12 Nov
Arrival in Rome, Italy
1. Piazza di Spagna (Spanish steps) – Can see LV, Gucci and many branded names here.
2. Trinita Dei Monti (church)
3. Trevi Fountain (I made a little wish here by throwing a coin :-) )
13 Nov
1. Colosseum
2. St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City
3. Pantheon
4. Piazza Navona (had high tea here while listening to street performance.. this is learning how to relax life)
5. Piazza Venezia
14 Nov
Florence in Tuscany region
1. Went to a mountain top to take a photo with a replica statue of Michelangelo (Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet and engineer)
2. Ponte Vecchio (historic bridge for a view of River Arno)
3. Uffizi Gallery
4. Piazza della Signoria (the lordship square, showing may sculptures by famous Italian sculptors)
5. Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral (3rd largest cathedral in the Catholic world)
6. Door of Paradise at the Baptistery of St. Giovanni
15 Nov
University city of Pisa
1. Learning Tower
2. Duomo
3. Baptistery
16 Nov
Venice (reached by water taxi)
1. St Mark’s Square
2. Dogo’s Palace
3. St Mark;s Basilica (church)
4. Campanile (bell tower)
5. Bridge of Sighs
6. Glass-blowing factory
Verona in Veneto region
There is also a colosseum here, nice shopping area and we saw the ‘Juliet’s balcony’.
17 Nov
Milan
1. Shopping at Milan!
2. Castle visit
18 Nov
Interlaken, Switzerland (beautiful and awesome Swiss Alps… I simply love snow. Visiting Switerland reminds me of the Fox Glacier in New Zealand J )
1. Had choc fondue, beef fondue and fruit fondue the night before
2. Jungfraujoch (traveled to the top of Europe by train)
3. Shopping at Interlaken (bought our Swiss cross t-shirts!)
19 Nov
1. Mount Pilatus (by cable car)
2. Lucerne (Switerland’s largest city) – Lion Monument, Chapel Bridge, Princess River and shopping again
Swiss cottages have lots of windows to let sunlight comes in whenever there is sunlight.
Choc from Swiss Chalet Shop at Hotel Oberland is good.
20 Nov
Travelled from Lucerne to Paris (600km… took us 8-9hrs)
Paris, France
France is a self-sufficient country and the largest country in Europe.
1. River Seine Cruise (you can see Eiffel Tower lighted up in the night, many bridges, Cathedral of Notre Dame, Louvre Museum etc)
21 Nov
1. Arc de Triomphe (erected by Napoleon in 1806)
National Monument to the Unknown Soldiers of France
2. Eiffel Tower – went to the 2nd Level
3. Louvre Museum (see the famous glass pyramids)
22 Nov
Took train to shop at Galeries Lafayette and surrounding shopping areas (bought my most expensive bag here… ;p)
Start of our Free n Easy! Took Paris bus to check in to Mercure Hotel
23 Nov
Took Thalys train from Gare du Nord station, Paris to Bruxelles Midi, Brussel (hee hee… we made it to an earlier train and the friendly train conductor let us pass :-) )
Brussel
Visited the attractions at Grand Place.
Tried their subway.
24 Nov
Took Thalys train from Bruxelles Midi, Brussel to Central Station, Amsterdam (called Holland previously)
Amsterdam
The canals in Amsterdam are scenic with its surrounding buildings.
Visited the Flower market (see mainly Tulip bulbs though, as it is near winter), Anne Frank house and bypassed surrounding shopping areas (Magna Plaza etc). Bought books from CLC (Raadhuisstraat 14 1016 De Amsterdam)
Late night shopping in Amsterdam (till 9pm) is on Thurs.
25 Nov
1. Day tour to countryside of Amsterdam to visit wooden houses, cheese factory (bought smoked cheese), windmills and wooden shoe factory. Also visited the traditional fisherman’s village of Volendam
2. City Tour of Amsterdam
3. Enjoy the night canal scenic route by boat ride :-)
26 Nov
Traveled back to Singapore
Hotels
Rome: Holiday Inn
Switzerland: Oberland Hotel
Paris: Hilton Hotel, Mercure Hotel
Brussel: Floris Ustel Midi
Amsterdam: Inntel Hotel
