Istanbul

Credits go to Turkish Airlines for providing us with this free walking tour of Istanbul. Very adequately named, the Touristanbul brought us around the city, allowing us to have a sneak peek of what Istanbul has to offer.

14 July 2018, Rome > Istanbul, Sunny

After a short flight, we landed in Istanbul Ataturk airport early. We immediately went to clear the customs as we really want to do the Touristanbul. Fortunately, we made it for the 4PM to 9PM tour. We waited at the Starbucks until the tour began. We got up a bus, which took us into the city. Our tour guide joined us on the bus and immediately started to introduce the city to us. I fell asleep on the bus ride there as I was so tired. We started our walking tour somewhere near the Blue Mosque. Our first stop was the Sultanahmet Square. Here, there were three pillars: Walled Obelisk, Serpent Column and the Obelisk of Theodosius. It was quite interesting because the obelisks were carved with hieroglyphics, something that looks like it came straight out of a game. Interestingly, the base of the Obelisk of Theodosius is made from a different material, and is intricately carved. They most probably belong to two different eras, and the Obelisk was mounted into the base later on. The next stop was the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.

Hagia Sophia is very huge. It's too bad that since it is a short tour, we could not go inside to look at the exhibits. Our next stop was the Grand Bazaar. According to the guide, there are thousands of shops inside the Bazaar. We walked inside just to get some pictures, and then got out. There was not a lot of time to explore, and we are worried about getting lost inside, so we did not venture too much. The guide then brought us to our dinner place. We were very pleased to find out that the dinner was at a local five star hotel, and was provided free of charge as part of the tour. They served a three course meal. Appetizer was tomato soup and a kind of cheesy snack, the main was chicken and rice, and the dessert was lokma, fried dough dipped in syrup. We were very happy with the dinner. Afterwards, we were led back to the bus and the bus took us back to the airport. We were surprised that we needed to go through a bag check before even entering the airport. Worse, after we entered, we did not recognize the place since the departure hall and the arrival hall was really different. After walking about, we found the same Starbucks and went there to chill until about midnight, and that was when we entered the gates to go to the boarding area for our flight back to Singapore.

15 July 2018, Istanbul > Singapore, Partly Cloudy

We boarded the plane at about 1 AM. This was the first time I am having a long flight with dearie. We played some solitaire together after the plane took off. After we ate, we just kept sleeping until it was time to eat again. Soon, our plane reached Singapore and we landed safely. This was the end of our long tour in Europe. We felt extremely thankful that throughout our trip, we packed our itinerary with many things to see, but yet found time to rest when we were really tired. Everything went according to plan and we were never mugged or have our important items stolen. Many memories were created in this 17 day (excludes flying days) trip, and they will probably stay with us forever. If they don't, I always have these blog posts and our pictures to refer back to from time to time. We also came back safe and sound, albeit with lots of itchy mosquito bites from Italy, and have many exciting tales to share with our families and friends.

Italy

So, we continue our tour in Europe. Italy is a very charming country, with so many iconic landmarks to its name. Dearie and I enjoyed our time in Italy very much despite the summer heat and the ever bothersome mosquitoes. As usual, we were wary of pickpockets throughout the trip and indeed we had a close encounter. We were really thankful that everything went smoothly as planned. We travelled from city to city, from the north down south, via train. Indeed, the Italians are the best at spaghetti.

8 July 2018, Chamonix > Milan, Sunny

We entered Italy via the Alps, a rather perfect place to start our travels in Italy. After crossing through the Mont Blanc tunnel, we arrived at Courmayeur. Our Flixbus from Courmayeur to Milan was delayed by more than an hour, so that got us really worried. We were quite hungry, but there was no shops where we could buy takeaway food, so we just survived on fruit bars. We arrived at Lampugnano bus station and took the train to Milan Centrale. We had a scary incident when someone tried to steal from dearie's bag. Thankfully, she reacted fast enough. This incident made us even more wary of our surroundings in Milan. We checked into our hotel and travelled to the oldest shopping mall in Italy, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. There, we experienced eating a late lunch in the oldest shopping mall. We then explored the area. The only interesting thing is probably the shopping mall and the majestic Milan Cathedral.

This huge beauty is the only reason why I have decided to make a stop in Milan. The carvings on this cathedral is really intricate. Each of those small spikes are intricately carved out of stone. We also had ice cream here, and it was tasty. I learnt that the flavour straciatella is actually just chocolate chip. We arranged to have dinner together with my friend Cathy. This was prearranged, but was still very coincidental since both of us are travelling, and we both happened to be in the same city on the same day. We have a lighthearted meal, the four of us. I am glad that dearie can get along very well with Cathy. Soon, we said goodbye and we returned to the hotel to rest.

9 July 2018, Milan > Venice, Sunny

We started our day happy with a rather nice breakfast in the hotel. We then made our way to Milano Centrale train station. Here, I bought a pair of Havaianas slippers under the repeated advise from dearie. It was a good decision and I did not regret buying it. Soon, we were on the train towards Venice. I started to annoy dearie by imitating the voice announcements on board the train. Venezia Santa Lucia was quite a mouthful to say indeed. Our first impressions on Venice... We are captivated by the small rivulets. Indeed, there were no tarmac roads, but only rivers running everywhere. There were no cars and buses, but only boats, gondolas and vaporettos (water bus). We checked into the BnB first. The house was really nicely decorated. We then had our late lunch at a random restaurant. The squid ink pasta and the freshly grilled fish tasted nice. After a satisfying lunch, it is time to explore Venice, on foot.

