Bohemia!

After being in Berne surrounded by majestic snow capped mountains I was certain no other locale would impress me. But Prague - known as Bohemia in the old days- was magical. Oh we stopped by Munich on the way to Prague. Either there was nothing to see or we were supposed to go beyond the main town center, I don't know...but it was pretty blah.

But back to Prague! We went on a walking tour and saw the amazing astronomical clock, music halls, churches, parlimentary buildings, cubist buildings and the Jewish quarter. We also learnt a whole lot about the harrowing history of The Czech Republic. Not only were they invaded by the nazis, just one day after a triumphant uprising, the soviets invaded them. They are in fact younger than Singapore although they have so much more history than we do.

I was most affected by the section of the tour held in the Jewish quarter. We were told that the oldest surviving Jewish temple in Europe is in Prague as Hitler wanted it to become a relic or museum almost for an extinct race. Can you imagine the evil driving this man? And yet Jesus loved him and would have welcomed him to heaven if he had accepted Christ....wow! The measure of God's love is unfathomable.


But I digress...It was freezing so at the end of the 3 hour tour we were just dying for a hot cup of coffee and a warm place to thaw out before going shopping! I went completely crazy with the shopping in the Christmas market in Prague because not only had I held off shopping the entire trip, Prague was also really cheap and their goods were authentic and traditional unlike the usual stuff you get everywhere else. I spent about 85 euros on shopping and food alone!! Madness.


Prague is a MUST SEE, for me it comes right after Berne. But if you prefer history, cheap eats and shopping to the alps then you can't go wrong with Czech Republic.

New Year's in Beautiful Berne

Its 31st December and although its sad to be away from home for the New Year's celebrations, I can't complain as I spent the day surrounded by the magnificent Swiss alps in the Interlaken area, less than an hour away from Berne. After checking out the city center of Berne we made our way to Interlaken by train. I really love how the Swiss cottages and towns look like they belong in some toy museum, everything is so pretty and quaint. I kept expecting to see a giant hand come down from the sky to rearrange things or scatter a few more cottages around.


The journey from Berne to Interlaken was the nicest ever, in terms of how scenic the route was. Vishnu, Gabriel and I were ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the snow-capped mountains the entire time. It was so beautiful and Vishnu commented that God has to be living on one of those mountains. Hahaha :) When we got to Interlaken, we were all awestruck by the majesty of the towering mountains in the distance that just loomed over the ground and peaked through the clouds. It must be so amazing to live in a place that immersed in such natural beauty. I wonder if the locals who live in the towns around the foot of the mountains are still amazed by the vision that greets them everyday.

Well I have no idea what we are gonna do for the new year celebrations, but I do know that tomorrow morning we move on to another great capital - Germany's very own Munich.

Can't quite get over how beautiful Switzerland is. I wonder if God likes some of his landscape design creations better than others? :p

On the Road

It's almost the end of 2009. The year of departures is drawing to a close and we all can look forward to homecomings in 2010. I write this from my bunk bed in a small hostel situated in the very beautiful capital city of Switzerland, Berne.

The eurotrip has been a really excited and sometimes very stressful journey. Mostly the stress was caused by freak weather in Europe. My flight from Stockholm to London was delayed by about 3 hours because of a snow blizzard. When I finally left Sweden and arrived in London, I was amazed to see it was also snowing there because it is usually not that cold there in Dec. There, I met and stayed with the family of my friend from secondary schoo, Rachel. She, being the excellent guide that she is, took me to all the must-see places and some really cool markets. I had my own list of things to fulfill as well, such as walking down the abbey road zebra crossing in front of the recording studios - like the beatles did, visit Shakespeare's globe, eat many mincepies and attend a christmas service...which I did at Holy Trinity Brompton! I got to see Tim hughes and attend a very anointed youth service.

