May Holiday Day 6 – Train from Milan to Zurich

I took a break and now it’s time to continue my post on the Switzerland and Milan trip.
So here’s Day 6, the last 2nd day of my very short trip.

After a good night sleep at Hotel Albert, we packed up and checked out before heading for breakfast. I am quite pleased with this hotel because the room is comfy and quiet, the checkout process was fast and the staff were very friendly.

The breakfast spread was pretty much the same for our 3 days’ stay. I was happy with the cheese, good bread and coffee. Brie has also became my new favorite cheese since then.

There was an egg boiler so Pakcik made me soft boiled eggs~ After 3 days of practice, he had found the exact timing to obtain the runny egg yolk with semi-solid egg white.

Our train to Zurich leaves at 9.10am, so we headed straight to Milano Centrale after breakfast. It just a short 5-7 mins walk from our hotel which was very convenient for us who had big luggage.
There was no rush for us because I have already bought the train tickets about 1.5 month before the trip. All I had to do was to collect the printed tickets from the ticketing machine.

This was located in the station just outside the Trenitalia office. I just had to key in the ticket code and my name to get the printed ticket. The whole process only took less than 3 mins.

So here’s some tips for buying the train tickets from Milan to Zurich:

1) Buy in advance.
So glad that I seek advice from tripadvisors online because I made so much savings on the tickets. Usually, a regular 2nd class ticket from Milan to Zurich will cost €71. But if you buy your tickets early, you can search for discounted tickets at only €22. These tickets are usually in small quantity and it is specific to a certain train and timing.
So here’s how you can get cheaper tickets.

First, go to www.trenitalia.com, select the departure and arrival stations (e.g. Milano Centrale – Zuerich HB for my case), date, and time. Next, you will see the available timings and train numbers. Select the timing you prefer.

Once you have clicked “select”, you can choose the discount option before continuing. There is no need to choose the class at this stage yet.

Next, it will bring you to this screen where you can select the type of discount.

For my case, I chose “SMART” to get the €22 tickets for 2nd class seats. There are terms and conditions for each type of offer, so do check them out before you buy the tickets. Once you have selected the offer options, the ticket price will be updated automatically. Click “continue”.

I can’t really remember if you need to create an account to purchase ticket, but for my case, I did created one.
Anyway, after you have made payment, the train details and ticket code will be emailed to you. On the email, it will state the train number, car number, seat number and class. Just bring the PNR code and you will be able to collect the printed ticket from the ticketing machine in Milano Centrale.

2) Check out different websites.
There are more than 1 type of train going from Milan to Zurich. During my research, I found ticket from www.raileurope.co.uk at £20, and http://www.sbb.ch/ticketshop (Super Saver) at CHF27. The only difference is the place to collect the tickets. For SBB, you can collect the tickets at any SBB train station in Switzerland. I chose Trenitalia because I wanted to collect my ticket from Milan.

3) Ask the experts.
When in doubt, ask the experts! Try asking questions in tripadvisor forums. The expert advisors will be able to help you with your questions. They also have the best tips and updated information for different types of trains. This is how I get my research done and saved €98 for 2 tickets.

Ok, back to my trip. Here’s a picture of the printed ticket for both of us.

Remember to keep the ticket because it will be checked during the journey.

Milano Centrale is a very pretty building. If you have time, do go there earlier to take some pictures or you can do last minute shopping as there are plenty of shops.
See the big board behind Pakcik? That’s where we checked the platform which our train will be at.

We went up the train early because we had luggage to settle.

This was the seat arrangement. Pakcik and I had seat number 85 and 86 which were by the window. I chose these seats because Pakcik might get motion sickness if he were to sit in the middle.

The seats were new and quite comfy for the 4 hours ride. See our big luggage taking up so much space. It’s probably better to get first class seats if you have big luggage too. Food can be brought up on the train, so we had chocolates and crackers to fill our stomachs.

It’s also a scenic ride from Milan to Zurich and here are some pictures to share.

Once we get into Switzerland, the alps started appearing~

After 4 hours, we reached Zurich HB. From there, we took the train to Zurich Flughafen and caught the shuttle bus to our hotel.
For our last night stay in Zurich, I booked the airport hotel named Hotel Ibis Zurich Messe-Airport.

My reasons for booking an airport hotel are:
1) Room rates are cheaper than those in the city
The lowest room rate near Zurich HB station was around CHF180, whereas hotel Ibis was only CHF113 (additional CHF15/pax for breakfast).

2) Complimentary shuttle bus to the airport
The hotel Ibis is located about 10-15 mins drive from the airport and there is hotel shuttle bus service every 30 mins starting from 4.55am till 11.10pm. I love this service because I don’t have to drag my luggage around the streets just to locate my hotel if I were to book one in the city.
The shuttle bus pick up point is conveniently located between terminal 1 and 2. Just follow the “Hotel Bus” sign in the airport.

3) Luggage concierge till late
My flight back to Singapore departs at 10.45pm, hence I have the whole day to explore the city. Hotel room check out time is at 12pm, hence it is important I have a place to store my luggage till I am ready to head to the airport. Hotel Ibis allowed me to do so without any charges.

And so, we reached the hotel via the shuttle bus which came punctually according to the timetable. The hotel was rather new and the lobby was painted with vibrant colors. Pakcik likes it a lot. Check in process was simple because I have already pre-paid for the room via the hotel’s website.

It’s a small and cosy room, but it has sufficient space for putting our 2 luggage without obstructing the walkway.

I prefer rooms with flat screen TV. Old box TV somehow just makes me upset…

The toilet is clean with shower gel and shampoo provided.

There is also a vending machine by the lift for purchase of disposable toiletries.

After a short rest, we went to Bahnhofstrasse for shopping. It is just a short walk from the Zurich HB station. We were busy shopping and didn’t take much pictures. Plus, the weather was chilly!

SK was curious of the McD in Switzerland so we went to try. Well… my pocket bled when I paid CHF 12 for this New York Bagel set meal. The size of the bagel was bigger than the buns in Singapore, but the patty was pathetically flat and dry. Look at the wilt lettuce in the burger and compare it to the picture on the burger box. =___=”
Sad… That was the saddest and priciest McD burger I have ever eaten.

Pakcik was extremely excited about the final match which he will have to watch on TV in Singapore.

Before we head back to our hotel, we stopped by Coop supermarket to buy chocolates and food which we would bring home.
One tip for buying local products: Always check out the supermarkets. Buying local products from the airport is not such a good idea because the variety is limited and they are usually very over-priced.

Usually, when I travel in Asia, I will bring home lotsa instant noodles and stuff. But for Zurich, we bought packed rosti, cookies, packed pasta, tons of chocolates and cheese. Yes, SK air flown some cheese home because they are so so so much cheaper and I can’t find those brands back home. If the flight wasn’t so long, I probably would buy prosciutto back too.
=P

May Holiday Day 5 Part III – Duomo di Milano

Here comes the last part of Day 5 itinerary. Our last stop was to visit Duomo di Milano. It is amazing how this cathedral took 6 centuries to build. To avoid the massive tourist crowd, we scheduled our visit at around 3+pm.
The quadrangle outside the cathedral was so crowded almost all the time. As usual, beware of pickpockets and strangers approaching and offering you free gift.

Entrance to the cathedral is free but for photography, we have to pay €2 (just 1 person paying will do) at the counter inside the cathedral. I was given a wristband to put on my right wrist. This is to indicate that I have paid the fee for taking photographs. Do visit its website for other regulations.

It is dimly lighted inside the cathedral which makes my pictures very grainy. The atmosphere was rather solemn. Thank goodness for the extremely high ceiling, otherwise I would be feeling claustrophobic. Similar to the temples I visited in Greece, the architecture of the duomo is very impressive.
Here are some of my €2 worth of pictures to share:

Our next stop was to get to the terraces of the cathedral. We bought our tickets from the small souvenir shop behind the cathedral.

There is a choice of going up by elevator (€12) and by foot (€7). Of course, I made Pakcik get the tickets with elevator ride. =)

This is the back of the cathedral where the elevator is located. Below are pictures taken on the terraces.

After going one round, we reached the centre terrace.

