CASA DI GIULIETTA

Hello everyone! I’d like to tell you about a place which I really interested in. For me this place is a precious peace of art. For the most part I am a hopeless romantic and Italy has been a place I’ve wanted to go in my whole life. This place is tear dropping and a place to portray your thought to Juliet and wait for a response.

Shakespeare’s stories are so rooted in real life that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction – just take ‘Juliet’s balcony‘. Although Shakespeare never visited Verona and his characters in Romeo & Juliet never existed, there is a 13th Century house in Verona where Juliet is said to have lived.

It once belonged to the Dal Cappello or Cappelletti family for many years. This house, a former inn, is now known as the Casa di Giulietta (Juliet’s House) and is one of Verona’s main tourist attractions. The combination of the similar name to Capulet and the fact that it has a balcony that looks out over a courtyard has turned it into ‘Juliet’ balcony’ – the actual balcony where Romeo and Juliet began to plan the events that led to their tragic deaths.

Casa di Giulietta located in the centre of Verona at via Cappello 23, it is a little difficult to find. Follow the directions to Piazza delle Erbe and once you see the graffiti covered sign post and the plaque above the archway, you will recognise it by the number of people inside the courtyard.

Address: Via Cappello, 23 – 37121 (near Piazza delle Erbe), Verona.
Price:
*Free entrance  with the Verona Card
*Entrance to the courtyard: free
*Entrance to the museum:
-    Standard € 6.00 – Reduced € 4.50 (groups minimum 20 persons, students 14-30 years old and over 60)
-    € 1.00 (Schools and young people 8 - 13 years old )
-    € 1.00 the 1st Sunday of the month for everyone (from January to May and from October to December)
Opening hours: Monday (13:30-19:30) & Tuesday-Sunday (08:30-19:30)
Telephone: 045 8034303

Entrance and Archway

Pass through the short dark tunnel, (more on that later), and you’ll find yourself in the intimate courtyard vying for a photo opportunity with fellow awe-struck visitors.

Look around in the courtyard and you’ll also find the souvenir shops with kitsch Romeo and Juliet memorabilia and young lovers are floating in heart-shaped clouds. Remember that you’re here in the romantic heart of Verona, with romance in your heart, you’ve come to see this. Juliet’s balcony.

Juliet’s Balcony

The tiny balcony is indeed picture pretty. But if you believe the folklore, the Capuleti family has never lived here and the balcony was a recent addition in 1936 by the government to attract tourism. But for just € 6.00, you can visit the interior of the house and you can stand on Juliet’s balcony and re-live the “ high-light” of the earthly life, as well as admire the furniture, the bed, and the beautiful velvet costumes worn by the actors in the Metro Goldwyn Meyer’s colossal “ Romeo and Juliet”. Besides, be prepared to rub shoulders with clichéd romantics 

reading each other passages from Shakespeare’s work.

Juliet’s Statue

Back in the courtyard, once you’ve elbowed enough photographers to secure a spot in front of Juliet’s bronze statue and you’ll see some people, particularly unmarried people, will touch Juliet’s statue in her right breast (a kind of good-luck ritual) in the hope of finding the love of their life. This peculiar tradition was probably started by someone with a fetish for cold shiny metallic objects.

Letters to Juliet

Those who enter the courtyard of Juliet’s house for the first time will be struck by the thousands of small scraps of paper which cover the floor to the ceiling. All honeymoon couples and young lovers will write down their love vows to their partner and stick them on the wall. A tradition has developed that if they leave a message with their names on it Juliet will cast a lucky spell on them and their life will be happy and their love will last for eternity.

Meanwhile, some people also seeking advice on relationships and some are written on paper meant to look like medieval parchment, while others are accompanied by photographs and drawings. Many are addressed simply to Juliet, Verona, and Italy.

