Florence and the hoards of tourists

Last time Rachel was in Florence she was accompanied by 26 St Mary's College students. It was nice for Rachel to finally see this city on her own terms and at a lazy pace. Who thought she would next return with husband and child in tow, five years later. We drove to Piazza Michaelangelo that overlooks this spectacular city and parked up the car for the day, the drive in wasn't too traumatic despite the warning of the crazy traffic. The GPS in the car was a good send again, makes travelling around so easy, Andrew took some fantastic panoramic shots of Florence. We then walked down into the main tourist area. Hoards of tourists!!

Anyway we toured around the usual spots including the Ufizzi Museum, the Cathedral and down and across the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. We didn't spend any time in the galleries, and will save it all till next time when it will be a bit easier. Reckon it would be nice to come during one of the quieter months and wander around and stay in the city.

The hometown of Leonardo de Vinci

Vinci, is a very cute little town that was the birth place of Leonardo De Vinci. I think this was my favourite places to visit so far. This entire town is devoted the Italian master and most of his inventions. The museum was interesting and it was located in two parts, the second being situated in the castle tower. So, you could climb the tower then be rewarded with some of the most spectacular views of Tuscany. Then we stopped for a drink at cafe Leonardo which was right next door to the information centre. To be honest it barely needs an information post as the town is very well signposted and it is very little. Andrew and I have taught in schools that are bigger!.
Anyway it was a nice slice of Italian life without many tourists in sight. The view from the tower was really spectacular and a hidden gem among dozens of other tuscan villages. Funny that Vinci is not mentioned in the lonely planet.

San Gimignano - the tuscan town of towers

This was a must see as the brochures had said the the world champion gelato makers are situated on the main piazza, plus there are some famous towers that rise above the tuscan countryside.

As we drove on the twisty italian roads, a lovely little town situated on a hill appeared. We manage to find a park and walked up to the piazza right in the top of the village. So walking up allows you to work up an appetite for gelato. This town is famous for having over 70 towers which demonstrated wealth and power, prior to the plague but now only 14 remain.

It is a bit touristy, large tour groups again, all lined up to buy gelato of course. This town had a Harry Potter village feel to it with the narrow cobblestone streets some which looked out to some amazing views. I am pleased to say that it was also stroller friendly. We walked up then down the other side with no problems at all. The only real problem we had was trying to choose which flavour gelato to have. I ended up with Pastasio and Chocolate but I had gelato envy when Andrew got The Pink grapefruit/champagne and passionfruit. yum!

Lucca - the tiny walled city

Well, what a stark contrast from yesterday. Lucca is a very pretty walled town with only a few tourists in sight. It was a bit closer to the accommodation and down the same motorway as yesterday.

We walked the 4 km along the tree lined wall around the city before venturing inside to check out the shops and find some lunch. We were not disappointed. We strolled through the narrow cobbled streets and looked at all of the quaint shops, we got a little disorientated and had to get out Lonely Planet to find our way back to the car, fortuitously we stumbled across a bakery just as Finn was falling to sleep. We bought some tasty morsels including some canolli's. I have wanted to try one of these Italian sweets ever since I saw them on the Cake Boss TV programme. A deep fried hard shell containing a chocolate mouse like filling, what could be wrong about that?! A really lovely day. Culinary high of the day - a spinach feta quiche/pie thing with short crust pastry, yum!

Off to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa

I never thought that I would ever see the famous tower, as it is a bit off the beaten track. It was a short hours drive from the holiday park where we are staying.

We parked the car and headed towards where we thought it was, then we saw the tour buses and tour group so we guessed we were headed the right way. Who thought finding to tower would be difficult. Then I looked up and I could see the top of the tower. It really was on a lean. That first sighting of such an iconic feature always surprises me, it is almost magical. it is a bit like 'wow it really does exist!' We knew we were getting closer as there were more and more crowds. We then had to run the gauntlet of tacky tourist stalls before entering the grounds where this beautiful building stands.


The tower is magnificent but the hoards of tour groups is very unpleasant. This is the reason why I try to avoid tourist hot spots if at all possible. It is not the tourists that I dislike. (actually that is a lie, I really dislike the stereotypical loud brass American tourists) But it is the tacky tourism stalls and the guys who hunt you down to try and sell you fake watches and sunglasses. I hate it! So to be honest, I am glad I got to see this iconic cultural feature but I wouldn't have been too upset if I had missed it and the tacky tourism either. Pisa really is a one hit wonder town, the remainder to the town is as unremarkable as the leaning tower is remarkable. Culinary high of the day - dinner including the yummy tomatoes and feta.

New house

We have moved apartment recently, to a new place out in the suburbs. Our old place at the Beacon was a very nice pad in the city but didn't really have the space for the impending arrival of junior. So for a little more pain in the wallet, we have scored a three bedroom place with heaps of room to spread out. I think Singaporean's are a bit adverse to older condos (old: read about 15 years) but this suits us fine. All of the new developments around town offer far less floor space and you are usually perched on some high floor, with few other other skyscrapers.

Here are some photos of the new place and neighbourhood.

Hanging in Hong Kong

After three weeks of recovery, we booked a short week trip to Hong Kong. Hong Kong has a reputation as being the big competing brother to Singapore so we thought we better go and check it out. Plus it is only a short and cheap 3 hour flight from Singapore on Jet Star.

As usual we scored a good last minute accommodation deal on http://www.wotif.com/ in a nice part of town. We stayed in Hong Kong Island in a area called Wen Chai. About two MTR stops from Central Hong Kong and the business district.

The first few days were a struggle with torrential monsoon rain, we didn't do much exploring. We did find a nice mall with a series of great restaurants which kept us occupied for the first few nights. We didn't manage to eat much local fare, but did try a ribs place, gastro pub and trendy Vietnamese place.

We did a few touristy things including Ocean Park and a trip on the Cable Car up to Victoria Peak. Ocean Park is a local version of Disneyland, but with a wildlife slant. We saw a few pandas inside big enclosures, a big aquarium with a good array of tropical fish and then rode on some of the rides. The park is perched on the end of a mountain, which juts out into the ocean. The rollercoasts are perched on the edge of the cliff which makes both of them a little more exciting.


The view from the Hong Kong waterfront is one of the most amazing urban vistas in the world. We are lucky to get two clear nights. On the Wednesday night we rode to the top of Victoria Peak, along with a few thousand Chinese tourists from the mainland. On Thursday night we caught a cab across the harbour to Kowloon and the tourist mecca. After a nice dinner in some burger place we caught the night light show spectacular.

View from Kowloon across the harbour to the Hong Kong skyline.

View from Victoria Peak down and across Hong Kong, towards mainland China.

Overall Hong Kong was a chaotic, steroid pumped version of Singapore. The main difference is that is feels like a city of the edge of booming China, with lots of wealth and luxury cars. The shops and transport all seemed pretty similar but the city is crammed onto the coast of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island and it feels dominated by the skyscapers. Singapore has a nice and accessible waterfront which Hong Kong is currently building in the midst of a new reclamation project.