We dropped at the wrong bus stop on our way back. Uncle Tan lor...pressed the bell the moment he saw the petrol kiosk which was the wrong one. It was a good thing that I agreed to go back earlier than to catch the last bus.
Not knowing how long more to walk and in which direction, we sought help from someone who happened to be talking to his friend. We were lucky to meet the helpful man who decided to bring us there in his car and we showed him the photo we took of our hotel's key bearing the hotel's name. Too long to remember and don't even know how to pronounce :p
Fortunately, he stayed near Treviso which was on-route to our hotel. So we do see helpful and nice Italians too :)
And he had been to Singapore too...only the airport while in transit to Bali ;p And he was full or praise for the airport.
Now I know why so much effort is spent on our airport...partly to impress those in transit and hopefully make them visit the small city of ours on their next trip.
This is front of the Villa hotel which we stayed.
And this is the villa's garden with a nice gazebo.
As the TV in the room we were supposed to stay was not working, we've decided to switch to a smaller room and even had a cable programmes! But...although many channels, they are mostly in Italian or German...geeze...
This is the mask I've brought. Reminds me of one HK show "女杀手" ;p
Was tempted to buy more but reminded myself that it might end up collecting dust instead and not many people love masks...Uncle Tan for one. He's the sort who doesn't like or rather, afraid, of stuff that can 'come alive' like dolls, figurines, those masks with faces etc......
The next day, we only explored around the villa instead of going to Maestrae as Uncle Tan is worried we might not be in time to catch our flight since the bus timing here is quite irregular...sigh...that's him...
We took some shots of the ducks that were kept in a small cage in the villa's garden. They were very noisy but when I tried to make a different animal sound, they went quiet...I had fun making the different noises to get them confused keke ;p
It was so cute seeing the ducks following behind the person who is going to feed them at the pond.
Saw this vending machine selling Durex condoms.
Reminds me of this TV ad tagline "Anywhere, anytime" ;p
The apartments here are mostly terrace houses. I wonder if this is one of the rich man's area since there are many villas here owned by rich Italians.
The acorns here are much shorter and rounder as compared to Zurich's.
The classic shot of a dog "瞄-ing"a cat ;pSpeaking of dogs, we heard more barkings here than in Switz. The Swiss keep them as pets - to shower them with love, good food, regular walks etc. The Italians keep them as watchdogs - to bark at strangers. We had been 'warned' by several dogs guarding the terrace houses as we walked pass them. I had a shock when I tried to seek some shade from one of the houses whilst waiting for Uncle Tan to take pictures. There were also "Beware of dogs" signages at the front gates as well.
We passed by a kindergarten. But there were no kids in there. Summer break?
Here we are at the Marco Polo airport. Not a big airport and shops are limited. There are more shops in Zurich airport. Of course, our Changi Airport is like a "mini shopping paradise" amongst the other airports.
The airport is just next to the sea. It has a pretty short runway thou so the poor plane had to break pretty sharply when we arrived.CiaoVenice...
The picture on the left is one of the nearby islands. The one on the right is a picture taken in space, showing the shape of Venezia, which resembles the shape of a fish.
Each time we travel out of Zurich, we will miss Zurich. Not sure why...
Upon reaching Switzerland, we were welcomed by the stunning view of the alps, they are so close to the skies. It was one of the few places where you could see land way before the plane descends.
"And I think to myself...what a wonderful world..."
Whenever I fly, I always marvelled by the fact that I'm high up in the air, close to the clouds. If there's a heaven, am I halfway there? It's a captivating experience (minus the ascending and descending moments).A thought came drifting to my mind. Perhaps there's someone up here with uncountable hands, each carrying a plane to ensure its safe journey. As for those freaky plane accidents, maybe because there are way too many planes for the One to have enough hands to cope.
As much as I enjoy travelling, but the pollution left by the planes somewhat makes me feel a little guilty...ok me and my green talk again...
This was the small plane we took and we had to take a shuttle bus back to the airport which was a mere short distance away. The descend was a little jerky, not sure if it was due to the wind and I felt a little sick for a while...
A little surprise...
On the plane, Uncle Tan handed me a little pouch. In it, was a pair of Murano glass earrings!
I thought it was so sweet of him and this time, I refrain myself from nagging at him for spending. Must learn to accept gifts from hubby graciously at times hehe ;p
Tips:
2. Avoid weekends if you can. Crowded Venice is no fun, especially with the heat. Air tix price is cheaper too.
3. The airport has very stringent checks. Go earlier if you can as there might be traffic jams and the Q for the security checks might be long especially if it's a weekend. Luckily for us, we went back on a weekday, so it was quite alright.
4. Remember to take out anything that's metal, including your belt. Uncle Tan had to 'strip' at the customs for he couldn't pass through the Ultra Metal Detector without it beeping. Strangely, nothing happened to him at Zurich side though it was the same belt.
To think the airport security though Uncle Tan was trying to be funny and grabbed him back to the Q to go through the detector again. They have little patience I must say and not too polite. Poor Uncle Tan...
But it was darn funny watching him going through the detector a few times, with his confused look and removing his belt and other stuff ;p I couldn't stop laughing when he was finally cleared. And that scene still tickles me whenever I recall...oh gosh, bad wife! Bad wife! ;D
5. Bus timings are less frequent. Usually half an hour but depends on traffic conditions. Over here, better flag for the bus for they might not stop, or sometimes they choose not to stop... Their bus stop is just a tiny shelter without any seats.
Generally, it was a nice experience even though we had our little grumbles on the rudeness of the people, the unfriendly barking dogs, the inconveniences of the transport, the heat, the run down hotel, the cost...hahaha....
