Venice journal: Cheap and delicious

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:30:59 GMT

The address is 124, Cannaregio, 30121 Venezia. it is located next to the bridge close to the train station. Serve mainly spaghetti and pasta and a salad bar with some dessert. No cover charge nor service charge.

The cafe is at the back, but the front section of the store sells various delicious paninis.

Rome journal: Day 2: Rome

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:39:52 GMT

Our flight left for Rome from Luton Airport at 6:30am, therefore my niece and I took a two-hour bus ride from Oxford to Luton airport at 1am. I was already up for straight 36 hours by that time. Very tired, but I pressed on.

Rome - eternal city: a city I have read, watched, and heard so much about and is closely tied to my Christianity faith. So again, I didn't really rest during the 2-hr flight. As the plane approached Ciampino airport, I was quite marveled at a magnificent view : mountains of various heights with silky layers of clouds romantically cuddling them..... NATURE!!!

Rome journal: Funny Palace Hostel

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:33:58 GMT

Very spacious and clean. Well-situated - next to Termini Station. Cheap too.