Today we drove to Milan to check out the fashion capital of Italy. We parked the car a bit outside the city and caught the metro. As soon as we walked out of our stop, we were greeted with the imposing sight of duomo de Milano (the cathedral of Milan). It was built around 1400AD and has the striking features that are found in gothic structures. We then wandered through the famous galleria that adjoins the duomo square and did the traditional spin with the heels ...

We decided to stay in with Uncle (Zio) Tony & Aunty (Zia) Antonia today to relax a little, and give our feet a rest from all the walking we've been doing. Zia spent some time showing us her veggie patch in the backyard and attempting to explain in Italian what all the different herbs and vegetables were. She's growing all kinds of things like tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, potatoes, zuchinnis, different varieties of lettuce, celery, basil, and chilli - and th...

We woke up early to go on a boat cruise to Locarno Switzerland with the whole family. We drove to Arona where we got on board a large ship that would cruise up the lake across the border and into Switzerland. The boat ride was very relaxing and the scenery along the lake was picture perfect. We cruised up the lake, stopping every now and then to pickup passengers from other little ports along the way. Lunch was served on the ship and we enjoyed a typical italian ...

We probably had the best sleep last night since the beginning of our trip. I don't know if it was the spacious room, the plump pillows or the knowledge that over a thousand people hadn't slept in the bed prior to us - but we woke up feeling very refreshed. We went to Novara city and walked around the little shops and la duomo (the church) before making our way to the train station to buy our tickets for the remainder of our tour around Italy. We ducked into a loc...

After a quick morning stroll down Las Ramblas for the last time, and a bocadillo and coffee for breakfast - we checked out of Hotel Turin and bid Barcelona Adios. A 30min aerobus ride to the airport and another Easyjet adventure later - we touched down in Milan Malpensa airport where the Italian D'Souza's were waiting to greet us. We drove straight to Uncle Tony's house to meet the rest of the faily and settle into the room we'd be staying in. We sat down with ...