There’s a problem with this, however. People stick their notes on to the brick wall beneath Juliet’s balcony and usually use chewing gum. The house belongs to the World Heritage Trust, who are concerned about the unsightly mess of hardened blobs of gum and tattered scraps of paper that are defacing the building. The Verona city council have drawn up a decree banning the sticking of notes on the walls and also the consumption of food on the premises, but as a long tradition the Council are finding it difficult to suppress – even with a 500 Euro fine for anyone found sticking anything to the walls! In the meantime removable wooden panels are in place with an invitation to the lovers to post their messages there.

Therefore, if you want to send a message you can tear a piece of paper from your spiral notebook, enter your message of love or anything you want to say and search frantically for a method to attach it to the wall, with a bit of adhesive tape of course. And then, just hope Juliet will cast a lucky spell for you or even reply your message because -in popular belief- there is also some staff called Juliet’s Secretary who always reply all those letter and send it back to the sender.

WHAT A LOVELY PLACE!

Source:

https://www.zainoo.com/en/italy/veneto/verona/juliets-house

http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/juliets-balcony/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2230962/Casa-di-Giulietta-Romantics-banned-posting-love-letters-famous-Romeo-Juliet-home-Verona.html

http://www.tourism.verona.it/en/enjoy-verona/art-and-culture/monuments-and-sights/juliet-s-house

http://www.gourmantic.com/2010/05/27/the-real-letters-to-juliet-casa-di-giulietta-in-verona/

Tomini Bay and Olele Beach (Gorontalo)

TOMINI BAY AND OLELE BEACH IN GORONTALO : Pieces of Paradise on the Equator
By: Asri Jul Megita

Hello everyone! How are you? What's your plan for this holiday? The place which is hot or cold? If you do not yet have a destination for vacation this time, you can go to Indonesia! Do you know Indonesia? Of course, Indonesia is a country that has a wide range of tourist destination which is no less beautiful than others. The destination for vacation in Indonesia is not only in Bali. There are many other interesting places are very beautiful. I recommended you to go to Gorontalo.

There are just so many things that make Gorontalo perfect for holiday, the beauty of its nature, the culture and not forget to mention, the friendly people. General information about Gorontalo, stated at North Sulawesi. Mountains, hills, shore line are the main characteristic of Gorontalo and it makes the island perfect for marine tourism. most of diving site take you just a few minute from town. Diving in Gorontalo mean diving within the richness of biodiversity, health and unique coral and reefs.

Lots of beautiful places could be found here. Tomini Bay, for instance, is famous for under water habitat and undefined creatures. There is several number of unsettled small islands. Tomini Bay is a heaven for divers, because the geographic position of Tomini Bay itself, which is crossed by the equator line, has naturally presented various kinds of sea creature inside. 
Desa Olele or Olele Village is well known as the wild diving spot among world class diver. Olele beach is a gate to underwater paradise. The amazing beauty of underwater life on this area has been recognize and proofed by the enthusiasm of the divers who come to Olele beach. The divers called Olele as Traffic Jam dive spot.
In Tomini Bay and Olele Beach, you can find some or maybe the most amazing underwater creatures such as :
- Giant Reef (Petrosia Sp.)
- School of Gobi Fish (Bryaninops erythrops)
- Salvador Dali reef (Petrosia lignose)
- Kipas Laut Biru (Acanthogorgia Sp.)
- Anemon Koralimorf (Discosoma Sp.)
- Nemo
- Ikan Behang (plectorhinchus chaetodonoides)
- Blenni (Escenius Caeruluventris)
- Cardinal Fish
- Not forget to mention that Gorontalo is the kingdom of Nudibrancia
- Seahorses and pigmy seahorses

Then to get there, you can go by plane. But you must transit at Soekarno Hatta airport then continue to Jallaludin airport in Gorontalo. You can also go by ship, then you arrived at Anggrek harbor. For the ticket, if you choose plane you must pay about 500.000 IDR - 750.000 IDR for Low Cost Carriage (LCC) plane. Then for ship, you need 150.000 IDR, but it takes a week. So I think It will be good to choose plane. Next, you have to ouse a minibus to get to the town.

