30.7.07
Pre Tour: London
= ex ex ex
the cheapest decent meal we found was still-kind-of-cmi wantan mee at 2.80 pounds ...
anyhows the streets of london r kind of interesting ...
veri user frenly i would sae ...
saw a limo for the first time in my life!
cute nutcracker-like soldiers during the changing of guards ...
went to platform 9 3/4!
n watched my veri first musical: Les Miserables
which i unfortunately fell asleep in -_-
17.50 pounds !!!
Topdeck
after biding farewell to london ... we finally embarked on our european wonder tour!
reintroduction of characters ...
we have the yuan ban ren ma of the pre gss peeps + rosanne aka hosanne ... joyce aka joycee ... wenhui aka unn hui & lionel aka lai niu ...
first up ...
Day 1-2: Paris
yes our 3rd visit to the city!
but still a memorable one nonetheless ...
we had picnic 'under' the eiffel!
i muz sae this is the best 'cook cooked' food we had during our trip ...
prawns n salmon n all ...
the others we had (ie. pasta in green sauce) r edible but not delectable ...
we were also in time for the celebrations for the first day of summer ...
loads of pple on the streets ...
bands playing along the roads ...
free ice cream giveaways ...
quite cool yeah ...
a pity we din have much time to roam ard ...
+ we din wanna get mugged ... lol
finally some luck with a nite shot of eiffel ... yippee
Day 3-4: Switzerland (Lauterbrunnen)
the highlight of my trip :)
v mountainous and scenic ...
cant believe i got to see this kind of views with my own eyes! lol ...
loved the wooden cabins that we bunked in as well ...
with the silent waterfall at the background ...
+++ star gazing at nite ...
large ones twinkling at you ...
really shi wai tao yuan ...
our first dinner in the dark (due to limited street lamps) ...
powdery soup ...
bread ...
pasta in tomato sauce ...
sad ...
on the train to jungfraujoch (europe's tallest!)
finally the snow caps ...
my v first encounter with snow!!!
not the cotton candy kind but crushed ice kind ...
but still ... its snow!!!
all of us were duper excited ...
& dats our little snowboy xiao zhuai ...
aint he haughty ... lol
Day 5: Pisa/Florence
the muz take pic with the leaning tower ...
& an authentic italian dinner ...
we each had a big thin-&-crispy-base-with-juicy-topping pizza all to ourselves ... yum!
Day 6-7: Rome
= hot hot hot
we were juz in time for rome's hotest weather in history(?)
wish making at the trevi fountain ...
according to our tour guide:
1 coin = u'll return to rome
2 coins = u'll fall in love in rome
3 coins = u'll get married in rome
i juz threw in 1 for fun ...
statue of david (the replica i think) ...
aint he big ...
spanish steps ...
well ... kind of disappointing cos it juz looks like any other ordinary flight of steps?
italy's all abt pizzas and gelati ...
i've nvr eaten this much of both in such a short span of time ... lol
n dun be misleaded ...
the last pic is actually some towels on display!
lol ... duper creative!
Vatican City
actually we onli visited the vatican museum ...
& it was super crowded!
took us abt an hr to get into the building ...
but the queue was gone when we left in noon -_-
more paintings ... statues ... artifacts ... n even mummies ...
looks 3D aye ...
sistine chapel: the muz visit of the museum
we were there for the renowned painting of the Hand of God giving life to Adam painted by Michelangelo ...
was surprised to find it right smacked in the middle of the ceiling (yes i shud have done my research :P)
ceiling was too high up for any clear pics so this one's frm the net ...
my personal favourites ...
angel paintings ...
din get to see them in the museum ...
but they r all over the souvenier stalls ...
Day 8: Verona
loved the colours on the streets ...
n thats the statue of juliet ...
touch her bosom & hands for good luck!
