Europe Backpack - Germany and Holland

22 Sept  2010 - Berlin

Spending the whole night in train, we finally arrived in Berlin. The regrettable thing is I didn't allocate a lot of time in Berlin, so we only went up Bundestag, the Parliament building of Germany. We visited the Berlin Wall, Victory Column (too bad it was under renovation), holocaust memorial, and during the night, we relaxed as watched a fountain show. The moon that night was bright and big as it was Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Eagle of Germany

Bundestag and the Moon

23 Sept 2010 - Cologne

Cologne has a very big cathedral, other than that, nothing really interesting for us. Nevertheless, it was very nice and relaxing to walk around the city. In the evening, we has a nice all you can eat Chinese buffet.

24 Sept 2010 - Kinderdijk and Amsterdam

After arriving in Amsterdam, we quickly checked in and travel to Kinderdijk, where the windmills are. Very scenic too bad we can't spend much time there.

Windmill

We arrived in back Amsterdam in the evening. And we went to see the red light district! It was quite an experience, the prostitutes posing in windows, and customer who want them simply open the small door beside the window, and with curtains closed, business..

And so, the end of backpack trip. Great experience obtained!

Europe Backpack - Czeh Republic

19 Sept 2010 - Prague

We spent whole day traveling to Prague. In the end we only manage to start sightseeing Prague at night.

Prague Castle at night.

20 Sept 2010 - Prague

We explored full day, seeing the astronomical clock at Prague Square, explored Prague Castle; which was expensive but worth the experience. In the evening, we had dinner at Old Prague Square, they had a blacksmith, very nice beer and wine, and my favorite: the juicy roasted ham. All these comes with a cheap price. We spent the night relaxing and watching movie in the hostel. Very relaxing, especially all the rushing around we have done so far.

21 Sept 2010 - Omolouc

Omolouc is a small but nice place, famous for the Hold Trinity Column and the cathedral with the highest spire in the country. They even had a sand sculpture when we visited! I like this town, quiet, slow and relaxing. Ans so, we go back to Prague and prepare for the next destination: Berlin.

Sand Sculpture

Holy Trinity Column

Europe Backpack - Musical Austria

16 Sept 2010 - Salzburg

And so in the morning we left the Alps to Salzburg, Austria via a very scenic train ride.The first place we visit is the Mirabelle Palace, famous for where Sound of Music is shot.

 Mirabelle Palace

After a short break in the hostel, we climb up one of the 2 hills overlooking Salzburg. The scenery is actually quite gloomy, unlike what we saw in Europe so far. Having explored the narrow medieval-feel streets, we call it a day.

Gloomy Salzburg Dusk

17 Sept 2010 - Salzburg

The next morning we went to the zoo, unexpected plan, but quite enjoyable (mostly due to the zoo is much better than zoos in Malaysia although the zoo is quite small). Hellbrunn palace we visit to, experiencing the garden full of mechanism operated by water and the traps to make us wet.. They even had water imitating song birds! Amazing, fun, and wet.

All the models in this can dance around. Purely operated by water!!

And lastly, we visited Salzburg Fortress before leaving to Vienna. In my opinion, the coolest fortress we visited. This fortress has never been captured, except when the garrison unconditionally surrendered to Napoleon.

Salzburg Fortress

18 Sept 2010 - Vienna

Vienna in summary is quite rushed, but still very enjoyable. We bought ourselves a concert ticket at St. Stephen's Cathedral. After that we strolled the beautiful streets and Hofburg palace. Being the capital of classical musical, there are many street musicians playing classical music indeed. I regretted that I didn't explore the parliment building though.

Hofburg Palace

Parliment Building

In the night, after the concert (too bad not at the famous Vienna Concert House.) we meet up with a friend of ours who was traveling with his family. The next morning we head for a long, long journey to Prague.

Europe Backpack - Switzerland

14 Sept 2010 - Night - Lucerne

By the time we reached Lucerne, it was already night time. There was nothing much to see, and whole day traveling made us tired, so we head to our hostel, which was once a jailhouse. We found out that this place is where the contiki tour group is staying. The staff is here is nice enough to let us use the kitchen, even though it was already closed. 

