szechenyi.thermal.bath

i am actually feeling grumpy right now... besides the fact that i am not really feeling fit (neither am i sick) just at the border line and was woke up twice by his alarm and couldn't go back to sleep again, by the time i dossed off and  woke up, it's way too late to drive to work and my head is bouncing again...  so i looked at my appointments and shift everything to tomorrow. not my day but these things happened...  what i really want now is to soak into a hot spring water and let the heat of the thermal water rejuvenate my body.  since it is not possible to get near to anything like that besides the sauna and steam bath at my gym facility, why not travel back again to my never finish summer travel story?  at least back then it is warm and i am soaking in a hot thermal bath in budapest.

sometime in mid august

it’s almost late afternoon, you are according to plan, you arrive here to rest your sore feet and tired body.  you have walked all the way from andrassay út to here. 

you found the thermal bath complex, you pay and you enter.  this building is even more humongous than gillert thermal bath that you been to a day before. 

no one speak english here, no english instruction either.  you are frustrated because the attendant doesn’t understand you.  you don’t know how things work here; there is no explanation in english. 

but you must admit this place is beautiful, a gem consider this being a swimming pool complex or thermal bath complex. 

you waste time in finding how things operate.  you feel like you are in some sort of communist chamber and under passage and wish you could figure out the hungarian language which is not latin or germanic based.  you are in the tower of babel, and lost in translation. 

you start with the indoor pools, what is called a mud pool is not a pool in murky mud but a pool with a higher content of medicinal water (with strong smell).  I love the thermal bath, it relaxes you especially after a long walk today.  there are about 15 different pools, you are spoilt of choice, you  just hop in and out from one to another, with different temperatures.  the 80 celcius degree sauna also helps release the sweat and you feel really good.  despite the fact that you were not at ease at first, but now you beginning to feel relax.  you jump into a 20 celcius pool after the sauna, and feel your both feet numb and the open pores close immediately, you couldn’t get your whole body into the 20c pool so you switch to a 38c pool and you feel so much better. by now your foot sore, muscle ache has gone with the wind thermal water.

when the indoor pool and complex closed, you go to the outdoor pool, the air is quite fresh but the thermal water keeps you warm. you stay until past 7.30pm, you witness the light up view of szechenyi . the open air pools embraced by the wings of this beautiful old building, the classical roman pool halls and the cavernous sauna. 

you return to the gas chamber like room, take your shower, blow dry your hair and ready to explore this part of the city by night.

you walk out the thermal bath complex, the building is illuminated by now and you still find it amazing that you actually swam in places like this, a fairy tale or a fantasy place.... 

and in reality you are now in cold december with temperature of -2c out there and not feeling well yet without a thermal bath...

a.late.night.and.an.early.morning

it's not ideal, but that happened sometimes... of all the days in the year, we chose the coldest day to have an account wide event. the temperature of -6c which feels like -15c when running on the streets of amsterdam.

on the coldest day of the year, i went for a canal cruise. note the snow on the glass ceilling, once in the boat, we were not affected by the weather though, but i must confessed i didn't pay any attention to the night view of amsterdam, as we just carried away with chatting...

and free flow of drinks, in the boat but also at the bar/cafe where we had the event, nearby to the red light district...

and a boring but necessary presentation, i blur the photo so that you don't see the thing on the presentation

a late and reasonable three course dinner. carpaccio - cod fish - vanilla ice cream. typical but acceptable, nothing to shout about...

and entertained by a rather lame comedy show by an american and a britt.

...

a past cinderalla time by the time i get home.

.....

a short sleep.

...

zzzzzzzzzzzzz

...

an early start

...

driving in the snow, arriving at a breakfast meeting at eight in the morning.

but on the brighter side, we had a scrumptious women's only breakfast waiting for us.

and just one man (important one) listening to what women want...

and a tired me.

thank God tomorrow is friday!

eat.rome

i watched the movie 'eat, pray, love' a few days ago. it's a boring movie i must say and thankfully i watched it free on-line over the internet and didn't pay for the cinema. the only part of the movie that really attracts me is the initial part of the movie about the eat in rome. and it reminds me of our recent trip to rome and the food we ate like the title of the movie. we didn't have as many pastas or pizzas or wine like her in the movie, plus we didn't take any food photo on the sucking pig and other dishes that we ate at a restaurant called ditirambo because i was so carried away and engaged in the conversation with two italian men.

well, let's first talk about the eat we had in rome according to what i have snapped in my camera...

giolitti is famous for the gelati, but on our arrival the queue for ice cream is too long and so instead of the ice cream, we opt for some sweet pastries....

the croissant is the choice of the boring historian, i went for the pine nut pie which is really high energy and perfect for the moment when we were really hungry after a loooong walk in and around the ancient sites... the mont blanc on the other hand is a bit of disappointment, instead of cream, it has a white meringue as the crust that was way toooooooooo sweet for me...

caloni is a common snack that you can find almost in every pastry shop, the interpretation may be a little different but i like the vanilla canoli from the bakery nearby our hotel most... the pistachio version is not bad either....