After London I had to head to Brussels, which turned out to be another test of my ability to hold it all together and keep calm. When I arrived at the airport, I was told my flight was canceled, probably cos of bad weather...I don't know, we never got an answer. And they could not book me on abnother flight as all the flights to Brussels were booked as the Eurostar had shut down operations due to bad weather. So I asked to be re-routed to Amsterdam by another airline, but that was only available at 6am the next day, so I went to the other airline by faith and asked for a flight to Amsterdam on that day itself. Somehow, they had a plane going to Brussels that night that was not made known to the other airlines and there was room for me on that flight. Thank God! So after many many hours wasted waiting for that flight, I got onto the smallest plane I had ever seen and arrived in Brussels to find Song and Dale waiting for me at the Starbucks at the airport. We spent the night there and celebrated Song's 22nd birthday there before we made our way to the city center in the morning. Well lets just say Brussels wasn't worth all that work and waiting around... I should have gone straight to Holland :p

We made it to Amsterdam without a hitch and I was extra excited to be there as the guys from Brazil were there too and we were all at the same hotel. Well Amsterdam is of course known for the red-light district and 'coffee-shops'. So apart from experiencing those 'attractions' I also visited the Van Gogh museum and explored the flower markets and wandered around the tiny winding streets and alleys. There were many museums but none really interested me, so while I did not do very much, I enjoyed my stay in Amsterdam. It is a beautiful city, the buildings and streets are all so pretty there.

Amsterdam was followed by Paris. Getting to Paris was a real feat. With it being Christmas, all the eurail pass on the trains were fully booked and unless we wanted to pay close to 200 euros, we were not going to be able to reach Paris. But thankfully we found a connection that would allow us to get to Paris on our pass. It involved about 4 train changes at various major French cities. But Once I got to Paris, I realised that all that trouble was so worthwhile. I got to see the imposing Lourve and Eiffel tower, Oscar Wilde's grave, the famous shopping district and a whole host of other things, even though I was in the city for only a day. I really enjoyed the Christmas mass at Montmarte too and the food in Paris too!

From Paris we made our way to Nice which was another multiple-change journey. But we had to go there as we were meeting Vishnu and Gabriel who had come down from Spain. Finally all 5 would be reunited. We had a nice Asian lunch and then visited the main shopping street, a Christmas market and the gorgeous seaside promanade. Nice(pronounced niece), as the name suggests is one place I think is perfect in almost every way, warm people, perfect weather and just overall beauty. Nice is really beyond just nice. I WILL return to Nice one day and stay by the beach, hahaha :)

After the beautiful south of France, we decided to go further down south and head to Rome. Italy, I'm sorry to say, despite having so much to offer travelers and tourists, really does a bad job of marketing itself. The trains were nothing short of a nightmare, as we were told on the French-Italian border that no reservations were needed for the train to Rome, by a very bad tempered Italian ticket counter staff member. And when we got to the train, we found that it was overbooked and the conductors did not care, so we stood, along with many other for a hellish 6 hours, next to a reeking toilet and had to endure cigarette smoke the entire journey as the Italians onboard (conductors included) paid no attention to the no-smoking signs. I am sure a few years later I will be able to laugh at this, but not quite yet. Thank God I was with 4 other guys who looked out for me and tried to be optimistic along the way. They even have a photo of me sleeping standing up and looking like 'Sadako' from 'The Ring' :s

But Rome, was amazing, almost worth the arduous journey...I guess? But really, it was magical. At every turn, some random grand structure would be waiting to be seen, gawked at and photographed. The Plaza Novana and its Fountana Trevi is breathtaking. And of course the Colosseum and all the ancient ruins that come doused with a generous helping of myth and history are just incredible too. We also went to the Vatican city to see St Peter's square, the museum and the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel was the best part but sadly no cameras were allowed inside. I could not believe I was in there looking up at the intricate paintings, it was overwhelming. The guys and I stood there for a long, long time just craning our necks and gawking. Rome was amazing to say the least.

Well the journey continues over New Years from Berne to Munich, to Prague and Berlin, before I head back to Stockholm to pick up my things and head back to the East. I'll update as soon as I can when I get a good internet connection. Do drop me a msg on Facebook or an email if you want anything from the cities im heading to next :)

Hejdå luleå - för nu

Its 4am and I can fall asleep, as usual. But this time its different. It's the last time I'll ever be sleepless in my room, the last time I'll turn down this heater, the last time I'll turn off the light and crawl into bed to lie in wait for the ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz monster.

