Day 5 The merchant of Venice
Waking up early in the morning, we had the usual breakfast ( eggs, ham and bacon. Cereal, coffee) and headed out early for the pier.
While Karlina took those who paid for the optional gondola ride to their ride, we took pictures at the square. There is a really nice church there and we took pictures there as well. (To enter the upper levels of the church we had to climb up a flight of stairs and to enter you had to pay €5. ) We went to the lower floors where we saw the awesome interior for free. (But photography was prohibited.)
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| One gondola |
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| Doing business |
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| Parking area |
After the factory visit, we headed out for lunch. Karlina brought us to a restaurant that served traditional Venetian food. We ordered Spagehtti Venenzia ( Black squid spaghetti) , fish soup ( which was the equivalent of Singaporean seafood soup) and Lazengia ( Garfield's favourite). The food was really tasty but costs quite a bomb ( food in Europe is really expensive)
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| "Seafood" Soup |
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| Black Squid Noodles |
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| Lazangia (Can never spell this out properly) |
After lunch we had some time before we had to run to catch the ferry back to mainland. Arriving on mainland, we had a 2 hour drive all the way to Milan, the land of fashion.
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| Stores selling souvenirs near the pier |
In Milan, we went to a shopping area ( something like a square) and the stores were still open though it was around 4+ on Christmas Eve. We went into the church during the 30 minute free time while some others went shopping. There was a mass going on in the church. ( it is a Roman Catholic Church)
When I entered the church, it was really magnificent. (All the churches that we've visited in Europe so far had been really cool and magnificent. The architecture and the paintings up in the domes) It was also a really different feeling to spend Christmas Eve in a church. (Felt really blessed to finally be able to attend a Christmas service and to be in Europe during this time.
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| Inside the church |
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| Candles light the way |
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| Every light is a prayer |
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| The Father holding the mass (I'm not catholic though) |
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| The church from the outside |
After free time, we headed towards our restaurant for dinner. Since it's Christmas Eve, most of the European restaurants were closed, so we had dinner in an Asian restaurant
Though the restaurant claims to be a Michelin restaurant, the food really isn't that good or special. (But it still sufficed for our hungry stomachs)
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| Where we had our dinner |
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| Michelin? |
After dinner, we drove for 30 minutes to our hotel (The Hub).
I found the hotel quite good actually. It provides free wifi and the room looks quite decent actually. (unlike previous ones which were kinda small)
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| Nice toilet. Super tall toilet bowl |
So that's around what happened on day 5 in Europe.
Tomorrow will be mountain climbing.
Labels: Christmas eve, Church, Europe, Foodie, Glass factory, Gondola, holiday, Italy, Mass, Mestre, Milan, Venetian mask, Venice
Day 4 Pisa + Babarino SHOPPING
So now's for DAY 4 !
After breakfast, we drove off towards the all-time favourite PISA. It was a long long drive before we arrived (and we didn't really spend a lot of time there for who-knows-what-reason)
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| Graffiti in the underpass (we were on a tram) |
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| Church within the walls |
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| The FAMOUS leaning tower of Pisa (which isn't really leaning any more) |
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| Yes I tried |
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| A map of Pisa |
We spent around an hour inside the area and gathered to walk back to the parking area where our coach was waiting. I have to say, the graffiti in Italy is really amazing, these people are really artistic, their graffiti is really nice and colourful and just awesome
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| Walking down the street to the parking area |
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| Railway track |
I was really ecstatic to see the railway track ( not that I haven't seen one in Singapore) but to know that in European countries they still use trains is really cool. Not forgetting the fact that we were walking along the tracks
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| Abandoned house |
We walked pass this abandoned house and it got me thinking. In Europe, there are so many homeless people with no place to stay and they have to brave the cold winter with no heating, yet there are rich people who just decide to abandon their houses as they wish ...
We left Pisa for Babarino, a designer outlet. Babarino is a shopping area with all the top brands and they sell things at relatively low prices. ( I found out that outlet stores sell things from previous seasons. No wonder they can drop the prices, but it's not like it's really cheap or anything just a little cheaper)
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| Babarino |
We walked around and shopped. Got a PRADA handbag and wallet for my mum. Many people also bought from the PRADA store and other stores ( I guess it's because Karlina told us that we wouldn't have a chance to shop in Milan and all shops will be closed in Paris on Sundays)
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| Me and my first PRADA (my mum's) |
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| The bag that cost 600+ euros & the 200+ wallet |
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| Inside the wallet |
After the shopping, everyone was tired and slept through ride to the Mestre. We had our dinner at an Asian restaurant and went to the hotel to get a good nights rest before we head out to Venice the next day.
Labels: Babarino, Europe, fun, Hand bag, holiday, Italy, Leaning tower, Mestre, Pisa, Prada, Shopping, Venice, Wallet
