Italy - Milan

14 Oct (Tue)
Though our hotel in Milan is about 10 mins walk from the train station, it took us a while to find it. The room was simple and clean but colour theme was terrible. Could hear people at the nearby bar and neighbours upstairs walking & dragging their luggage in the wee hours =(
After dropping our luggage at the hotel, we followed the recommendations of the hotel staff, to walk along the shopping Corso Buoenos Aires towards Duomo. Walked passed a park and enjoyed the serenity and autumn colours...
Decided to relax so we stopped by at a cafe along the street. I order tea while Gerald ordered a hot chocolate. The hot chocolate turned out to be extremely thick, basically a cup of thick choco fondue! One man's poison is another man's gold. I happily savour everything. Even if i wake up tmr with a terrible sore throat plus all the additional calories, it's all worth it. :)Vittorio Emanuele II, where all the big brands are.
Duomo in Milano was very grand.

People watching in Piazza del Duomo.
We decided to take the Metro back to the hotel area & have dinner at the restaurant owned by the hotel staff's friend. We got the 24 hour train ticket at Eur 3 which was much more worth it than single trip tickets at Eur 1.

The restuarant owner was super friendly. He claimed that he had a Gf in Singapore and even showed us a postcard from her. We order the set meal and at Eur 38 for 2 person after discount, we were fed many servings from bread, to delicious pizza crust, cold meat cuts, creamy risotto, tomota penne, grilled pork slices, lemon sorbet, raisin butter cake & hazelnut chocolate cream puff dessert and 2 shots of strong lemon liqour on the house. A nice restuarant along a quiet street.

Took a deep breathe & with my eyes shut, was hoping that time would just freeze at that moment. Vacation would be ending in another 5 days...

15 Oct (Wed)
After breakfast in the hotel, we're headed for San Siro, the football stadium of InterMilan & AC Milan. Followed the instructions of our hotel staff and took the Metro red line to Lotto Station. After a long walk & asking almost everyone we saw along the road for directions, we finally reached San Siro!We did the stadium & museum tour where the guide showed us around the stadium & changing rooms of both clubs & explained how things are during a match day.
Gerald happily got some souvenirs from the SanSiro store.

Decide to take the Metro to Ponte Geneva, a place recommended by the hotel staff for its nice restuarants. However many of the resturants or their kitchen are closed so we settle for pizza & calzone at a pizzeria. Can't go wrong with nice piping hot cheesy pizza.

Headed back to Duomo area for coffee & people watching. We settled for Tre Gazelle along Vittorio Emanuele, a stretch lined with chic Cafes.
I ordered their chocolate crepe which comes with 3 scoops of chocolate gelato topped with chocolate sauce, coco power & chocolate pieces. Huge & super chocolata! Realized my love for chocolate has deepened in Milan. Decided to skip dinner after the super sinful indulgence. 16 Oct (Thur)

Woke up early today for breakfast & to confirm how we could got the Tax Refund form stamped since we're travelling to Switzerland via train.

Was told in Milan train station that ticket officers on the train could stamp the form for us. We took the 1120 train, scheduled to reach Interlaken by 1430. While on the train, the ticket officer came, a nice patient lady (in fact, the nicest we've seen so far) explained that we'll need to stop at Domodossola to get the form stamped. The train only makes a quick 1 min stop which means we would have to hop on the next train.
We made a quick dash for it and luckily was able to make it back for the same train, thanks to the customs officer who waved at me and did the stamping quickly.

The ride to Switzerland was scenic... Looking forward to Schweiz!

Italy - Venice

12 Oct (Sun)

Arrived in Venice's Santa Lucia train station at 1317 hours after a 2.5 hour train ride from Florence. Venezia is built on 117 islands with 150 odd canals & 400 bridges. The city is divided into 6 sestieri (quarters). A street can be called a calle, ruga or salizzada. Beside a canal it's a fondamenta, a canal is a rio, a filled canal-turned-street is a rio terra. There are no cars. All public transport is via the Grand canal.

Amazing because the first sight from the train station is the beautiful Grand Canal.
Our guest house is a short 10 mins walk from the train station and luckily very easy to find.

Beautiful city! My fav in Italy. Everywhere is picture perfect!Gondolas - a symbol of Venice. Finally my first tirasimu in the form of gelato. Surprisingly, our cheapest gelato is from Venice, Eur 1! Some of the gelateria near St Peter's @ Rome charge a whopping Eur 5!
Passed by a shop making pizzas on the spot with customers buying a slice & eating outside the shop. Pizza looks very fresh so we also followed suit. Eur 3.50 for a huge yummy slice, perfect for sharing & this settled our lunch.
As all travel guide truly described, it's easy to get lost in the small lanes of Venezia. New Calatrava Bridge between Piazzale Roma & Fondamenta di Santa Lucia. Venice is famous for their seafood. We therefore had fish for dinner, our first in > 10 days. Gerald had grilled fish w braised potato & white rice. Yummy! Despite being a bread & pizza lover, I could feel my heart melting at the first taste of rice. One of our best meal in Italy.

13 Oct (Mon)
W decided not to spend Eur 6.50/pax to try the Vaporetti (water bus-boats) but to slowly walk & discover St Mark's Square.
More photo taking along the wayDoge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) & Campanile di San Marco
Gerald got me the beautiful white coloured mask near Ponte di Rialto which I was eyeing on yesterday. So nice, I love the white feather & handle with crystal! A good souvenir from my favourite city in Italy.
Nutella flavoured gelato was delicious, one of the best so far.
Most heartache meal was lunch at a self service style restuarant. Was shocked when my choice of tomato penne, grilled fish & a can of coke cost Eur 18.30. More expensive as compared to our delicious ala carte dinner last night. So sad! :(

Went to their supermarket & found 1.5litres mineral water at Eur 0.40! So much cheaper than Eur 2-2.50 which we've been paying in Rome & Florence. Second heartache of the day.

Venice is the night is less crowded & more romantic.

14 Oct (Tue)
Today we're travelling to Milan. We did last minute chocolate gift shopping in the morning. Got some made in Italy Lindt Choco for colleagues. By weight choco, similar to Sg Candy Empire are sooo expensive at Eur 7 for 200 gms! Got 2 pieces of Bacio to try and it's yummy.

Gerald being sick of bread got Mcdonalds for breakfast. I explored the shops nearby and found a delicious looking chocolate pastry. Enjoying my Choco fix on the train.