Cheese.. Chocolates .. Alpines

We arrived about 7pm local time and the briefing for our Switzerland Cosmos tour had already started. We introduced ourselves and the group was quite big. We had 8 Singaporeans including us 2. A Malaysian couple and some others are from America. 4 of the Singaporeans will be leaving halfway to join in the other tour. We had a group dinner at the hotel. There’s nothing much around the Hotel and it’s quite quiet. The room was big and clean.

We were up early next morning to start our adventure in Switzerland; we stopped in Appenzell to see the old town centre with its Town Hall. Then we traveled further east to the minute principality of Liechtenstein where it’s really a country on its own. You can even have a “stamp” on your passport for souvenir sake.










Later, we took a scenic drive through "Heidiland" to the Rhine Valley before starting the ascent of the mighty Julier Pass. It was snowing when we were there but we didn’t feel cold instead we felt comfortable. We stayed for the night in St. Moritz, the place is beautiful. It’s at the top of the mountain and we need to walk a long way down to the lake, beautiful and quiet lake.



We had dinner at one of the restaurant and guess what we had? White asparagus, yum yum. But that meal cost us quite a bit.

We began the next day with one of Europe's most spectacular train rides beginning in St. Moritz and it took us across the lofty Bernina Pass via the Swiss Poschiavo area to Tirano in the Italian Valtellina. Look at the Bernina Pass we went past, looks like a winter wonderland and the heavy snow.










And yes, we were back on Italy again. Interestingly that we were so near to Italy that the border is just a train away. After some time in Tirano, we rejoined our coach for the journey to the shores of Lake Lugano. Lake Lugano is very very nice, the lake is wonderfully quiet and the whole place just seemed so peaceful.

We started our next morning in the town of Lake Lugano which was small but you can find big labels there such as Louis Vuitton.

After that, we drove to a chocolate factory in nearby Caslano. When you are in Swiss, must definitely try swiss chocolate right? Afterwards we returned to Italy again to visit the luminous atmosphere of Lake Maggiore. Another beautiful lake again but this time is in Italy. Then we traveled back into Switzerland via the scenic Simplon Pass and spent the night in the village of Täsch. We had a room just overlooking the magnificent Matterhorn.










The next morning we started with an excursion by train to Zermatt, the famous resort beneath the Matterhorn. We ascended the gornegrat and there we had pictures taken with Tina, the St. Bernard. A very lazy dog but huge and cute. I built myself a snowman too.

In the afternoon, we motored through the vineyards and apricot groves of the lower Rhône Valley to Lake Geneva before arriving in Lausanne on its northern shore. The hotel in Lausanne was very nice. It’s a very expensive hotel and the rate was 450 swiss francs a night.






The next day we visited a local cheese factory in Gruyère, where we learned about the various types of cheese and of course we bought some cheese and cheese fondue as well. We visited the Gruyere castle and found out that the creator of Alien used to live there and there was an alien museum there as well.




Then on to Switzerland's beautiful capital, Berne, a charming town with arcaded shops, carved fountains, and towers. They said that it’s a sight when the clock striked every hour and we were sitting there waiting for something to happen and none. We found the Albert Einstein museum as well but we didn’t go in. We stopped by the Bear Pit and the poor bears were just inside walking around and letting tourists take photos.

Then we traveled by way of the shores of Lake Thun to Interlaken. We dropped off 4 of our members who will be joining another tour that had about 7 days in Interlaken. After that, we continued over Brünig Pass to Lake Lucerne.
The hotel in Lake Lucerne was situated in a small village and we walked to a great waterfall we past by while on the bus. The waterfall was magnificent. The air was fresh and it felt good to be staying in a swiss village. You can see goats grazing etc.


Lucerne - One of Switzerland's finest cities nestled amid its snow-capped Alps, surrounded by its lake, and embellished by the clear mountain waters of the River Reuss. We climbed the towers that used to guard intruders to the city, and believe me, it's tiring to climb up narrow stairways. You wondered how people managed to do it last time.

We took an excursion to the Stanserhorn and took their traditional swiss food for lunch which turned out to be cheese macaroni with potatoes. In the late afternoon we took an easy drive back to Zurich but stopping at the Lion Monument before returning back to Zurich.




We explored the Zurich city when we reached there and found some nice stuff on sale but the watches here are not much cheaper than back home.

