Goodbye Paris

So this is day 4, the end of our trip in Paris. We will be catching Eurostar first class to London. Look forward to see London again.
My experience of Paris, the GOOD: well the public transport system, especially the metro is something that Australia could wish for. We relied on the metro while we were here and it was so easy to follow. The train comes almost every second minute! The shopping experience was also great, Lafayette Galleria is so big and quite hectic but you can find high end shopping tax free. The food is beautiful especially the deserts and The food is much cheaper than Brugge. Most of the buildings, cathedrals, bridges and roads are covered with histories. The BAD: streets are rather dirty, some parts are covered in dog poohs, broken bottles, it is definitely a hectic place. Come to Paris if you want to shop not when you want to relax. The UGLY: The graffitti covers most walls, corner of every streets and some even on historical statues. Rather sad to see. Overall I give Paris 4 out of 5 shooting stars.

Paris, France - day 3

We visited Arc de Triomph today. I highly recommend paying to access the top of the Arc. The view is stunning, whats even better is that you can get stunning pictures of the Eiffel tower from up here, as well as the Basillica de Montmarte.
Then we headed to the Basillica, stunning cathedral. The dome roof are something to boast about in this cathedral. As well as the Rose stain glasses, which seemed to be the main theme in all cathedrals in Paris.
Then we headed back to Chartier for lunch. We ordered the chicken (poulette) and it was yummy! Topped up with the baba rum chantily desert. Perfect lunch!
We ended tonight with a visit to the Notre Dame. All I can say... I was being enchanted by this place. We didnt make it to the top of the cathedral but wow, just being inside was satisfying enough.

Paris, France - day 2

We visited the Eiffel tower today, the line was unbearable as one of the lift was broken. So we decided to miss out on the climb. I have to admit the tower is smaller than what I thought it was going to be and it wasn't as grand as I had pictured.
We caught the Sienne river cruise during the day and saw most of the top sightseeing places in Paris. Notre Dame is beautiful, we are looking forward to visit that tomorrow. I'm sure Ill enjoy it more than the tower.
We also went to Chartier for lunch, highly recommended!
We headed to L'Orient D'or for dinner. Our first Chinese cuisine in over 2 weeks, well 5 weeks for Mike. The food is very hot and spicy, just the way we liked it. It is famous for its Hunan cuisine.

Paris, France - day 1

We arrived at the station Gare du Nord just before 9:00. We couldnt check into the hotel by then so we decided to visit Museu de Louvre. It is huge! We didn't go to every exhibition but we did see the Monalisa, 14-15 centuries paintings, medieval statues and the Napoleon's apartment.
Then we headed to the Breizh Cafe for the famous crepes in Paris, it was definitely the best crepes I've ever tasted!
We also visited the Lafayette Galleria, where I spotted a Louis Vuitton bag that I liked. I'll be picking it up tomorrow with my initial stamped on the bag! Very happg indeed, I guess thats my shopping done for Europe!

Brugge, Belgium - day 4

Given that today is our last night in Brugge, we decided to visit the diamond museum and Tintin shop.
I have to say, they do have beautiful diamonds here though I manage to resist the temptation!
We stopped by at another tea room and ordered what appeared to be Brugge's best hot chocolate. It was nice, probably comparable to Koko Black.
We spent the day trawling the shops to make sure that we have covered every corner, then packed our luggages. The Thalys train from Brugge to Paris leaves at 6.25am.
Goodbye Brugge, my travel summary of Brugge, the GOOD: town is beautiful, the canals are full of character. The Flemish food is also beautiful, rather sweet than salty also more expensive than Italy. The chocolates and beer, well what can I say, except that if you are chocolate addict or beer enthusiast, you must visit Brugge. Belgium produces over 1300 types of beer. The bed and breakfast we stayed in was lovely, beautiful cooked breakfast every morning, large bedroom, we were trully spoilt. The Bad: not sure if I can think of any, except for the canal smells that kind of linger. The Ugly: definitely none.
For that, I give Brugge 5 out of 5 shooting stars!

