Travelogue
Europe, An Early Promise
by Gilbert Joven
In April 2017 we embarked on our first trip to Europe as
a family (see "Europe
By Eurail" in the Travelogue of our
International website). After our trip we promised ourselves that we shall
return to Europe in 2020. But the travel bug hit us early this year. So in May
2019 we made our early promised trip to Europe, this time we stayed longer in
the cities we visited as follows:
1. Amsterdam, Netherlands
2.
Lucerne, Switzerland
3. Lake Como, Italy
4. Bellagio, Italy
5.
Milan, Italy
6. Lausanne, Switzerland
7. Vevey, Switzerland
We flew on Singapore Airlines with a 4-hour stop over in the beautiful
Changi airport. We left Singapore at 8PM and arrived at Schipol Airport in
Amsterdam at 7AM the following day. We went straight to our hotel, Best Western,
on their
shuttle bus.
1. AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
One of my favorite cities in Europe is
Amsterdam. The capital of Netherlands known for its artistic heritage, elaborate
canal system and narrow houses in gabled facades. The best places to visit are
the Amsterdam Central, the Red Light District, Keukenhof Gardens, the Museum
District where the Van Gogh museum, the artworks by Rembrandt and Vermeer at the
Rijksmuseum and the Anne Frank House are located. Also, going around the city by Trams is
quite exhilirating.
From Amsterdam, we took a 45-min plane trip to
Zurich, Switzerland and a train ride to Lucerne.
2. LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND
Lucerne is the most populous city in Central
Switzerland with 81,058 people (double the population of our Ayala Alabang
Village). Lucerne has one of the city's famous landmarks, The Chapel Bridge, a
wooden bridge erected in the 14th century with paintings on its ceiling vaults,
spanning the River Reuss.
MOUNT PILATUS in Lucerne
Mount
Pilatus is a mountain massif overlooking Lucerne. We took a cable car to reached
the peak of Mount Pilatus, with an elevation of 2,128 meters.
From
Lucerne we took the Eurail to Lake Como in Italy.
3. LAKE COMO,
ITALY
Lake Como is
an upscale resort area known for its dramatic scenery against the foothills
of the Alps. Lake Como is one of the biggest lakes in Europe with a depth of 410
meters. It is also where the house of famous actor George Clooney is located
along the lake. We saw his house but we did not see George Clooney. That's OK,
as I already had coffee with George in Madame Tussaud in Amsterdam he, he, he.
We stayed at the Residence Santabbondio in Lake Como, a fully
furnished 2-story apartel located in front of Duomo De Como Cathedral. The views
on our top apartment are exhilirating.
On our second day we took the
Como-Brunate Furnicular, to the mountain village of Brunate overlooking Lake
Como. The views on top are breaktaking.
On our third day we took the
ferry ride along the lake, going to Bellagio and back. We enjoyed the remarkable
views along the lake as we pass each town with each own distinct cluster of
buildings. Below is the route of the ferry ride from Como to Bellagio.
4. BELLAGIO
Bellagio is a village
jutting out into Lake Como. It is known for its cobbled lanes, elegant buildings
and Villa Serdelloni Park, an 18th century terraced garden with lake views. We did some shopping of Italian leather bags in Bellagio.
5. MILAN
From Lake Como we
took a day trip to Milan, only 33minutes by train.
Milan, a metropolis in Italy's northern lombardy region, is
the global capital of fashion and design. The Gothic Duomo d Milano Cathedral
is the most imposing and beautiful landmark of Milan. Leonardo da Vinci's mural
of "The Last Supper" can also be found in Milan. The door of the Duomo
d Milano features an intricate mural in bronze of the suffering and death of
Jesus Christ.
The sculpture guarding
the Duomo d Milano is that of King Victor Emmanuel 11 on his horse in the battle
of San Martino. The sulpture is flanked by two lions, representing the
Franco-Pietmontese troops during their entrance into Milan in 1859.
6. LAUSANNE
Lausanne is a city on Lake Geneva, a
French speaking region of Vaud, Switzerland. It's the home of the International
Olympic Committee, Olympic Museum and lakeshore Olympic park. It is also where
the International Management Development (IMD) business school where Nestle
sends its top executives for MBA, business executive courses, seminars and
workshops. IMD is considered the best business school in Europe.
7. VEVEY
We visited the Nestle
Center in Vevey, situated along Lac Leman or Lake Geneva. Lac Leman is a
cresent-shaped lake shared between Switzerland and France overlooked by the
Alps. The walk along the banks of Lac Leman is refreshing, it brings back good
memories when I was with the Nestle Center. Don't miss the statue of the world
famous swiss comedian Charlie Chaplin along the lake.
Going back home, we took the train from Laussane to Geneva where we flew to Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. We took the same Singapore Airlines back to the Philippines.