September 2013: Holiday Of The Year!

When we heard Dean & Nat were getting married in Barcelona, we knew it'll be a big trip. So we planned a bigger trip with family. 

First stop: London, United Kingdom.

1. Mum checking out Picasso at The Tate Modern

2. Big Ben

3. Our pad - The Georgian House in Victoria

4. Watched a production, The West Side Story

5. Browsed at Liberty

6. Checking out more art at The Tate Modern

7. Reunited with our old apartment in Angel, Islington

8. De Chirico's artwork

9. Regent Street

Second stop: Paris, France.

1. The Eiffel Tower

2. Versailles 

3. Cafe Sant Michel

4. The Grand Trianon, Versailles 

5. Versailles

6. Ponte Des Arts

7. The Louvre 

8. Mum checking out the Street Stalls 

9. Putting a 'love lock' on Ponte Des Arts

Third stop: Barcelona, Spain.

1. Dining in El Born

2. Indulging in Spain's jamon! Yummm!

3. Dean & Nat's Wedding Venue! 

4. Cocktails in Milk Bar

5. Exploring El Born

6. Wine Festival in Barcelona

7. Smashed seafood

8. Admiring hand painted signage

9. More venue shots from the Wedding

Fourth stop: San Sebastian, Spain.

1. Monument in San Sebastian

2. Old Town San Sebastian 

3. Our apartment door

4. Shopfront signage 

5. View form our apartment

6. Hike up along the Jesus Walk

7. A couple admiring the beach from the Marina

8. Design & Lifestyle Stores

9. Jesus Walk complete!

Fifth stop: Lisbon, Portugal.

1. Sight seeing in Lisbon's Hop On Hop Off Bus

2. Modern and Contemporary Art in Lisbon

3. Street Art in Amalia

4. Going crazy over the Portuguese Tarts!

5. Street art

6. Galleries

7. View from the Lift

8. View from St George's Castle

9. The park

Sixth stop: Rome, Italy.

1. Walking the streets and stabling on the beauty of Rome

2. Mama Angela's Italian Food. Yum!

3. Basilica 

4. Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art 

5. Spanish Steps

6. Cafe Greco

7. MACRO

8. Photography Exhibition in MACRO

9. Letterpress Workshop

An amazing trip with family and friends. It was hard getting back to the rat-race! :(

DAY 12 EURO TRIP: PARIS TO LONDON

The coach ride back to London was a challenge on the first part... The Green-Monster decided to pay me a visit once I got off the coach for our first stop over break... I had to let it out around the corner so no one could see... Blllluuuuuuurrrrr!... I felt better all the way...

Group shot for the entire TOUR-GROUP... Everyone say "TOPDECK"!!!

DAY 11 EURO TRIP: PARIS, FRANCE

Here's a different way in seeing Paris! We did a Fat Tire Bike Tour! Yes - I had to ride a bike!!... I thought I'd struggle being the fool I am when it comes to balancing, but I managed to do fine!

The Bike Tours were run by some Americans, very easy-going and fun. I was one of the 2 people that had to ride a mountain bike rather a Fat-Tire-Bike... Booo! More peddling for me and my poor left knee... Jr had to keep checking up on me as we found ourselves lagging at the end of the pack. We were riding with and against the traffic! OMG it was crazy!!! Crazy-Paris-Drivers!!! There is no rules on how many lanes there are and no sense in indicating... It's like the Philippines but in a cleaner environment!


Paris was pretty flat so there was no need to fear hills and what nots. We stopped every now and again for the Historical-Info and Photo-Op. Napoleon's Tomb was one stop... It was disgusting seeing so much gold there was and how Napoleon was so full of himself with Small-Man-Syndrome! Hehe. But he was very smart with his strategy plan in his battles...


Lunch at Place de la Concorde - a beautiful square but a hideous history of beheadings. There were many tourists and locals there relaxing in the sun. And some having no shame to show where French-Kissing originated from. Lunch was pretty pricey indeed but we had no other option.


A group shot taken by our Bike-Tour-Guide - everyone say "Par-reee!!!"


A LEGENDARY shot, making a human pyramid in from of the Louvre!!! Hard work for the boys down below! Pity the top wasn't fully complete! :(


Interesting street art and Jr excited on his bike!


