Our Honeymoon "Grand Tour of Europe"

Departure day!  It was exactly 1 week after our wedding.  We brought 2 luggage (25 and 26 inches) and 1 carry-on.  Not ideal for train travel in Europe but we're not used to travel light.  At least we keep the weight down.  about 12 kg each.  The itinerary was set.  London > Disneyland > Paris > Lucerne > Munich > Verona > Venice > Rome.

We've been Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer members for a long time so we took Singapore Airlines to London via Singapore.  Departure from Jakarta was 17:00 but it was delayed for 1 hour but it was okay because we had 4 hours connection time.  It did affect our plan to visit the terminal 3 Silver Kris lounge though.

We arrived in Changi Terminal 2 at around 20.30 and took the monorail to Terminal 3.  Changi, in our opinion, is the best airport in the world.  Terminal 3 was decorated for Christmas and there's a big Angry Birds display in the hallway.  We went straight to our gate and waited for boarding.  We took the suite class in an Airbus A380 plane, which was really nice!

The stewardess showed us the features of our seat and after dinner, they switched the seats into beds.  We watched a movie but couldn't remember it.  Singapore Airlines also has the best airline food in the world, even in Economy Class.  We went to sleep after watching one movie.  4 hours before landing, they turned on the lights and prepared breakfast.  The breakfast was pretty good as well.  Finally, the captain announced that we were landing in Heathrow soon.  We were so excited.  It was my first trip to Europe in 15 years and my wife's first ever.

We landed on Heathrow at 06:00.  Because we were on First Class, we were invited to join the express lane for immigration.  Even that was busy.  It took almost 1 hour to reach the counter.  The immigration officer was polite despite having to work very early.  We took our luggage and went to look for the Heathrow Express.  We took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station, which is adjacent to our hotel: Hilton Paddington.  I have booked most of the hotels near the train stations for easy access.  Stepping out of the train to the platform, we expected to be attacked by the chilly weather but it was rather mild.  The train stations in Europe are very nice compared to the ones in Indonesia (which look like busy markets with people everywhere).  We found the entrance to the Hotel and checked in.  Because our room wasn't ready, we took what we need and left our bags with the concierge.

It was around 8 when we were ready to go but we decided to grab more breakfast because it was rather cold and we're not used to the weather.  Paddington Station has a bagel stand and a soup stand that open very early in the morning so it was very convenient when staying in the hotel.  It also has a grocery store and a pharmacist.  We had some soup and bought National Rail travel cards for 3 days and also took the 2 for 1 brochure from Time Out.  Then we headed to the tube.  We don't have a metro or MRT in Jakarta but we're used to using the system because we go to Singapore a lot so it's not a problem for us.  Our first stop: Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.  It was very popular among Asians (and apparently other nationalities as well).  We stopped at the Baker Street station which is decorated with Sherlock Holmes silhouette and there's a Sherlock statue just outside the station.

We spent about 1.5 hours there taking pictures with celebrities.  We skipped the scary part though.  I really liked the London cab ride at the end.  The entrance fee was a bit expensive but with the 2 for 1 offer, it was still reasonable.  After that we went to King's Cross station in search for Platform 9 3/4.  We actually went to Platfrom 9 but a staff immediately told us that it's near Platform 1 even before we asked.  I guess we really did look like tourists.  Then we went to Platform 1 but still couldn't find it.  Finally we found it just outside the station.  There was no queue so we took our pictures and leave.

Our next stop was the British Museum, where we also planned to have lunch.  We were not picky about where we ate so we had lunch in museums a lot.  Not too many Indonesians visit the British Museum.  I blame tour operators who usually spend 1 day in London in their Europe tour packages and just did a bus tour around the town.  The only attraction that they visit is usually Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, which explains why it's the only place in London that many Indonesians know.  I really thought I should open my own tour agency and educate them.  Anyway, We took the tube to Holborn and it took 15 minutes to walk to the museum.  We saw several other tourists walking there, including a family with 2 small children.  It was really nice to see parents taking their children to museums instead of theme parks and toy stores all the time.  (Something Asian parents need to do).

I have seen the Great Court so many times in the internet but it was so much better in person.  It was a masterpiece!  We took our time in the Museum but the one item I really wanted to see was the Rosetta Stone.  It's just one stone but I can see how it's worth so much.  No wonder Egypt wants it back.  I also enjoyed the Greek section.  We didn't get to go to Athens so I was glad I could see some Greek archeology here.  In fact, we can learn about three great civilizations: The Assyrians, The Egyptians and The Greeks without ever going to those three places!  If someone does a cultural grand tour, this museum is definitely a must see.  We had lunch in the restaurant that overlooked the Great Court.  If I lived in London, I would probably have lunch here once a month.  After lunch, we continued to tour the museum and saw the Asian section.  Our favorite was the Japanese tea house.  They also had a stupa piece from Borobudur.  Overall, we think this museum is super awesome!  And it's free as well!  Even if it costs 20 pounds to enter I would still pay.  It's a really great museum!  I can see me visit this museum at least once a month if I live in London.

After the British Museum, we went to Picadilly Circus.  I don't know what the big neon building is called but I didn't really like it.  Fortunately, there was only one unlike in New York.  We went to the Lillywhites to buy some Football souvenirs.  Bought several calendars and a t-shirt.  Then we went to Virgin stores.  The street performers in the area were really good!  Especially the pantomimes that acted like they're statues.  We went back early because jet lag started to set in.  We had dinner at Angus Steakhouse across our hotel, which was okay but not great.

We woke up very early (4 AM) because of jet lag.  We wanted to have a full English Breakfast.  Since we wanted to visit Shakespeare's Globe, we decided to eat at the Swan at the Globe Restaurant.  Before heading there, we grabbed some bagel and soup.  We took District Line to Mansion House station and walked towards Millenium Bridge.  Took pictures of St. Paul Cathedral along the way but we didn't plan to go there.  I didn't find Wren's architecture interesting (no offense).  The bridge is pretty cool.  I could see the Tower Bridge as the sun rises.  We had the English Breakfast at the restaurant while waiting for the Globe to open.  The black pudding had stronger taste than I expected but we managed to finish them all.  I really thought the coffee was very good.  Best coffee we had in London.

I have been a big fan of the bard since I was introduced to him in high school so the Globe was the highlight of the London trip.  The museum was informative and the guide we had for the tour was excellent.  There was construction going on so on some parts she had to speak really loud but overall it was a pleasant experience.  There was no performance in winter though which is understandable because it was open air but they're building a separate indoor theater so they can have performance all year long.  Maybe next time I'll visit in the summer so I can watch a performance.  We were thinking of going to Tate Modern next door but we decided we didn't have enough time and we were not that interested in modern art so we walked back to Mansion House tube station and went to Tower Hill to visit the Tower of London.

