A Taste of Europe

Final entry of Europe for now. The trip took 6 weeks. Blogging took 10 months to complete.. I am the definition of inefficiency (and/or lazy).

Since I like to eat, the final entry will be dedicated to food. But as most people know, I’m quite impatient when it comes to food photography, because I’m more interested in eating it while it’s hot. Please forgive the terrible white balance, exposure, focusing, composition ..

Part I:  A taste of Denmark! Traditional Danish pastries and smørrebrød (open faced sandwiches). A pizza sandwich from my favorite pizza place in Copenhagen, and a savory crepe from a side street.

 

Part II:  A Taste of Belgium!

From Brussels: Waffles, Mussels + Fries + Beer, A traditional beef stew in wine sauce.

From Bruges:  A traditional dinner (baked seafood stew) with Mort Subite (“Sudden Death”) Raspberry Kriek (Belgian fruit beer) and a complimentary appetizer. Shrimp croquette for lunch.

 

Part III: A meal from Amsterdam. Was hanging out with people mostly.. didn’t get to eat specialty items too much. An eggplant pastry dish with salad.

 

Part IV: A Taste of Germany!  Currywurst, the new best-selling snack in Berlin, is a chopped up wiener with curry powder (plus a piece of bread). Traditional pork knuckle and pork chop (tastes and looks like Chinese roasted pork). And another pork-based dish that is actually kind of “hollow” ..

 

The best thing about travelling alone is you get to eat what you want, when you want, and spend whatever you want on food.  The worst thing about travelling alone is.. eating alone.  I hope my next adventure will be shared with someone who loves to eat just as much as I do.  :)

Munich

Final destination- Munich, in the heart of Bavaria. Quite a different “culture” from Berlin.

 

 

An excursion to Dachau to visit the historical first Nazi concentration camp.

A gas chamber… How many have met their end here, naked, in anticipation of a shower?

 

 

 

 

A trip to the BMW Museum.

Castle in the Sky

Laputa?  No.. This is Füssen, Germany- A small town about 120 km SW of Munich. Although still in Germany, the area of Bavaria where Munich and Füssen is located might as well be another country. The landscape is gorgeous!

Tourists come for the castles: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. They say that Walt Disney modeled his castle after the famous Neuschwanstein. The amount of tourists speckled all over the castle shows how much we like, or how much we need, the magical illusions of fairy tales.

 

Hm.. underexposed.. >_<

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did not visit Hohenschwangau, but only took photos of it from afar. Castles are more attractive on the outside than they are on the inside anyways. This picture was taken from the view inside Neuschwanstein. Both castles are within walking distance of each other (~40 minutes). This view is really quite magnificent. Borderline magical.

Wish I had a polarizer, but this is a view of the Bavarian countryside.

My first entry using Windows Live Writer. Quite a useful software with a really user-friendly interface.

Berlin

Everything about me is inconsistent. From work to school to life to badminton to blogging. Inspiration and motivation comes in waves, with small crests and huge troughs. One of these days I'll finish posting outdated pictures from Europe.

Berlin and it's history. Worth the trip to see, to feel, to experience. A series of
pictures of the remnants of the Berlin Wall.

The Reichstag & Brandenburg Gate. Quite impressive!







Other randoms. The Victory Column (Siegessäule) and the street around it - Strasse des 17 Juni :D. Charlottenburg Palace and its baroque style architecture.

A sculpture I found interesting - La Place II by Alberto Giacometti. The concept is that 4 men and 1 woman are crossing La Place.. facing different directions and never intersecting each others' paths. Somewhat like most people we see in life..