2 of the places on my to-go list are Venice and Switzerland haha…. Just nice my fren, A, decided to quit and take a break this yr so just nice! 😀 Then she just wanted to go Europe and not much idea of where so I decided on Switzerland. Then another fren told me Switzerland is very easy to move ard so … I decided to plan my own trip this time! Bwhahahaha….
Emirates had a sale during Jan this yr so got the tix at S$1180 and we just anyhow whack a period in April. haha…. Shortly after we bought the Emirates tix, SIA went on sale too. S$1200 direct flight to Zurich, inclusive of taxes. :S
And also, after I book my tix and I start my research then online gt a few ppl say actually April can be overcast so not a gd period to go. Oops~ But then again when I was there, 1 of the locals told me last year’s April is the most beautiful month of last yr. hahah … so oh well…
Exchange rate was S$1.40 to 1 CHF (currency for Swiss)
Exchange rate was S$1.67 to 1 Euro
10/04/2012 Tuesday Singapore –> Dubai –> Zurich –> Milan
Our flight is in the wee hours of 10th April so we need to check in on 9th April night haha… Went to work on 9th April in the hope that combined w sleeping pill, i can sleep on e plane. But sadly that didnt happen. So I watched “I Don’t Know How She Does It”. haha…
When we alight at Dubai, nd to take a 10-min bus ride to Dubai airport terminal 3. All e shops r opened at 6am! haha impressed. Their directory of the gates also include the time it takes for u to walk to the gate so to prevent u from dilly dallying too long?
At the end of the shopping stretch, there’s this barren-looking manmade landscape area haha… This photo actually gave the place more credit :p I wondered if the “barren” look is to emulate the deserts.
Think all in all the airport isnt very well maintained cuz the floors r dirty but heng the toilets r clean haha.
As our transit time is 3 hrs and we finish walking the whole stretch and didnt find A&W, we decided to sit down n grab a bite. OK I grab a bite haha…. Tuna melt @ S$16. It sure aint cheap and I only realise nw haha…
Very soon, it’s time to board plane again and we took a 10-min bus ride to board plane to Zurich!!! haha… kinda excited.
On board the plane, as its bedtime, all the lights were off and I can see stars! 🙂
Reached Zurich airport and signs were clear on pointing the way to railway station. Bought the train tickets to Milan from e ticket counter then e counter lady told me that as I m buying cross country, cannot buy frm e ticket machines. Train tic cost 89CHF/pax; same as the amt I saw on sbb.ch website.
We need to take train from Zurich airport to the Zurich main station to change train and this is the train station! Looks like the airport departure/arrival timing board hor?
As we still have some time, so we bought hot dog from this stall. We got this spicy hot dog which is… not spicy at all hahah… but still tastes nice nonetheless.
E counter lady told me that e view will b nice. Haha and she really no bluff!
Tho jz for a short while n we r in tunnel again haha … I doze off somewhere in the middle then think woke up ard the border area then got police bring dogs up the train. I assumed they r immigration officers hahah tho they didnt check our passports.
Finally arrive at a drizzling Milan. As the train near Milan, the locals start to put on their down jackets and shawls n stuff. Then I start to get worried cuz my big jackets all in luggage and the train is freaking crowded for me to open my luggage so I just put on whatever I had in my backpack haha…
Then our next challenge is lugging the luggage off e train. This is just 1 example of the steps on the train. The one we kenna is more steep and slightly higher. Wah damn shagged to drag it up n down. And for this trip, I brought a big luggage somemore -_-" I finally understand why ppl go backpacking in Europe le haha…
We finally alighted and its freaking cold! I was shivering! The train platform is rather open maybe more cold so we hurry towards the indoor area. Wah but can’t find a location map in e whole freaking stating. Then as it was drizzling, so we wanted to exit by e right exit. Try to locate information counter but ended up e signs r pointing to Trenitalia ticket counters. In e end asked a couple of security guards for directions which they did BUT it was rather vague since we going via underpass. In e end asked a nice young guy who actually brought me to e correct exit n even walk out w me to check if that’s e place I looking for. N I learnt that Via Napo Torriani is the same as Via Torriani. Hotel is really 5 min away frm train station but we spent 1 hr wandering ard Milano Centrale n asking help. :S First feeling in Milan? Frustrated
After we checked in, we went to this crowded restaurant opp our hotel for dinner. Surprisingly, food wasn’t expensive. 1 whole pizza cost 7 Euro. At first I still thot it’s a slice only but all e surrounding tables only hav whole pizzas. Quite a few ppl order 1 pizza to themselves but saw a few who didn’t finish. So we ordered 1 pizza then the 2 of us share. And 1 of the places where we actually have nice service in Italy, they serve the pizza in 2 plates for us to share 😀
We also bought our water supply here at 2.50 Euro for 1.5 litre. Then its back to Flora Hotel. Room is really green as other tripadvisors folks has said but overall its not dirty la. haha Bathrm is tiny tho but I forgot to take pic. As we book an economy rm so it costs 69 Euro per room per night without breakfast.
