Lots of bicycles. 
Heineken.
What’s that? lol
Amsterdam is loud and naughty. This might be the most photographed shop window:
Cruise!
The largest Chinese Restaurant in Amsterdam.
Can’t take these bulbs back to Australia:(.
Wooden shoes will be problematic going through Australia Custom too. So these shoes are good alternate souvenirs.
Yum! Last few bites of waffle with ice cream.
The British Museum is the best museum in the whole world.
Ok that’s just my opinion, considering there are lots of fabulous museums that I haven’t been. But I bet the truth is not far from it.
I’m a sucker for old things, very old things with historical significance.
We spent hours in The British Museum, exploring with ever increasing admiration. If it wasn’t because the museum had to close for the day, I could have easily stayed there for days.
The British Museum houses old treasures from all over the world. It covers an astonishing range of cultures, periods and types of material from both East and West. We saw large, amazing pieces of sculpture from the ancient world in the galleries on the ground floor, Ancient Greece and Rome, ancient Egypt the ancient Near East (especially what are now Iraq and Iran).
I have always wanted to travel to Egypt. But my travel plans to Egypt has been postponed for many years due to the unstable situation and travel safety issues over there. The moment we stepped into the British museum, my desire of visiting Egypt has almost halved. There were plentiful of grand Egyptian sculptures, mummies in the museum. Apparently two friends of ours traveled to Egypt to see one of the greatest pieces of sculpture from ancient Egypt. But they couldn’t find it. They were told to see it in the British museum.
Going to Greece to see the Parthenon sculptures? Big mistake. They are here in the British museum.
Want to see ancient Chinese treasures of the Forbidden City by going to the Forbidden City itself? Don’t keep your hopes up. Mostly you will only get to see lots of empty, dark colored stone flooring rooms through dirty glasses. What about the treasure gallery in the Forbidden City? Not worth mentioning compared to the British Museum collection.
But wait, there’s more. Parts of two of the Seven Wonders of the World are in the museum also: the Mausoleum at Halikanassos (modern Bodrum in Turkey) and the temple of Artemis at Ephesos (also in Turkey)
So, all in all, great treasures all over the world travelled far far away from their country of origin, being well looked after in The British Museum, which in turn, made The British Museum the number one museum on my list.
Entry fee: Free
Address: Great Russell Street, London WC1B #DG, UK
Hours: Sun – Thu, Sat 10am – 5:30pm; Fri 10am -8:30 pm
I saw pictures of Stonehenge on a calendar when I was little. Something about the sight captured me immediately and I thought: “This place looks mysterious. I must go there one day when I grow up.”
It felt unreal when I saw Stonehenge itself from a distance through the car window. Indeed, it just appeared, like I’ve seen from the picture, in the middle of nowhere. My heart started to pound from excitement; we were driving closer to Stonehenge.
We stepped out of the car. The remains of standing stones still looked quite far. There’s high fence made of wire mesh circled around the site. Some people were taking photos through the little holes of the mesh outside the fence.
The entry ticket is 7 GBP. Together you’ll get a site map and the audio guide. We got in. The landscape is literally breath taking. I held onto my breath unconsciously…
How green was that grass!
If you are looking for greener pasture, stop. Right there. The grass was lush, abundance and simply put, the greenest.
Can’t believe it, we are so close to the stones!
It must be because of the enormous open space, the wind, it’s hard to explain – something mind blowing, I totally forgot about the time. It felt like a perfect place to meditate, to reflect on your life… something deep like that. When we finally left, it was quite dark.
Stonehenge is a fascinating prehistoric monument situated in country of Wiltshire, in England. It’s a large group of pillar like standing stones that are arranged in certain fashion. The real purpose of Stonehenge remains unknown though many people thought this area served as a burial ground.
History: According to the archaeologists, this prehistoric monument is believed to have been built during 3000BC dating back to 2000BC. Results of the radiocarbon dating done in 2008 indicated that the early stones were raised between the period of 2200 and 2400 BC. However, another theory suggested that the bluestones may have been created there during 3000 BC.
The history of Stonehenge is still undiscovered, even though there are several theories trying to explain the existence of this site. In addition to this, there is a source of evidence that suggests that the area around it has been inhabited since 8000BC. It adds that during the Neolithic and the Bronze periods, the other monuments within were built.
