After four excellent stops, in Hong Kong, Singapore, Cairo and Istanbul, I touched down at San Marco Airport in Venice this morning to begin the second phase of my SpinFirst.com Around the World Spin! From here, I’m taking the train via Zurich, Bruges/Brussels, London and a final stop in Paris.

This is a different trip style, with 96 hours from first stop to last, less time at each destination, just flying visits along the way. As I’ve already discovered in Venice, you could take a long time to explore this place, but I have to stay focused, I have a train to catch! I have kept to about 24 hours more or less in each destination and will include each of them here as they are completed. In this section, scroll down to discover, with me, Venice, Zurich, Bruges, London and Paris…3 p.m, MAY 8, 2010 - VeniceThe only way to arrive in Venice for me was the rather expensive water taxi. It’s a beautiful ride well worth the cost and dropped me direct at the Hotel American Dinesen, a quiet, boutique hotel near the Accademia Bridge. The hotel, and it’s excellent canal view lived up to my expectations. It was wonderfully relaxing, a spacious room with 3 windows that opened to let in cool evening air.View from room 306, Hotel American DinesenMy first forage into the maze of alleys that make for main thoroughfares in Venice was an adventure. Around every turn a fantastic photo opportunity. One thing to note: Don’t be too proud to carry a map — you will need it! I tried to guess my way from the Rialto (Rialto Bridge) to San Marco Square, which is well sign posted if you look hard enough, but one wrong turn and you’ll find yourself back where you started or worse! It didn’t help much to ask for directions, as locals like to give you the entire trip in one sentence very fast, which is next to useless!The easy thing to do is simply follow the busier streets, these are busy for a reason: they are the way to go from one main landmark to another. San Marco Square is everything I thought it was, not too packed with tourists, wonderful light and enough of the square was free of construction and scaffolding to allow some decent pictures. There’s no shortage of beautiful buildings, many in crumbling decay adjacent to those wonderfully preserved. It’s amazing this place is still standing considering how often it floods.I was a little surprised to see so many ‘entrepreneuers’ generally from west Africa selling knock-off hand bags and suitcases on the streets — pretty much every major street between the Rialto and San Marco Square. I suppose I thought this sort of thing would not be tolerated in such a beautiful place. Likewise grafitti is all over the place, which serves to remind me that this is a real city, with people, schools, shops and lives, and not just a tourist attraction at which you can park your cruise ship to buy stuff. Well, it is that too, but it is, first and foremost, a very beautiful city.My favorite in Venice was the small and medium-sized squares you come across as you walk around. These are just as beautiful as San Marco Square, but so much less crowded and more peaceful. Around one corner, three church doorways opened to a small square. In another, an opera was taking place, the music flowing out into the streets. These smaller piazzas and squares all have nice restaurants and terraces to enjoy, as well. The streets around these smaller piazzas were often deserted, which was fantastic. Eventually you end up at a busier street which help you find you way, but the quiet streets are well worth exploring.It is very expensive, which I expected, and as this is just the first stop, I had to take it easy. First, I located a supermarket, about 5 minutes walk from the hotel. Picked up some supplies and goodies to eat same day, as well as on the train while I write this. My hotel stay included breakfast (something I always try to take advantage of), so my only splurge here was the water taxi. Nice!7:30 pm, MAY 9, 2010 - Milano Centrale - Zurich HauptbahnhofMilano Centrale is a magnificent train station, built in 1931, about the same time as Grand Central in New York. Fantastic art deco details and soaring arched ceilings, also features a shopping mall beneath it, though it seemed to be primarily expensive underwear shops. Did I mention that the girls here are beautiful? Wow. Enough said. The train from Milano Centrale to Central Zurich takes about four hours and is a beautiful trip through Swiss and Italian countryside that is unique to this part of the world. Steep cliffs reach up to snow covered peaks. Many twists and turns of the track reveal picture-perfect valley views of alpine villages, hilltop churches and stunning scenery. One particular hilltop church the train appears to pass by three times, due to the winding of the track in that section. I didn’t have time to take pictures, I was too busy enjoying the view. The train also provides a tantalizing glimpse of the beautiful Lake Como, just before the Swiss Border, and Lake Lugano’s spectacular lake valley appears from nowhere just across the border. It’s a lovely train ride, one of the most picturesque in the world.For the complete story: 96 Hours Across Europe, Please buy my new book: Around The World In Eighteen Days, featuring 48 Hours In Hong Kong, Singapore, Cairo, Istanbul and 96 Hours Across Europe By Train. Click here for more information…