Tour de Europe! (12/6)
After our insane victory in the previous night, we left Czech and made the 3-hour bus journey back to Vienna, Austria. Vienna was, for lack of a better description, F**KING AWESOME! The sheer number of theaters alone is enough to make one gasp. On top of that, there are statues, monuments, gardens, palaces, cathedrals... the list goes on and on! I went to a local cafe, largely due to the recommendation of my dear, who's actually half a globe away. Oh the cakes... the cakes! Simply marvelous! Remember to check out the celebrity cakes they have!
We spent the night at Baden, a peaceful little town in Austria. We stayed at the Park Hotel, which was, well, next to a park, but what a park it was! The locals had erected a projector screen in the park. It was showing "Die Fledermaus", a German opera. The locals actually took chairs to the park and watch opera in the chilly night air! Even I got into the spirit and bought a pint of beer to ward off the cold. Me and a friend ventured deeper into the park and found a pavilion called Beethoventempel, which is actually a "temple" dedicated to Beethoven. The drawings on the ceiling is inspired by one of his works. I got a pretty good view of the whole town from up here. Simply breathtaking! (at least that's what I thought at the moment. Little did I know that I'd witness something even more magnificent...)
Click here to see Vienna and Baden!
Tour de Europe! (13/6)
Majority of the Vocal Consort flew back home on this day. Me on the other hand, chose to spent a few more days in Europe with some choir members. In fact, we took a train ride and headed straight for the home of Sound of Music -- Salzburg! We stayed at the Haydn Hotel. Arty! For the rest of the day, we toured the city and visited the enchanting Mirabell Gardens, people sunbathing on the banks of the Salzach River, the grand Cathedral, the formidable Hohensalzburg Fortress... Salzburg is truly a postcard come alive! Up on the fortress, I had a spectacular view of the whole city, and the Alps that span from one corner the eye to the other. Need I say more?
Let Salzburg enchant you!
Tour de Europe! (14/6)
It was a tough choice: the Sound of Music tour, or One Day in the Bavarian Alps? In the end, we all decided on the Alps tour. It was a sunny day: the sky was as blue as sapphire, the hills were as green as emerald, and the mountaintops were spotlessly white. Clouds hung lazily in the sky, leisurely shifting, drifting. I feel that the further we are away from the city and the closer we are to mother nature, the closer we are to God. We get to see Eagle's Nest, Hitler's mountain compound, from afar. Remember the prairie that Julie Andrews ran up and burst out singing, "The hills are alive... with the sound of music"? Saw that from afar too, just like the movie. Our bus made a stopover at Kings Lake and we circled the lake on foot. The lake is made up of the melted snow of the Alps, hence the lake water is crystal clear and bone-chillingly freezing. The last stop of the tour was at a little mountain town called Berchtesgaden. Quaint little town with delicious pastry, no less. :)
We had our dinner back in the old town of Salzburg. Behold... the flaming pizza!
Salzburg's ABC: Alps, Bavaria, Cool!
Tour de Europe! (15/6)
Kinda sad today, as it is my last day in Europe. I had to leave because I needed to bring my school kids to Nanjing, China. My conductor was so nice that he planned the itinerary such that I get to see another Europe city before I left for good: Munich, Germany! For your information, Germany (and the rest of Europe, apparently) was under the spell of World Cup fever. It just happened that there's actually a soccer match in Munich on this very day! Unfortunately, we were only there for the afternoon, plus the tickets would have cost a bomb (Euro bomb, mind you), hence, no World Cup match for us... But the atmosphere in Munich was high! The match was scheduled in the evening, but the fans were already pouring from all over the world since morning. You could almost feel the buzz in the air!
Munich was more than just another city in Europe. Just when I thought I've seen all that Europe had to offer, and nothing could impress me anymore, along came Munich! We visited 3 cathedrals in one short afternoon, and they're all different: one is pink, one has 2 round domes, and one is simply filled with intricate statues and carvings. Here in Munich, I could finally feel the summer of Europe. Time to have some ice cream!
After a couple of hours in Munich, me and a friend left the rest of the guys and made our way to the airport. The other people will leave for Switzerland shortly after us. I kinda envy them, but knowing that Switzerland is the most expensive country in the world to live in, I'm rather glad I didn't follow them.
After an arduous 7-8 hour flight, I'm finally back in Singapore. I'll definitely miss Europe, and I really really hope I can come back someday. At the moment, in less than 12 hours, I will leave for the extreme opposite of Europe: Nanjing, China!
But before I go, let's have one last look at Munich!
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