A busy day of travel unfolded with minimal issues. A ferry, a bus and 4 trains, needed to get to our new destination of Lucerne, 2 trains more than the direct route so we could visit the Swiss Valley Knife centre in Brunnen along the way. The Swiss rail system is a delight , though the long haul trains have limited legroom (they make the Wairarapa trains look spacious), but we are travelling 2nd class, so I guess the first class is better. The regional trains h...

Pastries and ciabatta from the bakery down the road started the day, followed a bit later by a walk up the hill exploring the local area. The streets are narrow and cobbled, with stone walls and archways everywhere. The roads rise sharply up from the lake with stunning views at every turn. Water rushes down through worn stone channels from the mountain - cold and crystal clear. Flower boxes full of brightly coloured impatiens and petunias add splashes of colour. ...

Todays itinerary was a boat ride over to the tourist village of Bellagio, and then further down the lake to the Motoguzzi (motorbike) Museum at Mandello del Lario - and as luck had it the first day of the 97th International Motoguzzi Festival. The view from the boat as we left Varenna was incredibly picturesque - the image you see in most of the postcards, and the boat ride lovely and relaxing. Bellagio was very touristy - like Parnell on steroids.The word Bellag...

Our accommodation at Fiumelatte is fantastic - it has a privare rooftop balcony with stunning views of the lake. We arrived extremely tired and grateful to have found the place easily.The next morning we decided to go for a walk. We are on the 7th floor in a block of units with a shared entrance. We got to the foyer and attempted to exit using the shared entrance key - no luck. About this time the words of the agent - "is there anything else you need to know," ca...

We arrived in Milan at 6am, and spent our first 40 min in a customs queue, when we finally got our turn it was a simple stamp in our passports and that was that. While organising our bags Stumpy fell off the seat and broke his toe - better the mascot than one of us, but now his name seems a bit more appropriate! We are having trouble posting photos at the moment hopefully we will get this sorted soon so you can see him. We jumped on a train to the city (noting t...