Pictures from my trip. Sorry about the long delay...

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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:53 pm

... but here are the pictures from my trip to Europe! I wasn't able to log on because my laptop had to be sent out due to a faulty USB connection (And all my pictures were on it) and now I have to send it out again because a few pixels on the monitor aren't working properly Crying or Very sad

. Anyhow, here are the pictures of my trip! Let's start off:

Just a picture of the wing of the plane! As you can see, there's no identifying marks to say what type of plane or airline it is!

The next day, we head out from London and all the way towards Paris! I thought that these white cliffs in a small port named Dover were quite picturesque!

That evening, after dinner, and a few glasses of champagne and a snail shell, I, and a few others, head into Paris for a quick stroll.

The next day, however, my friends and I decide to go up the Eiffel Tower. The line for the elevator took forever to wait in, so we stood in the line for the stairs, and before we knew it, we had our tickets, and were on our way up the 668 steps to the second level. We did make a rest stop on the first level though.

When I get to the top, it's a fairly cloudy day in Paris, and you can't really get a good view of what's down there, but I did find this

The view of Paris from the very top of the Eiffel Tower.

I always heard that Paris, and France in general were quite stylish, but I wasn't exactly expecting this Laughing

Later on, we went to the Louvre, and all I have to say was that it was so bloody huge! My friends and I wanted to see the Mona Lisa (As did everyone else), so we go there, and then I had the desire to check out Hamurrabi's (SP?) code, but it was all the way on the other side of the Louvre, and we didn't have enough time. That evening, we went to the Nouvelle Eve cabaret show, and I got a chance to show my moves on stage (It must've been the champagne, again!). After that, we headed out to Beaujolais and stayed at a Chateau there and had a lot of wine! Check out the next post for more pictures...

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:09 pm

The village of Beaujolais. We're here looking for "The Top of the World" to have a picnic. I'm lugging all the picnic stuff while the others are looking for where this site is.

The Top of the World. We had lunch here. The view was nice, the bubbly was potent, and the air was crisp and clean! Ah paradise!

The chateau where we stayed at!

Ah Monaco! We got there two days after the Grand Prix weekend, and the rubber was still fresh! I just couldn't find any F1 cars there...

The start/finish line of the Monaco Grand Prix. The coach driver brought the bus onto pole position, revved the engine, and drove the coach into the first corner at 60 km/h. Not exactly F1, but still quite nice!

The Grand Casino! I paid the 10 Euros to go and play inside, and check out the interior design as well! I lost 2.50 Euros in total, while another guy lost about 30. It was still quite nice in there!

I leave with my meager losses for dinner at a nice place on the racetrack nearby and snap this photo of Casino Square! I would have gone to the other side of the square to get the entire place, but the grandstands from the F1 race were still there.

After dinner, a glass of the national drink of Monaco (More champagne), and a hefty bill, I snap this photo as I'm heading back to the coach, which is awaiting at the tunnel. I get to walk the F1 track again to find the bus.

Later that evening, while trying to get out of Monaco and go back to Nice, the coach driver is having a hard time finding the way out because some roads were closed due to the cleanup after the Grand Prix. We finally ended up getting a police escort to take us out of Monaco! I felt special!

Anyhow, I have to go do some chores and other things. I'll post more pictures of Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Munich, Heidelberg and Amsterdam later on. Thanks for watching!

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:17 pm

Good to see you back, SP. You've got some great pics there, especially the one of your picnic site. Very Happy

I'm looking forward to seeing the rest. Smile

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:04 pm

Quote:

...thought that these white cliffs in a small port named Dover were quite picturesque!

So did the Germans through their binoculars from across La Manche.

Did you see any blue birds?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:07 pm

Ooooh, piccies of Amsterdam Smile

Admit it, SP, BEST part of the trip, right?

Good to see you back here!

