Lauterbrunnen & Swiss Alps

This place is one of my childhood favorite of all times. For a long period I have been dreaming to travel to Swiss and thanks God I had the chance to visit this country. After Italy our next destination is Swiss, and once again we decided not to go to the capital of the country. We preferred to go to the more nature place which is Lauterbrunnen! And one of our goals is to conquer the top of the Europe, Jungfrau J From Pisa in Italy we need to drive further up to the north about 6 hours passing through Milan (we will come to you next time) and crossed the border Swiss-Italy.

Zurich? Maybe next time :)

 If you are considering traveling by train from any place in Switzerland (or neighboring country), you may take international train connections to Interlaken; there are several direct trains - others connect through Bern or Spiez. Exit at the Interlaken West or at the Interlaken Ost Railway station, depending on your train, or location of your accommodation, or further travel plans. When traveling to Interlaken from either Central Switzerland (Lucerne region) or from the Lake Geneva region (Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux), please consider getting on the scenic train Golden Pass.

So for the whole 6 hours journey from Pisa to Lauterbrunnen was filled up with spectacular view and we really really wound up when we reached the Interlaken region. The scenery of Lake Como and Lake Lugano cought our eyes and I think view was fantastic and incredible! Interlaken is captivating and a must for every Swiss visit! The small town between the cristal-clear lakes of Thun and Brienz is surrounded by Alpine pearls such as sparkling streams, fantastic falls and extraordinary mountain scenery including the famous peaks of the Eiger, the Moench and the Jungfrau. From the Interlaken it took like half an hour more to go to our stay. We didn’t stay at Interlaken because we had another plan; to make things more amusing tonight we decided to sleep in a valley in between gigantic snow-cap mountains with waterfalls in front of our place; Lauterbrunnen J

Purposely we stopped here in the middle of the road to capture the nice view of Alps 

The next morning we have a full day to explore the Alps and of course conquering the Jungfrau. It offers all the visitors an awesome view as we take the cog railway up into the mountains to the summit of the Jungfrau Mountain (3454m), a scenic journey taking about 1 and half hours. Whilst at the summit beside the incredible views you can explore the ice palace, and if the weather is fine try your hand at skiing or enjoy a ride on the flying fox (Remember to bring your sunglasses, jacket and suitable footwear if you are planning to venture into the mountains). But for those not taking the excursion to the Jungfrau you can visit the unique Trummmelbach falls (10 amazing waterfalls in a cave) or hike the many trails of the mountains.

Lovely view from our stay

Very cozy coffe shop; befeore heading to the top of mountain

So refreshing :))

We took the train to Murren before started our trekking to Jungfrau

We love this place

See how happy and lovely she was

Playyyyy timeeee

Say bye bye to the Great Alps

All in all Swiss Alps is the most suitable place for any couples who wanted a memorable vacation. I think for us this place was fantastic and worth every penny. You will find that, not only the nature and scenery but the people the food and the air will make you smile all day long J

Pisa Tower

Our last stop in Italy was Pisa, one of the most famous spot that all travelers in the world will visit. For me when someone talks about Pisa, I will start to imagine some of creative and artistic poses that I will definitely do in front of the legendary leaning tower. So from Florence, we headed west about 1 hour journey to reach Pisa. As usual you can either drive or else there are buses and trains that take around 1.5 hours from Florence. It’s not a long drive but because we head off a bit late from Florence plus the traffic was heavy during that time, we reached our stay in Pisa quite late.  However we were so excited that after settled down and had our dinner we immediately started to walk around and headed to the Pisa Tower.While we were walking en route for the tower, I cant stop my mind from imagining how it will look like; Pisa at night J

This is Pisa at nighttime 

Smile smile

What is so funny?

Tiredness detected hehe

The best thing to be here at night is that you will own the place yourself. You don’t have to que just to take your pictures; you can take as many as you want. For a person that is shy like me, you are recommended to come at this time because you can do whatever you want to do, you know..weird poses J

So early morning we were here again, there were few couples there too. Ohh before I forget, before you enter the compound you will find a lot of booth selling souvenirs and it’s pretty cheap. Plus point they can speak Malay Language hehe and we can bargain although the price was really cheap compare to other places we stopped before. Back to the tower, we were happy that the weather was very good made the scenery so stunning and beautiful.

The leaning tower and the cathedral square

It's not easy for me haha

From my reading the leaning tower actually was a human mistake. I thought it was caused by mother nature. Known as Torre Pendente di Pisa in Italian, it is different than most medieval architecture. This particular section won't cover the highly advanced construction techniques that were used, it is important to mention how this tower's design is significant. The Leaning Tower is the third oldest building on Pisa'sPiazza del Duomo (cathedral square), the Cathedral and Baptistry were first.Utilizing many columns and archs, this tower represents an advanced understanding of weight and load characteristics, showing the Italian architectures' knowledge. Poor to the tower the architect didn't account for however, was the base of the tower being built on a dense section of clay.

Besides the tower there are few more historic attractions, you can explore the like of:

The Duomo - One of the oldest Romanesque cathedrals in Tuscany , the Duomo is beautiful in every sense of the word. The architecture is breathtaking and stunning, and it is a guarantee that you will be blown away by the intricate detail and the magnificent construction.

The Bell Tower - Okay, admit it; this is the real reason that you're going to Pisa. Come prepared for a surreal experience as you climb the stairs to the top of this world famous tower.

The Baptistery - Across from the Duomo, the Baptistery is unlike any Gothic structure you'll ever see. Stonework and original carvings from hundreds of years ago are still present and just as enticing to the eye.

All in all Pisa Tower is very interesting and worth to be visited, as it is one of the seven wonders of the middle ages, and its popularity is as strong as ever that you should make a stop here and see yourself the magnificent of the one and only leaning tower in the world ( i think back in Malaysia we also has one leaning tower in Perak ) :)  

Florence

There are so many places to go in Italy but always time is the reason that makes us to decide where we wanted to go next. Thus, after Venice we agreed to carry on our journey to quest and explore 2 more places in Italy which are Florence and Pisa. So from Venice we went south about 3 hours to reach Florence. If you are not driving you may opt to take a train and it will take 4 hours to be at the Florence Station. If I am not mistaken it will make a stop at Bologna before reaching Florence. The journey on the road was so breathtaking and spectacular it makes me feel like stopping every minute to take the pictures hehe. Many of us will definitely go for famous and iconic city like Milan or Rome. So why we picked Florence?

This is because Florence which is the capital of Italy’s Tuscany region is famous for its history: a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, it is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages". Not only that but it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Florence has been an important city in Italian fashion, being ranked in the top 51 fashion capitals of the world; furthermore, it is a major national economic centre, as well as a tourist and industrial hub.

So it is easy to understand why we select for Florence; history, architecture, and of course fashion. Famous points that attract a lot of tourists here are like Piazzale Michelangelo, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vechhio and Florence Cathedral.

This is the main square where we will start to explore the city

It's a WOW by just looking at this stunning architecture

Breakfast at one of the cafe in the piazza. The margarita pizza tasted different compared to Pizza Hut and Dominos hehe

This is what will happen when tourist get wifi :)

Florence is like a heaven if you are into leather goods

Some desserts perhaps before shopping?

Definitely yo will find most famous and luxury brand in the square

Adorable art :) you will find a lot of Michelangelo's art work around

Time to go and we shall meet again Florence!

We finished our tour at Florence that evening and headed to the last place in Italy.