s w i t z e r l a n d

Went to Switzerland for the Labour Day hols.. Managed to get cheap 19 euros (1-way) tickets to Zurich by train (ICE), kudos to Kannan, and stayed over at Weiguang's (Bernard's housemate) room which was vacant then cos he was travelling (in Germany at that time haha).. Only found out that I actually kinda knew Weiguang through a friend before, acquaintance.. =P And met Simon's good army friend there too! Haha, what a small world...

By the time we collected our car that we rented, and found our way to Dietikon (where the other student hostel is, where Winnie was staying over at), there wasn't much left of the day, so we just went explore Bremgarten, which is one of the less-touristy areas near Zurich (even the other Singaporean SEP students haven't heard of it!)...

Jeff joined us to wandern (hiking) there too.. Hiking treks along the river...

There was even an authentic camping site! Logs for a fire in the middle, benches at the side, and even a fountain with running water!

That's our car for the trip, quite a gigantic station wagen.. =D And who's that napping in there? Haha...

Off to Interlaken the next day! The tulips and flowers were all out in full bloom! A picture-perfect place...

There were quite a number of hang-gliders floating around the skies there...

Drove up along the mountains.. Beautiful waterfalls along the mountains.. Looks like the water's falling in slow-motion haha..

At the highest point reachable by car, we continued up with a cable car...

All the way to Schilthorn, which is the highest peak on that side of the mountains, not the Jungfraujoch side... That's a photo of the 3 peaks, one of which is Jungfraujoch.. Too bad it was very cloudy that day, so the peaks were kinda covered... Nontheless, the view was seriously stunning! The feeling of being on top of the world, looking down at mountains.. The entire panoramic view.. Photographs don't do it justice, hee..

There was a stream at the bottom, where we had taken our cable car from.. Evian water supply collection haha...

Such a nice pretty stream that I couldn't help but pose for a Mona Lisa, haha...

Thunsee when the sun is setting... Looks almost like a black and white photo, eh? ;)

Next day was Luzern... Nice view of the Alps and lake again...

Don't the tulips look practically too-good-to-be-true? Oh well, at least I don't feel so bad for having missed Tulip season in Amsterdam... =P

We didn't take the cruises after all, so went walking around the Altstadt (old town)... Their famous covered bridge that was partially burnt down once in the past...

Then we took a drive down the lake, to where the cruise ship would have gone to.. Picnicked by the lake...

Toured Zurich too.. Which wasn't much hee.. I guess it's more of a city where people make a living rather than catered for tourism.. That's Grossmunster, a church...

On the last day, we went to post off our postcards and Kannan and I went to pick up some groceries to cook lunch (with the help of Bernard), and so we had a first-hand experience at what crazy prices the Swiss are paying for thei groceries.. No wonder my friends who're doing SEP in Zurich are almost turning vegetarian soon haha.. Then we were waiting at the train station to get back to Stuttgart, and there were samples of Moevenpick ice cream being distributed! I got a Banana Yoghurt! Woot! What a sweet closing to my Swiss trip... =D

r o m e

Rome!! Roma Termini's their main train station.. The only good thing about the hostel we stayed at, is that it's near Roma Termini... Everything else about it was terrible -- tiny place with old rooms and the grimiest tinist kitchen and plumbing that was spoilt for 2 of the 5 days we were there.. And that's not all! Big warning: Don't spoil your Rome trip by staying at Backpackers' Hostel! Unfortunately, it's run by a company that has a group of hostels which are all of similar sad standards but have different names, so good luck trying to find good and cheap accomodation at HostelWorld or whatever that doesn't come under them!

First up: the Colosseum! It's seriously as good as what you hear of it!

That's where they keep the animals and slaves underground..

Spectators sit all around the sides, it was a thing of status to have a seat in the colosseum..

Roman roads that have survived the years...

Maximillian Circus... Where there was horse-chariot racing during Roman times..

The Roman Forum! From above, the ruins look like models or toys.. But actually they're seriously gigantic! That's why you can hardly make out the people on the ground in the photos, although it's sprawling with tourists haha...

Beautiful beautiful ruins!

The stone podium that Marc-Antony is supposed to have made his speech from (after the death of Julius Caesar)...

Towering arches...

The flame that's not supposed to go out...

They've got some really short tiny-looking buses!

The Pantheon! It's deceivingly small in this photo, had to stand far far back before being able to catch most of it in my photo... These Romans don't seem to have a sense of size -- everything's so gigantic!

The domed-ceiling of the Pantheon..

One of the many many churches we visited in Rome... They're seriously amazing, the paintings and sculptures and ornate decorations along the walls and on the ceilings.. They're almost like tiny museums of their own..

The fountain of Trevi (or was it Tivoli? oops) which was the last stop for our 1st day in Rome..

Refreshing stop... Especially with Italian Gelato!

Went to Vatican City the next day.. Had to queue for quite some time before finally entering the Vatican Museum... It's got quite a bit of Egyptian stuff, surprisingly...

Plenty of notable and impressive sculptures too...

Having our sandwich-lunch in the gardens of the Vatican Museum, resting our museum-feet...

One of the famous ones -- School of Athens.. They're really beautiful..

Finally reached Sistine Chapel after a long long walk... The Last Judgement..