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:50 am

persephone wrote:

Ooooh, piccies of Amsterdam Smile

Admit it, SP, BEST part of the trip, right?

Amsterdam was great! I acted like Borat and got a response Laughing

Anyhow, here's the rest of the album. The next day, we went from Nice towards Florence. On the way, we made a stop in Pisa, for the leaning tower.

Isn't it nice?

Arrival in Florence

The Ponte Vecchio. It's very nice and scenic there! According to the tour guide, Giorgio Armani has a house next to the Ponte Vecchio, but you can't see it in this picture.

The cathedral in Florence. Took 200 years to build, and the final designer was Raphael, designer of the Raphael rooms at the Vatican and creator of the duomo. The duomo is behind this building, check the next picture for it...

The duomo

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:56 am

Lunchtime for me! Boy oh boy it was delicious! Margharita pizza with calzone interior! Delisioso! I ate my weight in pizza, pasta, rabbit and gelato while in Italy!

After lunch, we found a department store that had a cafe on the roof, and up we went to take pictures of Florence from above.

We had a group photo over here before dinner, and I took a photo of Florence after that.

The next day, we got to Rome, and this was the most obvious Roman structure...

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:13 am

As I entered the Roman forum, I took this photo of old Rome on the bottom and new Rome above. So much history and ancient ruins, it reminds me of the time I went to Persepolis in Iran.

The Roman emperor's palace! I learned that I could get into the colloseum if I bought my ticket at the emperor's palace because there is no lineup here!

I snap this photo just as we're leaving the forum.

The Trevi fountain. I went for gelato nearby and checked out the local Paul & Shark designer store. Couldn't afford anything there, but at least it was nice.

The Spanish Steps

When I got to the bottom of the Spanish Steps, I took this picture. After this, I walked through the shopping district, ran into the Ferrari store, the pantheon, the statue of Marcus Aurelius, the home of the Italian prime minister, and finally, dinner! A delicious spaghetti awaited me!

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:33 am

The next day (Republic Day), I went over to the Vatican and stood in the 1.5 hour long lineup.

The Sistine Chapel. The place was crowded as ever, and you couldn't take pictures in there, however, I kneeled down on the floor and turned off the flash. The famous painting is on the left side.

After that, we went through the crypts of the old popes, no pictures to be taken there, so I didn't, and we went out into St. Peter's Square. It was huge!

As I'm entering the colloseum, I catch the inner and outer wall.

The cross at the colloseum.

The greater view of the colloseum, and the rebuilding of the arena.

I'm pretty tired right now, and I have to call it a night, so tomorrow, I bring you Venice, Austria, and Munich.

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:50 am

Very nice photos. Great to see you back.

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 12:13 am

Great photo's mate Wink

So glad you had a good time.

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 3:43 am

Arrival in Venice and San Marco's Square.

One of the many canals in Venice

More canals!

Stopped at a local attraction here in Venice Laughing

. I ended up blowing 18 Euros on a mug, since it was the cheapest thing in the Ferrari store Shocked

I went looking for the Ponte Rialto...

Apparently, I was standing on it!

I then went onto the canals in a gondola! Luckily, there were a bunch of us that got into the gondola, so it wasn't too expensive!

The Grand Canal had some choppy waters, and for a person my height in a gondola, I felt pretty nervous, thinking we would tip over. Luckily, we didn't.

The smaller canals were calmer, and I didn't feel too bad!

Just as the canal ride was ending, I caught sight of this 21st century gondolier Laughing

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 3:51 am

Glad you had a great time and thanks for the pics. Wink

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 4:03 am

The next day we went to Austria. Unfortunately, the previous evening, a couple of the guys and I were playing a game of European football, and I ended up injuring my foot (Stretched muscle, nothing serious!). That day, on our way to Hopfgarten, the people went white-water rafting, and I had to sit on the sidelines because of my foot.

