2011 Europe trip

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This took forever but I'm finally getting down to blogging about it! I've been looking for someone to tour Europe with, but unfortunately schedules are hard to match and money doesn't come by easy. Been wanting to visit Europe for the longest time, and last year I thought, if I don't go now, I may never have the chance to go. So I made up my mind to recce on my own, and in two weeks I was off on a plane! I didn't plan to go overseas for my graduation trip, so I shall reflect and relive last year in place of that XD

Thoughts like "what the heck am I doing" did occur to me on the plane, but they were quickly taken over by the fear and excitement of exploring unknown lands 8D Since I was flying alone, next to me sat a Chinese lady who was working in Rome. We got to know each other a little better over the 13-hour flight, and she very kindly offered to drive me from the airport to my hostel ;v; I'm forever grateful towards her, as she made me feel safe and comfortable from the very start of my trip! It was nice to know that there were nice people willing to offer a helping hand, especially when you are alone in foreign lands ;v;

I didn't want to spend too much on transport, so I went around sight-seeing on foot as much as I could. That meant matching maps with the curves and corners of roads xD I almost got lost on my very first day in Rome cuz I was taking some short-cuts through back alleys, but thanks to that I got take a peek at people's lives in urban Rome and come by some cute, local shops. I had previously downloaded free audio guides online so that kept me company along the trek too.


Colosseo. The insides were magnificent too. But imagining how slaves were tortured there in the past makes me uneasy, thought a part of me wishes to see how it was like.


Roman Forum. The view of Rome from above was breathtaking. Also very surprised that Caesar's tomb is here and that people were still placing flowers there.


Can't remember what this place is cuz I passed by it only and didn't enter. Itachan's flag going pata pata~


Fontana di Trevi. So crowded. But so pretty!


Overlooking somewhere to the left of piazza del popolo from Villa Borghese.


piazza della repubblica at night. The roundabout was so busy and the cars will NOT stop for you to cross! I had to run across in fear of getting hit, in order to get to the central circular area.


Insides of Santa Maria in Trastevere. The Maria statue lying in front had a rather real gash on her neck, gave me the shivers when I saw it.




Trastevere and its surroundings were pretty. I can imagine it being a lot prettier when the seasons change and the greens grow!


Within the Vatican museums.


Piazza San Pietro, Vatican City.


Trevi fountain at night! Even more beautiful than in the day~


Colosseo at night~

On my last day in Rome, I went to the store where the Chinese lady was working to give my thanks and bid farewell. She even treated me to a cup of very delicious cappuccino and a cup of gelato from a nearby famous store ;v; I really owe her too much!  

Before heading to Firenze, I stopped by Ancona to visit the Frassassi gorges. It was very out of the way and I almost froze in the waiting room at the platform back to the major train station, as the frequency of trains were very low x_X But the gorges were so majestic and pretty that all the hardship was worth it! What sucked  was that I was too late to join a spelunking tour, and I was made to join an Italian tour, but there was an old lady who was kind enough to help translate to English what was being said ;v; Once inside, the layers of dirt and sediment build-up that formed the walls as well as the pillars formed from droplets of rain/river water allows one to see and feel how old Earth is.  

To save on lodging, I spend some nights traveling on trains. I remember this particular ride from Ancona to Firenze was awful because someone all the seats/carriages were taken(?!) and I had to sleep while sitting on my luggage in the boarding/alighting area of the carriage. I was given a ticket with a seat number, but the aisles were too narrow and there were too many people that I gave up on moving my huge luggage through the crowds to get to my seat lol..


Cattedrale Di Santa Maria Del Fiore standing out from her surroundings.




Love locks on chains near Ponte Vecchio. If I had an electric saw I wld've-


Ponte Vecchio. If I don't remember wrongly DisneySea has a miniature version of this.



I visited the Accademia and Pisa too but there weren't nice photos so I shall skip that part.

Dumped my baggage at La Spezia station before doing a day-trip out to see the Cinque Terre! Quiet, colourful civilizations hanging by the cliffs near the sea. It's so peaceful and ideal to live here, but you'd really have to give up the comforts of city life for this.


