Mini Travel Log: Varenna, Italy

Varenna is one of the many beautiful lake towns around Lake Como. It is accessible with a direct train from Milano Centrale to Varenna Esino. A single trip train ticket costs only 6.70 euro and the journey takes about 1 hour 5 minutes. From Varenna itself, you can actually do town hopping using boat services to visit other towns around Lake Como. It is recommended to stay overnight to enjoy the sights and sound of various towns.

On my visit, I made a mistake of planning only a day trip. The first day that I wasted in Milan was actually clear blue sky. And on the second day when I actually visited Varenna, it was a washed out rainy day that almost ruined the whole trip. I made the second mistake of not staying overnight for the third day, which was back to blue sky again. This picturesque lake town is famous for its blue sky and blue water. The photos that I have taken did not do any justice. This town will be on my return list in the future.

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Milano Expo 2015

The World Expo which is being held once every five years is currently ongoing in Milan, Italy. It opened its doors on the 1st of May and runs everyday until 31st October 2015. The theme for this expo is Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life which focuses on quality of food, science and technology behind food production and securing food to eradicate world hunger. However, not all countries follow the theme as some chose to promote their countries like tourism and business. Many middle eastern and oil producing countries also deviate far from the theme like showcasing their model cities and oil fields. In some pavilions, you'd be surprised to find weird objects being displayed like flying car, space age piano and nude arts. So it is a good mix of exhibition apart from just being food. This expo is like bringing the world to your doorstep where you can virtually travel and see many countries in one place.

The Milano Expo 2015 is located at Rho-fieramilano where it is best accessed by the M2 red metro line. While expo tickets can be bought from official online website or onsite, there are many ticket resellers around Milan that sell at cheaper price. I was at the Milano Centrale FS and bought the ticket from a reseller tobacco shop for only 32 euro instead of the official price of 39 euro.

I visited on a weekend so it was overcrowded. I reached at the opening time of 10am and there were already trains of people queuing up to go in. I made a mistake by following this train of people once inside. I had to queue for very long to go into each pavilion. Some queues were up to an hour long wait. From my experience, I would suggest a smart way to beat this queue. Once inside, you should walk all the way to the other end of the expo. The pavilions at the other end should be Oman and Indonesia. You should work your way back up in reverse of the train of people queuing from the start. By this way, you can avoid queuing at all to go inside the pavilions. Just a rough idea of how large the expo is, I visited from 10am until 8pm and still not manage to see all the pavilions.

After my visit, I have mixed reaction about my experience here. People with architecture background should love this expo as it is a display of architecture marvels with so many artistically and futuristic built pavilions. Many pavilions spent a lot of money in high tech projections which are quite nice to watch but I felt they relied too much on technology. In some pavilions, you spend 10-15 minutes walking from one room to another room just watching videos and come out still with no idea what they want to present. Some pavilions still rely on the good old fashioned exhibits and I really find it informative as I can take my time to soak up the information and also admire the things that were on display.

As this expo is themed around food, naturally all the countries try to showcase their local delicacies. But again I think it's a scam job and rip off. Many pavilions provide microwave packed food with lousy taste but exorbitant prices. There are some countries worth mentioning in providing freshly cooked food prepared from onsite kitchens. You should try the ones from Uruguay and Argentina. They really serve good meat and steak with wines. Else you can try the many food trucks selling hotdogs and other titbits especially from Holland or try the Belgian beer and waffles.

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Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre (pronounced as cheenkwe tehrre) is a collective of  5 beautiful villages recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Site that were built on rugged cliffs overlooking the Ligurian Sea, part of  the bigger Mediterranean Sea. These villages started as fishing villages. Over time, people from outer region discovered the beautiful landscape and soon this place became a major tourist point. Starting from the north, the five villages in order are Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.

I started my trip from Milan by train which took slightly over 3 hours. There are many ways to get here by train from Milan, which runs frequently and hourly. Just visit trenitalia.com and input your departure and destination (any five villages) and it will return with multiple train choices. You can buy ticket in advance for super low fares from the website but I didn't know how to create an account. Therefore I bought the standard fare from the train station. You are advised to reach at least 30 minutes earlier because the queue at the ticket counter can be quite long.

The villages are quite small comprising of only few streets from the cliff top down to the sea. One day affair should be sufficient for tourists short on time. However, I recommend a night stay in any of the villages so you can take in the sights and sound. You can buy a local train ticket for just 4 euro that is valid for multiple travels for 8 hours. Then you can start hopping around the villages. Boat rides are available but only during summer period.

If you are the adventurous type, you can hike from the first to the last village. As the cliffs are very rugged, it will be quite strenuous and it will take whole day. Some paths are closed during winter so again, it is best to plan your trip there during summer.

If you find yourself left with too much time after done exploring Cinque Terre, you can consider hopping on the train down south to La Spezia which is just a stop from Riomaggiore. From this town, find a connecting train to Pisa which is just few stops away and you can visit the leaning tower of Pisa.