We used the 2 for 1 again and the first part we visited was the big tower in the middle (White Tower).  There was a lot of stairs involved and it was a one way tour with clear directions.  I really enjoyed the stuff they put there, especially the weapons and armors but my favorite is the dragon on the picture.  It's really crazy for Indonesian tour agencies to choose Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum over this or the British Museum.  These two places show British history while Madame Tussaud just shows replica of celebrities and it's available in Hong Kong.  We had lunch at New Armories restaurant which was better than I expected.  I had the chicken (don't know what it's called) and it was very very good.  After lunch we went to see the Crown Jewels.  It was in a smaller building and not as interesting as the White Tower.  After that, we visited the tower where the two princes were imprisoned and presumably killed.  They wanted us to vote who ordered their execution but I thought it was obvious that King Richard III did it.

We left the tower and tried the fish and chips from a stand just outside.  It wasn't good at all.  I've had much better in Jakarta.  Then we walked to the Tower Bridge and take some pictures.  The bridge was a magnificent piece of architecture.  I can't decide whether this or the House of Parliament should be the face of London.  We decided to go back to the hotel for some quick rest because we had a football game to attend to.  We took the counter clockwise circle line back to Paddington which actually run overground and we disembarked on the other side of Paddington Station.  I realized that while Paddington is convenient for Heathrow, it's not really the best area for sightseeing because of the distance to the tower area.  We went to the grocery store to buy some drinks because we have a policy never to drink anything from the hotel room mini bar because the price is unreasonable.

After a quick rest, we went to Harrod's.  It was pretty with the lights on at night but I don't care much for it.  The only section I like is the toy section and the bookstore.  The Egyptian stairway was pretty cool though.  We took a taxi to Stamford Bridge stadium because I assume the tube will be crowded with Chelsea fans.  The driver dropped me off and I walked with the other fans to the stadium.  I almost couldn't get our tickets because I didn't bring a picture ID but I managed to get them by quoting my address.  It was a pretty good experience to watch a football game live but I prefer watching it on TV because of commentary and replays.  We left the game a few minutes before full time to avoid the crowd but other people had the same thought (because it was monday night).  We couldn't find a taxi so we took the tube.  That was actually the most interesting experience, watching the fans go home after the game under police supervision.  That was day 2, which was another great day in London.

The morning was dedicated to Westminster.  Took the Circle Line to Westminster section and exited right in front of the huge gothic building with the famous clock tower.  This whole area is very photogenic but I think I like the Tower Bridge a little bit more.  We went to Westminster Abbey.  I didn't find the audio guide useful because there are written explanations everywhere.  I didn't imagine that a church would hold so many relics.  I thought it's just a place for prayers.  After that we went across St. James Park which was very pretty with ducks and squirrels running around.  Our destination was Buckingham Palace and we got there in time to see the Changing of the Guard.  It wasn't that good in winter because the guards wore winter coats instead of the usual red uniform.

We walked towards Hyde Park to check out the Christmas festivities there but we were hungry when we got there so we took the tube to Covent Garden where we had planned to have lunch.  I didn't like the tube station because you have to take the elevator up and there was quite a long queue.  Perhaps Leicester Square is a better tube station for Covent Garden.  It's a very nice place and if I'm not sightseeing, this is where I want to go.  The opera singer was amazing.  I don't remember the restaurant that we went to but we had pie.  We went shopping at the nearby Marks and Spencer, which I thought was more reasonable than Harrod's.

We then went to Leicester Square but there was a renovation going on and I couldn't see the William Shakespeare statue.  We walked to Trafalgar Square and saw the Olympic Games countdown clock.  There was a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery and since he's like, the greatest renaissance artist ever, we went in and saw his exhibition.  It was really crowded and  while his works on display were fabulous, it was a bit too stuffy so we didn't spent a lot of time there.

We decided to have dinner in Chinatown before heading to Apollo Victoria theater to watch Wicked.  London has the best Chinese food among the places we went to because of a strong Chinatown.  Their food tastes like real Chinese food, unlike in Paris or Rome.  Because of an engineering work, the tube ride to Victoria station was crowded and uncomfortable but we managed.  I expected the theater to be similar to Singapore's Esplanade but it turned out to be smaller and simpler.  Despite having been shown for years, Wicked still draws a full house.  It was nice to see the British has made theaters part of their culture, no doubt since Shakespeare's times.  Art in Jakarta is almost dead and has very little followers because the people have turned to consumerism.  Wicked was very good but I felt you need to have read or watched Wizard of Oz to fully appreciate it but I like the characterization of Elphaba as a misunderstood genius.  We went back to our hotel to prepare for our departure to Paris.

London was simply awesome.  It is the greatest city in the world.  Most museums are free meaning you can always go back again and again and again unlike, let's say, Louvre.  It's amazing too but once you've seen it, are you going to pay again to see it the second time?  The British Museum, I can see me going back there every time i go to London.  Of course I would love to visit other museums too like the Natural History Museum.  In my opinion, the ideal stay in London for a tourist is 5 days.

The odd thing about Disneyland Paris is, depending on where you live, you get different offers on discounts and packages.  When I was booking my Disneyland Paris trip, the international website offered less and smaller discounts than the UK website.  However, you need to reside in the UK or have a UK credit card to book from the UK website.  I managed to bypass this by booking through a UK travel agent.

We took a taxi to St. Pancras train station.  Our printed out e-ticket couldnt be scanned on the automatic check-in machine so we checked in manually.  The UK Border Control wasn't manned so we went straight to the French Immigration.  They checked our visa and stamped our passports.  No question asked.  We were legally in France at that moment although we were still in the UK.  The train station was really nice.  There are shops and food stalls after the border control so people didn't get bored while waiting.  Finally our train was ready for boarding.  We went up to the platform level and found our train and carriage easily.  Most of the people in the train were families with kids so I think we're the odd ones out.

I was disappointed that they served breakfast instead of lunch.  I know it was 10:30 in UK but in France, it was 11:30.  I wished they had this in mind.  Besides, most people probably had breakfast before they went to the station because 10:30 is kinda late for breakfast.  I didn't notice that the train went underwater.  When we're out of the underwater tunnel, France greeted us with it's wonderful country side.  One last stop in Lille, we arrived at Disneyland Paris.  It was the first of our train rides but I started to like it.  Imagine if Indonesia have trains like this.  Jakarta - Surabaya should take 3 hours, maybe 4 hours maximum.

Originally we planned to stay in the Sequoia Lodge to save some money but then we thought it's our honeymoon and we may never go back to Disneyland Paris again so we decided to stay in Disneyland Hotel.  From the train station, we need to walk through a security check and then a 5 minutes walk to the hotel because of luggage (normally would take 2 minutes).  Our room was not ready so we went to the Studios park because we planned to have one full day in Disneyland itself.  First, we went for a late lunch (It was almost 3 pm) at Restaurant des Stars, which was a buffet Restaurant.  There was a guy wearing chef hat who came out with a food cart and Remy from Ratatouille was inside the dish!  He was really cute and could move a little bit.  They actually had Ratatouille there and it was good like the rest of the food in the buffet.  Of all the restaurants we tried in Disneyland Paris, this is actually the best.

