it happened in athens

athens!


the home of Socrates, the Acropolis, the first ever modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and some damn fine cheese pies! (i'm sure the cheese pies have some proper fancy Greek name, but as far as i can tell, if you ask for a cheese pie, they'll know exactly what you're talking about)


my adventures in athens:
buy a corn-on-the-cob and some roasted chestnuts from a street vendor, only to remember that you don't like roasted chestnuts . ride the underground metro at 11:30pm at night, just to see where it takes you . watch the changing of the guard at The House of Parliament . eat dinner in a rowdy greek restaurant, with the brightly-lit Acropolis looming in the background . listen to a greek song on the radio, which sounds remarkably like a drunken Tom Hanks singing at the top of his voice . browse through the stores at Plaka (navigating your way through the "stalls" of counterfeit designer goods laid out on the pavement) . purchase the obligatory fridge magnet for the collection . buy a "circular bread" only to discover it's just a donut . never get used to the amazing sight of ancient ruins in amongst the main streets . take a million photos of the Acropolis . eat a Greek salad, in Greece . walk through the streets, and convince yourself that you know that that word means "chemist" -- (and secretly be a little confident that that word means "sex-show") . be warned about going into town on a day famous for its riots and protest demonstrations, but go into town anyways . when first speaking with the locals, make an elaborate display of silent charades to get your point across, only to realise that the majority of the locals speak english . have a woman feel sorry for you when she sees you taking photos of yourself at Acropolis, and have her offer to accompany you around the ruins to take your picture . get attacked by a swarm of pigeons, and not care cos it's a swarm of pigeons attacking you IN ATHENS!!!


here are the photos:




stay tuned, next week: KUALA LUMPUR!!!!


let the good times roll!!

vienna waits for you

my first trip to Europe!! beautiful beautiful vienna!

and as an extra little treat for me on the momentous occasion, i arrived in vienna on the first day for this season that they had SNOW!

so of course, when i'd arrived in vienna, i did my favourite thing to do when visiting a foreign country: walk and walk and walk until i am completely and utterly lost, and then jump in a cab back to my hotel
vienna just absolutely blew me away, i had such an awesome time

my adventures in vienna:
eat a bratwurst from a street vendor . build a terribly lame snowman (couldn't find a carrot) . visit a 500-yr old church, sit in on a sermon being delivered in german, and have it make as much sense to you as the english sermons you've experienced (because the english ones made no sense either) . buy my first fridge magnet for my soon-to-be collection of fridge magnets from around the world . eat vienna schnitzel, in vienna . ride a horse-drawn carriage . almost trip over a thousand times cos you're not used to cobblestone streets . go grocery shopping at a supermarket and pretend that you know exactly what everything is in your trolley . almost get hit by a tram (i swear i thought this was a footpath) . have coffee and "apfel strudel" in a 132-yr old cafe . have your photo taken with Mozart, well, a statue of Mozart, anyways . run through the snowy park like a demented child (ignoring the odd looks from passing tourists) . buy an old old old german camera from a man who speaks little english, but whom you still had an hour-long conversation with . walk into a bookstore, and walk out two hours later . browse through prada, and decide that you love it in vienna just as much as you do anywhere else . browse through prada, and decide that you can afford it no more in vienna than you can anywhere else . stare at all the massive buildings, and wonder if they used slave labour to build them all, like they do in Dubai . walk around in the rain, and not be bothered by it, cos you're walking around in the rain IN EUROPE!!!!

here are the photos:



stay tuned, next week: ATHENS!!!!


let the good times roll!!