The next day, the rest of the people went biking, and my foot hadn't recovered yet, so I went into Hopfgarten and enjoyed the sights, and the lack of skiing! However, I learned that up the road, 2 or 3 km away, there is a little amusement park known as Salvena Land. I walked there from Hopfgarten and played a round of mini golf and went on the toboggan, which was a lot of fun!

Just walking on my way to Salvena Land.

I could not get enough of the view while walking!

Just as I'm getting over the hill to Salvena Land. You can see the little playground just down there.

The next day, we stop at Swarovski Crystal Worlds

My favourite exhibit at Swarovski. This is the Giant's Ring. The crystal in the middle is about 60,000 carats, and the ring was the size of me!

The mound outside. It was beautiful and the museum and shop were all underneath this mound!

The view from Swarovski, and our bus in front...

Entering Munich, and taking in the history and beauty of the city!

The Glockenspiel. There was restoration being done around it, so I just took the actual centrepiece instead of the massive scaffolding around it.

I got on the subway from downtown, and went to the Olympic stadium. I discovered this beauty, and I had to go and check it out Laughing

The BMW Museum!

I caught this beauty in the BMW Museum, because everywhere else was closed that day!

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 4:13 am

Thanks guys! Glad you guys are enjoying the pictures! Here are a few more of dinner at a Bavarian beerhall, and then I have an early morning, so I'll bring the final ones tomorrow.

Time for dinner and time for a few steins...

... but I don't drink, so it's coke for me! Prost!

Live entertainment at the beerhall

The next day, we make a lunchtime stopover in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. It was lovely, and I paid to get my passport stamped!

The royal palace of Liechtenstein. It's at the top of a hill, quite nice!

Later on, we headed into Switzerland. Those pictures to come tomorrow...

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:20 am

The road to Lucerne.

The view from the coach on the way to Lucerne

Arrived in Lucerne

More of Lucerne...

I bought a swiss army knife for my dad from here...

The winding road to Lauterbrunnen...

The view from my room in the chalet...

The chalet

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:23 am

I was walking to Tremmelbach Falls and I caught the Alps...

The top of the falls...

inside the cave...

The cable car up to Murren in the mountains...

The view from the cable car...

Welcome to Murren...

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:52 am

More Swiss mountains!

Just as I was leaving Murren to the train station which would take me to the cable car that would take me down to the chalet, I took this picture.

The train. It was a one car deal! The conductor looked like Kimi Raikkonen as well!
That night is party night, and I don't document my parties for fear of blackmail!

The next day, we stopped in Heidelberg, Germany, and I got lost from the group! I spent the next hour seeing Heidelberg in a different light!

It was a very picturesque town, and they sold a lot of beersteins.

The next day, we stopped in Edam, Netherlands, and we did this to show, according to the tour guide, that the Dutch, apart from being quite liberal, are normal, everyday people!

As I was biking along the Dijks, I found this. Unfortunately, I didn't have a horse or any armour to chase this!

Next, we stopped off at a clog-maker. This guy made a lot of clogs. I ended up buying the red pair on the right hand side!

The Grasshopper Cafe in Amsterdam was the entrance into the red-light district of Amsterdam. The last photo I would take of this area simply because I didn't want two big burly men coming and taking my camera...

My buddy and I went to the Heineken Experience the next day. This was the only picture of the Heineken brewery that didn't have me in it.

Later on, we go to Anne Frank's house, and I catch this picture of the church nearby.

No pictures of the Anne Frank House, but I caught this one as I'm headed towards Kalverstraat.

This is Dam Square and the Royal Palace in front.

That evening, it was our last dinner, and we took a canal cruise to the restaurant.

The Skinny Bridge!

The next day, on the plane at Schiphol. I had such a great time, and it was over already.

And, just as we were about to make our final descent, I took this picture. We're over Quebec, I think.

Anyhow, thanks for going through these pictures. I hope you enjoyed them. Cheers! Sante! Salute! Prost!

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