CHAO ciao Venice

Venice is our last stop in Europe. March 30th - we are ready to go home…and this date is Owen’s birthday. Gilbert and Amy treated us for dinner and the big three scoops of gelato. It’s a special feeling to eat gelato in cold weather and walked along the coast. We had Champaign and tiramisu cake to celebrate his birthday in Italy. His 33rd birthday is especially long due to the time difference between Italy and US. He has an extra nine hours, yet mostly spent on the plane. Vincent picked us up from the airport and went directly to his home. Wow! Surprisingly, our group of friends was there. Emily prepared a birthday cake for him too. Despite other reasons why they were there…like MJ, Winning 11, and Wii…that was sweet and so warm to see our friends gathering around after we arrived.

A new HK buddy – Aison, a backpacker

We met @ the Trevi Fountain for the 1st time. She asked Owen to take a picture of her. Her first impression to me is very brave and cool…traveling by herself. We met again when we are on the train from Florence to Pisa. I recognized her and waited for her eye contact so I can say hello. I was too excited to meet a Hong Kong friend in this foreign country. She finally look toward my way and she was very confused why this person kept waving @ her, but she finally recognized me too. We introduced ourselves and her name is Aison. We found out she’s an international student in Canada and she will travel in Europe for 3 mos before she goes back to HK. We spent a whole afternoon in Pisa tower and had lunch together. We talked about our trip, our life and we got to know each other a bit more. I was speechless when she was telling us her 5yrs of study in the little town in Canada. I guess San Francisco is a much better place after all. We shared the same passion of HK. She says “I rather sleep on the street in HK than staying in Canada – the foreign world”. Wow, I definitely found our bonding right there. I hope I didn’t overwhelmed her with my friendliness and never-ended talking. At the end, I gave her my blessing with a tangerine that I stole from the hotel breakfast in the morning.

Life is!!!

Besides the historical evidence in Italy, the most unforgettable scene to me is seeing people making a living. Some sells flake brand name purses, sunglasses, belts, scarf and prints. Some becomes professional beggar – carrying their babies, walking around with their children and open their hands to ask for money. With a bad attitude, they will negotiate with people for more money who has sympathy to give them some changes to begin with. Also, artists and musicians scratch and play their instruments for people who appreciate their performance. I saw a few of my own Chinese people writing calligraphy for their buyers. They kept looking around and being very cautious to make sure no police is around to catch them. I was so nervous for them and I felt their fear in my heart. At the same time, I cheered for them when they found new customers. Is it really worth it and better living in the outside world than living in the place where we all came from? I can never answer this question for others, cuz everyone has their own reasoning and story for their decision. I know I am just too lucky to have what I have. Life is so!!!

The Tricky Italian Transportation System

If you travel to Italy, make sure you validate the train, bus or boat tickets @ the yellow validation box. The patron will randomly check your ticket during the ride. The fine is 5-euro for tourist and 14-euro for residents if you failed to do so. Luckily our friend prior to the trip warmed us, so we were saved. I know this is an honesty policy, yet it is just very tricky. There are not enough instructions or signs and the people on the information booth may not remind you. Though a discount fine is given to the tourist, they should put a big and noticeable sign in both Italian and English (the universal language) for everyone. Perhaps, this is their sneaky way in making extra profit. That sucks!

The Famous Foie Gras in France

I’ve tried the goose liver couple times in Napa before, but never have any special favorite to it except knowing that is expensive. We visited a foie gras specialty store in Paris named Le Petite Scierie. Their product is 100% nature and it’s made from this family owned farm. We bought an affordable 32-euro bottle and made 4 sandwiches to share with Gilbert and Amy. Yum! Yum! This gave me a whole different taste of goose/duck liver. The sandwich has nothing, but a thick layer of foie gras. With the crispy French bread, the foie gras melt in our mouth. The taste was so rich, yet not too filling. Uhmmm! Delicious! This is a well-worth expensive sandwich.

PIERRE HERME - heavenly good

This pastry shop is hiding between the brand name boutiques. Gilbert says he will bring us to the voted #1 pastry shop. The shop needs no other decoration with all the colorful pastries. It's just too much selection. We bought a chocolate crescent and a piece of cake that has a piece of rose on top. The chocolate crescent was still warm, it’s so crispy and the chocolate inside is soft and rich. #1 is definitely belongs to that. The better is yet to come…but I don't know how to use word to describe our satisfaction with that other piece of cake. The top and bottom layers are like napoleon pastry (crispy). The middle is berry mousse and fresh raspberry. You can also feel the taste of rose in every bite. Wow, that is heaven! That is the best! All other pastry shops worth nothing after you try Pierre Herme first. That's why we made a 2nd trip to try their famous macarons. That was so delicious too!

Water is like Gold in Europe

We are in break between all the walking and dinner time. When we are in the States, I always take only a couple sips on my "FREE" icy cold fresh water in the restaurants thru the whole meal. Yet, a bottle of H2O may cause up to 6 euro at the restaurants in Europe. Knowing the value of every little drop, I made sure we will "down" the whole bottle before we leave. Now I learn to appreciate water much more.