Postcards from Italy

It was an amazing adventure that started out from a DIY paint by number which I got to work on. It was a painting of an Italian Riviera. And I knew that I wanted to visit that painting. So starts the Italy trip planning, in the year 2013, for two weeks. And the key place of visit was the Cinque Terre, 5 towns that look like my painting. I just got back last week, and I am unsure how I should start the blog entry of my trip as there are still severe backlog of other things I have been meaning to blog about. But life is short, and I've decided to just do what I love as this is after all, my own personal blog. So I thought I'll start by sharing with you postcards from Italy. The two on top are of Vernazaa (right), and Riomaggiore (left), the two place that we stayed at in Cinque Terre. The photo was taken at an awesome jazz cafe at Manarola on one rainy afternoon while we were waiting for our train to take us back to Riomaggiore.

My mother has asked that I send her postcard while I was there, as I have cultivated a habit of sending postcards home from places I've visited in the past. She also does not have access to the internet, so postcards were a way for me to keep in touch with her while I am away. Postcards were cheap enough at Italy, you could get some for 50 cent Euro (SGD 0.85) or less. But the postage was ridiculously expensive, at 2 Euro(SGD 3.39)  per card! And it's not even a stamp! It's just a postage label sticker! Pist! I think I send a total of 7 cards home, 2 to myself, 5 to my parents. Luckily 2 of the postcards were sent from Vatican City which understood the concept of stamps. The postcards above are of Venice, and Burono (an island near Venice), and the photo was taken at a cafe at Rome Termini Station while we were waiting to check-in to our hostel.

This last photo was taken in Milan one rainy afternoon while we waited to visit the Last Supper which eventually was not open due to strikes. Somehow I like photos that documents the places that I've been. I did got some postcards from Milan, but those were the first batch, and I didn't manage to take a photo of them. Anyway, this one is taken with a Milan guide book I borrowed from the NLB in Singapore. I took along with me 3 guide books (Milan, Venice, and Rome). It's strange that there are always room for books in my bag even though I'm backpacking :)

It was a great trip. At some point I did get exhausted and missed home. But it is a privilege to be able to travel, and so I will love every minute of it and not complaint. I should target to backpack for one month next time, before my body gets too weary from old age. I love the fact that after one week of backpacking, my arms and legs were all shaped up nicely.

Stay tune as I slowly reveal more photos from my trip. Cheers.