Riomaggiore.


Vernaza.




Manarola.

Took a night train into Nice, France, where a female train conductor thought I was escaping from Japan (due to the quakes) and offered to put me up at her company's hotel. It was very kind of her to offer, but I already made bookings so I turned her down. What a sweet lady ;v;

Nice, to the south of France, seldom rains (or so I heard), but I was unlucky to be caught in rainy weather while I was there T_T


Crepes


and coffee while waiting for the skies to clear up.


Nuramago in the show windows...! さすがオタク3大国のおフランス!


おしゃれな町だった。

There wasn't much sight-seeing I could do due to the rain, so I spent most of the time indoors at shopping malls. Even on my last day it was pouring, until 4 hours before I had to leave Nice only did it clear up. I grabbed my maps and made a quick dash to do touristy stuff before my train departs.


Russian church in the proximity! Very beautiful. Makes me want to visit Russia some day.




Train into Paris. The billowing clouds at the foot of the hills are so gorgeous!


Paris was, a little disappointing for me actually :/ It felt like a city of sand and grey; but that could be because I went before Spring and the weather was cloudy/dusty. The food was gorgeous though!

I met up with shiroin and his friend the next day, where we did a mini-shoot. Still have yet to get the data I want from him.... gotta poke him soon.

The next day we did a Loire River tour, visiting three castles in a day. The guys complained it was too much for them xD Maybe a little, but I love looking at the architectures and learning about their histories, so I enjoyed myself enough.


Château de Chenonceau.




Crest萌え!The flags of different areas and houses are so 萌え too!


Château de Cheverny. The family who owns this place still stay here, so only a part of the castle was open to public. Halfway through the tour, we heard a commotion outside, and apparently the dad had just guided his son out of the castle to head out. Royalty in real life, 萌える!


If I were brought up in this kind of environment...


鎧萌え////


Weaponry 萌え////


Château de Chambord.



We went around Paris the next day.


Eiffel tower.




Gorgeous details.


Took a break at a bar where the guys had alcohol and I had hot chocolate.


Arc de Triomphe.




Along Champs-Élysées.


Lunch/tea at an Alsace-style restaurant! The ceiling was all mirrors!


The clouds and sunburst!


Notre Dame.




We stood along the sidelines to observe a mass inside, until the air became a little too stuffy and heavy inside.




Dinner! Yummy yum yum.




From the top of Centre Pompidou.


Dinner at Carry's! Raclette~~ It was a simple meal but so, so much fun!

My original plan was to head to Switzerland the next day, but I hadn't bought train tickets out, nor booked my hotel, so I was torn between staying one more night in Paris or just hitting the road the next day. When Carry offered to put me up for one night, I gladly accepted it as it would give me more time to plan my Swiss leg. Thank you so much again!

Last day in Paris I took a trip out to visit Versailles.




Angelina at the end of the museum route! Chocolate was so thick x_X But everything was delicious hah.

Versailles gardens were humongous. I didn't have time to cover the whole area, and some were cordoned off due to off-season, so it would be nice if I could visit it again!


I think they were filming something there. The guy behind saw my camera aimed at them, and he was nice enough to take off his glasses and give me a smile! :D





As if I hadn't walked enough at Versailles, I went to climb Montmartre at night x_X (All the walking was to give me knee aches for the next 4 months, but at that time all I thought was keep moving forward, for your money's worth lol).


Basilique du Sacré-Cœur at night.



Got to Zurich in the afternoon the next day~


This city fuses old with new so well, the combination doesn't seem awkward at all! Swiss has always been a country of my dreams to visit, and when I got there the place was more than what I had expected or imagined it to be <3 It would be ideal to retire there ;v;




Also visited the Sprungli and Lindt chocolate factory~


I got up late and could only see the Rheinfalls at night :/ Majestic still!




