Switzerland!!

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Greetings from Switzerland! We arrived here after an amazing train journey from Lake Como. There were huge, huge mountains (some snow capped) and beautiful clear green streams and lakes. It was really picturesque and really enjoyable.

So, news since we last updated. After Cinque Terre we went to Milan for 2 nights. Mixed feelings about Milan. The shops of course were impressive and completely over the top (as expected). Unfortunately our budget didn't extend to the 20,000 euro roberto cavalli dress...... Did manage to find some shops that were reasonably priced and bought a few things (of course...). The Duomo was beautiful and the main city area was fairly nice. Nowhere near the beauty and atmosphere of Rome though. There were also some dodgy areas proabably best not mentioned here.... The highlight was definitely seeing the Last Supper painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. The lady at our B&B was kind enough to reserve us tickets a few months ago as tickets sell out as soon as they are released. Due to the fragile state of the painting there are only 15-20 people allowed in the chapel at once for only 15 minutes. Pete was surprised at the size (it is quite big) - about 9 or 10 metres wide. We had an audio guide explaining the history of the painting which was really interesting. It was quite amazing being in the chapel and seeing the painting close up. It was a really special experience.

We then moved on to Lake Como. We stayed in a village about 1 hour from Como, directly across the lake from Bellagio. We had an amazing hotel room with 2 balconies right on the water. The view of Bellagio was fantastic! It is a stunning place, mountains all around the lake and beautiful Villas everywhere. We stayed in Cadennabia and visited the towns of Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio. The scenery is beautiful but there is not much to do there and 2 nights was a perfect amount of time to stay.

So we are now in Lucerne for 2 nights and then move on to Zurich. First impressions of Lucerne are great. it is a gorgeous little town (only 60,000 people) with pretty buildings, bridges and churches. Off to explore more tomorrow.

Hope all is well back in Australia. Keep us updated with your news. Will add some photos when we can.

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