Pasta la vista baby!
Evening again
Trawling back through my memory and notes, I return to my last day in Asia, 3 weeks ago! My flight out of Bangkok took off after midnight (00:30) so naturally a full meal was served. I was quite impressed with Thai Airways, especially after the glass of Thai brandy following dinner!
The next morning (Tuesday 20th) we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland, where I connected to another flight for the short trip to Venice. We boarded the plane, sat there for a while then were informed that the plane had a fault, so were all shuttled back to the terminal! An hour and a half later we boarded a replacement plane for the spectacular journey over the Alps to Venice. It was here that I thought about spending the last part of my journey in Switzerland, a country I'd hardly visited. The plane was quite stylish too, leaving you no doubt who owned it!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=bb7ere2&.dnm=446cre2.jpg&.src=ph
In Venice that I met my parents again, as they were renting an apartment for the week. No offence to Dartford, but Venice was a slightly more exciting and stylish place for a family reunion! It's a place we've been to several times, so for once I wasn't rushing around, guidebook in hand, trying to find some obscure statue or get to a museum before it closed. Instead, I was able to relax and mooch around. Venice is a beautiful and special place, and a very relaxing place to amble about, if you avoid the crowds. It also has the most expensive internet cafes I came across on the whole trip!
Three general tips for an enjoyable trip to Venice would be :-
1) A lot of tourists spend all their time in or around St Mark's square, hence this area is very crowded, expensive and touristy. Moving away from here and the main 'drag' to the station, you'll lose the crowds and find areas where local Venetians still live, relax and shop.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=bb7ere2&.dnm=d4b2re2.jpg&.src=ph
2) Don't follow a map too religiously, wandering around and getting lost is part of the joy, as you see so much more that way. It's not as if you can get properly lost anyway, the place is so small.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=bb7ere2&.dnm=3a27re2.jpg&.src=ph
3) Food and drink are expensive, but Olive bread fresh from the baker's, and the local draft wine (bring your own bottle for a refill!) are both excellent and good value. The local box wine is also surprisingly pleasant, and at 45p a litre from memory you can't afford not to!
On Saturday, my parents departed to the airport, while I made my way to the railway station, a beautiful journey in itself by water bus along the Grand Canal, especially as I had a lovely view at the front.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=bb7ere2&.dnm=1c9dre2.jpg&.src=ph
Everything is transported my boat here, even McDonalds have to use them!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=bb7ere2&.dnm=356fre2.jpg&.src=ph
My plan was to spend the next week and a half travelling by rail around Switzerland. Before getting there though, I caught a train to Milan, the fashion capital of Italy (they always treasure my advice). While not the most touristy city in Italy, there are things to see, and I could have spent longer than the one day I stayed. Milan is quite a pleasant place to wander around, you feel the prosperity compared with many Italian cities further south. The main highlight is visting the enormous gothic Il Duomo, the 3rd largest cathedral in the world, and exploring it's roof where you get a fine view, not only of Milan but also of the spires and buttresses.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=de10re2&.dnm=adfcre2.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=de10re2&.dnm=8f0bre2.jpg&.src=ph
On a less pleasant note, seeing several posters featuring Italian footballers, including Gattuso and Cannivaro in their pants to advertise underwear was less attractive, though clearly they were lucky pants judging from the penalty shoot out!
I had hoped to buy a guidebook to Switzerland here, as I really was unsure where to go, and what highlights I had to see, but they only had ones in Italian...after a bit of checking on the internet, I decided on Lugano as my first destination and booked a hotel...
Trawling back through my memory and notes, I return to my last day in Asia, 3 weeks ago! My flight out of Bangkok took off after midnight (00:30) so naturally a full meal was served. I was quite impressed with Thai Airways, especially after the glass of Thai brandy following dinner!
The next morning (Tuesday 20th) we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland, where I connected to another flight for the short trip to Venice. We boarded the plane, sat there for a while then were informed that the plane had a fault, so were all shuttled back to the terminal! An hour and a half later we boarded a replacement plane for the spectacular journey over the Alps to Venice. It was here that I thought about spending the last part of my journey in Switzerland, a country I'd hardly visited. The plane was quite stylish too, leaving you no doubt who owned it!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=bb7ere2&.dnm=446cre2.jpg&.src=ph
In Venice that I met my parents again, as they were renting an apartment for the week. No offence to Dartford, but Venice was a slightly more exciting and stylish place for a family reunion! It's a place we've been to several times, so for once I wasn't rushing around, guidebook in hand, trying to find some obscure statue or get to a museum before it closed. Instead, I was able to relax and mooch around. Venice is a beautiful and special place, and a very relaxing place to amble about, if you avoid the crowds. It also has the most expensive internet cafes I came across on the whole trip!
Three general tips for an enjoyable trip to Venice would be :-
1) A lot of tourists spend all their time in or around St Mark's square, hence this area is very crowded, expensive and touristy. Moving away from here and the main 'drag' to the station, you'll lose the crowds and find areas where local Venetians still live, relax and shop.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=bb7ere2&.dnm=d4b2re2.jpg&.src=ph
2) Don't follow a map too religiously, wandering around and getting lost is part of the joy, as you see so much more that way. It's not as if you can get properly lost anyway, the place is so small.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=bb7ere2&.dnm=3a27re2.jpg&.src=ph
3) Food and drink are expensive, but Olive bread fresh from the baker's, and the local draft wine (bring your own bottle for a refill!) are both excellent and good value. The local box wine is also surprisingly pleasant, and at 45p a litre from memory you can't afford not to!
On Saturday, my parents departed to the airport, while I made my way to the railway station, a beautiful journey in itself by water bus along the Grand Canal, especially as I had a lovely view at the front.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=bb7ere2&.dnm=1c9dre2.jpg&.src=ph
Everything is transported my boat here, even McDonalds have to use them!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=bb7ere2&.dnm=356fre2.jpg&.src=ph
My plan was to spend the next week and a half travelling by rail around Switzerland. Before getting there though, I caught a train to Milan, the fashion capital of Italy (they always treasure my advice). While not the most touristy city in Italy, there are things to see, and I could have spent longer than the one day I stayed. Milan is quite a pleasant place to wander around, you feel the prosperity compared with many Italian cities further south. The main highlight is visting the enormous gothic Il Duomo, the 3rd largest cathedral in the world, and exploring it's roof where you get a fine view, not only of Milan but also of the spires and buttresses.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=de10re2&.dnm=adfcre2.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=de10re2&.dnm=8f0bre2.jpg&.src=ph
On a less pleasant note, seeing several posters featuring Italian footballers, including Gattuso and Cannivaro in their pants to advertise underwear was less attractive, though clearly they were lucky pants judging from the penalty shoot out!
I had hoped to buy a guidebook to Switzerland here, as I really was unsure where to go, and what highlights I had to see, but they only had ones in Italian...after a bit of checking on the internet, I decided on Lugano as my first destination and booked a hotel...
posted by Michael Conway at
12:52 am
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