Temperature is finally going down!

Great for me, bad for Em.

Like what Em said, summer is ending and autumn is coming suddenly. And suddenly means Thursday was warm, Friday was raining and Saturday was COLD. I was not expecting the weather to change so abruptly and I actually felt a little cold!

 

Pic From: http://www.ramdhanyk.com/movabletype/archives/thoughtprocess/images/2004/info/iceberg.gif

Summer Holidays – Flam, Sognefjord, Nærøyfjord

Save the best for the last as they always say! This was the last part of our summer holidays and Em said that its the best-est-est-est of all trips that we have been to. This itinerary was called Norway-in-a-nutshell tour!

We first took the train on the Oslo-Bergen line which was super scenic along the way – there were lakes, glaciers, greens, blue skies, and stand alone unique houses out of nowhere. Myrdal station was the stop we got off which was already pretty impressive to me liao. The flamsbana ride down to Flam from Myrdal was super super touristy – even included a 5mins stop at a waterfall with live dancing performance!

Flam was a beautiful town – quiet and peaceful especially with all the fjords and water around. We did kayaking in the fjords for like 75 euros per 3hr guided tour! The price is crazy but Em said the money was v v v v worth it (I would have prefer a motor boat tour though). We also took the ferry to Nærøyfjord - got rated by National Geographic, as the world’ number one UNESCO natural heritage site. Before the trip, I was really excited about Nærøyfjord but in the ferry I was actually a little bored, perhaps because Flam took all the excitement away and all the fjords look more or less the same after some time.

Anyone going to Norway should go for this trip!

Summer Holidays – Bergen

Since we are already in Norway, it will be quite a waste of air tickets if we do not go to Bergen for a look. The unfortunate thing is that it was raining (and freaking cold for SUMMER) the whole time when we were there and thus we could not really see much! Basically we only saw Bryggen where all the super old houses are. Also, Em had her fish soup/fish&chips and I had my caviar at the tourist’s trap fish market!

Summer Holidays – Oslo

Em’s bro is doing some exchange program in Oslo and so we are there to visit. The only thing I remembered about Oslo is how expensive the place is – 22euros for public airport transfer, 2.5euros per metro trip, 13euros for a kebab, 15euros for mac/bk meal, 4euros for a bottle of coke, and 1.3euros for visiting the toilet! Luckily the accoms are free and no, we did not have any normal/decent meal, only sandwich and snacks.

Using euros to calculate its already super expensive liao, I cannot imagine how Em’s bro (and his frens) calculate using SGD – heard from Em that her bro cheapest breakfast is a banana which cost SGD5 and he needs to think thrice each time he wants to eat an egg (SGD 50 cents)!

Summer Holidays – Copenhagen

So after a very hot week in Spain, we decided to go way up north to cool down and also to meet Em’s bro. Copenhagen is indeed a very nice place to live in – clean, friendly and helpful people, speaks fluent english, efficient, green, good and fast transport, safe, perfect weather, and no thugs. No wonder they say the Scandinavians have high quality of life.

We took the boat cruise and it was wonderful – allows us to see the city from another point of view. Tivoli is overhyped and overpriced while the Little Mermaid is undersize. Churchillparken and Amager Strandpark Beach are 2 very beautiful places to relax also.

Summer Holidays – Madrid

Madrid is a nice but unsafe city. This is the damn place where I got robbed of my precious N95-8GB (and Em’s E51)!!! There are like so many police patrolling around and yet crimes like this still occurs, wtf. 

Anyhow, Madrid somewhow reminds me of NYC – Gran Via to Broadway, Puerta del Sol to Times Square, and Parque del Retiro to Central Park. Madrid’s food is also more to my style – ham, roast lamb, callos, sausages, potato tortilla, and beer everywhere (even in the morning!). For Em, Prado Museum (what else) is the highlight for her.

Summer Holidays – Valencia

IMHO, Valencia is not so impressive, maybe also in part due to the heat there during the time we visited. Anyhow, as usual, we went from point to point visiting only the touristy places (the city of arts and science was pretty cool). Unfortunately the UNESCO World Heritage Site La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia was closed when we were there, wtf!!!

Summer Holidays – Barcelona

Surprisingly, Barcelona was not that warm as we had expected, there was very nice cool breeze and in fact Em has to wear her jacket in the mornings and evenings (which is a pain cos that just means I have to carry more things in my backpack!).

People call Barcelona the City of Gaudi because his work in Barcelona led to the creation of some of the city’s most notable landmarks. Indeed, Guadi’s architecture was the main highlight of our visit in Barcelona – Casa Vicens, Palau Güell, Casa Batlló, Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Park Güell, and Sagrada Família (this is still building in progress since 1882!!!! and works are expected to be completed around 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death???)