Weblog
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
-
running pains
My feet (heels specifically) are in pain after a mere 4.7 km run on flat land. This is bad news.
It all started when I befriended P, who's a passionate runner. After listening to her countless accounts of her running adventures for a few months, I began developing an interest in this sport. This is quite a departure from my old attitude that runners are hermits intent on damaging their knees before the onset of old age.
So it was with trepidation that I went on my first run up to Vysehrad in May. I was panting after a mere 3 minutes of jogging, feeling like my lungs were going to explode, and I wasn't even 500 m from my apartment. Not a promising start, I must admit. I have no recollection of how I eventually ran up to Vysehrad and made it back home, but let's just say I was glad that I made it back home in one piece.
I surprised myself by giving it another go. And another go, and another go. The result is, I've been running two to three times a week for the last 3 months. I've run up and down the Vltava river, inside Letna Park (which has the best view of Prague old town I swear), and up to Petrin Hill. And I've been panting less and less.
I surprise myself by saying that I'm actually having fun. I've enjoyed it so much that I've decided to invest into running, kitting myself out with a proper mileage counter that works with my brand new Ipod Nano, and a brand new pair of Asics running shoes. All in the course of one week.
Just like everything else in my life, nothing goes as smoothly as I planned. After an over enthusiastic run up to and around Vysehrad last Monday, my heels started hurting. Initially I thought nothing of it, and ran up to Vysehard and Letna Park later on. Big mistake. My heels hurt so badly by last Saturday, that I had to abort my run around Letna Park. The pain was too much to bear.
I've since found out through my physio buddy (who was visiting me last weekend) that I have overstretched my heels by running uphill too much, and my feet are not made for running. The former I worked out beforehand by reading up on the topic. The latter gave me an impetus to prove that my buddy was wrong. I am now even more determined to keep running, after my heels heal of course. After a disastrous run south of Vltava river today that ended with me almost limping home, I think I need to give my feet more rest than I originally anticipated (read: 3 days of not running). This just means I will swim more instead.
And if you were wondering, yes I have become quite the exercise freak lately. Like today, I could feel my whole body itching for a run or a swim, even though I knew it's best to have a rest day, after standing for over 2 hours at last night's Faith No More concert. But I gave in to my bodily urges, and now I'm paying the price. But I don't regret going out for a jog today. It was refreshing, invigorating and distracting. I need physical exhaustion more these days to take my mind off matters out of my control, such as my job search, and my boredom at work. And it's become a drug I need to partake of on a daily basis. Perhaps I should consider doing another sport, but for now, I am determined to master running. Or at least run 5 km without stopping for air.
Monday, 10 August 2009
-
changes...
July was an eventful month. So much has happened, and it was impossible for me to update xanga due to internet connection problems in the office and at home. I should probably start with the biggest news first.
I am leaving Prague at the end of September. Probably for a long time, until I come again... as a tourist.
My friends were in shock when I broke the news to them in one fell swoop over Facebook. Everyone, including myself, thought I'd be here for another year at least, and that the firm was going to extend my work contract and visa. Turns out there was a miscommunication between the inhouse visa officer and the partners of the firm. The partners informed me in mid July there wasn't enough work to warrant me staying for another year, and so they won't be extending my contract.
As I wasn't expecting this news, I was surprised by how calm and relieved I was when the partner broke the news to me. I guess subconsciously I knew that staying in Prague in a job that's boring my brains out for another year not only made zero business sense to the firm, but was career suicide and eventual death by boredom for me. I wanted to stay on in Prague because of the friendships I've fostered here, and the travel opportunities in Europe. But without a job and a steady income stream, it wouldn't be practical to continue staying in Prague just for these reasons.
Since I decided I'll be leaving Prague, I've been flat out selling my things and planning trips for the remaining weekends I have here.
I won't bore you all with details of my adventures in July. I'll just list some highlights instead:
Trekking in Karwendel, Austrian Alps
I spent the first weekend of July trekking in Karwendel with Ukranian Ice Queen and Mr Knighthouse. It was a tough hike for me, as I was nursing the end of a cold. The hike from Eng to the hut we were staying at took me almost 4 hours to complete, instead of the normal 2 hours. Needless to say I was very ashamed of this. But there was nothing I could do about my congested lungs and sinuses, which prevented me from taking in the already thin air. Despite the many times I thought my lungs were going to explode or my legs were gonna give way, I made it to Mahnkopf, which was over 2000 metres in altitude. As I gazed at the beautiful scenery before me, I forgot momentarily about the pain and suffering I went through to get to the peak, took in big gulps of fresh mountain air, and marvelled at God's creation.
