Very blue indeed, to the point of being cloudless!

But I enjoyed every minute of the 17 days (except erm, the initial blisters I got from walking too much in Salzburg, the sweltering heat in Paris & walking around looking like a mountain tortoise with the huge haversack on our backs) and the surprises we got along the way. And of course, being with AH almost all the time. AH gets a pat on his back for being the most tolerant husband in Europe for the month of July 06. Kudos!

Salzburg, Austria (6 days till 18th Jul)

Lovely city which is also the birthplace for WA Mozart, and where the film Sound of Music was shot. Everywhere you turn, you see something touristy to do with those 2. Austria's lakes & mountains are really lovely & I was fascinated by the fortresses & character buildings. Churches were everywhere and till now I can't fathom why the church bells near our hotel kept ringing at odd times (2.57 am, 3.16 am, 4.38 pm etc) I entered several churches, went into Mozart's house & marvelled at their intricate architecture.


View of Salzburg city from Hohensalzburg fortress


One of many scenic views in our cheesy Sound of Music tour


Frankfurt & Rothenburg, Germany (19th till 21st Jul)

Vibrant Frankfurt where we found the best tasting kebab! 1 cool thing about our Muslim brothers in these countries is that, when asked if the food was halal, or if he/she was Muslim, the reply would be Alhamdulillah, in contrast to typical us who would respond with a 'Yup'!

I didn't buy much in the Zeil (equivalent of our Orchard Road) except for a pair of simple pink birkies at 25 euros (only $50!). We bought 3 more pairs of birkies too (not for me...sighs) for my MIL & SIL. Contrary to expectations though, there was limited variety & only big sizes were left at the sales. We ploughed thru the boxes to find a nice design & right fit.

The next day, we set off bright and early to Rothenburg, situated along the Romantic Road. This is a long stretch of scenic road, leading to Munich. The buildings there are medieval & pride themselves with rich history which I am obviously ignorant about.


Rothenburg, Germany

For lunch, we had lots of icecream & instant bekal of those little adabi lontongs & instant rendang/curry from Yeo's. When one is hungry, anything tastes heavenly. I especially liked the part we could save the $$$ too, which would be better off spent on shopping :p

We left our hotel early at 2 am to catch the superspeed ICE train to Switzerland. And the impossible happened! Our train was delayed til 3.45 am so we just sat waiting at the train station. I read a book while AH killed time by talking to some Germans who were also bothered by the train delay.

And to our horror too, we discovered that we had reserved the train on the wrong date; for the previous day! Thank goodness no one was crazy enough to travel during such ongodly hours, so we didn't have to compete for seats at all. Phew~

Zurich, Lucern & Bernese Oberland, Switzerland (21st to 23rd Jul)
The most unforgettable part of our trip. Gorgeous landscapes, totally breathtaking.

Zurich is a beautiful city but we didn't get to tour (read: shop) much as we focused more on touring the more picturesque outskirts. Feast on Switzerland shots on my multiply site.


Lovely Zurich


At Heidiland. We visited Heidi's house, right next to where we snapped this!


Top of Europe, Jungfrojoch (pronounced Yung-fghro-yorkh)

Paris, France (24th Jul)
Crazy couple us decided to spend a whirlwhind day in Paris. The queue at the entrance of Eiffel tower was snaking, and we had gotten there at 9.30 am! Tourists! We didn't have to wait long in the sweltering heat though. The view from the top at 320 metres was good. We marvelled at the sturdiness of the structure. Coincidentally, we caught a documentary on the making of the Eiffel Tower while we were in Amsterdam. It felt good being able to understand a bit more about that Paris icon.


No prizes for guessing where we are!

We walked like character Waiyaki in the Walkabout till our feet blistered & we couldn't take it anymore. Paris is small, but not that small. The Louvre museum was good too but we were stunned that it was such a noisy place - macam pasar malam! Blame it on the summer hols, which made everywhere in Europe packed with tourists. We saw some exhibits at the Islamic wing museum, then off we went to conquer the rest of the sights. Paris was hard work but thank goodness the hotel was airconditioned. We could have gotten heat stroke at 38 degrees!

Amsterdam, Holland/ the Netherlands (25th Jul to 26th Jul)

AH booked a bed & breakfast accomodation at a typical Dutch house in Amsterdam. The stairs leading up the rooms, were really a test of endurance. There were at least 30 steep steps up!

Another fun fact: Due to high taxes long ago, houses in Amsterdam are really narrow, such that furniture can't even fit thru the doors & spaces! So the Dutch actually hoisted the furniture up through windows using hooks!


Amsterdam - Just arrived


At Dam Square

Amsterdam was beautiful too, though the roads are not as squeaky clean as the previous cities we went to. The windmills were pretty, but the photos are not quite ready yet.

We left Amsterdam for Germany, to catch our flight out to Singapore on Thursday afternoon. We reached here safely this morning, alhamdulillah.

So there you have it, 17 days of summer vacation, all in 1 post. Now, it's time for us to check our piggy banks. This is the part we erm...not so adore! But alhamdulillah for the break. It was most wonderful :)

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