With WWII, Nazism, The division of the city with the Berlin Wall, the city today is stern yet quirky, peaceful yet controversial, thought-provoking yet fun.

After an almost 12 hour train ride, we arrived in Berlin at around 9pm. The moment we stepped out of the train it was HELLA-COLD! And with the freezing temperature we got lost pa looking for our hostel! We tried to go around some more after checking-in but tiredness got the better of us.

So, for our first day in Berlin we visited the Reichstag. It’s the building that houses the German parliament. There is a big dome a top this historic building and tourists can visit it to see a wonderful view of the city.

If you want to visit the place you need to sign-up first and let them know.

http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/visits/index.jsp

The marvelous dome

These are mirrors. They reflect natural light in the parliamentary!

After visiting the Reichstag, we hurried over to Pariser Platz to join the NEW EUROPE FREE TOURS!

A, excuse me lang a.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

There we go. Me with the Brandenburg Gate while waiting for the tour to begin.

With our tour group.

Hotel Adlon. Where Michael Jackson dangled his baby on the balcony. CRAZY!

Memorial to Murdered Jews. It’s one big plane with differently sized grey concrete slabs. As you go deeper into the memorial the blocks grow bigger and there’s an eerie and cold feeling. It gets darker and colder and you feel lost in the maze. It’s a really haunting feeling, walking in and around it. There’s a museum under and we visited it later in the day. I’ll show you pictures later.

Hitler’s Bunker. It’s just a ruddy old parking lot where locals take their dogs to take a dump. The bunker is still intact underneath our feet. All possible entry points have been sealed off and there are no monuments or signs that say what this place has been. Kebs lang. It was a weird feeling walking over this place. Imagine, Hitler was here. He shot himself under our feet and his body was burnt somewhere in the lot. Kalerks. Baka natapakan ko pa essence nun.

The infamous Berlin Wall. Muka lang siyang bakod. But this wall has divided Berlin for years. Our tour guide said that the wall came up overnight! So if you had friends and family that lived on the other side, you won’t see them or have any communication with them again. Berlin was divided into 2. East Berlin was the Soviet part and West Berlin was the Allied part.

Checkpoint Charlie! That photo of an Allied soldier is an art installation. It gives the feeling that Allied/American forces would always be looking onto the East and the Soviet forces would always be looking onto the west.

I’m in 2 places at the same time.

Humboldt University

Here’s an interesting memorial. It’s something to commemorate the event when Nazis burned thousands of books that are opposed to their ideologies. This memorial is a set of empty shelves that are underground. There are no entry points whatsoever. There’s just a glass window where you can peer into and form your own interpretations of the memorial.

Berlin Cathedral

Scary flock of birds!

Brandenburg gate at 4:30pm.

We went back to see the Holocaust museum I was talking about before. The atmosphere was “thick”, to say the least. Everyone was just quiet, moving around and reading the exhibit. I think people don’t really know how to react when they were presented with these things.

Then off to dinner!!!
Hello naman to the slabs of meat they served us! YUMMEH!

The next day, after impacho, we went on the 3rd Reich Tour by New Europe tours. We had to pay 10 euros for this tour which is not so bad. We went to the same places as the Free tour but they had a completely different story. This tour was about the darker side of Berlin’s history.

Memorial to Communist Soldiers. Funny ’cause it’s in West Berlin.

BEST MOTHER-EFFING KEBABS THAT I ATE. EVER.

Old Jewish Ghetto.

Synagogue

These gold plates are scattered all over Europe. They are placed where Jews that were sent to concentration camps once lived. They contain basic info about that person.

With our tour guide. Elijah Wood ang peg.

We took an overnight train going back to France! It was a super duper fun experience! Still couldn’t believe we were all able to fit in that tiny cabin. HAHA!

DANKE, BERLIN!

I know you’re already thinking about pot and the red light district, but the place is absolutely amazing.

It’s one of my favorite places ever. The people are nice, the history is interesting and the energy in the city is just thrilling.

We just spent 1 weekend here which was too short. Sana lang we could’ve stayed longer! We also got to see other JTA-ers here! Kaya the trip was more fun.

 First thing we did after checking-in was to go see the other JTA-ers! BTW, we lived on a boat for this trip!!! SUPER COOL!

JTA kids on Instax.

We ate at an “ALL YOU CAN EAT RIBS”! I think it’s in Ledseplein, if I’m not mistaken.

Now that I’m back here in Manila, most people ask about the wild things I did in Europe and of course I always, ALWAYS share my experience in Amsterdam!

I wasn’t able to take much pictures though.

Walking around!

Those round things up there, that’s massive rolls of CHEESE!

