Travel reading: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown for our trip to Rome, Italy.

I find that another way to make our holiday break more enjoyable and fun, besides doing the usual stuffs, is to pick up an interesting reading that has information about the history and cultural aspects of the people and the place that we plan to visit. Holiday travel for us is not just about relaxing and shopping, but also about gaining as much knowledge as possible about the place, the people and the culture. My husband and I share similar passions for history and culture. However, I am usually the one who comes up with some silly questions. I am aware that sometimes these silly questions are irrelevant, out of context and perceived as meaningless by some people. Also, someone do get irritated and annoyed sometimes when he has been pushed to the limit to answer these silly questions (errr refer to my husband daaa!!!). So another way to satisfy this kind of curiosity or maybe to prepare myself for more silly questions to ask is to read a book. These selected excerpts that accompany our photos were taken from my reading of Angels and Demons by Dan Brown during our trip to Rome recently.

[...The Coliseum, Langdon had always thought, was one of history's greatest ironies. Now a dignified symbol for the rise of human culture and civilaztion, the stadium had been built to host centuries of barbaric events - hungry lions shredding prioners, armies of slaves battling to the death ...as well as public beheadings and castrations - p142 -143] - Yupp yupp the coliseum is huge, and has many layers, therefore many more secrets about how the it had been used before.

[The Great Castration, Langdon thought. It was one of the most horrific tragedies in Renaissance art, In 1857, Pope Pius IX decided that the accurate representation of the male form might incite lust inside the Vatican. So he got a chisel and mallet and hacked off the genitalis of every single male statue inside Vatican City. He defaced works by Michelangelo, Bramante, and Bernini. Plaster fig leaves were used to patch the damage...Langdon had often wondered if there was a huge crate of stone penises someplace - p151-152] - I was kind of embarass to take a look closely at the statue (particularly around this part) to determine whether this claim is true. But I also wonder what happen to "the crate of stone ...".

[...Twenty years ago, construction of the subway terminal had created a stir among art historians who feared digging beneath Piazza Barberini might topple the multiton obelisk that stood in the center. City planners had removed the obelisk and replaces with a small fountain called the Triton - p394]

[...For the second time that evening, the College of Cardinals flooded onto St Peter's Square... And there, having just stepped onto the sacred Papal Balcony located in the exact center of the towering facade, Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca stood with his arms raised to the heavens... A figurine. Dressed in white. Flooded with light... - p603]

To know the ending of the story for this book, then go and read the book la!