Venezia, Italy

8th - 10th January 2009

Finally we reached to the end of our Euro Trip. Our last stop before going back to Palazzo Ricasoli, Firenze was Venezia aka Venice. We arrived in Venice via train after a transit in Milan. I love Venice because there were lots and lots of things to look at and shop. I was crazy about murano glass and its jewelleries... after all, it was all about finding the right shop to bargain... bought also some pinnochio puppets and a few gondola models. Amirah was quite ecstatic to see water all around, as if she wanted to jumped into it. we travelled from a place to another via water taxi. cool though... luckily we arrived venice just after the flood but the water condition was not really good.

one of the main attractions that we went was Piazza San Marco, which has the same name as one of the piazzas in Florence. There were lots and lots of birds in this Piazza that made amirah really excited about it. the birds did not scare of human and would come near you if you fed them. so, you can imagine how long we had to spend in that piazza until amirah tired of looking at those birds.

We also took a gondola ride for about 30 -45 mins, lalu belakang rumah rumah orang and through some small channels. the man who gave us the ride somehow did not sing to us and was not wearing the normal uniform that they used to, unlike the one we always saw in the TV. maybe due to its cold wheather. summer aje kot...

Our last night was very splendid. we decided to have a very nice and romantic dinner. after all, we were in venice, weren't we? Papa took mama (and amirah) to a very nice and fine seafood restaurant for the dinner. amirah was very sporting that she slept during the entire dinner... kasi can laa kat mama ngan papa.... hehe... some of the dishes we ordered were spaghetti di frutti di mare and grilled seafood... on the way back, we tapau some eggplant and egg sandwiches for amirah.. somehow, i really loved those eggplant sandwiches... one of the best simple sandwiches that i ate so far..

on the 10th, we departed to Firenze where Papa would start his class again and mama would start to become a full housewife for the next 2 months in Firenze while looking after our lovely daughter, Amirah.. home sweet home :)

Zurich and Lucerne, Switzerland

Engelberg

Engelberg Train station

confident aje si kecik ni jalan atas snow

excited dapat jalan atas snow

on the way to Mt. Titlis, Engelberg

Engelberg

Engelberg

Old Town, Lucerne

Old Town, Lucerne

Old Town, Lucerne

Old Town, Lucerne

Old Town, Lucerne

Old Town, Lucerne

Zurich

5th to 8th January 2009

Finally we arrived in Switzerland! my dream place!!

well, we actually arrived in Zurich late in the evening.. after so many transits in Germany... somehow there were problems with the ICE train that for a certain reason, it did not stop where we were supposed to before changing to another train. anyway, we arrived in Zurich safely in Zurich SBB Station, right in the middle of Zurich city. It was colder in Zurich, as expected. even the water of the fountain located outside the station was frozen.

Our hotel located at the outskirt of the city, which was closer to the airport (lupa pulak tak naik kapal terbang laaa).. luckily the train system was really good there and quite near to the hotel to. The hotel (NH Zurich Airport Hotel) offered good facilities, about the same standard as the Mercure Hotel. we were so glad about that.

London, Amsterdam

Oxford, rumah Fakhrul

met with Malaysian family

London Eye

ICE train to Switzerland, transit in Germany

tak nak share ngan papa n mama

Hard Rock Cafe Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Big Ben

Green Park near to Buckingham Palace

30th December 08 - 1st January 2009

New year in London! We departed from Nice's Airport to London City Airport, London. Although we spent only 2 days in Nice, we really had a great time as it was a really nice and great place.. kalau laa banyak duit, mesti aku beli rumah kat sini... hehe

4 days and 3 nights in London.... apa lagi, sight seeing all around london la... well, pictures do tell more than the words, so paste pics aje laa kat sini... we bought 2 days bus tour via Big Bus Sightseeing Tour (Hop on - Hop off) to bring us around London. generally we went to see the followings:

1) Buckingham Palace
2) Big Ben
3) London Bridge
4) London Eye
5) Westminster Abbey
6) Trafalgar Square
7) Tower Bridge