We were full after eating and we had a problem.  The park closed at 6 and we're not supposed to ride any thrill ride after eating but since we're already here, we decided to ride them anyway.  We started out with the slow tram ride but after riding the one in Universal Studios Hollywood, this one didn't compare at all.  Too short and didn't show much.  We then rode the Tower of Terror, which got us a little nauseated.  Then we rode Crush Coaster, which got us very nauseated.  We decided we had enough and went back to our hotel to rest.

In the evening, we walked to Disney Village, which was decorated for Christmas.  I was introduced to Vin Chaud (Hot Wine), which became my favorite drink in France especially in the cold weather.  We had McDonald's because we wanted a quick meal and there was a free wifi there (our hotel didn't).  The stores were very well decorated for Christmas.  If it wasn't so cold, we probably had stayed longer.

Disneyland Park opened at 10 AM but for those who stayed in one of the Disneyland Hotels, it opened at 8 AM.  We had breakfast with a view of the castle.  I have to say that of all the Disneyland Castles, the one in Paris is the most beautiful.  Breakfast was okay, standard American buffet.  We entered the Park at around 9.  Only a few rides were available during this extra hour.  We first tried the Buzz Lightyear's Astroblaster.  It was one of the newest Disneyland rides but it had become everyone's favorite.  Then we went to Peter Pan' Flight, which was the only "cartoon ride" we rode.  At 10 AM, Disneyland opened for real and we went to It's a Small World, which is one of the must-try rides in any Disneyland.  Next to It's a Small World, there was a Princess Pavilion.  We didn't know what it was so we entered the building and there was a long queue.  It took one hour to reach the middle room which turned out to be a photo session with a Disney Princess.  We got Aurora.  I felt it was a little bit waste of time though unless you bring your children with you.

We went back to Tomorrowland and found Space Mountain broken so we went to Frontierland and rode Big Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor.  There was a loud bunch of French students who were rather annoying in BTM but it was the best and scarist BTM in all of the Disneylands.  Phantom Manor wasn't really scary but the ghosts are cute.

Lunch was a problem.  We didn't expect all the restaurants to be fully booked and it was surprising because the park itself wasn't very crowded.  We ended up at Plaza Garden restaurants, which was another buffet but I thought Restaurant des Stars was better.  Still good though.  The food in Disneyland Paris was surprisingly good beyond my expectation.  After lunch we went to Pirates of the Caribbean and then watched the Christmas Parade.  Loved the princes and princesses!  I think Beast should stay Beast during parades and Tiana probably should've brought a frog instead of a prince :D.

We then went souvenir shopping, a mandatory activity for any visit to Disneyland.  We considered going back the next day to ride Space Mountain but in the end we didn't.  We had dinner in Cafe Mickey.  Fortunately we managed to get a seat with no reservation.  We finally got a chance to take a picture with Mickey Mouse.  We actually took pictures with several characters but the one we didn't find was Donald Duck.  Cafe Mickey is recommended for character dining.  After dinner we finished up our shopping in the hotel store.



Overall impression of Disneyland: It was worth visiting despite taking up 2 days of our "Grand Tour".  The castle is beautiful and the food was surprisingly good.  As the secondary theme park, Walt Disney Studios is not as good as California Adventures.  I wish they had build DisneySea instead.  It was probably our only chance to visit Disneyland without kids so it wasn't a waste of 2 days.

We have booked a private transfer to go to Hotel Brighton in Paris at 10 AM.  The driver arrived on time and was very friendly.  He informed us that the traffic into the city was a bit heavy because it was a work day.  It took about one hour to reach Paris.  My first impression was that the architecture is prettier than London.  The driver told us to watch out for the gypsies because there are thieves.  We felt prepared because we have read about it in various websites.  We checked into our hotel and as usual, our room wasn't ready yet so we left our bags with the concierge.  We had less than 2 full days so we could only cover the touristy places.

Our first stop was the Louvre.  We crossed the street to Jardin de Tuileries which looked awful in winter.  The rain made the ground wet and there was not a single speck of green.  The weather that day was awful from morning to night and we were glad when we reached the pyramids.  The security queue was quite long and then we had to queue again for the tickets.  Louvre was big and beautiful.  I couldn't think of a section that we didn't like.  It was like Disneyland for art lovers and It's impossible to describe everything here.  We went for the famous ones like Monalisa (too overprotected so I couldn't really appreciate it that much) and Venus de Milo but there are countless other works that are just as impressive.

Inside, we found several artists (art students?) copying existing works.  I thought they're pretty good.  We had lunch in the food court inside the museum.  I had some kind of Salmon that was served in a dim sum bamboo bowl, which was weird.  It was alright but the food in Disneyland was better.  We spent almost 4 hours in the museum.  We went back to the hotel to rest a little bit.  The only complaint I have about Hotel Brighton is the corridor light in the fifth floor is turned off unless someone is in the corridor, then it automatically turns on.  It wasn't a problem coming out of our room but when coming out of the elevator, we needed to take 4-5 steps to the corridor to turn the lights on.  But it was a minor complaint so no big problem there.  After resting, we went to the Tuileries Metro Station across the street and bought a carnet (10 metro tickets).  The machine was a bit confusing and the staff wasn't helpful.  The metro trains were nice and modern looking, better than the ones in  London underground.  We were warned about thieves in the metro but we found it a very pleasant system to use.

We stopped at George V station because we planned to walk from there to the Eiffel Tower.  The tower opens until midnight so that was convenient for us who only stayed for 2 nights.  It looks better at night anyway.  When we reached Pont de l'Alma (Alma Bridge), the weather went crazy.  We had a hard time holding on to our umbrellas.  The view of the tower from the bridge was magnificent.  It took about 15 minutes walk from there to reach the tower.  Despite the weather, the queue for the tickets was long.  We went to the second floor but there was really nothing to see.  They have telescopes that cost 50 cents to use but they last about 30 seconds so I think it was a ripoff.  We snacked in the only cafes open before going back down.  I don't feel it's worth going up the tower unless you want to have dinner in one of the restaurants.  We took a taxi back to Rue de Rivoli to look for a place for dinner.

We had dinner in a French cafe/restaurant near our hotel called Rivoli Park restaurants.  We didn't research restaurants for this trip but we were not picky about where we eat.  We tried the Onion soup and Escargot (our favorite French dish) and their specialty is some kind of duck.  I don't remember much but we were satisfied with the food.  The difference between London and Paris is we couldn't find a supermarket in Paris so we decided to buy some water from the restaurant.