As my first performance on the Austrian Alps was pathetic, Mr Knighthouse has decided to give me another chance to prove myself by organising another trek up to Karwendel in September. This time, we'll be walking for 5 days instead of 3 in July. I'm preparing myself for the September trip by running up to Vysehrad and Petrin Hill over the last 2 months. I remember feeling like my lungs was going to explode the first time I (tried to) run up to Vysehrad, and I've barely run 500 metres at that stage. What a way to find out one's stamina is almost non-existent! But I refused to give, and I'm proud to say that I ran all the way up to Vysehrad without stopping more than twice for the traffic lights. I shall conquer Petrin Hill later this week with the same vigour and determination.
Budapest
I made a spontaneous decision to visit Budapest with P on the last weekend of July. And the weather decided to be spontaneous as well by coming down with a 30-minute storm that felled trees which cut off power lines of the train tracks running from Prague to Budapest. We found out past midnight that our already 3-hour delayed train was gonna be infinitely delayed. P concluded that the train was cancelled, and decided to take a train the next day. I decided to hop onto the train that arrived at 1:30 am to Budapest, and enjoy a good night sleep in the train instead.My 8-hour train ride to Budapest became a 20-hour journey, with a further 4-hour delay when the train stopped at a border town right before Slovakia. Needless to say, I was immensely relieved when I finally arrived in Budapest, even though I lost a full day of sightseeing time.
Traditional Hungarian dance performance at the Royal Palace
Thankfully, the rest of P and my time in Budapest was relatively peaceful. We walked around the old town, then crossed the chain bridge to Castle Hill where we spent the most part of Saturday, taking tons of pictures, seeing a lot of the underground premises of the Royal Palace, and soaking up the F1 festivities.
Mama duck with her kids soaking up the sun at City Park
View of Royal Palace from the top of St Stephen's Basilica
I woke up at an obscenely early hour on Sunday morning and decided to venture to City Park for a stroll and look-see. After a longing look at the baths (I couldn't go for a *cough* reason
), I wandered into a flea market and was entertained by how the locals picked up bargains. With reams of time on my hands still (even after spending over 3 hours in the park), I decided to tram it to St Stephen's Basilica, where I climbed to the top and took in a bird's eye view of Budapest and its surroundings.As you can tell from the pictures, we were very lucky with the weather in Budapest that weekend. Our friends in Prague had to suffer rain. It pays to be spontaneous sometimes.
Someone's asked me recently if I ever get tired of travelling. It really depends. But I've learnt that my enjoyment of a trip increases exponentially if every aspect of the trip (especially transportation) went according to schedule. The stress and energy of waiting for the train to Budapest was something I could do without, especially for a weekend trip. Fingers crossed my train goes on time when I head to Munich next weekend.
Monday, 29 June 2009
-
5 Days in Austria
What a busy month June's been! So busy I haven't had a chance to update my xanga for almost the whole month. And if I haven't come down with a nasty infection, I wouldn't even have noticed.
Let's start where I left off the last time.
Nova Rock, Nickelsdorf
I've always wanted to go check out a music festival in Europe since I heard S talking about it last year. I haven't been to even one of the numerous festivals in Prague, and I was planning to go, when I discovered Nova Rock in Austria. My friends and I were so impressed with the line-up that we decided to make the almost 5-hour journey to Nickelsdorf about 2 weeks ago for our first taste of an Austrian music festival.
It was hot and dusty on the first day of the festival when we arrived. We heard on the radio on the bus ride to the festival that there would be 150,000 people attending the festival. The number of tents we saw pitched when we arrived at the festival site was testament to this.
It took us ages to find a suitable spot to pitch our tents, but we had an experienced festival goer in our midst, M, and we totally trusted his judgment in the choice of location ("don't pitch tents near the toilets, stage or footpaths if you wanna sleep at all at night").
When the rain started coming down on Saturday, I was relieved that we followed M's advice, as our tent was relatively untouched and far away from the mud pit. I saw so many tents mangled, toppled and destroyed as people did their utmost to avoid walking in the deep slippery mud on Saturday. It was interesting watching people become creative with their rainwear (garbage bags, anyone?) during the festival. And no, our spirits were not dampened by the uncooperative weather.
