Tivoli and its Villas

My first sight of Tivoli truly took my breath away. It wasn't particularly beautiful like Bath, but probably because I was not expecting it to loom so high above me amongst those hills, it was certainly an eye-catcher.

We visited Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana ~ both are UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Villa d'Este consists of a main villa, which looks out into a truly beautiful garden with sounds of water tinkling from the far right and left.

View of the gardens from the balcony.


The Oval Fountain (Fontana dell'Ovato)

View of the Villa and Dragon Fountains from the Fishpond


View from the center courtyard


View of the Fishponds

Fountain of the Great Cup (Fontana del Bicchierone)

Villa Adriana (or Hadrian's Villa) was the home to Emperor Hadrian in the early 2nd Century. It spans about 250 acres, and consisted of over 30 buildings, most of which are ruins today. The place is so huge (read = TALL buildings) that photos just don't do it justice.

A mock up model of the Villa as it would have been all those centuries ago

Height perspective!

Emperor Hadrian's outdoor swimming pool, flanked by giant-sized statues

Staff quarters

Beautiful Burano

One of the more picturesque places I've ever been to has most definitely got to be the island town of Burano, just off Venice. The entire little village, which is famous for its hand-made lace, is painted in a myriad of colours.

The day that we arrived was cool and sunny, and it was really perfect. There were lots of restaurants/cafes lining the main street, and we had a relaxing lunch whilst watching people stroll by.

Angkor

My 3rd trip to Cambodia. Same place but with different people and different experiences. Took a lot more photos this time around with the digital camera (!) as the past two times I didn't have a digital camera.

First stop was Siem Reap. The weather was actually hotter than I remember, and it was only March. Only managed to visit 3 ruins this time around - seems to be getting less and less each time! The ruins were as I remember, although it was rather a disappointment that we were not able to climb up to the main tower in Angkor Wat. It was barricaded off for some reason - signage was all in Cambodian. I can still remember the first (and only!) time I stared out that window from the tower - capturing the view all the way past the inner wall to the outer moat.

What a sight that was.

Well, tower or no, Angkor Wat is still Angkor Wat!

Angkor Wat

Besides Angkor Wat, we also did Angkor Thom and Ta Phrom. Signs of 'modern intrusion' were seen everywhere - wooden arrows pointing towards the 'correct' way, planks set out for walking, makeshift stairs, etc. There was no more excitement as we were left with no room to Explore and Discover - which was what made the ruins so mysterious and wonderful in the first place. We were 'hoarded' by an invisible hand to walk the 'mass route' :-(

However, it was still Angkor and its years of history still bears down on you. It serves to remind us that even the greatest civilisation can crumble and be ravaged by time.

Bayon

Ta Phrom

Each of the Angkor ruins are individually different and serves a specific purpose - from places of worship, to bath houses, to places of cremation. Each is a testament of the Khmers' lifystyle that has been preserved through the ages so that we may today marvel at their greatness in bygone years.

No Money, No Honey!

That was what one little girl told Steven when he said he had no money to buy souvenirs from her. Hah Hah.

We were taking a break at one of the food stalls around Angkor Thom, and in the short span of time that we were there, we were approached by at least 5 kids, each attempting to peddle their wares to us.

Tourists were lacking and extremely limited, and these kids took it in turns to approach us. Many of them are selling the same items - fridge magnets, bracelets and locally made musical instruments. They are really rather industrious and very bright! It was really entertaining chatting with them and they came up with all sorts of 'sales pitch' to make their sale.

The most popoular one being, "What's the capital of Madagascar? If you don't know the answer, you have to buy from me." And one little girl actually told us to just buy something from her so that she will go away and leave us alone to enjoy our drinks in peace!

In the end, we bought a total of 6 fridge magnets and 3 bracelets from 3 different kids, and bought another 2 kids lunch. They are really a good bunch and eke-ing out an honest living, just like the rest of us.

Steven with the 2 girls who sold him the Fridge Magnets

Me with the girl who sold me the bracelets (which I will be giving to Anita's daughter!)

Steven with the 2 kids whom we bought lunch for

Our Purchases

Me and President Obama ;-)

Looks really 'real' doesn't it?! Taken at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in HK.

Other celebrities included:-