This is the famous Rialto bridge of Venice. We had an enjoyable time walking around Venice, crossing bridges and enjoying some very tasty gelato. We finally made our way to St. Mark's Square, where all the prominent buildings are located. St. Mark's Basilica is majestic, and proved to be very difficult to capture because of the three poles in front of it. Piazza San Marco and Doge's Palace is pretty. The Bridge of Sighs have a very interesting feel to it. We spent some time here enjoying the sea view and snapping many pictures. We had dinner at a local Italian restaurant. Dearie couldn't finish her squid ink risotto, so I had to help her finish it, leaving my pizza for tomorrow's breakfast. We went back to have an early night.

10 July 2018, Venice > Florence, Sunny

We woke up early so that we can visit Burano island. We made it to the Vaporetto station and took an early boat to Burano. Burano is famous for its hand made cloth lace. Its neighbouring island Murano, is famous for its stained glass. In Burano, we were able to find products from both islands, since it is so touristy. Burano is also famous for its colourful houses lining alongside the river channels.

Our hearts were captured by this multi-coloured sight. Since we were early, many shops were not opened yet. We walked one round around the island, stopping by certain souvenir shops. We had lunch on the island itself. The seafood here is indeed more fresh, but the prices are not a lot cheaper. After lunch, we made our way back to Venice, collected our luggage and took the train to Florence. We arrived in Florence in late afternoon, and managed to check into our guesthouse before the staff leave. Florence is a very beautiful city, but we only have limited time to explore it on this evening. We simply went to have dinner after we have unpacked. The seafood spaghetti here turned out to be the tastiest dish that we had in Italy. We went back early to rest. Somehow, dearie enjoyed showering in this guesthouse a lot. I do not comprehend why, however.

11 July 2018, Florence > Pisa > Florence, Sunny

We had the packed bread provided by the guesthouse and left the house in late morning. We took the train to Pisa, and walked to the leaning tower, having our lunch and some gelato along the way there, also crossing a very nice river along the way. Soon, we reached the tower and we allowed ourselves to 'sink' into the leaning tower atmosphere. Just a small nugget of information: the reason why the tower is leaning is because the land below the tower sank while construction of the tower was going on.

We expected to see a crowd, since this was a very popular tourist destination. We expected to see many people posing as if they were supporting something, and we got what we expected. The tower was not as tall as I thought, though it would make sense that it is not too tall, if not a slanting structure like that would topple. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to go into the grass, and we did not expect that. I took a picture of a row of tourists posing as if they were supporting thin air, just for laughs. We also walked around the area to look at Piazza del Duomo de Pisa and Battistero di San Giovanni. When we're finally happy with our pictures, we took the train back to Florence. Since there was some time left to explore, we went to check out Santa Maria del Fiore. We could already see this cathedral from our guesthouse, but going nearer, we were able to see the bell tower beside it properly, and that the paintings on the cathedral were actually very detailed. We had dinner at a fancy restaurant. Dearie had seafood spaghetti again, but it was less nice compared to the one yesterday. I had a calzone, which was basically just a pizza, but folded over on one side. We then went back to rest.

12 July 2018, Florence > Rome, Partly Cloudy
Once again, we ate the packed bread for breakfast. We were deciding whether we wanted to go and find the Soka assiciation in Florence, but since the transport there was tricky, we gave up after some trying. We ate a second better breakfast at McDonalds'. The Italian McDonalds' is very tasty. Our first stop for the day is Piazza della Signoria, where we can find the duplicate of the very famous statue of David by Michelangelo. There were also many marble statues there, and some of them seems to be quite LGBT. We continued our tour by walking towards Santa Croce. Santa Croce looks very similar to Santa Maria del Fiore in design, both having a similar painting style. Next, we went to check out Ponte Vecchio. Just like what we have read, this bridge is not just any bridge. This bridge has houses on top of it, most of which are jewellery shops. From the side view, the bridge sure has its own distinctive style.

We then went back to collect our luggage and took the train to Rome. We arrived in Rome in the afternoon. The room in Rome was booked by dearie, and it was an excellent choice, both in terms of pricing and location. After we have checked in, we went to see the famous Colosseum. 

Well, enough said, right. The picture speaks for itself. You can actually tell that the Colosseum has seen a lot of restoration works in its lifetime, but the sight of it is still simply impressive. I had a close encounter with a guy trying to sell his friendship bands. We tried to visit the Roman Forum nearby, but it was closing and hence we did not have the opportunity to walk in it. I just took a picture of it from afar. Following the advise of the owner of the room we rented, we went to the Trastevere area for dinner. After looking around, we chose a restaurant with outdoor seating and ordered their seafood spaghetti and spaghetti with clams. We sat beside two very friendly girls from Kazakhstan and they kept saying that dearie is beautiful, and I must treasure her. I cannot agree more. We then went back to rest for the night.

