Pisa

“Traveling tends to magnify all human emotions.” – Peter Hoeg About 3 hours bus ride from Rome is a place that has one of the most impressive squares in the world… Pisa, located in the Italian region of Tuscany. Our coach took us to a parking lot where we took a fun ride on a…

Churches in Rome

Some ruins of ancient times are much more beautiful than the best buildings of modern eras! — Mehmet Murat Ildan Rome has around 900 churches so it is really the best place in the world to visit some of these wonderful churches. Aside from the Papal Basilica of St Peter, here is a small church…

Rome on a Rainy Day

“It does not usually rain in Rome, which makes a wet day somewhat of a special occasion.” – unknown While planning on this trip, we didn’t even have a clue that these two iconic Roman buildings, the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, are just standing quite near each other. The first time we found…

Vatican City

“Church is who we are not where we go.” Author unknown Vatican City is the world’s smallest fully independent nation-state. It is home of the Pope and is known for the Sistine Chapel, the St Peter’s Basilica, the St Peter’s Square and the Vatican Museum. We were dropped off by our tour bus outside the…

Rome at Night

“Italy will never be a normal country, because Italy is Italy. If we were a normal country, we wouldn’t have Rome. We wouldn’t have Florence. We wouldn’t have the marvel that is Venice.” – Matteo Renzi, Prime Minister of Italy… __________________________________🚞🚎🚗🚃🛫🚠 Travelling to Rome when it was nearly night time gave it a feeling of…

Assisi

”A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.” – Francis of Assisi __________________________________🚞🚎🚗🚃🛫🚠 Travelling from Burano to Assisi, the scenery was simply breathtaking. Glad we were awake the whole time to experience it all. Please click image to enlarge. __________________________________🚞🚎🚗🚃🛫🚠 Assisi is a small town in Central Umbria. It is a UNESCO Heritage…

Colourful Burano

“I am a believer that colors affects people’s moods.” – Lily Pulitzer __________________________________🚞🚎🚗🚃🛫🚠 On the Road from Venice to Burano… Burano is just a day trip away from Venice on a vaporetto. It takes about half an hour travelling time between the two islands. This is what can be seen along the way. Please click…

Gondola Ride…

“Venice never quite seems real, but rather an ornate film set suspended on the water.” – unknown You can never travel to Venice and not go on a gondola ride. It may be very “touristy” or maybe too expensive…but a gondola ride is quintessential to Venice. Some people in our tour group didn’t want to…

Venice …Breathtaking by Day

“It’s so easy for me to get caught up in the feeling of a city like Venice, where everything is just beautiful colour and gorgeous buildings that are so peaceful. You can roam around and get lost in the labyrinth.” – Nanette Lepore Oh Venice… who wouldn’t fall in love with you! It is a…

Venice … Magnificent at Night

“In the glare of the day, there is little poetry about Venice, but under the charitable moon, her stained palaces are white again.” – Mark Twain We had a full day in Verona… so some decided to just stay in their hotels to rest. But the day wasn’t over yet for those who opted for…

A Glimpse of Verona

With the limited time that we had, it was a surprise that we were even able to see quite a bit of Verona First thing that we saw as we alighted from our coach was the Resurrecturis, a beautiful neoclassical architecture. Later on did I find out that this was the main entrance to the…

The Serenity of Lake Lugano

“Stay close to the serenity of a lake to meet your own peace of mind.” – Munia Khan __________________________________🚞🚎🚗🚃🛫🚠 It was very early and we were on our way to Lugano. Such refreshing scenery to start the day. Please click image to enlarge. __________________________________🚞🚎🚗🚃🛫🚠 Lugano, Switzerland is also called “Monte Carlo of Switzerland” because of…

Mt Titlis

”The snow is sparkling like a million little suns.” – Lama Willa __________________________________🚞🚎🚗🚃🛫🚠 Back on the road … Lucerne is so close to the Swiss Alps (about 30 minutes or so) so it’s not surprising that the tour passed by Mount Titlis, which is the highest mountain in central Switzerland.Even just seeing the view from…

Next Stop-Rhineland…Heidelberg

Start of the Day This was a usual day. We woke up at 6:30, breakfast at 7:15 then placed our luggage in front of our room door. We were talking to the other people from our tour when all of a sudden there was commotion. 2 boys from our tour group plus the driver of…

First Stop…Netherlands

“Think of the beauty that is still left all around you and be happy.” – Anne Frank But …going with a group with about 20 or more individuals isn’t easy … there will always be clash of characters as you will learn later on in this blog. First stop over is in The Hague, Netherlands….

Get On that Ferry…

“Age is no barrier when it comes to travel…” Leaving London was a bit sad because there were still so many things that we missed on doing. But to continue on… we were so excited to hop on that ferry to go on our very first ever European tour. Please click image to enlarge. Little…

London – Day 2

“In London, everyone is different, and that means anyone can fit in.” – Paddington Bear Day two and feeling refreshed after a restful sleep. From the Hammersmith Station we took the Piccadilly Line to Leicester Square Station. We didnt take this London Sightseeing Bus and we didn’t go to the casino…just some photo op. And…

Walking the Streets of London

“Jobs fill your pockets, adventures fill your soul.” After a gruelling flight from Melbourne to Manila then an overnight stay there, followed by a 14 hour direct flight from Manila to Heathrow then about an hour train ride from Heathrow, Jack and I arrived in Hammersmith Station, London at about 9 pm. Oh gosh, we…

Our first grand European Holiday

“Work. Save. Travel. Repeat.” I come from humble beginnings so going on overseas holidays is not a regular thing for me. So my life is exactly just that quote above. After my Asian travel in 2012, going on a big European tour took a lot of determination and a lot of savings on our part….