Italy
Day One - 9 Dec 05 - Milan/Stresa/Milan

So this is the day that I begin the Italy leg of my holiday in Europe...

I arrive in a dreamy state, having just been roused by the bumpy landing, at Milan-Bergamo airport... It's quite beautiful.. Early sun with its gentle rays, glistening the alps in the background... And it is to be that I begin this Italian adventure with Gullnaz...

Upon arrival and meeting up, we head for the city of Milan by bus.. Discussing our plans for the day over a cup of Italian coffee with our Lonely Planet : Italy "BIBLE" in hand, we decide to head down to the town of Stresa which is supposed to be by "The Lakes" near the Alps.

We arrive in the small town of Stresa around 3pm in the afternoon and went in search of the cable car ride to the peaks of the mountains. The view along the way was spectacular. Snowy-peaks with beautiful lakes and islands... And after a 20 minute walk, we arrive at the Stresa Cable Car station which was to take us up to Alpino (803m) & Montarone (1385m)..

Off we went on the cable car...

We arrive near the peak of Montarone which was still a 30 mins trek away to begin our icy adventure. We were both so totally not prepared for the snow but we decided to go ahead anyway. We only get to live once eh?

And so the journey begins.. The fellowship braves the harsh cold environment in search for the... peak.. *LOTR Soundtrack playing in the background*

It was a pretty tiring ascent for the untrained souls like us. And here is a picture of Gullnaz scaling the mountain, and as I quote Gullnaz "Damn it, i'm walking like a penguin!"

Finally, we arrive at the peak of Montarone! *pops champagne!* It's so OMG gorgeous.... The lakes that we saw a while ago was now a mere speck at the foot of the mountain and you could see as far as the Swiss Alps supposedly... (not that we knew which one it was... ;p)

I'm on the, top of the world looking...

I think it's just amusing to put these two shots together... ;p

Anyway, after taking like a million shots at the peak, we decide that it's time to head down.. Reaching the peak is only half the journey.... So we begin our descend... We went back to the Montarone cable car station and take the cable car down to Alpino station, and we decide to be adventurous and take this journey down by foot (~14km) with our backpacks (i think mine weighed ~20kg in total).. It sure was a long journey.. Winding roads, icy paths, barking dogs... And FINALLY, after 2 hours of anticipation, we arrive at the town of Stresa again.. And I swear my shoulders were numb from carrying the backpacks...

And by then, it was 8pm, and because Stresa is such a TINY town, it seemed that most shops were closed already... And because we were so hungry, we popped by the first restaurant we saw (and possibly the only one open) and ordered food for our poor starving souls..

The food was great & so was the waitors.. they were so funny & really nice too... Will be sure to head back to the restaurant if I ever do go back to Stresa... which I think is a high possibility...

And as I mentioned how a midget town Stresa was, there was only ONE hotel open, cos it was off-season, and it was charging €60 for a room for a night, and we decided it was too much for our shoestring budget, so we decide to take a train back to Milan, where we managed to get 2 beds at the youth hostel: Ostello Pieto Rotta for the night.. And by the time we got there, it was already almost midnight, and after a quick shower, I hurried off to dreamland...