The fashion city @ Milan 26~28.7.2013

Shopping! Shopping ! the first thought of Milan is a city of fashion, designer labels. Well, here we come, and see if it holds the true.

We flew by Ryannair , paid a total air fare of GBP 166 to Milan Bergama airport. This is a low cost carrier airport which takes about 50 minutes by airport coach to central area. We got into Terravision for a return trip of Euro9 per person.

The weather on the day we arrived was incredibly hot, a real summer compared to UK. I could feel the heat upon stepping out the airport entrance. We stood under the sun waiting for the coach, but no where in sign. It was delayed by half an hour. I was hoping to hide somewhwere with full blast air-conditioner as soon as possible. The same feel i had few months back when i was back to Singapore & Malaysia. The coach journey was comfortable though.

Less an hour, the coach stopped in front of the Palazzo delle Poste building, where the central railway station is located. The location was just fantastic as our hotel-Starhotel E.C.H.O was just two streets behind. I was very pleased with Starhotel E.C.H.O. The hotel is of eco friendly and of contemporary design. The receptionist we met was polite, spoke English and provided us with a local city map with highlights on major shopping streets. Our room was on the 5th floor, facing the main road. But not an issue for us as we could not hear any noise at all. The room and bathroom were very nicely decorated and with quality fixtures. Both were amazingly clean, which i could say the best housekeeping amongst all the trips i went. I do hope they could maintain as such quality standard in every room. The hotel had even provided a pair of slipper, which i hardly get in European hotel. The breakfast selection was what we expected in most European hotels, but the croissant was nice. The only disadvantage about this hotel was there was no wifi in certain room. We stayed in superior room. Even if we access the lobby wifi, there was a time limit of 30 minutes per user. The high street fashion shopping street corso bueno aires is just few streets behind the hotel, so we walked around the nearby area after cheking in and offloading our luggages. Oh, i had my first scoop of Pistacchio flavour gelato on my very first day. It melted so fast and i need to quickly finish it off before getting my hand messy.

 

At around dinner time, we just walked into one Italian restaurant "Osteria Del Lazzaretto". There were a few restaurants around our hotel, but we came into this one because we have thought "Osteria' means family run business, so the food should be authentic italian home cooking style. Yes, we were not wrong 100%, it was family run, but by Chinese. Surprise? Shock? well , not to be rude to just walk away, we decided to give it a try. The lady was also very friendly. We ordered Lobster linguini, Vongole spagheti , and Grilled seafood for sharing. The food did not disappoint us given the price. I had a slice of Tiramisu to complete my meal. Total bill came out as EURO 40.50.

 

The next day, rise and shine. We had our breakfast at the eco friendly setting breakfast bar. Croissant was nice, and coffee was not too bad either. Straight after breakfast, we headed off to the main station which was just opposite to begin our shopping. At the metro station, we had our first experience with gypsy women. We saw two gypsy ladies at both side of the ticket machines, appearing helping commuters to purchase tickets. She offered help to us as well. But she said the machine can only input notes and not exact token. This was weird, as we did not see any "out of order" sign at all. We hesitated, and meanwhile she was busy coerced another couples to buy tickets and put in the notes. We then realised how tricky they are. They will pickpocketed the changes and returned little coins , and they behaved very aggressive and loud, which I believe no one will want to continue challenge them. We quickly moved to another ticket machines, pressed the number of tickets we need, put in exact coin, collected the tickets and moved on. I was guarding my handbag at all times, as i had heard a lot of people bad encounters with them. We were just puzzled why the metro station did not do anything to stop them from cheating tourists. 

Our first stop was the fashion district-quadrilatero della moda (‘quadrilateral of fashion’), or Via Montenapoleone fashion district,, where we alighted at Montenapolene. The sides of the quadrilateral, located to the south of the arches of Porta Nuova, are formed by Via Montenapoleone (SW), Via Manzoni (NW), Via della Spiga (NE), and Corso Venezia (SE); this last meets Via della Spiga at Piazza San Babila.

 

Streets inside this area include Via Borgospesso, Via Santo Spirito, Via Gesù, Via Sant'Andrea, and Via Bagutta. The zone extends in practice also to the north-west of Via Manzoni with Via Pisoni, and to the south and west of Via Montenapoleone with Corso Giacomo Matteotti, Piazza Meda, Via San Pietro all'Orto, and Via Verri. There are indeed lots of fashion and designer boutiques for us to explore as long as our feet can bring us. I came to Milan with only an aim to take a look of this city, and to get a Prada bag, so we didnt spend too much time visiting all the shops, just randomly to a few shops selling leather shoes. I did find the price not cheap either.