We also went to Oxford to pay a visit to our ex-MRSM Taiping's friend Fakhrul Rozy and wife, Shaliza. Both of them are currently working as architects in Oxford. Stayed a few hours there, talking and updating ourselves. Thanks for the hospitality! Sedap nasi ayam derang buat... Amirah pulak sibuk 'mengemas' aka menyemak rumah derang dengan mengacau bookshelves yg ada kat situ... aiyooo

late that evening, we went back to hotel to rest. In london, although there were so many sales and offers at that time, we restrained ourselves from shopping as our baggages were really really full and we could not afford to bring any other additional things. However, I managed to grab some Victoria Secret's stuffs at the Gatwick Airport before departing to Amsterdam, our next stop of the tour!



2nd - 4th January 2009

Amsterdam.... ooo i really really love tulips.... sayang bukan spring time... kalau spring for sure i would be able to see tulips blooming everywhere... well, unfortunately amirah was not feeling very well when we arrived in amsterdam... fever and flu... even mama was also suffering the fever in amsterdam.. we only managed to visit the amsterdam downtown and a must visit place of Hard Rock Cafe... most of the time, we stayed in the hotel and rest as much as possible so that we can spent our best time when we went to Switzerland next....luckily the hotel that we chose in Amsterdam was good, the Mercure Hotel... so, we really did not mind to spend our day in the hotel... :)

Paris, Nice @ French Riviera, Monaco

Hotel De Paris, Monaco

Hotel De Paris, Monaco

Eze Village (Amirah tido)

Jalan Jalan kat Les Champs-Elysee

Arc De Triomphe, Paris

Musee D'Orsay - Vincent Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles

Eiffel Tower

aduhai.... berkurun laa kan nak update blog ni... ok... by hook or by crook.... ill try my best to finish updating on our Euro trip by today... it may take the whole day... but who cares la...

26th December 2008
We went for a sightseeing around paris. went to the Paris's must visit place of Eiffel Tower. it was so cold and windy but Amirah seemed to enjoy running around on the greens of the Eiffel Tower. she enjoyed so much that she did not even care of the thick clothes that she was wearing and the gloves that we forced her to put on. at the end, mama and papa yang penat of chasing amirah around...

after that, she felt so tired and fall asleep. since we had the Paris Pass Card with us, we decided to go for a cruise along the Siene River via the Bateaux Parisien River Cruise which was just across the street of the Eiffel tower. The cruise last for approximately 1 hour and amirah missed the cruise as she slept all way during the cruise.

After the cruise, we took a metro to the Musee d'Orsay, where lies the masterpiece of my favorite artist of Vincent Van Gogh! it was spectacular although not all of his paintings were there. the rest of them must be in the Van GoAmsterdam Museum Besides Van Gogh, there were also Manet, Monet, Delacroix, Renoir, etc.. Thanks to the Paris Pass Card again, we did not have to join the long queue.

27th December 2008
Went to see Mona Lisa in the Louvre, jalan jalan n shopping shopping kat Arc Te Triomphe, managed to get a nice Adidas jacket with a good price and a few Adidas USB bracelets with only 1 pound each and finally we ended up eating at the Hard Rock Cafe while buying some souveniers over there.
Headed to Nice the next day!

28th December 2008
Departed to Nice via TGV train. The journey took us about 5-6 hours. Amirah as usual, happily mingling around with everybody in the train and she even managed to made some friends with 2 French little girls. Although they were speaking with different languages, somehow they managed to play together in the train. The girls took out some small toys and figurines and passing around between themselves and amirah, macam main masak masak laa lebih kurang. of course laa papa laa kan kena took care of her since she was busy moving around here and there. while mama managed to get a video shot of them playing. hehehe... pandai amirah buat kawan

29th December 2009
Went a half day tour to Eze Village, a very nice village at the countryside before headed to Monaco. We also stopped by at the Fragonard Perfume Factory. We had a short tour of the factory on how the perfume, soap, and some other Fragonard products were made. The procedure looked very simple but the price was quite expensive. we bought a set of non-alcohol solid perfume which looked like a balm but in actual, it was a perfume, guys!