Zermatt

We woke up early and caught the train to Brig, which is in Switzerland just across the boarder. They had the police come through with the sniffer dog checking eveyones bags and passports for boarder control. They took the lady in front of us off the train. Slightly scary. not really sure what was going on.





Then we arrived in Brig and got some food. Yup this is food at a train station. It was delicious! The we rode the train into the valley of Zermatt. A very touristy town that offers many activities. We got moved to a different hotel, and then another different one. It worked in our favor that it was a four star hotel switch up.






Our hotel and the view from our balcony. We got to sleep with the windows open and the fresh mountain air rolling in.









Did I mention that people love Orchids in Europe they are everywhere! Our room wasn't quite ready yet so we went to eat at a local restaurant and had very excellent food from a wildfire grill.








Check out the colorful swiss fancs! And we bought some Swiss chocolates for dessert.






The views and town of Zermatt were absolutely beautiful. The main mountain thrill their is the Matterhorn. We rode a gondola up to the Klein Matterhorn. It was amazing. We took video. We even did went inside of a glacier at the top.






The gondola ride up.



That tiny city below is Zermatt! It looks pretty small now!


At the top of the Klien Matterhorn






Inside Glacier paradise, they had a slide. It was amazing!






This is the glacier we were in


At a mountain lift stop on the way down


Nothing beats a good alpine horn demonstration


One last look at the Matterhorn and the way down!

Location:Zermatt, Switzerland

Milan

Arriving in Milan was easy. Accept we forgot to validate out train ticket before boarding, lucky us, the train conductor didn't notice while checking everyoes ticket! The hotel was fairly simple to find. Get on the main drag and take a right. There she was! The best hotel wasn't that great but it did just fine for a stop and go type of place. It is more clean, no bad smells, and people were very business oriented. The subways on the other hand were packed with people. Sometimes transit was tight and needless to say disgusting. I saw way to much armpit hair from ladies who would be holding onto the subway railing inside.


We took the subway to see the duomo. Strict rules on your shoulders being covered and men to nave pants on. The inside was dark and gloomy with lots of awesome stain glass windows. Inside the church above the alter hung very high is a nail from jesus's cruxifiction. It was crazy to be in that presence. Little red light shines on it. Then they also had some of the crown of thorns and bones and hair of every apostle kept in a box called the treasury.














The we took an elevator to the top of the doumo for a birds eye view of the city and all of the statues on the spires of the church. The golden Mary is the protector of the city.








Sweet water spout and gargoyle


Next we went to the Leonardo Da Vinci museum in Milan. It was dumb and I took no pictures. We were both tired and cranky by this point and wanted to go back to the hotel. But we didn't. Instead we ate some gelato for energy and trudged onward. Next we went to the Victorio Emmanuel Gallery. This has a glass roof and dome and has many expensive shops in it.





In here their is a tradition that one must spin their foot in the heal of the little bulls testicles. Apparently they have to replace that section on the marble flooring every few years because it gets rubbed raw. We took a video of it.





Later on we went shopping. More like I went shopping and Chris was a good sport. I got three new dresses from Milano and a scarf that is quite popular over here. I am obsessed with this store. It is called promod. It reminds me of express. I may be ordering from the Internet in the future!

Location:Milan, Italy

Venice

We started off the morning with a good hearty traditional breakfast cooked up by Marco himself. We had croissants filled with jam, cereal, and some S shaped cookies that I am in love with. Here is where we ate breakfast on the back terrance.


Next we walked out to the main street and went past Grom, which is a gourmet gelato place that prides itself on being organic! We ate their yesterday but decided to snap a picture. This was a Rick Steves recommendation.


We went to a Tragatto area where you pay 1 euro for them to boat you across to the other side of the main canal. We were going to their local early morning fish market and veggie market. Over in italy, they but most eveything from farmers markets, bakeries, and butchers. It's awesome. All fresh ingredients with no preservatives.











Next we walked to the SanMarco square. On the way we saw some equine meat and an awesome rat tail thar Chris made me get a picture of.





San Marco square is beautiful and full of lots of tourists! All the cruise ships dock up and people get off for the day. Here is the duomo, dodges palace, the bridge of sighs, and the tower. The bridge of sighs is the last view that prisoners got to see of Venice before they were jailed for life! We never went inside the church, the line was to long, And we hate waiting in lines that are in the sun.



Inside doges palace.





They had horse armory, and a disheartening chastity belt.






Inside the bridge of sighs and prison






Your last view!
From the outside street view.


The duomo and cafe FloriAn, super expensive but a lot of famous people have been there, including the real casonova.






Gondola ride! 80 euro for 35minutes. Yikes! But it was romantic and a once in a life time opportunity.



Going under a bridge!



Our gondolier and boat



Next was a pub crawl. This means we went around to all these small holes in the wall and ate traditonal venetian food, more like Chris did, I ate bread. Chris tried all the house wines and ate from the selections of "chiquette" which is a buffet of small appetizers behind the counter that they Are famous for.



This place was our favorite. Chris is drinking their famous strawberry wine, which was super good!






Disgusting... Fried baby octopi



But a gorgeous last picture of Venice

Location:Venice Italy