We went to Notre Dame first thing in the morning but we didn't go in or climb the tower because we were going to Versailles later that day and wanted to save the energy.  I liked the architecture, definitely better than Westminster Abbey.  We crossed the river to the left bank and visited the Shakespeare and Co. book store.  The owner just died and there was a tribute for him all over the front door.  Unfortunately, that was our only taste of the Latin Quarter.  Maybe next time we'll explore the area more.  We had a slightly difficult time finding the St. Michel - Notre Dame RER station for our train to Versailles but we found it eventually.  The double decker train ride to Versailles took about 40 minutes.  Some musicians entered the train and started playing some music.  We gave them 2 Euros for their effort.  Finally we arrived in Versailles and walked towards the palace (about 10 minutes).

This palace is so extravagant.  No wonder why the people rebelled and launched a revolution because they're so poor while the royal family basked in the luxury.  However, the palace more than redeemed itself because it brought tourists' money into the country.  We didn't get an audio guide.  We kinda just drifted from room to room but we enjoyed it regardless.  My favorite painting in the palace is one of Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc).  We had lunch in Angelina Tea House.  We're not a big fan of their Hot Chocolate because it's so thick.  We actually add some water to it to make it drinkable.  We also bought some Laduree Macaroons, which were AMAZING!  Parisians shouldn't have complained when Marie Antoinette told them to eat cake because their cakes are so good!

Once again, the garden didn't look pretty in winter with the leaves turning brown.  We walked for about one hour in the gardens before going back to Paris.  We only realized then that the carnet tickets we bought at the machine were NOT VALID for travel to/from Versailles (it was rejected by the turnstile).  Lucky no officer was checking for tickets on the way there.  I saw other people also failed to use their ticket there so I guess we were not the only one.  We bought the valid ticket from the ticket machine to get back to Paris.  We stopped at Champ du Mars - Tour Eiffel station and changed to Metro line 6 to Charles de Gaulle Etoile station right at Arc de Triomphe.  This Metro line is above ground so we could see the Seine River and surroundings from there.  We used the Arc de Triomphe exit and saw the Arc up close.  It's an amazing piece of architecture and Parisians should be proud to have it as their symbol of victory.   We spent the rest of the day walking along Champs Elysees back to Rue de Rivoli.  The Christmas Market started at Franklin Roosevelt to Place de la Concorde.  It was too crowded and not too enjoyable.  We hoped to experience a better Christmas Market in Munich.  I'm not really a big fan of Champs Elysees because it's lined with expensive shops.  Perhaps this is not the area for me if I go to Paris.  The shopping area extended to Rue Saint Honore but it's the same expensive shops along the street.  We had dinner in a Japanese restaurant called Ruifeng just 2 blocks from our hotel.  It wasn't that good because the food we ordered didn't look or taste like what they should be.

That's all for France.  We headed to the Alps the next day.  My overall impression of Paris: I liked it but I didn't fall in love with it like I should have (according to most travellers).  Admittedly I didn't give it enough time.  Maybe I would have liked the Latin Quarter (the intellectual part of Paris) or St. Germain area.  We also didn't visit Le Marais, Montmarte and Pere Lachaise cemetery.   One thing for sure, I will not go back to Paris in winter again.

We took a taxi to Gare de Lyon for our 8:25 train to Basel.  We arrived early and had breakfast at the cafe near the entrance.  I had a bit of a problem printing our tickets from the machine but managed to after some time.  Train departed on time and it was similar to the Eurostar train.  Breakfast was served and after entering Switzerland, some custom officers came into the train for a random custom check.  We arrived in Basel at 11:30 and decided to have lunch in the station.  We already bought the Basel - Lucerne train and there's no reservation in Swiss trains so we could take any train at any time during the day.

After lunch we got into a train to Lucerne and it was crowded.  We managed to find a seat in the back row with space for our bags.  We arrived after one hour and walked to Hotel Radisson Blu, chosen because it's proximity to the train station, about 5 minutes walk (10 with luggage).  It's actually quite removed from the old town but it's a pretty and modern hotel.  Our room faced the lake, which was kinda pretty.  After a quick rest, we explored the city a bit and visited the tourist sights like the chapel bridge and the lion monument.  We had dinner at Old Swiss House, famous for its Schnitzel but extremely pricy.  There are actually some interesting museums in the town but we decided to just relax and walk around in Switzerland.

We went to Engelberg and Mt. Titlis, Asians' favorite Swiss mountain.  The train took 1 hour and another 10 minutes bus ride from Engelberg station to Titlis Rotair station.  The rotair cable car has welcome message in several languages including Indonesians.  The temperature was -29 C at the top so we couldn't really play in the snow.  We took a picture of ourselves in Swiss traditional clothes because we had nothing else to do.  There were a lot of Asian tourists including other Indonesians.  We probably spent about 2 hours in the mountain before going back down.  We had to wait about 40 minutes for our train back to Lucerne.  In the summer, I would fancy a hike here, maybe going down from the mountain to Engelberg.

For the rest of the day, we walked in the Lucerne old town again for some souvenir shopping.  For dinner, we tried the fondue but we didn't really like it.

Overall impression: The journal entry for the 2 days in Lucerne were the shortest because we really didn't do much.  It was worth visiting because we didn't have snowy mountains in Indonesia.  After all, our purpose in this Grand Tour was to experience things that we couldn't experience in our home country.  Mt. Titlis, however, was too touristy for my taste and too crowded.  I guess it's the most convenient snowy mountain (especially in the summer) to visit for Asian tourists because of its proximity to Zurich airport.  Next time, I hope to visit Bernese Oberland for a true Swiss experience.

Woke up at 6 and had breakfast in the hotel, then walked to the train station.  Just like Basel-Lucerne, we can choose which ever train we want to go to Zurich.  Our Zurich - Munich train departed at 9:15 so we just took the earliest train to Zurich available (7:10).  We arrived in Zurich at 8 and found a cafe where we put our luggage and took turns exploring the station.  It was a really big station and I got lost a bit trying to find the main exit.  I finally found it and I crossed the streets to catch a glimpse of the bahnhofstrasse.  Zurich is definitely livelier than Lucerne but might be too far from the mountains if you want to visit one.  We bought some chocolates for souvenirs in a Sprungli shop before boarding our train.

I liked this train because it has a leaflet in every seat showing all the stations we stopped at and the approximate time.  After about 4 hours, we arrived in Munich.  Our chosen hotel was the Sofitel, right next to the train station.  Our room was not ready as always but they said it shouldn't take long so we waited while having lunch (we bought some food from the train station earlier).  After a quick rest, we decided to explore.  We bought a day MVV partner ticket, which can be used for all public transportation within Munich.  What surprised us was that nobody ever checked whether we had a valid ticket whenever we use public transport.  There's no gateway or turnstiles before entering the S-Bahn or U-Bahn.

