Another Europe Trip!

We've already planned our next trip. We're going to Zurich on Thursday May 25 2006 for 5 days. We're going to be leaving late and since May 29 is 'Spring holiday', we're only taking 2 days off from work. (We're working almost every Saturday, so it's not like we're missing alot of days from work)

Luckily, Bo has family there and will provide us with crash space, so we're all set! My guide book tells me that majority of the people in Switzerland understand English, bonus! I don't think we'll have any problems
getting around...

Vienna Trip

We went to Vienna on April 13 2006 for 6 days. There was a 2 day(Friday, Monday) Easter holiday and we took 2 days off work so that we can spend more time in Vienna. Bo has family there and we were fortunate that they let us stay with them. When we got there, the weather was crappy so we didn't do much for the first two days. Once the weather cleared, we were off...


This is somewhere in the city centre area. I think this is the Graben, one of the main streets in the central district. We did many hours of walking around the beautiful district 1 area.


This is inside a McDonalds. The inside is full of movie memorabilias. Quite different from any other McDonalds i've been to. I ordered a pack of Broccoli Cheese Nuggets. Yummy!


There are these huge cigarettes in the entrance of every subway station. Do you think this gets the point across?


There were many of these little shops set up in the outer area of the Schonbrunn Palace (in District 12) Egg anyone?


My guide book advised us to take tram 1 or 2 that goes around the Ringstrasse, a street that circles the city centre. But we accidentally took tram J (cause the 'J' looked like '1' to us) We didn't even notice that we're on the wrong tram. A few minutes later, we saw this church and decided to get off and check it out. After getting back to the station, we finally realized that we were not on tram 1.

some more pics...

The famous golden Mozart statue in Stadpark. (I don't really know if it's famous but I see it on alot of brochures)


View from the Schonbrunn Palace to Gloriette. The Schloss Schonbrunn was the summer palace of the Austrian emperor.


The Parliament and here's something I found on the net:
Vienna's Parliament was constructed in the Greek Classical style to reflect the democratic ideals of the new parliamentary government adopted by the city of Vienna. The building was designed to give an illusion of height, with the tall pillars and the second-story level entrance. A statue of Athena was placed in front of the building, facing the street, not the Parliament, however, further shifting the focus on the Ringstrasse.

Lower part of the statue, taken from the second level of the parliament.


Moose, posing at the base of a pillar...


We rented city bikes for 2 days, and it was an excellent way to travel around. Vienna's roads are quite friendly to cyclists. There are many cyclist lanes... I don't know if drivers are as friendly to cyclists though.

There are many areas preserved for nature. I think my guide book mentioned that there are more wooded areas then developed areas. I think we cycled for over 20km the first day, my thighs were a bit sore the next day. Indeed, I need more exercise!

We rode along the Danube River and it was beautiful. We were lucky to have a full day of sunshine until only our last 30 minutes. It was pouring cats and dogs. But afterwards, the rainbow came out, the sky cleared and we made it home for dinner.


I think I can point my phone in any direction and take something interesting. This is one of many old buildings in Vienna.


Street scene in the central district. I think this is on the RingStrasse across from the Parliament.

Some Pics...

We have two attic windows, this is one of them. If we ever get unlazy and clean it, we will be able to clearly view the stars at night, lying in bed.

Looking out from our attic window, we have this beautiful view...

We stayed at the GreyHound Inn in Jan/Feb for about 5/6 weeks. We have a room with a country view. Makes sence since we are many miles away from a large city. We see horses horsing around all the time. I watched school kids play in this field when I was recovering from my flu.

Chinese New Years in London. I was lucky enough to have two lion dances performed right in front of me.

Trafalgar Square during Chinese New Years and a couple of people showed up for the festivities...