Tscha… what?

Tschagguns, a little village in the Montafon valley was where we decided to go see if the hills are indeed alive with the sound of music. It is one of those little towns where it seemed everybody knew everybody. We had dinner at a restaurant one night and the waitresses were just chatting with everybody! It kind of felt like we were intruding on some big dinner party, but nonetheless we enjoyed ourselves.

Spectacular hiking trails

Beautiful place to see the alps
(much cheaper than Switzerland)

Great food!

The weather was great when we were there so we managed to do some hiking as we had planned. Since it wasn’t peak season yet, there weren’t many tourists around and we had the trails more or less to ourselves. As Tschagguns was such a little town, we felt really safe even when we were walking around with no one else around. The downside is that there were very few restaurants/ cafes where we could stop and take a break. All in all, a very pretty town to get some fresh mountain air before heading back to a big city again.  

Unobstructed views of greenery

Free alpine water

To paraphrase Shakespeare…

Two people, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene

From tiny Singapore, setting off on an adventure

Where discoveries are made and new experiences gained

Ok, that was really bad, but I am obviously no Shakespeare, otherwise I would be a published author by now :p

So, fair Verona, where we went to get one last fix of Italy before we head off to the rest of Europe. We did actually managed to squeeze in one final meal at Gargenelli where we had fabulous food way back in February. We kept talking about the food there and since it was kind of on our way (actually 2hr detour) to Verona, we just had to make a pit stop there. The food was every bit as delicious as we imagined and it was great to go there for one last time.

Words cannot describe our love for the food here

neither can the pictures express enough

We started the day in Verona, visiting what else but a church. Well we were in Italy afterall so visiting a church was definitely in order. We visited Basilica of San Zeno famed for its façade as well as for being the place of marriage between Romeo and Juliet. BUT it was undergoing major restoration, so we actually couldn’t see the façade. The bronze doors were quite a work of art though. They were assembled from different periods and from different artists and depicted scenes from the New Testament as well as the Old Testament. There was also a crypt which had a ‘forest of columns’ and they even had the body of Saint Zeno, the patron saint of Verona, preserved in the urn in the apse. It was a little freaky but interesting.

Intricately cast bronze doors

After getting a fix of some lovely Italian food which we will miss so much, we went to the famous Casa di Giulietta aka the location of the famous balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. If you are so inclined, you could actually pay 4 euros (I think) to enter the house, pose on the balcony and make-believe you are Juliet wondering ‘wherefore art thou Romeo’. Otherwise if you are like me, you just enter the courtyard for free and laugh at all the silly women posing on the balcony above. 

Beautiful Juliet once stood there wondering
(the balcony is fake by the way, built for tourists)

Today tourists stand there waiting for their Romeo to take their photo

There is also a bronze statue of Juliet in the courtyard and its supposed to be good luck to rub her right breast for luck, we thought it was too pervy to do so we gave that a miss. Finally, it seems to be quite the thing to scrawl various messages of love on the wall near the courtyard. We saw this teenage boy climbing on top of his friends to scrawl a message but he only brought a ball-point pen to do it! Totally pointless…

Wall of sweet nothings
(Graffiti to me)

Verona was touristy and a little tacky but still pretty fun to walk around. It was a good to say our farewells to Italy before heading towards the Sound of Music!

Cinque, cinque, cinque

We loved Italy so much we decided that we just had to go back there again before we see the rest of Europe. Thus, we found ourselves at Riomaggiore where we were planning to hike along the various trails at Cinque Terre.

Riomaggiore, an amazing place

Cinque Terre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and we have actually heard about this place from another traveler when we were in Turkey. He made the place sound so wonderful we thought we had to check it out, and after reading about it and learning about the wonderful views, it became a must-see on our list.

Nicely paved "trekking" paths

Though it was already April, sadly only one of the five trails in the national park was opened for hiking. Luckily our hotel, L’Arcobaleno, had another hiking trail just behind it so we were able to do at least two hikes during our time at Riomaggiore. We chose to stay at Riomaggiore as its supposed to be the most picturesque town, however I think all five towns are lovely in their own ways and during the peak period, its really more an issue of which hotels have rooms rather than which town to stay in.

