frutti.gummi

Was told that the weather was at its best. A couple of days of pure sunshine followed by cloudy days with drizzle and then very wet rainy days. And the cycle continues. Pretty much managed to make the most of the few sunny days. :) In the cities, bagpipes are often heard and I was surprised that they play contemporary music as well! Last minute short trip to the highlands was a wonderful experience. We didn't do much hiking though. The view from above would be absolutely stunning. Hope to return to visit properly, at least a week or so. Oh it's gonna be expensive!

Founded by the Romans, Maastricht is considered to be the oldest city in The Netherlands. It is home to many historial sights such as the Roman bridge, the city wall, churches and other buildings. It also has beautiful scenery; the Meuse river that runs through the city, the park along the city wall and vast grasslands. The city center is mostly a pedestrian only shopping area. For a small city, there are big multi-level department stores here. The city is charming with a nice blend of the old buildings and the new glass buildings. A 12th century church is even converted to a bookstore with cafe. It's amazing!

We also went to visit the pentagon shaped fortress and a small section of the caves with a total of more than 20,000 passages, which are the result of centuries of excavation of marlstone. Oh..the Coffeshop here is not a place to have coffee. Instead, it's a place where people can buy and smoke small doses of soft drugs. There isn't much free time to walk around because we took the guided tours by the tourist office. It was already 6pm by the time we finished. Surprisingly, all the shops are already closed. Even the waffle shop. :( Since it is only about an hour from Aachen, I hope to return to check out the stores and take more photos.

Spent my last weekend in Italy in Turin, host of the 2006 Winter Olympics. The current attraction is the Chocolate Festival that is held every year. When someone mention chocolates, I would think of Swiss or Belgian so I was surprised to find out that chocolate candy was invented in Turin and the Swiss came to Turin to learn the trade. The most famous chocolate sweet is called "gianduiotto", made of a coca-hazelnut paste and dates back to the 19th century. It taste like Nutella and of course, Nutella is also from a nearby town. The festival is held in one of tbe many big squares. Local retailers set up booths selling a variety of chocolates, cakes and drinks. Most of the retailers are just selling the normal forms of chocolates while I was expecting to see some special stuff. Anyway, besides the festival, Turin is pleasant town with wide streets, big piazzas, and great food. Try the calzone and pizza. It also seems like the cafe culture is popular here too. The Egyptian museum here is home to what is regarded as one of the largest collections of Egyptian antiquities outside of Egypt. It is really worth to visit especially when you don't know when you can go to Cairo. Hehe.

The celebration there is very different from what I have experienced. As we walked along the shopping street heading towards the square at 11pm, there were already tons of people on the street loaded with all sorts of fireworks. Some shot up high the sky, some are on the ground and some are body level. It kinda remains me of CNY. We had to look out for the fireworks because sometimes people throw them at you or kicked it to you or it was misfired. It became more intense as we reached the square. The square was surrounded by people and people in the frontline were the ones who usually lit the fireworks. Standing in between the crowd was not safe either. Sometimes there were small fireworks who explode on the ground. So when we felt something hit our leg, we quickly kicked it away. There were also fireworks that backfired. One firework actually shot past my ear! It was a little painful but luckily my hair did not caught fire.

We were surrounded by fireworks everywhere. When I looked up, I can see all sorts of fireworks all around me. I'd never been so close to a firework display before. Although they were totally random, somehow they seem to blend well together. At first I thought the fireworks were the small simple ones but some of the ones I saw were actually similar to the ones in major fireworks display. When midnight arrived, there was no countdown; just plenty of fireworks being shot up in the sky and people wishing Happy New Year or Buon Anno or Gutes Neues Jahr! The fireworks only toned down after 2am.

As the crowed slowly dispersed, I saw tons of broken glasses, bottles and used fireworks on the ground. Although quite a number of the crowd had alcohol in their hands, there were no fights or arguments. I was surprised I didn't see any police or ambulance on standby either. This is one of the best New Year's celebration I've had. :D

Went for a day trip to Venice last weekend with a bunch of new friends. We walked around a lot and saw the famous landmarks. I think Venice is a city where you really need to take time to walk around, browse the little shops and sit down for coffee and enjoy the view. Although the company was good, we just don't share the same travel style. I'm for shopping for local gifts and trying out the specialty dishes while the rest of them are mostly into taking lots of photos. So, I did not buy anything during this trip. I did kind of look out for cute Italy t-shirts while we were zipping though the streets but nothing caught my eye. As for masks and Murano glass, I'll need plenty of time to check them out. Definately a must on my next trip.

I didn't know that this lake is only less than an hour away by train. When we set out in the morning, the weather was cool and mostly cloudy. While my friends prayed for sunshine, I just hoped that it wouldn't rain. There were a few beaches along the lake and they were still quite empty. We picked a shady spot and laid our stuff down. Then we decided to take the paddle boat out to the lake. The weather turned partly cloudy with cool breeze. Wished I have a boat of my own so I can lie there as long as I want.