We stopped for a short coffee break at Piazza del Duomo. Dear loved the iced coffee, but the taste was too strong for my liking. After a short break, we continued walking along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, heading towards the Cathedral and Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele. Along the way, we saw Africans everywhere trying to sell wristbands. We did not pay much attention at first until one approached us trying to be friendly, and forcing my dear to "accept" the wristband from him, claiming it brought good luck. We knew it wasn't free, and annoyed by their harassment. While my hubby tried to walk away,  i was then pestered by another one who already tied the wristband around me without me realizing at all . I tore it off and threw back at him, and quickly looked for my dear, and saw one of them kept pestering him, and he already had one on his wrist, which we had a hard time ripping it off. I know they were earning money, but if they had not been so aggressive or asked for money in another way, we will definitely pity them, and buy something from them. But at moment, we were just pissed. We donated some money to a few street performancer which I think deserve much more than them.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is one of the world's oldest shopping malls, it was just next to the magnificent Milan cathedral. Walking through it should never forget to look up for its extravagant 19th century glass -topped and Dome . It houses few designer brands, such as Prada, LV, Gucci. I headed to Prada and got myself a cameo color, classic shaped, elegant looking leather tote bag with detachable shoulder strap at Euro1200 (equivalent to SGD2070, SG retail price at SGD2700). I was pretty happy with the bag, except that I was not eligible for the VAT refund, or else I could have saved another 10-12%.

After my big purchase, we randomly picked a restaurant near the cathedral for our lunch before exploring further around the areas, including the Sforza Castle . The weather was too hot, and we had to stop for refreshments. Not really an enjoyable experience to walk under the sun for hours.

We had our last night's dinner at Mama Rose. Fanstastic dinner with good service at around Euro60 including tips. 

 

 

We woke up at 5:45am the next day morning at had our breakfast at 7am before catching the 7:40 airport coach to Bergamo airport. We reached home around noon time, and we were still able to do our grocery shopping and unpacking.

Weekend Gateway to Whitby 08.06.2013

Whitby, a seaside town on the North Yorkshire coastline, which took about 2 1/2 hours drive from Nottingham. Unique for its sights and atmosphere, and one of the best places to visit during the summer.

The day did not start off bright and sunny, it was windy, cloudy but lucky it was pretty warm. Our first destination was to drive directly to a good rating seaside cafe "Sandside cafe" in Sandsend. I have heard good review of this from the tripadvisor, and decided this place for our lunch.

We took a breezy walk from the carpark along the coastline to the cafe. We entered seeing the place was almost full with people, and dog lovers had brought their dogs with them. As we rarely get warm days in UK, and this day was exceptionally good except for the cloudiness & seabreeze, we decided to dine at the outdoor extension with views of the ocean. We ordered the cafe signature dish - Seafood platter which served with fresh crab meat, smoked salmon and prawn on thick toast, and fresh crabmeat sandwich. The fresh crab meat was not to my liking, but dear liked the freshness. The coffee was not really fantastic. I went on to try the Yorkshire lemon curt tart (£2) , it did not turn out nice as well. Well, the overall atmosphere dining beside the seaside should compromise for these. I did enjoy.

A short drive of 10 mintues to Whitby town center shortly after lunch. We were attractd by this lovely seaside port town by first sight. The town retains much of its 18th century character, narrow cobbled streets, beautiful harbour. The city center is dominated by the ruins of Whitby Abbey which takes 199 steps to reach the top at the East cliff. These sights were amazing. No doubt the St Mary's churchyard setting which next to the Whitby Abbey provided the inspiration for classic novel "Dracula" written by Bram Stoker. Other famous inhabitant include the sea explorer-Captain James Cook, this was the town he mastered his seamanship.

 

 

The city center is divided into the East (Old Town) & West (New town), linking each side with a new electronically operated "swing bridge" in 1909 worked on the principle of swing leafts instead of drawbridge flaps.

Listen for the bell being rung to signify that the swing bridge is about to open to allow vessels to pass upstream. The Westside are where all the major shopping, cafes &restaurants, visitors center and supermarkets were situated. It also only takes a little walk to the lighthouse which stood at the end of the pier. During evening , the sun had shone, and it made the picturesque town, ports, quayside even much more beautiful.

 

The Eastside started with quirky shops, then 199 steps to reach the Church of St Mary's churh and the ruins of Whitby Abbey. I had heard good things about fish & chips in Whitby so I had eventually had a try in one of the take away shop -"Fish & Chips". There were many fish shops, we went to Mister Chips. We ordered small haddock with fries at £4.20 to share with. It really tasted good with its crispy batter and fresh fish flesh, accompanied by fries.

