Travelogue - Italy!

We are back after a great tour of Italy. 6 fun filled days from 25 Dec to 30th and revival of some old memories of Italy. I will keep it short with just some highlights!
Day-1 (PISA)
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The leaning tower is still leaning as it has been since the 11th century. We also climbed it to the top and found that one really looses balance while climbing while climbing the 1st and 2nd floors!! What appalled me the most was the lack of security for a wonder of the world. Me and A had the fortune to see the tower at late night while it was raining and from a distance of just about 10 feet and not a single soul was around for miles probably. Quite romatic. Its like seeing Taj Mahal all alone on a moonlit night. But a thought struck me that in this world full of zealots isnt Italy too lax about safety of a monument so important both historically and for its tourism? Same goes with Colloseum in Rome, we saw that too from close quarters late into night with secirity almost non existent!
Day-2 (FLORENCE)
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This city is meant for people with an artistic bent of mind. Paitings and sculptures by the likes of Michaelangelo,Botticelli and Leonardo Da Vinci galore city's every nook and corner . But Michaelangelo's world famous "David" (of the David and Goliath fame) stands apart. This sculpture invokes a dumb awe. Its gracious to the core and personifies the perfection in the art of stone sculpting ever done by man. While in Florence I could not help but compare the artwork of Mughals which we see in our own country in places like Taj Mahal, Various Moghul palaces or the Dilwara temple in Rajasthan with the Roman architecture. To my un-trained eye, the biggest difference is that Romans believed in size, each and every Roman monument is huge,enormous and grand, whereas Moghul architecture is about fine art of extremely intricate stone work.
Day-3 & 4 (Rome)
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"Rome was not built in a day". You need to see Rome to believe this adage. The bloody history of Collosseum, the magnificient Palazzo Victoria Emanuelle-2, the trevi fountain and of course the St Peters Basilica of Vatican are all things worth seeing at least once in lifetime. The grand squares of Rome and ruined palaces scattered all over take you back in time when Roman empire was at its peak. On the flip side, Rome is very much like Delhi. Its full of pick pockets and Mafia. We had a incident of A's rucksack being probed by some pick pocket girl in a subway. Fortunately nothing was lost.
Day 5 & 6 (VENICE)
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I believe that Venice is also a wonder of the world and one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It is ranked as the worlds second most romantic place after Paris. I celebrated dear "A's" birthday there on 29th Dec! Venice is known for its opulent palaces of 17th century and the opera's. And also for the most romatic "Gondolas", the beautiful San Marco described as worlds best drawing room by Napolean and the Rialto bridge which gives a great view of the Grand Canal. We also visited one of the glass factories of the famed Murano glass works and saw first hand the process of glass artifact making. The Murano glass is damn expensive and meant probably only for the rich and famous.

The trip was one of the best I ever had and we both will cherish its memories for many years to come!

Million Dollar Page

This idea beats all dot.com ideas. Envy is the only emotion it invokes. Alex Tew, a 21 year old student from England came up with this bright idea just to sponsor his university education and today he posesses a cool one million dollar booty. All he does is to sell a 10X10 pixel area on his website, aptly named http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/ to anyone who wants to advertise their enterprise with a logo! The result is a unreadable collage of logos which looks more like modern art. This sheer stupid idea has earned him millions. Sigh...I will try not to env him. You have a look at it.