Everyone's getting a bit emotional and hugs, kisses, tender words are flying in all directions. I see my stuff all packed away and I shudder at the thought of never finding the opportunity to return again. Lueå and most importantly the friends I've made here have occupied a corner of my heart and nothing will ever replace them.
I think it would be easier if I was going straight home, but instead I'll be traveling, so the whole uncertainty of journeying through Europe without anything permanent is albeit unappealing at the mo. But I have so much to look forward too, and I know I will have an awesome time. Just need to work through the negativity.

So I take the 8pm train to Stockholm on the 16th.
Arrive in stockholm at about 9am on the 17th and spend the day with a friend.
Hop on a plane to London at 6:30pm, and arrive at 7.40pm on the 17th.
I'll be staying with my secondary school friend who lives in London with her family till the 21st.
Then I hop on another plane at 1:30pm and fly to meet Song and Dale in Brussles at 4pm.
From there we head to Amsterdam by train to meet the guys from Brazil and stay there till the morning of the 24th.
Then we make our way to Paris, stay there for Christmas and make my way down to the south of France by th 27th to meet Vishnu. Here, Song and Dale will leave and go their own way.

And that's all she wrote (for now).

Spain and Portugal!

This is really hard...I have no idea how I am going to condense everything I did into a blog post. It's even harder because I've been on the road for 8 days and none of the days were even remotely similar to each other - there was no routine, no familiarity, and the whole thing was one big sensory overload. I guess I will just have to tell you things in person as I go through all the ticket stubs and receipts I've kept from each place. But here I'll just try to pull out some places and the highlights :)

First Stop: Granada
I really did not know what else to expect in Granada besides the Alhambra Palace with its labyrinth of gardens. But once I got there, I saw that it was full of life and history at every turn. I was really fortunate to have picked the hostel I did, as it was in district called Albayzin, which is a Unesco site. The whole place is very Moorish/Arabian inspired and I love just wandering in the many lanes and getting lost. Though the majestic Alhambra was the main highlight, I got to go off the beaten track on a walking tour organized free by my hostel and check out the famed Sacremento caves. Basically you get people who just find a spot along the hills, dig it out, put a door on the front and call it home. They don't pay for anything, but most also don't get water or electricity. Of course, some are better built and have official certification for safety etc and they have some facilities the others don't.
Granada was really fun also becuase of the really cheap Tapas bars! Buy a drink for SGD$3 and get free food! So for a total of SGD$14 I had 4 drinks and 4 really filling snacks =D


Stop 2: Sevilla
I didn't stay here for a night or anything but I had to take a bus here from Granada in the morning and then take an overnight bus out to Lisbon at midnight. One guy from the hostel -Ilya from St Peterburg- in Granada was going to Sevilla too that morning, but he was staying there for a few days before heading to Lisbon. So that 12 hours in Sevilla, I spent with him just checking out the famous cathedrals, castles and the Plaza Espana. Sevilla is really beautiful and there is so much to see there, I think 2 days would be a good amount of time to have spent there. The highlight though was when Ilya consulted his guidebook and found El Riconcillio, the oldest bar in Sevilla. We went there for cheap and delicious beer that was brewed there and excellent tapas...they didn't come free with the drinks but they were really cheap anyways.

Stop 3: Lisbon
This was what I was waiting for. Lisbon just sounded so much more exotic than Barcelona for some reason...I guess it's because I know many people who have been to Spain but no one who has been to Portugal. Lisbon is a MUST SEE okay people! I instantly fell head over heels in love with this city because it is beautiful, there is some historic thing to visit at every turn and the creative and artsy vibe of the city is so saturated you cannot escape it. I think Lisbon is the most culturally exciting place I've ever been too. The feel of the place got me more excited than the majestic castles and buildings if I was being honest. Plus the hostel was awesome, I met really cool people and during the down times I could watch DVDs and play Wii!

Stop 4: Sintra
This is one beautiful place. Super romantic though, so I don't suggest doing it alone. Hahah. Many many palaces to see, from mysterious and strange Quinta da Regaleira to the fun and Kitsch Palacio da Pena to the imposing Moorish Castle. But I would suggest that you start out to Sintra on the first train that day...probably 9-ish in the morning so that you can complete seeing the place by 2pm. That way you can take a bus out to Cabo Da Roca to see the western most point of continental europe - stunning views are a given. Then after that take the same bus out to Cascias, which is a town by a really nice bay. Apparently many exiled kings ran to Cascias for refuge back in the day.


