The Hague, Utrecht and Amsterdam

 

The next five days seemed to pass me by in a haze, so quickly it passed! I continued on the university study tour to the Hague, Utrecht and a short day in Amsterdam. I haven't quite sorted through the photos on my camera, which are more abundant, so I apologise for the lack thereof in advance!

 In the Hague, we visited the Peace Palace, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and even sat in on a trial at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. One of the more special things in store for us was visiting the Australian ambassador at his residence in the Hague. What a fine house it was indeed!!

 Utrecht and Utrecht university was where we had our last few study classes. It was a beautiful little town full of student needs - bookshops, stationery shops, and cafes. With narrow little canals running around the city. A notable feature of Utrecht? Bikes :D

 

 On the free day in the Netherlands, a few girls and I decided to make the train ride up to Amsterdam for some shopping and sightseeing~ We didn't spend long though because early evening we caught wind of news that the trains back to the Hague might be cancelled! We had to hurry back to the station and missed out on a lot more shopping than we intended! But at least we made it back for burgers, hehhh!

 On the last day of the tour, we were taken to a snug little restaurant for a farewell dinner. I enjoyed a yummy grilled salmon with potatoes and salad  and some sweet white wine. I was really glad that I was able to go on the study tour and meet a lovely bunch of colleagues. But I also appreciated the number of places I could visit which I probably wouldn't have on my own~

The next installment will be on my travels to London and Paris~~ Bye!!

First stop: Germany!

I'm back home from my travels and I'm so excited to share some photos of the first place I visited - Germany, also known as Christmas town! I went to many small cities in Germany in only 5 days as part of the study tour, but it was a lovely way to experience more than what I ever could as a lone tourist traveller. 

Mannheim, the chessboard city which lacks street names but is also the home to the palatial university! I was lucky to have taken a few classes here during my stay! The hostel that we all stayed at was located near the River Rhein where we found the most delightful restaurant overlooking the river. I had the most delicious experience here! I actually had two meals here and the French onion soup and pork schnitzel aren't pictures, but a yummy chicken salad and berry dessert are!

The second day we travelled by train to Karlsruhe to see the German Constitutional Court. But on the way, I found the most beautiful autumn landscapes ever! The late afternoon sun light really helped create a romantic scene~

Heidelberg was a town I visited on my trip around Europe earlier this year in January, but this time around the famous Christmas markets were up! Plenty of delicious hot gluhwein, yummy traditional German sausages and lots of pretty things in the markets stalls to see were the perfect ingredients to a good night out!

 

 I was even lucky enough to have contacted some lolitas in Germany who invited me to a lolita meet on the Saturday I had free! I can't believe how beautiful the German lolitas are, and they all have such sweet personalities to match! And they all spoke such impeccable English with me, it was so much fun! <3 a="" and="" back="" beautiful="" before="" building="" cafe="" cake.="" casino="" christmas="" day="" few="" for="" get="" girls="" go="" hope="" i="" in="" it="" late="" lovely="" lunch="" markets="" me="" one="" p="" photos="" really="" see="" so="" stunning="" the="" them="" then="" think="" to="" took="" walking="" was="" we="" were="" which="">

With the trains running late, I was able to spend a good 3 hours exploring the city of Cologne before continuing with the study tour to the Netherlands. As soon as I exited the train station I was met with the absolutely breathtaking view of the famous catherdral. I had to strain my neck back to see the full height of the magnificent church! It was under renovations at the time, but it was still one of the most amazing sights ever. To avoid the chilly weather though, I sought refuge with a couple of girls to pass the time in a fancy little cake shop - Cafe Reichard. Very pretty decor and yummy chocolate cake too!

I can't wait to visit Germany again, I really hope I can! Even if it's just for the pretzels and gluhwein, hehh~ Next time though, it'll be Frankfurt and Berlin!~

Europe, I'm coming back! (this is mostly about food)

This is Heidelberg, but it's sort of related... Germany.

I'm ever so excited to announce, I'll be going on another trip to Europe in November/December!! I applied for the University's Law study trip to Germany and the Netherlands earlier this year and after waiting terribly long for a reply, I was granted an interview! And now, I've been accepted to undertake the two week course at EBS University, Mannheim University and visit the International Court of Justice in the Hague! I'm really happy and super excitedd~ I better start saving money againn!

I ended up being really really lazy during the past months (sorry about the lack of posts, too!), and I didn't do anything except eat! Haha! It's no joke though, here are some delicious pictures of what I've eaten of late, they happen to all be desserts too:

I had this shiny chocolate cloud from a dessert lunch date at Steven ter Horst with my good friends. It's a perfectly shaped dome filled with chocolate mousse and cream, coated in chocolate ganache and decorated with dark chocolate pieces. Perfectly sweet with a hot chocolate. Yum!

 

Another outing with friends led me to St Louis ice cream house. We shared a chocolate fondue set with the richest chocolate brownie, churros, fresh sweet strawberries and some not so delicious waffles. It was delicious overall, and even though I swear I could've had ice cream after all that, I really was full of sugar already...

And recently, I went back to San Churro twice for their yummy yummy sundaes! I shared the first one, a strawberry chocolate sundae with my sister. And I attempted the San Churro sundae on my own!! It was so rich and delicious, but I just couldn't finish all three scoops of ice cream!! I think I'll go with an empty stomach next time~

european memories (part ii)

The next part of this series, is all about my one true love - Paris, France. The romantic capital city and home to world famous chocolate, pastries and of course, my favourite: macarons. I won't be able to cover Paris in just one post. Watch out for more if you're interested!~ Here are photos from some of the touristy tourist attractions I visited. I stopped by Paris about 6 times in total, usually spending at least a day, or a few nights to get as much exploring as I could.

 The famous Louvre museum. We managed to explore almost the entire place, with plenty of stopping and resting! It's a magnificently large museum, filled with the most famous works of art. Not to mention, the ceilings themselves are a wonder!~

 The Eiffel Tower required 2 visits! Both were at night so we could see the city's lights twinkling below us. It was so, so cold in late autumn, but the views are absolutely stunning. So very Parisian! I even found some very beautiful views of the Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc de Triomphe too. After the long climb up, the view is definitely worth it!

 

 Galerie Lafayette is perfect for (window) shopping, drooling over 800euro fur coats and being dazzled by the stained glass dome above. All the pretty lights.

 

More museum days! This is the Centre Pompidou, home to modern art! Known better as the inside-out building, I didn't think it was as pretty as the Louvre, but still an iconic must-see museum in Paris!

 A hike to the Cimeterie Pere Lachaise had to be a super quick one as we arrived 10 minutes before closing. Unfortunately we weren't able to find Chopin or Oscar Wilde's graves before being ushered out.

 A must-see for any lolitas! Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Angelic Pretty in Paris! They are close together, within walking distance, and I was glad to buy myself a souvenir usakumya! Too bad Angelic Pretty was closed, but I did get to go again! I bought some Royal Chocolate socks from there!

 

 This is where I first glimpsed the Eiffel Tower! From Place de la Concorde~ We were on our way to find Laduree, among other things, and hello, hello!!

 DISNEYLAND! I was actually a little disappointed (and actually suffering from a cold when I went). I didn't get to stay so long to see the fireworks, but the main attraction (the castle, haha!) was lovely!!~

 

 

 

And lastly, REAL life castle! The Palace of Versailles. The most beautiful place I've ever been and ever will visit, I think. I had to go twice because you simply can't see everything in just one visit! My favourites? Definitely the gallery of mirrors and the queen's room. Such delicate and intricate details, I want to decorate my room like so! Haha~!

Pheww! That was longg, next up, more PARIS memories!