11/04/2012 Wednesday Milan –> Venice
Rise n shine and we r off to Venice! haha But our breakfast is just a Sweet Valley bar kop from the flight haha…. Oh well…
Alighted frm train and followed e instructions given. Really great instructions and we managed to reach our hotel without losing our way at 11+am. As our rm is not rdy, we went to search for lunch first.
Saw this place which has no one inside haha… mayb cuz its 1145hr so not really lunch hour yet.
It was a long wait for the food to be served so … photos time!
The interior of the restaurant
As u can the walls r lined w alot of pretty pics, close up of 1 of them
Testing my power at self taking photo haha
They serve great gnocchi n calamari! E spaghetti I ordered tasted nice too; think they use a different kind of oil tho.
After having the yummy lunch, we noticed that outside is pouring so we ordered a cappucino for A and tea for me. haha slowly sipped while waiting for the rain to stop.
Finally the rain came to a stop and we asked for the bill. Considering we ordered so much, it only came up to 50 Euro. 😀 We then walked out and stroll around for a while before proceeding to check in.
This is the entrance to our B&B. Ok it look dubious but its rather brightly lit at night! So no worries 😀
The long stretch of alley
And finally we reach e gate!
And we enter e courtyard….
Took the keys and come to A’s dream house!
Room wasnt too small but oh well we only came with haversacks so no luggage to take up space haha… But the room actually contains a study table as well at the other corner so its not very small. Floor is not carpeted so felt quite clean 😀
The amazing bathrm and MY dream rain shower! Water pressure is shiok! haha….
We nua ard in e rm for a while then left to walk to the train station to get vaporetta passes. They cost 18 Euro per pax for 24 hours. Actually we should have gotten the 36 hours wan since we are actually there for 1 full day and 2 half days. If I rem correctly, 36 hours wan just cost 24 Euro. Considering 1 trip is 6.50 Euro, it’s quite wu hua.
Got the pass and we r good to go!
The various vaporetta lines. Think line 1 and line 2 are the ones used most by tourists as its along the Grand Canal. And they run 24 hrs! haha… I was asking 1 of the ticket office what time is the last boat; then she gave me a puzzled look and said “run all day” so guess it means 24 hrs :p
Following is the signboard available at every vaporetta stops. We decided to go Rialto for our first stop!
This is how the vaporetta looks like! I like to stand at the open area tho its abit chilly haha… The area behind is covered and abit stuffy
Stand outside can take nice pics! haha
View along the Grand canal is really quite nice. The wooden nice atas-looking boat behind is a water taxi. Think every ride should be ard 100 Euros?
As it has been drizzling ever since we arrived i believed the banks are errr brimming? haha see this pic… really can imagine it flooding.
When we alighted at the Rialto stop, I saw….
It looks so yummy! I just have to eat it! haha….
A ordered a very nice rich hot chocolate!
Here I understand why so many ppl stand n drink in shops when there r seats. haha There’s a prices difference between standing at e counter and sitting at e tables :p
Dun really get it why some travel guides say Rialto bridge gt colourful shops. The shops just look normal to me haha…. This is the bridge.
View from the Rialto bridge.
Its kinda off to be wandering ard with umbrella hahah but oh well better than cooped up! We are determined to explore!
Even rain cant hide the beauty of Venice…
We saw this shop where A went in to bought some olive oil. Found the shop setup so requested permission to take photo of him and the shop. haha… I jz find it amusing that the ham can b placed like that. I suppose e weather now is cold is fine but when hot summer come lei? hmmm….
After we left, A said “ppl will be very frenly when u r frenly to them.” I think she referring to the shopowner. haha… oh well.. I will too i guess.
