Riga - The Land of the Atas (17th to 19th Mar)

This is going to be a really short and sweet post since Latvia is a really boring place and bears many resemblance to its neighbouring countries like Lithuania.. Despite so, it boasts one of the highest GDP per capita among the European nations.. with its currency as strong as the pound... Looking at the posh cars that drove past us in the city and the branded attire of the ppl, we cant help but felt bewildered by the high standards of living of the population in this little-known country, clueless about what's driving its economy. Anyway, did i mention we had our 2 korean friends, Yoon and Bruce, to join us on board this trip and they were simply HILARIOUS! As you can tell, i'm rather lazy to type out our itinary for this trip so just want to share the pictures with you guys...

Stopover at Nykoping:
Check out the size of the pizza! Each of us had 1 for lunch. LOL.. On board the plane with one of the Korean guys, Yoon.

A tour round Riga:

Monument of Freedom.

Need I say more?

Check out the number plate of this car!

Day market selling stuff ranging from fruits, pastries, meat to clothes and ornaments.

This is Riga's replica of Marche.. The food trashes that in Marche by the way!

A farewell pic with our friendly but muddle-headed hostel receptionist, Christina.

Weekend Skii Excursion (9th to 11th Mar)

Here are some pics from my weekend skiing excursion at Flottsbro and of my second visit to Stockholm.

Spring is beckoning.
Flottsbro Skii Resort.

Duan clinched the "Worst Fall of the Day Award" with this crash. LOL

Awfully wet from the umpteen falls.

The narrowest street in the entire city.

Alright.. that's all for now.. time to return to my books.. Exams this friday.. wish me luck!~ ;)

Copenhagen Trip (2nd to 4th Mar)

Day 1:

Arrived in Copenhagen in the early hours of the morning after an arduous 7hr overnight bus ride... couldnt really catch much sleep throughout the journey and it certainly didnt help to be feeling cold and hungry upon arrival.. Managed to find our way to the hotel which was thankfully near to where we alighted.. the receptionist was really kind enough to help us source out a room within minutes and even invited us to the hotel breakfast which we gladly accepted.. lol.. the hotel room was quite decent.. with 4 beds for the 3 of us.. although the washroom was a shared one along the corridor..

After settling down, we went down to the hotel restaurant for a breakfast buffet.. the spread consisted of bread, pastries, ham, salami, cereals etc etc... we were quite stuffed by the time we were done.. with the stack of brochures and maps that we've gathered from the hotel lobby, we embarked on foot round the city...

First we came across the Tivoli Gardens which was just a 5 mins walk from our hotel.. This is a famous amusement park which has been opened since 1843.. Unfortunately or rather fortunately, it is closed till April.. Looking at the exterior of the amusement park, one cant help but to worry for his/her safety on board the rides.. No wonder the reviews have deemed this park as being overated...

Tivoli Gardens

Next up was the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek which is essentially an arts museum featuring the collection of works of the son of the Carlsberg Breweries.. Visited the National Museum of Denmark which is stupendously large.. with its huge collections of the various civilisations and cultures dated as early as the 17th century... i was really amazed at the layout of the museum.. its interior was basically a maze... nearly got lost inside a couple of times...

Ny Carlsberb Glyptotek:

National Museum of Denmark:

On our way to the major attractions in the city.. we came across this Danish army troops, together with its military band, marching downtown.. was kinda an eye-opener to us since we havent seen this in sweden before.. even the Ferrari Modena 360 had no choice but to give way and followed behind them.. haha...

Sometimes it's not a matter of how fast one can go...

The rest of the day was spent covering attractions like Rosenborg Castle, Amelienborg Castle, Frederiks Kirke, Rundetårn and the Den lille havfrue.. of which the highlights were the last 3 really.. Frederiks Kirke (Frederik's Church), popularly known as the Marble Church, has the largest church dome in Scandinavia... We each spent 25DKK for a tour to the top of the church.. it took us 276 steps in total to reach the top not mentioning the spiralling stairs that we had to take that made it really tedious... but everything was worth it once we reached the top where we witnessed breath-taking view of the entire city...

Rosenborg Castle with its garden

Absolutely magnificent bird's eye view!~

On our way to Rundetårn, we realised how friendly and helpful the danes were when a lady took her initiative to provide directions to 3 seemingly-lost souls on the streets.. In fact we were astonished to hear from her that there was actually a riot happening in the city at that very moment... Anyway Rundetårn (Round Tower) is essentially a tower with an astronomical observatory but the climb up the tower wasnt as tedious as that of the Frederiks since it was mainly upsloping paths up... but comparatively, the view from the Frederiks was much more magnificent than that of the Round Tower owing to the difference in height. i think..

Inside and at the top of the tower.

The Dan lille havfrue (The Little Mermaid) is sculpted based on a fairy tale about a young mermaid who is willing to give up everything to gain the love of a prince and an eternal soul. By the time we reached there, there was a crowd waiting to take pictures with it.. a pity though that the Little Mermaid had been vandalised by the rioters with pink paint..

Our evening plans were disrupted due to the ongoing riots.. only managed to visit the Planetarium which is similar to our Science Centre back in Singapore.. but the 3D shows were exhorbitant thus we decided to give it a miss and head back to our hotel for an early night rest..

Pizza buffet!!!Night scenes of the city

Day 2:

Our day started early with the hotel breakfast as usual and then proceeding back to the National Museum to cover whatever we were unable to cover the day before.. Managed to temper with our Copenhagen card which entitles us to discounts on visits to places of interest and transportation for 24hours from activation of the card.. Hee... Visited the Christiansborg Palace ruins after it suffered from 2 major fires in the 17th and 18th century... The palace now houses the Royal Reception Rooms, the Queen's Library, the audience chambers, the Sovereign in Council rooms, the Chapel, Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister's Office. Sadly, the exterior of the building is currently undergoing refurbishment..

Christiansborg Palace and its ruins...

Boy, arnt he tall!? @^#&!

Took a train down to Roskilde, which was the formal capital of Denmark and is located on the outskirts of Copenhagen... Roskilde contains attractions like the Roskilde Cathedral, which was under renovation too during our stay, the Viking Ship Museum and the Roskilde Palace... The Roskilde Cathedral is the burial site for Danish monarchs and is a major tourist attraction attracting over 125,000 visitors annually while the Viking Ship Museum is located along the coasts of Roskilde and is the Danish national museum for ships.

Roskilde in the splendid sunset...

Sought "refuge" from the blistering cold at this petrol kiosk while waiting for our bus in the wee hours of the morning...Beautiful sunrise on our way back.

Okie.. that more or less sums up this trip.. time to start mugging for my exam next friday and then on to more travelling thereafter... On a brighter note, spring is approaching.. the snow is melting and the sun is coming out.. i can finally get to exercise and get a tan hopefully...