eskapad av Europa

Berlin (29th Mar to 2nd Apr)
Our first stop was at Berlin, the capital of Germany. This metropolitan city is the largest in Germany and houses around 3.4 million ppl.. Its excellent transport system and richness in festivals, contemporary architecture, nightlife and avant-garde arts makes it a popular tourist attraction and economy hub. The public transport in Germany though efficient, cost a bomb.. Being Singaporeans, we decided to test the system by going on free rides.. had a close encounter when 2 conductor officers boarded the train when we just alighted.. On a different note, we had to endure a 32-man dorm with only 1 shower room and 1 toilet cubicle for the gents.. what makes it worse was the fact that the shower was usually flooded by ankle-deep water levels, depending on the time of usage.. which makes it logical for one to either use the shower early in the morning or late at night when the water has subsided..

Our first night at Berlin was spent simply chilling out at a pub and catching up with one another over ice cold beer.

The following day, we went on a guided tour to the various attractions in the city... the trip was free-of-charge but our tour guide, David was so fantastic that we couldnt help tipping him after the tour.. Anyway, by this time, i learnt that my friend from Lyon, Cheong Chye, was having problems at the germany customs.. Apparently, the Berlin police refused to grant him entry into Berlin as he was holding a student visa which prohibited him from travelling out of France.. BULLSHIT! the worst thing was he was detained for 12 hours before they deported him back to Lyon... felt so bad and guilty since i'm the one who invited him to join us for this trip.. So CC, the following pics are for you dude!

The guided tour together with our tour guide David (front row, left most).The group together with Catherine and Yucheng.The Brandenburg Gate, former city gate of Berlin.
The remnants of the Berlin Wall which fell in 1989, permitting the access of East Germans into West Berlin.Checkpoint Charlie: the famous standoff site between the Soviet and US tanks. The Berlin Cathedral.

The painful reminders of WWII.

German Parliament House, the Reichstag, one of the most visited tourist attractions in Berlin. You can end up queuing for hours just to enter the building.

The dome of Reichstag, designed to allow visitors to view the parliament hall from above.

It's amazing what the Germans can do with chocs!

Nazi Concentration Camp... Another painful reminder of WWII. Millions die because of ill-treatment, starvation, diseases and excutions.

Leaving our mark in Berlin.

Pubcrawl on the 2nd night.. basically you get the chance to go to 5 different pubs and a club at the cost of just 10euros with free beer and great company!

1 is never enough.

Prague (2nd to 5th Apr)
Okie next up was Prague.. Arrived in the city after an arduous 4 hr train ride from Berlin.. our Prague apartment was heavenly.. spacious, clean, exclusive and best of all.. cheap! There happened to be a Chinese restaurant just opposite our place.. so being Singaporeans, we ended up patronising it at least once per day.. so much so that the lady boss gave us free wine at the end of every meal in appreciation.. haha.. With that i leave you guys to marvel and enjoy the pics of this beautiful city.

Highlights of the Old Town Square:

Tyn church, a Gothic church founded in 1385. Astronomical clock, a medieval clock mounted as early as the 15th century. Entrance to Charles Bridge.. constructed on 9 July 1357, at 5:31 am (135797531) by Charles IV.National Theatre. The unconventional office building, nicknamed "Dancing House". St. Vitus Cathedral across the Charles Bridge. Bird's eye view of the city from the Prague Castle. Petrin Tower. Doesnt it resemble Eiffel Tower?

Vienna (5th to 8th Apr)
Yet another capital... this time of Austria.. this city is not only Austria's economic and political hub, it is also the cultural centre of the country and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001. True enough.. upon arriving there, we came across numerous museums, art galleries, music house and concert halls... Our first task was to source for cheap accomodation which we managed to once again.. comes with breakfast buffet too! =) all for just 16euros per night! One thing unique about this city is that the attractions are located in a circle instead of the usual town square, facilitated by the tramline which goes in a ring... Also, Vienna has got really nice sculptures and architecture throughout the entire city.. little wonder why this place is a popular tourist attraction throughout the year.

Museumsquartier, the 8th largest cultural area in the world, consists of a number of different museums featuring various exhibitions such as dance, architecture etc. Kunsthistorisches Museum opposite the identical Naturhistorisches Museum.Heldenplatz, a historical plaza where Hitler announced the Anschluss of Austria to the Germans in 1938.Intricate sculptures and carvings everywhere.The Rathaus (Town Hall).Main shopping street.
I LOVE SPRING!!!
Schönbrunn Palace. A pity the flowers havent started blooming yet.. Prater amusement park and the Hundertwasser House.

Bratislava (8th to 11th Apr)

Our last stop for this Easter trip was Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. We chose this city without knowing a single thing about it, besides the fact that things are really cheap here and we can somehow live like a king.. The only thing bad about this city is that the ppl do not really understand English so we had a bit of a problem trying to find our way to the hostel. It was really bad timing for us too... the streets were really dead on this Easter Sunday and none of the shops along the main shopping street was opened at all... The only restaurant that we could find was MacDonald's whose prices were comparable to that in Singapore... Finally! So after checking into our hostel suite, we wasted no time in grabbing a tea-snack at MacDonald's even though we just had that for lunch in Vienna.

Satisfied, we headed down to explore the Old Town which was a total contrast to what we just seen.. the streets were bustling with tourists and there were a number of restaurants and pubs in that area. The city wasnt as bad as i thought after all... it wasnt as run-down as what Eurotrip has depicted in the movie.. it resembles most of the eastern Europe countries like Lithuania and Latvia..

Old Town.

Group 6 in Europe, missing ym and hsuan.

Town Hall.

View on top of Bratislava Castle built during the 15th century.

One of the highlights of this trip was our picnic at Devin Castle (without SH and FL though), located on the outskirts of Bratislava. The oldest finds came from the New Stone Age (5th millenium B.C.), so you can imagine how old this castle is man.. But the only letdown was we went on a Monday when it was supposedly closed! We had to settle for a picnic by the river but it was one good experience too.. just lazing around, enjoying the sun, the breeze and of course the food!~ Look at how much Duan is immersing himself in the surroundings and you'll know how much fun we had.. THIS IS LIFE!

With that, i shall wrap up this post on my Easter trip.. it has been a helluva break.. visiting beautiful cities and having great company and food.. has been an enriching experience throughout.. Alrighty, i shall end here and move on to my next post.. Stay tuned! ciao!~

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: