Milan, Italy

26 (Thu) - 27 (Fri) Apr 2012

Lodging: Hotel Paganini, Via Nicolò Paganini 6



1 of 5, one week Italy trip
Milan ✈ Venice ✈ Pisa ✈ Florence ✈ Rome

When I was really really young, I was always able to point Italy out from the world map, owing to its geographical shape which resembles a high heel.
Finally I've got the chance to visit Mario's homeland here in Italy with my fellow SEP buddies and a few friends of theirs who are doing their SEP in Netherlands. First stop - Milan.

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Day 1

As usual, we went southwards from Lund (Sweden) to Copenhagen (Denmark) and flew from there to Milan.

Milano Malpensa Airport (Terminal 2)

There are buses in front of the arrival hall that bring us to the Central Station.

Getting to the city and wow, it really took us a while to locate where the hotel is, by using the not very helpful map that we have. Having no GPS sucks big time.

Syjia, Yiting and I reached Milan first, while the rest of our travel companions will reach later at night due to different flight schedule.

That's a bidet, no idea what you can do with that, and no idea why is it not enclosed.




Pizza Frutti di Mare @ €7.00 & Pizza Margherita @ €4.00
Pizza OK 3, Via Domenico Scarlatti, 3

Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral)

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Castello Sforzesco (Sforza Castle)

Parco Sempione (Simplon Park)

And finally a dinner at Ristorante Pizzeria @ Via Nicola Piccinni with Min Khai, Zing, Kian Sin and Sheng Shi after their arrival.

Can you believe that's the end of our Milan trip?!
Yup, to us, nothing really much can be done in Milan, unless you're serious about shopping.

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Day 2

Off to Venice!

For more photos, please check out my photo album Milan & Venice, Italy on Facebook.

Bratislava, Slovakia

10 Apr 2012 (Tue)

1 of 8, 16 days Central Europe trip

Warsaw ✈ Kraków ✈ Prague ✈ Brno ✈ Vienna ✈ Bratislava ✈ Salzburg ✈ Budapest

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Government Office of the Slovak Republic

There are arguments saying that Vienna and Bratislava are the world's two closest capital cities, separated 60km apart, not counting Vatican City and Rome.

And yes, we did travel from Vienna to Bratislava. It was a half day trip, so we needed to rush a bit to catch our train back to Vienna. Traveling in such manner can sometimes be exciting, as you know you have limited time to visit a country, before the golden carriage turns back to pumpkin.

Grassalkovichova záhrada (Grassalkovich Garden)



Zem - planéta mieru (Earth - planet of peace), Hodžovo námestie



Lasagna Alla Bolognese @ €6.50
Grémium Restaurant & Lounge, Gorkého 11



Hlavné námestie (Main Square)


Slovenské národné divadlo (Slovak National Theatre)


Kostol svätej Alžbety / Modrý Kostolík (Church of St. Elisabeth / Blue Church)



Synagogue, Heydukova


Laurinská brána (Laurinc Gate), Laurinská, Staré Mesto (Old Town)



Katedrála svätého Martina (St. Martin's Cathedral)



Nový most




Bratislavský hrad (Bratislava Castle)

The river behind me is Danube, the second longest river in Europe which passes through 10 countries. Speaking of Danube, everyone should have heard the famous waltz The Blue Danube composed by Johann Strauss II.

Kostol svätého Štefana / Kostol Kapucinov (Capuchin Church)

That ended our intense half day trip in Bratislava, or rather in the country - Slovakia. We managed to catch the train in the evening, back to Vienna.


For more photos, please check out my photo album Bratislava, Slovakia on Facebook.