Tour to Europe – Part 2

[The new school year is coming. Very busy! Thus I cannot but [phrase不得不] update the blog slowly...]

After the first night in Italy, we headed to Florence (佛羅倫斯), which was the origin of Renaissance (文藝復興). We just stopped there briefly. We went to Michelangelo Square (米開朗基羅廣場) to have a bird's eye view [phrase 鳥瞰] of the old city of Florence. At the center of the Square, there was a statue. But don't mistake the man for [phrase 把...誤認為(+for)] Michelangelo. It is indeed the copy of one of Michelangelo's great masterpieces [n. 名作] – David di Michelangelo (大衛像). David was a great king of Jews according to the Bible. From the photos, I know I can be as strong as David...

Then we went to have an Italian lunch. After lunch there was a kind of dispute [n. 爭論;爭執]. That night we would stay at a hotel in Venice (威尼斯). But before we went there, no other programmes were scheduled because of the long bus journey, except a self-paid visit of the Leaning Tower of Pisa (比薩斜塔). We had to pay an extra amount of about HKD 250 for the optional [adj. 非必須的] visit. Since the Tower is one of the landmarks [n. 地標] of Italy, more than half (i.e. 16) of the travelers in our tour wanted to go there. Yet about 10 people insisted [v. 堅持] that they would not go, for various and certain irrational [adj. 無理性的] reasons. The tour guide said that according to the agency's regulations, there had to be at least 20 people for the optional tour to proceed. Thus many of us were quite upset and kept arguing about it.

But back to the coach [n. 旅遊巴], the tour guide announced that we would go to Pisa. The other people who would not pay the visit could stay at a restaurant there for a rest. After hearing the good news, we clapped at once!

When we finally saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the neighboring architecture [n. 建築物], our mouths were wide open and we felt amazed [adj. 吃驚的]. Incredible! The scene in front of us was shockingly [adv. 非常地] great. Actually, we arrived at "Field of Miracles"(奇跡廣場), which also houses the Cathedral (大教堂), the Baptistery (洗禮堂) and the monumental cemetery(墓園). Indeed in 1987, "Field of Miracles" was declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site (聯合國教育科學文化組織評選為世界遺產). The extra money was worth spending.

At the evening, we arrived at Venice and we were going to explore the "City of Water" the following day. Something funny happened...