As part of the tour package, we got a 2-day stay at Dubai.

 

EU offered an optional land tour package which we were reluctant to take up, again because of the inflated price. Fortunately, we met a resourceful trip mate who scoured the internet and managed to secure the same package at a fraction of the price.

To Rome with Love.

 

It was our last day in Europe.

Day 10 was spent in the Tuscan sun.

 

We visited the Square of Miracles in Pisa, where the well-known leaning tower is located. There was also the trio of monuments that symbolise the stages of human life: Baptistery - Birth; Cathedral - Life; and cemetery Campo Santo - Death.

Day 9 was another optional package to Florence.

 

Before that, we spent a dull morning at Barberino Designer Outlet. Shops run along the banks of river Sieve connected by two bridges.

 

We fluttered between shops and finally settled down at Borgo Café for a special buffet lunch. For €18, we could go through the buffet line once and stack as much food as we can on a single plate. We gathered a mix of pasta, meat and pizza which was just right to fill both our stomachs.

A quaint city built on water interspersed with canals.

 

My pre-impression of Venice was derived from the novel version of Merchant of Venice - a compulsory read for Literature in secondary school.

 

We have been hoping for the skies to snow and it finally did today. Albeit in the least romantic of places: at a toilet stop en route to Milan. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the magical moment of watching the torrent of snowflakes cascade before us.