Qi Ting's holiday reflections

During the holidays, I travelled to Italy and stayed there for  9-10 days. It was the first time for me traveling to an European country, as all the other times I went overseas I mostly went to Asian countries only, so this was a new experience. My family and I travelled to Italy from 21st-30th November and so it was very cold in Italy at the time when we went there. We went in a tour group and before the trip, the tour guide had briefed us on what to do in Italy and what to look out for.
One thing which I remembered about Italy is the pickpockets. During the trip, quite a bit of money was stolen from my mother by the pickpockets, about 1000€+  was stolen. Some people blocked my mother while she was trying to enter a restaurant and while she was distracted they just stole her money. The tour guide had reminded us before that there were many pick pockets in some parts of Italy as the economy is quite bad there and to always keep our belongings properly. In fact, my mother did not even notice that her money was missing until the next morning.
Another thing was the snow at some areas of Italy. Italy was very cold at that time, and when we visited some areas which were higher up on mountains, we even experienced snow which was the first time for me seeing snow. I had always wanted to see and feel snow since young. It snowed rather heavily in those areas, there was quite a thick layer of snow on the floor, so much that some of the snow got on shoes and melted, making my shoes and feet very cold and wet.
During the tour, we mostly went to museums and historical places where the local guide there would tell us about the history, and also to admire the art there by famous artist such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. We went to churches, museums, the leaning tower of Pisa, the coliseum and more. Some times we would also be given our own free time to shop and eat at certain places, though I'm not really into shopping. Our tour guide told us that the branded goods and bags were cheaper in Italy and of better quality. As for food, Italy was known for spaghetti and pizza, though there were a few Chinese restaurants which we ate at some days. I always liked Italian food but after eating Italian food for 9 days, I think I still prefer Singaporean food.
We also visited wine cellars and had wine tasting, although I don't think I was old enough, and I'm not much of a wine taster either. We were given 3 different glass of wine for tasting and some cheese and meat to go with the wine.
In conclusion, I quite enjoyed the trip, and learnt more about Italy and it's history. I also experienced what's it like in Italy, at this time of the year, for example the scenery, or the buildings. If I could in the future, I would like to travel to more European countries.

       The Leaning tower of Pisa

   Photo of the Coliseum