We woke up the next morning and wanted to explore the city of Zurich and guessed what? It’s a public holiday - Labour day and not even the trains were working. So we walked all the way to the city centre. We walked around the place, nothing much in the city centre. Some of the shops were closed. Had cheese fondue,the liquor taste was so strong that I can’t really finish everything.

We walked towards the Lake and found that there were demonstrations going on, think it’s labour-related stuff. Riot police were there as well. We stopped at the lake and just sat around and enjoyed the breeze before taking the long walk back to the hotel. Last night of my whole honeymoon and everytime that happened, you feel so sad. Have to go back to reality again.

We were at the airport the next morning and the feeling was just so sad. Well, it was a good trip and we both really enjoyed it tremendously. So its goodbye Switzerland and Europe and Singapore here I come.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears...

Today we start our Cosmos Land tour in Italy. We were greeted by a representative from Cosmos at the airport and were told we need to wait for another couple. The other couple was an elder Chinese couple from America. They are Cantonese and they lost their luggage. So poor thing.

The car was quite squeezy for 4 of us behind. We reached the hotel, checked in and was told there is a briefing in 5 mins time for all tour members. We saw the rest of the people, a family of 5, 3 single girls, us, the Cantonese couple, an old American couple and 2 other couples from America as well. First look at our tour director and I thought she was a transvestite. hahaha. Think maybe because she was quite big-sized and tall but her voice very gentle with quite strong Italian accent.

After briefing, we were left on our own and we tried to take the bus from the hotel to town area. We had such a hard time communicating to the driver and the cost differed from what the tour director tells us.

We asked the front desk to write down the place we wanted to go in Italian and passed to the driver and decided to just pay that extra few euros and went ahead. Later we realized that the cost differ for different hours of the day.

We went to the Spanish steps and boy was there a lot of people there. Everybody was like sitting there and then I realized that the steps are always cooling, that’s why everybody like sitting there. So we walked up to the top of the steps and we can see the Vatican City. Mourning is still ongoing for John Paul II.

We walked around the place for a while and then tried to find our way to the Trevi Fountain. Sort of lost our way and asked around for ways to the fountain and found it eventually. A lot of people there as well and there were quite a lot of gypsies selling scarves and other stuff there. We threw coins into the fountain and it supposed to mean that you will come back again. We sat around for a while and then took the bus back to the hotel again. We stopped by the local café and bought some pasta back to the Hotel room for dinner. Not bad. We walked down the street and bought some drinking water and chips as well.

The next day, we were up early for breakfast and onto the bus for tour to the Vatican city. It was raining heavily and when we had to walk to queue up to go in and that was like 7.45am, we were only allowed in at 9am. So there we were standing in the rain and there was actually another tour guide to bring us around for the day. We had portable headsets so we can hear the explanations from the tour guide clearly.

The sad thing was that the Sistine Chapel is closed as the cardinals are inside voting for the new pope. The Vatican was crowded as we were being whizzed into different rooms with the guide explaining to us the various paintings and the meanings. It’s interesting but because we were short of time, we had to sort of walk very fast. Would love to come back again one day though.

After visiting the Vatican, we had a poll among the tour members on whether to go into the Basicilica and fnally decided to queue to go into St. Peter’s Basicilica. So there we were queuing up under the rain once again and there was another queue for visitors to John Paul II’s tomb. We saw the colourfully dressed Swiss Guards of the Vatican. The trip inside the Basicilica was even faster..heheee










We met up with the rest who didn’t go for the Vatican tour and off onto the bus to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. In the Roman Forum, you can see the Arch of Constantine, the remains of the columns forming the forum area as well as the walk of victory where the ground is made up of old rocks from the past. I loved the Colosseum, big and majestic and listening to the guide explaining the events that happened there before was just so amazing.

We ended the day in the early evening and back to the Hotel. We met up with some of the people from the tour and had dinner together in the Hotel. Supposed to be a buffet dinner but the food was like running out after my first serving and they didn’t even replenish. So weird. One of the tour mate, a Hong Kong girl ordered a bottle of red wine and all of us drank along with the dinner.

