.: My Eastern Europe Trip :.
Basically, it was about 12 days long. Hence, I am not going to blog about the daily events and try to keep it as interesting and as captivating to the readers mind ;) haha.
The flight there was in total about 12 hours long. on the 22nd, i had to wake up at 4am in the morning to catch my flight which was at 7am plus. I went in a tour group which saw 21 of us (including our tour guide, Johnny). I had never gone abroad in a tour group before, hence, didn’t know quite what to expect. To tell the truth, I was expecting a lot of older people like grandpa and grandma but to my surprise, it wasn’t so! there were 6 children and 14 adults. all of us clicked well together in the end haha. Took Qatar airlines, (sorry for telling Gino and Eliz it was Quantas because i mixed them up) haha. Flight from Singapore to Doha (transit terminal) was 7hrs long and flight from Doha to Berlin was 5hrs long. So it was kind of a dread to be in the plane for 12 long and seemingly, never-ending journey. But once we arrived Berlin, I began to love the atmosphere. The temperature was cold.. below 10 degrees when we arrived at Berlin and i thought to myself... "hooray! cold whether again!" because the last time i actually experienced it was in Shanghai 2 years back. haha.
We went to many places in Eastern Europe and to 6 countries/cities in total in that 12 days i was there. From Berlin, to Dresden, to Slovakia(Prague), to Poland, to Hungary and lastly to Vienna. Driving from place to place, changing hotels every two days and experiencing different weather as we heading on, we crossed mountains and fields in the coach-our second home seriously. Some of the journey were as long as 11 hours and ya.. time on the bus was fun too!
New Friends were made! 4 of us - Tunn Yuan (cedar girls,sec4), me (sec4), Nicole (dunman high IP, sec2) and Jackie (Hwa chong, sec1) became very close friends and we walked together while sight seeing, after performances, sat together in the coach, played games together, drank Champaign together, shared things with one another and talked together. We even had a snowball fight with each other! we had so much fun together over at EE. We also told jokes to one another and secretly gossiped about some people and sharing what we bought after shopping! Haha. It was so much fun! Of course, the Suan brothers - Suan yi and Suan Yang whom were interesting people and the latter one was a cute little bear look a like. haha. We all talked with the adults of course. they didn’t feel strict but all were nice, gregarious, heart-warming and so kind. Jackie's mum always offering food and paying for our drinks at one meal, the intellectual talks and life experiences and all the jokes told by jackie, Tunn yuan, nicole and thier parents! haha! so much laughing and all! went with my aunt whom i abandon sometimes while she was taking her marvellous pictures. she is a superb photographer! lol! and also may jiejie (as she likes to be called) and alfred (her husband) - the sweetest couple i've ever seen. after 15 years of marriage, they feel like newly-weds! not to forget, david and riesal. always sitting with them at meals sometimes and being bullied by riesal! We all became like a family as the tour went on, looking out for each other and sharing things with one another. This is what you get when you stay together and go everywhere together (eat, shop, toilet etc.) after 10 days – a form of familial touch and bonding.
The hotels there were okay. the nicest one was the one in Hungary. The best hotel there! really posh and great. Not much television shows to watch and I really wanna learn their language everytime I switched the TV on because then, I will be kept occupied. Hence, I ended up watching CNN everyday and MTV or VIVA (thier MTV) sometimes . haha
Berlin - main attraction was the Berlin Wall. After studying so much of it in history, how Berlin was divided into two parts - East and West Berlin where both sides had led contrasting lifestyles and some oppressive leaders on one side, it was great to actually be there to see the actual Berlin Wall that had made this division and sustained this division in its years of quarrels. Half of the Berlin Wall has been knocked down so only parts are left standing. But on the contrary to how many would have perceived it to be a strong, tall and mighty wall of division, it was not. It was just about 2.4m high and with of probably 15cm? not too sure of the details. but it was not easy to cross over because of the many obstacles laid like barbed wires, in the past. But now, the Berlin Wall is all graffiti painted and some political cartoons are real nice to see and depict! haha
Also, at Berlin, we went to some places for sightseeing and all. We also went to the Reichstag Building. If you history students remember, Hitler burnt the Reichstag building to help him rise to power as he had accused the communists of doing so and chased them away. Sly and cunning Hitler committed suicide in the end and we saw the exact spot where he had died.. which is now actually a car park.