The Rheinfalls were rather far from the city, somewhere near the mountain areas, so there wasn't much civilization around. This was how dark it was across the river xD The only lights are those from the lamp posts that line the trekking/cycling path. But thanks to the darkness, the night sky was a beautiful midnight blue dotted with diamonds *_* It was a night sky I had always wanted to see, so I laid on a park bench to take it all in, while reflecting on everything in my life that has brought me to where I am today. Probably the only day where I gave the most thanks to anything and everything in life.


Last day in Zurich. Sweets that I had always wanted to try at the Sprungli cafe! Those aren't macarons, but luxemburglis btw :D


Sargans station. Decided to take a trip out into Liechtenstein later in the day. Yes I am a huge fan of SwissLiech.


I heard you can get your passport stamped with a Liechtenstein stamp here, but I was too late T_T


Can you imagine waking up to such a scenery every morning?!


Dinner was mushroom & potato soup, paired with bread and sour cream <3. Dining well in a country you adore makes the world feel complete :)

I had to take a night train into Austria, so it was a mad rush back to Zurich to clean up and head to the train station. It was graduation period too so the tram stops were filled with youngsters celebrating. Got asked to join a group, but I had to reject them. Couldn't they see I had a backpack and a huge luggage with me? XD

Something funny happened while on my train to Vienna though. The time was fast-forwarded an hour due to daylight savings (which I was unaware about) while I was sleeping, and I thought I had overslept my station! I hurriedly hopped off the train, only to realise that I haven't reached my destination yet, and the next train passing by would be the same train I boarded going back in a U-turn direction. 3am at night, end-winter-time, on an open platform was no joke. It was friggin cold that I decided to hop onto this train going in the opp direction and seek shelter at a larger station. I didn't know that this train was the one doing the U-turn, so when I realised that the train personnel was the same people, I really thought that I had time-slipped or something LOL. Thoughts like "How to get out of this dimension?!", "Will I be able to meet Carry in Austria tomorrow?", "Will the Carry I meet be the Carry I have known till now?!!" were rushing through my head, until she called me in the morning to tell me about the daylight savings thingy. Yes my imagination can be very exciting.  


So glad to finally meet up with Carry in Vienna! Thanks for coming all the way from Paris and acting as my guide ;v;


Schnitzel!


Their stations are so cute ;w;


Belvedere. Admired some art before heading for our concert at night.


Gorgeous concert hall! さすが貴族。


We were having so much fun that we started doing 葉っぱ隊's YATTA! at one of the stations xD It's scary how undisciplined one becomes when you are in a foreign land and no one knows you.


Peter Pan at the Swarovski shop! Regret not buying this now....


Kunsthaus.


Blueberry tarts with hausbrandt coffee~ So gorgeous. If only photos could remember tastes too.


Our last night together and we got really high xD Carry started to 荒ぶるww 見事なorzでござるよ!And we talked and 落書き-ed till the sun came up and fell asleep mid-speech.


I feel sad for the pigeon walking away...

After seeing Carry off, I took my train into Munich and reached at night. It was my first time meeting da-monkey and MikiyoOo, and they were such kind, lovely ladies! Thank you for putting me up at your home Zippi!

Zippi still had work so MikiyoOo showed me around Zurich ^^






Viktualienmarket was bustling! It was very nice weather to walk around in too~



Second day we went around shopping and sight-seeing together :) We had strawberries by the side of this scenic river!




With da-monkey and MikiyoOo! 後ろの人たちに見られているwww


Portions of food in the Bavarian area were huge! Did my best to finish my plate xD

If I were to blog everything from my 4-week trip, it would take forever and it'd probably bore readers out, so this is as much detail as I can recall while looking at these more-presentable photos. Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has made my first Europe trip happen and so much fun!! I will definitely want to head back to visit UK, Netherlands, Belgium and the Scandinavian countries 8D

© 2012 - 2024 gk-reiko
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SpinkellaSapphire's avatar
This is pretty old, but, reading this takes me to Europe. :)
I mean, I'm one for the comforts of home but this is a very good post, it's wonderful. ; ~ ;
You're very lucky to be the person you are, I'll forever watch people like you live amazing lives while being comfortable with mine. :')