Europe is a strange and colorful country, the main thing is that the cultural and artistic atmosphere there, as well as the humanities landscape to bring people an unlimited impact, and the local architectural style is also a major feature, China's traditional architectural style is known up and down the 5000 years of Greater China, and the European architectural style is more inclined to the old fortress style, so to travel here, the architectural style here is also allows you to find not The same beauty, my this European tour mainly to Italy's Switzerland as the main.
1, five fishing villages - colorful fishing villageFrom Florence by train to Levanto train station, you can take the small train between the five fishing villages to the accommodation village Manarola.
The five fishing villages (CinqueTerre) is located in the Italian Liguria region (Liguria) Laspezia province sea coast area, is Monterossoal Almare (Monterossoal
Mare), Vernazza (Vernazza), Corniglia (Corniglia), Manarola ( Manarola), Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore, collectively the five villages and towns.
A day's stay in the five fishing villages was quite satisfactory, and we booked a tiny sea-view room. It was only afterwards that I realized that the cover photo automatically assigned to the Poor Traveler's Itinerary page was of the Five Fishing Villages, and the small window of the room we stayed in was surprisingly featured on the cover.
Sea view in the window
Seaside terrace used by the B&B***
The Five Fishing Villages are famous for their colorful houses high and low on the seashore, which attracts a lot of tourists (mostly Chinese) to visit. The villages can be reached by a small train, but if you want to hike, you have to pass through a national park between the villages and need to buy a separate ticket.
Famous cover photo
Trains coming and going on the beach
The sandy beaches of Riomaggiore
The only village in the Five Fishing Villages that has a sandy beach is Riomaggiore, which has average sandy beaches and a lot of people.
Monterosso Station
Though the sea view is pleasant, but overall, the five fishing villages are too commercial, I can't help but be a little disappointed, perhaps because of the domestic tourism industry speculation, there are a lot of tourists here, the majority of Chinese, mostly with the group.
After a brief tour in the village, I felt that in addition to that cover photo, the town of colorful houses is no more than that. Five fishing village national park hiking environment is also not very attractive, and the price of admission, the scorching sun, a rare stay in a sea-view room, we decided to beautiful sunbathing. We at the B&B's seaside terrace, facing the sea, eating pizza, from the sunny, until the sunset, nightfall, before reluctantly end the day.
Sunset sea
Sunset seaside colorful small buildings
Night lights on
Gradually light up the village
It is said that the scenery here because too much, and prohibit tourists to take pictures, many tourists will not be able to understand, too much why not let the photo? Swiss official explanation is, "There is nothing else, that is, our scenery is really too beautiful, for fear that you put the photos on the Internet, so that those who can not come here feel very painful, very unhappy, very frustrated", after all, we are here all year round, no matter how you shoot, are as beautiful as a picture ah showdown, to see here I can not help but think of a sentence, don't ask me why the ho, rich I want to be how the ho how the ho! The first thing you need to do is to get your hands on some of the most popular products and services in the world.
The next morning, the end of the beach leisure day, we continue to take the train to Milan.
This time, the train is a 6-person compartment with passengers sitting opposite each other. After traveling for a long time, we could still see the sea view from the window.
2. Sforza CastleArriving in the fashion capital of Mulan, the style changed instantly.
Milan train station is very grand, people bustling, arrived here, feel again to the metropolis.
Milan train station
Milan city is relatively large, there is a subway, the train station out of the subway to reach the accommodation. The rooms are simple and comfortable, and the accommodations are conveniently located, as always, next to the Milan Cathedral, with most of the sights within walking distance.
After a brief rest and recuperation, we went to the first stop in Milan - Sforza Castle.
The castle was built in the 14th century by the Counts of Sforza and later became the residence of the Sforza family, the ruling family of the Renaissance centered in Milan.
The castle is square with a large park surrounded by high walls. Inside there is a museum. Da Vinci was also involved in the planning of the castle during its later expansion.
