Back track Greece Athens,Ios,Santorini

We started out in Athens. Sad to say,i had expected much more from this "magical greek goddess" place.

But it seems slightly on the dirty side.

No doubt,the acropolis is beautiful but not as breathtaking as i had thought.

My fault with the high expectations i guess.

We paid 12€ for this ticket,it entitled us to visit 6 sites,that is if you an find them all.

We did 4 and that was all we could find. You have 2days to make full use of the tkts :)

This was our Hotel's lift. Our FIRST european lift where we had to open the door only when it reached and there was another door inside.

I have been to europe before but nvr used these old school lifts before! We had a tough time figuring them out.

I also met a grp of PRC girls who got pickpocketed on e train. Said they didnt know anything,only when they got off,she realised her bag was open and her wallet was missing!

Our guards have been up since then. Just thankful we didnt have a first hand experience.

From Athens,we left our hugeass backpacks in e hotel for 6days and headed to Ios Island. 

It was a 5 hr cruise ride.

The cruise had 2 restaurants,an Archade and more but it was THE WORST cryise ive been due to my motion sickness.

Funny how all my year in star cruise never caused a problem but thisss was madness.

I never felt so sick in my life. 

Finally we reached Ios and there to welcome us was the host of Galini Pensions and his adorable son at the port.

 The port at Ios.

ios is known for being a party island but then we were there off peak therefore not much parties,at least none that we heard of!

We stayed near e port and away from e village where the parties START at 3am!

Lol.. 

The 800steps from e port to the village was a killer.

I had nvr been so exhausted in my life!

But at e village there was a church panaroma.

Omgosh. It was so beautiful.

We also climbed up the opposite mountain to catch the sunset. <3

Next up we made our way to Santorini.

Santorini is not all whitewashed houses on cliffs but much more.

We stayed at e bottom,Kamari beach where its famous black sand was.

Our hotel was a crazy track uphill but had amazing views!

Sadly the 3nights we were there,the sunrise couldnt be seen.

We took a tour which brought us to a volcano and a area for springs n swimming.

We then hiked up to Oia,i chose to take a donkey.

That bloody donkey almost killed me!

Lol

It insisted to take over e lead donkey who tried to kick it once the first time and bite it e second time. -.-

And then it slipped.

Stupid donkey.

Nvr in my life again.

After that we climbed the ancient Thira which was... Another mad climb but e view was soo awesome as well!

I found my Atlanis bookstore!

The sunset from e hotel..

This was also my first meeting with my beloved, Mojito icecream!

A tired selfie w the rainbow just before it got dark. Weird no?

So moving back to Athens,i took more motion sickness meds and stayed at the back of the cruise.

It was a much more tolerable rude back!

Slept for one night and off we went,trained to Meteora.

^^

Backtrack Dubai

After Pakistan,we flew straight to Dubai.

This country,i did not enjoy. But maybe it was because it was similar to SG and we had JUST left home?

Only diff was the scorching heat!

We stayed at a friend's place and met her african "mama" who was so adorable.

Had an awesome steamboat there which was delish no matter how i hate lamb,it was GOOOOD!

We also had dinner at hardrock which was..wasnt good but still.

jac,an singaporean emirates stewardess,drove us up to Javer Hafeet (not sure of e spelling,but its a hill) where it was even hotter but views were good.

We did e desert safari which was my fav!

Rode a camel,saw the sun set,the prettiest so far and watched stars at night. 

Saying goodbye to Dubai wasnt sad at all,in fact i couldnt wait!

But at e DXB airport,the checkin lady INISISTED we have an exit tkt outta greece which we didnt have! 

So we had to rush for internet and to book a flight outta greece within an hour!

But we did it~ 

Swiss Alps

Switzerland has been a good break from Greece and Italy.

Despite the smokers here,the air really is fresh. But it could be psychological. ^^ 

We chose to stay in Bern as it was closer to Interlaken,a place my L had on her list. So Milano-Bern-Innsbruck was the plan.

The first two days in Bern was boring. The city is so small,we could walk anywhere and they even provided free transport for travelers. 

