It’s a different experience walking around the old city in Italy seeing gigantic ancient buildings.

We were puzzled seeing all the street vendors and shops had Pinocchio puppets for sales.

So we asked the local people about the story behind Pinocchio puppets. We didn’t bother to ask our tour guide about anything, he sucks. He’s the worst tour guide I have seen in the world. He bullshit a lot and luckily my parents sent me to school, or else I might be cheated and amazed of how ‘knowledgeable’ he is by his flood of words. I guess he didn’t like me and my friend, Evelyn, too, coz both of us never bother to listen to his story or to even look at him.

One of the shop owners told us, “The man who wrote Pinocchio was named Carlo and he was born in Florence almost two hundred years ago! One day Carlo saw a small boy in the plaza who was having fun, but was causing a lot of trouble for his parents. Carlo decided to write a story about a “real” boy who was naughty. At first he titled the story The Adventures of a Puppet. The story begins with an old carpenter and a piece of wood.”

Oh.. it’s about The Adventures of a Puppet that most of the kids, if not all, have surely read about it before. Just in case you’re not one of the kids, here is the story:

Centuries ago there lived—”A king!” my little readers will say immediately.

No, children, you are mistaken. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood. It was not an expensive piece of wood. Far from it. Just a common block of firewood, one of those thick, solid logs that are put on the fire in winter to make cold rooms cozy and warm.

I do not know how this really happened, yet the fact remains that one fine day this piece of wood found itself in the shop of an old carpenter. His real name was Mastro Antonio, but everyone called him Mastro Cherry, for the tip of his nose was so round and red and shiny that it looked like a ripe cherry.

As soon as he saw that piece of wood, Mastro Cherry was filled with joy. Rubbing his hands together happily, he mumbled half to himself:

“This has come in the nick of time. I shall use it to make the leg of a table.”

He grasped the hatchet quickly to peel off the bark and shape the wood. But as he was about to give it the first blow, he stood still with arm uplifted, for he had heard a wee, little voice say in a beseeching tone: “Please be careful! Do not hit me so hard!”

What a look of surprise shone on Mastro Cherry’s face! His funny face became still funnier.

After Mastro Cherry carves the wood, Pinocchio comes to life. But Pinocchio is a naughty boy and has to learn many lessons. He and his friends (Jiminy Cricket, Cleo, and Figaro) have many adventures. When Pinocchio tells a lie, his nose grows. Although Pinocchio gets into a lot of trouble, he finally learns to be generous and honest. Then the Blue Fairy keeps her promise and Pinocchio becomes a “real” boy. The story has a happy ending: “How ridiculous I was as a Marionette! And how happy I am, now that I have become a real boy!”

The Adventures of a Puppet was later published as a book, called Pinocchio. Since then, Pinocchio has been translated into 260 languages and read to millions of children.

There are a lot of stalls selling all type of handicrafts and paintings. My mum was like “Hey, take a picture of me appreciating the paintings. Make me look as artistic as possible, k!”

“Ok lor”

Here in Malaysia we usually only see those old men with lotsa wrinkles on their face, very dark skin, as if they have experienced the vicissitudes of life, selling chestnut under the hot sun with sweat broke out all over the body. But look at this muscular young man and his artistic stall, he looks so relaxing that it makes up a romantic picture which forms a marked contrast between the chestnut stall in Malaysia and in Italy.

When Smart Fortwo first launched, I was crazy about it and wanted to have one so much. And here in Italy, Smart Fortwo is as common as MyVi. And it was freaking cheap in Italy, price range is about £6810 – £14620. Imagine if someone earn £3500 per month, which is considered average earning, within 2 months they can afford Fortwo already. That’s why IT IS FREAKING COMMON IN ITALY!!

And imagine if we earn as much as RM7000 per month, which is considered above average, and we need to save up for MORE THAN ONE YEAR only we can afford a RM100k++ Fortwo!! KNS…

Another interesting BMW automobile.

I reckon that Italians love small cars. They really do!! 80% of their cars are small.

Ok… more pictures about Italy when I have time to blog.