13 July 2018, Rome, Sunny

We started our day with the free Italian breakfast, then started our day with the first stop, the Spanish Steps. This place was made famous because of a romantic movie. It is now a tourist attraction and it was simply too crowded, just look at the cover picture of this post. Our next stop was the Trevi Fountain. This water feature is really very pretty. I took a while to capture a nice picture to do this place justice.

After we are done, we made our way to Pantheon. We stopped at a restaurant nearby for a quick lunch. The Pantheon in Rome is a lot older, so the feel of visiting a historical site is a lot stronger here. The first ruler of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele rests here. Interestingly, there is a deliberate gap in the ceiling, and the Pantheon is lighted naturally. After that, we slowly walked towards Vatican City. Along the way, we passed by Piazza Navona and Ponte Sant'Angelo. Only when we were about to reach Vatican City did we finally learn that the water fountains all around Rome is actually drinkable. We finally reached Vatican City and the St. Peter's Basilica.

I spent a very long time trying to take nice pictures of the area, and I feel quite guilty about it. When I have got enough, we went to queue to enter the Basilica. Unfortunately, dearie was wearing a dress, and she was not permitted to enter the Basilica unless she covers her shoulders up. After waiting for a while, we decided that I'll go in myself to take some pictures and then come out. To be honest, I find this 'rule' a bit silly, because when I am inside, I saw many people also wearing dresses that reveal their shoulders. I took a few pictures and came out quickly since I don't want to leave dearie behind for too long. We then left the place and walked towards Janiculum terrace, a small hill. I insisted on coming here because it was a clear day and I know that the sunset over Rome will be very beautiful. Fortunately for us, the climb is not steep and it was not too difficult to get to the place. The views from Janiculum terrace were indeed beautiful. We spent some time here taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful sunset. We then came down, ending our day in Trastevere again. And again, we ate seafood spaghetti because we really like it. A mental note to myself, I need to figure out how to make this dish for dearie. The secret lies in the oil and sauce. After dinner, we went back and packed up for tomorrow's flight.

14 July 2018, Rome > Istanbul, Sunny

We ate the Italian breakfast again, and then took the train from Ostiense to the airport. At the airport, we saw the replica of the mouth of truth, so I took a picture of dearie with it. We then departed Rome. This was also the first time I am actually flying with my dearie, and it meant something special to us. This marks the end of our travels in Italy, but the trip is not over yet since we are making a transit in Istanbul.

France

This post was continued from the previous one. France is a beautiful country, with different sceneries ranging from old stone houses and walls to lavendar farms and not to mention the Alps. Their architecture varies in style as well. Contrary to popular belief, the people here are really very nice. We were wary of pickpockets throughout the trip, to be on the safe side, but most of the people we met are really nice to us. I really like the French cuisine since the dishes are very widely varying. I deliberately planned it such that we will be in Paris on our second anniversary, for a reason, of course. Travelling with dearie makes the whole trip very comfortable and a lot less strenuous. Many memories were etched in this country and it will stay with us forever.

30 June 2018, London > Paris, Sunny

We arrived in Paris by the Eurostar. At the Gare du Nord, a nice security guard helped us find our way to Pigalle. This was our first experience with the French, and he was really nice. We took the metro to Pigalle and found our hotel: La Villa Royale. We were given a free room upgrade to the Jean Gabin room, and it comes with a Jacuzzi. I was really thrilled. We put down our stuff and went to the nearest store to buy some fruit and water. We also bought quiche and meringue from a nearby pastry shop. We then had a long and clean bath before resting for the night.

1 July 2018, Paris, Sunny

Today is our second anniversary in a relationship. Of course, I would not let the day pass just as if it was another day. We woke up and checked if we had a free breakfast. Unfortunately for us, it is a no. We ended up trying their McDonalds', to find that their servings are really small. Our first stop is the Arc de Triomphe. It was a lot bigger than we thought. It was simply majestic. We took a few pictures and selfies there before continuing to walk down Avenue des Champs Elysees. Since there was a festival of some sort, the roads were blocked and navigation became a pain. We bought a croissant along the way. Our lunch was at a LGBT friendly restaurant, in a LGBT friendly street. I find it nice that there is such a street in Paris. It was a very interesting and enjoyable meal since the waiters are very lively and entertaining. After lunch, we walked towards the direction of the Louvre Museum. We passed by a tall monument and a few nice buildings before finally seeing the iconic glass pyramids. There were a lot of tourists here.

