Europe 2011/12 - Recap
recap of the whole trip. an amazing 55 days.
Day 1 - Frankfurt & Düsseldorf
Day 2 - Düsseldorf, Köln & Bonn
..and more..
January 2012
29 posts
Europe 2011/12 - Day 56 - Dubai & on our way home
emirates comfort win!
the beautiful horizon
look what McDonald’s in Dubai has? a Chicken Mega Mac! Its like 4 McChicken with less bread!
home time!
Europe 2011/12 - Day 55 - Frankfurt
last day in Europe :(
walking around Frankfurt, we saw this demolition project going on
Goethestraße - where the shopping is at. ok, probably mostly expensive shopping..
a cool shopping mall! look it at, with a hole!
there was a Lego store - with a 3D viewer of what the models of each box would be like! amazing!
the inside of the cool shopping mall with the hole!
last try of currywurst in Germany. Not as good as Berlin’s :(
goodbye Frankfurt HBF! After 5 years, I have returned in 2011. Hope to return again soon!
Frankfurt airport. Bye Europe! :(
You have been so nice to us!
:)
Europe 2011/12 - Day 54 - Berlin
since JG heard all about our cool Berlin stories, and that Berlin was the place to be from other people, we decided it was wise to make sure she sees a bit of Berlin - day trip from Frankfurt it is!
first stop was Brandenberg Tor, since it is close to Berlin HBF
Europe 2011/12 - Day 53 - Frankfurt
good bye sunny and warm spain, hello chilly Germany! First stop - Frankfurt!
via Basel, Switzerland
the massive Euro! there was an Occupy movement to the left of this shot. you can sorta see some of it there already
Main river in Frankfurt
Frankfurt skyline
the Deutsches filmmuseum was next on the agenda!
sandman inside the museum!
amazing 3d from paper!
that would be pretty hard to make, surely!
and this, even harder?!
mein fuhrer’s mask
:)
the different faces of Jack Skellington!
hi jack
dont fall off!
picturesque frankfurt
main river at sunset =D
no parking on the river guys
YUM MCRIBS! we have been reunited after 5 years apart!
currywurst in frankfurt, just to make sure that JG has had a go. not as good as the Berlin on but not too far off :)
döner kebab! an awesome turkish cuisine - it seems like we just ate ate and ate here lol
MMMM BAKLAVA!
Europe 2011/12 - Day 52 - Barcelona
last day in Barcelona!
bright and early - with an exquisite view from the terrace of our apartment
first order of the day was to walk down Passeig de Gracia to Casa Mila, also known as La Pedrera.
It is another of Gaudi’s work - we skipped it yesterday since we thought it was not worth its steep entrance fee. But after an awesome experience at Casa Batllo - we decided it’ll be stupid to miss out on La Pedrera
the outline of the ground floor of La Pedrera
model of La Pedrera, also known as Casa Mila
view from La Pedrera, down Passeig de Gracia
the roof of La Pedrera and its cool chimneys, looking like stormtroopers!
the interior - no corners. very Gaudi
a more detailed model of La Pedrera
cross section of the model
his hanging model to create such amazing works
Gaudi transformed the building on the left to the right - Casa Batllo. From nothing to a UNESCO World Heritage Site. amazing stuff.
Gaudi’s inspiration apparently came from nature - and its easy to see where he got his inspiration for the structures for the hallway :)
view down the inside of La Pedrera
La Pedrera ending up fairly disappointing - it became a showcase of what Gaudi’s other works are, rather than focussing on its own features (which didnt seem a lot). Casa Batllo still a winner - and glad we went there first. Or else, it would have been like - man Casa Batllo wouldnt be worth the visit if it we went La Pedrera first and it was disappointing
then it was onwards towards breakfast! MORE tapas!
tapa tapa!
bikini!
patatas bravas!
mini paella
after food it was some browsing around the shops of Barcelona
EPIC Chivas!
we found Real Madrid chips, alongside the Barça chips. but in Barcelona - thats a bit odd =S
the return leg of the El Clasico match we saw. Prices from 155 euros. thats right. gotta pay up for the best match-ups in the world
Placa de Catalunya
4 cats, or Els Quatre Gats is a cafe which served as the centre of Modernism in Barcelona. Picasso’s hangout and first exhibition location, apparently. Opening in 1897 - that is a while back!
:)
back to the awesome bar with baguettes and stuff for the last time
our train hotel to Bern!
bye barcelona! you have been awesome!