Stop 5: Evorah
Pronounced "Ev-rah", this tiny town is not as touristy as Sintra, which I loved. There are not as many things to see here as there are in Sintra BUT the 2 hour bis ride form Lisbon is very very worth it. Evorah is so serene and feels like a place stuck in time. There are many windy roads to explore and the yellow and white houses are really pretty. You must go to the main Cathedral and climb up to the roof for an awesome view of the town and you should go to the bones chapel to get creeped out a bit. There are two bodies hanging there that are still not fully decomposed, and legend has it that they were cursed so as to never find rest.... If you have money to rent a car from Lisbon and drive to Evorah, you should do that because along the way to Evorah there are many cool places to stop, such as beaches amd this one place 15km away from Evorah in the direction towards Lisbon which as Portugal's answer to Stonehenge. Too bad I could not do that. But still, I had a really nice, chill, time there.
Stop 6: Barcelona
Barcelona baby! Oh yeah, La Ramblas and Gaudi! That is really all I wanted to go there for. But like Lisbon, the city is bursting with creativity and there is nothing run-of-the-mill or common about it. I checked out the Picaso museum which was AWESOME and then I just ran around the city looking for Gaudi's creations, the park dedicated to him and walked up and down the Las Ramblas a couple of times just to soak it in. Gaudi leaves me speechless and wanting more... he is genius and his works look like some surreal fantasy just plucked out of someone's wildest imagination and plonked onto the streets of this bustling city. At night, if you have company [and ONLY if yo have company, even if you are a guy] go to las ramblas again. Notice how int he day time it is fun, touristy and PG-13 and at night it transforms into a shady, far less crowded place with people hanging around pushing bar crawls, drugs and hitting on you. It was an experience all right.

That just about rounds it all up, after Barcelona I packed myself into a stockholm bound plane, which had an empty space in place of the seat I was assigned. So I had to hang out in the kitchen with a very very good looking air steward from Norway, until the plane filled out and I could pick a random empty seat I wanted. I got complimentary juice for my trouble - _ -

Thanks for reading and following my adventures! More pictures on Facebook and even more on my hard drive, hahah:)

Leaving, Learning, Living.

The journey began with a song.
"I'm Yours" was playing at an overpriced cafe at Stockholm Arlanda Airport and I was gonna walk right past and grab a cheaper bite, but my legs decided to lead the way into Cafe Ritaza and my ears seconded the idea.
In Latvia, after a night in the transit lounge, I heard the song again as I had my potato pancakes for Breakfast.
In Lisbon, an aunty who I was struggling to communicate with in my non-existent Portuguese [as she did not speak English] started to sing along to the song as it came on the radio while I was leaving her shop....I did buy those ceramic plates, so I guess she was celebrating with song.
And time after time this song was just hanging in the air around me.

I had such significance for my solo journey, especially the lines below...
"I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some"
I really learnt so much about myself, the cultures of these new lands, the languages and about people.
"Well open up your mind and see like me, open up your plans and then you're free"
I tried very hard to not constantly compare these places to other places I've lived in or been in, I wanted to see them as they were...holding thier own. And yes, I opened up my plans for this trip and while on the trip I allowed myself to add to or subtract from my plans.
"But I won't hesitate no more, no more, it cannot wait. I'm yours"
Oh the day my journey began, I was so scared and hesitant but Spain and Portugal were calling and no, I could not wait any longer now, could I? I just threw myself headlong into the plan...and for those 10 days, I belonged to the journey.

"So please don't, please don't, please don't, there's no need to complicate. Cos our time is short, and this is, this is, this is our fate."
Leave, Learn and Live. That's all I did, really.
I cannot leave God out of this post. It was so incredible how he watched me every itty bitty step of the way. I made sure I let Him know just how scared I was. My prayer before walking out of my home was more of a statement then a prayer - "Lord you are God of Singapore, Sweden, Spain, Portugal...God of the entire world and universe. There's nowhere I could go that you are not present at. You will be there, I'm sure of it".

