Spirit of Christmas?

It's Christmas!,

Its definetely a very different christmas from before, too quiet for me. I would love to go to church, i speak it with the hint that i did not do so. The reason is because of the unbearable cold outside, its a huge barrier to get through before deciding to go anywhere. In fact, it requires a lot of consideration to go anywhere outside the house.

My Christmas....
No turkey, no gifts, no carols, no christmas tree,

Just me,
In my room,
On my bed,
Singing praises to my Lord and Saviour.

A Christmas i never had before.

Travel and Adventure: Italia

The thought of crossing the borders of italy was merely a dream in the past, when i was a student of foreign history back in secondary school. The history books that i read for free in a corner of a famous Kinokuniya bookstore in KLCC. Arranged to impress history enthusiast with pictures and intriguing facts.

Just days ago, i find myself in the city of culture, art and history. The excursion begins from Venice. The italians call it Venezia, the city of canals and palaces~ the dual nature: water and land, long history and doubtful future, airy delicacy and dim melancholy. The world is in great lost if flood is ever to sink this place. Built from detailed planning with limestones for over a thousand years, the city was one of the most enduring mercantile sea powers on the face of the earth.

I would say that Venice was the most beautiful of the few cities i visited. I dare boldly claim the place to be authentically italian, contradictory to the famous capital, Rome. The canals and river seems to give energy and vigor to adventurers such as me to explore more and more. The channeled energy drives the tireless legs to keep walking allowing the eyes to feast on more wonders. Surely enough, the tastebuds to have its share of luxury. It was the coldest in Venice however,it was really so cold that my heart shivers literally screaming for a shower of fire. I bought many souvenirs in Venice, for myself of course and surely for my beloveds. Restriction of funds is really hard, looking for low-priced items, food and almost everything else really. I would surely want to come again one day...

Florence!, The city of art is truly a city of art. The influence is just embedded into the air of the city itself. Talented spray artist can be seen just by any roads, creating their art for the excitement of the crowd. The creativity and skill amazes both the locals and foreign. The Uffizi Galleria has statues of every contributors to art and science in the renaissance age, an honest tribute to them. When i gaze on the paintings and sculptures in the museums or galleria academmias, i am just astonished and enlightened of the artist's talent and mostly imagination. Sadly, some of these works are perversed, there are abundant erotic arts; intercourse between man and beast, sculpture of a huge dick with lion legs, trophy for sex competitions, pendants, weaven carpets, ceilings, just to name a few.

The capital of Italy, Rome. Being the capital, upon arrival, the typical city smell was readily available, the back alleys, the merry sound from the traffic, wasn't a place anybody want from a vacation. However, there were many attractions to discover in so limited time, with time management and map navigation, all the places worth visiting was tracked one by one. From the Santa Maria Maggiore southward to the Colosseum and Roman Forums covering all the way west to the Vatican city. Being around there gave me the opportunity to connect to the past, to history, to feel the meaning of their culture. I have always been intrigued by the romans, especially since i am a fan of civilization and medieval age games.

It was a discovery of the ancient times, as i touch the stones and marbles around me;

Julius Caesar might have leaned against it,
Cicero's hand might have touched this spot,
Marcus Aurelius, Augustus, Scipio, Nero....,

...................suddenly all these people seem very real to me, no longer comic and history book characters. I have touched what they touched.

I find myself in lost of words for words is just too weak and insufficient to stress on the 5 amazing days in Italy. I attempted on many stunts as usual in my goofy character, funny i just can't grow up. Every attempt to be normal leads just to the opposite. It would be more fun with more crazy friends, fun mentality swashbuckling friends. It was very enjoyable never the less travelling mostly with a group of passive 2 gals and 1 guy. As a result, i did most of the crazy things myself with rather a lot of remark but-all is good..

During the trip, i took about 1.3 gigabyte worth of pictures and that is no small amount, my thirst for pictures was just insatiable, everything there was beautiful, that i just had to give it a click, before changing the setting on the camera to suit the snap. From this trip, i had developed an interest in architecture inevitably, something i never thought i might fall for since my dad is an architect- i didn't want to be one because i always wanted to be original. Recognizing the degree is difficult to obtain, i suppose its not a path i can take. Besides, its a career driven very much by passion compared to the profit driven chemical engineering.

If life is measured by experience, i surely had gained ample of it. I have learnt much from the trip, the people, the culture, the history, oh and especially the food. The best thin crust pizzas i have ever tasted, ever!. I still like thick fancy pizzas from pizza hut though. The pasta was excellent but i honestly think Itallianies in Bandar Utama, Kuala Lumpur is just almost as comparable. Hah! The unbeatable ice-creams, gelato. So good, that one would eat so many of it in the midst of winter. Insane!, i know but that is the best way to illustrate the greatness of gelato. The only painful part is to decide what flavour to pick, trust me, its not easy unless you plan to just try every single one of them.

Can never write enough, i shall end.
To those who visited Italy, you know what i m saying.
To those who haven't do so, get started!!