The early Stonehenge began in 3000BC. It was when an embankment and outer ditch was built, and standing timbers were raised. 2500BC is believed to the period when Neolithic and the Bronze Age man began to gather Blue and also Sarsen stones gotten from the Marlborough Downs and Wales. It became complete during 1600BC as well many other monuments near the area e.g. Woodhenge and the famous Durrington Walls.
Near the area is a hill fort that was constructed during the period of Iron Age. Further evidence shows that the Romans settled around the place, and later settled in Amesbury during the reign of Saxon in the 979AD. In 1918, Stonehenge as well as the land around was handed to the UK nation. Another interesting thing about the place is that it earned the UNESCO status of World Heritage in the year 1986.
How to get there from London by Car: From London, you can use the M3route and A303 so as to reach Amesbury. After reaching the roundabout at A303 Countess, proceed to the south so as to reach Amesbury a place where you can have a meal or get accommodation, north to get to Woodhenge and the Durrington Walls, or go west to get to Stonehenge which is at the UNESCO centre. After reaching Kings Barrow, you will be able to see the site. At this point you can go right so as to get a parking area for your car. It is not that difficult to get there even if it your first time in UK.
Kate Moss famously said ‘Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels’. I’ve never been that skinny so I am not sure how good being skinny feels. All I know is how good it feels having good food. London Borough Market is like a food heaven to me. It is a treat just to wonder around and look at the exquisite produce on offer, if you love good, fresh and sometimes exotic food from all over the world.
London’s oldest market, Borough Market could be traced back to the middle ages. It is now located on the Southward Street and Borough High Street just south of Southwark Cathedral on the southern end of London Bridge. The day we went was a Saturday. London’s weather truly lived up to its reputation, tricky summer, that is. The day started mild and dry, then the rain came, then the thunder storm… It rained like it never rained before most of the day, which made it a perfect day out under the cover of Borough Market, eating and drinking.
Feeling good… ready to eat… A LOT
Yep, it was raining:
Feeling hungry:
Cheeeeesssse:
Thought I’ve seen bread before until this one appeared:
While I was busy eating J kept on shooting:
Tastiest scallops, with the orange bits on.. If you like seafood, don’t miss out on this!
Just out side Borough Market, there’s this coffee shop that everybody goes to. The queue to get in was long and there was no available seat to be found inside on the weekend. The coffee was a bit too strong for my liking but obviously I was the minority there. And it was a nice surprise to see London Olympic torch…
The Olympics torch inside Monmouth
How to get there:
Address: 8 Southwark Street, London.
It is extremely easy to get to Borough market by public transport. Just get off at London Bridge whether you are taking a bus, underground or train.
Danke Schön (thank you) is the only German I could speak. It pays to be polite… most of the time. You see, it’s always good to learn saying “thank you” first, even before “hello”. When you say “hello” to someone in a foreign country, people might expect you to say something more after the initial greeting. When you have nothing else to say, it’s kind of embarrassing. If you can only say “thank you”, people would understand that you are just a tourist trying hard to speak their language.
We hired a car to drive around and see more of Germany. Before I forget where we went and get all the places and pictures mixed up, I’d better write down the route that we drove through in Germay: Kolgne – Unna – Dortmund – Warburg – Gottingen – Leipzig – Chemnitz – Dobeln –Dresdon.
There are some places I really want to write a bit more about when I’m more settled. Here’s just a brief summary of Germany trip while I’m getting myself organised.
Cologne
Cologne was talked about in this blog: Cologne Highlights.
Unna
Unna is a very pretty, peaceful German town with cute sculptures on the street.
Dortmund
We went to Dortmund to catch up with our old friends. The first place they took us was this lake, where it used to be a factory. The only thing remains from the factory today is this huge machinery. Kind of cool huh?
This lake used to be a factory.
Warburg
Warburg is oh so pretty, yet an even more peaceful small town. So peaceful that I felt like disturbing it by simply being a visitor. We stopped by Warburg on a Sunday. The whole town stopped for Sunday mass. There was not even one moving car on the street. Every body was at the mass near the church. Nobody, literally, nobody was on any other street.
See what I mean? Quiet quiet streets everywhere else on Sunday.