And every place I went, God had planted kind people -who spoke English, no less- to help me in so many ways. Directions, loading baggage, holding my backpack for me while I strap it on, delaying a bus by 1/2 an hour when I was 20mins late and thought I had missed it for sure, keeping me safe when I had to go from airport to hostel sometimes at midnight...the list goes on. And I made so many friends in the hostels so I was never lonely...except maybe when I had to while away hours in an airport. I really treasure these friendships and contacts I made from Tel Aviv to St Petersburg. From Romania and The Canary Islands to Chile and Argentina.

I think I've grown a lot in this short time of traveling alone...I can't quite describe it, but it feels like I've hit some new level of adulthood I never knew was there to reach in the first place. After each plane, train or bus and location or hostel, I would tick off what I have completed on my travel plan and I would put the E-ticket/booking confirmation at the back of the envelope I carried them around in and look with anticipation at the document in front which would tell me what to expect next. I kept every ticket, map, brochure, etc...those I feel, are the real souvenirs.

But as fun as it was, I did get a tad bit Lulea-sick and I was excited to come home. When I got off the plane in Stockholm, it still felt a little foreign, but when I walked across the tarmac in Lulea Kallax Airport, and felt the icy, zero degree air on my face I knew that this journey had come to a great close. This morning I woke up to snow -and a big load of laundry- it's good to be home.

Departure

I leave home in an hour, Lulea in 4 hours and Sweden in 8 hours.
I'm not feeling as mortified as I was yesterday...some excitement has kicked in but I'm still nervous.
Yesterday at church with the African family, the preacher prayed for those who would be traveling. I went up to him and said 'thank you for that, I'll be traveling alone from tomorrow till 4th november and I'm anxious about it'. He smiled and said, 'I don't know why, I just felt I had to say that in my prayer'. I love how my Father sees and meets my needs....I love Him.
Dale, Vishnu and Song were trying to make me feel better yesterday and Rett and my room mates were telling me how incredible it was going to be so I'm feeling alright.
This morning I got up early to takeout the trash and clean the house (cos it's my turn this week) and I saw a goodbye note from Andrea, and Katalin poped by just to say goodbye.
Song sent me a nice sms and I'll be seeing Vishnu at the bus stop to send me off. Facebook had so many kind messages too. I feel loved and so comforted.
The only thing left to do is call home, attah and shaun to say goodbye until I find the next internet cafe.
I covet your prayers for safety and good company =)
See you all soon!

Voy a España y Portugal

Yes peeps, as you may or may not have heard...lil' ol' Shila girl is going to Spain and Portugal next week and here's the interesting bit... she's going it alone.
Oh. Crap.
Yes, it was exciting at first, but now I'm just nervous. I'm trying to learn Spanish and Portuguese phrases that will help me while I'm there. I have also taken precautions I never would have bothered with if I was traveling in a group, such as paying more for a bus/flight than arrives in the day over one that is cheaper and arrives at midnight. But of course I did have to settle for night time arrivals at times.

Planning this trip was HARD. Harder than planning the Italy-Greece trip, because at least for that one I had people with me if anything went wrong plus Bryan speaks some Italian. This time I'm alone and I hardly know any the languages.

So why Spain and Portugal, and why now, and why alone? I feel the questions burning on your minds and tongues all the way from here.
Why Spain and Portugal: It's really out of the way (just like Greece) and if I were to use my rail pass to go there, I will be wasting precious days.
Why now: The week I'll be away (26Oct to 4Nov) is when all of my friends are going their own separate ways (except for Mel, who's staying put in Lulea). Vishnu's going to Amsterdam and Germany to see his dad, Song and Dale are leaving to I'm-not-sure-where, Bryan is going hiking in Germany. Its the one week buffer between quarters so we are all free.
Why alone:Song and Dale have been to Spain, Mel is going later once her boyfriend comes and Vishnu might just give it a miss altogether.

Basically I'm going to Granada, Lisbon and Barcelona. 2 nights will be spent on the road, but 8 nights will be spent in hostels or on the couches of some couch surfing member.