We did not enter the museum, but took many pictures of the vicinity. We then walked down the park towards the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. We liked the Petit Palais more. We also made a small stop at the Pont Alexandre III. Here, we first saw the Eiffel Tower. We continued walking in the same direction along the Jardin D'Erivan. It was quite pretty indeed. We took a picture with some locals who attended the festival. Finally, it was time to decide on a dinner place. To our dismay, many restaurants are closed since it was a Sunday. We ended up in an Italian restaurant. The food was expensive, but not that great. After dinner, we looked around for shops selling wine and foie gras, as we were planning to picnic at the garden near Eiffel Tower. We managed to get rose wine from a small shop, but was unable to find any foie gras. We then walked to the Eiffel Tower. I wanted to walk to the other side of the river, and this made dearie very tired. Her mood became not too good, which made me quite worried because of what is going to come next for her. We finally reached the other side, which was a lot prettier with the water jets and the lights. We found a cozy spot, sat down, and I opened the rose wine so that both of us could enjoy. We simply just sat on the grass and watch the Eiffel Tower while the sky gets darker and darker. I softened her up by singing a song for her. The lyrics of the song describes how she is my one and only. Soon, Eiffel Tower lit up. At about ten, I got her to stand up so that I could take a night picture of her and the lighter up Eiffel Tower. I got her to back face me so that I can get her back view, but actually, I was fishing around in my bag for the ring box. I opened the package and put the box in my pocket, then got myself in the kneeling position. I then told her to turn around so that I can get a picture with her face. I bluffed her, saying that she was too far, so I asked her to move nearer to me, and nearer and nearer she came. When she was just in front of me, she knew something was coming. "What are you doing?" she kept asking, while I took out the ring box from my pocket and opened the box. The box came with light, and revealed a very shiny and reflective diamond ring. I did not make a long speech before I asked the question. It was short and sweet. My heart raced while I wait for her to answer me. She was too excited, but slowly, she managed a yes. I put the diamond ring on her finger, got up and hugged her tightly, then kissed her. Unknowing to us, a random passer-by took a picture of me when I was kneeling, and she approached us to get my email so that she could send the picture to me. I was really grateful for her doing that! We let our mood settle down and we went back to the hotel.

We bought a small cake at the same pastry shop near our hotel to celebrate our two year anniversary in a relationship, and now, as an engaged couple. 

2 July 2018, Paris, Sunny

Since we had an extremely tiring day yesterday, we slept in until quite late. When we finally got the energy to leave the hotel, we went to the Montmartre region. We found many interesting shops in Montmartre. Finally, we decided to buy some local pastries for breakfast. We sat along the benches and ate the pastries. It was really quite enjoyable. Next, we went back to a local french shop to buy cheesy potato and sausage. The staff in this shop was really friendly to us. After eating, we went to find the Wall of I Love You. There, we took a very cute picture. We then climbed up the hill to Sacre Coeur. 

Sacre Coeur is pretty. We entered it and walked around, then coming out to the viewing gallery outside. The view of Paris from here is quite good. We then walked around the Montmartre region to look for the nice pink shop. When we are done here, it was already quite late, so I suggested we find a place to eat here. We settled for a very local looking (people sitting outside) French restaurant, and this meal turned out to be the nicest meal (my opinion) in Paris. The two local ladies sitting next to us were really nice. One of them stopped dearie from eating the yellow fat surrounding the foie gras and taught us the right way of enjoying it, that is, to go with the bread and caramelized onions. As you can see, the French can be really nice. We returned to our hotel early today.

3 July 2018, Paris, Sunny

Our breakfast was bread from yesterday's dinner, plus some foie gras mousse we bought. Our first stop of the day is the Eiffel Tower. This time, we are seeing the tower in bright daylight, and it was still a sight to behold. After taking some pictures, we moved on to The Pantheon. The Pantheon is a place where many famous people are resting. There was a pendulum with an extremely long distance length, and a person will come and adjust it from time to time such that it shows the time correctly. We also visited the chambers. After the Pantheon, we walked to the Latin Quarter to find some food. We bought some local sweet crepes and continued on to Notre Dame, our last stop in Paris.

Notre Dame is majestic. We queued to enter it. The insides looks like most churches, complete with tombs, sections, and stained glass. The doors into the Notre Dame are really intricately carved. The access to the bell towers is ticketed, so we decided to give that a miss. When we're happy, we crossed the bridge northwards, since our hotel is in that direction, and walked along the river. We saw the Conciergerie along the way. I think we deposited our postcards somewhere around here. We walked back to the same monument we saw on the first day, and sat down on the grass to chill for a while before finding a dinner place. We settled for dinner at a local restaurant. I remember the indoor seating was very stuffy but the outdoor seating is a smoking zone. In the end, we chose the outdoor seating. The food was decent. A very nice couple was sitting beside us. They taught us now to enjoy the snails, and even shared their wine with us! They introduced the type of wine to us, which is named after the region the grapes were grown in: Cotes du Rhone. Coincidentally, our next destination is not far from this region. They also told us about the nursery song about Pont d'Avignon, when they found out that we are going to Avignon. So, yet again, we were very lucky to meet nice locals. We visited the pastry shop yet again, so I guess at this point, the shop owners recognized us as tourists who can't make up their mind what they want to buy, since we always take a long time to decide what we want.

4 July 2018, Paris > Lyon > Avignon, Sunny

We woke up rather early to catch the speed train from Paris to Lyon. Breakfast was self made, and to use up all the leftover foie gras. We really do like the foie gras mousse spread over bread. We arrived in Lyon just in time for lunch. After exploring the area for a while, we sat down at a place near to the train station. Lyon is well known to be the food capital of France, and this meal proves it to be true. It was not expensive, and the taste is decent. I had a half cooked tuna steak and dearie had calamari rings, both of which were really quite good. We lazed around until it was time to take the train down to Avignon. We arrived in Avignon in the afternoon, and we carried the luggage to our BnB house. For most other BnBs that I have stayed at, I could unlock the door using some instructions given by the owner beforehand, but this time, I forgot to ask, and I didn't check my email. In the end, we went to the house and knocked the door, to find that the owner was not in. I called the owner and arranged a meeting place for her to pass the key to me. This is a case which could have turned out to be a disaster, but I was glad that it didn't turn out so badly. I just had to run around the city in the blistering heat. After we put down our luggage, we went to check out the Palais des Papes and the Pont d'Avignon. Palais des Papes is quite beautiful. The palace itself is quite nice, but what made this place exceptional is the area surrounding the palace. The views from the palace walls are amazing. Perhaps it was because it was a beautiful sunset, the entire region looks amazing. The stone houses are really charming, and the river complements the entire scenery.