After getting a good night’s rest, we made our way up the trail nearer our hotel. It was a pleasant hike though some parts were rather difficult to climb. Of course everything was worth it when we finally reached the top and saw the view. There were actually quite a few people who were picnicking up there, though we only brought water and biscuits it was enough to sustain us til we had lunch.

Spectacular coastal formations 

Next, we made our way down and walked along Via dell’Amore, which is the first segment of the official hiking trail that links the five villages together. It’s actually completely flat and nicely paved, so you can even wear high heels and go there to ‘park tor’. You do have to pay 5 euros for the privilege of walking down that pathway but the view is really gorgeous so it’s worth it.  Apparently the thing for couples to do is to write their names on a lock and close it along one of the fences along the trail, I always thought it was a Korean thing from all the dramas I watch but it seems to be a pretty worldwide phenomenon. The funny thing is, we actually saw workmen cutting away locks from the fences in the evening, so I guess its just a never-ending cycle of placing locks and removing locks, at least it creates jobs all year round, lol…

                                                        Before                                                         After

After the short walk down Via dell’Amore, we ended up in the town of Manarola where we had a traditional Italian meal at Trattoria da Billy. It was pretty hidden but we managed to get directions from a few locals. The restaurant is well-known for seafood and while I was trying to decide which fish to get, the owner brought out one whole tray of fresh fish and laid it in front of me to choose!!! Later after we ordered, he took out a lobster for another table to see, lol… The meal was everything a good Italian meal should be, fresh ingredients perfectly prepared. After we finished our lunch, the owner appeared with 2 bottles of spirits and offered on the house, and in his words, "If you want to fxxx tonight, you drink this, otherwise you drink this." Haha…. Pretty funny guy.  

Which one would you take?

We then hiked a little around Manarola and since the other trails weren’t opened, we took a boat to the other towns so we could wander around. The most amazing part of the place is probably how many locals still stay there and make their livelihood from farming and fishing. Though there are quite a few tourists, it still manages to retain its charm and not be completely overtaken by tourism yet. The scenery at Cinque Terre was just breath taking and oh so lovely.

                                                                                   Breathtaking 

We had planned to finish the day by catching the sunset at Via dell’Amore however our stomachs couldn’t fend off the hunger so we gave up, lol… Here's a shot we managed to catch before running off for dinner. Simply amazing! 

Money, money, money…

must be funny, in a rich man’s world!

One square kilometre of opulence

And where else can you find such a concentration of millionaires, billionaires, and gazillionaires except in Monaco where there is no income tax! Famous residents include people such as Shirley Bassey, Ringo Starr and more recently Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Jenson Button amongst others. Nonetheless, you don’t have to have a million bucks to enjoy Monaco as some things in life are indeed free.

First, each car park in Monte Carlo offers free parking for one hour. So being typically Singaporean, we ended up moving our car amongst the various car parks to enjoy this privilege. Its not as bad as it sounds as we managed to go to quite a few different spots and admire the sea view from there.

Rich cars, fast cars, nowhere to drive...

Next while you do have to pay 10 euros to enter the Monte Carlo Casino, you can wander at least as far as the grand foyer to take a look. No photos are allowed but you can always watch Never Say Never Again  (the one with Sean Connery) as the casino is featured. Unless you are there to gamble, I think its actually a lot more fun to be outside the casino where all the expensive cars are parked and just people watch. We saw some seriously weird cars like a chrome Bugatti Veyron and the 4 door Porsche but without door handles. For the truly rich, it seems a simple Ferrari or Lamborghini will no longer do, and they have to up the stakes to find a car that stands out amongst all the rest.

Monte Carlo Casino

Finally, the various churches as well as the beach are free as well! We went into Saint Nicholas Cathedral, where many of the Grimaldis (the ruling family of Monaco) were buried, including Grace Kelly and Prince Rainer III. We also popped into Saint Charles Church, where the bell tower is 108 feet above sea level.