15 Sept 2010 - Jungfrau, Interlaken, Lucerne

We traveled early morning so that we can stay longer up at Jungfrau. The train ride to Interlaken is extremely nice, with the standard view of snow capped mountains, greenery, and villages.

Standard view of Switzerland.

Up the mountain Jungfrau, however, the scenery changed to contrast white and dark brown. Amazing sight itself. We went to the ice palace, which we see many interesting ice sculptures. The temperature outside, very very cold. I though my ears and nose is going to fall off. Coming down Jungfrau, we strolled around Interlaken before heading back to Lucerne.

Glacier

??? - Squirrel from Ice Age

Europe Backpack - From Rome to Venice

 12 Sept 2010 - Rome

It was no joke when I heard from the Italian couple back in Doolin telling us Rome is HOT! It was tiring traveling to Rome, then looking for our hostel. The staff there had a bad attitude; the kitchen opens late and closes after a while; you have to pay internet there, M&J Hostel is the name. Well, that made us hate Italy.

Anyway, once we settled our things, we went sightseeing. Rome is all about ruins, which we got a lot indeed! Visited the Colosseum, Roman forums and the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (too bad we didn't have the time to explore). 

 

Romulus and Remus, legendary founder of the city.

Roman Forums

13 Sept 2010 - Vatican City to Venice

The next day we head out for Vatican City. (missed the pope yesterday...) Visiting St Peter's Basilica, making us visit 2 of 4 major basilica in Rome. (we wandered unknowingly to St Mary Major the day before) We too wandered unknowingly to Trevi Fountain, the largest baroque fountain in the world. Then we head out in the afternoon for Venice.

 St Peter's Basilica

Reaching Venice at night, there is nothing much to see. One thing of note is that there are many Asians there. Again, by 2 companions insisted on eating Chinese food again, so we went to a overpriced Chinese restaurant where the owner charged us with table fees.

14 Sept 2010 - Venice

The next day we took a ride in the ferry for the canals. (cheaper alternative to gondolas) Missed the churches in Venice too, mostly due to the lack of interest of my 2 other companions. In the afternoon, we left for Switzerland! To sum up Italy, we had a bad experience there; but I would go again, especially Rome, and maybe together with Naples in the future.

Venice is about Gondolas, although we did not ride them.

Europe Backpack - The Italian Riviera

9 Sept 2010 - Genova

The journey to Genova is simply beautiful. It's too bad we did not plan to visit Nice and Monaco. But crossing French border to Italy, the feel has not changed at all. Genova. Birthplace of Christopher Columbus, and a huge historical center, and a lot of luxury boats. The architecture is very nice too, many buildings and houses has a courtyard which we can wander into.

Example of luxury boat.

Weapons for sale!!

10 Sept 2010 - Pisa & Florence

Next stop: La Spezia. Here we set a base to visit Pisa, Florence and Cinque Terra. La Spezia itself is a nice place to relax and explore. (Note to myself: must visit in future). Nothing much to say about Pisa and Florence, as the tourist traps are quite standard. But comparing the river of Pisa and Florence:

River of Pisa

River of Florence: Seems better..

At night back at La Spezia, we managed to join in a festival with many performances. After watching, we ate at a Chinese Restaurant where the fried rice is very nice. It seems that restaurant was opened by a couple from China. Knowing no English or Italian, they started a business here in La Spezia.

11 Sept 2010 - Cinque Terra

The highlight for our visit to Italian Riviera: Cinque Terra. First achievement we did there is to hike all the way up a 312m hill with slippers. The view is rewarding, and we wrote our names onto the building on top.

Second achievement: we visited all 5 villages along the coast via train since one of our companion has lousy physical ability and there is toll for tramplers. (He almost gave up and complained and want to go back in 4th village) I had good time!

Near the place where we relax and listened to a street singer singing "Time to say Goodbye". He plays piano while his partner plays flute. Very nice!