There was some music playing from a band nearby. I can't explain just how perfect and relaxing the evening was. We made our way to the bridge and got a few beautiful pictures. There was a small lavender patch, and we knew this was the teaser to what is coming up tomorrow. We had dinner at a decent restaurant. Dearie had duck confit while I had pork filet mignon. We ordered the Cotes du Rhone rose wine, as recommended by the French couple. I enjoyed it, and got a little tipsy afterwards.

5 July 2018, Avignon > Lyon > Chamonix, Sunny

We woke up early and checked out, carrying our luggage with us to the tour. Yes, we are having a Lavender half day tour. This was also the main reason why we have decided to come to Avignon instead of staying in Lyon. Soon, the van left Avignon and took us to Roussillon, a small rustic little town. There was a market going on. Dearie went to buy some lavender products while I went to get ice cream. Next the van took us to the main event, the lavender farm.

It was really beautiful. The lavender farm did not stretch as far as the eye could see, but it was still huge enough to be marvelous. We spent a good twenty minutes here taking pictures, but it still wasn't enough. Our next stop is the Gordes town picture spot. The sun's angle makes it really quite pretty. Our last spot is the Senanque Abbey. The monks still live in the Abbey and they make a living out of selling lavender products. Me and dearie bought a few of their products to support them. The abbey itself is also quite beautiful. We then returned to Avignon central. We took a short train ride to Avignon TGV station and ate some sandwiches before taking the train to Lyon. This train was delayed, but it did not affect our travel plans. At Lyon, we went for another nice Lyonnaise meal. Dearie had fish which was cooked in a paper bag, and it was really tasty. After the satisfying meal, we began on a long bus trip towards Chamonix. We reached Chamonix really late at night, and it was cold and slightly rainy. After a while, I managed to find where our little room was, and we went in and rested for the night.

6 July 2018, Chamonix, Cloudy

This was the first day in our travels where the weather is bad, so we consider ourselves really lucky already. Since we were very tired from our travelling yesterday, we woke up pretty late. We started our day by exploring the immediate vicinity and was happy to find that a supermarket was nearby. We bought some food for breakfast there, as well as food for hiking. By the time we were ready, and went to the tourist information centre, it was already about noon time. Since it was already quite late, and the weather was bad, there were not a lot of options available. After getting the information we needed to plan our next two days, we bought the two day multi-pass, allowing us to go to many different places. Our first stop in Chamonix is Le Tour. We took the bus there, and took the cable car up, then a ski lift further up. It was pretty cold on top. There, I brought my dearie on a very dreamy hike in the clouds.

We were walking in the direction towards the french/swiss border line. On a clear day, this route is supposed to show us views of both Switzerland and France on two different sides, but of course, we couldn't see anything except for fog. We did see ice on the ground, which was quite interesting for us. We walked around the area for quite a while, in a path that was not in the map. I kept a close watch on google maps to make sure I know where we are. We slowly navigated our way towards the Vallorcine cable car station while enjoying the dreamy cool hike. I could see that dearie is really enjoying the hike although she was a bit worried about getting lost in the clouds. Soon, we found the cable car station, and that is where we know we are safe. Here, we took out the drone and took some really cool pictures. We then descended the mountain back into the valley. We explored the Vallorcine area for a while before taking the train back to Chamonix. Our dinner was a pot of soup at a shop; and sausage and fries at another shop. We bought more food at the supermarket nearby in preparation for tomorrow.. We also did our laundry. We rested early today, since we know that tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

7 July 2018, Chamonix. Clear

The clouds cleared overnight and the weather is perfect in Chamonix. We woke up really early in the morning to avoid the queue for Aiguille du Midi. This is the highlight of our trip in Chamonix. At about seven, we took two cable cars up to Aiguille du Midi, raising from about 1030m to 3842m . The scenery (and atmosphere) on top is simply breathtaking (literally). It was beautiful, probably because as people living in the tropics, we hardly get to see icy mountains.

