Friday, October 29, 2010

Top of Europe...Jungfraujoch!!

Oct 13 (Wed): Snowy mountains...Jungfraujoch (3571m)
Took too many pictures in Switzerland so I'm gonna split into two posts. :p If you've seen the previous post, I personally think that the pics in this post are even nicer. =) We spent most of our day 3571m above sea level at Jungfraujoch. 

Initially, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go up Jungfrau but finally made the decision on the last day...kinda pricey but was definitely worth it coz the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. Plus, we'll never get to see this in M'sia so might as well take this opportunity since I've come all the way. Lucky us the weather was superb...clear skies for me to take nice pics of the snowy mountains. =)

Misty mountains...view from our room. Nice view & fresh air...what a great way to start the day. :) 

Took a train all the way up to the highest railway station in Europe. As I mentioned earlier...it costs quite a lot to go up the mountain...spent all those Swiss Francs. =.=

Scenery along the way...the train ride took bout 1.5 hours.

Finally arrived Jungfraujoch!!

First stop...Ice Palace. Nothing much to see though.

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!

Time for some camwhoring. :p Btw...it was actually pretty cold out there (-2.5c) but still bearable. I was wearing 4 layers of clothes and 2 layers of jeans.

Another viewpoint on the mountain...the Sphinx Terrace.

View from the Sphinx.

More pictures! :p My leg was actually shaking walking on that platform coz the 'floor' was filled with holes and we could see the cliffs right below our feet!!

Panoramic view from another side of the mountain.


We could actually hike along the trails in the snow but we didn't coz it was cold. :p Besides, I didn't wear any shades and it was so glaring coz the snow was reflecting the sunlight...extremely strong UV. I could hardly see anything when I went back indoor. 

Me loveee these pics!! =)

Woohoo...jumpshots again!! Credits to WeyShin for taking all my awesome jumpshot pics. 

Acting stupid before leaving. :p

Sceneries on the way downhill

Switched train at Kleine Scheidegg station.

Back to Grund station...5 minutes walk from our hostel. Beautiful scenery yea. :)

Took a train up to Grindelwald town to get some souvenirs & swiss chocs then walked back down that small path to get back to our hostel. 

Said 'hi' to some moo moos along the way.

Do you notice that all the houses there have the same pattern? The government actually pays the owner to build their houses in this pattern so that it looks nicer. 

Alright...that wraps up my posts for Switzerland. Hope you've enjoyed the pictures. =) 3 more updates to go...Germany, Amsterdam, Belgium...mission to be accomplished by next week. :p

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Journey To Switzerland

Been busy tidying up my room and helping out with bro's wedding for the past few days. Bro's big day is coming soon so everyone in the family is getting busy with all the planning and preparation...so many things to deal with. But too bad I'm not really helping much...just working on the slideshow...bro and mom are handling most of it. Lotsa wedding pics coming soon so my goal is to finish updating about my Europe trip by next week. :) 

Oct 12 (Tues): Journey to the Swiss Alps
Continuing our journey up north from Italy...our next destination was Switzerland!! The only country out of all 8 countries that we visited that doesn't use Euros but uses Swiss Francs instead. And because of this we rugi quite a lot from currency exchange...from RM-Pounds-Euros-SwissFc...haiz! :p 

Money matters aside, we spent only 1.5 days in Switzerland but I think I fell in love with this country already!! Of all the countries that I've visited during this Europe trip...I'll definitely choose to come back to Switzerland if I've got the chance. :) Switzerland is such a pretty country...loveee the breathtaking scenery of the Swiss Alps, the clean & fresh air, the tranquil & simple lifestyle, and the friendliness of its people!! 

Picturesque scenery from the moment we crossed the Swiss border.

My poor camera never got to rest throughout the journey uphill & downhill. We stopped by Sustenpass for lunch break.

The whole journey was winding road...luckily I was sitting in front so didn't feel sick at all. Our coach driver was really professional...ain't easy driving a coach up this narrow winding road...and look at the fence by the roads...imagine falling off the cliff!! 