We then continue wandering ard. Had a fun time navigating ard e "maze" we keep following e crowds to walk ard. Crowds is err just random 5,6 ppl. After a while then we realise actually everyone is jz wandering ard like us. Haha… E “alleyways” really look quite pretty with small boats tethered.
Funny thing is I dun really see these small boats travelling on e waters… haha do they only come out when all e tourists sleep or something? :p Or r they deco to make the “alleyways” look pretty? haha
Walking ard Venice, u will see many many shops selling masks. I wonder if ppl will actually buy them cuz they r just so elaborate and look so delicate…. Following is my fav mask
好几个人跟我说威尼斯没什么好看的. 但其实她有她独特的古色古香风味.
another small boat tethered to the backyard! OK this looks like its often being used.
Saw this doorbell which have the person’s name inscribed abv every bell haha…
Peep at a garden thru a gate.
Wandered till Campo S. Stae where we board bus 1 to St Mark Sq. Wah bus 1 really much slower cuz it stops at almost every stop haha … oh well… we can enjoy e view 😀
I was freezing with my coat n stuff; wonder hw those tourists on e gondola felt….
This is when we are reaching St Mark Square. This is on a land mass thats directly opp the one that St Mark Square is on. Even old buildings also require construction and touchups.
We alighted at St Mark Square stop ard 6ish so e Basilica San Marco is closed to the public. We just wondered ard the area but somehow the Rialto area seems more… authentic?
We entered this restaurant where the waiters r quite funny and joked ard w us but the food is terrible! hahah Anna’s pork chops were served first then she took a bite and say wah very salty!
Not sure if the greens on e table can b seen. I was slowly eating my greens n waiting for my dish to b served …. And Anna actually finished her pork chops and my chicken still not here! boo….
15 min later… its finally here! And … it’s salty too! I only ate 1 thigh then I give up le hahah….
This horrible dinner cost us 47 Euro. boo~ After dinner, we walked back the to St Mark Square to take the vaporetta back to hotel. And I realise that St Mark Square at night actually 另有一番风味. haha no wonder my fren got proposed here.
To take this shot, I had to place my newly bought lx5 on a wet ledge haha…. Guess my lx5 shld b gone soon.
We took another bus line back to hotel. Its not bus 1 or 2; I think its 5.1 which doesnt go by Grand Canal. It goes by a less scenic and less touristy route; I saw a lot of warehouses along this route haha….
We decided to end the day w….. Gelato!
12/04/2012 Thursday Venice
Rise and Shine! And we decided to enter Basilica San Marco first thing in the morn to beat the crowd!
Upon leaving our hotel, I actually saw a boat carrying goods! haha … Something very mundane.
How a vaporetta stop looks like.
Today no rain so better to take pics! Less gloomy haha… Venice is just full of bridges! Haha to bring u across the bodies of waters i guess.
Yeah! And we spot St Mark Square!
We reached shortly before 10am and the queue is freaking long le! So while queuing, we took photos! haha
Actually the queue moved quite fast; we were only in the q for ard 15 min only.
Following 2 pics are from the entrance of the Basilica
The interior…. Amazing how the colours r still vibrant.
On closer look, actually they r mosaics. Cool hor?
Entrance into the Basilica is free however certain sections will require payment. For eg, there’s a gold painting thing which requires 2 Euro to see. Its rather grand and well preserved. Its not really painting… but of a gold sculpture with small enclaves of the various saints.
After this, we paid 5 Euros to go up the terrace to see the murals up close. Certain sections of the terrace is boarded up for touchups i guess.
This is the view from 1 side of the terrace. See the crowds below! haha… Its freaking packed with tourists! I m so glad I came the night before to enjoy the less touristy feel.
Haha… seee e pigeons and can tell there’s alot of ppl feeding them. My guess is….. tourist! haha
We reached the entrance to Doge Palace ard 11+am. And the queue is freaking long too. zzz…. Wanted to get the Secret Itinerary or guided tour tix but they were sold out.
So we gotta walk ard on our own. Upon purchase of tix, first place we saw is the courtyard.
No photos are allowed inside the palace haha… But I didnt know when I took pic of this Golden Stairway :p
Basically within the Doge Palace is just many many many rooms for various usage. Parliament, bedrooms and err alot of other rms dunno for wat usage. hahah I almost fell asleep walking through the various rooms cuz they all look similar to me.