After we came back from paddling, I stayed in our spot to finish reading Train Man while the others went swimming. Even though it started to get crowded, I was surprised that it wasn't noisy. I get to enjoy my book with a beautiful view and pleasant weather. So glad it wasn't hot like it had been for the past week; over 40C!. As we were heading back to the train station, it started to drizzle. We realised we were late so we had to run to the station and were lucky enough to catch the train. After a couple of minutes, rain started to pour. Then I started hoping that the rain would stop when we get off and it did!

ich habe meine Deutsch Prüfung bestanden! :D

When I arrived at the train station, I was only expecting Laurent and was suprised the gang of friends were also there to meet me. We went for dinner at a nearby little asian shop. The food portion is huge, probably similar in size to the portion in Chicago chinatown. The next day, we met up with Jose and had dinner in front of the Rathaus. We chose the restaurant next to Starbucks so that we could go there for coffee after dinner. I found out that both of them loved the huge comfy chairs there as well. Hehe. Unfortunately, Starbucks was closed after we finished dinner. I think it closed at 8pm. So decided to go to one of the ice cafes for ice cream. They sell very fancy ice cream combinations just like here in Italy but only for 2/3 of the price. We looked at the menu and chose the smallest type and it still turned out to be big. Bigger than the picture really.

After my German exam on Friday, I walked around town and did some shopping. Then, I went to the bookstore to get some books to read during the vacation. There are so many nice books and it was difficult to decide what to buy. I picked a few books and went to the seating area and started to read the first few pages to see how I like them. I was reading Mitch Albom's latest, For One More Day, and when I stopped and looked up I saw that I've already read 50 pages. That's about a third of the book. Since I have time I decided to finish the book. I skipped a couple of sub stories but in the end I know whether it's a ghost story or not.

We went to Cologne on Saturday. Our itinerary include KFC for lunch, shopping for backpack, shoes and sleeping bag, and watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They weren't many people watching it and there's no commercial. I think the cinema in KL would still be very crowded.
On Sunday, we had a bbq session at the park and were worried that it might rain. The weather was cool and the sky was mostly cloudy. It drizzled lightly for a few minutes while we were grilling the meat. Then the clouds moved away. The weather was just perfect. Cool with the sun mostly covered by clouds. The breeze is a bit chilly though. When I got back to Italy, I'm dreading the hot hot sun again. Going to be staying home as much as I could.

If I really tried, I think I might be able to write this post in German.

Located to the south of the main chain of the Alps, the Dolomites are notable for their composition of pale colored dolomite-- a limestone like rock formed beneath deep, ancient seas-- atop darker volcanic bedding. These fabulous vertical reefs glow in the changing light and present a startling and dramatic contrast to the pastoral beauty beneath. It took about 2 hours by bus from Trento to Passo Pordoi and then cable car up to Sass Pordoi at 2950m. The entire experience has just been breathtaking. I've posted some photos in my Flickr set and they did no justice to its beauty.

Took a break from working on projects during the long weekend and went for a day trip to Lake Garda. It's one of the largest lake in Italy and the Trentino side of the lake is surrounded by mountains. It's just beautiful. The weather was nice albeit too windy sometimes. I guess the wind is good for activities like sailing and wind surfing. We went paddling in the lake for an hour, had lunch, and just walked along the lake to the next town. Such a relaxing day! It's nice that it's only 90 minutes away by bus and it's free when you have the yearly transportation pass. It's probably the best 'freebie' we get here. Hehe.

Austrian food is delicious! With Germany and Italy as neighbours, culinary influences from both countries are clearly evident. The food that we ordered have more resemblance to German food and luckily it doesn't taste like it. I think maybe they're cooked in the Italian way which makes it taste good.

After I finished at the consulate office around 11am, I went walking around town. Saw most of the major sights and the shopping district. I came across a japanese supermarket at a corner and saw people moving stuffs into the shop. Surpringly, it's not fancy at all but looks like those ugly chinese supermarkets. I saw signs for sushi and I thought this place should be cheap since it's in a "market" and walked to the door and found that it's closed on monday. Sigh! I'm not sure if I can remember how to get back to that street coz it's slightly off the main streets. Then, the inside of Cathedral of St Bartholomew, also known as the Kaiserdom is just amazing and the music from the huge organ is heavenly. I somehow felt uncomfortable taking photos inside, like I'll distrupt the holiness of the place. Also walked along the river and finally back to the train station.

Now I know why people prefer to take the train than flight. There's no checking-in with the train, the seats are bigger, more comfortable, more legroom, table and power outlet for your computer (some trains have wifi too), you can use your phone, bigger toilet, and great view! I didn't try the restaurant but the food does look tasty. The best part of this train journey is the view along the Rhein as the train runs along the river somewhere between Mainz and Koblenz. You can see the river, little towns by the river and mountains in the background. Too bad couldn't take photos as the window is very reflective.