And of course, the famous Madonnina.
I was experiencing a bit of altitude sickness when I was up on the terraces. Tried not to walk too fast or climb the stairs too quickly. I tend to have such problems because my haemoglobin level is low and my blood pressure is also on the lower end.
Anyway, we completed the Duomo tour and headed back to the streets for some shopping.

The crowd in the quadrangle was lesser at around 6pm.

We walked down the street and stopped this Ferrari parked on the road. It was right next to the Ferrari store.

For dinner, Pakcik couldn’t forget the gnocchi so we went back to Bar Duomo again.

He was totally pleased with his Gnocchi Formaggi~

This is the smaller serving (€13). The staff informed us that we could order the larger portion if that was not enough.

Mine was the 12″ pizza with 4 types of toppings on 4 separate quarters (Pizza 4 Stagioni – €15). The topping were mixed mushrooms, prosciutto, artichoke, and olives. Other than the artichoke being too dry and tough, the rest tasted great. I like the thin crust and rich tomato paste. I made Pakcik share the pizza with me because there is no way for me to finish a 12” pizza by myself.

Do try the food at Bar Duomo if you happen to be in Milan. Their great service will brighten your day too~

If you are interested, do check out my other posts on Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 Part I, and Day 5 Part II itineraries.

May Holiday Day 5 Part II – Il Mondo di Leonardo

After leaving San Siro, we took the Metro train down to Duomo station. In this post, I will be writing about the Il Mondo di Leonardo (an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions and digitalized restorations of his great paintings).
But before I go on writing about the exhibition, let me show you what we had for lunch that day~

We went to Bar Duomo which is a bistro and cafe located right in front of Duomo di Milano. There is a choice of al fresco dining or the air conditioned basement cafe. We went to the basement because it was too crowded outside.

After placing our orders, the very friendly staff served us olives and chips. Oh, I love the olives and the chips were as crispy as Red Rocks’.

I had a small cup of cappuccino while Pakcik went for the beer. In case you wonder, beer is usually cheaper than soft drinks in Europe. I wonder if that’s a good or bad thing.

The waiting time was about 10-15 minutes for both the main course to be served. I finished the chips before Pakcik realised it. =P

Due to poor lightning and me refusing to use flash, the pasta looked very yellowish. It’s actually more of a pale yellow. So, what I had was the spaghetti carbonara (€13).

I must say this is the best carbonara I ever had.
Why?
That’s because the spaghetti was al dente, perfectly coated with the cream sauce and the saltiness was just right. The taste of the egg and cream sauce was fantastic. The texture of the sauce remained the same even when it’s cooled. Plus, I finished all the pasta without feeling jerlat!
And of course, Pakcik kept stealing my pasta.

That is Pakcik’s Gnocchi Formaggi (€13).
I love that gnocchi too! It’s so nicely cooked that every bite was a pleasure. Ain’t easy to cook gnocchi. Normally, it will turn too mushy or still uncooked in the centre while the surface is already done.

The cheese sauce was rich but yet no jerlat feeling after finishing the whole plate. I remembered how difficult it was to finish half a plate of gnocchi at Antoinette because I just got so sick of the cream sauce. After tasting this, I started to believe that cream based pasta can be delicious to the last mouth too~ Even Pakcik kept asking for gnocchi after this meal. Now I can safely say that his favourite dish is Gnocchi in cheese sauce.

For dessert, I chose Tiramisu (€9). I guess this wasn’t a wise choice. The tiramisu was such a disappointment compared to the pastas. Not only it lacked the coffee aroma, it contained no liquor, and the chocolate sauce sux. I regretted not ordering the Parma ham with melon instead.

Anyway, the service was good and we tipped him well~

Next, we went to the exhibition which was located at Piazza della Scala which was 5 mins walk from Bar Duomo passing through the shops beside the cathedral.

We took the lift up to the exhibition entrance.

The exhibition is on from 01 March till 31 July 2013 and opens from 10am to 11pm daily. Ticket is available at €13.50 per person. Do check out the details on its website for more information.

Here’s a couple of pictures to share. For the rest, it’s better that you visit the museum. Otherwise it’s not fair to the people who put in hard work to hold the exhibition. =)

That’s all for Part II of the sightseeing day. Stay tuned for the last part of day 5 itineraries~
Do check out the earlier posts: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5 Part I.