a colored spectrum

Summer 2006 (II)

29th May - 31st May - Edinburgh

reached Edinburgh late last nite. Edinburgh is an ancient medieval city, with the infamous Edinburgh University, well known for English Lit. Edinburgh is a lovely city, beautiful weather where the sun only sets at 11pm. nice. impressive scottish highlands, the occasion busker wearing scottish kilts blowing bagpipes along Princess Walk. the scones with strawberry jam and sweet cotted cream is simply sinful yet divine at the same.. oo00oo..

that's my host family, Angie and Pastor Edwyn with their 2 daughters. spent my days in Edinburgh visiting the Edinburgh castle, an adjacent whisky factory and exploring the medieval city. Marks and Spencer's very big, with plenty of chocolates, toffees and fresh produce. i prefer Tesco and ASDA though.. cheaper and wider range of goods.

1st - 3rd June - Dinard, Brittany

flew to Dinard at noon. the main objective of going to Brittany was to visit Mont St Michel and its majestic abbey. unfortunately, the bus from Dinard to Mont St Michel departs daily at 10am, which i missed on 2 June and i was scheduled to leave for Paris in the afternoon on 3 June, which translates into being unable to visit Mont St Michel... sigh!!!

however, all is not lost! Dinard and its nearby St Malo has plenty of seafood restaurants selling mussels stewed in white wine, savoury crepes of cheese and ham and fresh raw oyters.. double those up with hugh pints of ripe strawberries... oo00oo..

the beaches of Dinard are pretty clean, the waters are clear, that you can see the seaweed in them. of coz, due to the cold breeze, there ain't many people sun tanning. most were wearing a light jacket. nothing compares to Koh Samui. warm fine sand, turquoise waters, rich marine life.. and it's alwiz sunny =D

3rd -6th June -Paris

Paris was pretty alright. although it's a very cosmopolitan city, it's also the least impressive of all the cities. the Metro's eternally packed, though the intervals between the rides are short. the service staff ain't friendly or helpful. contrary to that cold unfriendliness, the people in rural France such as Champagne and Dijon are really warm and helpful.

i went cycling in Champagne on 5th June. my bike's chain came loose, i didn't know how to fix it back. had to seek help from a man painting the walls of the tourist office and he did help me!!! by the way, i do not speak a single word of french except "Bonjour, Au Revoir" and "Merci Beaucoup"...

the Eiffel looks.. horrendous from near. it's this huge mess of steel. however from afar, it looks pretty elegant. Arc de Triomphe was alright.. well.. there's many many arcs in Paris city so nothing THAT impressive. the Louvre was packed with tourists and locals on the Sunday i went due to free entry, hence had to queue for 1.5hrs =/ the frescoes were painted on the ceiling.. doesn't take more than 3mins to give me a neck strain. Napolean had really huge stones on his crowns, plus excellent pearls for Josephine. Mona Lisa was... ermm.. quite small. those we've seen on the media have been blown up a gazillion times really. framed in a very big wall... it's kinda.. disappointing.

Notre Dame was really big. with intricate architectural details with very dark interior. nothing very exciting. Eiffel Tower at nite... glitters but otherwise, stil the same. something's lacking but never mind.. can't put my finger to it. maybe it's something in the air...

Post-trip evaluation

i'll want to go back to Italy, especially to Venezia and Tuscany. love the sun.
Dijon and Rhone Valley is a must!!! the wines are... intoxicating and affordable.
Paris would be only for the museums.
Switzerland is just... expensive. a can of mixed vege cost S$4+... ouch.
London and Edinburgh... i love (minus the pounding headaches from the GBP).

posted by Veen @ 07:16