Surely, it's impossible to you to just spend a day in there. Obviously, you need unless two days at night. So there are some resort that you can consider to choose. If you choose to stay at the town, you can choose the resort near the diving area. The cost of the resort is about 400.000 IDR - 500.000 IDR per person per night. It's so cheap, right?
Don't worry about the food and facilities. They will serve you with all facilities, and for the food they will serve our breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For the menu, you can try to choose traditional food package like Perkedel Ikan Nike (Nike Fish) and Pepes Ikan Nike.

Then, for the activity you can do ; sail with fisherman, fishing, snorkeling and diving. But to do fishing, snorkeling and diving, you need a stuff which like fishing rod for fishing and snorkel for snorkeling. The best diving season from November to April. You can experienced the encounter with dolphin (torsiops truncates) around Ferbruary to April.

Besides those activity, you can also go to see the Ayuhulalo waterfall, Boalemo Beach, Bolibuo Beach, and visit to Bajos Tribe Village which strong with the culture of Gorontalo. If you want to dive you need to rent a car or a bike to reach the spot. Most of the resort will give you a bike or a car to get to the spot as part of the service. 

Then for the last, it is about the souvenir. You can buy Kerawang, a traditional cloth materials which made by hand (man cloth and women cloth all ages) as a souvenir. Although Kerawang mada by hand but it doesn't look like a hand made at all. Its a must to buy and make sure its on your own list. You can also buy Ornaments of intricate carved wood are common in all the district.

So it's all about Tomini Bay and Olele Beach in Gorontalo, Indonesia. The place that is very beautiful and the place that are rarely visited by many people. Thus, the scenery is very beautiful, clean, like in heaven. Make sure you go to this place and make your holiday like unforgettable moment in your life :)

For further information, here are the contact person for one of travel agent in there :
Miguel's Diving Gorontalo
Address : Office at Gorontalo Oasis Hotel (Jl. Agus Salim No. 29)
Phone : +62 852 4004 7027
E-mail : info@miguelsdiving.com
Web : http://www.miguelsdiving.com/

KINDERDIJK VILLAGE (NETHERLAND)

Kinderdijk is a village in the Alblasserwaard polder of Netherlands. It’s a popular, yet authentic, tourist destination for its large of windmills.

These received recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

Everyone has a favorite place in this world. A place that they most liked. A place where they can be comfortable and enjoy. Beside, everyone has a place that they most wanted to visit. It will make everyone happy and satisfied if they can go to a place that they want. My favorite place, especially in vacation, I’d like to go to a place that so far from my house. I want to feel the different contrast in environment. And the place that I most want to visit is Kidnerdjik.

Kidnerdijk lies in the Alblasserwaard, at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers. In Alblasserwaard, problems with water became more and more apparent in the 13^th century. Large canals, called “weteringen”, were dug to get rid of the excess water in the polders. However, the drained soil started setting, while the level of the river rose due to the river’s sand deposits.  After a few centuries, an additional way to keep the polders dry was required. It was decided to build a series of windmills, with a limited capacity to bridge water level differences, but just able to pump water into a reservoir at an intermediate level between the soil in the polder and the river; the reservoir could be pumped out into the river by other windmills whenever the river level was low enough; the river level has both seasonal and the tidal variations. 

        If we want to go there, we can take a public transit. As Kinderdijk is in a rural area, getting there with public transport can be a time-consuming process. The easiest way to get there is to first take a train to railway station Rotterdam Lombardijen. This station is easily accessible from the major cities. We will have to continue our way by bus. When leaving the railway station, cross the street and tram lines to get to the bus stop.

Another fun way to go there is by boat.  We can also take Water bus ferry from Rotterdam (under the Erasmus bridge) or from Dordrecht (on Merwekade). Take route 20 and get off at Ridderkerk (De Schans). There we have to transfer to a smaller ferry to Kinderdijk. 

