A less expensive, friendlier but also hmm.. less cleaner but nevertheless beautiful city as well..
This is me and our driver..taken at mid stop at Swiz..
Less expensive lunch in Italy
I.T.A.L.Y
Milan
1 nite stay over at Grand Hotel Brun (my rating: 8/10)
Highlights:
Gothic Duomo, Victor Emmanuelle II Galleria, La Scala Opera House
This is the only place in Italy I got enough time to shop, the time in Italy were too short, too many visitings to go, too little time to shop..hee
But the local guys outside the Gothic Duomo is scary, tour leader had warned us. Coz this is an tourist spot, alot of tourists take pics here, the guy will juz place some seeds on your hands, ask u to feed the birds and take nice pics. price of the seeds, think we dun want to know. Indeed when we were taking pics, a guy came to me, i said don wan, then he held on to my wrist and wanna pour seeds on my palm, I flipped the other way, it drop to the ground, i was quite afraid. Dare not to take too many pics over there. phew..
Venice
1 nite stay over at Hotel Antony (my rating: 8/10)
Highlights:
St Mark's Square, St Mark;s Basilica, Bridge of Sighs, Doges Palace, Glass blowing demonstration
Optional Tour:
Gondola Serenade (30 eu) -- Boring and smelly
Pisa
Highlights:
Leaning Tower of Pisa, Duomo, Baptistery
Florence
1 nite stay over at Art Hotel Museo (my rating: 7/10)
Highlights:
Sanata Maria del Firoe Catheral, Ponte Vechio, Uffizzi Gallery, Door of Paradise, Piazza Signoria
Rome
1 nite stay over at Holiday Inn Rome West (my rating: 6/10)
Hightlights:
Colosseum, Trevi fountain, Vatican City, Piazza Venezia Roman Forum
Optional Tour:
Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel (35 eu) - Awesome! Great works by Michelangolo and folks
Verdict:
Great trip! Average temperature in the city was ~10degC, -9degC in the snow mountains in Swiz. And of coz, burnt a big hole after we returned, but never will regret. In total, we spent about S$30K. phew... next 5years, the furthest trip shall be Johor Bahru only. LOL.
Frens are asking which country I like best. Well, I am quite receptive as long as the living condition is acceptable, my views will be as follows.
Paris:
Great place to shop, a one-time place. Juz like sgp. Beautiful sculptures everywhere, see until i blur.. haa. LV there is roughly 30% cheaper (after VAT tax)compared to Sgp, did not do too much studies on Gucci, but a rough guage is also about 20% cheaper.
VAT tax in Paris is 12%. Claim back in credit card is 10%, with cash it's 8%.
Impression of French folks, beautiful but seems rather arrogant.
Paradise for shoppers definitely!
Swiz:
Lovely! Scenic! Fairytale! While I was browsing my photos, I still couldnt believe I was there. The sceneries are just like postcard! No words can describe the magnificence. For Shopping, it would be the watches and the chocolate! We compared, ROlex watches, it's actually a few hundreds more expensive than Sgp's (even after tax rebate). But after traveling 12hrs, aiya, juz buy it la! That was our mentality..hee ..Anyway, Hubby bought one for himself not me, I couldnt afford. hee
A few hundred dollars watch is good enough for me. Unless I strike the 10millions TOTO tonite..Haa
Italy:
Lovely Catheral, paintings, food! The Italians are general friendlier i feel. The hygiene condition is not as good, graffiti everywhere. "Tiramisu" everywhere (Dog's poo) haa..Superb scenie too. The Italian brands are cheaper here of coz, but I have compared, LV was only about 5% more than France's.
Food:
EXPENSIVE! These are the places where I found how dear and true my mother's saying were. "Don't waste your food, else thunder will strike you" Haa .. Why? Coz the food are so expensive over there.
A simple Mac meal cost $8+ eu, coffee $2+ eu. A simple "foodcourt meal" for both cost $40eu.. nearly cough blood. To add on, the portion wasnt huge, it's same as in Sgp, though the european could look bigger in size.
Group members:
A big group of 38 folks in our group. But they were all terrific people :) Had so much fun with them. there are only 2 honeymoon couples, everyone thought we are one too, but we always proudly we already have a cute lil boy of 2years lo! hehee even showed them photos of him. Mostly are there with large group of family members, 7, 8 of them. Let me try remembering them, we exchange contacts, likely to keep in touch :)
Me and Hubby - 2
Evelyn & Darrel - 2 (Honeymoon couple)
Eefang & Neo - 2 (Honeymoon couple, wed in Nov)
Sansan & fren - 2 (Travel duo)
Shanghai uncle & wife - 2
Uncle Francis & Aunty Lucy - 2 (The rich Ferrari/lamborgini old couple)
Uncle Edwin & Aunty - 2 (The funny uncle "bodyguard" with 3 grown up sons)
Janice & Family - 3 (Long Lash Gal + parents)
Anthony, kelly & family - 4
Tay family - 4 (Uncle Simon & wife with 2 adorable dotters, Louise 18 & Joey 16)
Yap family - 6 (Da yi + san yi + Alvinson & gf + Adams + Mr Yap)
Shopper family - 7 (Wujintian boss w Wife and talkative Linus 12, elder son 28 & gf , Aunty & Cousin Carmen the tissue gal)
Total 38 .. Haa i can remember all.
And not forgetting our wonderful tour leader, Laurence Lim.
We are planning to go house visitg someday, but of coz not the entire big team.Haa
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