Had to risk being shot deadly glances and bellowed to stop taking photos, in order to photograph the above 2 photos haha... We're allowed to take photos everywhere in the museum, but they're so strict about none in the Sistine Chapel.. No idea why.. Maybe it's just to force everyone to buy postcards etc of the works of art in the Sistine Chapel...

No more photos after this point, cos my camera ran out of memory haha... And haven't got the photos from Tse Siang yet..

We practically spent an entire day in the Vatican Museum, but it's really worth it... Went visiting other sights in Rome the next day and the rest of Vatican City the day after.. Having roamed Rome so much, we managed to sniff out a rather cozy restaurant with a 5-course meal for 15 euros, which we treated ourselves to on the last night.. =P Food's relatively ex in Rome too.. We'd been making sandwiches for lunch and cooking pasta for dinner... On the last day, which happened to be a Sunday, we went for mass in the St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City!

Generally, Rome's packed with stuff to see, plenty of beautiful impressive things, though you might get a little saturated with churches.. But wouldn't choose to live in that city, it's far too messy and crowded for my liking..

b a r c e l o n a

My after-internship-before-semester trip -- Barcelona (Spain) and Rome (Italy)!
Was so looking forward to it, since they seemed to hold such promise of very different experiences in countries which I haven't visited before, and it'd be a good break from work and before starting to mug all over again.. Then my dreams almost got smashed when I received an email from Alex the day that I was leaving Leipzig, which was only 1 day before the trip. His granddad just passed away so he needed to return to Singapore and wouldn't be able to join me for our trip. I went into a mad hustle, trying to ask around my friends for who would like to travel in his stead, amongst my already crazy rush to wrap up ends at my office (esp the internship report) and pack my bags and get ready to leave Leipzig.

Thankfully, Tse Siang decided to join me for Rome too (the Heidelbergers were already going to be in Barcelona for the period that I'm there too)!! Wah can't thank him enough sia.. Especially since he was already quite tired from travelling the previous week in Portugal and Spain already, and he would be missing his orientation.. =P

So I travelled to Barcelona by myself, checked into the hostel alone, and met up with the Heidelbergers!

We had dinner at some not-so-expensive restaurant, food in Spain in super ex! Even more ex than Germany! Makes one appreciate the cost of living in Germany haha.. That's Squid Ink Paella.. A pan of Paella (1 person's portion) costs at least 9.90 Euros, and apparently doesn't contain as much seafood as the picture in the menu alludes to...

Then went to watch the musical fountain (1st photo above).. So reminds me of the musical fountain in Sentosa before they tried to spice it up with laser effects and some storyline.. Just plain ol' water, lights and music.. =)

Went to one of the famous Gaudi's creations, a church he designed.. Much more modern and in a very different style from the Gothic or Baroque churches I've been visiting in Europe so far..

The statues tend to be very angular and made of rather white stone..

Went to La Rambla.. Their famous street bustling with shops and buskers.. Kinda like their buildings with all the intricatelly designed rod-iron balconies...

Yupz, that's us walking down the street... Adding to the number of gawking tourists there..

The mediterranean sea!! Unfortunately it was still kinda cold, not exactly welcoming enough to jump into the waters for a swim.. Some of us played frisbee on the beach, while the rest of us just sat on the beach, chatted and enjoyed the view and breeze..

Can you believe the Metro station closest to the hostel which I lived in, is called Parallel? Couldn't resist taking a photo of this amusing name.. =P

Made a friend at the hostel.. Yudi who's Chinese but studying full-time in Scotland now.. We were both staying alone in the same room and hit off so well we went around together for our Barcelona trip (with the Heidelbergers most of the time too)... Was really happy with the HelloBCN hostel which we stayed in.. Very organised, professional place with friendly receptionists and clean rooms and a modern cozy common dining area and a substantial breakfast and even a gym (which I didn't use of course haha)!

We went to a Park that Gaudi designed.. Very colourful designs and mosaics..

Even the buildings look very different from what I've ever seen so far..

Plenty of stone pillars and passages.. Palm trees and cacti too..

Doesn't this remind you of the Merlion Walk in Sentosa? Hee..

We hiked all the way up Tibidabo Hill! It was quite nuts, we almost thought that we wouldn't be able to reach there after all, cos it's really quite high and a long walk, so weren't sure if we would be able to return before the sun sets.. But it was really worth the workout, the view was breathtaking! Especially when the sunrays highlight only certain parts of the town!

There was an amusement park and hotel and church at the top... There was a statue of Jesus with hands outstretched at the top of the church..

Yudi and I picking pinecones off the hill!

Dusk falling upon the town.. Love the lighting.. And we managed to return down the hill just in time, phew!

On the last day, we all went our separate ways (other than Tse Siang and I who continued with our last day in Barcelona, then our trip to Rome).. Went to the wet market and saw all sorts of stuff -- from Emu eggs to legs after legs of dried pork... They have these stores in the wet market that you can order seafood and they will cook it there for you.. Makes you wonder about the hygiene in the wet market though, hee.. =P

Went to take a look at their shopping malls too.. Most of their brands seem to have arrived upon Singaporean shores -- Zara, Desigual... Though it's not really cheaper there, unfortunately.. Interesting shops sometimes, like these slippers and cap -- made of chocolate!