Openda's Blog

Liguria Italy : La Spezia (Images)

openda0409 — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 11:47:55 +0000

[Update]:THANKS to everyone for the call

openda0409 — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 08:46:40 +0000

[Update]:THANKS to everyone for the calls/twitter/Facebook messages.I had an amazing day!! And you wishing me a good one made it even more special! Looking forward to a great year! Thanks again!.

Trips of a Lifetime Contest!

openda0409 — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:04:17 +0000

Dreaming about an exotic vacation? Chances are, you might be able to win it in the “Trips of a Lifetime” sweepstakes, sponsored by JustLuxe. JustLuxe is the largest affluent lifestyle guide in the world, and they’ve teamed up with some of the most prestigious hotels in the world to offer luxury vacation giveaways every month. Featured destinations are Paris, Greece, St. Lucia, Vienna, and others.

The grand prize winner will get a 4 night stay in suite at the Halekulani Hotel and Resort in Honolulu, roundtrip airfare, and if that is not enough, an exotic car rental complete with a personal chauffeur. Paying for that yourself would cost more than $30,000.

Head to JustLuxe —> [Click here] to enter. Good luck!

Bergamo (Art City)

openda0409 — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 18:29:59 +0000

During my holidays(Dec 24-Jan 4th) i did some travelling here and there.One of my stops was Bergamo.Such an amazing place.Bergamo is located in Lombardy region(Northern Italy) less than 2 hrs by train from Lombardy’s capital city Milan.The city is divided into two so a visit to Bergamo is a journey between two towns,one on a hill(Upper Bergamo) and the other on the plain(Lower Bergamo). The two towns are connected by the funicular! which offers a different unique way of getting to know Bergamo.

I just love how the city is structured(i would use the word artistic to describe this town). All the beautiful sceneries (touristy places) are concentrated in one place making it easy for you to expore the medieval streets and alleyways in the shadow of towers and bell towers.

On my arrival I went straight to the upper city. That’s where you can find all the touristy places.Of course with no tour guide.I prefer grabbing a map and finding my way out in the wonderland. My very first stop was the Palace of the Chief Magistrate(don’t know the whole story behind this but exciting to check out!). This is located right on the Piazza Vecchia (can be translated to Old square) .

-Old square(Piazza Vecchia) -

- Palace of the Chief Magistrate-

In the surrounding you will find the Duomo ( Cathedral),Battistero(Baptistery) and Torre Civica(Civic Tower)

-Basilica of Santa Maria maggiore -

-Cathedral-

Rocca(Fortress) –

Afterwards, I took the direction headed towards the memorial park (Parco delle Rimebranze) .All the soldiers were buried in this park. You will still find the old firearms they used.

Rocca(Fortress).

The Fortress. (from above picture).

This came after the walls were built to serve as arsenal and housed the first gunpowder factory.But today it serves as a museum (historical museum).Oh wait, maybe you are wondering the story behind the walls?.Well, during 15 hundreds, the city underwent several attacks. These walls was to serve as defence against a sudden attack from the Spanish who had gained control of Milan but this idea was abandoned and it was decided to build fortifications that were able to resist an army equipped with the most modern firearms of the era.

I thought to share with the world a little about this city. I was in town for only couple hours. Of course stopped by coffee shop for some good Italian Cappuccino! Never goes wrong.

Here are some additional information that could be useful.

How to Get Around:

By public transport

ATB(Bergamo’s public transport company) runs the urban bus services and funicular railway between Lower and Upper Bergamo.You can choose either the bus or the funicular to reach Città Alta(Upper Bergamo).The Journey only takes a few munites, passing through a tunnel in the other Venetian wall and arriving in thr heart of the old city,in Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe.

How to get there:

By air

The international Airport of Orio al Serio is just 5 km from Bergamo and 45 km from Milan. It’s known for its larger nu,ber of low-cost airlines. The Airport Bus service runs daily to and from the airport every 30 mins and the journey takes about 20 mins.

By train

Bergamo railway station is directly connected to Milan,Lecco and Brescia. From Milan to Bergamo is about an hour.The train station is located in Lower Bergamo and is connected to Città Alta (Upper Bergamo) by bus which departs about every 10 munites.

Additional Pictures:

Merry Christmas World!

openda0409 — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 10:44:53 +0000

Spending my christmas holiday in Lombardy region of Italy!.Just to wish you a merry one and a happy 2011!. I will try to blog as much as possible when the year comes!. Current location –>Treviglio! having a great time. Follow my tweets for latest updates on my travel adventures!. Mahalo!.

Getting ready for 2012.

openda0409 — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 22:46:50 +0000

No forget the little rumor you heard about the world ending 2012.Am having plans in store already!.I want to have one of the craziest-Epic filled adventures ever in my life!.Well, one of them is line with things i love doing and that’s TRAVELLING! Here are things i want to at least accomplish before the year ends:

1) Backpacking the entire African Continent from Egypt all the way to South-Africa.

2) While doing (1) help raise money for charities and be part of other exciting projects.

3) Document everything i do while at (1) that includes live updates. Video webcasts and so on.

4) White water rafting on River Nile!

5) Mounteering-on the highest mountain in Africa-Mt.Kilimanjaro!

6) And while at( 5) send a tweet announcing to the world my archievement! (yes internet works up there.I confirmed this).

Ok so thats the plan..Now to make it work gotta start preparing! Can’t wait!

(This post was done on a lazy saturday night.It’s always good to plan ahead even though we don’t know what tomorrow holds!.)

Random thought for the day 3 :

openda0409 — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:26:02 +0000

"And while we all excitedly loose our virginity in every new experience we can, we also all crave that childhood ignorance we once had and can never regain because it came with so few responsibilities,and such light weights on our backs"

Concept of Time.

openda0409 — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 06:22:23 +0000

"Time slips steadily by. It is so unmerciful. But, time was made to be unmerciful. It cannot change what it is.We cannot blame time for unendingly moving forward.It is what it is.It has no soul, no care.So we can think that it is cruel.But of course it cannot be cruel.We can feel anger at time, but time coolly disregards any of this.Time has no remorse in watching us age, grow grey and broken, but experienced and wise.Time is not prejudice or biased.It affected everyone, despite race, wealth, or gender.Time cannot be stopped, bribed, or tricked.Time dreadful, beautiful time."

Random thought.

openda0409 — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:54:51 +0000

Random thought for the day [2]:

“Each day is an assembly of different pieces.To make sense of the scenes which will result to a story(pieces of truth)… i go outside to gather those pieces.Thousands of moments spooling out frames of mistakes in my day.As if anyone’s to blame,as if anyone could interpret the colliding images, again and again, dragging my imagination behind me,I begin assembling. “