Moving on to Dresden, a stop for lunch and again sightseeing only. One thing about all the sightseeing places in Eastern Europe is that of all the different places we visited, there is a unique quality and a very superb view of it. They are all distinct in their own ways and were created and built in a very fine and well-thought manner. They carry alot of history that every placement tells a story and a fact. (pictures above!) oh ya. with history that I didn’t learn... haha. Didn’t pay much attention to it :P
Then, we headed to Prague. There, it was shopping and sight seeing again! oh ya. Things in EE are expensive! Some jaw-droppers are like a macdonald meal costing $10 when in Singapore its only $5.45. A candy floss that was $4. The water cost more expensive then the coke and a bottle of pringles was $5, twice more than in Singapore! Prague has a lot of pick pockets so I had to be careful. Being careful is so troublesome sometimes. Then I watched a Violin ensemble in Prague. It was in a Cathedral so the atmosphere was a lot different. I knew some of the pieces because there are band versions and they played really well with the Cembelo. Headed to eat dinner with some of the group people and then cabbed to hotel!
After being in Prague for two days, it was off to Poland. Up the mountains, it was snowing and it was unexpected snow actually because my ever-funny and concerned tour guide said that the last time when he brought a tour to EE, it didn’t snow at all throughout the journey. So of course, we were happy, ecstatic and everything because it was SNOWING! Haha. Stopped at checkpoints and went down where we had our snowball fight and May hit me until I fell. Embarrassing but FUN!
At Poland, we went Sightseeing again and experienced walking in the snow, sometimes, amounting to a mix of snow AND rain and when it was heavier, it became a blizzard! Sometimes, snowing is not fun at all I would say! We went to the salt mine which is basically a mine where everything inside was made of salt. Magnificent. you can draw a parallel to the jewel mines or what in Perth and underground mines. Also, watching another Violin ensemble playing “the Four Seasons” – 12 movements in total, great performance yet again! And there, I was mistaken for a Japanese when one of the musician said ‘arigato’ to me when I opened the door for him, seeing that he was carrying so many things!
The most interesting stop and long-awaited stop was the Concentration camp. From Prague to Poland was about 11hours journey and of course it was tiring.
But we watched Shindler’s list on the way there and it was sad. How the Jews were actually exterminated by the Nazis. In history lesson, all that we learnt was “sent to concentration camp” but never did we go in-depth. This time, to see it for myself, It was really an experience I would never forget and a heart-wrenching one. The tour inside the camp, “Auschtigg” (I think), where the guide told us the different ways of torture – starvation, labour, squeezing in a small room, showed us the clothes, the baggage and the hair and all the other things found on the children, men and women at that time (they are really the possessions of the Jews at that time) and telling us where they were killed, how they were killed, were they slept and all. It was definitely sad. Makes you want to hate the Nazis even more actually and heightens your sympathy for the innocent. Very few pictures available because we can’t really take pictures in the place. Going to the exact same piece of land where the Jew were tortured and gassed to death was really a experience one must have. One thing that struck me the most was a picture which showed children holding hands and with caption “on the road to death” (above you can see it). Children – dead. It was sad indeed. Also, the Nazis were so out of their mind that they shaved the Jew’s hair to make mats etc. to sell, utilising every part of the Jews and they even experimented on women and children in which most died. Taking the gold teeth of people to sell for money and by tricking the people to bring all their luggage along into the death camp by telling them that they are going for resettlement, lastly, to only confiscate and sell their things for their own money was a ruthless act. It was really saddening.