Brugge, Belgium, Knokke-Heist, Belgium - day 3

We headed for the Belfry first thing it opened. It was an amazing experience, we were lucky to head in first thing in the morning, as we got down to the ground level there were 50+ kids waiting in the line. I would hate to be stuck on those steps with two way traffic!
We then headed up north towards the coast of Belgium, a place called Knokke-Heist. It was an interesting coast, very heavily commercialised, I mean you get tents, sofas on the beach owned by different pubs and restaurants, very bizzare. Shopping experience was awesome! There are plenty of high end shops on each side of the streets leading to the coast. Most of them offer tax free shopping. Knokke-Heist is only kilometers away from the Netherland border. The coast is definitely better than UK but gee, we Australians are blessed with beautiful beaches.
We headed back by train, a really old train, full of characters and comes in 2 carriages only! Very cute indeed.
Time to recuperate and pick ourselves up in time for night pub hopping and dinner.
We headed to Cambrinus for a drink or two then decided to have some dinner there too. The food is amazing, cheaper than restaurants at the Markt and so much tastier! I highly recommend this place, make sure to make reservation, its really the place to eat & drink in Brugge!
Mike tried 3 different beer and I stuck with my Faro.

Brugge, Belgium - day 2

We visited the Basilica of the Holy Blood. An amazing neo-gothic church, different to most churches we have been to in Italy, in a sense that Jesus is being the center of this church, not Mary. On the wall of the church, paintings portraying Jesus' last walk to the cross and it also housed His blood that was shed from the cross. It was an overwhelming experience I was in tears.
From there we headed to the canal and caught the canal tour boat. That was trully an experience!
We then traced a number of pubs and decided to sample some of the best beers in Brugge. They have over 1300 types of beers! So we tracked down 4 pubs we wanted to visit:
1. De Garre 1
2. Brugs Beertje
3. Republiek
4. Beer Wall
The first pub is meant to be open and it took us forever to find as it was trully hidden from the street. We got there in disappointment!
So we ended up going to 3 pubs. Mike tried all the dark and witbier, he was in heaven by the time we reached the last pub. I tasted all the fruit beer by Lindemans and I rate the Apel Lindeman highly! However, one beer did make me a beer convert! That is Faro Lindeman (Lambic). Lambic is Brugge original beer and can I just say that I am totally a beer convert! Pitty this beer cant be bought in Australia. More beer story coming tomorrow, stay tuned!

Brugge, Belgium - day 1

We arrived at Brussel airport at 8.15 and caught the train to Bruxelles Nord. From there we caught the train to Brugge. It took 1 hour 25 minutes to get to Brugge by train. Its not a Thalys or Euro rail trains but it was still smoother than the Italian regional trains.
It was raining in Brugge, so we decided to catch the taxi to the accommodation, it was meant to be 1.3km away from Brugge station but after a long sleepless night and rain we decided to preserve our energy. I hardly slept in Italy, the Gaviratians or maybe Italians in general dont have their dinner until after 9pm. So they tend to stay up late and party until after midnight.
The taxi ride was a short one and only cost us €7. Our hosts greeted us at the door. Very lovely couple! Oh and did I mention, mostly everyone here speaks English!
We are staying at one of the bed and breakfast in Brugge, the house is beautiful. The bedroom is nicer than some hotels in Australia that would charge over $200 a night! Love it!
I was famished by that stage so we left for food and found this French restaurant called Le Bistro BonVivant. I ordered a French bread w mushroom for starter and a lasagne for main. Mike of course ordered his first beer in Brugge and had a mix grill for main. The french bread and mushroom is served on a plate filled w melted herb butter and it was most divine!! My lasagne tasted better than the ones Mike had in Italy. You see how Im falling for Brugge already?
On the way back, we walked along the steenstraat and noordzandstraart as the markets are on. I went to 3 different chocolatiers and bought three boxes of chocolates. We headed to a tea room called Laurent and tasted the waffle and pancakes, they were beautiful!
We headed home after a long day of shopping and called it an early night. Hoping tomorrow's weather would shine for us.