Gottingen
What can I say? Most of German towns are just so picturesque. We stayed in Gottingen for a couple of days and went a bit multinational … from a grand Vietnamese restaurant (always empty, took 45 minutes to serve some bland pho soup) to expensive steak in old town center to a busy African restaurant served hearty food. The African restaurant won our final vote.
Leipzig
First German town we visited during this trip that used to be part of Eastern Germany. Fairly large in size, Leipzig boasts a few fairytale looking buildings, big shopping center and a bit hmmm… chocolate.
Chemnitz
Sorry karl, your home town is the least attractive German town I’ve visited. There are ugly, grey, square buildings and huge smoking chimneys everywhere in the city. I couldn’t help but feeling sorry for these beautiful, run down old period buildings that are about to collapse. Karl Marx’s gigantic head sculpture scored the top spot on our turist attraction list.
Street in the city center of Chemnitz. Though not pretty, it is clean. Definitely not popular with tourists.
Dobeln
Dobeln is a gem. I have so much more to say about this wonderfully beautiful town later on. But for the time being, have a little sneak peak of the photos of Dobeln… Isn’t it the prettiest?
Dresdon
Having a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Kings of Saxony, Dresdon is grand. That was the first time I had this one shoulder top on, since I bought it in a Sydney boutique in 1999. Somehow it managed to avoid being thrown out, donated or gifted over the years and ended up in my suitcase to Europe. Now it’s back to life!
Shortly after this gorgeous trip to Germany, we are already making plans to go back next year. When I do visit again, for sure I’ll have lots of bratwust and hopefully still remember how to say: Danke Schön!
I’ve always been drawn to the bold colours, somewhat childish charm and honest simplicity of Van Gogh’s artwork. Visiting Van Gogh Museum was of course on the top of my list during this trip to Amsterdam.
Bedroom in Arles, first version. 1888
Getting to Van Gogh Museum wasn’t difficult but the queue in front of the museum was scarily long. That’s normal. People queue for 1 hour to buy a ticket to get in the museum on a weekday usually. Lucky for us, we saved that hour by chance. There’s Diamond Museum on the other side of the street, literally opposite to Van Gogh Museum. Being a girl, I wanted to check out what they have. It turns out to be nothing special (Buckingham palace has bigger, extraordinarily sparkling and more diamonds for you to see) so within 5 minutes, we were on the way out. Next to exit, I spotted a sign: skip the line to Van Gogh Museum; buy ticket here for the same price. We bought the tickets there, walked towards the door next to the long queue with nobody in front of us, showed our tickets to the guard and there we were, inside the Van Gogh museum immediately.
“I put my heart and soul into my work and have lost my mind in the process.” Van Gogh
Security check was required and no photograph was allowed in the museum. We spent a good few hours in the museum, totally forgot about the time. Going through the entire amazing collection of his original work, I gained so much insight into Van Gogh’s rather short life, professional growth and personal emotions behind his artwork. To date, I am still deeply saddened by his lifelong struggle. Pardon me. I always thought Van Gogh might be a little obsessed with himself since he created so many self-portraits. As a matter of fact, I learnt, it was because it cost him nothing to paint himself. Although he was unable to pay for models, he was determined to master the art of portraiture as he thought this might earn him some money in the future.
How Van Gogh became an artist later in his life and rose to fame after death fascinated me. Indeed, these are 3 key ingredients to success: talent, consistently hard work and effective marketing campaign. Vincent Van Gogh’s brother Theo suggested that Vincent might train as an artist after his failure in previous careers. At that time, Vincent was 27 years old. His life as an artist lasted only 10 years. Without a doubt, he was talented, not only in painting but also in expressing himself, through his artwork and large amount of letters. How hard did he study and work in those 10 years! Approximately 1,100 drawings and almost 900 paintings were produced. Sadly he only lived to the age of 37. Theo died 6 months after his death. Theo’s young widow Jo van Gogh-Boner shared the ambition of Theo who was determined to establish Vincent’s reputation, was convinced of the importance of Van Gogh’s art. She administered Van Gogh collection on behalf of her young son with drive and passion, oranised exhibitions to gain publicity for the works, sold paintings to art dealer and prepared the first Dutch edition of Vincent and Theo’s correspondence (published in 1914). I couldn’t help but wonder: without his letters being published, would people get to know Van Gogh’s personal struggles and emotions expressed in his artwork so well? Without Jo’s full commitment in marketing Van Gogh’s work, would many people in the world even know his name or appreciate his work this much? I used to dislike sales and marketing staff’s arrogant comments that they make money for the company and they are the most important part of the company. Thinking back, the attitude is still arrogant but maybe after all, there’s some truth in it.
