Italy – Day 6 – Milan

After the short Swiss excursion, we were back in Italy for the rest of the day. Before that, a short stop in Como for lunch.

This is the Tempo Voltiano, a museum dedicated to the works of Allesandro Volta, a famous Italian physicist.

After lunch, we were dropped off at Milan’s Piazza del Duomo for the remainder of the day.

First stop, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. There are many shops here selling all kinds of stuff.

Designer handbags anyone?

And of course the Duomo di Milano.

Be wary though of swindlers who prowl the area around the cathedral. They try to hand you certain goods (friendship bracelets, bird feed, etc) and then force you to pay a bomb for it. More info here.

A close up shot of one of the cathedral’s doors. Check out the amount of detail on it.

And that basically wraps up my trip to Italy. Took a flight home the following day from the Malpensa Airport. I still got a few random photos and thoughts about the trip to share though so this won’t be the last of Italy you’re reading on my blog.

Italy – Day 6 – Lugano (Switzerland)

Picking up from my last update, it was finally Day 6, the final day of my short Italian adventure. For Day 6, the tour ventured a bit beyond the Italian border to the city of Lugano, Switzerland.

The city is located around the lake of the same name, Lake Lugano.

The scenery across the lake is quite stunning. In fact, I have this theory that every scenery in Switzerland looks epic.

Wouldn’t it be nice to just take a seat overlooking the lake with a good book?

An interesting pit stop in the tour I must say. Perhaps I will be back one day to explore more of Switzerland and photograph the Swiss Alps.

Seasons greetings!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012! Due to some technical hiccups, I am overseas without access to my photos so I won’t be updating the blog in the next few weeks. Until then, see you in 2012!

Italy – Day 5 – Verona

Day 5 brought me to the city of Verona. While the city has many historical landmarks, the Casa di Giuletta (or Juliet Balcony) is perhaps more well known among most people.

Yes, this is supposedly the balcony where the famous “balcony scene” of the play Romeo and Juliet took place. For a nominal fee (which go towards the preservation of the building), one can climb up to the balcony.

Not very far from here is Piazza delle Erbe. It’s a marketplace of sorts where you can buy fruits, leather goods, etc. Heck, there was even a Nintendo 3DS booth there that day.

The fountain of Madonna Verona, also found in the piazza.

Wandering beyond the marketplace, I made my way to Piazza Bra to check out the Verona Arena. Historically, a Roman amphitheater, today the arena is used to hold concerts.

This is the Fountain of the Alps, found in a nice cosy garden in the piazza.

There were other interesting things to see at the piazza (like Verona’s city hall) but I didn’t have time to explore. The rest of the day was spent at the Franciacorta Outlet Village. It’s a collection of outlet shops all conveniently in one place. Shopping isn’t really my thing, so Day 5 wasn’t that exciting.

While I’ve merely spent a morning in Verona, I like what I saw. There is definitely more to see and experience in beautiful Verona. So here’s adding another city to my revisit list.

Italy – Day 4 – Venice – Part 2

Had lunch after the gondola ride. After that, we were given “free time”. No guided tours whatsoever, we were free to explore Venice on our own. My parents were more interested in shopping so I went off on my own. I have to admit it was quite intimidating to explore a foreign land by myself. Looking back now, it was perhaps the best afternoon I’ve spent alone with my camera.

From the piazza I could see a cathedral in the distance on an island opposite from where I was. That was my destination for the day. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get there but I just headed off in the direction that was most sensible.

As I made my way behind the piazza, I was greeted by the sight of hundreds of pigeons! I am not sure if it is legal to feed them (swore I saw a signboard forbidding it) but there were people doing it anyway.

I continued on my way hoping to find some connection to the island across. And indeed they were connected by a bridge. Not sure if there is a specific name for this bridge. Couldn’t find anything on Google.

I Gesuati

Along the way another interesting building caught my attention, the I Gesuati.

Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

After a bit more walking, I finally reached my destination, the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.

The interior of the basilica overlooking the main altar. Spent some quiet time in the basilica before making my way back to meet up with the rest of the tour group.

Stopped along the way to take this shot (which is a personal favourite of mine). It’s funny how I only took notice of this scene on the way back. Sometimes we really need to take a second glance at things to appreciate it’s beauty.

The day ended with me feeling a sense of accomplishment as I shared the stories and photos I captured with my parents. It kinda inspired me to travel somewhere solo… though I haven’t picked up the balls (or have the money) to do that yet.