We took the S-Bahn to Karlplatz (only 1 stop from the main train station), which is the beginning of the pedestrian area.  We finally saw what a real Christmas Market should be!  The set up was amazing.  My favorite drink was Kinderpunsch, which is a non-alcoholic Christmas drink.  We also tried Gluhwein but we prefered Kinderpunsch.  Although it was 3.50, we had to pay 5.50 (2 euros deposit for the glass).  We got the 2 euros back after returning the glass.  We walked towards Marienplatz and saw the Frauenkirche with one tower in scaffoldings, so that was a little disappointing but I liked the design.  Marienplatz was beautiful in the winter snow and you could certainly feel the spirit of Christmas.  We had dinner in Augustiner Brauhaus.  We actually wanted to eat at the restaurant but we entered the beer hall by mistake.  We were a little confused on whether we should wait to be seated but eventually a waiter motioned us to sit on a table with a German couple already there, so I guess we're supposed to share the table.  I don't usually drink beer but since we're already there, I tried 1/2 litre of their dark beer.  It tasted like, well, beer.  I don't understand people's obsession with beer.  I'd rather have tea.  It was a very wonderful experience being in a German beerhall and we were glad we entered by mistake (having looked for the restaurant).

We had been there for half a day but I loved it already!  We didn't buy anything from Christmas Market, going for mostly food and drinks.  The pretzel and hot dogs were good too but the roasted peanuts were the best.  The building on the background of Marienplatz is the new town hall.  We took the S-Bahn back to our hotel and bought drink and snacks.

We were supposed to do a tour to Neuschwanstein Castle with Pure Bavaria but Mario, the owner and tour guide, called the hotel and said he got into an accident so we decided to explore Munich and see if he would be available the next day.  If not, we could just go by ourselves to Neuschwanstein.  Our original plan was actually do 1 day trip to Neuschwanstein and 1 day trip to Salzburg but that meant we didn't spend 1 full day in Munich so we scrapped the Salzburg day trip.  Our first stop was to visit BMW World.  It was just a big show room with their latest cars and there was also the car used in Mission Impossibe: Ghost Protocol.  The showroom itself was beautifully designed, showing the modernity of German technology which was a nice contrast to the old-world feel of the Munich old town.  They had a 2-floor souvenir shops that had a nice collection of BMW Memorabilia.

After that we went back to the old town and visited the Residenz, which was the former palace of Bavarian rulers.  Having visited 5 palaces, they all started to look the same.  I guess that's what the audio guide was for (to tell us the history of the place) but we never used them.  The Residenz was not as exciting as the Versailles but I do like the Antiquarium hallway (left picture).  The most memorable room was probably the one with the ivory chandelier (we only noticed it after a staff who happened to be in the room told us).  Near the Residenz, there was a small plaza that also hosted a Christmas Market.  Lots of schoolchildren came and made the place very lively.  That's where we had lunch.  Just pretzels, sausages and more kinderpunsch.  If I had a choice, I would spend every Christmas in Bavaria.  I heard Nuremberg have the best one out there.

After lunch we took the tram to Nymphenburg Palace.  It was a part of the amazing Munich public transport system.  Each Tram station shows approximately how long before the next tram arrived.  I liked the setting of Nymphenburg Palace.  The large pond in front full of swans and ducks and the gardens all around made it a perfect place live.  It was snowed out in winter but in the summer, it must be gorgeous.  If I had a choice, I preferred living here than in Versailles because it's smaller and cozier.  There were only 20 tour-able rooms inside but that's just fine because it managed to tell a whole lot more story than the Munich Residenz.  Indeed, it was the birthplace of King Ludwig II, who would built the Neuschwanstein Castle.  The highlight of the Palace is without a doubt the Gallery of Beauties.  It is a room decorated with the paintings of 36 beautiful women specifically chosen by King Ludwig I (Ludwig II's grandfather).  My favorite is a woman named Helene Sedlmayr.  This room a lone made the palace worth visiting.  My suggestion is, if you have seen Versailles, skip the Residenz and visit this instead because it's a little bit different.

After touring the palace, we took the tram back to the Old Town.  My wife went shopping at the department store (forgot what it's called) while I continued to the Deutsches Museum (a technological museum).  It was about 16:45 and I didn't remember what time the museum closed (I was hoping at 18:00) but I took the chance.  It turned out it closed at 16:30 but the gift store opened till 18:00.  I really liked the gift store, it was filled with geeky, technological souvenirs and some science kits for children.  I didn't buy anything but the children there seemed to enjoy the store.  I guess we know now where to take Children when visiting Munich.  We had dinner at one of the restaurants near Marienplatz but it wasn't very good.  Then we went back to the hotel waiting for the news of our tour guide but we were prepared to go by ourselves regardless.

Mario confirmed he couldn't take us to Neuschwanstein Castle but that's okay.  We bought the partners Bayern Ticket + a ticket to Geltendorf because the Bayern Ticket only worked from 9 AM and our train to Fussen was 8:51 AM (the next one was 9:51) so we had to bought extra tickets for the journey before 9 AM.  There were a lot of American tourists heading the same way but most of them used Eurail Pass.  We had to change trains at Buchloe but it was an easy connection (connecting train right across the platform).  There are direct trains from Munich to Fussen every 2 hours, alternating with this one.  I actually prefer the connecting one because you get the chance to stretch your leg after 1 hour.  From the train station, we took a bus to Hohenschwangau, the actual village where the castles are.  Taxis are also available for those who might miss the bus but that's almost impossible because the buses wait for the train.

We bought the tickets from the ticket shop.  The line wasn't long, maybe 15 minutes.  We could buy tickets for both castle tours but we opted for just Neuschwanstein.  The ticket was timed about 2 hours after we bought it to give us time to reach the castle.  The best and fastest way to reach the castle is by bus but it wasn't available in the snowy weather so we had to take the horse carriage.  The other option is to walk but it was uphill and would have taken 45 minutes.  There's a minimart with hot drinks available and a clean public (paid) toilet and several hotels around but I don't think it would be convenient to stay overnight there or in Fussen.  Because the bus didn't run, there was a queue line forming for the horse carriage.  It wasn't really the romantic ride shown in fairy tale movies because you're there with 8 other people.  The carriage stopped short of the castle and there was a viewing platform where you can take an almost frontal shot at the castle (as frontal as you can get without climbing a mountain or getting into a cable car).  Most people say the side view from Marienbrucke (Mary's Bridge which we would've seen had we taken the bus) but my favorite part of the castle is the orange gateway so I prefer this shot.  From the picture you can see the back part was covered by scaffoldings which would've been obvious from the Marienbrucke view.  An American tourist offered to take our pictures together, an offer we happily took.  American tourists are the most friendliest and outgoing bunch of people.  For them, meeting and talking to new people is part of traveling, unlike us Asians who just want to see stuff.