Milan, Italy - day 6

So today is officially Mike's first day of holiday. I had an option of going to Foxtown, a designer warehouse center in Switzerland or take Mike for a bit of cultural tour. I chose the later, somehow I find shopping in Italy a bit overrated.
We headed to Milan by train to see the Duomo and Last Supper. Unfortunaly the tickets to see the Last Supper was sold out.
When we got to Duomo, our entry was rejected because I was wearing a long summer dress with a tank top style. That was inappropriate to get into the Cathedral. So we had to buy me a shirt. I see it as an excuse to shop. I'm surprised that dress code to the Duomo is not highly publisiced. I would have expected a touristy place like that would warn people of the standard dress code. Glad to say, I wasn't the only one who got rejected at the gate!
So tourist bewarn! Especially female, make sure you wear dress covering your knee and no tank tops! Nor sandals!
The Cathedral was just spectacular, I couldnt believe the details of the stain glass that coloured and lit the Cathedral. It was just amazing, that is all I can say.
From there we headed to the Novocento Museo, just next to the Duomo. The museum housed a number of famous paintings including those of Pablo Picasso.
We also went to the Piazza next to the Duomo, its a large shopping center. I checked out the Louis Vuitton shop there but nothing captured my eyes. We ended up spending some money at the art shop, came back with 2 spectacular paintings of Milan. Its only a reproduction, simply cant afford the real ones at this stage :)
We had lunch in Milan, I made the mistake of not ordering the lasagne. Mike did, so I ended up stealing some of his lunch. The lasagne here taste nothing like the lasagne in Australia, sorry but that is the truth!
Ciao Milan!

Arrivederci Italia - Goodbye Italy

Time to say goodbye Italy. I have thoroughly enjoyed the gastronomy experience in Gavirate, Varese, Luino and Milan.

To summarise my experience in Italy, the GOOD: food is just beautiful. Fresh produce, perfect wine that is easy to drink and doesnt leave that tanin taste in your pallette like Australian Merlot. The pasta, well what can I say, except that if you love pasta, you must visit italy and experience it while you can. Seriously, I dont understand people who doesnt like to travel the world!! The coffee are just as perfect as their wine, even the worst coffee in italy still tasted better than the best coffee in Australia. That I am going to miss! Also the gellateria and pizzeria in almost every street corner are spectacular! Where else can you get nice Gellato for 2 Euro per cup?
The BAD: like any other non English speaking countries, it can be hard to get around here if you dont put any effort in learning Italian. The roads, well I wouldnt recommend anyone to attempt driving in Italy unless you know the road very well. The UGLY: the Italians love their cigarette as much as they love their coffee. It can be very unpleasant for non smoker like myself. They practically smoke anywhere and from any age. No smoking signs here are overrated! This is really what I like about Australia.
I give my Italy experience 3 shooting stars out of 5!

Sacro Monte di Varese; Varese, Italy - day 5

We went to Sacro Monte di Varese. The drive up the hill was just as nerve wrecking as the drive to the lake. The streets were so narrow that i decided to fold the side view mirrors in. I noticed there were plenty of cars that have sustained damages on the side. That explains alot about the roads here in Italy.
The Sacro Monte di Varese is literally translated to the Sacred Mount of Varese. It is at least 800m above sea level. Beautiful views of the alps, lakes and towns below. It was so much cooler up on this particular hill. The place was built in the 16th century and it has been listed as heritage by UNESCO. You can see the age of the building and cobblestone streets. People still live here, the Cathedral is still used and the workmanship inside the cathedral was just spectacular. You can really tell the difference between Protestan Cathedral and Catholic Cathedral.
After the trip to the Sacred Mount, Mike took me to Varese for dinner at supposedly the best gnocchi restaurant. That he got it right! The best gnocchi! I had Gnocchi w Lobster and Mike had Gnocchi w ragu. They were divine soft little gnocchis that melts in your mouth! I am worried that I would be harsh with Italian restaurants in Australia after tasting the dish here.
We ordered smoke goose breast antipasto and salumi antipasto. The smoke goose breast would make the chefs at Pochers Pantry blush, it is the most divine, thinly sliced melt in your mouth smoke meat!
Wheb we got to the wine list, I had no idea what to order, there are hundreds of wine that I dont recognise, so Mike decided to order a bottle of Gewurtztraminer. I was expecting a sweet wine and it turned out to be light crisp white wine with a bitter cut to your pallette. Worked well against the acidity of the tomatoes - belissimo! We ended our order with an Espresso each. Then headed for gelato desert. By the end of that I concluded that I have eaten way too much!

