Last Day In Munich

Much to Paul’s dismay, our last day in Munich started with me waking him up to go see the daily clocktower display at the Rathaus-Glockenspiel.  The 15-minute show of chiming bells and figurines moving around didn’t impress either of us much since we didn’t know the story it was telling, and Paul decided to spend the next hour being grumpy at me for waking him up for nothing 

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Daytrip to Salzburg

After a lot of arguing/contemplation, we decided to daytrip to Salzburg, Austria today.  I initially wanted to go to the town of Füssen (in Germany) to see the famous Neuschwanstein Castle  of King Ludwig II (it’s the castle that Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle is modeled after), but Paul was more inclined to check out Salzburg since it’s right at the border of Germany and Austria and it’s more convenient to visit it now than during our trip to Austria later this year, when we’ll be in the eastern side, nowhere near Salzburg.  (more…)

First Taste Of German Food & Alcohol

Our first day out and about in Germany started with me discovering an important fact about myself – I can’t handle alcohol at lunch!  The decision to order wine at lunch resulted in me wandering around feeling slightly drunk all day, trying everything I could think of to get rid of the drunk feeling until I gave up and went back to the hotel and passed out for a few hours!  Sigh, gotta love my Asian genes… (more…)

Does Anyone Smile In Germany?

After a very long travel day (our train was at 9 this morning and we didn’t arrive until close to 4 this afternoon) we’re now in Germany!  Our first stop is Munich, in the Bavaria region of southern Germany.  The city is noted for having the greatest beer culture in the world (the famous Oktoberfest beer festival takes place here) and it’s motto is “München mag Dich” (“Munich Loves You” in English).  From what we’ve seen so far, we think they have a funny way of showing it! (more…)

A Crazy Last Day In Paris

What more could a girl ask for on her last day in Paris than a thrilling ambulance ride (well, it wasn’t actually an ambulance, but it was just like the ambulances we have in Canada, sirens blaring and all) with firemen to the hospital?  While some of my girlfriends would love to be carried away by French firemen, I could have done without the ambulance ride, but it was definitely a unique experience! (more…)

All The Way To Beef Tartare!

Starting today, our friend Armel, who is originally from Paris but now lives in Vancouver, was able to meet up with us for our last two days in Paris before going to his friend’s wedding in Croatia.  We’ve been looking forward to these two days for a long time –   it takes a stroke of luck to have your schedule coincidentally match up with your friends so that you travel to the same place without travelling together! (more…)

The Rest Of Our Sunday

When we finished with the Louvre, we decided to go check out the Orangerie Museum as well because it’s only a short 10 minute walk away.  The line up here was 30 minutes, but that was because the Orangerie is small and they are careful about crowd control.  (more…)

The Louvre For Free!

As most people know, the first Sunday of every month there is free admission to most museums in Paris.  If you look this up this online, people will tell you to avoid the Louvre (the world’s most visited museum) like the plague on this Sunday because it”s usually the busiest day of the month, but for whatever reason we lucked out and there was no line-up at all when we went at 2 in the afternoon today! (more…)

A Day Of Art @ the Orsay

Today we went to our first art museum together on this trip (we’re both not really art lovers so we’ve been waiting for the larger, everybody-must-see museums), and although we still don’t appreciate or understand art as much as most people, we both felt the Orsay was a worthwhile experience that made us feel inclined to get more into art.  We’re not saying we’ll go study it or learn about different artists or anything like that, but we might invest in buying a piece or two when we get home, instead of having bare walls like we’ve always had.  The thing about art is it’s so subjective and we don’t know how to determine what a piece is or isn’t worth, but there’s a learning curve for everything and today was the first baby step. (more…)

Night Out In Paris

After a frustrating day of dealing with crowds, we took a nap at our hotel then ventured out to do some more sightseeing since Paul was able to get away from work for a change (he’s normally tied up from four pm till midnight Paris time).  We decided to find some dinner and then walk around till sunset so we could see the “city of lights” lit up – seeing the area by our hotel at night just doesn’t do it justice! (more…)