There was an American tour group and we thought their tour guide was our tour guide for the castle but she was just a tour guide for that group.  We waited for our tour group and we were taken into the castle.  Some people think the castle only looks beautiful from afar but I disagree.  Even from close up it was still beautiful and the interior was worth touring, even if it's just 30 minutes.  Our tour guide spoke English very well and explained clearly the history of King Ludwig II and the castle.  I am impressed with the king.  He didn't build the castle for himself.  He did it for his idol Richard Wagner.  Most of the rooms were dedicated to his opera, especially Lohengrin and Tristan & Isolde.  The performance room (singer's hall) supposedly has a great acoustic.  The castle also had telephone and automatic toilet, which was modern at that time.  After the tour, we bought some souvenirs from the second floor (which was never finished).  Near the exit, we saw a scaled model of the castle (left picture) for anyone wanting to see a 360 degree view of the castle.

We had lunch at a Hofbrauhaus branch restaurant near where the horse carriage stopped.  It wasn't that great but we were hungry.  The queue for the carriage was rather long and it was snowing quite heavily.  We had to wait for the bus to Fussen train station because it was timed to connect to the train back to Munich.  That gave me a time to walk around and took pictures of Hohenschwangau Castle, which didn't look too bad.  There were plenty of people looking to go back to Fussen and it took two buses to take us all back.  Once again, the train to Munich required a connection to Buchloe.  The conductor for the Fussen - Buchloe train was very nice and she reminded us to change in Buchloe.

Since it was our last night in Munich, we went to the Christmas Market again.  Munich is my favorite city after London though I don't know how the city is outside the Christmas season or Oktoberfest.  If I had to make a change in our itinerary, we would add another day in Munich and reduce Italy to 6 nights instead of 7.

We bid goodbye to Munich as we traveled to Italy via Brenner Pass.  This was another reason why we went to Munich.  We knew we wanted to stay in Verona.  If we went there via Milan, the Milan - Verona express train only stopped in Verona for 2 minutes before continuing to Venice.  The Munich - Verona train ends in Verona, which means we don't have to rush exiting the train.  The plan was to stay 4 nights in Verona, doing day trips to Milan, Venice and possibly Lake Garda but we changed to 3 nights with 1 night in Venice.  This trip took 5 hours ans 30 minutes but with the scenery, it felt like nothing.  The best part of the train ride was around Innsbruck with a view of the Austrian alps.

We took turns eating in the dining car.  I had the Apple Strudel.  Since we didn't visit Austria properly, eating their national food in their territory was a decent substitute.  Our tickets was checked twice.  Once right after leaving Munich and once after entering Italian territory.  Our first class carriage was a compartment-style carriage like the Hogwarts Express in the first Harry Potter movie.  The train wasn't crowded at all and we got the whole compartment for ourselves.  Verona's train station wasn't big and not as impressive as the Munich train station.  We found a taxi stand and went to our hotel: Hotel Firenze located outside the city center.

It was farther from the city center than I had anticipated but since it was winter, the walk was pleasant.  Passing through the city gate, we were presented with Piazza Bra and the Roman Arena, and we're impressed.  The Arena is still in used for opera performances.  In Christmas, it was decorated with the Christmas Star.  We had a quick lunch in one of the pizza restaurants in Piazza Bra.  There were gladiators around the arena who approached us to take pictures but we refused.  Street performers were everywhere but they're not as good as the ones in London.  After lunch, we walked to Juliet's house, passing through via Mazzini.  Out of the shopping areas we've been to, via Mazzini is our favorite.  I think it's better than the Galleria in Milan, Harrod's in London and Champs Elysees in Paris.

Even though it's fake, Juliet's house was still a cool place to go.  There were lots of tourists waiting to take picture with Juliet.  I think the statue is too tall.  It should've been 170 cm maximum.  The museum was okay but the sole purpose of paying the entrance fee is to be in the balcony.  We spent about 45 minutes here and then we went to Piazza Erbe, which was the Forum in ancient Roman time.  It is still a bustling marketplace where people sell souvenirs, most of them Romeo and Juliet related.  After that we went back to the Arena and visited the International Nativity Scene Exhibition, held annually inside the Arena.  It wasn't exactly in the middle of the arena where gladiators fought but in the circular hallway around the arena.  While some of the scenes was generic, a lot of them were cute and creative.  We liked the ones depicting Jesus in another country's national costumes.  The exhibition was very large.  There must have been over 300 scenes displayed.

We had dinner at Ikai Japanese restaurant, which was THE BEST RESTAURANT WE WENT TO IN EUROPE.  It was surprising to find such an excellent Japanese restaurant in Verona.  The food tastes exactly like real Japanese food.

It was Christmas Eve and we did a day trip to Milan.  One reason why we stayed in Verona was to do a day trip to both Milan and Venice without having to bring our luggage to the train (although we changed it a bit in the end).  We took the Frecciabianca train that took 1 hours and 20 minutes each way.  Upon arrival in Milan, we could see that it's a big city with high rise buildings everywhere.  The Central Station was also big and they said it had a nice architecture although we couldn't see it.  We bought metro tickets and went to the Duomo station.  They put directions to Duomo everywhere from the Central Station to the Duomo station.  I guessed they realized that it's where all tourists would go.

After exiting the station, we were greeted by a man "selling" bracelets.  We have read about them from travel forums.  They would forcibly put a bracelet on you and then asked you to pay for it, claiming that you have bought it.  We ignored and tried to avoid them.  After walking awhile, we were approached by another guy trying to speak to us.  When we ignored him and walked away, he shouted "stop! stop!" in a threatening manner.  We were really uncomfortable and walked closer towards the duomo.  As a result, we couldn't get a nice shot of it from the front because of all the creepy people (We only managed to get pictures slightly to the side).  It's too bad because Piazza Duomo was really nice area to hang out.  We decided to enter Galleria Vittoria Emanuele, supposedly one of the best shopping places in Europe along with Harrod's.  Disappointment would be a huge understatement.  It was nothing like we expected.  Sure the architecture is nice but the store selection is extremely poor.  You really need to go to Singapore and Jakarta to see what a "shopping gallery" should be.  We have better shopping malls (MUCH BETTER) than this Galleria.  It took us 30 minutes to explore the whole place.

We exited to the other side and found ourselves in a small piazza with a huge statue in the middle.  The statue is just no ordinary statue.  It's Leonardo da Vinci!  The greatest Renaissance man ever!  We took some pictures with him and went back to the Galleria to have lunch.  We went into one of the restaurants.  We didn't really like the food there but we're not picky eaters so it was fine.  After lunch we went to the duomo.  The duomo itself is magnificent!  I think it's more beautiful than the one in Florence.  We explored the ground floor but we didn't go to the roof.  We exited the duomo from the side and explored the area around it, which was much more pleasurable than that overrated Galleria.  We had to take the 4 pm train back to Verona so we went back to the Central Station.  We entered the metro station from the entrance to the rear of the duomo to avoid the creepy people in the piazza.  We were slightly disappointed to see fashion advertisements hanging from that side. We think advertisements have no place on a church wall.

