Minneapolis (Prince's home town) is in the mid-west state of Minnesota .. and sits on the banks of two rivers - the Mississippi and the Minnesota. This is a brand new destination for me - another work trip that will take me somewhere I would likely never have gone to.
I'm not sure yet whether there will be any time to look around before work kicks in but I suspect on the first couple of days there may be .. and there is a lot to see and do!
Look out for my next blog post around the second week of October - I will hopefully be much more enlightened then and share some great snaps and stories from my trip.
Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Saturday, 10 September 2016
Swiss Alps and Italian lakes - what a treat!

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that my friend and I make a weekend trip to Milan every year to buy some pieces to add to our winter wardrobe. On our trip last year it was obvious that most brands and stores exist in all parts of the world now and the shopping experience is not what it used to be - for me at least. You can buy anything, anytime, anywhere online.
So this year, we decided to enhance our weekend by staying on Lake Como and only going down to Milan on the train for a few hours. Having been there so often, we know where all our favourite shops are so it was a no brainer.


We arrived in Como around midday and made our way down to the port where the ferries arrive and leave for various towns on the shores of the lake. Our destination was Caddenabia and the best way to get there is by boat unless you want to drive. We boarded the hydrofoil or rapido for a relatively fast ride to Bellagio and from there a short hop across the lake to our hotel. Its a good idea to buy a day pass for €15 which you can use on the regular ferries to go wherever you want. If you decide to take the faster option by hydrofoil you can pay a €4 supplement per trip or you can get a water taxi but this is by far a more expensive option.

The next day we organised our trip to Milan. It took a bit of jigging to work out which boat would get us to Como on time to get the train that we wanted. In the end we went to Bellagio, from there to Lenno, where we got off and waited for the hydrofoil to Como.

Surprisingly, this is the first year ever that I didn't buy anything for my wardrobe but managed to get the obligatory make up essentials and a few food items from the Excelsior food hall! The things that I did like were prohibitively expensive so I saved myself some Euros this year! (The exchange rate is not so favourable right now anyway.) We were back on the train around 5pm and back in Como in less than an hour.
The best thing about our hotel was the location. We booked a lakeside with balcony room on the fifth floor and had beautiful views of the lake - the sunrises were pretty spectacular too. The room itself was basic but suited our needs and the price was right.


The train journey back to Switzerland was split into two - the first leg from Como to Bellinzoni, passing through one of my favourite places Lugano, then from there through to Zurich watching the weather change as we headed north. By the time we arrived early evening, the temperature had dropped and the rain was pelting down - a little reminder that autumn is just around the corner.
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