Websites that helped me with planning are:
1.Sleeping in Airports
2. Couch Surfing
3. Trip Advisor

Behold The Plan

I'm still undecided if I should bring my laptop or not...being connected for cheaper with Skype sounds really appealing...but I'm not sure if it is safe.
My thanks to Juan from Spain, who's also on exchange here, cos he allowed me to crash his lunch break to get some help when the spanish bus website was being difficult.

Warm weather here I come! Well...+13 degrees is very warm as far as I am concerned now =>

This is why I'm now on a Diet

A great deal of the trip to Italy and Greece involved eating. To be clearer, by eating I mean, really really yummy, sometimes overpriced, cheese, sugar, carbo ladden foods. So now, I'm sticking to museli, yogurt, soups, fruits and veggies. I'm not kidding when I say my pants are getting dangerously tight.

Italy





























Pear and Gorgonzola Focaccia, bought from one of the many evil bakeries and pizzerias



Even the plain ones were delish







Sweet treats! I love the citron tart, its like Kueh tart, just with lemon instead of pineapple...but somehow more luxurious





Nutella Crepe in the making





Every bite was a great big hunk of awesome. I. Kid. You. Not.





Gelato! I must have have tried at least 7 flavours =x






Without a doubt, the best Pizzeria in Cinque Terre







Farinata....chickpea and cornflour creation which I totally <3











4 Cheese Pizza. OH YEAH BABY!


Ricotta Quiche. No words can describe this rich, creamy godsend. No words.





No, I did not just buy shoes.

I bought a 4 cheese calzone from hell. Really, this monster was delicious but there was a mountain of cheese in the middle and it was impossible to finish...I ended up leaving behind enough cheese to make another 4 cheese pizza with. Never. Again.


Venetian sweets. I loved them so much I bought a Venetian Dessert cookbook =p

Greece



Feta Cheese Pie, I would do close to anything to get one now




White eggplants in olive oil, no one else liked it so I had the whole plate!






Grilled slab of Goat's cheese. MMMMMMMMMMMM



Tomato balls, called Keftedes. Oh so good.




Sesame seed encrusted bread ring bought from an uncle by a street corner. Best breakfast on the trip, considering that it was only 0.50 Euro.



The nice uncle even posed for a photo =)



Stockholm




My all time fave in Sweden, Falafel!



So now if mummy tells you something like, "Shila girl has become fat" or "Shila girl looks like a plum"...you know who the culprits are =p

Oh the joys of the Mediterranean

Well, I'm back folks! In one whole piece, nothing stolen nothing out of place. God really provided for us in terms of kind people to get directions from, last minute cheap accommodation, English speaking Greeks...You name it. And he kept us safe most importantly.

Ok on to the juicy bits! Our main stops were Cinque Terre and Venice in Italy and Athens and Santorini in Greece. Along the way we got to stop in Milan on two separate occasions as its the cheapest place to fly to and from. And we got to see Genova when we had to change trains with an hour to spare in between. Plus we even got to see Verona (Romeo and Juliet town) when we got kicked off a train! How cool is that right? Get kicked off and get to tour another pretty town =D I'll start with the throw ins and then move in to the main attractions. Happy reading!

Milan
Well, we were only there at night and in the early mornings so I can't say much about the grand shopping streets. But the parts that I saw were sadly unimpressive and badly littered. And we got really lost looking for our hostel, only to be asked to take another tram down 20mins to another hotel cos they did not have room for us. But ok, it was an upgrade from * to ***, but we were exhausted. And the second time we went back the same thing happened except that this time the hotel we were being pushed to was not that near and the guy at reception sent us. It was a strange hotel called Hotel Diablo (I know right!! What a name) and there was a shower in the middle of the room. Mel, Bryan and I were so amused. No one used it though.