We had to wait about 1.5 hour to catch our train.  While having snacks in a cafe/restaurant, a man (who looked like he was homeless) entered and asked the waiters for something.  The waiters didn't look too happy but gave the man an empty paper cup.  As the man exited, he raised the cup and smiled to everyone as if he just achieved a victory.  That creeped me out a bit.  After reaching Verona, we took a taxi to the city center because we were too tired to walk.  We had Christmas Eve dinner at  a restaurant named "Al Pompiere".  It was the second best restaurant we had in Europe!  It was rather surprising to have the two best restaurants we went to were in Verona.  Their specialty was their prosciutto platter.  It was simply fresh and sublime.  The main course was very good as well.

Overall, I think Milan was worth visiting only for the Duomo and the Leonardo statue (or the original Last Supper if you want to).  The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele was a massive disappointment but the area around Piazza Duomo was pretty nice to walk around in.  The creepy people could ruin anyone's day though and it's something the city needs to work on.

Christmas Day!  Originally we wanted to go to Lake Garda but we decided to explore Verona.  Shops are closed but some restaurants are open.  We mostly took a walk along the river and enjoyed the view.  We never crossed the river to the other side.  We had lunch in a cafe near the Duomo where people just finished a Mass. It's not as grand as the Duomo in Milan or Florence but it still had an interesting architecture.  We finally reached Castelvecchio.  Although the museum is closed, the courtyard can be visited.  The bridge leading to the castle was also interesting.  There were plenty of tourists just walking along the bridge taking pictures.  Although Verona is not a car-free town, it felt like one because there were hardly any car being driven that day.

After the Castelvecchio, we went to San Zeno but it was a mistake because it was under renovation and the area was a residential area.  It took us 30 minutes to walk back to the city center.  In the evening, we watched Sherlock Holmes 2, which was in Italian with no subtitles.  I think it was a bad idea for non-English speaking countries to dub Hollywood movies.  It's better to have the movie in English and provide subtitles so people can learn a little bit of English.  We had dinner in Ikai again.



Overall impression: Verona is a more enjoyable city in Milan. It's extremely pretty, plenty of open spaces to walk or jog and it's in a good location with plenty of train connections to other cities.  If your intention of going to Milan is shopping, you might as well go to Verona because via Mazzini is much better than Galleria Vittoria Emanuele.  Milan is worth visiting for the Duomo and maybe The Last Supper but you can do a day trip from Verona.

We took an 8 AM train to Venice which only took 1 hour 10 minutes.  It was the most dramatic train ride because the train was a Milan - Venice train that only stopped for 2 minutes in Verona.  We stood on one end of the platform hoping that the first class cars would be on that end, it turned out that they were on the other end so we started running (or walking quickly dragging our luggage) to the other side.  We then decided to just board the train and made our way to our reserved seats.  About 30 minutes after we boarded (before we found our seat), the train started to move again.  This was the reason why I wanted to do a day trip to Venice because it would be easier to do without luggage.  The train ride was quick and we reached Venice before 9:30 AM.

We stayed in Abbazia Deluxe, which is located right next to the train station.  We actually walked passed it and had to backtrack to find it.  The hotel had no lift and we had to drag our bags up (with the help of the hotel staff) but our room was beautiful and we had a Grand Canal view.  We bought a vaporetto (water bus) ticket to grand canal.  The ride along the grand canal was amazing.  Even if you arrived by plane and stayed at San Marco, you should at least ride the vaporetto back and forth to the train station.  Venice was pretty, no doubt about it.  The architecture was old but kinda nice to look at.  The whole city is car-free meaning it's a great city to walk around in.  If you're a walker, you'll love this city.

We stopped at Accademia to visit the Accademia museum.  I heard Leonardo's Vitruvian Man was kept here but it turned out it's not always on display.  I wasn't impressed with Venetian arts.  Having seen Louvre and The Vatican Museum, Venice's Accademia is not a must-see.  We then walked to Piazza San Marco and had lunch at a random restaurant.  The alleyways can be confusing but I guess that's the fun part about Venice.  A map (usually provided by the hotel) is extremely useful.

San Marco is the main tourist attraction in Venice and there are two interesting buildings there: San Marco Basilica and Doge's Palace.  Venice used to be its own nation (called a city state) like other cities in Italy including Milan, Genoa, Verona and Pisa.  Venice's rulers were called Doges and they live in Doge's Palace.  We visited the palace but didn't take the secret itinerary tour.  All these palaces started to look similar.  Perhaps the Secret Itinerary tour would give us a different look to the palace.  We also visited the jail area where Giacomo Casanova was locked.  After the tour, we spent some time in the alleyways around San Marco.  Although interesting at first, you'd get bored after a few hours.  We went back to the hotel to rest and had dinner near the hotel.  We wanted to try their specialty Spaghetti Nero Seppia (Squid Ink Spaghetti).  All restaurants seemed to have it so we went to a random restaurant.  It wasn't that good though.  We explored the area a bit but didn't find anything interesting so we went back to the hotel.

In my opinion, 1 day in Venice is enough unless you want to visit the surrounding islands (Murano, Burano or Giudecca).  Even a day trip from either Verona (1:10 each way) or Florence (1:45 each way) should be enough.  It's a pretty little town though and should be visited once in a lifetime.

We left Venice for Rome by train, which was our train ride and it was probably the best train we were in.  The train stopped in Mestre, Padova, Vicenza, Bologna and Florence.  We were tempted to visit Florence for the day and took a later train to Rome but we thought it was too much hassle.  The scenery around Florence were amazing.  The first class seat came with free snacks and drink.  The staff asked us whether we wanted salty snack or sweet snack but I think he should've just showed us the snacks.  Florence - Rome took just 90 minutes which made me think that a day trip to Florence from Rome is possible.  We arrived at Termini station and took a taxi to Sofitel at via Lombardia.

The Sofitel staff were the nicest in all the hotels we visited.  The porter was full of information and he told us to go the 6th floor lunch for a view of St. Peter's because the hotel is located high in the hill.  We decided to go there for lunch and the view was indeed pretty.  It's too bad the sun was in the wrong position and we couldn't get a clear picture of St. Peter's (left).  The waitress was also very friendly.  The lunch was okay for a hotel lunch but for the price we probably wouldn't go there again.  Perhaps for just a drink, it would still be ok.


