It’s been a while since I’ve written a travel post because I finally felt the urge to catch up on real-life, aka studying and some school work..... I can’t complain though because I’m looking forward to a jam packed travelling month in March! Now straight to the point, I recently made a trip to Milan with the primary reason being to visit my friends that currently study there. Because to be completely honest, I was there a couple years back with my parents and I wasn’t extremely blown away by the city that I would make it a mission to go back there. With that said, I did decide to go back and give it a second go, thinking, it might be different with friends that are somewhat “locals”, not HAVING to do all the tourist things like visiting Duomo or the surrounding area - in fact, I was so into this “living local plan” that I even voluntarily attended a European Politics class! I spent four quality days with my friends, seeing as many of them as I could since I was there and I can definitely say that this trip gave me an entirely new Milan experience, it also made me learn that it’s the people that make a place worthwhile. To the right is a photo of my little Marachino on the top, which is essentially an espresso but comes along with both Milk and Chocolate, almost like a Cappuccino but with the Chocolate powder and milk foam served the other way around - I liked it a lot but I still prefer slowly enjoying and sipping on a larger coffee for now. My most memorable moments were probably eating an entire pizza by myself, which was actually not hard at all given their amazing wood fire baked thin crust pizzas and of course, spending my days roaming the streets aimlessly, sitting down at student cafes for 1Euro coffees that were tip-top quality (well… it’s Italy, why am I surprised). Really made me learn about my love for coffee - more like, my obsession with coffee….. One day I will do a coffee tasting course properly, think that will be a good investment haha Although we didn’t get a spot for weekend brunches with set menus, which is pretty different to the standard avocado on toast kind of brunch I’m used to, we still enjoyed a few BREAKFAST spots during my time there and one worth mentioning was California Bakery. I personally REALLY enjoyed the traditional idea of brunch with my Granola yoghurt bowl with my slight obsession over Granola, I could easily eat an entire box by itself… it really is a problem. BUT back to the point, this brunch place was extremely comfortable for a chilled breakfast on a weekday but because of it’s popularity, I’ve heard that it’s almost impossible to get a seat on weekends, especially when it’s so small indoors and you wouldn’t want to sit outside during winter months. It was perfect on the Friday that I went, food was also extremely delicious. Another restaurant I'd like to give a shoutout to is Panino Giusto. One of the locals called it, "the best panini of Italy" and it definitely lived up to that reputation, 100% must try if you're ever in Milan. This is the tram that takes you up to the upper part of the city. You could also get a two way ticket but we decided to hike down and enjoy the scenery. On the second last day, we made a spontaneous trip to Bergamo, a city only 1 hour away from Milan. It was quite extraordinary since it had a lower part to the city and also a higher part that used to be a fortress, so we spent an entire afternoon walking around the medieval streets of Bergamo. Although beautiful, it was not ’Spectacular” in my opinion but this was probably the best day for me because I got to spent an entire day with my closest friends, laughing and chatting notoriously loudly without even noticing my own happiness until we sunk into our seats and passing out on the train back to Milan, a lot of positive energy was used up that day. On a side note, sorry to everyone that was there that just wanted some peace and quiet, we really didn’t mean to disturb… and also, perhaps next time, we’ll go to Lake Como instead. The Duomo of Bergamo \So all in all, I had an incredible time thanks to the people that came out to see me, spent time with me or even taking a day out of their schedules to explore the city. Like I said, Milan nor Bergamo were places I was genuinely excited to see but the company is making me miss these cities a lot, my friends have created incredible memories for me that just happened to be in these cities and I can honestly say that regardless of how gloomy and rainy it was compared to the last summer I was in Milan, when it was all lovely and sunny, I like the city so much more after this time and we all know, it’s the memories that makes a place, if you don’t feel, no place would mean anything to you. I’m not even sure how to put into words the joys of seeing familiar faces overseas and the happiness I grew during my time there. I’m the type of girl that enjoys the present, which a lot of people deem as a good thing but this comes with the inability to get in touch with feelings of missing people and hence, feeling like there is no need to go the extra mile to check in on those you care about. Like this trip, I never realised how much I missed my friends that i haven’t seen in months, I just wish time could slow down and give me enough to absorb all that is happening - the presence, the feelings, the anticipation…. Do you ever feel like you’t too focused on living/doing whatever is happening right now and forget to remember the past? This is why I decided to start my blog and call it REWIND, I just want to slow down time for myself, in my own little way and be in the space of re-living moments through writing my posts.
Takeaway: Take some time out for yourself to look back into the joyous moments, reach out those that make you happy and spend as much time with them as you can. Cherish every moment.
