long passed are the winter days. summer has arrived and it's time to leave :(

"those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana

while i was all excited about my solo adventure after having decided on it weeks before, uncertainty, fear and loneliness hit me shortly after i parted with the company and wandered about the streets alone, waiting to catch the bus to krakow. then i arrived in krakow and locating the hostel at four in the morning in the unpatronising rain got me thrilled again and the ensuing travel was quite an enjoyment :)
who cares about the girl who was walking alone on the streets by herself, snapping away at everything she saw, popping into random shops along the way, trying to order from the menu she didn't understand and eating by herself in the restaurants?

one of my lately successful cooking experiments - curry fried rice with tuna and onions. it tastes much better than it looks!

now who's the real paparazzi?

after visiting so many churches in europe, i was more than glad to visit mosques for a change.
other than the lustful cab driver who drove me in circles for twenty euros, i love the annoying ice cream man, the diabetically sweet baklavas, the plainly delicious turkish chicken rice, the cheap ferry rides across the beautiful bosphorous, the bustling bazaar streets, the relaxing shisha times and more :)
here's to europe's cultural capital 2010!

a visit to the sisi museum in vienna's hofburg got me pretty intrigued by the princess's sad life story and her poetry.

"O that I had not left the way
That would to freedom me have led!
O that I had not gone astray
On vanity's broad path instead!

Now in a prison cell I wake
The hands are bound that once were free;
The longing grows that naught can slake
And freedom! thou hast turned from me!

I waken from a vision rich
Wherein my spirit captive lay,
And vainly curse the hour in which
Freedom! I gambled thee away!"

me at 2000m with the tirol landscape behind me :)

i remember googling attractions in austria after the exchange results were released and seeing this, thinking it's almost impossible to go there. but here i am, along with my portugese flatmate, almost reaching the eisriesenwelt cave after a long tedious journey! well done girls :)

what blooms so fair at daybreak, by noon is trampled low;
what bravely struts and strives soon turns to ash and bone;
no substance lasts forever, no brass, no polished stone.
one moment fortune smiles, the next brings bitter woe.

oh think, what are those objects we prize beyond compare,
mere shadows, dust, and wind - all worthless, false and vain;
field flowers glimpsed in passing and never seen again!
for that which is immortal, no man seems to care.

andreas gryphius, vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas, 1637

a picturesque place where photos simply does no justice.

this is taken on the famous chain bridge, which becomes a real pretty sight and an especially romantic spot for couples at night!
did you know that budapest's name is derived from the agglomeration of the two cities separated by river danube?

what do you do when beer costs almost the same price as, or sometimes even cheaper than, water?
here i pay a visit to europe's largest beer house, hofbrauhaus, where beer gets served in one-litre mugs and people start drinking at mid day.
it's no wonder we're all getting fat in europe.

going to berlin is like taking a walk back in history, only that i'd have appreciated the place more if i had bothered to inform myself about european history previously, which i have not done up till now.
sometimes one can't help but question why people do the things they do when it's pretty obvious it's not right. but i figured if the answer were that simple, there wouldn't be so many conflicts around.

one day in keukenhof is enough to make your head spin for all the flowers and colours you see!
this is my favourite flower of the lot. i like it for its simple ethereality :)

welcome to amsterdam's famous red light district, which has become a popular tourist attraction even mainstream tour groups are brought here for sightseeing. it was funny watching the wives holding on tight to their husbands while they walk along the street.
on a side note, i'm pretty amazed by the organization of the business; i didn't see anyone soliciting business on the streets unlike in geylang.
sex, drugs and crime; amsterdamned indeed.