Itinerary:

• Italy
• Spain
• Amsterdam
• Tomorrowland
• Croatia
• London
• Japan

Day 1 - Beijing Layover

So technically not an actual “day” but whatever. We managed to snag crazy cheap flights from Sydney to Milan because they included a 20 hour layover in Beijing. Normally, that would suck but fortunately this layover was from 5:30am to 1:30am local time so it was actually perfect to go and spend one full day in Beijing. We started off by going to a 24 hour spa, and let me tell you, it was life changing. I think I need to add one spa day to every trip from now on. It was about $80 AUD for 6 hours there and it included unlimited spa, sauna, buffet with heaps of foods, drinks, fruits, desserts. It was crazy how much was included and how many activities there were inside: gaming rooms, cafe, library, sleep pods, pool, darts, and much more. You could easily spend an entire day in there, but we had plans to explore more of Beijing so we left around lunch time to hit the streets. First pit stop was a lunch with Jimmy’s uncle who lived in Beijing. He treated us to Peking duck and although we were all pretty full from the spa buffet, we managed to eat more and it was delicious to thank you to uncle! We then walked to the old city area and down the main street that was filled with little souvenir and specialty stores. Heaps of Chinese snack stores and small toy markets. Eventually we made it to the shopping district where the girls went to go get their nails done and Jono went to get a haircut so it was me and Jimmy going shopping for a while. We were pretty exhausted though from being on a 10 hour flight and then up since 5:30am, and it started raining out of nowhere, so we went back to the mall where the girls were doing their nails and decided to just chill there and wait. After everyone was done, we had dinner at Haidilao, had to end it with hotpot, and it was so much cheaper in China than back home. After dinner, there wasn’t that much time left so we had to uber to the airport to get there 2 hours before our flight to check in and go through customs and all that fun stuff. Anyways, China layover was amazingly fun, and I felt like we were there for at least a week with how much we did in those 16-ish hours.

Day 2 - Milan

After another 11 hour flight, which I basically slepth through entirely, we landed in Milan, Italy! We landed quite early in the morning at around 7am but luckily, we were able to check in to our accom right away anyway after a train ride and a bit of a walk. The heat was pretty strong already, and walking 20 minutes with our giant backpacks on was a recipe for being instantly sweaty and gross. After we checked in to our airbnb, it was still pretty early so we had time to shower and charge our device and chill for a bit. Around 10:30am we headed out to explore the city. First stop was coffee of course. I had high hopes for the country where coffee was invented and it was good, but nothing mind-blowing. Food was next, our first meal in Italy, of course we had to go for pizza so we found a highly rated place nearby and ordered a few to share between us. The chef was fun and chatty and he made one of the pizzas in the shape of a big heart! After breakfast, we went straight to the main attraction, the Duomo di Milano, the big cathedral in the middle of the city. We spent a while there, inside walking around, and then in the museum next to it. Then we took a stroll through the nearby shopping mall with really architecture and glass ceilings, as we made our way to the famous Starbucks in the city. Not just any ordinary Starbucks cafe, but a full sized roastery which was much bigger and very cool to be in. They served coffee and pastries still but the whole interior was very steampunk and the coffee and food bars were on islands inside the store so you could see everything that was going on. All the machinery and beans and staff moving around. We had some coffee and food there and then spend the rest of the day walking around and shopping. I went to Massimo Dutti for the first time and realised it’s the perfect store for me and walked out with a new knit polo. We tried a pistacchio McFlurry at McDonalds, it was alright. We took a stroll through the park and around some castle buildings and giant gates. We went to a grocery store and bought some deli meats, cheeses, bread and fruits to eat out on the street. We rode the bus and had a nice dinner with roast lamb, lasagna, salads and wine, and ended the night with some gelato.