The potato eaters, 1885
On the way out, we told people waiting in the long queue outside Van Gogh museum that they could buy tickets just across the road in Diamond museum and get in the Van Gogh museum straight away. A mother and her daughter confirmed the direction with me, happily left the queue. Other people stayed where they were, staring at us suspiciously. I smiled politely and walked away. Most people would just follow the majority and I totally get it. It’s easier that way.
Check out this Sunflower!!! – You are right, this is no Van Gogh. J took this photo in his mum’s garden:)
It is hard to pick which one is my favorite messenger bag, but the Louis Vuitton Hudson GM bag with adjustable long shoulder strap has proven to be superbly handy for travel and shopping hands free.
Walking along Champs Elysees, Paris
Louis Vuitton Hudson GM bag first caught my eyes simply because, it is a good-looking bag! This modern city bag offers loads of classic appeal, reminds me of Louis Vuitton Manhattan bags but smaller and less heavy. There were GM and PM models, short and long shoulder straps to choose from and I picked GM size with adjustable long shoulder strap. This GM size measures W31 x H24 x D10 cm, not that big.
I took it traveling with me for its style, size and functionality. The Louis Vuitton Hudson GM bag can be easily dressed up and down. You can wear it with dresses or jeans for dressy or casual wear. Rest assured in any cases, it’d look the part. I have smaller sized messenger bags but this time I chose my Louis Vuitton Hudson GM bag because it is not super big that can become heavy and it is big enough to hold a lot, including a tablet/ipad. I love it the most for its functionality – it has so many pockets! There are 2 front exterior pockets with golden brass press lock closure where I normally put hotel room swipe card and some change coins for convenience in one and a compact mirror, lip gloss and hair bands in another. There’s one larger zippered pocket on the front where I would keep our passports and travel tickets and documents handy. The spacious interior is big enough to hold a large long wallet, a tablet/ipad, maps and travel books. There are 2 open wall pockets inside to keep loose items organised, one is perfect for larger mobile phones we have nowadays. Louis Vuitton Hudson GM bag with adjustable long shoulder strap is indeed a better choice. Wear it cross body, you don’t have to hold it or adjust its position on your shoulder all the time.
OK, here’s one thing I need to mention. The push locks of the front pockets make that “cling, cling” noise when you walk. It did annoy me a little bit from time to time. But hey, I’m sure it also prevented me from being pick-pocketed at busy tourist spots.
Louvre, Paris
The Great Wall, China
Extremely impressed with the picturesque historical towns, superbly clean streets and endless shoe shops in Germany, we even managed to get a speeding fine in a country that normally doesn’t have speed limits. Our Journey in Germany started from Cologne. If you only intend to stay in Cologne for 2-3 days, here are a few things you could try.
We were lucky to have an awesome view of the Cologne Dom tower from our hotel room in Hilton. Cologne Dom is a splendid Roman cathedral and heart of the metropolis on the Rhine. And yes, it only took 600 something years to complete. On the second day in Cologne, I got to see the impressive panorama from the cathedral tower across the city and Rhine on the top of Cologne Dom though in order to do that we had to climb 533 narrow, winding steps first. Honestly at one stage I felt the climbing was never going to end and it was becoming increasingly hot battling with traffic (lots of people going up and down) on the narrow stair case inside an old cathedral. But the view from the top was rewarding. On the way to the viewing platform, we walked pass the St Peters bell, the largest freely swinging church bell in the world weighting 24,000 kg. I’m still wondering how could this bell swing being so huge and heavy?