Salzburg and Werfen
Ukranian Ice Queen and I decided to take a couple more days off before the festival to see Salzburg and its surrounds.
Festung Hohensalzburg
View of the Austrian Alps
View from Hotel Sacher, the creator of the original Sachertorte
A street entertainer holding Austrian schoolchildren in his thrall
We spent one day roaming around Salzburg city, checking out Festung Hohensalzburg and Altstadt, hiking around Kapuzinerberg, and ending the day gorging ourselves with fine Austrian cuisine. Salzburg is a small, pretty city surrounded by snowcapped alps, and obsessed with being the birthplace of Mozart (there's even chocolate balls covered in Mozart's face) and with being the filming location of the classic movie, The Sound of Music. Many a time when I was hiking up to the Festung and around Kapuzinerberg, I was so moved by the beautiful scenery that I broke into song, singing my favourite tunes from The Sound of Music at the top of my lungs. It's a pity my travel companions don't know the movie or its soundtrack (the movie wasn't so popular in Europe apparently), so I didn't have a little choir like Maria had with the kids. This was probably for the best as we'd attract some strange looks from other tourists if we all started singing "Doe a deer".
Festung Hohenwerfen
Scenery on the hike up to Eisriesenwelt
The view from the entrance to the ice caves
We spent day 2 travelling to Werfen en route to Eisriesenwelt (ice world). I first read about Eisriesenwelt, the largest ice caves accessible to man, in Lonely Planet's Austria guide and was immediately enticed to go check it out.
After arriving at Werfen, we took a shuttle bus to the ticket office of Eisriesenwelt. After getting our tickets, we began the 20-minute uphill hike to the cable car. After getting off the cable car, it was another 20-minute hike before we reached the entrance to the ice caves, which are 1641 metres above sea level. Even though the hike was uneventful, reading a warning sign about falling rocks and seeing the rocks accumulated on the shelter on parts of the path unnerved me slightly. But once inside the ice caves, I forgot about the hike and was mesmerised by the ice formations inside.
Eisriesenwelt was first discovered by 1879 by Anton Posselt, a natural scientist form Salzburg, and was open to visitors in the 1920s. The ice formations in the caves change according to the season and how the stalactites and stalacmites develop over time. There's a formation that looks like an ice palace, one that looks like an elephant (sans head) and one that looks like a bear. We all carried little oil lamps while inside the cave, which can sometimes be a pain to hold since the temperature inside hovered consistently around the 0 degree Celsius mark. The guide burnt strings of magnesium to light up the formations for us to see, and explained each formation in both German and English. As this was my first experience of being inside an ice cave, it was naturally memorable, and is now listed as one of my top 5 experiences of my life. What baffles me is how so few people I've spoken to even knew Eisriesenwelt exists, considering that Lonely Planet has included it in its latest Austrian guide.
Having had no expectations of Austria, I've been pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed my first trip there. It's amazing how much natural beauty is packed into such a small country. I'm already looking forward to my next trip there, hopefully to conquer the alps.
Currently
Bleed Like Me
By Garbage
see related
Tuesday, 09 June 2009
-
staying on
As my loyal xangan readers may have noticed, I haven't been busy at work since I came back from Christmas holidays. After approximately 2 months of practically twiddling my thumbs in the office, I began panicking about how long I'd keep my job in Prague for. My anxiety was duly compounded by daily conflicting news from all fronts about the state of EU economy. For months, I wasn't sure if I'd stay in Prague past September which is when my contract ends.
So it was a pleasant surprise when the inhouse notary officer came into my office with paperwork for me to sign today. In simple English, he said I need to sign the papers in his hands for my "visa". I took that to mean an extension of my long term residence visa in Czech Republic, which was tied to my work permit.
It took a while before the full implications of the notary officer's words sank in. So the firm has decided to keep me on, despite my almost empty timesheets, and their difficulties finding work to keep me occupied.
I literally breathed a sigh of relief. And my friends in Prague rejoiced with me.
Even as I float on the clouds for the rest of today, I am still assessing if the firm's decision to keep me on is consistent with my interests and future career development. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy leaving work on time everyday, having genuine, caring and nice colleague, living in a beautiful city, travelling around Europe and going hiking in the countryside in Czech Republic on weekends. After the maniac working life in Shanghai, Prague is pure heaven.
