Looks like i wasn't kidding when i said it's gonna be long before the next entry. Took me a whole semester!!! But lemme finish up my travel updates - just for the record - before i continue on anything here. Timely enough too, bc i left for Norway ard a year ago!
11/ Tromso, Norway
Tromso is a city full of X'mas feels! Biggest regret: never made a snowman hahahaha ey it is not as easy as cartoons make it look!!!! But I guess making snow angels and catching the northern lights more than made up for it. Really miss the night sky there with endless stars. Braved the cold just to catch the lights but it was definitely worth it. Kind of miss the days back when we would look out our Kringsja window few times every night in anticipation of chancing upon the lights. O ya successfully hunted the lights without a guide (yea!!!!) really feel super lucky to have ever witnessed such a wonder of nature. Wonder when i'll ever experience something that even comes close again.
12/ Berlin, Germany
Oops don't have photos to help me remember. On the top of my mind i can recall Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Berlin wall, Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, Brandenburg gate, Reichstag building, Checkpoint Charlie, Christmas markets, Berlin cathedral... full of history and remembrance. And for the record, Berlin saw the saddest day of my life (or at least that year) mmm... let's just say i cried so much i didn't know i had that much sadness in me. Come to think of it it's been over half a year but i still haven't quite gotten over it
13/ Paris, France
Same again (can't really remember much) but didn't think i'd visit Paris twice - not so soon at least!!!! New place was the Palace of Versailles (which I was really looking forward to!) but it was disappointing because of the weather. Second time to the Eiffel tower but feels like the first all over again. Had a very yummy French dinner of escargot and the like. So... the city of love?
14/ Krakow, Poland
I liked Krakow a whole lot!!! Pretty streets, the little trumpet playing every hour, salt mines with lickable walls ("ummm can we lick this wall??"), and St. Mary's Basilica which interior i liked a lot! Pity i didn't get to go to Zakopane! On another note, Auschwitz was pretty depressing to visit. I remember having some very yummy dessert at the "ah ma milk bar" heh, and it was the last city six of us travelled to together before we split up :'(
15/ Venice, Florence, Pisa and Rome, Italy
Italy = pasta and gelato all day every day! Have always wanted to visit Venice but having been there, i guess it was less big of a deal than i'd imagined. Maybe again because of the grey cloudy skies. But still, the old buildings along the canals were pretty enough for many many photos though we passed on the gondola rides. The only thing at Pisa was the leaning tower and my fav spot at Florence was some river between two bridges. Lots to see in Rome!! Crazy long queue into the Colosseum and then attended the x'mas eve mass at the Vatican City. Let's just say it was a very special way to celebrate x'mas!
16/ Santorini and Athens, Greece
Santorini is deffo a dream honeymoon spot. Although there was nothing much to do there! Not sure because it was off peak or what. Hahahaha we were stranded where our ferry dropped us (no transport to the city besides expensive "tok tourists" taxis) and feeling damn sian in the rainy weather when two nice police gave us a lift!!!! Eternally grateful hehe. After two long car rides we finally arrived at our cave house - it was sooooo welcoming (plus the hot tub!!!!!!) and the view i had the first morning? Priceless. Wish i could wake up to that every morning! And stargaze every night at our doorstep! Our host was really nice too fetching us around and making us feel at home. Also we rented a car and drove to find the red and black beaches. Yup! Athens was all about climbing to the Acropolis and seeing their 101 monuments, but i liked it! Heh lots of Hercules feels now that i just watched the movie. And the best part of Athens was, the weather was sooooo goooood!!! Sunny blue skies that i haven't seen in the longest time ever!
17/ Budapest, Hungary
Where i bid 2013 farewell and welcomed 2014 (can't believe more than half of 2014 flew by just like this??) what a cutie place Budapest is actually made up of Buda and Pest hahahahaha separated by a river and linked by the chain bridge which makes a good photo subject at night! Liked the Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion as well. And honestly though i extended my exchange just for a countdown experience overseas, i hate to admit that it fell short of my expectations by a lot, guess Budapest is the wrong place to be for NYE countdown!!! where are my fireworks bruh!!!!
18/ Prague, Czech Republic
One of the cities i spent the most days in on exchange, partly because it was not economical to fly into Switzerland for just a few days and we were too lazy to plan for somewhere else (is it even possible to get sick of travelling though??) but more days meant more time (yay to sleeping in!!!) and less rushing about trying to see everything. We even had time to just linger at a random bench to watch the world go ("why is it go and not goes?") by. Since we had that many days we travelled out of Prague to Kutná Hora as well! Quiet little town with the most memorable creepy bone chapel. I'd say Prague was a good start to 2014 and a good end to my exchange adventures!!!!
19/ Brussels, Belgium
I have nothing to say about Brussels (sobs.....) because i didn't get to do anything there besides run from police station to sg embassy and back a dozen times to get my paper passport done. What an end to my exchange!!!! Found out i lost my passport on the bus midway from Prague to Brussels - think we were in Germany ?? and they wanted to do a passport check. O gosh i was panicky (was flying back to Oslo the next day for my flight back to sg) although less scared than i should have been because i was half sleepy (it was an overnight bus!!!!) but after a lot of fuss and waiting and wondering if i was really chinese ("are you chinese??" o god why) they let me pass with my sg ic yay!!!! p.s eventually my passport was returned to mfa (everyone was like o my god your passport will be sold to black market for sure) eternally grateful to the kind soul faith in humanity restored!!!! and yes that was my trip to Brussels
Last few days in Oslo were so so precious (many many good memories) altho i almost got caught for not buying a transport ticket hahahaha omg most anxious moment ever more anxious than taking exams!!! But as all good things, my 5 month exchange journey finally came to an end.
And soooo... this sums up my Europe adventures in some 15 countries (24 cities!) But even after so long, still sad that exchange has ended (and definitely glad that it happened!!!) and miss the joy of travelling so, so much. Ok! Gonna hopefully have one more entry for the semester (+ summer!!) i missed penning down about before the semester that is to come!