rinkaon
angela Joined: July 24th 2008
Logged in: January 13th 2010
Logged in: January 13th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
Trapp family home in the Sound of Music
I woke up early this morning to get prepared for the Sound of Music Tour. Tour bus picked other girls and me up at around 9am, and it’s so surprising to find that most of the tour members were Americans. The first stop of the tour was Leopoldskron Palace, of which the front exterior was used as the Trapp family home, and the children were boating on the lake and fell into the water. The Venetian room was copied from this palace and used as the ballroom. Next the tour bus drove us to Hellbrunn Palace, which was built in the early 17th century by Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus. The romantic glass pavilion in the movie was reconstructed in this yellow hunting palace, and it’s really nice to recall one of my favourite scenes from the ... read more
Alte Pinakothek
I woke up too early for my only stop this morning that I spent an hour to hang around the area near Alte Pinakothek, and came back to the art museum five minutes before it opened. The Alte Pinakothek houses one of the world´s most important collections and is also one of the oldest galleries in the world. On display are more than 800 paintings, among them numerous well-known masterpieces of the 14th to the 18th Century German, Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and Spanish paintings, including works of Rubens, Rembrandt and Frans Hals. The Rubens Collection was probably the most famous in this museum and I was really impressed by this artist, who reproduced works of other painters like “Adam and Eva” with his own ideas. I stayed there until 11:15am. After getting out of the ... read more
Frauenkirche
I gave up Nymphenburg Palace and took a self-walking tour instead in the morning. With the help of the guide map from my hostel, I started with Karlsplatz, passed the Augustiner Beerhall at Neuhausserstr. and came to Frauenkirche, one of the landmarks and symbols of the Bavarian State Capital. It was constructed from red brick in the late Gothic style and can hold around 20,000 people, which was surprising at the end of the 15th Century because the city only had about 13,000 inhabitants at that time. Standing at the entrance where an attraction, Devil’s Footstep, lied at, none of the side windows could be seen. Other features included the Gothic Nave, several stained-glass windows and the tomb monument of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor at its basement. The church also buried some members of the ... read more
horse ride
My head felt like exploding this morning when I woke up, and what made it worse was that I didn’t have panadol with me. It’s lucky that I didn’t throw up and was still able to visit Schwangau. I took the train at around 6:10am to Füssen. Two hours later, I got off at Füssen train station, then met Natalie, an Australian, at a bus terminus and took a bus to Schwangau together. We bought a Royal ticket to visit both Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. With a bit of time left, I grabbed myself a white sausage with bread and some Fanta, before taking a 15-minute horse-ride to Hohenschwangau. There’s no doubt that Hohenschwangau Castle is “uglier” than the new one, but it still worth paying a visit because King Ludwig II spent most of his life ... read more
"Work will set you free"
I woke up late and my schedule was delayed for an hour. It was already 10:00 when I arrived at the Concentration Camp Memorial Site in Dachau, one of the earliest concentration camps. It’s good that the entrance is free, so I got myself a site map at the information desk and followed other visitors to the site. “ARBEIT MACHT FREI” (work will set you free) and Perimeter Fence were the first two things that caught into my eyes when I arrived at the gate. Maybe because of the sunny weather, the site wasn’t really dreadful. Passing through the gate, I started with museum on the right the roll-call area. The one-floor museum didn’t look large on the site map, but it is so informative that it could take you more than two hours to finish ... read more
With the Night Watchman
I had a quick breakfast and hurried to St. Jakob's Church. It was smaller than expected, and it required visitors to pay! Well, after all it's a famous thourist spot there, so fair enough. Built over a lane, the construction work of this Protestant church started in 1311, and is famous for its altars, principally the "Heilig Blut Altar" (Holy Blood Altar) by Tilman Riemenschneider. The altar depicts the Last Supper, Christ's entry into Jerusalem and the scene at the Mount of Olives, and is one of the most magnificent altars in southern Germany. Other remarkable works include the Altar of the Twelve Apostles as well as the large organ with 69 registers and 5,500 pipes. I got out from the church at 10:30 and went to Reichsstadtmuseum (Imperial City Museum). I must say the museum ... read more
Eurotower
I returned to Five Elements Hostel at 7:00am after a fucking crazy night. I was a bit angry to see my desired bed was engaged and my bedsheet was gone! Damn. Lucky that I still had my deposit back having explained my situation, I was able to get back my deposit for bedsheet and keycard. I had a short breakfast at the hostel, the nI officially started my day-tour in Central Europe. It was Sunday, but still, I was surprised to find almost-empty streets in Frankfurt. i followed my map, passed Eurotower, the headquarter of European Central Bank, and came to Römerberg, the market square of Frankfurt. Man Römer was so beautiful. After that I visited History Museum, where exhibition explanation was in German, before heading to St. Bartholomew's Cathedral/ Kaiserdom. There was a service undergoing, ... read more
looking out the window
I woke up at eight this morning but I still didn't have enough time that I needed to take taxi to the airport. 270 HKD, man, so expensive...sigh At 12:55, the flight to Frankfurt delighted on time, what made it better was that no one sat next to me Yea~~My first meal on the plan was rice with sweet and sour chicken, with salad, bread and dessert, where the dessert was the most surprising: pineapple crumble with vanilla sauce, wow, I love it (it would be perfect if the vanilla sauce didn't solidify. However, maybe because the engines were underneath my seat, it was pretty noisy and it even covered the music. Also my neighbour kept talking with some guys he met on the plane, so it was a bit difficult to sleep well. Half of ... read more
Paris is the most beautiful one among the four cities of my 2007 Europe Trip. It worth spending a whole week. York is quiet and nice, but a bit small, so is a great place for a weekend to get away the hustle city life. Manchester? Well, unelss you love studying in urban planning and development as well as architecture, there's nothing to see from the point of view of travel. People there are so nice, though, and the city is not huge so you can slow down your pace a bit while go on enjoying city life. It also has a well-developed transport system, so it's a good place to live in I reckon. It's now my favourite city, and I would definitely move to Manchester if I could in the future. London, as the ... read more
Subway outside Wembley
I had a crazy and fun night and returned to my hostel at six. Slept for three hours, woke up and took a shower, then said goodbye to the two South African boys and checked out. After putting down my luggage in Kingscross Station, my last day of 2007 Europe Trip duly began. First stop of today wsa Wembley Stadium. But because of time, I took a photo in the subway to the Wembley Stadium only. It's a pity that I couldn't visit the largest stadium in UK. Then I travelled to South Kensington with underground. The area was famous of Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana used to live in. Nevertheless, besides this, Royal Albert Hall worth paying a visit as well. Opposite to Hyde Park, it has a long history and is the first choice ... read more