But then there's the boredom of not having much work for long stretches of time. There are times I feel I cannot fill my head with more knowledge that I can't apply to client matters, and other times when surfing the net aimlessly for hours has lost its appeal. And often I wish I had the REAL freedom to do whatever I wanted rather than be stuck in the office all day, watching paint dry.
My nature says I need to find ways to better use my time in the office, while my brain says what's the point. Then there's my emotions which swing from one extreme to another depending on the time of the month, and the level of boredom I've endured to date.
I sometimes think it's unfair that one has to choose between lifestyle and career, rather than having both. And sometimes I wonder if I complain too much, considering there are many others who have lost their jobs and are struggling to survive. It's a constant dilemma I'm faced with, that I hope one day would be resolved.
In the meantime, I will bask in the immediate joy of knowing that staying on in Prague is truly my perogative.
Currently
The Reminder
By Feist
see related
Sunday, 07 June 2009
-
while doing the laundry...
It feels like it's been ages since I last updated my xanga. It doesn't help that the new office server has blocked access to xanga. But I really shouldn't be blogging while at work, so fair enough...
I was hoping to upload pictures and write witty captions for some pictures I took last night at a birthday and farewell party, but Facebook hasn't been cooperating all day. So I guess that's a sign that a xanga update is (over)due. Besides, I'm waiting for my laundry to be done.
The weather in Prague has taken a drastic turn for the worse about 2 weeks ago. It went from warm, sunny days with temperatures in the mid-twenty degrees, to cold, wet days with temperatures doing a double digit plunge. This is a real pain especially after one's packed away all one's warm clothing in anticipation of spring/summer-like weather. This weekend's weather was the most schizophranic, with bright sunshine in the mornings, and rain and grey clouds arriving early afternoon and staying for the rest of the day. My visitors in Prague were duly confused about the choice of outerwear, and one of them had to borrow my fleece jumper for a day when she realised her denim coat wasn't sufficient for the cold winds.
Sightseeing this weekend was a challenge somewhat, but thank God my visitors were not keen on combing every touristy spot in Prague. Many a time, we would be found sitting in some restaurant or cafe, so J could satisfy her newfound craving for goulash, while V gushed about the Astronomical Clock. After months of hanging out with my young friends in Prague (with whom I discuss trips, hiking, partying and alcoholic adventures), it was a refreshing change to be with women closer to my age, discussing girly topics (yes, men was one of them) for a change.
The last leg of my busy weekend was spent meeting a group of amateur photographers over beer, and basically being a photography nerd for a couple of hours or so. I've become increasingly unhappy about the quality of the pictures I've been taking lately, but feel lost about how to improve my skills. So it's a real blessing to have met this group of amateur photographers, who gave me many precious tips on equipment, photo editing software, and photography techniques. Now I just need an opportunity to put all the advice to practice.
But first I'll need to take out the laundry and catch up on my beauty sleep. Let's see if inspiration comes in my dreams...
Currently
Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa
see related
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
-
Hiking weekend in Cesky Raj
After talking about doing a weekend hike for about 2 months, I finally found a free weekend in my calendar and managed to gather 3 of my friends who were crazy enough to go on a 50+ km hike in Cesky Raj with me.
Left: the skull of an animal left by the locals; right: climbing up to a cave in a sandstone formation
Top: a lake in Podtrosecka udoli; bottom: Kost castle
So on Saturday, we drove to Sobotka, where we started our 4 km hike to Kost castle. We were following the yellow trail, which according to L, doesn't always 'behave'. And true enough halfway on the yellow trail, we lost the trail markings and had to ask a kind local for directions. We eventually found our way through the fields and arrived at Kost. We tried to buy a ticket just to climb the wall of the castle, but was refused at the ticket booth. The ticket lady insisted on selling us tickets for a tour of the insides of the castle which none of us was interested in, which also cost more than twice the price of the tour to climb the wall. So we settled for looking at the castle from the outside for a bit, and continued with our hike.
We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived in Podtrosecka udoli, a very pretty area with three lakes right by sandstone formations. The water was brown in colour as a result of the rain from Friday, which didn't look very appetising to swim in. So we decided not to swim here, and to save our energy for Sunday.