We did pay to enter the State Apartments and it was honestly quite disappointing and totally not worth the money spent. All in all, Monte Carlo was quite an eye-opener and definitely worth a visit.

Awaken your senses

Seeing as we were in the perfume region of France, and probably the world, we had to visit some perfume factories. Thus we made our way to two of the most well-known fragrance houses in France, Molinard and Fragonard.

Traditional methods of drying flower petals

Both run factory tours on a daily basis and as most of the visitors tend to be French, we were rather the odd couple there. The tours were fairly interesting however since we have already been to the L’Occitane factory tour, some of the content were rather similar. For one of the fragrance houses (can’t remember which one), they actually didn’t have a resident ‘Nose’ instead they reply on freelancers. When they want to create a new fragrance, they use something like a tender/ bidding process so they can select the best fragrance out there. There is only one school, ISIPCA, in the world for budding perfumers to attend, as past perfumers usually enter the trade through apprenticeships. Of course the most exciting or fun part about the tour was when we get to go to the retail shop and smell all the lovely perfumes!!! The array of perfumes, body lotions etc were a bit overwhelming and since I had already gone crazy at L’Occitane, I thought it was best to practice some restraint and only bought some face creams.

Where the nose gets to work 

After a fairly educational morning, we visited the Villa & Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild as I had read that the gardens were simply beautiful and it was a must-see.

Jardin Ephrussi de Rothschild

The exterior of the villa was painted pink which sounds hideous but is actually not too bad in real-life. The interiors were also beautifully decorated, and while the villa looked small from the outside, there were enough rooms to keep you occupied. It was quite modern for its time, with attached bathrooms and bathtubs for each room and also a telephone. There were even 2 stuffed animals in her bedroom! However, we were here for the gardens and that’s what we did.

Inside the Villa

There are a total of 8 different themed gardens, French, Spanish, Florentine Stone, Japanese, Exotic, Provencal and Rose, and it was wonderful to walk through them.  The flowers were in bloom and it felt like we were walking through a very lovely bottle of perfume. The view of the coastline was also gorgeous and we could spy other mansions from where we were. All in all, a really wonderful way to end our day and also our time in Nice!

In the Gardens

Nicely nice

After the excitement of the tennis matches the day before, we decided to take it easy the next day and woke up on a lazy Saturday to visit the famous markets of Nice. There are quite a few markets and I actually can’t remember which ones we visited, suffice to say they were full of character and it was quite fun wandering around looking at the various produce. Nice is one of those places in Europe which is blessed with a lovely Mediterranean climate, thus very suitable for growing all kinds of lovely flowers, fruits and vegetables.

Spices and fruits

We managed to wander down to the beach, which was seriously not that difficult, and find a place that wasn’t yet over-run by the locals in search of brunch on a Saturday. The beach looked lovely and though the sun was out, I thought the sea breeze made it a little too chilly for sunbathing though the locals certainly didn’t think so. And in case you are wondering, yes there were people who went topless. The beach didn’t look that crowded though, probably because it was still April and not peak season yet.

Soaking in the sun
(what may seem like a full cafe usually has empty seats inside)

Spot the topless lady

We ended up whiling the day away just wandering the streets and up a hill to Parc du Chateau. Its a public garden 92m up with panoramic views of the city. We also managed to locate the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, which is supposed to be an architectural sight to behold. It was a little difficult to find and was kind of hidden from view amongst the various residential houses around, only when you are actually right in front of it do you realize that its there. There was a service when we were there so we could only take a little peek at the interiors. It was seriously quite beautiful and since we didn’t want to interrupt or be rude, we only took a short peek and left. The grounds were huge and there were some Russian families with their kids just hanging out and playing. As the cathedral is kind of isolated from the rest of the area due to the huge grounds, it can feel a little like you are actually in Russia itself. Pretty lovely to just sit on one of the benches and take in the architecture. Apparently there is some ownership dispute going on over the property, you can read all about it here and here. I think the French are just taking it in their very French way which is probably the best way of managing it.

Cétait bien!

We finished the day walking down the Promenade des Anglais and thought that Nice was c'était bien!