Rocca Borromeo, Angera, Italy - day 4

I decided to spend the day in the apartment, still scarred from the car ride yesterday so I need to settle my adrenalin down. Mike has been eating home cook hot breakfast, lunch and dinner most days. I think he appreciates coming home to a nice steak and steam vegs dinner. Waking up to eggs, sausages, spinach and mushroom breakfast.
Mike took me to Angera to see Rocca Borromeo. The palace with vineyard and dolls/toys collections from all over the world. It was rather an interesting collection, some would have passes a horror movie screening. One in particular was an old lady doll sitting on a chair with her skirt up to show her peeing... Most bizzare and unimaginable thing!
So today is rather a relaxing day. At least I know I will survive another day!

Santa Caterina de Sasso; Luino - day 3

So Mike decided to take me to Santa Caterina de Sasso after my rather interesting exerience in Milan. The place was just amazing but I will NEVER ever want to be a passenger in a car travelling on the road that follows the lake. Lake Maggiore that is. To put it in perspective, imagine great ocean road, divide the width of the road by 2, add more bends add some great big trees and shrubs around the bend so you cant see whats infront of you, then add great big hills that has signs of fallen rocks but no guard or protection. To make it worst, people don't quite stay in their line when driving and whats even hillarious was the size of the humungous Buses they use in Italy, I mean they are wider and bigger than Trucks! Guess what, those buses also travel on that same road! I cringe at every bend Mike took with the small Yaris, luckily it's only a rental car with 50 Euro excess! Oh did I mention that there were no clearance on each side on the road, so everytime Mike pulls to the right side I expect the right view mirror to give way and shatters to pieces with shrapnel flying everywhere! After that experience, any man and his dog would be able to handle streets in Asia.
We stopped at a corner lookout between Santa Caterina and Luino, such a beautiful lake, people actually parked on the side of the road, sun tanned and pull out their best picnic gears like its their own private beach spot. Trully amazing lake! You can see the Swiss hills and alps from the lake, some of these hills interlap almost like the view you see in the movie Lord of the Ring.
The we head up to Luino, the view gets even better. We had dinner in one of the pizzeria there, ordered antipasto, cheese platter, taggliateli for myself, raviolli for Mike. I enjoyed every bit of the pasta, it was amazing. We had a bit of chuckle as the restaurant menu is encased with XXXX Australian beer cover! Who would have expected? I wonder if the pizzeria is owned by an expat.
On the way back, I pleaded Mike to drive on an inland road and he did. Thank God, I have never been that nervous in my life!