Day 9: Venice
the sinking city(?)
colourful buildings again ... really pretty ...
fed the pigeons at st marks square (the place where zhou jie lun filmed his mv for hei se mao yi ... lol)
yes i noe they r disease spreading flying rats ...
so this is probably the 1 n onli time i'll be feeding them ...
its actually kind of heavy when > 1 of them tries to balance on ur hand for food ...
thats our gondola driver(?) in a v cute pose ...
so funni ... i merely asked him to smile for my cam ... heh
as the saying goes ...
the best way to explore venice is to get lost in it ...
somehow the 3 of us really got separated frm the pack after lunch ...
& that started our mapless exploration (i stubbornly decided to ban the use of maps ... lol)
we managed to find our way to the ulu-est parts of venice ...
& also the toilets of a 5 star hotel!
i shall not complain again that i didnt do any shopping with the guys ... lol
was totally envious of the glass accessories that the gals bought ...
but ... our walking tour was still enjoyable la ... heh
Day 10: Austria (Tyrol)
yes i went paragliding!
n thats my instructor n i while we were on air ...
notice i onli have pics for bfor n during ...
motion sickness got the better of me after my instructor pulled his 2nd stunt -_-
i even missed a yummy dinner n a grp photo taking session can!
grrrr ...
i told him i will nvr paraglide ever again ...
Day 11: Germany (Rhine Valley)
= castle valley
u can find castles everywhere anywhere ...
thats the supposed biggest cuckoo clock in the world ...
the teddy's not world largest though ...
birks r more ex in germany! at least in this area ...
i dun understand y ...
since we r in the castle region ... we got to stay in a castle too!
the interiors r actually really modern n clean ...
lol to the sleepy faces (wakey wakey!)
our korean tour mates!
they really noe how to pose for photos can ...
managed to learn a little bit of korean frm brad aka mian bao aka ya za zeng na ... lol
i hope we will still keep in contact ...
cos he owes me a dinner at hilton if i were to visit korea ... lol
n dats my t-shirt design!
din buy one for myself cos i couldnt bear to part with my 17 euros ...
Day 12-13: Holland (Amsterdam)
= bicycle heaven
too bad i dunno how to cycle ...
missed out the bike tour!
i knew holland was known for its clogs ...
but cheese? i tot cheese came frm italy ...
anyhows ... the 3 of us who din noe how to cycle (hosanne vansong n i) toured amsterdam on our own ...
van gogh musuem ...
the ticketing lady din buy into the lie that we were 17 ...
boo ... there goes our student tix ... lol
wanted to see the starry starry nite ... but it wasnt there ...
the buildings in amsterdam r kind of narrow aye ...
love the big windows ... n crooked feel ...
the supposed holland's best fries ...
the small sized cone came with v generous serving (2.20 euros) ...
n the sauce itself is 0.20 euros!
i think wad makes the fries special is that there r >20 over sauces that u can choose frm ?
chose the curry one ... n it was alright ... preferred the mayo one ...
r the fries really great?
hmmmm i think i m biased ... cos i love anything potato ... heh
Day 14: Belgium (Brugge)
i onli rem we were rushing to get chocs as sourveniers ...
n we were onli given 2 hrs ...
n it was a cold wet rainy day ...
n there were all kind of sales going on in the apparel stores but we din have time to shop!
thats pretty much how our topdeck trip ended ...
with us taking the ferry back to london ...
Post Tour: Milan
our last stop in europe ...
the muz visit duomo ...
pretty ...
although i have to admit ... by this time i was quite immuned to churches n cathedrals ...
the sky's as blue as the poster sky blue ...
last gelati ...
love the ones with big solid cones ...
my all time favourite flavours r chocolate n citron ...
n there ... milan marks the end to our extended summer exchange prog ...
i seriously din wanna come back to face the realities of life ... lol ...
n i kind of miss waking up to another day of walking ard with these peeps that i spent my everyday with for almost 2 mths ...
well ... tian xia wu bu san zhi yan xi ...
n i hafta learn to grow up!
for those who have patiently read this entry till the veri end ...
here's ur reward!
the most scandalous pic i took in europe ...
hohoho
6:28 PM