Even my low-end camera can take a good picture out of Cinque Terra.

Cinque Terra is also a wine producing country! Too bad we did not taste any.

Europe Backpack - From Lyon to Marseille

6 Sept 2010 - Lyon

Lyon, was Roman capital for Gaul, "Lugdunum". The city is famous for its architecture and churches and mixes of silk workers homes (which made the area felt like South America/Spanish towns). Nice sculptures can be found inside churches such as this:

Unfortunately, my 2 companions failed to recognize this and complained all the way. Well, things didn't go too well too, in the morning, we got lost in Gare du Lyon in Paris, and later arriving at Gare du Part Dieu in Lyon we wasted more time looking for tickets and loose change for tickets. But anyways, later in the evening we reached the ancient city center for Lugdunum. From the seats of an amphitheater there, we can get a nice view of the city. We hiked our way up the Fourviere Hill to Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere for a nice night view of Lyon. Sadly, we had not enough time (and lack of interest from the other 2 companion) to explore the city more. Due to nationwide strike, we has to leave early to Marseille.

Amphitheater overlooking the city.

Night view of Lyon.

The Basilica and the replica of Eiffel Tower.

7-8 Sept 2010 - Marseille

Marseille, part of the beautiful French Riviera. There, we got lost looking for our hostel. The first thing we notice was boats, boats and more boats! The sights are extremely rewarding, especially up the Notre Dame de la Garde.

One of the fortress at the entrance of Vieux Port.

View from Notre Dame de la Garde, the casas suits the Mediterranean feel.

War Memorial.

Vieux Port

However, trying to look for a nice beach, we end up in the middle no nowhere, and almost missed the last bus back to the city. Took a picture for the memory anyway:

Europe Backpack - Paris

3-5 Sept 2010 - Paris

Traveling from Liverpool to London, storing our luggage , then taking Eurostar to Paris. By the time we reach Paris, it was already night. After settling down our hostel, we went out to visit Basilisque du Sacre Cuer, and enjoyed the night panorama of Paris - and also visited a sex shop we found on the streets.

Sacre Cuer at night.

Next morning we went to the Sacre Cuer again, which looks as nice as it is during the night. Next stop is Arc de Truimphe, where we went up to have a look. The arc is in the center of 6 roads with even angles. Here we also found out that as students(not expired), and since tomorrow is Sunday, most of the museums will be free for us! We also visited the Eiffel Tower and Napolean's Mausoleum at Musee de Armee.

Napolean's Mausoleum

After spending the time exploring WW1 and WW2 stuff at the museum, the next destination is the Notre Dame Cathedral. The mood inside is really solemn, and I decided to join the Catholic service which was conducted in French. (couldn't understand a word, but experience is quite unique) Feeling spirited, I joined my 2 friends to go back to Eiffel Tower for the hourly blinking and relaxing at the park nearby. There we gathered along with a crowd to listen to a street musician singing nice songs. Not expecting to go back too soon, we went on walking down champ de elyss to the Lourve, stopping to see Eiffel Tower blinking in afar. By the time we reach Lourve, it was already midnight... We called it a day.

The Lourve at midnight.

The next morning, we continued our visit to Versailles. After wasting 2 hours taking a long queue under the hot sun, we found out that we actually we can just enter the palace with our student card.. The palace was grand, and one notable piece of art there is the coronation of Josephine, although the real one is in the Lourve. Too bad the garden is closed; as it looked quite nice. After the Versailles, we rushed to the Lourve, hoping that it had not closed yet. Indeed when we reached there, the closing time is almost there; So we rushed around to see the highlighted arts, especially the Mona Lisa. Feeling satisfied, we randomly choose a place to go (la Defense) to hang around. Not expecting anything initially, we were awed by the structure of la Defense, and the cool architecture of the skyscrapers around. Tomorrow, onwards to Lyon!

la Defense with the backdrop of evening sky.