We finished walking through the Palace ard 12.30am then we decided to proceed to Murano. Another nice view on our way to the vaporetta stop to go Murano.
Wanted to go Murano to see glass-blowing factory. But when we alight the vaporetta, we tried to follow signs that leads to glass-blowing factories. But the signs actually lead to showrooms of expensive glasses. :S So we just ended up wandering ard and I bought a pair of earring for 5 Euro and a watch for 12 Euro.
Then its time for lunch! Our pretty looking lunch place.
As it wasnt very cold, we tot we can sit outside and enjoy the view. But the sun is just too glaring. So we shifted indoor.
I ordered a beef lasagne while A ordered a fish lasagne. I quite like the lasagne and finished all of it! haha… Yes yes wats the surprise right… but i normally cant finish lasagne. The salad came without dressing when we asked the waitress abt it, she like doesnt get it. So we just poured olive oil over haha….
The food were all not bad but the bad part is when we asked for the bill; the waiter actually threw the bill on the table. A got kinda pissed; she decided to just put the exact amt on the table so that we nd not hang ard n wait for the change. Then we left.
Walked ard Murano and saw the following few glass installations.
This is favourite glass installation cuz the birds look like they r going to soar into the skies.
Saw from guide book that there’s a chapel with nice glass painting at the entrance. So was trying to locate it. Then I think this is it but the entrance looks close so we didnt go in. And also I dun see any nice glass painting at the entrance lei. Sad.
After this we rushed to take the vaporetta before 4pm cuz our 24-hr pass end at 4pm hahah… And we made it! 😀 yeah!
We reached back Venice mainland to see the buildings bathed in evening sunlight.
Came to this spot which I liked so took a few pics. All turned out…. different. haha
Somehw when we got ppl to help us take, the effect not very nice 😦 Somehow the Lumix Portrait mode like dull everything down.
Took this when the skies got darker haha at e exact same spot.
By this time, we were getting kinda sick of Italian food haha.. Almost all the restaurants have the exact same menu! As in they offer the same few types of pasta. haha So we just anyhow walked into 1 restaurant and I ordered mushroom risotto while A got the following carbonara.
See hw’s she’s toying with her food. haha…. Yeap it wasnt very nice.
I also didnt finish my mushroom risotto. This horrible dinner cost us 38.50 Euro. But A did say e surrounding ppl seem to b enjoying themselves. haha oh well…
After dinner, we strolled ard taking in Venice under evening light.
A then bought a dark chocolate ice cream which is like super concentrated so very shiok! haha….
Ard 2000+hr, I received a call from our hotel recept. Before we depart for dinner, we decided to amend our departure timings from Venice. Even tho the tix we bought are at discounted rate, we can change the timings at the train station.
But when we go train station at 1715hr, the stupid auntie at booth 7 told us cannot change timing. She said online ticket must be changed online. So we went back to our hotel to try to change online but keep hitting error. So we went to the recept to ask if he can help. Nicola (the recept’s name) told us most prob the auntie dunno English so wun help us change. He told us that in general, Italians abv 40 do not know English. He then kindly offered to help us call Trenitalia to try to change. That was at 1800hr. Then the Trenitalia hotline is freaking hard to call lo! First have to wait very long for operator then when get operator, the line dropped! So frustrating lo! Nicola very nice; he asked us to go dinner while he will continue try to call until his shift ends at 2045hr.
Hence I received the call from him ard 2000+hr. He told us that he finally called thru and the Trenitalia told him 1) we have to go the train station to amend the tix before 2100hr 2) Or the next morning we can approach ticket counter to change timing and get 60% refund.
So we rushed to the train station and ….. all the ticket counters are closed! We saw some ppl still in the office so knocked on the glass panes to get their attention. Someone walked over…. and pull down the blinds! hahah amazing Italy eh?
So we decided to just give up and continue our romantic stroll lo haha…. 1 of the few times whereby I actually used the tripod.
Looks abit photoshopped haha but oh well got pic not bad liao haha….
Haha… as we are walking, we were saying our parents better dun see these photos then they will know we r running ard in e dark le… haha…. But the night view is really quite nice. Tho the waters do look abit treacherous to me and there’s no barricade plus its dark so if any drunkard fall into the waters then it shld be sayonara le.
Haha… On the way back, I saw these strawberries at 1 Euro so bought back to try. But they are just normal; not extremely sweet haha…
This is the corridor leading to our Ca Pozzo Inn. Its brightly lit at night hor?