Top: an unusual doorbell in Rovensky pod Troskami; bottom: a rowdy bunch of dogs kept by a household we passed by
Next stop, Rovensko pod Troskami, where we spent the night in a cottage. Along the way, we passed by an ingeniously built pool filled with water pumped from a nearby lake, and a doorbell made out of a tree bark and sheltered by a mushroom with the widest rim I've ever seen. I thought it was interesting how we see more of these small queer things when we walk instead of bike or drive.
Left: Prachovske skaly; right: eagle in Trosky castle
Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early, began our 5 km hike to Trosky castle. It was a gruelling uphill climb up to Trosky, but the rewards were worth it. We spent about an hour touring the innards of Trosky, manouvering around school kids and their parents to climb up steps for a bird's eye view of the surroundings. It was possible to see the snowcapped tips of the Krkonose mountains from Trosky.
After having a beer and a break, we continued our hike, this time to a lake where we could swim. The temperature on Sunday rose to a searing 25 degrees Celsius and by early afternoon, we were hallucinating over every lake displayed on the hiking map. We ended up at Parez, a peaceful lake in the middle of the forest, surrounded by teenagers who were more interested in playing beach volleyball than swim (read: perfect). 3 of us braved the cold and swam in the lake until our bodies couldn't take the cold anymore. After hiking in the heat for most part of the day, this was a welcome break indeed.
Parez is at the beginning of Prachovske skaly, an area with beautiful towering sandstone formations. It was loads of fun trying to squeeze past a very tight trail between two sandstone formations. L caught the action, among others, in his video of the hike.
Our final stop was Jicin, where we took the bus back to Sobotka to pick up the car for the drive back to Prague. I was so beat upon reaching Jicin, that I fell asleep almost immediately after I got on the bus to Sobotka. Not since Nepal have I hiked so much in 2 days. But it was an immensely rewarding hike, as we saw terrain that we'd not be able to reach on a one-day hike.
I've now acquired a serious taste for full weekend hikes. I just need to find another destination. The Austrian alps perhaps....
Currently
The Crucible Of Man (Something Wicked Part II)
By Iced Earth
see related
Thursday, 21 May 2009
-
Holidaying in the Tatras & Paris
I apologise for the lack of updates recently. I was understandably distracted by holidays, apartment woes, farewell parties and wrangling with a second hand monitor I bought recently (and intend to return very soon). Plus xanga is now blocked by my office's firewall, so no more blogging from the office. Boo hoo....
Here are the highlights from my holidays over the last few weeks:
Tatra Mountains, Slovakia
Clockwise from top left: Low Tatras; castle ruins; our rafting leader looking for the raft that tipped; a kayakist navigating the very fast waters.
Slovensky raj (right)
- A group of 7 of us drove to the Tatras mountains in Slovakia for the May day long weekend for some rafting and hiking in the region. It turned out to be one of the most harrowing and exciting trips I've been on in my life. And that's no exaggeration.
- The fun and excitement started on the first day, when 4 of us rafted down a part of the river, just so our leader can teach me how to steer a raft. I ended up falling out of the raft into 4-degree water 3 times, and had to be fished out of the river in the end by some good Samaritans who saw my rafting partner and I were in trouble and waited to help us out. Thanks to their strong liquor (probably Slivovice) and chocolate bar, I managed to avoid catching pneumonia. These kind souls even helped us carry the raft to the road, where I met another kind soul who lent me her sleeping bag and let me sit in her car while we waited for our friends to arrive with the car.
- As a result of falling over, and hitting my legs against the rocks in the river bed, I acquired a series of colourful bruises from my thighs to my shins and on my lower back that shocked everyone who saw them. Some even asked if I were beaten up by someone! And yes the bruises caused me so much pain that I found it difficult to hike in Slovensky Raj the next day, especially going downhill. But I managed to survive the log bridges and high vertical steps in Slovensky Raj, and I'm proud of it.
- Despite the painful bruises I acquired, I decided to redo the part of the river which caused me all this pain on Sunday. Yes, I admit I'm insane, but I refused to leave the trip with a fear of rafting. And I survived the rafting by going down backwards in the raft sometimes, surviving some harrowing turns, and falling only twice into the river this time round. Perhaps it's because I wasn't steering the raft this time round. Steering looks really easy, but is the toughest job of all. I wonder if I'll ever learn how to do it properly.
- Rafting and hiking aside, we passed by some amazing countryside in Moravia and Slovakia, mostly covered in vibrant rape flowers, and cute villages while driving from Prague to the Tatras (a supposedly 7 hour journey that stretched to 12 due to road works and traffic jams). Hopefully we'll get the chance to return to the different towns and villages to see them all in detail one day.