Europe 2011/12 - Day 51 - Barcelona
a long day of Barcelona ahead - but exciting! Camp Nou, flea markets, Casa Batllo and La Pedrera!
yay at the entrance gate for the tour!
our tickets!
Barça!
historic moments at the Camp Nou - see what happened in 1999?
Mes Que Un Club - more than a club
the coloured seats!
the press room - where they hold the interviews
pitch side!
the tunnel towards the pitch!
what it looks like, with a capacity crowd
taking a breather at one of the seats
the press viewing area!
the view of Montjuic from Camp Nou
and its time to enter the museum!
best club in the world? if its not true then its very close
el capita
best club in the world, 2011
16 cups in one year - including all their other sporting arms
HAHAHA YES! if catalonia gets its independence you know who is behind it
:)
Mercat flea markets! they sold basically…. ANYTHING.
textiles, to fabric
to doorbells, to musical instruments, to walking canes
to knives, machetes and guns..
and that is how they store their stall for the day
packed as!
axel with a leg of ham
Gaudì’s La Pedrera! but we didnt go in because it looked expensive - but fear not - we went the next day!
we went for food instead! tapa!
very aesthetically pleasing tapa - it was so yum too!
salmon and little eels!
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo. looks so awesome and epic!
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - the entance.
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - the layout
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - the living room
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - the courtyard
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - the courtyard
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - overlooking the main street
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - works still being done
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - what a cool ceiling
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - no corners or edges
up the spiral staircase to the roof
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - awesome chimneys
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - looking down. such an amazing concept, and executed to perfection
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - moulded chairs
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - from the outside - he designed the one next door too
Gaudì’s Casa Batllo - lit up at night!
then we tried to go to the Lost bar - Bharma - to no success - it was closed :(
but we went for more tapa!
what an awesome day, sports and Gaudì. amazing.
Europe 2011/12 - Day 50 - Barcelona
sunny day in Barcelona! perfect day to check out La Sagrada Familia!
time to chill in the terrace to soak in some sun first
view from the balcony
breakfast is churros and muffins, with some spanish chocolate!
a vending machine for phone accessories. when we found this, someone behind us casually just bought a new case for his phone from the machine. random!
has its own Sortida!
some features in the exterior of La Sagrada Familia
:)
the inside columns. apparently Gaudi was inspired by nature a lot - these columns are like trees.
hi ST and JL.. taking in the awesomeness that is Antoni Gaudi
from the top
amazing view of the city of Barcelona
the fruits of the city of Barcelona
pretty stuff!
the spiral stairs down one of the spires. narrow much?
the nativity façade by Gaudi. amazing detail - this photo does not do justice!
some detail on the façade
still under construction
Gaudi’s famous hanging model to create La Sagrada Familia
the hanging model in action
some of Gaudi’s sketches
attending a Catalan mass at night at the crypt of La Sagrada Familia!
dinner was at a fancy Paella place near França station. paella is awesome - especially the seafood one!
Europe 2011/12 - Day 49 - Barcelona
first full day in Barcelona! we decided to start with a free walking tour!
Santa Eulalia - a patron of Barcelona. word is that back in the day she refused to recant Christianity, so the Romans put her into a barrel with knives stuck into it and rolling it down this street - Baixada de Santa Eulalia (literally, descent of Santa Eulalia)
Europe 2011/12 - Day 48 - Madrid & Barcelona
with pub crawl the night before, and an 8am train out of Madrid, it was planned to be a slow and recuperation day. with only 1.5 hours sleep for all of us, that was the most sensible haha.
But - Barcelona here we come! the land of the Catalans!
barcelonaaaaa - the spanish trains are awesome - they was so much space for luggage, seats were spacious and they gave out earphones!
turns out the earphones was to watch kung fu panda 2, in spanish!
some weird but epic views during the train ride
first order of business in Barcelona was to rest. and then it was lunch. what was lunch you ask? tapa!
who can get sick of tapa!
we did a bit of grocery shopping - and we found Barça chips!
and a giant lollypop..