The hostel was good,clean and with comfy beds. Sadly,we had to make our own sheets -.- which is lame. But do-able.

The real fun if switzerland started on day 3 where we trained to Interlaken then to Lautenbrunnen then to Klein to head up to JungFrauJoch.

The view in Lautenbrunnen is unbelievable i actually teared. Probably too much beauty for a small city girl.

We took many head-out-the-train shots with e alps in e bg and we finally made ot to the highest train station in Europe.

It was similar to Germany's Zugspitz but not as big or fun. This was some scary shit with slippery entrances and exits. -.-

Made friends w another korean who helped us take pics and vice versa.

On e train back,we sat opp a singaporean couple! They were super nice. Talked and talked til we reached Klein and headed to Grindelwald! This was a place i wanted to go to for the name soley. (Potter fan) but it turned out slightly disappointing.

Maybe Lautenbrunnen was too amazing. 

From Grindelwald w trained back to Interlaken w brokebackcowboy,the new korean friend and had dinner at hooters

tgt.

The sunset,though behind us,reflected a wonderful pink onto the alps infront of us. *my heart.

It was 9.30pm by the time we headed to e Interlaken west train station to go back to Bern (1hr journey) 10pm was e train,we hopped on and after e doors closed,we realised we were on e wrong train,it was bringing us back to Interlaken OST where we started out! So the station master was like, get off at OST and run as fast as u can for the opp platform train as THAT is going to Bern. If we missed that,it was another 1hr wait for the next train.

Boy.. Did we run! We had to run down a flight and run up another. Huffing and puffing by the time we reached the train,thank god we made it.

Once we boarded,guess who we saw sitting there facing us? The singaporean couple! But they goy off at Interlaken west.

:)

Fate as they call it.

We got back to e hotel at about 11 and knocked out. 

Yesterday,we had a free day so we took a tram and headed to Wabern,a small suburb of the bern city. We didnt expect anything but were rewarded by astounding views of the alps and the city.

It was gorgeous! 

Today,we leave Bern for Innsbruck in a 6hr busride.

God,pls let this be a smooth one.

Switzerland.

Many people's bucket list: Swiss Alps.

Now i get it.

Today we spent sgd500 to go to the top of europe in switzerland. JungFrauJoch via train.

We had to change 4 trains.

Bern-interlaken- lauterbrunnen-klein-jungfrau-klein-grindelwald-interlaken-bern Boyy was it a long trip.

The best place: Lauterbrunnen.

The beauty of a magneficent waterfall with the backdrop of the swiss alps were too much for me to handle.

I cried. Weird but i did.

It was too overwhelming 

It was so amazing.

At e top if jungfrau,the wind was blowing and it was scary shit.

Maybe seeing others scared of e slippery floor caused my fear to heighten as well.

We met a friend,sean a korean american at e top of it and even explored grindelwand and dined at interlaken together. 

We also met a singaporean couple who were so kind and it was fate that we met them again on e train back to bern!

All in all,it was an awesome day.

And in thankful for it.

Shopping prada outlet in Florence

Ok, there are many reviews and experiences on how it is done but in bits of poeces here and there.

So here is my full experience.

I knew i wanted a prada/miumiu/balenciaga and from reviews,Space was THE place to go (no balenciago though)

And i had decided that i would go to Space at Montevarchi T first and if there was nothing,i would do The Mall.

So i was advised to take the FIRST train out to be the first few in line to get into e shopping mall which opens officially at 10:30am.

Being a kiasu singaporean,i took e train at 8am from Florence towards montevarchi terranuova. I stress this as other reviews only say montevarchi and when an additional terranuova appears on the train selection list,i panicked. 

We reached at 9am and right outside the station there is a taxi stand,we met another japanese couple there and we waited about 10mins before a minivan labelled taxi drove our way. 4euros per pax since there were 4 of us. Otherwise,12euros for e trip.

I wouldnt recommend Luca if you had a choice as he was pure rude to us.

But if there isnt anyone else. Just hop on.