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Mini Travel Log: Lake Maggiore, Italy

Lake Maggiore is a very charming place just north of Milan in Italy. The Barromean islands and islets on the lake is so beautiful that you will fall in love with this place at first sight. Beautiful small little towns and villages dot the landscape around the lake, surrounded by the beautiful snow mountains of the Alps. I took a boat ride from the small little town Stresa; which is easily accessible by trains from Milan. Unfortunately because of winter period, few of the Barromean islands were closed to tourists for restoration works on the castle and gardens. I could only admire the beauty from far on the boat. I will definitely return again during summer to enjoy the full attractions of this place.

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A Tuscany Summer: Pisa and Florence

I had a terrific summer vacation with wife in the Tuscany region of Italy. Together we walked down the road of World Heritage Sites and reliving the Italian Renaissance. While Rome awes with its magnificent Roman architectures, Tuscany region is the art side of Italy with beautiful landscapes, art masterpieces and intricate architectures.

Passing by the town of Pisa on the train, the small town looked utterly uninteresting. However, the jewel is hidden one train stop away. We got off at Pisa San Rossore station. But we initially thought we alighted at the wrong train station. This station is also uninteresting, in the middle of nowhere with just few rows of normal residential houses. Together with a few lost tourists, we stumbled blindly to search for this leaning tower of Pisa. There was no clear signboards from the station. However my instinct guided everyone else in the right direction. While the leaning tower of Pisa is famous worldwide and big in name, to our surprise it is not that big in real life. This is due to the fact the surrounding area is just a boring residential area with the cathedral square in the middle. The whole cathedral square together with the Pisa tower totally looked out of place and it's the only area flocked with tourists. Like many typical tourists, we tried to push, tilt and blow the tower down while doing trick photography from afar to our hearts' content. This leaning tower had stood the test of time as well as the many "pushes" by tourists. However, do visit it if you have the chance before it finally leans too much and decides to call it a day and then kisses the ground.

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After Pisa, we hopped back on the train to Florence to spend a lovely night in one of the renaissance hotel. Florence is such a beautiful and romantic city. It is also home to many art masterpieces by world renowned artists like Michael Angelo. One day is definitely not enough to fully immerse yourself into the Renaissance era of Italy. My suggestion is spend 3 days in this lovely city and buy the Firenze tourist card so you get free entrance to all the major museums.

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Mini Travel Log: Milan, Italy (2)

The last time I came to Milan, it was in awful cold winter time. The sun set very early and I did not have many photo opportunities. This time, it was a lovely summer week throughout Europe. Even though a short stay and very tired, I did not waste any chance to go out. Unfortunately before I managed to step out, I was distracted for a while to a couple of whiskey shots with colleagues early in the morning! Feeling on a high, I continued to the city. I think taking pictures while drunk opens up a whole new perspective. It was a challenge to hold the heavy camera still and horizontal, and to capture that picture while my world was spinning round and round. At the end of the day looking back at the pictures, it was not too bad at all to have some "drunken" pictures in my collection.

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Related link: Mini Travel Log: Milan, Italy (1)

Summer Gladiators: Rome + Vatican + Venice

It was very unfortunate to arrive into Rome during their national strike day. It was a total chaos. Subways and many other public transportation were crippled. The country is already on the brink of bankruptcy after Greece, and yet the people still want to protest when their Government cuts the benefit spending; further crippling the economy. My honeymoon holiday was nearly ruined as I had such a hard time trying to find alternative ways to get into the main train station. Hours and hours passed with no trains in sight. By the time I reached the main station, I had to run for my life to catch the connecting train to Venice.

Once my wife and I reached the beautiful Venice, all our worries were gone as we were charmed by the beauty of this water city. Forget Paris, as Venice is voted as one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in Europe by The New York Times and Times Online. This water city is said to be sinking due to the rising water level. So do mark it in your future honeymoon itinerary before it goes underwater. Spend your most romantic moments in the gondola cruising down the canals with the gondolier singing "O Sole Mio".

Venice

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Back to the capital Rome, we had the feel of being a Gladiator. This was the center of the great Roman Empire. This city is filled with ancient Roman architectures and ruins to explore. We climbed hills, beat the heat and braved the traffic, just to squeeze every available minute to explore many places as possible. Not bad for a modern day Gladiators eh? =D

In this city also lies another city, The Vatican. This special little city is actually a country itself by definition. It has its own government headed by the Pope. It also has its own security forces, the charming Swiss Guards. Yup you heard it right girls. They are charming Swiss nationals, young age between 19-30 and well built. Go and grab your dream guy now. Fancy being an Italian citizen? Then you can if you're holy enough to be appointed to work in the Vatican. You'll be granted Vatican citizenship. Once your terms of work ends, you'll automatically get the Italian citizenship if you have renounced your original country citizenship while inside the Vatican.

Rome + Vatican

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Mini Travel Log: Milan, Italy

I landed on a cold and snowy morning in Milan. While the snowstorm wrecked havoc across Europe, luckily it only snowed very little here. Devil loves this place. Why, because this is the fashion center for Gucci, Prada, LV and many more. You name it, they have it all here. And on the last weekend of Christmas shopping, the crowd is just crazy. It is a very unusual sight to see such a huge crowd shopping past 6pm in Europe. I was also seduced into the boutiques and didn't have time to take pictures. Oh, how not to be seduced on my next visit to Milan. Can anyone offer advice?

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