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Second part to our short trip to Austria was spent in Salzburg and majority of this day was spent on the Sound of Music tour where they took you to the different filming locations of the Hollywood classic. This tour made this entire trip the most heartfelt and meaningful for me because I have been watching the musical non-stop since I was 4. I remember that during primary school holidays, I would always sit in front of the TV for lunch and watch one CD whilst I was having my lunch, the movie came in three CDs since they couldn't put the entire 2.5 hour film into one back then... Being able to see all the filming sites for myself was definitely a highlight and it was an incomparable feeling, it reminded me of beautiful my childhood was, the simpler days when all I looked forward to was watching this particular movie over a bowl of macaroni. Pagoda for 'Sixteen going on Seventeen' So during the tour, there were only 4 of us plus the tour guide since they wanted to be more flexible with timing and retain tranquility at the sites, which I appreciated since it really gave me the time to soak up the beauty of the sites and the memories I could link the particular scene to. Because of this small group, it also made it much easier for us (aka me) to sing along (aka scream along) to the music that the guide put on in accordance to the location we were visiting. I'm not going to go into much detail about the tour in case any of you might want to join this tour with a fresh eye, so here I have simply chosen a few of my favourite photos to share with you. Church where Maria and Captain von Trapp got married in the movie Path where Maria sang 'Confidence' on her way to the von Trapp's residence The sites we went to were beautiful learnt that we could actually stay at the von Trapp's house in the movie during summer as a Bed & Breakfast, which I would love to do because that's even more insight into the movie! There were also a lot more things we learnt about the filming processes, realities that did slightly ruin the perfection of the movie for me and also gave me a smack in the head about how distorted my perception of the movie was since I was 4.... However, with that said the joys of seeing my childhood movie in real life definitely exceeded the sadness of the truth, which I actually think it's important for life sometimes, you gotta stick with what makes YOU happy as an individual, not telling you to be delusional but be true to yourself and follow your heart, there is no wrong or right. It's right and the best decision as long as you believe it. My father always used to say "if only this.... if only that...' it always made me angry, I never knew why until one day I realised that it's because it doesn't exist, there is no IF ONLY, the decision you've made at the time is the best one you will ever make. Look forward. Following the joyous trip, we prolonged this by taking a slow stroll along the old city of Salzburg, walking through areas like Getreidegasse (A famous shopping street, known for it's metalwork signs), Alter Markt and Mozartplatz (where Mozart lived during his early years, it's also now a museum but we didn't visit it). The last thing we did in Salzburg was visit a cafe, unique to the history of coffee houses in Saslzburg. It has a history of over 300 years and it even existed during Mozart's time, also much appreciated by many writers, philosophers and poets due to its tranquil atmosphere that is still present today. Going in through the dark wooden doors was actually like walking back in to history with the lace decorated windows, waiters in tuxedos, the genuine smiles of the person who greeted you at the door and the selection of cakes brought to you on a metal tray whilst you had your nice afternoon coffee. --------------------------------- Austria was definitely a travel back into time, like many say, "back to the happier times", not like my life isn't happy now but it was certainly filled with perfect imperfections that we somehow knew as kids, how to selectively remember the positive moments, this proves to us how easy happiness can come about our daily lives. I am definitely going back one summer of my life and I would spend it living in the von Trapp's house, seeing the filming locations free of snow, green grass and functional water fountains. The thought's already making me excited! Three amazingly memorable days were spent at Tirol & Salzburg. Definitely one of my most heartfelt trips. Kitzbuhel - Settling in at Sonnalm So on our first day, we flew out to Salzburg airport and travelled to Tirol, Kitzbuhel Alps for a couple days of skiing. Here we stayed at an Alpine lodge called Sonnalm. There were definitely it’s pros and cons about this place. Pro: It was RIGHT next to a ski lift, beautiful scenery, you were on the top of the alp first thing in the morning, rooms were very clean/well designed, there was a spa/sauna for you overnight after a day of skiing Con: Just one. You had to ski three mountains and travel on three chair-lifts to get there + your luggage (definitely not for beginners), of course you could get a skidoo service that takes you right up/down the mountain when you checkin/out but it would be about 40 Euros and shared between 2 people at most. With that said, I would STILL love to go back to Sonnalm one day, just look at the photos! To wrap up the entire day, we also enjoyed a hearty dinner next to the fireplace indoors (right photo) as part of the half-board package. Kitzbuhel - Ski day So after arriving at Sonnalm after on a couple of runs, I was honestly absolutely exhausted. I did not know how to ski with a bag on my back and have also partially forgotten how to ski since it’s been so long… it was already 3:00pm then. To my pleasure (shhh…), we found out that ski lifts all closed at 4:00pm for safety purposes, we didn’t find out the best way possible though… we skied down and realised that we couldn’t ski back up… Luckily, Sonnalm staff was nice enough to send a skidoo down to save us Next morning, after a lovely breakfast buffet at Sonnalm, we spent the entire morning skiing down slopes after slopes, going up chairlifts after chairlifts (the seats were so comfy, they were the Ferrari of chairlifts). Unfortunately, my ski boots weren't the best fitting, I was too lazy to fix them, which I am still suffering consequences of...So at about 2, I was ready to take a break. We had a nice chill lunch outdoors right next to the chairlifts in the sun where I had a Goulash (of course), went down a couple more runs, then enjoyed the sauna facilities before we said goodbye. Sonnalm was definitely one of the best ski trips I have had so far, of course, it was the company that made the trip even more incredible but the ease of it all, the active yet chilled days was one I enjoyed every minute of, despite the ski boots that made me not so good of a travel partner at times...Whoopsies... So, we travelled down to the city from Kitzbuhel by train, it was very easy via regional trains. Kitzbuhel city centre was actually very nice and I wish we could have spent a little bit more time there exploring, the layout of it almost reminds me of Iceland’s city centre, Reykjavik! Last day and night was spent in Salzburg city with the highlight of it being something very close to my heart and this, I will leave for the next post.
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