gelati is awesome in rome (or rather in entire italy), this particular one nearby to vatican has unconventional english name but a long queue. i had mine portion with blueberry yogurt, cinnamon and chestnut, while his in nutella, pistachio and banana flavors...

the sweet treats are quite amazing in rome although the tiramisu that i had was a little disappointing (i think i made a better one)....

of course there were plenty of savory moments too...

during our short stay in rome, we frequent a bakery just at the corner of our hotel quite regularly for a quick bite or a cuppa espresso... here are some savory we tried and i like the arancini di riso (fried rice ball) with a hint of saffron is really delis...

and some elegant sandwiches which have been decorated like a piece of art objects.. the spinach and mozzarella cheese sandwich is not just pretty to look at but also a pleasure to bite on....
well, so much about eat.rome

ancient.golden.triangle.rome

one can never say that he or she been to rome without visiting some of this most sought after monuments and some made it to the wonders of the world list. we were there on 23rd october which happened to be an entrance free day to visit the ancient golden triangle - colosseum, palatine hill and roman forum. however, trying to take in these  places in one day is heavy…seriously heavy especially if you are trying to understand the history behind the major ruins, the brick, the broken column and you are not alone, there are thousands of people like you visiting the place at the same time.

we started off at colosseum relatively early to queue for a free ticket. with the free ticket, we gave up the idea of buying roma pass since for my historian cum my personal romans history guide, he is only interested in the three ruins…

it's a fine day considering the single digit temperature we had in the lowland... we check out the famous colosseum, a place where gladiators fight to entertain the crowds...

the interior is not properly maintained at all... standing there i wish i could really take a moment to travel back to the ancient time imagining myself being one of the audiences and watching a fight that entertaining and hopefully not too bloody...  but not a moment that i was not disturbed by the crowds, the camera flash and the small chat in different languages plus the elbows that pushing around in order to walk through the small passage....

we left colosseum for palatine hill, it's a lot quieter and a space to breath and to take in the view slowly....

here there are plenty of sights to see, all ruins and only the imagination could help to paint a picture on how this hill would look like many many years ago....  any lack of imagination and a historian mind, this place is just a hill with nothing more than just ruins, brics and bracs....

the palatine hill is linked to the roman forum which is another massive ruins by itself..... we decided to take a break after palatine hill to look for some food as the afternoon sun is really warm and makes one tiring walking without a shade....

after our lunch break, we took a different route to the roman forum and some flowers are still beautiful in october, no wonder rome is a favorite destination to escape the winter cold....

at the roman forum, we have to watch out every step we take because the brics and bracs, broken columns, crushed marble are everywhere on the ground....

even someone who is deeply rooted in roman history still need to read up on the spot to get the full out of the visit...(ahem...)

pantheon, not within the golden ancient triangle, not an intentional visit either, we passed by here because giontti is just two blocks away from here...

again we are confronted with the endless stream of tourists (like us) everywhere, day or night....perhaps that is just how an eternal city, ancient rome should be...

shopping.rome

window shopping to be exact!! 

i didn’t buy anything this trip. seriously i got nothing at all from this shopping mecca city that loads with luxury brands and leather!!!! 

white chocolate bar anyone???  i first spot this logo somewhere at the piazza di spagna area (on our second return), i took the photo because these are the brand names and objects of desire!!! later at home when i am editing the photo, it looks more and more like a delicious white chocolate bar to me.... may be it is just me letting my imagination running wild...


i remember the first night,when we were strolling along the major shopping streets at piazza di spagna area, i was like "look at the heel with ruffles", "look at that LV bag"...

ooh-ing and aah-ing around like a shopaholic lady who have not been shopping for awhile (not that i have the money to shop like that).  since it was at late night and all shops are closed, so it's really a window shopping purely to satisfy the lust of the eyes....we return one afternoon when the shops are all open and plenty of people satisfying the shopping craze carrying shopping bags of gucci, prada, valentino and many more...

there are plenty of eastern european and asian tourists around and suddenly me and my historian heard a guy saying "BA-BU-LI is just there...". we looked at each other and smile, wondering what the guy is talking about... seconds later we know...

they are talking about this shop burberry, and of course all of us know "bur-ber-ry" that famous with the british style trench coat... but hello.... burberry is not "BA-BU-LI"....

but….but… I had an almost alexia experience in rome, also along the via corso and piazza di spagna area. i have no short of bags but oversize alexia is what I desire.  in fact i have wanted one for quite some time.  the desire is even more evidence after i watched the movie ‘letter to Juliette’ setting in different cities in italy (verona, tuscany, etc) where the actress is carrying an ‘almost alexia’ shoulder bag and that really give me the zeal of wanting one for myself. but, the catch is i am not willing to pay for the mulberry price, so i have been looking for a almost similar version as long as it is made of genuine leather. the bag is classic and so it would stand the fashion storm and will remain classic and durable for ages…  i saw this bag at one of the leather shops after many tries, hopping in and out the various 'not brand name' leather and handbag shops in and around the shopping mecca of spanish steps area.  this bag is exactly what i wanted, no fake logo, not an imitation, genuine leather but just at the fraction of the mulberry price.  the shop just doesn’t carry the color that i want.  they have it in black (too boring), in dark chocolate (too masculine), they just don’t have it in the neutral brown (classic). what a bummer :(… it is another almost alexia experience the second time, the first time was in madrid where i also didn’t get it because of the color.  so i return home without any acquisition. 

