The 5th day was all about shopping...

Spent the whole day in Foxtown in Mendrisio. It's an outlet heaven in Switzerland near the Italian border.

So tired in the evening that just took some take out for dinner.

ps. my other trips to Mendrisio & Foxtown can be found here.

Special Shoe(s)

Got a cute souvenier from a friend

who visited the salt quarry of Praid

in Transilvania:

Salt Shoe

www.kristalbrizo.ro

.
There're some other shoes

that bought during the holiday trip

to Austria & Switzerland:

Peep-toe pumps by Prada

Nice nude colour,
matches well with almost everything
.

Gucci ballerinas

- delicious lavender colour!
.

Both pairs of shoes from Foxtown in Mendrisio
.

Wedding in Cham

The wedding took place in Cham, Switzerland

- transportation from the hotel in Triesen

to Cham at 11.40
.

The beautiful wedding ceremony
started at 1pm
- here the newly-wedded couple
Marcel & Jennifer
.
Villa Villette
- reception after the wedding ceremony
. What on earth is happening there?
- traditionally dressed 3 men with
some kind of horns
.
Alpen horns
- unbelivably beautiful sound!
.
Pride & groom listening to the Alpen music
- a surprise for them from the mother of the groom
.

Horn players having a break
.

The gorgeous park of Villa Villette

.

The church of St. Jacob is a late Baroque building from the 18th Century,

with a late Gothic tower from the 15th Century

.

There are a number of Swiss heritage sites of national significance in Cham.

These include the Eslen, a Neolithic lake shore settlement,

the church and Cistercian convent at Frauenthal, t

he Castle of St. Andreas, two buildings in the old city, and the brickyard.
.

So lucky with the weather

as it had been so chilly & rainy during that week
.

Nice places to have a little walk

.

Cham is app. 30km south of Zürich

- population is a bit under 15.000 inhabitants

.

Lake Zug

.

Many fish

(including pike and carp of considerable weights)

are taken in the lake,

which is especially famous for an endemic kind of trout
.

Villa Villette

Im Park am See

Villette Park

CH-6330 Cham

http://www.restaurant-villette.ch/

.

One of the many photos taken with guests

together with bride & groom

.

At 4pm transportation to Vaduz, Liechtenstein

for the wedding dinner

- as the groom is from Switzerland

and the bride from Liechtenstein

it was great to have the party in both places!

.

Wedding continued by the private vineyard

of the Prince of Liechtenstein

.

Castle of the Prince of Liechtenstein
- not a bad place to live!

.

Bad Ragaz

Bad Ragaz in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley

at the foot of the Pizol has a long tradition as a health spa.

Today it is a wellness resort with top-class hotels,

thermal baths and golf courses.

The warm (37°C) healing waters bubble up

from inside the mountain in the deep,

mysterious Tamina Gorge in nearby Pfäfers.
.

The morning looked grey & wet

but by the noon sun began to shine

- decided to visit Bad Ragaz
.

Shopping arcade of the town
. Typical townhouse
.

.
Heidi experience:

the home of this children’s storybook heroine offers

Heidi experience trails on the Schwarzbüel Alp,

the Pizol and above Maienfeld

- funny!
.

Graffiti in Swiss style!
.
Spahouse
http://www.spahouse.ch/

- only in German

.

Street of Bad Ragaz
.
Blue window shutters on one side
and green ones on the other side
.

Everything is so green and flowery
- must be result of the climate
.

Grand Hotel Quellenhof

surrounded by a beautiful park
.

Grand Hotel Hof Ragaz
.

Waterfall on the wall of mountain

.

http://www.spavillage.ch/
.

FoxTown

As the weather looked like this

didn't have much choice

but drive to FoxTown

to do some shopping...
.

Foxtown is an outlet mall in Mendrisio

near the Italian border
- on the way the weather didn't get any better

.

The clouds're really down

and got some heavy rain on the way

but after San Bernardino everything changed,

the sun was shining &

the temperature rose at least 10C!
.

This is the sign that has been waiting for

to see for months!
.
Behind this humble door
there're outlets of
Armani, Burberry, Cerruti, Dior, D&G,
Escada, Etro, Fendi, Gucci, Boss,
Iceberg, Jil Sander, Missoni, Prada,
Valentino, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent...
just to mention some of them
A heaven on earth!
.
The shops are open everyday between 11am-7pm
- lots of shoppers there from all over the world,
mainly, of course, from Italy & Switzerland
.
Didn't come out with empty hands!
Result of 6 hours' heavy shopping
- made fantastic bargains!
.
www.foxtown.com
.

FoxTown

FoxTown

La Citta della moda

- place for serious out-let shopping!!!

.

Heard about it from Swiss friends,

couldn't resist the temptation to visit there

- located on the Swiss & Italian border in Mendrisio

.

Open 7 days a week 11am -7pm

.

There are 160 shops with 30-70% off the normal prices,

Shops are in 3 levels

starting with brands like

Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger, Gant, Benetton, Polo Ralph Lauren,

Calvin Klein, Guess, 7 for all mankind, Bally...

all away up to

Gucci, Versace, YSL, Prada, Tod's,

Burberry, Dior, Etro, Missoni...

.

All the shops are spacious, one brand shops,

goods nicely on display

- possible to make real bargains!

- usually just one or couple of pieces left,

and not all sizes

.

Bought a pair of light grey shorts by Cerruti

- really needed one

and a black woollen skirt suit by Cerruti

- both were the final pieces and exactly my size

.

At Missoni and Prada found some nice pieces

but the sizes were either too small or too big,

so nothing from them

.

FoxTown Factory Stores

Via A. Maspoli 18

6850 Mendrisio

www.foxtown.com

- app. 15km from Lugano

- even tought it's easily seen from the motorway,

it was quite difficult to find the right turning and way there!

.