Really cant bear to leave this quaint lil place so…… take more pictures of the place! 😀
View of our room from the courtyard…. I will miss this place….
13/04/2012 Friday Venice –> Milan
Next morning, we woke up and had a nice leisurely breakfast. Really eat until very slow cuz very 依依不舍.
Cosy breakies area.
The breakfast spread is rather good. Normally I dun like to eat cake but the cake with sugar icing is very nice and the fruit tart n e ham n…. everything hahah….
就算再不舍的, 还是得离开. So we finally finish breakies and left the hotel. Haha… Slowly walked towards the train station. Following are the stores outside the corridor from Ca Pozzo Inn. haha Interesting hor? Gt fishes, fruits n veges.
Still got bakery! and we bought water frm this shop before haha….
It was drizzling when we arrive and its drizzling when we depart. But I am still bery reluctant to leave haha so was strolling ard in e rain under umbrella again haha…
That is the Venezia S Lucia train station haha… ok nothing much….
Closeup of water taxi. Really bery atas looking.
OK back to the ticket saga, we went to the ticket counter to attempt to change the ticket timing. Of course, lousy Trenitalia being Trenitalia said we shld have come 1 day earlier to change (which of course we did but the stupid auntie dun let us change). So in the end we just paid for another pair of tix lo.
2.5hrs later and we r back at Milan train station at 1330hr. Too cold to take photo on the first day of arrival so now then take haha….
There is actually a tourist information counter which we totally missed on the first day. This time we approached the counter to ask for the way to Lake Como. E instructions given was quite different from e one I found on Internet n it took half an hr more. So in e end we decided to stick to e Internet way n go ahead.
But first we went to check in to Flora hotel n was told that we got 2 single rooms! Booo~~ so I requested if we can have free breakfast :p And it was yes! 😀
Lunch was pizza and this pizza tastes much nicer than our first day’s one. E mushrooms n e prawns were quite juicy. This meal must b e cheapest cuz no cover charge n no 12% so it just plain 11 Euros. But tink A didnt really like pizza haha… cuz when I asked her to come back this place for dinner then she dun wan liao haha….. sad….
Lake Como is… Jz an idyllic lake where ppl can do boating, picnic, feed pigeons n duck haha… Nicer than 日月潭 but jz a lake lo haha… Took some pics n we decided to pack up n go back Milan.
Another time when tripod comes into use 😀 there’s hardly anyone ard n we r in Italy so rather worried ppl might run off with my camera :p
It has a nice park ard the area so of course the classic shot of 1 person in the midst of 2 rows of trees
Think we spent not even an hr there and we decided to head back to Milan le.
Wah here comes e amazing part as our tickets have no timing stated so we decided to ask e ticket counter if we can take e earlier train. Then e old man at ticket counter say can. When e train arrives, it looks like those w seat numbers. So we asked e train conductor if we gt no reserved seats where Shld we sit. Then e train conductor said if u wanna take this train, nd to pay 12 Euros more :S Piangz … Ppl here all bery luan abt their own trains hor.
So in the end we LL went to a coffee shop and get hot chocolate to while time away to wait for next train lo. haha…
Back in Milan as we werent very hungry, shop ard milano Centrale station. Saw H&M on our first day here but when I wanna shop then I can’t find le boo! Nm still managed to bought the following red jacket from Tally Weijl for i think its 9.90 Euro.
Really sick of Italian food so … we decided to go to a Michelin restaurant, Torriani 25, (which is just nxt to our hotel) to have dinner. And it really turn out yummy 😀 so heng ah…..
The lobster pasta dish wasnt very exp just 15 Euro; my clam pasta is 14 Euro haha…. Actually the prices on the menu all look decent. Its only when the cover charge (yes… machiam like pub like that. but the cover charge is like a few Euros la) and taxes add in then the price is 😮
Back to room and I m “room alone”! Haha… my first time sleeping alone in a hotel room. Thot it will be scary but… actually just like I slp alone back home lo. No diff. haha…. A was very sweet still call and ask if I m ok. lol…
The good thing is the toilet in this single room looks cleaner and newer la haha…
After bathing n nuaing, its time to koon for our last night in Italy!!! haha…
Next part of our trip in the next blog entry!
Yan's Wood, Rice, Oil, Salt 