Started the next day early as we will be checking out of Rome and going to Siena, a beautiful Tuscany town. Before reaching Siena, we stopped by a medieval town called Orvieto in the province of Umbria to visit its black basalt and yellow limestone cathedral. It was a really nice place, quiet. There were narrow streets with little shops that sell pottery etc. We reached Siena about evening time, their square was shaped like a shell and the place was used for horse racing in the past. Can’t remember if they still do it now.













The next day we moved on to Florence, city of arts (at least to me). We stopped by San Gimignano, one of Tuscany's greatest attractions. Its medieval squares, town walls, streets, alleyways, and 14 towers make it unique. Next we went into the very heart of the Chianti vineyards where classical Chianti wines are produced. We stopped in Greve for some wine tasting at a local wine producer. There were several gradings for the wine produced there and we bought 2 bottles of wine.




Our hotel was not in the Florence city itself so we needed to take a local train to the city area. There was a famous bridge in Florence that used to be a market for vegetables but now it was all lined up with gold shops. There was this particular fence where there were dozens of locks being hung on it. Wonder what was the reason for it. We went around the square of Florence, Piazza Santa Croce and saw the replica of Statue of David. Initially I thought it’s the real one but later realized it’s not.










Walked around the shopping area and popped into the Gucci there. Didn't really see anything I like but since Gucci is made in italy...die die also must buy something and in the end, there goes 500 euros...hahaha

The real one was placed in the Academia and it’s closed for the day so we had to return the next day. The next day, we started off with a guided tour to see the Piazza Santa Croce; the beautiful Piazza Signoria; the Palazzo Vecchio and its courtyard; the Loggia dei Lanzi; and the Piazza del Duomo and its cathedral with the Giotto Campanile, and the magnificent East Door of the Baptistry known as the "Gate to Paradise." This was the gate used when babies need to do baptism.

After the tour, we went to the Academia. You can see the queues forming outside the Academia but luckily the queue moved pretty fast and we were in in about 30 mins. It’s not a very big place though and you can see the statue of David right in the middle. Huge and in his full naked glory. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside which was a pity and all we can do is to walk around the statue and admired the beauty of it.


Florence is famous for its good quality leather and we bought a few items such as a couple of leather dustbins and some coin purses as well.

The next day we were on to Pisa to see the famous leaning tower. It is now a very commercialized place as there were a lot of shops selling souvenirs along the whole street. Took a few pictures there and walked around the premises. Other than that, nothing much to see around there.

Then, we were on our way to Venice, the water city. We didn’t stay in Venice itself but outside of Venice and it takes about 20 mins of bus ride followed by 40 mins of boat ride to Venice itself. So we didn’t want to go out on that evening upon arrival at the place.





The next morning, we went to Venice itself and started the day with a local guide who brought us around the square and the Basilica. The outside of the Basilica was full of pigeons and they sold pigeon feeds as well. The pigeons were not afraid of the humans at all. We went to a glass blowing factory as well; very skilled masters made the glass blowing seemed so easy. They said red colour is the most expensive colour to make as it required gold to make it. We ended up buying a “Ferrari” horse. The horse was made from murano glass which is famous in Venice. We also bought a few murano glass pendants for gifts.










We spent the rest of the day walking around the city and bought some other gifts. We were on this famous bridge called Rialto Bridge wich was built in just three years, between 1588 and 1591, as a permanent replacement for the boat bridge and three wooden bridges that had spanned the Grand Canal at various times since the 12th Century.

Venice is a very nice place if you can manage to find some quiet waterways. After that, we joined the rest for a gondola ride. We had a person singing on our gondola and another playing the musical instrument. It’s really interesting to pass by the narrow waterways and bridges, the sights were really so amazing at times.

We left Venice and made our way back to Rome. We drove to Assisi and visited the Basilica of St. Frank. It had a really nice view overlooking the vast green land.











After that we head back to Rome. The hotel in Rome was a last minute change and it was really not in a good location. We had so much trouble trying to park the car there. We took the local bus to the city area and walked around a bit more. We tried to see if we can have dinner in the city area but the prices were so high. We decided to see if there were other alternatives near the hotel. We were nearly shoplifted on the bus back luckily hubby noticed something wrong and held on to his money bag. We returned to the Hotel and found that there were not many shops opened. We bought the last pieces of pizza from a shop about to close and they tasted horrible. The next morning, we took the shuttle bus and off to the airport for the last leg of our honeymoon – Switzerland.