Sforza Castle
Inside the castle
Here, I met a group of Italian dudes in suits, roadside performances, all kinds of musical instruments ensemble, singing in unison, the song is very cheerful, and also special buds changing legs, simply put me bad fancy, Mr. L pull a few times can not leave, Italy is really the country of the dudes, Italian dudes wearing Italy is really a country of handsome men, Italian handsome men wearing suits are simply handsome. The Italian guys in their suits are really cool. It's a pity that there are too many onlookers, so I didn't leave a HD close-up picture.
Suited handsome group of good-sounding playing and chorus
Park near the castle
In the park next to the castle on the grass, lying full of people sunbathing. Here, sunbathing is as much a crowd-pleasing pastime as square dancing, and even the dogs have taken up the hobby.
Sunbathing people and dogs
At the end of the meadow is the Peace Gate, the origin of which can be said to be quite embarrassing, in 1807 Napoleon to celebrate his victory in the Battle of Europe and built this triumphal arch, the door is not yet completed the construction of the Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. After the war, in 1826, Milan's ruler Francesco renamed the Arc de Triomphe the Gate of Peace, above which a bronze statue of the Goddess of Peace holding an olive branch stood on a chariot drawn by six horses.
Peace Gate
Milan is definitely a big city in Italy, and for environmental reasons, streetcars are very common here, which is quaint and lovely.
The Tram Ride
The tram ride took us to the Santa Maria Monastery, which isn't too well known in its own right, except for the fact that Leonardo da Vinci's frescoes of The Last Supper are here, and since we hadn't booked it in advance, we took a brief tour and left.
St. Mary's Monastery
3, Milan CathedralThe next day, came to Milan Cathedral. When I first saw the cathedral, I was really shocked. To here, also know that every city often see duomo original is the meaning of the main church.
Milan Cathedral (Duomodi
Milano) is located in the center of Milan, Italy, Cathedral Square, where the architectural style is the most distinctive, using a number of architectural methods, is a combination of different architectural styles, where if you are a person who likes architecture, then come here but it will certainly be full of praise, a lot of tourists are attracted by the architectural style of here. The city's architectural style has attracted many tourists.
Milan Cathedral
The side of the church
The square in front of the church has a lot of pigeons, which is the most pigeons I have seen in Europe.
In the square, we were surprised to run into a couple taking wedding photos, attracting crowds of spectators, no surprise, it was Chinese. After traveling so far, we still can't avoid the comrades who take wedding photos at the attractions. But it's hard enough to dress up in this outfit on such a hot day.
Couples taking wedding photos in front of the cathedralThe square in front of the cathedral has become a must-see spot for wedding photos, and the front of the cathedral from a distance feels more like a certain crown
We bought tickets to the top of the cathedral, and there were a lot of people lining up to climb to the top, and we lined up for two hours under the scorching sun, and then finally realized that the wrong team was in the line, and the elevator team and the stairway team were lined up separately. We had to go back to the walk-up line and re-arrange it, and the foreigner couple who had been behind us watched us leave with very sympathetic eyes.
Small minarets
The small minarets that adorn the upper part of the church are already elaborate from a distance, and when you look at their construction up close, they are complex and varied. No wonder this church was built six centuries ago. In the past, I often heard that the western cathedral repair a few centuries, still do not know why, this time is to see is to believe.
Overlooking the square
Top of the church
After visiting the church, we went to the Emanuele II promenade next to the cathedral.
Built in 1865, the Promenade Emanuele II, with its overall cross-shaped structure, is an important shopping mecca in Milan, with a wide range of luxury brand stores scattered throughout the interior, as well as a number of chic cafes, restaurants and bookstores. There's also a seven-star hotel, the Townhouse
Galleria, and there's also an Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
Here still see the Chinese market grabbed some stores, you can see our Chinese goods have begun to gradually to the world, as a Chinese people see these times or sincerely feel very proud.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
4, fashion quadrilateral and Milan canalsTo Milan, or have to go to Milan Canal side of the sneak around, feel the old Milan style. Because the canal district is an old Milan neighborhood, there are many small stores and artists' studios along the banks, and we walked along the canals for a while, which was very charming.