We headed onto Hungary, Budaphest after 2 days in Poland and there, we were treated to a Hungarian meal with musicians and dancers all to the 21 of us. IT was a fun night seeing the adults and some of the teenagers dance and did funny stuff. Then sight seeing again! No more snow here but the weather was great still. We had our own VIP cruise and the 4 of us stayed at the deck, talking about life, breathing in the scenery and just enjoying ourselves a lot while drinking Champaign in the cold weather. It was a nice night!
Travelled to Vienna, the final destination of our tour. On our way there, we stopped at a Factory outlet. It was like a race against time kind of thing because we had to shop the whole of the factory outlet which was HUGE! (can be drawn a parallel to half the size of ¾ the size of the entire EXPO arena, inclusive of ALL the different halls) of course, nobody really managed to shop the whole area. Was rushing to shops we would like to go in that 2 hours. Most of us gave up eating lunch to have time to shop more. Ended up buying an Adidas jacket and a shirt. Though it’s a Factory Outlet, the things there aren’t necessarily cheap.
At Vienna, was again shopping and sightseeing. As my aunt and I had extended our tour, we had 2 days more in Vienna than the rest so we took out time walking around and pin pointing places in which we must come back and buy things. I spent most of my money in Vienna buying musical things for my friends and Mozart Chocolates and yummy food. Haha. The group had only 1 day in Vienna and hence, again, they were rushing. We went to the Christmas Market and then to a concert, an orchestra – violins, piano, flutes and clarinet, not really a full orchestra. Again, it was nice. That’s what you get when you spend $100 plus Singapore dollars for a performance. Haha. That night, we all gathered in Johnny’s room, drinking wine and playing cards and just giving the trip a good ending. The next day when they left, we took a picture and was kind of sad that my tour group is leaving. Felt lethargic that entire day and forlorn. It was only my aunt and I in a foreign country. But we enjoyed ourselves still. Buying a lot of things, taking their MRT (which I’m proud to say, am familiar with now) and going to visit in the woods of Vienna – Mayerling. It was nice. Also, we watched a final orchestra… this time really orchestra. It was the Vienna Mozart Orchestra and it was superb. The horn player disgusted me slightly though because he actually drank back his own saliva from the pipe. Yikes. But it was nice and great playing!
After that, byebye Vienna, Eastern Europe and then headed back to Singapore.
In whole, the trip was fun, made new friends, had much laughter and learnt a lot. I guess we are going to have a Christmas gathering as the adults might have proposed and we will stay in contact. The trip to Eastern Europe was enriching and a good life experience. Isn’t that what travelling is all about? Enjoying, breathing in the smell of a foreign place and remembering the magnificent layout ahead of you. Of course, not taking things for granted and enjoy the privilege of going to places some people yearn to go to.
When I reached Singapore airport, a happy surprise greeted me! I saw my best friends, Elizabeth, Yvonne and Gino waiting for me to welcome me back at the airport! Gosh! That was unexpected because I had told them that I was going by Quantas and never did I knew they were so resourceful that they actually called my brother to check out the details of my arrival! THANKS SO MUCH! Their presence was the best welcome gift back for me I can say! I was very touched! To think it was Gino’s idea. Haha.
Thank You Elizabeth!
Thank you Yvonne!
Thank you Gino!
HOW CAN I EVER FORGET YOU GUYS!!! Haha
That’s why I always say, friends are very important to a person! While away, I will not doubt that I do miss my friends, family and also my band and my section! Could not go for band camp was rather sad but at least I knew it went well I guess. Don’t give up in what your trying to do. Step up because you guys are in a crucial stage now!
Am again very thankful for my friends welcoming me back so again, THANK YOU GUYS J
Okay. That’s the end of the post. Pictures will be up in the next post because I need to get some pictures from my aunt. Have you slept after reading such a long post? Lol