This is my favourite shot because I can get both the ice mountain and the sea of clouds. We took many pictures here. The stairs here nearly made dearie faint since the air was so thin. We queued to experience the 'void', which is basically a glass box where you can see below you. A staff will help you to take pictures using your camera. He didn't really know how to use my camera, however. Mental note to myself to set it to auto-mode for others to help me take pictures. The Aguille du Midi area is really a lot bigger than it seems from the bottom. There was also a tube and ice tunnel. When we're done experiencing everything here, we took the cable car down to the midway point. Luckily, dearie suggested that we take the train to Mer de Glace instead of hiking there. This was a good move since we save time, and energy walking under the sun. We confirmed our plan with a staff, who has an office with the best views in the world, before making our way to Montenvers train station. There, we first checked out the Mer de Glace from the top. At first, I thought it was nothing much. It just looks like a lot of dust on the top of the glacier. There was small tunnel, where we get to see a lot of crystals. We then sat down at some shaded benches and had our lunch, lovingly prepared by dearie. It was really enjoyable to have a lunch by the ice mountains. After we have regained some energy, we decided to take the cable car down to the ice caves. After we took the cable car down, we saw how far down we have to walk in order to reach the ice caves, and it was all stairs, and it was hot and sunny. Naturally, two questions came into mind. Is there really an ice cave below? Is it worth to climb all the stairs. I was more adventurous, so I definitely would want to check it out. I dragged dearie with me down. The ice cave was like a dream world. Mer de Glace is perhaps the most fascinating thing that we saw in the whole trip. In the 24C summer heat, the ice caves does exist, but is slowly melting. It sure is hard to believe that underneath all that dust is ice. In fact, the entire thing is ice!

We don't even know how much ice is actually there since we don't know how deep the valley is beyond the ice. So, the answers were, yes, the ice cave really is there, and yes, it is definitely worth climbing the stairs in the sun. Mer de Glace is one perfect example of a glacier that is experiencing glacial retreat due to global warming. This was truly a jaw-dropping experience. Next, we took a train, then bus to Les Houches. The cable car was just us and a biker, so that was a good hint to us that there was nothing much up there. We went up anyway. It was slightly disappointing. However, we did get to see a very different side of the Alps: green fields. Dearie gave me a small panic attack when she went to the toilet without me knowing. We didn't stay here for long and we went back to Chamonix. We decided to try the Chamonix luge. Fortunately for us, we managed to make it there before it closes, and the staff allowed us to go for one ride even when our multi-pass did now allow. We shared one luge. I was trying to drive it properly since dearie was a little scared, however, at the end of it, she enjoyed it so much that she wanted to go a second time. We couldn't do it though, since we don't have the tickets for it. We went to have a comforting ramen dinner before returning to rest. We really used our multi-pass very well. What an eventful day it has been!

8 July 2018, Chamonix > Milan, Sunny

We woke up early again, had our own breakfast, and went to catch the bus that will take us to Courmayeur. Going through the Mont Blanc tunnel with my dearie, I was reflecting on our trip in France. There was only one word to describe the whole experience: amazing. I am really thankful that everything went so smoothly till that point. This also marks the end of the travels in France, and the start of travelling in a new country. Italy, here we come.

United Kingdom

For the next three posts, I would be writing about the travels with my dearie, divided according to the countries that we visited. The very first post would be of course, where we start from: United Kingdom, or to be more precise, Sheffield and London. The entire trip lasting for 17 days was slowly and painstakingly planned by both dearie and me, to make sure that everything goes as smoothly and as easily as possible. I am really glad that everything finally happened. Really very thankful.

28 June 2018, Sheffield, Sunny

It was a very happy day. I started my day in my room, while dearie is already on the plane travelling towards Manchester. I woke up and started to prepare the tonkotsu soup for my dearie so that she can have a nice bowl of ramen when she arrives in the house. I went to meet with Prof. Maria to bid a final farewell and did some work before returning to the house to check on the soup. Then, I rushed to the Sheffield train station to fetch her. She did not notice me at first, and I went to hug her. We hugged each other tightly as this was the reunion after the longest separation we ever had. We then went to take a bus back to my house. I finished up preparing for the meal and we had our home cooked lunch. I realize I stuck onto the tradition of feeding her Japanese food on our first meal when we reunite. After lunch, I brought her to Weston Park to see my favourite tree and hang out for a while. She took out her drone and we took some pictures.

Next, I brought her to my office and I worked for a little bit before I did my final packing and left the office. While we were on the ground floor, we met Maria by chance, so it was an excellent opportunity to show her my girlfriend. We then went home and prepared dinner together. I made baked cod and she helped me to make the salad. We finished our dinner and went up to rest. Dearie slept early since she was really tired. I spent the rest of my day planning for the rest of the trip.

29 June 2018, Sheffield > London, Sunny

We woke up quite early in the morning to have breakfast, and then pack up my room to leave the house. I had to throw away my bedsheet and quilt, which was quite sad. We took a bus, then train to London. We had lunch at McDonalds', then travelled by metro to our hostel, Palmers Lodge. After putting down our luggage, we began our London city exploration. We started with the Westminster area. The sun was really scorching, but we still went ahead. I took a nicer picture of Westminster Abbey. 

Next was Leadenhall Market, then Millennium bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral. We just took pictures and went to the next. I then brought her to the Tower Bridge area. We first checked out the Tower bridge in the day from afar, then went to Spoons (The Liberty Grounds) for dinner. I really wanted to introduce Spoons to her because I know she will like it. I tried to buy Strongbow Darkfruit for her, a standard British favourite, but they ran out. The bartender mixed his version for us, which was very similar to the original, just a lot sweeter. She really liked it a lot. After dinner, we spent the evening walking around the Tower Bridge area, taking many pictures just like other tourists. We then went back to rest for the night.