Paris & Versailles
Souvenirs at the Eiffel Tower; Arc de Triomphe
Denon Wing of the Louvre
Bastille; Cathedrale de Notre Dame
Evening along the Seine; Metro signage
Fountain in Chateau de Versailles; La vie en rose
- My trip to Paris almost didn't happen due to an attempted break-in into my apartment while I was away in Slovakia. The keyhole to my apartment was vandalised, and even though I managed to enter my apartment on Sunday night, I couldn't extract my key after locking the door on Monday morning. My futile struggle with the key meant that I couldn't check in on time at the airport for my morning flight to Paris.
- Lucky for me, I decided to call Expedia.com to see if they could get me a last minute cheap flight to Paris. The friendly lady at Expedia.com made my day by helping me find a cheap flight with Smartwings, and I set off about 6 hours later to my destination with a smile on my face. Needless to say, my travel companion, Mr P, was relieved to see me at the hostel in Paris.
- We spent most of our week in Paris doing the touristy things, trekking up the Eiffel Tower, hunting down Mona Lisa in the Louvre, walking along the Seine, visiting the Arc de Triomphe, drinking wine in the Bastille, and shopping on the Avenue de Champs-Elysees and in the Latin Quarter.
- This was a trip to defy all my preconceptions about Paris and Parisians. I hardly saw dog poo on the ground, the metro system was extremely organised and easy to use, and most Parisians were more than happy to speak English with us (probably because my spoken French was too hard on their ears). I'm glad I had the chance to visit the city and judge for myself, instead of parroting what others say about Paris and Parisians.
- I was pleased to meet up with R, an ex-flame from Shanghai, and G, someone I met while trekking in Nepal over 3 years ago. It's a surreal experience to spend time with R and G in their home city, especially G whom I've kept in touch on and off via emails and Facebook. G invited me and Mr P to a party on a boat on Friday night, where we watched the sunset over the Cathedrale de Notre Dame, and chatted with his friends from the US, Australia and England.
- The most unfortunate part of the trip was when I came down with food poisoning on Thursday. I was so weak that I was stranded in the hostel for the day, and ate and drank almost nothing for most of the day. Thank God for Mr P, who brought me medication and later food in the evening, when I needed it the most. I honestly don't know what would've become of me if Mr P hadn't been taking care of me that day. Thank God for him.
- Taking a break from the opulence that's Paris, we spent a day in Versailles checking out the Chateau built by Louis XIV. The beauty and luxury of the Chateau and its garden were as overwhelming as the crowds we had to deal with throughout our visit. Just to get through security at the Chateau, we queued for almost 40 minutes! At times, it was a fight just to see anything at all in the Chateau, and we were glad to get out of the building for some fresh air in the gardens.
- For our last day in Paris, Mr P and I decided to spend it hunting down authentic Chinese food in Paris' very own Chinatown. We were eventually rewarded when we found Sinorama, where Mr P enjoyed (surprisingly for me) his drunken chicken and garlic veges, and I savoured my delicious prawn dumpling hofun.
After travelling non-stop for 9 days, I was relieved to have a few days of rest in Prague, doing mundane life for a change. But I'm sure the travel bug will bite soon, and I'll be itching to go somewhere again.
Til then, I need to get some beauty sleep.....preferably on my bed, instead of on my laptop....zzzzzzz
Currently
21st Century Breakdown
By Green Day
see related
Monday, 27 April 2009
-
more holidays
It didn't seem that long ago since I got back from my Easter break in Italy (in fact the post is barely 3 weeks old). And I'm going on holidays again from this Thursday onwards for about 10 days.
The coming holidays will consist of another 2 firsts: my first visit to Slovakia, more specifically the Tatra Mountains, and my first visit to France, more specifically Paris.
Tatras
I'm going to the Low Tatras this time with 6 others, and the plan is to go canoeing for a day or two, and hiking for the rest of the time. Hiring canoeing gear from Prague has required some logistical genius on my part but as of yesterday, we have reserved canoes (inflatable ones), paddles, wet suits, booties, life vests, helmets, and even gloves to be picked up on Thursday. We are travelling in 2 cars, and our kind drivers will be driving for a total of 6 to 7 hours to get from Prague to the cottage we are staying in the Tatras. I'm going with the group leaving during the day, which means it'll be possible to stop by a town or two to check out other sights in Slovakia.
