time to say goodbye...

saying goodbye is probably the hardest thing i have to do whenever the semester comes to an end and that everyone has to go back to their own countries... either this or i myself have to leave the place...

the last time was when i had to leave portugal for germany... the thought of finally settling down in one place was so comforting, and i was gutted when i had to uproot myself... i missed the company of the EMMS classmates, and more so, the conversations and morning coffee with leandro...

tonight signals the start of the mass departure of exchange students from Hamburg... over the last 4 months, we had our share of fun, parties, and of course the alcohol... and even though students are here for the sole purpose of studying, everyone behaves as if they are here for fun alone... gone are the weekends when we will organize short trips around germany and to the surrounding countries... and if we stumble upon favorable offers of cheap airfares, we will just skip friday's as well as the following monday's lessons so that we will be able to have a long weekend...

aurelia (french neighbour) just left... and i didnt get to say goodbye (well, we did say our farewell much earlier today)...

and to follow up, will be the other neighbours from the apartments above mine... familiar faces whose names i can never seem to remember... but nevertheless, thank you for all the pleasant memories that you have given me...

as for the singaporean gang (the 5 SINHA... singaporeans in hamburg), ching weng and kelvin had left for singapore, and dave and cailin will be the next 2 to leave on wednesday... so that leaves me all alone in hamburg...

quoted leandro:" if we always look back to the past, we will not be able to appreciate the beauty of the future..." i know this probably make sense, but man, i hate this...

ok, maybe i just allowed myself to be overcome with stress, but who can blame me? blame it on the fact that the singapore education system made me so competitive, and also the fact that i am on a scholarship and i HAVE to do well (not just pass the exams)... this is so sad...

argh!! i will do it!!

exam stresses...

looks like the stresses of the coming exams are hitting me pretty hard...

(i) i can't even have a peaceful night of sleep since i got back from my traveling... my whole mind is on the exams, can't sleep at night, even waking up in the middle of the night for a pee will then lead to another 30min of tossing and turning before falling back to sleep...

(ii) i don't feel like eating anything...

(iii) and nothing seems to be going into my head...the case of dying brain cells??

tour de italy - Verona

in order to escape from the thousands of tourists at venice, dave and i decided to make a trip to Verona...

Verona is a city and provincial capital in Veneto, Northern Italy. The ancient town and the center of the modern city are in a loop of the Adige River near Lake Garda. Because of this position, the areas saw regular floodings until 1956, when the Mori-Torbole tunnel was constructed, providing 500 cubic meters of discharge from the Adige river to the Lake Garda in case of flood danger. The tunnel reduced the risk of floodings from once every seventy years to once every two centuries.

enough of the history, just make a guess, what is Verona famous for?? hint...

yuppie, people usually make a day trip to this little town famous for the home town of Romeo & Juliet and the Casa Di Giulietta or more commonly known as Juliet's Balcony, whereby Juliet used to meet up with Romeo secretly... and yes, we did try to catch a view of this famous place... and interestingly, the entire corridor leading to the house is defected with love notes, and chewing gum... yes, chewing gums ^_^

and see the number of Juliet-wannabes on the balcony... and the statue of Juliet... and people seem to like grabbing her right breast, which explains why one side seems more worn out than the other... i think there might be a legend behind this action...

the Arena... doesn't it look like the Colosseum of Rome? let's do a comparison... (the colosseum is the picture below)

the Museo Castelvecchio...

the Piazza Erbe & Piazza dei Signori...

view from the P.Te Pietra... it's the bridge that leads to the other side of the river Fiume Adige to the Castel San Pietro...

on top of the Teatro Romano which overlooks the entire city of Verona...

tour de italy - Venice

didnt expect myself to come back to italy after one year, when i spent almost 10 days last summer in florence, siena, pisa, milan, rome and naples... and this is a "continuation" of my tour de italy...=)

Venice (Venezia) is a city in northern Italy, the capital of region Veneto. Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area. Venice's nicknames include "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Bridges", and "The City of Light".

the city stretches across numerous small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater lagoon stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po (south) and the Piave (north) Rivers.

Enough of the introduction of the city... despite the fact that it is considered as one of the must-go places in Italy as well as the fact that it is really unique in the sense that the only way of transport is through the many boats and ferries, i don't really like the city on the whole... to me, Venice can be summaried in 3 words: (i) overly-commercialized + lots of tourists (ii) canals & waterways (iii) bridges & more bridges...

San Giobbe is an interesting example of Renaissance art... the church has an elegant portal, the work of Pietro Lombardo... in the interior are important canvases, including a triptych by A. Vivarini on the alter in the Sacristy...

one of the main highlights of Venice will definitely be the Piazza San Marco, or better known as the St Mark's Square... St Mark's Square is called a piazza and not a campo, in order to distinguish it from the other squares and to emphasize its singular beauty... it is quite unique as a place for strolling about in and as a gathering place... occupying the present area since the 12th century, in 1264 the square was paved in herringbone pattern bricks; which is in fact the original paving style that used to line the streets and squares of Venice... the present-day Euganean trachyte paving stones date from 1723... and there are just so many pigeons...

the Basilica di San Marco (St Mark's Basilica) is a superb example of the Romanesque-Byzantine style with 5 cupolas... it was built in the 10th century to house the body of the St Mark the Evangelist... on the terrace stand 4 Horses of glided copper (the original ones are now preserved inside the Basilica) that were sent from Constantinople to Doge Enrico Dandolo in 1204... and the Bell Tower adjacent to the basilica was once a lighthouse for ships...

the Piazzetta San Macro is bordered by the Sansovino Library and the Ducal Palace and overlooks the Basin of St Mark and this is a most fascinating square...

Ponte dei Sospiri (bridge) was constructed in the 17th century with 2 internal passageways. the bridge leads to the New and Old Prisons, the latter called pozzi (wells)... a little window looks out over the Basin of St Mark, offering a picturesque view of the island of San Giorgio... legend has it that if you pass under this bridge on a gondola at sunset, and you kiss your lover, the 2 of you will be together for the rest of your lives...

Ponte di Rialto was completed in the 16th century; the stone bridge on wood piling was built to replace a wooden bridge and an earlier pontoon bridge that once was the only link between the 2 banks of the Grand Canal... the shops lining the central passageway make it particularly picturesque... really nice...see the shots taken from the bridge...

of course, there are lots more historical buildings... but we shall just stop here and the rest of the pics are just shots of everything interesting...

A gòndola is a traditional Venetian rowing boat... Gondolas were for centuries the chief means of transportation within Venice and still have a role in public transport, serving as traghètti (ferries) over major canals... however, taking one will set one back by a minimum of 80 euros... better stick to a poor man's "gondola"- the ferry...=p

the foodies all over the streets.... and of course, gelatto...=)

various shots of us... 3 singaporeans + 1 mexican...

oh, did i mention that this can of coke cost me 4 euros... that's 8 singapore dollars!!!! if i had known the price beforehand, i would NEVER drank it... =(

and there is a yearly festival whereby people will gather in the streets of venice (during the month of Feburary) and all of them will put on these masks...

and the street artist is sooo good...