30 June 2018, London > Taplow > London > Paris, Sunny

We checked out early in the morning, but left our luggage behind while we tried to find our way to Taplow Court. The Great Western Railway service brought us to the Taplow train station, where we waited for a van to take us to Taplow Court. Dearie is very happy to visit SGI UK. I found the place to be very intriguing and beautiful. When we were there, a staff member showed us around the insides of Taplow Court. The insides are really very nicely decorated. We then walked around the outside garden, taking many beautiful pictures.

We visited the shop, where dearie bought a lot of souvenirs for her Soka friends. Time passed very quickly here and we needed to get back to London to catch our Eurostar train to Paris. We were sent back to Taplow, where we got a train back to London. We collected our luggage and went to St. Pancras train station. Fortunately, we managed to make it in time, but I did not have the chance to bring her to British Museum. We had Pret-A-Manger for dinner, and then stepped through two customs, which we think is the nearest we have ever seen. It was literally ten steps. The train finally departed for Paris. The Eurostar train was really fast, and the part where it travels underwater was so fast that I feel that I didn't really get to experience the whole ride. It was supposed to be the longest man-made underwater tunnel, but a speed train just whizzed through it like nothing. This marks the end of my exchange in the UK, but also more importantly, the end of my journey in the UK with my dearie, and the start of our trip in France.

London

This trip to London includes stopping by the Stonehenge on the sunrise of summer solstice. Thanks to my dearie for this recommendation. This was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday in the UK. The big bustling city of London, ah, everything here is expensive, fast paced, a typical example of a busy city. For the tourists, London has many museums and beautiful architecture to check out. I was sure to visit some of the film locations of Harry Potter movies.

20 June 2018, Doncaster > Sheffield > Salisbury, Cloudy

Yes, you did not read it wrong. Why would my day start at Doncaster? I was travelling back by train from Edinburgh, and transiting at Doncaster. Very unfortunately for me, there was a train strike and there were no trains to take me from Doncaster back to Sheffield. Realizing the trouble I am in, I quickly searched in google maps from the way home from Doncaster. It suggested me to take the train to Wakefield Westgate, walk to north gate, then take a National Express bus back to Sheffield. A nice station staff approached me and asked if it was okay, and suggested me to take a bus to Rotherdam, then ask a friend to fetch me back home. After some thinking, I did not listen to the nice lady, but went with google's suggestion. Fortunately for me, it worked. I reached home at about 2 AM. After some good rest, at about 6 PM, I bought some snacks and drinks and set off for Salisbury.I  bought a crappy Doner kebab while I transferred at Basingstoke.

21 June 2018, Salisbury > London, Partly Cloudy

I arrived at Salisbury after midnight. Here, I took a special bus service to the Stonehenge visitor centre, and then walk for quite a long while before I reach the stones. This was exciting! Stonehenge has an annual solstice event where they allow free controlled access to the inner circles to the stones. This was exactly what I was here for. Unfortunately for me, there were many people drinking and making quite a scene outside the area. Inside the stones, many people were smoking, and it made me feel very uncomfortable. To add, it was really pretty cold. As for the good part, I was able to touch the stones! At about four, the sky start to light up. I even had to enter a debate of where the sun will rise from... I had to explain that the sun is coming up from the east, because there is already light coming from that direction... really!? I was very lucky. It was a clear horizon sunrise. and it was simply legendary.

The light slowly flooded in, and with the light, I walked around the Stonehenge to get more pictures before leaving for London. My first impression of London was that it was super busy and expensive. I first visited London Eye, and had a simple hotcakes breakfast at McDonalds'. The Big Ben is permanently under scaffolds according to the locals, so that was quite unfortunate for me. I walked around the Westminster area for quite a while, checking out the Westminster Abbey and the palace before walking towards Great Scotland Yard, a film location for Harry Potter. There, I coincidentally ran into a tour group and I listened in to the speaker. He was describing the special features of the place and how the director changed the location slightly to have the correct 'feel'. My lunch was at a ramen shop called Kanada-ya. It tastes fine. Next, I went to check out Buckingham palace. It was a pretty standard kind of castle. I then went to the Natural History Museum. The museum was quite good. At this point, my body cannot take it anymore. I ate my dinner at McDonalds' again, checked into a hostel and slept. What a tiring birthday!

22 June 2018, London, Clear

I slept for 11 hours straight. Today, the weather was perfect, providing an excellent opportunity to take nice pictures. After a free, and pretty bad, breakfast, I went to visit Hyde Park and Kensington Palace.The sunken garden here is very beautiful.

My next destination is Royal Albert Hall, and it was also under renovation... oh well. Next on the list was Baker Street. I took a picture of the guard outside 221b Baker Street, and the statue of the real Sherlock Holmes nearby. Next, I went to the House of Minalima. This place is a shop, and has a whole collection of the prints used in the Harry Potter movies. It was quite a nice place. Lunch was at Shoyru Ramen Canarby. This ramen is quite good and I do recommend it. Next I took the train to visit Greenwich Park and the Royal Observatory. The Royal Observatory was on top of a small hill, which I climbed. I needed to pay an entrance ticket to stand on the decorated Greenwich Meridian line. From what I understood, it was free before. Well, at least I was still able to see the old and original meridian line. The hill provided a rather nice view of the Naval school and London city. After I had enough, I took the train back and went to the Tower Bridge, which was where I spent the evening. The Tower Bridge was, to me, and engineering marvel. It is so pretty, and yet so functional. I was lucky enough to catch the centre of the bridge opening up for a large ferry to pass. There was event called 'Summer by the River' going on nearby, so the area is crowded and lively. Pints of beer was going at 7 pounds, just wow. I ate KFC nearby and stayed at the vicinity throughout sunset. The Tower Bridge looks even more amazing at night, which you can see at the beginning of the post. That ends the fully packed day in London, and I went back to the hostel to rest. 