After the tour ended, a few of us did some major walking... the only way really to see Paris... we cut though Place de la Concorde for a quick bite - Jr got a Nutella Pancake! Devinne!!!


We headed to the Louvre very exhausted.... They say that if you were to look at every piece of artwork in the Louvre that it would take you 9 Months (1 Minute per Artwork)... (4 Seconds per Artwork would be 3 Months).... Correct me if I'm wrong.


Just grasping the sheer size of the Louvre...OMG! The structure, architecture, mechandising & artworks.... Sheeeshhh! Un-bre-reeb-brab-bel!!!





The Mona Lisa was one of many artworks that I just had to see!... As warmed by many people, "An anti-climax".... Her size can be very deceiving! ;)



Venus de Milo took me back to High School in 3Unit Art.... I remembered the artworks we would critique and write essays about. Very nostalgic seeing the familiar pieces of art.


Once we skimmed though one part of many wings of the Louvre, we had to head back to meet up at The Notre Dam for dinner. It was a pity we missed out on Napoleons Wing - I'm sure it would have lived up to its expectation of luxurious gold finishes and flamboyance!

"Dear The Louvre, I will return!"


Dinner was in a crammed restaurant... How could I resist SNAILS as my Entre! A first time experience I had to do in Paris! What did it taste like? Chewy Muscles with the random crunch & extra bite to it! I washed it down with some white wine.


After dinner a few of us opted for a CABARET SHOW! No it wasn't the Moulin Rouge - that would have been more expensive! We were in the Spanish side of town - so PARADIS LATIN here we come!!!


A very interesting experience... No photos were allowed, so unfortunately none could be posted! All I can say about it was - glamorous costumes, colour, corny story line, humor included, a heap of singing, and skin being exposed... Amsterdam's Sex Show was more heavy-duty!


Jr & I were pretty tipsy by the end, as we had a few glasses of wine. We left the Cabaret with our Wine bottle and Glasses!!!.. Jr's clepto rubbed on me... It turned into a bad habit taking the glasses/steins/scooners from the places we'd been declaring them as souvenirs! We met up with a few people back at the hotel and tried to make it to be a big-last-night-out...

It was hard finding a place, so we just went around a few dark alleys and found a bar... a few people decided to go back home cause they thought it "look dodgey"... But the rest of us stayed for a beer or two... I was mixing my drinks - not a good idea!!!... The night ended early and headed back. I was goooonnne!

DAY 10 EURO TRIP: PARIS, FRANCE

Hearing the scary stories and crazy experiences people had warned us about Paris, didn't stop us from enjoying and soaking up its beauty. Although there were many other Tourists, Gypsies & Beggers in the way, it was a challenge to capture Paris in my Photos.


Views from Montmartre was amazing! Sacre-Coeur Basilica topped the highest hill in Paris. More graff appeared in Paris as it did in Italy, I had to take a photo!


We did a city-driving-tour in our coach... It was hard to appreciate everything we saw while our Guide was taking allowing us to take the quick snapshot from our seats... It was frustrating because there was so much to inhale and absorb... There was so much I missed while taking pics & video footage!!... Damn window seat! Paris is another one on my list to revisit! Endless Galleries & Museums to go to its not funny!


The Eiffel Tower... was I really here!? It was very surreal... It was hard to grasp that we were in Paris, night near the Eiffel Tower!! I couldn't believe how much Gypsies there were!... People selling fake bags & souvenirs with the random cops paroling and chasing them away or capturing them! It was a scene alright....


After the city-driving-tour finished we settled in our hotel and got ready for free-time!... Dinner with some mates we made during the tour. (L-R: Mike, Ellory, Nat, Me, Jr, Karl, Karely, Aiden, Matt & Sarah). It was a Vietnamese/Chinese Restaurant. We were so deprived of Asian food it was not funny! I had been craving it since day one of our Tour! LOL...


It was a good dinner, we were all chatting about what we had gotten up to, the goss & dramas that happened between the people within the tour and all the funny parts altogether. We all seem to be ganging up on poor Mike... LOL... We had wine & beers with our meals which egged us on for more story telling... Bagging out each other on how the tours almost finished and still don't know everyones names!!!...

Funny thing was that majority of the tour ended up having dinner in the same restaurant but at different tables... We were the loudest, laughing & yelling over each other.... 'Happy-times'!...