2010年1月24日 星期日

Winter Vacation II-- Paris (20091231-20100103)

Dec-31-2009
On the last day of 2009, we took Thalys from Rotterdam to Paris. In the train we met 8 young Polish. They started celebrated New Year's eve as soon as they got on the train. They drank, talk, and laugh, making many other passengers annoyed. They got excited due to the alcohol. Then began to talk to other passengers, including us. They were cute, but I still thought they were too noisy.

We arrived Paris Nord with half hour delay. Being in a new country, how to purchase transportation tickets is always a problem. We decided to buy 2-day tickets and a French helped us.(Next day we found out that we were cheated by that man. He purchased one-way tickets for us, and he earned at least 30 euro from us) Every city's metro system has its own features. Paris' metro could hold more people than London's and Rotterdam's. Wheels are also different. Finally, we arrived our hotel. It was too cold so we decided to stay in the hotel and watched TV to celebrate the coming of 2010. We saw celebrations in Sydney, Taipei(fireworks at 101), and HK. When midnight approached, the Eiffel Tower had light show, colorful and glorious. It's the first time I welcomed the new year in a foreign and romantic city. I was happy I was not alone.




Jan-01-2010
Our first stop is Notre Dame, the most important and the most famous cathedral in Paris. Its construction could be traced back to 1160. Inside I could feel the ancient and holy atmosphere. Outside was decorated with many "Gargoyles". It was cold and snowing. Therefore we decided to have lunch in a restaurant next to the cathedral. We tasted the real "French Fries", very delicious. The half chicken and the omelette were also good. But the onion soup was a little disappointing. We quite enjoyed the meal.

Then we went to Centre Georges Pompidou, just to see the building. I liked it. We also passed by Forum des Halles. The whole area was beautiful.

Our next stop was Place de la Concorde. The ancient monument from Egypt, the 18th- century buildings and a modern ferris wheel together formed an interesting view. We walked on the famous "Avenue des Champs-Elysees". I thought the pink flags destroyed the beautiful of the avenue.

We rushed to Montmartre to meet Henry's friend. He lead us climbing up the hill and enjoying the beautiful city view. I could see Notre Dame. There are not many tall buildings. Paris residents think skyscrapers would destroy the beautiful skyline.

Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, its white exterior and domes is quite different from other cathedrals in Europe. It was built after France lost the Franco-Prussian War. Its construction symbolized the religious and national renewal. Then we walked at streets of Montmartre. Many artists were selling their works there. Many famous artists, such as Van Gogh and Picasso, left their footprints here. We walked through the Cafe where "Amelie" worked, and reached Moulin Rouge. We said goodbye to his friend and had dinner at Quick, the local fast food restaurant. Well, we prefer real French cuisine.

We went to Trocadero station. There you could enjoy the full view of Eiffel Tower. It had light show every hour. Bright blue moon made the scene more beautiful and special. It was really romantic to enjoy the most famous night view in the world. The experience could be better if it was not so cold.



Jan-02-10
Musee de Louvre-- a place must visit in Paris. We entered it from the Pyramid. After purchasing tickets, I made a plan to "conquer" most of "must-sees" in our limited time. The Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, and Mona Lisa(always crowded) are three most important collections. There are also famous many paintings. If we consider the value of collections, I believe Louvre is much higher than British Museum. Of course we did not see all collections in one day. I will be back one day.

We went to Place de la Bastille after leaving Louvre. Bastille, where the French evolution began, was famous of its history.

We had a bad experience at La Fayette. The fried rice of its Chinese restaurant was not good. After having several good meals in Paris, the feeling was really bad. I also did not find many attractive gourmet in its supermarket. And it closed early so I did not have time shopping. The only attractive thing in it was the tall Christmas tree.

Arc de Triomphe, the famous landmark, was beautiful during the night. So was Avenue Champs-Elysees. We bought Macrons in a store nearby. In my opinion, they were more delicious than those I tried in Taiwan.


