Edinburgh

I got into Edinburgh at about 2:15pm, and then stashed my luggage at a storing facility, packed a day bag and booted it to the castle. It was WELL worth it. Later that night, I snuggled into the dinner table and had my very first plate of haggis. mmm. haggis. if you don't think about whats in it, its not that bad at all. its certainly no worse than a hot dog anyway. Scotland was really charming and I wish I had more time there, but as I keep saying to people: I'd rather have seen it fast, than not to have seen it at all.

Dublin

After i was done in Paris, i got onto a train that took me 70km south of Paris, into yet another provincial suburb. I didn't take any pictures of Beauvais, but it was still nice to be nosing around the bus station, and then i found out that the airport was 10 minutes away by taxi. good thing i found another couple and we shared the ride. I got to the airport and then flew into Dublin for the morning. I think i got into the airport at like 1045am and then I checked in my bags at 1110am. i had two hours to kill before my flight. so what did i do?!? off to town i go! the number one stop in Dublin is beyond a doubt, the Guinness Storehouse. mmm...guinness!



Guinness and steak stew. AMAZING.


when i look at the photos on this entry, i can't help but think that i don't really have that many scenic or necessarily artsy shots. and then i think of all the other shots of Paris that had to left out because of brevity. anyway. i'm not trying to show off my work, i'm just telling a story. my story. and the images have to serve the story. steak and guiness stew was not to be left out of the travelogue!!

Versailles & Chartres

I took a day trip out to the Palace of Versailles, and then further out to the little provincial town of Chartres. The palace is just HUGE. its even bigger than the Louvre, which is most definitely the largest building in Paris. Its even more impressive because of the park grounds that surround the former palace of King Louis the fourteenth to sixteenth, goes on further than the eye can see.

out in the courtyard


the Versailles Chapel


view from the Queen's chamber



I headed out to Chartres because I thought the one hour train ride out of Paris would give me a small idea of what rural life may look like, and also to check out one of the most interesting church buildings in existence. I had to write a paper once on stained glass and half the books you find are about this church in Chartres. There are 176 rose windows on the walls of this church, which is considerable considering Notre Dame only has less than 50 (i think). If you look closely there are two different steeples made from when this church started in the 4th century. the one on the right is an 11th century romanesque steeple . The one on the left is a gothic steeple built the 15th century.

Notre Dame

Paris at night

The last stop on the tour was beautiful Paris. I stayed for two nights with the tour and then spent another two nights with a friend of a friend. It was awesome to live like the locals do. I stayed in an apartment building that seriously looked like it had been around since the war, or earlier. it had once of those spiral staircases that went all the way to the sixth or seventh floor. walking around in spiral for that many floors is NOT fun. I even got to do my laundry at a local laundromat. had my share of croque-madames, croque monsieurs and almond pastries for breakfast. it was so cool. I'd definitely go back to Paris. in a heartbeat. Here are some of my favourite niteshots.

Opera Garnier (where the famed legend of its infamous phantom originated, apparently there is an underground lake underneath that is not open to the public - COOL)


L'Arc de Triomphe



Gustave's masterpiece

Luzern

After four spectacular days in Italy, we headed back up north towards Switzerland. the world's most famous neutral country. Switzerland was an interesting place. Because of where it is geographically, it is very common for most Swiss people to speak at least 4 languages, based on the three countries surrounding it. They typically speak French, Italian, German and English. So really if you go to high school in Switzerland, if anything, a job that you would be guaranteed to have around the European Union is translation work! Switzerland, like Singapore, depends heavily on mandatory conscription to maintain a large enough military to protect its neutral alliances. Except I think the Swiss set the standard for everyone else on the planet. For example, the Pope's personal guards and the Vatican's security is handled by the Swiss guards.

Firenze

After Rome, we headed off to the charming city of Florence. Walking around Florence is like walking around a museum, there are statues and art all over the streets. Its quite cool, plus nice enough size to call it quaint.

Firenze from a viewpoint


This is what a post office looks like in Italy


Rag-tag band