No way we could have walked to e outlet mall or taken a bus. About 15mins drive to some ulu area and there it was SPACE.

When we alighted at 9:10am,there were already 5 PRCs infront of us. We had to wait outside e perimeter of the building.

In chinese,these girls (early 20s) are already boasting about how they were gonna buy at least 15bags and about 20wallets each. And how they are gonna run in and just grab everything in sight and then decide later.

My friends, nothing to fear. The store is too big to let these annoying people affect you.

At 9:30, the security opened the metal gates so we could walk in and take a Q number for the payment of the bags later on. The number really isnt tt much for e Q as space allows e numbers 1-200 in at a time. (There were barely 100 ppl when the doors were later opened at 10:30.)

So after taking our numbers (13&14) as the PRCs took about 2/3 numbers each (which doesnt make sense as there wasnt a cap to how much u can buy)

We headed to e cafe to sit and have a drink while slowly the queue formed right outside e doors. We joined e back of e line even though we were first few at about 10:25. 

It really makes no difference -take it from e kiasu singaporean-

I went straight for e bags to the right of the outlet.

The outlet's layout is simple.

Walk in,u see men/small leather goods. Men stuff to the left, right for women.

Prada Wallets-> prada bags -> miumiu -> shoes -> clothes.

Its a simple layout and fool proof,no hidden areas or second floor.

I fell in love w my miumiu shopping bag the second i saw it. Picked it up touched smelled carried and asked. Last piece! Ok,im taking it. The sales assistant took my q number and e bag was reaerved and off e shelf.

With e main thing accomplished i could take my leisurely time to start from e beginning. We tried on pants and prada down jackets (a steal but i didnt need it)

The most popular area had to be e prada wallets. About 10-15 ppl crowding each table filled w colorful wallets. 

Just looking at them made me so happy! Like looking at candy.

A Little trick to share:

i found a sling in black which i liked going for 550euros. The design came in white,black,red and pink. I torned between e black and e white, so the sales assistant whispered that e white was only 440 euros due to a small defect (which no one could find). Well THAT 100euros made a huge difference. But then white needed maintainence and i wasnt one who could keep up. It would be grey in a month!

So the trick is,at e price tag,there are numbers. If there is a number 3 the price of e item is lower than e actual cost shown. So i went looking and saw that e gorgeous pink also had a 3. Even though i was between black and white for vainess. I decided e pink was the best choice for my pocket and my heart.

Thats 200sgd difference for something i still have not found on my pink sling.

I was tempted to buy at least 2 more items,a wallet and another pretty miumiu sling but as i am travelling and will continue to travel the next few months,i decided against it. The staff were all very patient and very sweet,even to us asians. I had gone with some expectations of being snubbed like in Paris. But this was nowhere near that.

Its heaven. I dun follow e newest designs that much so im not sure of the seasons. But all e items look quite classic to me and as long as it looks good on you/with you,who cares what season?!

Obviously,The Mall was out of the way and out of my pocket by e end of it. I couldnt stop giggling over my money spent. The joys of ur hard earned money evolving into a bag you love. Hahah 

The taxi out was tricky,it would be good to pre book when he first drops you off. We were lucky that another taxi came to us as the guy we came with was etirely booked up.

Give yourself.. 3hrs? I did mine by 1.30pm and im usually a fast shopper. But when u're surrounded by pretty things and discounts.. One tends to be slower.

So we got to e train station and booked our train tkts back to Florence and called it a day.

Prices are sensitive but what i can say is both my bags are half the original price! ^^

Next up,tax refund. Most of you won't have an issue as it can easily be done at e airport,but as i had to train to italy, it was a hella difficult and worrisome.

The word was that trains from italy to switzerland hardly has any custom officers to check ur passport or stamp the tax refund.

And my train was going via domodossola as the italian border not e more popular chiasso.  

After extensive research to take backk my tax money, we had to get off e train at domo, find e customs guy,stamp and then get back on e train (whichleaves within 5mins) since thats NOT possible,we would hafta stamo,loiter tol the next train to switzerland arrives (3hrs later) there was also an issue of not having a seat assigned on e new train.