The group will consist of two American guys, one Dutch guy, one Hungarian, an Ukranian girl, a Czech girl and me, the Aussie
. Amongst the group, I am amongst the experienced canoeists (I've canoed 5 times to date), and so I'll be expected to steer the canoe I'm in this time. It'll be my first go at steering, and it's a scary thought that a novice canoeist will be depending on me to get him/her down the river in one piece (read: not tip the raft too often). But since we are short on experienced canoeists, I must needs step up to this task.Paris
I tossed up about going to Paris for the longest time for a few reasons:
- the lack of a travel companion, and the difficulty of finding one who'd tolerate how long it took for me to take pictures - it's not fun to travel alone, ever. And the next worse thing is to travel with someone who doesn't understand my need to take the perfect picture. All the time.
- the high cost of everything in Paris
- being unsure if all my friends who live in Paris and its surroundings would be around during the time I hope to be there
- if it was possible to see enough of Paris in a short time, ie. a week
After spending weeks twisting and turning about whether to go visit Paris, I decided to bite the bullet and book the air tickets and see how the it all pans out.
As things went, I resolved each of my concerns after I booked the air tickets.
- I found a fellow traveller to Paris who was happy to go during the exact same days as me, and is an avid photographer himself, hurray!
- We manage to find a cheap enough hostel, which had beds for the duration of our stay in Paris.
- Two of my friends will be in Paris when I'm there.
- We just might fit in all the sights of Paris in about 6 days if we are focussed enough.
It seemed my leap of faith paid off this time. Let's hope my other travel adventures work out as this did.
Currently
Rather Ripped
By Sonic Youth
see related
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
-
mood changes
It's been sunny in Prague for 3 weeks in a row, interrupted very occasionally by one or two days of grey skies.
It seems the sunny weather has been affecting Prague residents far and wide. P has taken to waking up before 6 am most days and running outside for 5 km or more. Our Ukranian Ice Queen has been grinning a little too much, very unwise if she intends to maintain her reputation. Even the seemingly socially awkward guys in our group of friends are talking much more than before.
My French business associate couldn't stop smiling, and was obviously in a good mood, since he paid for last night's dinner and complimented me profusely over the course of the night. For a while, I thought he was hitting on me. He did admit to harbouring such intentions when we first met, but then he's been with his Russian beauty queen of a girlfriend for over 10 years, so he'll have to refrain from acting on these intentions, for now.
Even in Shanghai, I've never seen such drastic transformation in people when the sun decides to come out for an extended period of time. Granted, there's really not much to see in Shanghai when the sun comes out, since hardly anything green or flowery looking grows unless tended to meticulously. Whereas in Prague, the countryside comes alive with vibrant colours, as the trees start filling out with leaves, spring flowers bloom, butterflies come out to play, and birds burst out compulsively in song day after day. I've been tempted many times to sing The Hills Are Alive while hiking and walking around Prague, only to be restrained by my friends' "don't you dare" stares. They probably saved me from acquiring a reputation as the loonie chanteuse.
So what's the explanation for this mood change? Some people say it's Vitamin D overload, others say it's the warmth of the sun. I am definitely overjoyed that I don't have to wear heavy coats, hats, gloves, socks and warm shoes when I leave the apartment, at least for another six months. That's probably why my mood has improved by leaps and bounds since spring finally showed up in Prague. Things that I used to moan about (ie. job situation, financial crisis, uncertainty about my future, being single at my age) have all diminished in significance, and instead, swimming, hiking, canoeing, travelling, beer gardens, and any other opportunities of taking advantage of sunshine have become my latest obssessions.
This is a good turn of events, no?
Before the sun sets, I'm going to head out for a leisurely stroll home. With a big smile on my face.
Currently
Worlds Collide
By Apocalyptica
see related
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
-
Easter in Italy
I arrived in Milan Bergamo airport on Thursday night to discover all of their cash machines were broken and no one was able to withdraw any money all night. This was my first taste of Italian culture. It didn't leave a good taste in my mouth.
But things began to improve when K arrived and we sorted out the car hire. I watched with amusement while a tanned skinny assistant with spiky shiny hair banged away on his keyboard while telling us about our upgrade (to a slightly fancier looking Fiat, which drove badly anyway), and where and how to find it (we had to take a shuttle bus to the car rental carpark, and the airport was tiny!).