This is the view from the top:
Kolsch and Roast Pork Knuckle
In the heart of Cologne city, just a few steps from the cathedral is the old town where you can always find authentic German food and enjoy the famous local beer in Cologne, Kolsch. Kolsh is a beautifully refreshing warm- weather beer normally served in skinny glasses. Its pleasantly fruity and slightly bitter taste goes perfectly well with roast port knuckle, one of my favorite Germany/ East European dishes. You know, the roast port knuckle with golden brown crispy, crackly skin attached and fell-off-the -bone tender meat. Finding nicely cooked pork knuckle however is a bit of a hit and miss. We finally found it at Peters Brauhaus in the old town. Sorry I didn’t take any pictures, couldn’t wait to start eating and drinking.
Pretzels and Berliners
They are on the list because they are huge. And everywhere. And surrounded by massive bees.
Shopping
Cologne is one of the most popular cities for shopping. We were told that there are people who make special trips to Cologne just to stroll and shop on the most popular shopping streets Schidergasse, Hohe Strabe and others. Apparently Schidergasse is the number one shopping street in Europe. Its highlight is the weltstadthaus, which resembles a huge glass whale. Inside the glass whale is a gigantic, multilevel shopping centre with a sea of clothing and shoes.. more clothing and shoes.. You guessed it, more shoes.
Below left, view of the glass whale shopping center from Cathedral Tower.
Whenever you are tired of shopping, stop to have a cup of coffee. Or have a pretzel, they are everywhere.
Designer outlet shopping Paris experience is quite different from shopping form Italy designer shopping outlets. High end designer shopping outlets are quite popular in Europe and I have been to a couple of impressive ones in Italy. Recently, I checked out the luxury designer shopping outlet around Paris area, just 30 minutes away from the center of pairs. La Vallee Village is only 5 minutes train ride from Disney Europe outside Paris.
How to get to designer outlet La Valle Village:
La Vallee Village August 2012
If you have some spare time in Pairs apart from engaging the usual sight seeing activities, designer outlet shopping is fun and worthwhile. There’s a shopping express shuttle bus service departing from Place des Pyramides near the Louvre Museum twice a day but we went by public transport, just in case we wanted to leave early or stay longer. Public transport is very convenient in Paris so it wasn’t a hassle at all to get there by suburban train RER. If you want to travel by RER, remember it is from any central PER A station to Val d’Europe station, the second last stop (the last one is Disneyland Paris). On Sundays, there’s free return shuttle bus service every 15 minutes from the RER station to La Vallee Village. Do worry if there’s no shuttle bus to take you there directly. It is only about 10 minutes stroll from the PER station any way. Once you walk out the RER Station, you’ll see the Val D’Europe shopping mall. Walk through the huge shopping mall, you’ll arrive at La Vallee Village – your Paris designer outlet shopping destination.
The Village is pleasantly charming with over 90 outlet boutiques offering reductions on the recommended retail price. Not quite like the Italian designer outlets I’ve visited before offering mainly the very high end designer like Fendi, Prada, Gucci etc, this shopping village has a mixed luxury brands such as Jimmy Choo, Burberry and Tods as well as the mid- range popular brands like Calvin Klein, Guess, Polo Ralph Lauren etc.
Discounts are usually around 30 -60% of the recommended retail price here. The last piece in stock could have a deeper discount. If you are lucky that it happens to be your size, you can save up to 80%. Normally I don’t have such luck picking up bargains as I have a size 8 (Australian Size) frame and size 7 feet. Anything of that size would normally be out of stock from my past designer outlet shopping experience. So my expectation wasn’t high before the Paris designer outlet shopping trip but I did have a list of brands that I wanted to browse in particular:
Jimmy Choo: Handbags and shoes
Salvatore Ferragamo: Comfortable, not so out there yet stylish shoes for daily office wear/functions
Reberto Cavalli: Funky dresses, pants and accessories
Missoni: Zig zaggy patterned sweaters and dresses
Dolce & Gabbana: Loud and colorful outfit and accessories
Versace: Bold patterns and accessories
Burberry: Clothing and handbags
Armani: Jackets and jeans
Michael Kors: Dressing watches
Tod’s: Leather handbags
Nike: Socks and sports shoes
Lacoste: Comfortable and stylish walking shoes
Samsonite: Travel luggage
Valentino: Over sized leather totes
Charming village style:
The weather was excellent on the day I was there, making this Paris designer outlet shopping experience extra enjoyable. Offers from the shops didn’t disappoint either. You could get a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes for as low as 150 euro, the iconic black patent Jimmy Choo Ramona Bag at an 800 euro discount. You could get a Roberto Cavelli Jacket (equivalent Australian Size 16) at 300 euro, discounted from 2500 euro or 99 euro for a Burberry light jacket for men with a retail price tag of 399 euro. Michael Kors dressing watches were marked as low as 115 – 149 euro.
