Vienne

Last day in Vienne and its a rainy day... we went to see the Spanish Reitschule morning exercise in the Winter Palace in the morning. the steps of the horses are made part of a orchestrated ballet, very graceful and measured. I really want to go back and see a full show...

we went to Vienna University next for lunch at its cafeteria, one of the cheapest meal we had ;p the never-stoppiing elevator up to the cafeteria was worth the trip itself! An adventure getting on and off :) the university was interesting as well, the oldest university in the german-speaking world, had a feel for what its like to study here...

did some sights next, the neo-gothic neues rathaus (new town house) and the burgtheater. The theater was almost totally destroyed by a bomb and rebulit. The guide gave quite an extensive introduction to the history of the theater, even as to describing each of the ceiling frescos.

finally had enough of sights as well as P's wet and squishy shoes. We set off for Mariahilfer Strasse, vienna's busiest shopping street, to buy waterproof shoes. Happily succeeded in buying two pairs of Gortex shoes, both waterproof and breathable! Shopping is indeed therapeutic :)

Had weiner schnitzel for dinner, fried breaded pork, crispy and reminded me of chicken cutlet. decided that I waited too long to eat this viennese delicacy.

settled the next day's railway tickets and schedule at Westbahnhof before heading home to pack...

Karlskirche

second day in vienna... went to the augustinerkirche in the morning, the church where sisi and franz joseph was married, as well as the nationalbibliothek (meaning national library :) I want the live in the library!!! Its the perfect scholar's study...

strolled along Graben and Kartner Strasse in the afternoon, fashionable shopping streets of Vienna and had several bite sized sandwiches of various toppings for lunch. saw a economical japanese restaurant.. and couldn't resist...

visited the Stephansdom again for a closer look at its interior and climbed up the south spire for a aerial view of vienna and to walk off the lunch :) I love the churches... such fascinating pieces of history and amazing architecture and all free ;p although the towers' steep spiral steps attempts murder with every step.

went to Hotel Sacher for the "original" sachertorte (I'm such a sucker for original) before visiting the Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera House). P's very happy today because of the variety of foods we tried today ;p

The highlight of today is Karlskirche, a beautiful mint and white dome church with towers and oriental-style columns. Its so special because it is the only church complete with a glass elevator that sends you all the way up to the top of the dome to see the wall murals and the cupola frescos up close! Even P was impressed (and that's hard to achieve!). Its slightly frightening when you'll all the way at the top, right at the tip of the dome. the wooden flooring suddenly seem quite flimsy and Karlskirche is the tallest Baroque Church in Vienna! But its definitely worth it for the beautiful frescos, done mostly in pastels, depicting angels and other biblical stories...

dinner's at Naschmarkt, a lively market selling everything from flowers, produce to restaurants.

We went home via the Karlplatz pavillion subway station, one of the prettiest subway entrance we've seen, with sunflower gilt motifs on patina-green copper roofs, matching Karlskirche perfectly :)

三年

今天是三周年纪念。感觉平平淡淡。三年了。一段感情，起起落落，开心与不开心，都过了三年了。昨天P写信给我时说，这三年，好像梦一般。

打从前天开始，他便一直问我，收到信了没。却一直不肯说是什么信。今天收到信时方知，那傻蛋，用铅笔画了4幅小画，跟着Precious Moments的style，画了我们的记忆。our own precious moments.

“从来不知道，原来你有画画天分耶。”
“我小时候画画很厉害的哦！”

很简单的画，只是素描。也许是我们今天的心情写照。时间使所有的浮沉不定都慢慢沉淀。

只有在最细微的生活中透出的幸福快乐，才是最真实的。

平淡也浪漫。无语也温暖。

Fireworks

had an rare eventful day yesterday :)

as one of the precious days that I can sleep until I "wake naturally", I woke close to 11am. updated on the europe trip which I am lagging far far far behind :( haiz.. at this rate, I don't know when I will finish...

went to red star for a dim sum lunch with mom and dad :) delicously yummy... then its off to the Kwan Im Temple at waterloo. took some photos of fortune teller and one Qi Gong for Shutu. Not sure if they are any good thou... after seeing K's photos.. I discover that my photos are truly only for mine and P's memories'sake. well, as long as we can look at them and go "remember when..." when we are old... ^-^

went to the NTUC fair at Suntec in the afternoon and found my korean aloe vera drink! and going for only S$3.5! compared to the USD$5 in boston, this is too good to be true. esp since I am willing to pay exorbitant rates for this drink :)

went for the fireworks at Marina Bay in the evening. An act of near-insanity with the huge masses of people pressing and squeezing against each other... an ordeal to get there and another ordeal getting out... but still managed to take a few good photos and videos of the pretty lights for P :)

Vienna

first day in the imperial city of vienna... our first stop is the "very soul of the city", the Stephansdom. A huge bulky Gothic-style cathedral smack in the middle of Wien. We reached there with the mass in service, attempts at sneaking in was thwarted by the obvious asian face :p thus had to settle for viewing the interior of high vaulted cathedral from the back of the church.

walked down to schwedenplatz afterwards via a suggusted route that passed by several minor sights. Took a leisurely walk round the city and had delicous pizza for lunch as well as a kasekrainer at the original Wurstl am Hoher Markt :) yummy...sausage with cheese melting out of every bite...

we somehow ended up walking down kohlmarkt to land in michealerplatz, in front of the Hofburg Complex, castle of the Habsburg Empire.

visited the apartments and the schaztkammer in the alte burg. although the rooms were sumptuously decorated and the treasury one of the most impressive collection I have seen (truly, all the jewels and exquisite antiques) , what I really was interested in is the much-loved empress Sisi who lived in these apartments. A fascinating woman with stars in her hair and sorrow in her heart.

We left via Herrengasse and walked to Freyung, the old sanctury of the scottish church. a pretty glass-roofed courtyard with the Austria Fountain depicting the major rivers, all awashed in sepia lighting...

walked out to am hof and enjoyed dinner at an open-air austrian place before going home...