Lotsa mountains in Switzerland. There was avalanche warning coz those snow at the peaks may melt anytime. I realized only all the Malaysians sitting in front of the coach were busy taking pictures throughout the journey while all the angmohs were sleeping at the back. Can't blame us coz we don't get to see all these in M'sia!!

Lotsa tunnels along the way as well

Steve was nice enough to do a pitstop for us to get off the coach and take pictures. :) Viewing the scenery by the cliffs was absolutely awesome!! =) But my leg was shaking coz it was quite scary standing there!!

The daredevils...don't play play leh!! 

Those angmohs in the bottom right pic really 'boh kiasi'...climb here climb there. :p Well I also climbed up there and took some pics. :p

Continuing our journey...lotsa greeneries & clean rivers. Love those houses by the mountains.


Nice village as we were approaching our hostel at Grindelwald....1034m above sea levels.

Finally arrived our The Mountain Hostel...stayed here for 2 nights. This was the only hostel that we stayed throughout the trip but I quite liked this place coz they had a common area for us to hangout with other tour mates and the rooms were very comfortable too. =)

On top of that...beautiful scenery around the hostel.

Had our sumptuous dinner at a local restaurant...appetizer, main course, desert...yum yum!! Nice view of the mountains from the restaurant too. But I was surprised to find out that a glass of water cost CHF4 = RM12!?!? Luckily I didn't order...haha! :p

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Watery Venice

Oct 10 (Sun): Venice...City of Water
Venice was our last destination in Italy. Personally, I think Venice is quite a unique and special city as compared to all the cities that I've been to. The city is built on 117 small islands in the Venetian Lagoon...that explains why it is surrounded by water. No cars are allowed on the islands so you can either take a boat or walk. Another interesting thing that I didn't notice until our tour guide pointed out to us was that Venice looks like the shape of a fish on the map. :)

We arrived Venice around 3pm so the first day was kinda easy...only had a 3-hour walking tour in the evening until the sky turned dark. We had another free day to explore the city ourselves...wanted to get back earlier and get some rest but mission failed coz we keep getting lost in Venice...just like everyone else! :p

Alright...picture time! Scroll down to the end to see flooded Venice...lol! :p

Started our walking tour at Piazzale Roma. So cool to see water & boats everywhere!

Lots of narrow canals & streets...problem is they looked the same everywhere!! Tell me how not to get lost lar??


Venice is also called City of Masks coz there are so many shops selling masks! Venice is also famous for Venetian glass made in Murano but I didn't take the boat to Murano coz I'm poor student...lol! :p

Lots of souvenir shops and boutiques as we were approaching Rialto Bridge.

Dusk...view from Rialto Bridge. 

Piazza San Marco looks beautiful at dusk. The bottom right picture is San Giorgio Maggiore Island.

Oct 11 (Mon): Lost in Venice

Beautiful day in Venice for us to walk around on foot. Went back to most of the places that we visited the day before to get some day pics. Had my one and only gelato in Italy. :)

The city may look lively during the day but it can be quite scary at night when it's deserted, quiet, and dark. :p

Random pics

Rialto Bridge during the day.

Oh nooo...it's flooding!! 

Of course I can't miss taking pictures of gondolas and gondolier! We have traffic jam but they have 'gondola jam' here...lol!!

Flooding at Piazza San Marco!! I thought this was pretty fascinating!! Water was entering the shops as well but this is very common for them every morning becoz of the high tide. There were even platforms for people to walk across the square. I've got a video of this scene. :p

This was funny! :) The little boy is so adorable...haha!! That man actually took off his Prada shoes and walked in the water...crazy...lol!! :p

The square was flooded with 2 things...water & pigeons...lol!! :p

Welcome to Venice! :)

Went back to St Mark's basin for the 2nd time.

This was where we stayed for 2 nights in Venice...Camping Alba D'oro.

We stayed in a chalet...not tent...hehe! :p This was pretty similar to the one we stayed in Rome but was a bit smaller. Our 'chalet-mates' were Caroline & Chance from US.