Pattaya, Thailand (February 2011)
WANDERLUST.. ❤
CROSS-CULTURAL EXPERIENCES OF A TWENTY-SOMETHING
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(Source: misswallflower)
Place du Trocadéro; Paris, France
Hello from Paris! I’m sitting here at Le Café Marly, enjoying a Cafe au lait w the great view of The Louvre. It has been quite a journey, and the past four days here have been amazing. and, that goes without saying, even more than before, I think Paris is one of the most extraordinary cities in the world.
I truly explored the city, and even were in areas where tourists seldom venture out to. What was vividly in my memory of Paris were the steps going up to Montmartre and the majestic Sacre Coeur, the breath-taking Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame and its famous gargoyles, the bridges over the Seine, Arc de Triomphe, Musée du Louvre, Opéra Garnier, and the different neighborhoods. The beautiful architecture everywhere, the street lights, and strolling down Champs- Élysées. I loved walking through the gardens and parks and take a rest in one of the local cafes, the weather was perfect with sunshine every day and we were treated with temperatures of 21 -14 degrees. Autumn in Paris, what could be nicer?
We started Paris with the Tour of Illuminations, and the view of the entire city from the top of Eiffel was breath-taking. Every hour it goes all sparkly & everyone screams. In a happy good way, mind you.
The next morning, we visited Musée du Louvre, and it was just splendid, both inside & out. There is just too much art to take in or to describe. You have to really want to appreciate pre-impressionist and like religious paintings, because 75% of it is in European adulation of Christianity and the story of Christ. We headed for the obvious, the Mona Lisa and its quite disappointing when you finally see her. The crowd was so huge that i had to literally be on tip toes and crane my neck just to get a glimpse of her. The rest of the paintings were really cool to see, tons of roman sculptures, the Venus de Milo and the ancient Greek artifacts were amazing too.
With a similar setting as Rome, Florence was alive with serial tourists.
We arrived in Florence with a light drizzle on the walk to the hotel, which increased throughout the late afternoon. We checked in and then headed out for a walking tour, which ended at a local restaurant. By then the heavens had opened but our spirits were far from dampened. The meal was fantastic and the would-be magician waiter made it all the more enjoyable. On the walk back we slipped into a church opposite our hotel to listen to an organ recital. Florence is a truly beautiful city, even in drenching rain!
We headed out early at 7 am and watched Florence slowly awake. We ventured out for a café latte and pastry, and then walked to the Piazza della Signoria where the imposing Palazzo Vecchio and a replica of David stands. In the afternoon, my fear of heights dissipated on top of the Duomo, allowing me to enjoy the fantastic view of the entire city.
Having the Renaissance and what seems like the entire catalogue of 13th to 16th century Italian art at your fingertips cannot be a bad thing, but you will certainly be driven mad with all the choices on offer. Florence is the home of Dante too. We had considered visiting the Palazzo degli Uffizi but did not fancy a two hour queue, so we spent that time in the Galleria dell’Accademia instead - and Michelangelo’s David did not disappoint! David stands at the end of a long hallway which is flanked by half carved marble ‘slave’ figures that have a huge presence about them. Then you reach David, standing in that provocative pose so powerful and masculine yet boyish and charming all at once,. he is just divine.
Despite the blistering heat, and the high traffic of tourist; Venice was amazing.
As we pushed our way through the doors, the Grand Canal unfolded before us; and I was completely speechless as I watched a colorful mixture of boats and water buses weaving along their respective routes. Yet as the afternoon slowly closed in, Venice revealed itself as a beautiful Italian city, and not simply a metropolis underpinned by tourism. While I doubt I’ll ever return here, I loved feeling the intimacy of the small quiet streets that don’t beat a path to the Piazza. The evening sun reflected a warm glow off the water and at that moment, I fell irrevocably in love with Venezia.
Venice is a fully pledged Byzantine city, beautiful and inspiring beyond words with its lion of San Marco, ornate churches, Murano glass, countless canals, 400 bridges, 118 islands and hundreds of cafés and bars- big, small and tiny. It is slightly surreal to be faced with a city with only gondolas and boats and no cars, buses & vespas! The tangled lanes can only be explored ‘a piedi’ given there really is no other transportation on land. If you like to get to know a new city by walking extensively through it, Venice is definitely the place for you. And as the rest of the day came and went, more exploring took place as well as fantastic food and great times with friends.
Having a long time fascination with elephants and a love of Thai food, I decided to ditch my traditional holiday pattern of visiting relatives overseas, traveling with friends and took advantage of discovering Thailand’s metropolis, Bangkok.
Traditional Thai Massage School was opened in 1955 inside Wat Po.
Bangkok smacks you in the face the second you step outside the airport terminal. The crushing humidity and putrid whiff of Asian city air is one you’ll grow fond of throughout your travels in the region, but upon emerging from the air-conditioned sanctuary of the airport for the first time, it’s like stepping into an oven - an oven in which they’re cooking vomit. Within 5 breaths you’ll become acclimatised though, and from that point on you’ll be riding the rollercoaster that is Thailand.
The land of smiles and scams is a full-on Asian assault of cool, beauty, mentalness, sleaze, and pure uninhibited fun. And despite its growing reputation for offering many of the trappings of the developed world at a fraction of the price, you can still haul ass out to the most rural areas and be the only foreigner in a town with no electricity, although admittedly you perhaps won’t be the novelty an outsider in such areas once was.
Peace is not something you wish for. It’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.
— Robert Fulghum (via tinybuddha)
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#nowplaying ♫ Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson ♪♬
”.. I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly. I’ll do what it takes til’ I touch the sky. And I’ll make a wish, take a chance, make a change and breakaway..”
♥
One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.
—
Henry Miller