HAHA we only ended up buying chips and lots and lots of water haha
we met up with ST who came from her flight from Krakow, and immediately took her to dinner for more tapas (for us anyway)
order too much? neverrrrr
Las ramblas - the street to be in Barcelona
down near the water - such a pretty bridge
reminded me of home!
and we ended the night writing postcards :)
Europe 2011/12 - Day 47 - Madrid
another sunny day in Madrid!
for breakfast, it was back to the awesome baguette place we had for lunch yesterday - the infamous “number 88”
Europe 2011/12 - Day 46 - Madrid
we decided to take a tour of Madrid - a free walking tour
breakfast before tour at a chain called Museo del Jamon, where Jamon is dry cured ham. awesome stuff. cheap-as too!
dolls in the various regional traditional dresses
Plaza Mayor - where the tour started
Sobrino de Botín - world’s OLDEST restaurant - even Goya worked here as a kitchen hand
top left apartment - where they attempted to assassinate the King
side entrance to the Royal Palace in Madrid
Opera House
a nice little baguette place. number 88 is vintage!
Puerta del Sol!
the house of Miguel de Cervantes - Spanish’s Shakespeare
the Spanish parliament. the Golden door on the front is reserved ONLY for the king, Juan Carlos
that was where the tour ended. once it ended, we decided to head down to the Prado museum
it has the most extensive collection of art in spain, famously housing stuff by Goya and Velasquez
after some art for the day, we decided to venture to the park in Madrid, that is supposed to be really beautiful. it happened to be a sunny day too!
Retiro Park!
it was indeed such a pretty park!
after a taxing day - we decided to rest back to the hostal a bit, then it was for our tapas tour!
our first stop
pepper and fries
scallops with eel
second tapas bar - we got mushrooms with bacon and sweetbreads! sooooo good!
JG and I couldnt make it to the third bar on the tapas tour. why you ask? because we were attending El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu!
at the Bernabeu station, trying to exit the station. SO many people, and this was 1.5 hours before kick off!
the Santiago Bernabeu at night!
the atmosphere before kick off!
Real Madrid and Barcelona players lining up
kick off!
the two managers - pep and jose in their technical area
CR7 scores! on our end of the pitch as well!
but Barcelona prevailed - Puyol and Abidal scoring on our end of the pitch as well!
the final score. a bit lame that the home team lost, but whatever - i was a neutral and it was a good game and exquisite atmosphere!
after somehow getting home via the metro from El Clasico, we find that JL is home from the tapas tour, and then proposed food. she agreed :) So we went out for more food!
baguettes with meat yum!
we moved to ANOTHER restaurant - this time getting paella
and we decided to end the night at the Chocolateria San Gines. YAY churros!
and the girls ordered milk. i still dont quite understand why!
Europe 2011/12 - Day 45 - Lisboa & Madrid
and it is time to leave Portugal for 8 days in Spain!
waiting for the aerobus at Restauradores. Bye Lisboa!
Europe 2011/12 - Day 44 - Lisboa
a day to enjoy the sun of Lisboa, Portugal!
good morning Lisboa! time for us to explore your hilly city!
Europe 2011/12 - Day 43 - Manchester & Lisboa
and after one night in Manchester, we were on the move again. this time - hello slightly warmer weather and goodbye cold weather! Portugal here we come!
goodbye Manchester!
Europe 2011/12 - Day 42 - London & Manchester
it was off to an early morning train up to the North West of England to Manchester yay!
goodbye awesome tube system!
our Virgin trains - the Pendolino trains that dont need to slow down when turning. looks like caterpillars to us haha
duck liver and herb pie from harrods for breakfast on the train
massive as pie from harrods for breakfast too!
tickets to Manchester!
and the first order of business in Manchester? its legoland discovery centre - to replace all the closed legolands in europe!
yay legoland!
harry!
OT!
the Salford bridge
London and its landmarks
:)
we also tried to make cars for the racing track - but they were missing a lot of tyres - so we couldn’t finish our cars properly :(
to infinity!
weird colours!
lego racing car!
and we then went crazy at the lego store!
and then after lego it was time to see manchester united v bolton at old trafford at 3pm!
Old Trafford!
chicharito during warm ups
ROONEY!
you can see Paul Scholes!
YAY!
yes, it was 3-0 indeed
our block!
I do <3 MCR, and I’ll be back!
Europe 2011/12 - Day 41 - Amsterdam & London
bye Schipol! bye Amsterdam! onwards towards London - part 2!
Europe 2011/12 - Day 40 - Amsterdam & Volendam
decided to enjoy a bit of the Dutch countryside today - day trip to Volendam it was!
port ships of Amsterdam, near Centraal station
Europe 2011/12 - Day 39 - Amsterdam
breakfast! dutch pancakes to provide some energy before anne frank house!