Jan-03-10
We had buffet breakfast in the hotel. We thought it didn't worth 5 euro. They we directly headed to Orly airport. We needed to take RER first and then transferred to OrlyVal, an automatic metro service between the airport and RER station. We had a very good lunch there. I ordered duck leg, really good. Henry tried row beef. He thought it's good. Although I like steak, but raw beef, not my dish. Not only the dishes were good, the view as well. We sat next to window so we could enjoy the view. I used last few minutes buying a Longchamp bag. It is indeed cheaper in France.
Then we said goodbye to Paris, flying to our next destination--Barcelona.

Paris has too much to see, to visit, to experience. I believe I will go there again.

2010年1月22日 星期五

Winter Vacation I -- London (20091217-22)






Dec-17-2009
After finishing the law exam in the morning, I jumped on a train to Brussels and then took Eurostar to London.

The first night in London was also my first time seeing snowing. Snow fell on my jacket, on my face. It was not romantic at all.

Dec-18-2009
The first spot I visited was the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, where you could one foot on the west hemisphere and the other on the east. Equipments for astronomy and ocean navigation were displayed. There was also a 28-inch telescope.

After having a vegetable noodle in a Chinese restaurant, I went to Westminster. Westminster Abbey, built one-thousand year ago, is still an important place for royal religious activities. I didn't go inside becuase of the expansive fee. Opposite to the Abbey is House of Parliament. It is located at a river bank of the Themes. I saw the famous landspots "Big Ben" and London Eye.

I went to Tate Britain to see an special exhibition called "Turner and the masters". I was very disappointed because the paintings showed there did not worth my 12.5 pounds. And I found that I don't really like Turner's works. I regrated.

My next stop was Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. It was freezing standing on the bridge. The towers are higher than I expected. I didn't stay on the bridge too long because my fingers were nearly frozen. I tried to find a place to see lift of the bridge but I did not make it. I decided to stay to wait for another chance, which is one hour later. I had my dinner in a Subway next to Tower of London. There were many sad and cruel stories happened in Tower of London, which made me feel the atmosphere was a little bit scary at night. But many people skated right next to the wall of it. I walked along the river bank where I could clearly see Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. There was a small wharf. Many prisoners were sent to Tower of London through here. I finally saw the lift of the bridge. It was very fast. Lift up and down took less than 5 minutes.

I took the underground back to Angel. A book store was on clearance sale. I spent 4.45 for the newest Star Trek novel(original price is 9.99).






Dec-19-2009
I planned to see changing of guards at Buckingham Palace at 11:30am. Since I got up earlier, I decided to go to Notting Hill to see the famous bookstore. It was Saturday so there was an open market at Portobello Road. I didn't stay there long but I still failed to reach Buckingham Palace on-time because the transfer of the underground was not as smooth as I expected. When I reached there, the changing process already started. And there were many tourists that I could not find a good place to see clearly. Anyway, I could see very little part when I stood on tiptoe.
I think it is better to watch this on TV.

I went to St. Jame's Park station, which located at Broadway. Next to the station is Scotland Yard, the headquarter of the metropolitan police. This name could be often found in Holmes series. Many places in London are familiar to me because the books. After I lunch I went to the British Museum.

I was quite surprised that the entrance fee is free, and I heard more Chinese than English in the museum because there were so many Chinese visitors. The mummies are still the most popular. In my opinion, although the collections are huge and various, not many have high value. For example, in its Chinese collection, I did not see porcelains or jades which could regard precious.

Covent garden, where the Royal Opera House locates, is another place I learned from Holmes series. It is a good place for entertainment. Many shops, theaters, and restaurants are here. I had dinner with my cousin and her friends in a French restaurant. The food was not bad. I was very happy to enjoy the meal.






