in another land

MY longest, furthest but most fulfilling trip

Now I can finally blog about my pre-exchange trip, which I have been dragging on for months since September last yr! The 2 weeks vacation, which seemed so far away, nevertheless, it still holds wonderful memories. Before going to grenoble to start the semester, my usual travel mates and I travelled to Geneva, Munich, Vienna, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Prague, and later we splitted up and traveled further to Amsterdam, Brussels before landing in Grenoble, the university town where we were dreading to go cos we that marked an end to our long vacation, and in other words, we had to start studying.. there was also the unsettling feeling of the poor condition of the hostel we would be getting, and the kind of people we will meet there… still rmbered us having late discussions into the night and concluded that we should just lower our expectations lest we get greater disappointment… but in the end all turned out fine.

Sw n mich got nice rooms in condillac, n turns out that they become very close neighbors at logger-heads till spore…Sin, Kevin n Andi were in another block, also in condilac as well, initially a few grumblings here and there.. but all turned out well, in fact toward the end of the year when the weather turned cold, it was condillac’s heater that beat everyone’s else… Eugene, the only one in Gabriel fauré, initially who complained he had no friends at all, turned out that he made the most foreign friends.. whereas for me, I got rabot, beautiful residence located on a mountain, other than the location was abit out of the way, I liked every other part of it… sigh, I do miss rabot a lot…..well, for one, rabot outwins the rest in its fresh air up the mountains and proximity to the bastille…

anyway, shall go back to the trip starting from Geneva, when I fell sick right on the first day we reach Geneva. A series of unfortunate events striked me during the first few days of the trip and I was totally unlucky in almost everything(vomited more than 10 times, got a 200euro jab, fell down when I alight from the train, got fever.. etc)… n my poor friends had to accompany me back to the hostel as I was too weak to travel, especially to sinhui, who took care of me all the while when I was sick, MERCI mon amie…

well, probably I was home sick then as well,…I seriously think it was the food at Mannor which caused me to vomit… probably not, since mich n Kevin ate the same food, probably it was my weak stomach.. later into the night, Kevin fell sick as well.. we struggled as a group of 3 healthy people and 2 sick persons from geneva to munich to meet the 2 saviors, eug and sw.. well, later we both got better in Innsbruck, haha, Kevin just needs to bomb more to avoid falling sick… acquiring his bomberman nick, this nick was very soon sort of pushed to eugene who later carried out more bombings… but hey, bombing is good for health, we just need to be careful not to mention this when taking flights… so basically I was too sick to even take photos, my first photo began in Innsbruck.. and after that day, things were moving on better… my travel mood came back and my appetite regained!

Other photos in salzburg

Astronomical clock above

Numerous panoramic views all around, … then arriving in Vienna, we went for an authentic Vienna concert of classical music… fell in love with classical music from then on… and the soprano was so fragile and thin yet with a voice so strong … we were awed..…

By then, andi n Kevin had left us and we continued on to Holland! Holland is one of my favorite cities in Europe, especially the windmills, they are really attractive and nowhere else have windmills like those in Holland. The magnets from there are also the nicest and cheapest.. we shopped like crazy in the flower markets… getting disappointed and regret each time we pass by another cheaper stall.. Bicycles, clogs and flowers are everywhere, and the peculiar roof of the buildings there are also very characteristic of amsterdam. And of course, when in Brussels, one has to try the mussels, with fries… and also the Belgium chocolates… we went for a chocolate factory tour… nothing like Charlie chocolate factory as I had imagined but it was indeed informative… went inside a windmill, and found out people do get married inside there, but we were rushed for time then and could not attend the wedding… The experience in Amsterdam was the most interesting, I can never forget the trip to the redlight district… where women work as prostitutes under protection by law. Photos are strictly forbidden, even in daylight, when Eugene went into the area with his slr, the girls were hitting on the windows and shouting at him to keep away his camera. There are streets and allies with giant windows showcasing the different breeds, some curtains were drawn up, indicating that they have business.We went again at night. One street has absolutely no one walking pass, and we understood why when we passed by those rows of windows. The ones in the ally were of “better quality”, according to sw.. n we heard a guy bargaining with a girl over “ a nipple for 1 euro?”. Then along one route some guys shouted out to us “we offer student price too!” Then in some windows, u cn actually see tight nurse uniforms and a whip hanging at the wall in the room.. it was disgusting… I wouldn’t agree with this kind of work, in fact, it undermines life…but well it was indeed an eye opener. After Amsterdam, we flew back to Geneva, and for once I can take photos of the jet d’eau with me inside … The trip sadly ended, bring to a new beginning of uncertainty… but up till now, I never regret going for this exchange. It is a long trip, like a very long dream…but a very profitable and unforgettable one.

posted by Lynn @ 7:12 PM Comments: 4