這裡沒有主題，主要記錄我的日常無聊事：）。
第一炮是九九年暑假地中海遊記。
 
 

Left Toronto on an evening flight to London.

Arrived London Heathrow airport around 10am. Toured the downtown area by a cab. Saw Buckingham Palace , Big Ben, China Town, and Westminister Abbey etc. I believe Abbey is the church where important ceremonies, such as weddings and crowning of the royal family, take place. On the way back, we were so tired that we all felt asleep in the cab. You can tell my brain was not functioning normally because I forgot to look for George Michael stuff!!! Oh no!!!!

Arrived in Barcelona, Spain in the afternoon. We were both excited and exhausted. We were amazed by the beauty of the ship. The ship was so big (16 decks in total and check out the deck chess) that we had trouble finding our ways around the ship.

Visited the Jewish Mountain. Gaudi had become my new idol. He was so talented. He built so many fascinating buildings such as Casa Batllo, Casa Mila, and Sagrada Famillia. I can't believe that he thought of those designs a century ago.

Arrived in Monte Carlo, the country of the rich and famous. The winding roads of Monte Carlo are so narrow and steep. I cannot imagine hundreds of cars racing on those roads during Formula One.We didn't stay in Monte Carlo. Instead, we climbed the many steps of the Village of Eze and visited Nice, France.

Arrived in Livorno, Italy. First, we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then we went to Florence. It's a very fashionable city. Even though we didn't have the chance to shop, we saw the famous David. Had a wonderful show dinner, with opera singers performing, in Rome. We all sang along, clapped our hands, and waved our napkins when instructed to do so. The highlight was when the soprano kissed every male audience in sight as she was singing Carmen. Everyone went wild. We all had a great time.

Visited the Vatican City. Michelangelo was definitely a genius. He had never painted before painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He learned the basic painting techniques in a few months and then proceeded to create one of the most amazing paintings of all time.

Michelangelo also built the St. Peter's Church. The stone door of St. Peter's Church only opens every 25 years. It is believed that if you walk through that door, all your sins will be forgiven. See you there in the year 2000!

The Pope is guarded by Swiss Army. The colourful uniforms of the guards were designed by multi-talented Michelangelo.

Even though I didn't take a picture with the Roman gladiators outside the Colosseum at least I had a picture with the pirates!

At sea. We had a nice rest today and looked refreshed for the formal dinner.

Arrived in Venice I had never seen a city with so much water before. Because the soil is soft, all the towers in Venice tilt to one side. So, Pisa is not the only place with leaning towers! We went on a gondola ride. It was quite a neat experience.

Went to St. Mark's Square at night. It was awesome. I had the greatest time. There were several cafes in St. Mark's Square and each of them had an orchestra playing outside the cafe. I was so moved by the music that I bought a CD by one of the orchestras and asked the members to sign it for me.

Visited the Dodge's Palace and heard the origin of the naming of the Bridge of Sigh. It was nothing romantic. The Bridge of Sigh connected the Palace and the prison. After being sentenced in the Palace, the prisoners were taken to the prison through the bridge. While the prisoners were walking on the bridge and realizing they would lose freedom soon, they sighed... (This story really kills the mood. Sigh...)

Toured the Grand Canal with a water taxi. Practically, everyone traveled by boats in Venice, including the police.

At sea. Finally took a dive at one of the four pools. Watched Forces of Nature. Did not like it. Formal dinner again.

Arrived in Athens, Greece. Went to the Acropolis and Temple of Poseidon.The Greeks were intriguing people. They thought that the Erechtheion was too perfect and that perfection made it imperfect. Thus, they purposely made a tiny mistake when building it. That imperfection made the Erechtheion perfect. I feel the same way. My imperfection is what makes me perfect. :P

Arrived at Kusadasi, Turkey and visited Ephesus. It was burning hot and no one was paying attention to what the tour guide was saying.

Champagne waterfall at midnight. This was a new and exciting experience for me. I've never seen this in person before. Can't believe that I didn't break any of the glasses. :)

Arrived in Istanbul. You can say that Istanbul is a city with split personality because part of it is in Asia and part of it is in Europe. In this picture, the top left portion is Asia and the rest is Europe.

Visited the palace and the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is the biggest indoor shopping center.

Time to say goodbye. Farewell, Artur, Cristian, Ovidiu, and all the other wonderful people I have encountered during this trip. Each one of you had made this trip more special to me than it already was. I would never forget you as long as I don't have amnesia. :P

Disembarked the ship and boarded a plane for Avonos. Before boarding, passengers had to identify their luggages, by pointing to them, outside the airplane. Unidentified luggages would not be loaded on the plane.

Cappadocia had interesting scenary. The landscape and rock formations were caused by erosion. I had never seen anything like it.

More sightseeing in Cappadocia. Had a show dinner with Turkish dancing (yes guys, there was belly dancing) and authentic Turkish cuisine. I like the dance of the Black Sea region the most. It's very rhythmic, energetic, and is influence by the Russians.

Drove to Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Along the drive, we saw the many beautiful salt plates of Cappadocia. Visited a museum and took a picture of the mascot of Ankara. Very cute, isn't it?

Walked around the streets for an hour. Didn't do much shopping because most shops were closed. I was ready to go home anyway.

Flew to Istanbul. They really needed a bigger airport in Istanbul. The present one is way too small. We visited the Blue Mosque.Unfortunately, St. Sophia was closed.

Morning flight back to Toronto. Very tight security at the Istanbul airport. My dad had to open his luggage for the security because there was a small swiss army utility knife in it.

I can't believe that Turkey had an earthquake on Tuesday. I mean, I was there just a week ago! I still remember the tour guide joked, "If there's an earthquake now, we'd all be buried in the holyland, free of charge." Of course, nobody took him seriously. We all laughed because no one thought it would actually happen. I feel so sorry for the people in Istanbul and the surrounding areas. I can't help but feel that I could be one of those people... I hope that things will be better for them soon.