Dec-20-2009
The weather was good. I visited a place where I told myself I would visit one day since my senior high--Baker Street 221B. Although there was no 221B when Conan Doyle wrote the series, now there is, and it is Sherlock Holmes Museum. I met two Russians there, they asked me if Holmes series was popular in Taiwan. I told them I wouldn't say it was popular, but some people became Holmes' fans when they were young, like me. They told me it was very popular in Russia. I met Dr. Watson there. I asked him where Holmes was. He answered me that Holmes would show up tomorrow. They took turns. Although Holmes is just a fiction character, I still felt excited visiting his place, imaging he was really here one hundred year ago and those cases really happened before. Outside the Baker street underground station is a Holmes statue and inside you could see posters of the new Holmes film. I believed there would be more tourists here after the film was released.

After leaving Baker street, I went to the Harrods, the famous department store. Most goods there were very expensive, according to my standard. I only bought bread.

I went to St. Pancras station and surprisingly found that the Eurostar service was cancelled for two days. It meant that I could not go home. The staff said he could not guarantee when the train would be back to service. I was trapped in London. I saw many tourists rushed to the hotel reservation office after they realized they had to stay here longer. I was glad I had a place to stay for free. Since I had time, I went to King's Cross, just next to St. Pancras, to see the 9 3/4 platform.






Dec-21-2009
I enjoyed a spare day in London. I took bus to Hyde park. I prefer took bus than underground. Red double-deck buses made me feel more "London". Then I walked through Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace to see the beginning of changing of guards, which I missed two days ago. Crossed the Green Park, I went to Piccadilly Circus, another famous spot in London. Not far from there is the Chinatown. I had a delicious lunch(銀芽鴨絲炒烏冬) there. There are many Chinese in London so the scale of Chinatown is big. Compared to Rotterdam, we only have one road.

I went to financial district of London. There are two special buildings worth to see--Swiss Re Headquarter London and Lloyd's Building. Many people wore black trench coat walking quickly. I believed the scene was quite the same that you would see at Wall Street.

Tate Modern, renovated from an old factory, was a museum worth to visit. The entrance fee was also free. I loved this. Although I did not not really appreciate the modern art, the space made people comfortable. Among various works, I like Miroslaw Balka's "How it is" the most. It is a huge black box container located at ground floor. When walking into the box, you hardly could see anything. Keep walking, wondering what would be in front of you. You could give up, turning around and going out, or walking along the wall. I just walked slowly and carefully, and suddenly, I hit the wall in front of me. I smiled and felt relived. Many people did the same thing as well. It was a good opportunity to know yourself how to deal unknown things. A really interesting experience.

When I walked outside the museum, I could not believe what I saw--heavy snow. The guard asked me smilingly: Stuck? I decided to leave because there was no sign that snow would stop soon. I followed several people and difficultly reached the station. But, I could not get on 4 coming underground. Too crowded at peak hours. And the 5th was stuck in the previous station due to emergency situation. I decided to took the other bound underground and then changed to another line. I went back to Chinatown to have a buffet dinner--4.95, all you can eat. Well, you could imagine the level of those dishes. But I prefer this than fast food.

I got free newspaper at a station and the front page story is Eurostar. The situation was a mess. The heavy snow disrupted transportation in many European countries.

Dec-22-09
I stayed at my cousin's place and kept watching the most updated information. The airport closed yesterday and this morning due to the snow while the Eurostar was back to service today.
What should I do?

The weather was getting better and the airport opened again. I went on my way to the airport. It was not very smooth. It took me 13 pounds for a half-hour train. And many trains were cancelled so many travelers heading to the airport had to board on another train, which made the train overcrowded. The captain even said that I believed the train would be much lighter after the airport stop. Finally I flew back to Amsterdam. The snow also affected the transportation in the Netherlands. I waited for almost an hour and I took FYRA, the only available train, home. Fyra only took 25 minutes from Schiphol to Rotterdam. Finally I got home after such a long journey.

The lesson learned is avoid travelling if it is possible to snow. You may be trapped and could not go home.

2010年1月21日 星期四

The great grocery shopping experience

Recently the discount campaign began again.
Albert Heigh has 50 products "buy one get one free" every week.
Yesterday I purchased 3 pairs of active items and bread.
I totally spent 5.69 euro and saved more than 4 euro.

I was very satisfied with my shopping result.
I am proud of myself.