If we arrived there, automatically we will see a wonderful scenery in front of our eyes. We can feel like in the real Netherlands, because of green grasses, the wind and the windmills. The best way to see the windmills is on foot or by bicycle. Bike rental is available. In the summer season (April-October), we can make a boat tour in the canal along the windmills. It starts at the parking lot, costs €4 (IDR 60.0000) and takes about 30 minutes. The first boat leaves at 10AM, while the last boat heads out at 5PM.

When in Kinderdjik, do not forget to see the windmills of the most awesome among others. The Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout is the large concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands. The windmills, being a part of the general landscape, are free to visit. In total there are 19 windmills that were built in 1740 to drain the Albasserwaard. The mills are not always in operation; this depends on the weather.

One of the windmills, the Museummolen, can be visited inside, and a visit is usually combined with the steam-powered pumping station Wisboomgemaal.  

The Museummolen and the Wisboomgemaal are opened at 09.30-17.30 daily in the summer season. Outside the summer season, they are only opened at 11.00-16.00 on weekends. Ticket are €6 and can be bought at the parking lot, at the Museummolen or at the Wisboomgemaal. The Wisboomgemaal has a victor’s centre, a digital scale model an introductory film. Some of the facilities here include free restrooms and soda machines.

Aside from walking around comfortably in Kinderdjik, Cycling is a popular activity in Kinderdijk. We can cycling along the windmills, or in the wider are. It is even possible to cycle all the way to here from Rotterdam. By bike we can easily combine a visit to Kinderdijk with other tourist attractions, such as Schoonhoven (Silver City), the fortress town of Nieuwpoort and Stork Village Het Liesvelt.

After satisfaction of seeing and enjoying the beauty of Kinderdijk, surely we would want to bring a souvenir from there. Even though Kinderdjik is not really a place to go shopping, but we can buy souvenirs from the usual gift shops on there.

And actually humans need energy. If we are hungry, there are a few restaurants at the entrance of the park. For example Buena Vista Restaurant, Molenstraat 230 (near the entrance of the park). This restaurant is housed in a historic building at the main road close to the windmills. It has an old-Dutch luxurious interior that has a traditional appearance. On the menu are meat and fish dishes and Dutch pancakes €20-30 (IDR 200.000 – 300.000). And if we are thirsty there is Coffee too, Coffee for an affordable price right at the entrance of the park.

For someone who want to spend more time in Kinderdjik, there is also some hotel there. For example is Hotel Kinderdijk. This is a decent hotel rooms for mid-range prices. There’s also a restaurant attached to it where you can have dinner or lunch. Mains are about €17-20. It is possible to make a reservation €70. 

Why I’m so interesting to go to this place?

I love something that looks natural. I love to go to the place where it is not crowded, when it is not looks many tourist, when I can feel the air, the temperature, the scenery when my hair blown with wind and all the things on there like it is belongs to me.

There is so many places in the world that looks like what I am describe, but I choose Kinderdijk because I love Netherlands so much. Even though I’m not fanatic with Netherlands, but I’m in love with all spot in Europe, especially Netherlands. I want to see Canal in Amsterdam, I want to see all tulips in Keukenhof garden, but I really want to Kinderdijk first. I think Kinderdijk is like the mascot of Netherlands which is windmills and the scenery is such a wonderful view, like in heaven. I choose Kinderdijk too because the temperature is good and the air is so clear without pollution. I imagine that I can run freely among the reeds and grasses in there or maybe riding with bicycle. I can feel the wind that produced by big windmills too. And I can across the river with big windmills on my left and right side. It will be the best moment in my life. It will be the best travel experience I ever had. I wish I could stay on there for a long time.

Until then I will fight for my dreams for my success,

And bring everyone I loved to go to Kinderdijk…