Genova
We hopped on the train from Milan to go to Riomaggiore, the last of the 5 towns of Cinque Terre. In order to get there we had to change trains in Genova. I was really happy in Genova, because as far as what Italy was in my mind...Milan did not cut it and Genova was quaint, bright and well...just like in the movies. We just walked about for a bit, enjoyed a really good mozzarella and tomato panini (sandwich) for 1.50 euro and got back on the next train.
Verona
"Romeo, Romeo Wherefore Art Thou Romeo"...so we didn't find the famous balcony or Juliet's castle. But we did find another castle with a pretty courtyard facing a river and many lovers have locked padlocks all around the place to pledge their eternal love to each other...I'm sorry the unromantic cynic in me can only roll her eyes at it, but ok lah...very sweet lah.
Oh and We could not have left Verona without seeing the Arena De Verona, it's sort of like a mini version of what I would have seen in Rome I guess.
Cinque Terre (Five Lands/Earths)

This place is a must see for anyone, I'd pick this over Venice any day. And very few people I've spoken actually know of this wonderful gem hidden south of Milan. It is basically 5 towns along a long mountainous coastal stretch and it is a protected Unesco Heritage Site now. You can swim, hike, sail, eat, shop...something for everyone indeed. We stayed at the last town and hiked all the way to the first town along the different trails, stopping in every town along the way. But if you don't want to hike, the towns are connected by frequent trains which most of the tourists took. While we were relaxing at the top of a church/castle thingy we found, Mel exclaimed that she was certain she wanted to get married there. It's that nice.


Venezia
Venice is really quite interesting. When we arrived by train it was late at night, so I walked out of the train station expecting to see a road, but I was greeted by a dark river glistening under the streetlamps and a river taxi! Then it hit me "Shila you are in Venice!". This is once place that really made me miss my parents, because I know my mum has always wanted to go there. We began walking down the main street and realised just how commercial everything was, not quaint like Cinque Terre, it was shopping left right and center. And I don't mean family owned handicraft shops, I mean big brands and boutiques. So after we had walked down the shopping stretch and seen the main square with the famous church, the next day we went to explore and get lost in the tiny streets where hardly any tourists were to be seen. And believe me when I tell you, the tiny streets were more beautiful because you don't get to see a lot of water when you walk down the main street. Take the roads people usually skip and see how people really live there. We found where the locals eat, the Venezian University, saw a floating grocery shop, a postman bringing parcels by boat and old women hanging out laundry. And the gondolas were ridiculously priced so we didn't bother with them either.


Santorini
Greece! I can't believe I went to Greece! It has always been my dream destination so this one got me really excited. We took a ferry down from Athens and arrived at the stroke of midnight with no accommodation. Thankfully an old woman on the ferry was telling Melissa about this Hotel Perissa that she and her husband are the caretakers of, and that her husband will be at the jetty with a blue van to give us a free ride to the hotel, and we would only have to pay 10 Euros each. So with nothing to loose except potentially our lives - if they turned out to be mass backpacker murderers- we loaded ourselves into the little blue van and went off to the hotel. It was such a lovely room you guys! Hahaha I'd recommend it to anyone. We even had a free breakfast of eggs and bread :) And the old couple were so cute together and so sweet to us. So in Santorini, the best thing to do is swim because it is just so hot and the water is crystal clear and oh so inviting! We went to 2 black sand beaches and a red beach. Then we went to the main town area and later rushed to see the sunset at the end of the island. Sadly we missed it, but the place is gorgeous at night when all the little white buildings that are stacked together light up and the sky is just a blue/orange glow behind it...breathtaking. Oh and I made to animal friends too, a horse that just kept following me after I pet it...which made Bryan and Mel really nervous and a dog that just cuddled next to me on a rock on the beach.


Athens
There is only one reason I wanted to come here...Ruins! The Parthenon, Dionysius's Theater, just the whole Acropolis compound. We really didn't expect it to be as scorching hot and massively crowded with tourists as it was. But all the perspiration, walking and jostling was well worth it - I think. I was like a little child in Toys R Us. Don't remember the last time I was this excited about something. I just wanted to absorb everything in the Acropolis museum, the statues, descriptions, videos. And at the main site of the ruins, I was so overcome with awe at how beautiful everything was and the fact that everything here was from centuries ago. Just sitting on a slab of ancient marble made me feel all tingly because I knew that centuries ago other butts of the ancient people have sat on that same marble slab too. Hahaha, I'm starting to sound really silly I know, but I'm just glad I didn't stand at the Parthenon and weep, because I really thought I would end up doing that.


It was a great trip with good friends. Was so nice to get away from the cold for 10 days. Well all there's left to do now is plan the next trip. Portugal and Spain anyone?