Canals of Milan
Finally, of course, we had to go to the Fashion Quadrilateral, a representative location of the fashion capital.
The Fashion Quadrilateral, located in the first district of Milan, is a commercial area surrounded by four streets that concentrate the stores and studios of many of the most important fashion brands. The four streets are Via Montenapoleone (via
Montenapoleone), Via Manzoni, Via Spiga, and Corso Venezia.
Many girls here should have a pilgrimage to the excitement of it, but unfortunately, I'm not very enlightened in this regard, so I don't know why I strolled around, visited the beauty of the buy buy buy and roadside luxury cars, on the way to a Chinese man with his whole family to buy buy buy buy, wearing a finger on the neck of the big thick gold chain, it really surprised me. No wonder many people abroad look at the Chinese as if they were looking at RMB.
Luxury cars on the roadside
If the five fishing villages are colorful and natural, Milan is a fashionable place. As a Chinese traveler, it seems that both should not be unfamiliar; however, when you step on this land, you can still let people can't help themselves, which is a good indication of its charm. After Milan all the way to the north, we will arrive at the last stop of this trip in Italy - the Italian-Swiss border town of Como.
Free Travel Tips
About Transportation
Switzerland I chose the Swiss Pass, which can be purchased on the Eurail website. The Swiss Pass is good for trains (excluding mountain trains from private rail companies), boats (including Lake Leman to France), public **** transportation, and most castles and museums. Passes are available at various discounts for the Jungfrau special train and the Matterhorn mountain train.
There are two types of Swiss passes, continuous and discontinuous, and the discontinuous one requires that the date of use of the Swiss pass be determined in advance. Continuous pass can be used continuously within the validity period
About the museums there
Going to Italy, naturally, it is inevitable that you have to visit those awesome museums, although as an art white guy I said that I don't understand much, but look forward to a bit of it is a must. Many museums can be booked in advance, usually two months in advance. Booking in advance can save you the hassle of waiting in a big line.
To carry a list of items
(1) documents class: passport to carry, passport home page copy with 2 copies, passport home page photo deposited into the cell phone and IPAD, mailbox a copy.
(2) orders: trip booklet, air ticket and train ticket orders, hotel orders, insurance policy print out a copy of each person, cell phone and IPAD to save the electronic version, mailbox a copy.
(3) consumer categories: credit cards, Huaxia Bank debit card (Huaxia Bank debit card outside the UnionPay logo on the ATM machine daily withdrawals of the first three without fees, withdrawals for the local currency, to the day the exchange rate settlement), euro cash (euro cash do not have to bring too much, more to exchange some of the smaller denominations of the change is more convenient, the large amount of money spent on the general can be swiped card), Swiss francs.
(4) daily necessities: insulated cups, toiletries, razors, ponchos, sunglasses, umbrellas, sunscreen, skin care products, shampoo, paper, empty plastic bags, pens, books. If you have the habit of drinking hot water, it is recommended to bring an electric kettle, many hotels in Europe do not have the tools to boil hot water.
(5) Electronics: cell phone and charger, camera and charger, ipad and charger, conversion plug, mobile wifi.
(6) Clothing: T, pants, skirts, silk scarf, thin jacket, fleece jacket, socks, underwear, light shoes. If you go in summer, pay attention to sun protection, Tuscany sun is still very strong. Ladies can prepare a silk scarf, into the church sleeveless tops or short skirts can be tied before entering.
(7) medicines: cold medicine, diarrhea medicine, antipyretic, band-aid and so on.
(8) Others: a small, close-fitting, invisible fanny pack, an empty large bag, etc.
About the itinerary
First stop Rome: Walking in Rome - monuments, churches, castles and others
Second stop Florence: Sunset in Florence - Walking in Tuscany