The day spent was so relaxing and lovely. We ended our day with cups of coffee at one of the cafe along the quayside. The coffee was nice, and view was fantastic.

xPerience Edinburgh

On June's summer month, we were heading North of UK to Scotland for a 3D2N short trip.. Scotland is well known for its scenic highlands, landscaping. Due to time constraints, we were only visiting the Capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, and the Ruin of Dunnottar castle at Stonehaven harbour.

It took 6 hours drive from Nottingham to Edinburgh. While reaching Edinburgh, we were greeted with downpour. It was really a bad day to start with.

We checked in at Salisbury Hotel as it offered free on-site parking, and yet accessible with 20 mins walk to the main attractions like Royal Mile (Old Town) , alternative we could take a bus from the main street. I was not impressed with the room decoration as it was dated, and chipped wall in the shower room. I did not feel comfortable overall. However , the hotel staff was friendly, and there are free wifi, so these two points plus the free parking would make up for the room's shortcoming.

After unloading our luggage, we took a slow walk down to city center-The Royal Mile (old town), Princes Street (which is the main shopping street). As it was still raining, we were not in really good spirit to hang around. So after a quick bite at the Patisserie for coffee and cake, we walked back to our hotel. We had our first night's dinner at the basement's cafe- Cafe Cassis. The food was delicious and of good quality.

Day 2,Again, its another rainy day. Our holidays mood really being turned off by the Uk weather. We walked down to the main road, and took a bus down to Waverly station for the Edinburgh hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus tour.

We booked the 24 hours' grand ticket at £16 per adult, which covers 5 routes- But we could never able to complete 5 routes even without getting off as the traffic in Edinburgh was quite bad, and the last bus was at 4:00pm. Our first stop was the Royal Yacht Britannia, the former floating residence of the queen and the Royal family. With mere purchase of £11.75 entrance ticket, you can experience what the life would be on board with audio tour of 5 decks. It includes the engine room, the laundry room, cabin crew room, sick bay, drawing room, state dining room, queen's office,  queen's bedroom, the honeymoon room which Prince Charles and Princess Diana used to stay during their sea cruise honeymoon. The visit was unusual and interesting, it is definitely value for money.

 

The next stop we alighted at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is the Queen's residence in Scotland. Around the corner of the main road, we can see the Scottish Parliament House.

 

Palace of Holyroodhouse







Scottish Parliament House

After a glimpse of the Palace from the outside, we hopped on the bus and headed back to the main station to walk around the city center. We should have visited the Edinburgh Castle, but by the time we reached it was already 3pm, and so we have decided to take a few pictures of the exterior, and then moved on exploring other nearby areas such as the Royal mile (old town), princes street. The view of Edinburgh castle from the Princes garden was magnificent despite misty rainy weather.

Edinburgh castle





Along Princes Street-Jenners is the departmental store

As rain continued and we need to seek shelter, We decided to go for early dinner at the famous "The mussel Inn". We read good comments about this restaurant from dear's colleague , and also the traveller's guide book recommendation. We were lucky to be early, as without making reservation, we would not be able to get a table during dinner hours. We ordered smoked salmon and seafood chowder as starter, the well-known half pot of mussels and seafood platter as main course, followed by cheesecake as dessert. The food was really deserve a good thumbs up.



Day 3, which was the finally day. Rise and shine. It was a bright sunny day. We were really happy, as we were to visit the last destination in Edinburgh-Calton hill for panaroma view of the city. The monument was built intended to replicate the Arthen Parthenon and to honour Scotland's dead in the Napoleonic wars.But funds went dry and left uncompleted.



Opposite view of Salisbury crags, Arthur's seat



After spending about an hour in Calton hill for the breathtaking view of the city center, we carried on our journey to "The ruin of Dunnottar Castle". It was about 180km from Edinburgh, which requires at least 2 hours drive north to Stonehaven.

At around 2pm , we reached the Castle. There was a small stone path leading to the castle. It took some walking down the cliffside and then further up to the castle, and the sea breeze was quite strong. But the view was amazing, and it does worth the additional two hours drive.




View of Dunnottar castle-the two tower house

 

"Whigs Vault"-This dark chamber was used as a prison in 1685 for 122 men and 45 women. Some escaped and fell to death, some died of starvation, disease. A place of torturing and suffering

Inside the "Whigs vault"-the dark tiny room used as prision



Remains of barracks and chapel



The site was now a ruin. There was really nothing much to see, but the view was fantastic. This place was quiet, breezy, and I believe it would be quite spooky at night. After walking around the ruins for about 1 hour, and quick bite of the take away pie as lunch, we headed back home. There was about 7 1/2 hours to reach home.

Overall, our first long highland drive journey was great, and we are looking forward to visit all other beautiful highlands & isles within Scotland. Scotland experiences more rains and coldness than southern part of UK, so the next visit would probably be another Summer.