Ireland Trip Finale

29 July 2010 - Galway

In the morning, we walked all the way to Doolin cave (5km!). We saw the largest stalactite accessible to tourist, and currently second largest in the world! (Largest is in Brazil) A generous Irish drove us back to the hostel later after the cave tour :) and off we depart to Galway, our final destination.

Galway is famous for horse races, their pub party is more orderly compared to those in Cork too! I love the night atmosphere, but my camera can't take the night views. We had a 14 euro chinese buffet (which is the most expensive meal so far) since it will be our last day in Ireland!

Horse race in Galway!

Cruiser in the port!

Early next morning we say goodbye to Galway and Ireland, for we are going back to Liverpool..

Ireland Trip 2

24 July 2010 - Cork

After the Guinness Warehouse visit, we went to Cork. Here we made a mistake of not prebooking a train ticket and had to waste more time and money. By the time we arrive at Cork, it was almost dark. We had the best Indian/Pakistani Buffet there, but quickly found out that Cork is not quite our place, since we don't go party, and it's quite chaotic there, with many people from all around the country to go there just for the pub (not to mention we almost spend the night on the street since most hostels are full). The report is slowing us down too, we had to stay late into the night at the hostel just to write our report.

25 July 2010 - Ring of Kerry

We found out that there is a day tour around Ring of Kerry based in Cork, and we were happy. This is because due to many difficulties, we had made a lot of last minute changes to our plan (canceling places, originally including Ring of Kerry).

Charlie Chaplin visited Ring of Kerry too!!

The view Ring of Kerry is so famous about.

26 July 2010 - Doolin

Late in the morning, we depart for a long journey to Doolin, which serves as a base to visit the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands. The evening is not quite suitable for visiting the cliffs because it was very foggy, the visibility is less than 100m! So we stayed in the hostel for the rest of the day. The host there is friendly and helpful, though not our roommate... At around 8.30pm the host gave us a presentation of the Burrens(which is the whole area where Doolin is situated at). We finally completed our reports that night :D (actually I completed it two nights ago) Missed the Irish pub! Regrettable!!

28 July 2010 - Aran Islands, Cliffs of Moher

We rented a bicycle and off we go to enjoy Insheer, one of the Aran Islands. Straight coming back from the island, we took a 1 hour break at the hostel before staring our 10km ride to Cliffs of Moher.

Inisheer: blue seas, quite town, and some derelicts.

Endless road to Cliffs of Moher.

Cliffs of Moher: the picture is unappealing, you have to be there to see it's dramatic scenery!

More to come..

Ireland Trip

22 July 2010 - Belfast

In the end, there is only one travel companion to 7 days trip to Ireland. We fly from Liverpool to Belfast, our first stop. We arrived early at the hostel at about 9am, only to find that we can only check in 10pm, and that caused us to miss the hostel's own tour to Giant's Causeway. Having no choice, we took bus there ourselves. Although we have only about 1 hour there, we had fun nevertheless, and the view is breathtaking.

Dunluce Castle near Giant's Causeway.

Giant's Causeway

At night, we went out for Belfast's night view. Too bad my camera is not good enough to take pictures at night..

Belfast at night.

23 July 2010 - Dublin

We depart for Dublin the next morning, and found that Mary Gibbons tour to Newgrange is not as good as they say. Apparently, somebody made a booking on another time and came today, which means there is no place for us, so we took another tour there, luckily, there was just enough empty seats for us!

About the place, there are three mega tombs, Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth. Sunlight will penetrate through these tombs to their center, lighting up the whole chamber. This period is specific for each of the tomb. For newgrange, it's morning of the Winter Solstice, evening of Autumn Equinox at Knowth, and evening of Winter Solstice at Dowth. We visited only Knowth and Newgrange, because Dowth is not accessible. In my opinion, Knowth is more interesting since it features a lunar calender, and it has two access passages.

Knowth

Newgrange

Sadly, we did not make it to visit Dublin's night view because we had to do report given by our lecturer :(

But hey, we manage to visit Guinness Warehouse which is what Dublin is all about ;)

More to come...