Milan, Italy - day 3

So I decided to travel by train to Milan. Roughly 60kms away from Gavirate. The search for train station in Gavirate was rather challenging. Can I just say, there are no straight intersections here in Italy! So it doesn't quite work when you tell someone to go straight, turn left or turn right. Also, the signs and arrows doesn't quite point to the direction you should be travelling, it does however points to the road, yes the road! So yes, I got a bit lost going to a train station that is meant to be 10 minutes away.
Then, the tickets for the train. I stood infront of the machine pondering which "milano centrale" station I had to buy, there were three of them! So I decided to ask the lady at the ticket booth...
"mi scusi, palesi englisi?"
She replied in Italian, I had no idea what she is saying. I was expecting a short yes or no answer. So I continued
"milano centrale, return?"
To which she asked "due?"
I said "no, return"
She asked again "due?"
So I finally submitted and nodded.
Then she said "Gavirate, Milano Cardona, Milano Centrale" i took that as, get off at Cardona then change train for Milano Centrale. Easy!
Actually, it wasn't. I got to Cardona and expected to see a train with destination to "Milano Centrale" on the screen. But there wasn't any. So I asked the lady at the station gate "mi scusi, milano centrale?" and she points to a direction and said "metro". I take that as a subway line. So I had to exit that station and go to the subway line. Wait, there were 3 different subway lines! Which one should I go to...
So I asked the attendant near the metro line gate, asked if he understand English and he replied "a little bit".
"which train goes to milano centrale" and he point to the green line. But my ticket doesn't work!
I decided to call Mike... At this stage, the temperatue is around 34 and humidity felt like 90.
Mike then told me that Milan is only 5 minutes away from Cardona station! Ok that solves that.
The train ride lasted about 1 hour 45 minute. The train is similar to Sydney train, newer, air conditioned but definitely not a fast train!
So I decided to go to the closest attraction place using my iPad map and found the Sforza Castle. It was HUGE! the castle was designed by Leonardo da Vinci and the moat was later drained by Napoleon. The castle hosts a number of museums which I didnt go to. I was busy admiring the structures and taking photos, while trying to dodge the street vendors. They are mostly African selling cheap bracelletes which no one really needed from the looks of things. They follow you like seaguls! They even tried to speak Chinese to get my attention! Pretty impressive.
I walked around the city to check out the shops, they are pretty overrated. It's not the mental image I had for Milan, sorry but shopping in Sydney city is better.
So getting back to Gavirate was an interesting one, the train maps here DO NOT show all stations a train would stop at, pretty much the first and last destination with some stations in between. Helpful but not logical at all!
So again, I asked he train attendant "Gavirate?" to which he responded "Varese?" so I nodded, asfar as I understand, Gavirate is in the Province of Varese, so it must be right. But somehow I wasn't confident, so I decided to stop at Saronno and ask further question... Finally found a guy who speaks a little bit English who was able to tell me which train and platform I should get on. Phew! So It was the right decision to leave the Varese train. Which wasn't air conditioned and it felt like 70 degrees in there, and you still find Italian wearing sweater or jacket. Pretty amazing!

Gavirate, Italy - day 1&2

So the plane trip finally ended for me yesterday 6.15pm local time and after spending 6 hrs @ Heathrow airport. The take off from Heathrow was rather an interesting one, the planes literally took off every minute or two. You could probably imagine the turbulence, and that's exactly how it felt. I will never complain about dash 8 flights from Canberra ever! Mike greeted me from the airport and drove me back to Gavirate, a province in Italy, Varese. Well, let me describe you how horrified I was sitting on the right passenger seat. When you think driving in parts of Asia is scary, hold that thought for a moment. Imagine Canberra, with the runabouts, now multiply the traffic by 100 and the right side of the traffic are on the Right side... Yes. So going around roundabouts from the opposite directions... It doesn't help when I kept telling Mike that he is driving on the wrong side of the road! Anyway, my whole body is still adjusting to the ground level. I had beautiful gnocchi ala Zola for dinner yesterday. The softest and tastiest gnocchi I have ever tasted in my life. The Garivatians take their pizza seriously here, simple at its best! Just cheese with one other ingredient. Everything seems to be served a little bit salty here but the coffee is divine and that's all that matters! Objective for today: grocery shopping so my husband can start eating proper & healthy food :)

Sanctuary of Santa Caterina del Sasso Ballaro - Lake Maggiore

Built in the 13th - 14th Century.

Reminds me of the village on the side of the hill in the movie 300.

Rocca Borromeo - Angera, Italy

The 13th century Castle on Lake Maggiore...



A Castle with a vineyard, what more can one want





How does one get to the top floor?