Visiting Europe Then and Now

Age is fast catching up on me so naturally my memory is not as good as before. After being home for five days, I better start writing about my Europe trip or I may forget what I saw and experienced.

But instead of just sharing the nice pictures I took at the four countries I visited, I hope to write about my personal feelings of these countries, the impressions they gave me and some peculiar or interesting things I’ve noticed (if there’s any).

This is my second trip to Europe. To be honest, it wasn’t as exciting as the first even though that was made years back in 1989 when I just completed my final year exams in the university.

Back then, going to Europe was a big thing and obviously very exciting so everything I experienced made me go ‘wow’. I was so mesmerised then by the arches of the Gothic cathedrals, their multi-coloured stained glass and the awesome paintings of renowned artists amazingly found on the ceilings of the cathedrals. I remember also being enchanted by the night scene of Paris, the ever-prominent Eiffel Tower and the magnificent Arc de Triomphe. All those historical structures and buildings made a big impression because many were designed and constructed centuries ago, way before Singapore was founded. I recall that even the pigeons looming on the square in Venice somehow fascinated me.

This time round, when I saw the cathedrals, I went “Hmmm…that’s nice.” No, didn’t get the ‘wow-wee’ feeling. When I saw the famous monuments of each country, I felt……umm…didn’t feel anything really…gee. Ok, ok… you guys must be thinking, there must at least be something that would make me excited and go ‘wowowow’. There was one, and that was the breathtaking view of Glencoe and the other snowy mountains in the Northern Highlands of Scotland. But unfortunately, we only made a day trip there and due to time constraints, we didn’t get the chance to stop and take in the cold cold air nor get a close-up shot of those beautiful mountains. We just drove pass the completely white mountains and I had to snap pictures as quickly as possible with my not-so-steady hand on my digital camera through the windows from within the mini-bus. Sob! Sob! Sob! But at least there was one excitement on the trip right? :)

Will write about my impressions of the countries next. Stay tuned.

ps: I think I’m more interested in nature at this point of my life. As such, the things I was looking forward to seeing were very different from those I saw on my first trip to Europe.

It’s Good to Be a Dog in Europe!

Hi all! Sorry I’ve not been able to post regularly from Europe. Wireless internet is not easily found at the places I visit and when I do find it, it’s either too expensive or too slow.

So far I’ve visited Deventer of the Netherlands, Berlin of Germany and Brugge of Belgium. I am now in Glasgow Scotland. The hostel where I am staying has free wireless internet access. That’s why I am able to post something today. Anyway, I’ll be back in S’pore this weekend and will try to organise all my pictures and share them with you asap.

I must say one of the things that amazed me on this trip is seeing Europeans bring their pet dogs everywhere and I mean everywhere! On buses, trains, shopping centres, cafes etc. we see dogs and more dogs. Wherever I go, dogs go too. And at any time of the day you can find people walking the dogs. They can be up at 5am walking their pets! It is definitely a luxury to be a pet dog in Europe!

Here are some of the dog pictures I’ve captured:

My First Day in the Netherlands

Hi friends! Looks like I can’t kick my blogging addiction. I’m now in Deventer, the Netherlands. The air here is so wonderful as compared to the haze I’ve been breathing in Singapore. Weather here is cold but still tolerable in the day…it only starts to drop in the evening and gets really cold. I guess the temperature in the night is about 5 degrees…brrrrr……cold siah!

I’ll try to post pictures here whenever I can find internet access. Here are a few I took on the first day. Haven’t done any sightseeing yet, only went on a walk and some groceries shopping. I like the lifestyle here, it’s slow and healthy, people are friendly and say hello all the time. That’s all for now! ^_^

This is where I’m now staying…my friend’s apartment is on the top floor. There are so many doors in the apartment!

This is the view I get from the bedroom.

The trees are so lovely…look at me…all wrapped up like Paddington Bear huh? Hehehe!

Europe Here I Come

Finally I’m going to visit my friend in Holland. So many months of talk about it, I’ll be flying off tonight. It’s going to be a not too long but not too short trip…close to three weeks. Will be going to only three countries, Holland, Germany and Scotland. First time going on a free and easy trip to such faraway places. Hope everything works out fine. Have not booked the hotels at some places yet. Will do so once we reach Deventer, the place where my friend is staying.

For the first time, I’m going to miss some people when I travel. They are of course my many online friends, the friends whom have been chatting with me everyday for the past six to seven months. I’m so used to ‘seeing’ them online everyday, three weeks without them will definitely be a big challenge for this online addict. I’m not the emotional sort of person so no sob sob goodbyes or touching words that will give everyone goosebumps.

Just want to say, my friends, take good care of yourselves while I’m away. I’ll know how to take care of myself in the cold climate so don’t worry. Hope to see everyone happy and healthy when I return. That friend with a back problem, please rest your back whenever you can, ok? And the two friends whom always shower at the late hours, please try to change this bad habit. Bye!

ps: This online addict will try to go online whenever she can because she’s bringing her laptop along for the trip! :P