Monday 11 June 2012

Eurotrip: Verona-Lucerne


Day 6

We leave Venice, and Italy, today.

Ada surat!
First stop, at around 9.30, was in Verona. Ini ialah lokasi rumah Juliet Capulet, heroin cerita Romeo and Juliet tu. Kami dibawa melawat balcony bilik dia, tempat di mana Romeo telah panjat untuk ayat si Juliet ni. Tengok dari bawah je. Nak masuk dalam kena bayar. Siapa yang pernah tengok cerita Letters to Juliet, diberitahu di sini bahawa memang ada surat-surat yang orang selit dalam dinding dekat situ. Tapi satu lagi realiti yang tak ditonjolkan dalam filem tersebut ialah dinding-dinding dekat situ habis diconteng oleh para jiwang karat dari seluruh dunia. Semua nak immortalize nama diorang dan pasangan dekat situ. Yang aku tak paham tu, kenapa Romeo and Juliet dijadikan simbol cinta sejati? Semua orang tak tahu ke yang sebelum sempat apa-apa Romeo dan Juliet tu dah mati bodoh-bodoh je? Hahah.

Strolling in Verona
The journey continues and we stop at a rest area after passing Milan untuk lunch. Beli pasta tomato sauce dan seafood risotto. Then the journey continues again, and at around 3 kami melintasi sempadan Italy memasuki Switzerland. Serta-merta pemandangannya bertukar. Subhanallah, cantiknya. Gunung, sungai, tasik. Jalan raya dia sendiri kurang sibuk dan ada banyak terowong. Kami turut melalui terowong San Gotthard yang terpanjang di… errr… Eropah? Dunia? Alamak, I wasn’t paying attention to Esther. Anyway, it was 17km long. Dahla satu lane aje each direction. Aku terfikir, kalau jadi apa-apa dalam tu macam mana? Elok je keluar dari terowong tu baru Esther cakap, “I didn’t want to say this earlier but a few years ago a truck caught fire in the tunnel. Quite a few people died from inhaling the fumes.” Ya, baiklah. Huhuhu.

Pagi tadi masa terserempak dengan Esther kami tanya dia, how long is the journey today. Dia kata, “We would reach Lucerne at about 4.35.” Wah, sangat precise. True enough, when the first of Lake Lucerne came into sight, it was 4.25pm. That’s pretty accurate to me. Masuk ke town untuk ambil gambar dekat lion statue yang menjadi symbol dan penghormatan kepada askar-askar Swiss yang tewas dalam mempertahankan Marie Antoinette. After that straight to Postillion Hotel.

Okay, when it comes to this hotel, aku sedikit disappointed. I mean, I know the location is superb. It is right by Lake Lucerne, and the view is amazing. Tapi berbanding 2 hotel yang sebelum ni; Novotel dan Antony Palace, yang ni kekuranganla. Where do I begin? Tak ada jag, naturally. Tak ada bath tub. Tak ada karpet (which I find totally unacceptable memandangkan kawasan ni sejuk giler). Tak ada wi-fi. Tak ada extra pillow. But, okay, I’m gonna stop complaining now.

Special meal request
Dinner at 6.15. Again, everyone was served pork so kami dapat fish. Sekali lagi makan semeja dengan pork. Well, just play it cool. I mean, kalau nak berkira sangat, jangan travel ke negara oranglah kan? We do our best to follow our religion, which is why kami buat special request kepada Esther, “No pork, alcohol, meat and poultry”. Other than that, everything is no longer within our control. Kalau nak yakin bersih, kenalah bawah periuk belanga pinggan mangkuk sudu garfu dari rumah sendiri.

Duduk semeja dengan father and daughter, Deb and Herman, from Tasmania. Like many of our groupmates we spoke to, diorang pun akan continue holiday untuk 2 minggu lagi – ke Holland. Seronok dengar. Macam masa sembang dengan Wayne and Peter, father and son, hari tu. Diorang akan continue lagi 2 minggu travel all over France and then to Turkey I think. Diorang boleh cuti lama sebab in Australia, if you have stayed in 1 company for more than 10 years, you get long service leave, which is for 3 months. You get to use up the 3 months as you please throughout your service there, dan itu tak termasuk dengan annual leave selama sebulan. Kenyang nok; pegi holiday, gaji jalan.

After dinner we went for a walk a little bit by the lake. But then it started raining so masuk bilik, mandi-mandi terus tido. Bangun balik semayang aje pukul 10 tu, then sambung tido balik. Sejukkkk….

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