June Trip (9th to 27th June)

Rome (9th to 12th June)

So it's off to the final leg of my Europe adventures. All in all, it consisted of 7 cities within a span of 19days. 19days aint a great deal of time but the happenings that struck throughout this trip were overwhelming, which i shant elaborate here. My first stop was the ancient city of Rome where one could find a great deal of Renaissance and Baroque remains. Despite the immense summer heat, the amount of crowd this capital draws during this period is simply amazing.

The Colosseum which was once used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles.

The Palatine Hill, believed to hold the origins to Rome. The Circus Maximus where ancient chariot-racing was held to provide entertainment to the kings. Sadly, it is all but a park now.

The Trevi Fountain, where tourists gather to throw coins into, with the hope of returning one day. The Patheon, supposedly a temple built to worship the ancient deities.

Piazza Navona:

The Spanish Steps.Castel Sant' Angelo.

St. Peter's Basilica, one of the 4 major basilicas in Rome and the burial site for many Popes.

Overlooking the capital from the St. Peter's Basilica Dome.

The Vatican Museum which contains the Sistine Chapel where one could find the greatest works of Michelangelo on its walls and ceilings.

Simply irresistible!!!

HOT! HOT!! HOT!!!

Florence (12th to 14th June)

On to Florence which was another fascinating city. Despite the fact that there are not many attractions in this city, I still find it one of the nicest city during my entire trip. The city is beautiful in its own unique way, with bridges linking 2 halves of the city separated by a river. And one thing I MUST mention is that they served the CHEAPEST gelato ice-cream among the 4 italian cities that i've been to! ONLY 1 eur for 2 scoops of it!!!

River Arno separating the city of Florence.

Leaning Tower of Pisa.Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) by day and night. Essentially, it means a cathedral church in Italian. Nearby the Duomo are the Campanile tower and the Baptistery.Palazzo Vecchio - town hall of Florence.

Piazzale Michelangelo.

Ponte Vecchio by day and night. This bridge spans over River Arno and is interesting in that it has jewellery shops built along it. It is also Europe's oldest wholly-stone arch bridge. Florence pastry delights.

Venice (14th to 16th June)

This has gotta be my favourite city of the trip. An absolutely different sensation to arrive at a city nicknamed "City of Water", where the only mode of transport around the city is either on foot or by taking the highly-priced gondolas. More interestingly, there are actually specific "taxi-stands" for these water taxis.

A typical gondola.

The famous St. Mark's Square:Clockwise from top left: Basilica's Campanile, St Mark's Basilica, Clocktower and Doge's Palace.

Rialto Bridge:

Paris (16th to 20th June)

Our 4th stop was Paris, the capital of France. I've long heard stories about this city from friends who've been there before and this visit just provided living testaments to whatever's been said. The Parisians are a bunch of snobbish ppl who aint that friendly or helpful. On top of that, the streets are often littered with rubbish or dog poo. Well, with that said, perhaps the only saving grace about this city has gotta be the huge numbers of magnificent monuments and landmarks.

Breathtaking view from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Notre Dame de Paris - one of the first Gothic cathedrals.

The Louvre - one of the most visited museums in the world. The amount of exhibition on display was simply exhilarating. It certainly takes a enormous amount of patience to finish viewing all the exhibits.

One of the famous exhibits in the Louvre - The Winged Victory of Samothrace.High-class shopping district!

Arc de Triomphe by day and night, built to commemorate those who fought for France during the Napoleonic wars.Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on Montmartre hill.

Versailles Palace:

A re-make of Napoleon's Residence. Take a look at how lavish and elaborate the decor is.

Madrid (20th to 21st June)

Next up was Spain where I first arrived at its capital, Madrid. This metropolitan city did not really have much to offer, besides the usual museums and a few palaces, which by this time had failed to entice us already. One thing to note though, Madrid does have a few very elaborate and beautiful fountains at major road junctions. On top of that, the ppl were really warm and helpful, lest the train station counter staff.

Gran Via - the shopping district. Catedral de La Almudena. Palacio Real - the official residence of the King of Spain.

Campo del Moro (located just next to Palacio Real) :

Spanish Churros.
We visited the Bernabeu which was the homeground of Real Madrid FC, the most successful football club ever. Obviously, being soccer fanatics, we enjoyed this stadium tour more than anything else. =)

Barcelona (22nd to 25th June)

The fact that so many of my friends have heap praises upon this city did little to change my impression of this city, which was marred by an unfortunate incident. Ok, nuff said.

The Sagrada Familia Church, Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece.

More of Gaudi's great works include:

1) Park Güell (Gaudi Park).

2) Casa Milà.

3) Casa Batlló.

Glòries.

Nou Camp:

Spanish Paella.

Milan (25th to 27th June)

My final destination on board this trip was another Italian city - Milan. Basically this city really small and is all about design and fashion so there wasnt much places of interest to visit at all. I took just a day to complete touring the city and spent most of my time ppl-gazing, observing the classy and elegant outfit of the Milanese.

San Siro:

The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, housing one of the most famous paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper.

The Duomo, the second largest cathedral in Italy.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele:

The Fashion street.

With that, it sums up my entire June trip and in fact my SEP escapades too. It has been a fun-filled 6 months, visiting new places, meeting new ppl and doing new things. I've certainly learnt alot throughout these times and I'm certain that my friends will share the same sentiment. =)