23 June 2018, London > Sheffield, Partly Cloudy

After the free bad breakfast, the first stop of the day was Leadenhall market. It was quite a cool old Victorian style market. I went to the door where Hagrid took Harry into Diagon Alley. Next was Millenium bridge, the bridge that got destroyed by the deatheaters in the books. It was actually a very beautiful bridge.

Only pedestrians were allowed on the bridge, no vehicles. In front of the bridge was the St. Paul's Cathedral. I only took a few pictures of the cathedral from the outside since I needed a ticket to enter. I moved on to get a day picture of London bridge and Celtic court. I then had some stir fried noodles for lunch, and it was pretty good, though it was quite little. Next, I went to the British Museum. This place should really be renamed as the World Museum. Their collection is huge, and it is global! I spent quite some time there walking around and there were always new corners to check out and new exhibits to see at every turn because this place was just too big. I got tired and decided to leave after 2 hours. I then walked to King's Cross station to check out platform 9 and 3/4. It was a little underwhelming because it was unlike in the movies. It was between boarding platforms 8 and 9, to be precise, and does not require you to buy a ticket. You can borrow the house scarfs to take a photo, though the queue is usually very long. I ate at the nearby McDonalds' quickly before taking the train back to Sheffield, thus ending my own solo United Kingdom exploration trips. The next trip will be with my dearie, so it is definitely going to be better. 

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is by far my most favourite city of all time. I cannot explain in words or pictures just how beautiful this city is. The old town's victorian architecture is charming, and the people here are friendly. There were so many free tours that we can choose from, and they were so informative too. I have learnt so much about the rich history of Edinburgh. Gardyloo!

17 June 2018, Glasgow > Edinburgh, Cloudy

I arrived in Edinburgh via bus. Since I was feeling a bit peckish, I stopped by McDonalds' to get a cheap burger before checking in and rested.

18 June 2018, Edinburgh, Cloudy

I woke up rather early so that I could go to the Camera Obscura. I ended up being too early, so I went to start collecting pictures of Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile. Camera Obscura is an installation of lens and mirrors on top of a building so as to project a 360 view of the surroundings onto a screen. The building also houses many common optical illusions and activities, a mirror maze to name one. Next, I had a Scottish baked potato for lunch. I then began a free walking tour very nicely conducted by a volunteer. The guide was very good and explained many things about Edinburgh. Next up was a Harry Potter themed walking trail. In the Greyfriar's Kirkyard, we saw the stone that imspired the name Tom Riddle. The guide also showed us the places that inspired J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter series. I then went for dinner at Makas. I tried their Haggis and black pudding mash. The ingredients used to make this dish are actually quite gross: animal internal organs. However, they made it taste pretty good. I took an after dinner stroll to Scott Monument. Scott Monument is the tallest monument that was erected to commemorate a person. I then went back to the hostel to rest for a while, on the way, I took very nice pictures of St. Giles Cathedral.

At about sunset, I came back out again to do a small hike up to Calton Hill. There, I witnessed a remarkably beautiful sunset. It was really cold and windy, but I took awesome pictures. The cover picture for this post was just one of them.


19 June 2108, Edinburgh > Sheffield, Cloudy

I went for the free breakfast provided at the hostel. My first stop of the day was the national museum of Scotland. On the way there, I went inside the St. Giles to check out the angel playing a bagpipe. It was quite underwhelming actually. The museum of Scotland was huge. Their collection ranges from prehistoric Scottish to Asian, modern items from land travel, to space and energy. I skipped the Gallery of Scotland because it seems to be an art gallery, and I can't appreciate that. For lunch, I checked out a place called 'Oink'. They sell roasted pulled pork. It was soft and flavourful and the skin was crispy. After lunch, I went to hike up Arthur's seat. Like everyone else I was fooled. I thought Arthur't seat was an easy climb and the peak is easily seen from the bottom. I did not follow the signboard and climbed the small peak unknowingly. As it turns out, that wasn't Arthur's Seat. From there, I can still continue to hike towards Arthur's Seat, but it was more dangerous. Since I carried all my luggage with me, it turned out to be quite difficult. After about two hours of climb, I finally reached the peak. Edinburgh was too far away to be beautiful, although the view was still nice in its own way.

After I had enough of the views, I descended the hill and went back into Edinburgh by the proper and safer way, checking out some ruins along the way. I walked up the Royal Mile starting from the bottom. I had a long KFC dinner and also wrote my postcards. Finally, it was time to board the train to head back to Sheffield. I'll leave it to the next post to describe the unfortunate incident while I was trying to go home.