we also had an interesting conversation one night with two italian men in the same restaurant dining at the next table.  the man with the decent english fluency is very proud of his country and kept telling us how great the roman empire was.  i made a comment about the fact roman empire was very powerful before in the past but no longer in the present... there was quite a moment of silence after i made that statement and i thought our conversation was over... and suddenly this man said to me, it may be true that roman empire is not as strong as before but certainly italy is still conquering the world!! i was thinking what he meant by his statement and he just threw out "valentino, tod's, hogan, prada, gucci, salvatore ferragamo, miu miu, dolce gabana, armani..." and well.. he got the point there... these brands are still the most sought after objects in the world... from that sense he is absolutely right that we should never under estimate the italian power....

set aside the story, as for me, i will keep on searching till i find my 'almost alexia'....

mosaic.rome

a truly off the beaten track, one of the almost unnoticeable basilica and catacomb in rome out of the 300 plus churches in the city.

[by the way he said i dressed like a catholic nun]

the entrance to see the mosaic and the passage descending to the actual church is quite a dramatic experience. firstly as it is an off the tourist spot, so it was quiet, empty as we made our approach. then suddenly there is this 'vampire' sort of organ music playing. we both were rather shocked and terrified as there's no body at that time...

saint agnese fuori le mura is a pristine, a real gem of the early christian church with the byzantine mosaic intact. the church is almost empty with just another german couple and a gentleman playing the organ when we made the entrance.

the original mosaic is quite well preserved, gold and glitters. the story behind this immortalised saint is a rather sad one

or rather an unbelievable legend which makes me think if the story of saint agnese is more of a legend or man told story than a real history. i love this undiscovered church though...

the ceiling, the deco is added at a much later time...

from here we went to search for another infamous church with mosaic. we took the metro to vittoro emmualle station (a sort of china town area). there are many chinese run shops scattered around a few blocks,the area is run down, like an abundant area, full of dirt, dust and graffiti with many asian ethnic walking around.

we walk towards santa maria maggiore and the santa prassede church is standing quietly at the corner next to the main square where santa maria maggiore located.

the marble floor is superb and beautiful

set aside the china town story, the mosaic is quite impressive, the church a lot more bigger and grander compare to the humble saint agnese church we visited in the morning

the mosaic is also a lot more avant grande, mosaic bust of Christ with four angels

mosaics of the apse and triumphal anchor, lavish should i say....

don't get us wrong, we are no pilgrimage nor we are catholic of that sort, we are here just to appreciate the beauty of the mosaic as a piece of art, a piece of art from there early christian era with byzantine influence... just a chase of rome mosaic beauty...

rome.city.of.fountains

on the day of your arrival and immediately after dinner, you say to him, “let me show you the romantic side of rome at night”.  assuming that these places will not be packed with tourist after 10pm.  you were completely wrong, tourists are everywhere in rome, day or night and even at wee hours. 

there is not a crowd in at fontana di triton at the barbelini square, may be this is an exception as it is not super famous plus the rival fontana di trevi is just some 800m from here. 

but when you got to the cobble path that leading to fontana di trevi, the crowds forming, restaurants are still busy, there are enough people walking around selling things and the fountain is flooded with nothing but people, camera flashes, it is just people everywhere!! the three coins in the fountain is possibly just a legend but many people come to throw coins into the fountain...

where is the serenity of fountain di trevi that you often see in the movie? it doesn't exist.  You say to him, “may be piazza di spagna aka spanish steps will be quieter, less crowded, let’s go there”.  you remembered  spanish steps was quite enchanting in the late dawn when you were here with your sister in march 2008,

but when you reached there, they are still crowds sitting at the steps but the area has not much light…

the famous half sunken boat, which i think is the work of bernini...

on the next day, after the excess intake of ancient rome, you wanted something sweet to spice up your mood, even though you didn’t want to visit piazza navona as you suspect it will be as crowded as fontana di trevi, but still you ended up here because the guide book recommends a good patisserie just round the corner.

after maxii, you stop briefly at piazza del popolo which is the square with three branch roads leading to piazza di spagna

one afternoon at villa borghese, you thought it has some monuments to showcase but it appears to be a local weekend playground. the area is like central park in new york where it is almost impossible to cover all the sites.  nonetheless, you find this lake cum fountain very charming.  the afternoon sunlight enhances the color of the water...

fountains and water sources are every where in rome, even right here in vatican city...

you say to yourself "rome is definately a city with many fountains". these fountains should have accentuate your romance experience in rome like in many movies but somehow, rome is also overly crowded with tourists (like us) but nonetheless the trip itself is a rememberance of a romance that once started ten years ago...