Navigating hairpin turns and very lean streets on our way to Bellagio, one of the many villages surrounding Lake Como, meant a long and stressful drive for K, who was nevertheless happy to drive for the whole weekend. He even brought his own satellite navigation system, which means I didn't have the thankless task of reading maps, and we didn't have to argue about getting lost (which has happened so often when I had to navigate). I am such a lucky girl.
On the first day we began exploring Bellagio, we ended up shopping. It's not like I bought a lot (just a pair of earrings and 2 pairs of shoes), and I thought they were great buys. But I really don't need 2 more pairs of shoes. And K didn't need another belt and a pair of shoes. Ah well... we were on holidays.
The scenery when we drove around the lake was absolutely amazing. Definitely recommended, if you can afford the car hire.
After seeing a good number of villages around the lake, I am so glad we decided to make our base Bellagio. Como, the biggest village in Lake Como, was ugly and commercialised. The other villages seemed pretty quiet during the day with nothing much to do. Bellagio was pretty during the day, with many shops (albeit targeted at tourists) and restaurants with really good food. What am I talking about? Italian food from its source is of course gonna be out of this world.
We began our 2-gelato a day habit from Bellagio. It was simply impossible to resist the array of flavours in Italy. I've tried about 10 flavours in 4 days. Pretty insane, I must admit.
Even though K was immensely hopeful, we didn't get to meet George Clooney in the flesh or manage to work out which of the mansions in Laglio actually belonged to him. But we did see an autograph he left in a restaurant we were eating at in Laglio. He seemed to enjoy eating out a lot when vacationing in Lake Como. I don't blame him.
It was my suggestion to go see Cinque Terre after seeing pictures and hearing rave reviews from a friend in Prague who was there last May. Thank God I listened to his advice.
In the picture, I'm posing before Vennazza, the prettiest island out of the 5 in Cinque Terre. Pity we couldn't find accommodation here.
We stayed at Corniglia instead, pictured above. It's surrounded by tiered mountains all round. We stayed in an apartment, owned by a very elderly lady who struggled climbing up the steep steps leading up to our apartment, moaning all the way up. It was fun communicating with her in a combination of Italian, English and German, and I was very impressed by K's ability to understand Italian, even though he spoke none.
We hiked from Corniglia to Vennazza and then to Monterrosso, where we chilled out in an outdoor cafe. I was so wasted after a tiny glass of Limoncello, I tripped over the chair when I tried to get up to leave and took the chair down with me. The bruises on my knees took days to heal!
After a nap in the train, I felt so much better and was excited to explore Manorola (pictured above), the smallest island wedged between Corniglia and Riomaggiore. It took us less than half an hour to walk around this island, and so the next logical thing to do was to head over to Riomaggiore before sunset.
Riommaggiore is the biggest out of the 5 islands, and was also the most crowded when we visited. As it was the last island we visited, we spent the most amount of time there, exploring, resting and watching sunset with the other tourists lounging around. We decided afterwards to have dinner there, which was tougher than we thought. The first 4 restaurants we walked into were full, and we only got a table in the 5th restaurant because I was thick-skinned and decided to walk into it to see for myself. After we sat down, there was a queue outside our restaurant for the next 2 hours or so. It's completely understandable, since the seafood at this family restaurant was fresh and well made. If K and I weren't stuffed with gelato from Manorola and running out of money, we'd be ordering more dishes from the menu.
The last day of our trip was spent in Luino, a village about 30 minutes from the Swiss border and by Lake Maggiore. You can catch a glimpse of the Swiss alps from the village, as pictured above. We were there to visit a friend of mine from Prague, Mr Knighthouse, who was there holidaying with his parents.
Mr Knighthouse, having holidayed in Luino for the last 15 years, knew all the best places to go for sweets and pastry, and we of course stuffed ourselves full of the fattening stuff. I try to justify all these indulgences by telling myself I have no idea when I'll be back in Italy next. But then it was a sorry excuse, as Mr Knighthouse has extended an invitation to visit Luino again in summer, and to stay at his parents' holiday home. This is going to be a difficult invitation to turn down after such an amazing holiday in Italy.
Currently
When We Were Orphans: A Novel
By Kazuo Ishiguro
see related
Connect
About Me
-
The secret of life is to keep thinking. And to stop thinking about ourselves. - Dr Rita Levi-Montalcini
Chatboard (4)