Winter in Sydney generally doesn’t get really cold; as a result it is extremely hard (for me) to buy good autumn/ winter clothes. My mission for this trip was to buy some high quality, good looking Autumn/Winter clothes at relatively bargain prices. Long sleeve shirts, dresses, sweaters and jackets would be nice.
Did I buy anything?
Well, there were a lot for sale but it was hard to buy anything at the beginning. There wasn’t anything I fancy in Roberto Cavalli or Missoni. The shoes in Jimmy Choo are mostly not my size, or my size but undesirable color. Samsonite didn’t offer any better deals than normal shops outside the shopping outlet on their luggage. Lacoste didn’t have any walking shoes on display.
Just as I was wondering if I would end up leaving empty handed, Guess store appeared in front of me. The store is big and busy so I went in. There were piles of casual clothing and the discounts were deep. I found a long sleeve shirt with wide collar and fitted waist line for only 9 euro (discounted from 79 euro). Just what I needed and what a bargain! In Burberry store, I found a Burberry silk, pleated back short jacket for 150 euro, discounted from 550 euro, last one for my size. A Burberry sweater made of silk, cotton and linen for 150 euro, discounted from 750 euro, last one in stock and my size! Of course they went home with me.
It turned out to be a successful trip! I would certainly recommend all my girlfriends to do some Paris designer outlet shopping if they go to Paris. Usually there would be more promotion offers if you go between mid – July to mid – August. If you are planning to go, why not make the most out of your Paris designer outlet shopping trip! The choices are abundant in that area… Val D’Europe shopping mall next door is huge. You can find the usual European chain stores like Zara, H&M, Pull & Bear’s there. If you don’t find anything to buy, Disneyland is just one stop away! 
If you like timeless style and quality with a touch of luxury, then you have enough reasons to pay a visit to Louis Vuitton Paris Champs-Élysées.
Standing tall and proud, Louis Vuitton is situated the left hand side of Champs-Élysées towards Arc de Triomphe. Expect a small queue to get in if you visit on a weekend. Summer day time runs long in Paris, the store opens until 8pm while day light is still plentiful. Handbags and wallets are usually 10 – 100 euro cheaper to buy from Louis Vuitton Paris and you can exchange your bags within 30 days in any Louis Vuitton stores in Europe. There’s also a 12% tax refund for overseas shoppers.
I was in Louis Vuitton Pairs Champs-Élysées last week. Sipping champagne while picking out goodies was such a treat; better still, Louis Vuitton organised all my purchases to be delivered to our hotel on the same day so we were able to keep meandering on the streets of dreamy Paris for the rest of the day, baggage free.
Louis Vuitton Paris Champs Elyesse August 2012
Among my new additions, the Louis Vuitton Monogram Empreinte Secret Long Wallet will be accompanying me the most. Louis Vuitton Monogram Empreinte leather line is pricier than the other monogram canvas lines but it is indeed one of a kind. I particularly like the amazingly rich feel of this supple, grained leather. Louis Vuitton Monogram is embossed on the grained leather, looking just like footprints in sand. The wallet is big with wrap around zippered closure. Inside, there are 10 card slots, 2 long pockets for notes and 1 large zippered coin compartment. With large enough capacity to hold my lip gloss and key, it can also be carried as a small clutch.
I also bought Louis Vuitton Artsy from Damier Azur line. Artsy is a classic, feminine bag with exquisite handcrafted handle and golden charm key rings attached to the bag. There are 6 open wall pockets and one large zippered pocket inside the bag. This IS my type of bag, at least I can pretend to be organised with so many pockets in my bag.
Did I need to buy another Louis Vuitton Neverfull bag? Maybe. Louis Vuitton Neverfull is cute and ever popular. I like its light weight, large capacity and practicality. A little over extremely large bags by now, I got both Artsy and Neverfull in MM size. Could have easily picked up more bags during that one trip to Louis Vuitton Paris Champs-Élysées, but 20kg luggage limit was bothering me. Might go back soon to get another one or two.