After lunch we went exploring staight away, armed with a map from the hotel.  We walked downhill to the Spanish Steps, which meant we had to walk uphill back to the hotel.  The Spanish Steps is where tourists gather but I didn't like it that much.  There were a couple of men trying to talk to us and one of them started to follow us.  They looked menacing so we ignored them and walked quickly to the bottom.  From there we walked to the Trevi Fountain.  Without a map, it would be difficult to find despite the signs.  There wasn't any landmark near it and it was just there hiding in a street corner.  The fountain was pretty but there were too many people, which made it difficult to take a good picture.

After that we went to the Pantheon, which was an ancient Roman temple but has since been converted into a church.  The roof had a circular hole which would let both sunlight and rain into the building.  One thing we immediately notice was Rome is a great city to walk in.  It was pedestrian friendly with plenty of wide sidewalks and alleyways.  From the Pantheon, we enjoyed another walk to Piazza Navona.  Some tourists grouped Pantheon and Piazza Navona together with Colosseum and the Roman Forum, which is probably more appropriate since those four are considered treasures of the Roman Empire but we had some spare time so we decided to visit Pantheon and Navona immediately.

Piazza Navona is like a marketplace and there was still some Christmas Markets there.  Some street artists showed off their skill and I thought they were excellent.  These artists would've been rich if they had lived during the Renaissance era.  I entered the church there, called Saint Agnes in Agony.  We didn't really visit Rome's churches unless they're already there because we're going to visit Saint Peter's.  I found the churches similar to each other anyway.  The walk from the Spanish Steps to Trevi Fountain to Pantheon to Navona probably took 1 hour without stopping.  From there we were not far away from Castel Sant'Angelo and the Vatican so Rome is truly a walker's paradise.  We decided to head back and had dinner in an awful Chinese restaurant.  They probably couldn't find authentic Chinese ingredients because their food didn't taste like Chinese food.  We then went back to the hotel to rest.

Ancient Rome time!  We wanted to take a taxi at the top of the Spanish Steps but the taxi driver told us to take a taxi at the bottom.  So we walked to the bottom and got a taxi to the Roman Forum.  There is only a single ticket for both the Colosseum and the Roman Forum and the line at the Forum is much shorter than the one in Colosseum.  We only waited 15 minutes to buy the tickets.  The Roman Forum was difficult to understand without a guide.  Emperors usually add their own buildings to existing buildings so we have the forum of this emperor, the arc of that emperor and so forth.  For people who are not interested in history, this place may not make any sense.

The exit lead us straight to the Colosseum so I guess we were supposed to visit the Forum first.  I have to say this arena is HUGE!  It looked twice as big as the Verona Arena.  Considering that it was built almost 2000 years ago, it ages very well.  We saw the line to the ticket box was LONG.  I guess people didn't know they could buy tickets at the Roman Forum.  There were people offering "Skip the Line" tours, no doubt taking advantage of people's impatience.  Since we already got the ticket, we went straight in.  The interior was just amazing for me.  Having watched the Spartacus Blood and Sands, we no doubt imagined what it was like for the gladiators to fight here.  This arena was later declared a holy site by the Pope because of the Christian martyrs killed here by the mad emperor Nero.  We spent about 1 hour exploring the interior.  We tried to find a taxi to go back to the Spanish Steps because we were a bit tired.  It was surprising to find very few taxis in such a popular tourist spot.  We, along with others, waited about 15 minutes to get a taxi.

We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant near our hotel but it wasn't as good as Ikai in Verona.  The rest of the day was spent walking and window shopping in via Condotti and surroundings.  I still prefer Verona's via Mazzini for shopping.  For dinner, we had Chinese food in a different place, which was better and there were a lot of Asian tourits eating there but still not up to real Chinese food's standard.

Our last day in Europe was dedicated to Vatican City.  We took a taxi to the Museum  The line was long and we waited 1 hour in what turned out to be the security line.  The ticket line itself was much shorter (5 minutes).  It was a mistake going to the Museum first because when we exited the museum, the security line was gone.  We should've gone to St. Peter's first.  There were people offering Skip the Line tour but we didn't take it.  They told us the line could take 2 or 3 hours and that the line to the St. Peter's was even longer.  The Vatican Museum itself was pretty cool.  It's similar to the Louvre.  I couldn't really tell the names of the art or which the important artworks were.  My favorite room is the cartography room.  It showed Italy's maps in the past.  I could see Roma, Milano, Napoli, Venezia, Verona etc on the map.  There plenty of groups with tour guides speaking in many different languages, something that was not present in the Louvre.  We finally reached the famed Sistine Chapel, but it wasn't really nice because the staff keep shushing everyone.  Michaelangelo's creation was pretty cool though but we couldn't take a picture of it.  Near the exit was a circular stairs, which was the most photogenic area of the museum.  We bought some Rosaries at the exit.

We then went inside the Vatican City walls and saw St. Peter's Square decorated with a Christmas tree.  After taking pictures, we joined the line to the Basilica.  It was long but moving quickly and we were inside within 30 minutes.  The inside was beautiful but I really couldn't find much difference between the churches we visited (except the size).  I saw Michaelangelo's Pieta near the entrance and was impressed.  We toured the church quickly and got ourselves some Holy Water for souvenir but we must have lost them because we couldn't find them later on.


From there we walked about two blocks to a confectionery store (forgot what it's called ) to buy Amedei chocolates for Souvenirs.  We wanted to catch a taxi back to our hotel but to our surprise, all the taxis refused to used the meter and quoting anywhere from 20 to 30 Euros.  It only cost 10 Euros getting there from the Spanish Steps.  We finally gave up and got a taxi ride for 20 Euros.  The taxi driver apologized and explained that since it was the holiday season, All the taxi drivers had decided not to use the meters because demand was high.  Fair enough, I guess.  We had dinner at Osteria Barberini which was quite good, highly recommended.  We returned to our hotel and packed our bags for home.

We were very happy with our trip and we couldn't have planned it any better. It was indeed the highlight of our lives. We didn't fully explore each city but we hit all the highlights and the must-sees, which what we wanted. There were some great cities left out: Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Athens, Istanbul, Seville, Granada but this will just give us a reason to go back to Europe someday. (I'm already thinking Amsterdam > Berlin > Prague > Vienna, which would be a good route). Our top ten experiences: 10. Feeding swans and ducks in Lake Lucerne. 9. Laduree's Macaroons and Pain Au Chocolat. 8. Disneyland Paris. 7. Walking around in the Eternal City. 6. Riding the vaporetto along the Grand Canal of Venice. 5. Prosciutto in Verona. 4. Neuschwanstein Castle. 3. Everything about London. The museums, musicals, football, everything. 2. Christmas Market in Munich. Once in a lifetime experience because we don't know if we ever visit Europe in winter again. 1. Train Travel across Europe. We're happy to have done it because it would be difficult to do it with parents and kids.