So i approached the whistle blower at milano centrale, with my biggest smile i made friends and asked about e stamp. 

As e reviews go,he said get down at domo. I enquired if i had enough time o hop back on as me and my friend had 55L backpacks and another 40L front packs alongside our shopping and water bottles.

He was confidebt enough and said yes,just start running when u hear the forst whistel. THAT did not sound good,running was near impossible with backpacks bigger than ourselves.

So we planned that my friend bring all e packs off e train at e door while i run and look for the guy. If we can make it,we simply hafta carry e packs back up. If we dont,at least the train wouldnt take our luggage and leave us stranded in Domo.

Lucky enough,i hopped off and ran towards a grp of 3 whistle blowers,they pointed me in e direction of a man in PLAIN CLOTHES no "customs uniform" whatsoever and it was done. 

One whistleblower even told my friend as he walked past, "i think she can make it" :)

And we did!

Back on e original train while some passengers were still taling a smoke break from e train!

Success in DOMODOSSOLA

next would be tracking iur crefit cards for e refund within 2 months.

Phew.

A bump in La Spezia

This whole trip has been worked around booking hotels and tickets ad hoc. Therefore our train tkt to Padova today weren't booked yet.

 We woke early this morning to walk down to the train station to settle it before going back to e hotel to pack and leave but met with an obstacle.

The unfriendly lady at the counter snapped at us with minimal english that "THERE'S A STRIKE! No trains to Cinque Terre." We asked about Padova,she replied that there was no direct train to Padova,only through Parma and then Bologna before Padova.

So we wanted the tickets to Parma as we had booked our accomodations id Padova already. She said "THERE IS A STRIKE!"

Sigh.. That was all we could get from her.

After sometime we realised that only selected trains were still running and could not be confirmed til about anhour  before the scheduled time.

We tried asking a taxi how much it would cost from La Spezia to Padova (willing to pay SGD200 for a 3hr drive) but he shocked us when he said it wiuld cost SGD1200!! 

So we gave up, went to order ice coffee, and the girl at the counter said "only ice coffee cream?" So fine,i thought i'll just scoop e whipped cream out. But guess what came to me at the pickup counter?

Literally CREAM, ice cream.

Lol.. Wasn't too bad though.

We then grabbed some delish pastries and headed back to the hotel to pack and wait it out at the train station.

Back at the station,only first class tickets were left for tkts to Milan and she said hopefully there would be a train at Milan to take us towards Padova. Spent SGD150 on the train tickets alone.

It's the most we've spent in train so far.

The train for Milan was delayed BUT efirst  class is awesomee

We managed to get to Padova safely and on time! Next bump was we had no inkling on where the hotel was. We didnt have maps nor did we search the directions beforehand (rookie mistake).

We walked outta e train station and it was raining. 

The day couldn't get worse, only better.

We stopped under shelter for me to cover my miumiu with a raincoat. Yes,bag over self.

And litang went to ask for directions,jackpot! The first guy she asked spoke good english and said he would google map it!

But as god would have it,his phone died before anything could be done.. He said if we dont mind,he has a car,and he would be able to charge his phone.

Wahh.. How good was the day getting? When we got the his car,he opened his boot for our hugeass backpacks and that was when we realised,he was offering us a ride! Not safe generally,but Gian Lucca,was awfully comical in speech and seemed more afraid of us than the other way round.

So we hopped in after confirming again that we weren't troubling him. Found out he studies Physiotherapy in Venice and takes e train over to Venice daily.

We followed him to get some petrol and he managed to find e hotel and dropped us off. 

Here's a pic of our lucky star.

We headed into w hotel which can only be described as a cosy haven with a couple who are alil eccentric, in a good way of course.

Dropped our stuff and went out in search of dinner. It being after 8pm,we only had one choice: frozen pasta from a bar. But it was good!

Met an italian man who kept talking to us in italian. We couldnt understand, he knew we couldnt understand but the conversation went onnn

The one way convo man.

And that was the end of our eventful day!

Tomorrow,Venice awaits.