On our first night we went to the infamous RED LIGHT DISTRICT. I don’t have pictures of it, kasi bawal magpicture. I mean hindi naman BAWAL, BAWAL. But the ladies working there are very sensitive to getting their photos taken e. So respeto na lang. But grabe. As in there’s a physical area where the girls are displayed out on glass windows and everyone just walks by, or in some cases, walks inside the windows. Kalerky.

A lot happened during our first night here. If you want to hear more, you have to buy me a cup of milktea or coffee and I’ll tell you all about it.

Fast forward to next morning, we went around more and joined the NEW EUROPE FREE TOURS!

Big, beautiful and bizarre Dam Square! <3

Look who we ran into in Dam Square!

Hello, Anne Frank.

If you don’t know the story, and shame on you if you don’t, she is one of the most famous Holocaust victims. She kept a journal when her family went into hiding to escape the God awful Nazis. Unfortunately someone told on them and they were all sent to concentration camps. Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father was the only survivor in their family. When he returned to their home in Amsterdam, he saw Anne’s journal and had it published. It’s one of the most widely read Holocaust memoirs.

The Secret Annex is now a memorial museum. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go inside ’cause of our very limited time there. Sobrang dami kasing tao. Sayang talaga.

Here’s more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank

Here’s a photo of our very quirky tour guide!

Here’s an interesting sculpture embedded on the floor of the Red Light District.

According to our tour guide, the red light district became really prolific in Amsterdam because this place was 1 big port. So do the math, men who were stuck at sea with other men for the longest time, ano kaya una nilang gustong gawin. We even saw this statue , just to enforce the previous point.

Look! It’s the highest point in Amsterdam! HAHA!

We had to cut our tour short because we have to catch our train to go back home in a couple of hours. Baka magipit kami sa time. So we just decided to drink coffee, chill and soak up the electrifying energy in Dam Square.

Doing the Macarena in Amsterdam Centraal!

Haaaay Amsterdam, I wish we could’ve stayed with you longer! I’ll definitely go back here! So much crazy things to do here!

P.S.

Train rides can be very long and boring. So we come up with crazy stuff to do, so as to keep our sanity. We played “Pusoy Dos”, a Filipino card game, and whoever loses gets a finger-full of Nivea Cream on their face! Needless to say we arrived home happy and well-moisturized.

]]> http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/amster-damn/feed/ 0 noellem05 d - Copy (2) DSCN3401 DSCN3402 DSCN3403 DSCN3409 DSCN3410 DSCN3413 DSCN3417 DSCN3419 DSCN3421 DSCN3424 DSCN3432 DSCN3430 DSCN3441 DSCN3436 DSCN3449 DSCN3450 DSCN3452 DSCN3455 http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/pa-echos-lang-d/ http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/pa-echos-lang-d/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:22:47 +0000 Noelle M. http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/?p=852 ]]> Follow my blog with Bloglovin

First on our list of Must-See and Must-Do is KFC!!!

2 months without fried chicken is harder than you think.

On the way kasi to our hostel, you’ll pass by a KFC outlet. So before we checked in we ate first! With all our bags in tow, we sunk our hungry tummies and craving tongues with 1 KFC-bucket. And to think we were only 3!

Sadly it wasn’t as good as the KFC here in Manila. Maybe it’s just us, but it seemed that not all secret herbs and spices were present in the chicken. HAHA! Wala rin GRAVY! Iyak na lang tayo. But it’s still FRIED CHICKEN!

We only had 1 full day here, it’s so bitin, I know!

We headed out early to make the most out of the time we got.

Walking down La Ramblas! Our Hostel [Kabul Backpackers] is situated right next to the popular street.

We went on a HOP-ON-HOP-OFF tour around the city. They have cool double-decker buses!

First stop on the tour was the Sagrada Familia. It’s a huge church designed by Antoni Gaudi in 1883 and until now it’s still not done! When we went there they’re still doing some work on it. I don’t know if they’re just restoring some parts, but from what I heard/remembered the church is continuously being built. The construction was funded by and is still is being funded by donations from the locals.

Here’s the other side of the church where you can see the Joyful Mysteries carved on the walls!

After this one we went to another Gaudi masterpiece, Park Guell! This place is HUGE and medj surreal. I love the quirkiness of the place and the beautiful “mosaic-ish” colors.

We tried super hard to go around the whole park, but super laki talaga and gutom na kami. So we decided to have lunch na lang. There were small restaurants near the park. George and I had paella! Grabe. Kahit small resto lang SUPER YUMMY!!!

Since we had a short time in the city we just picked the places we really wanted to go to.

Here we are on top of the bus going to the next destination. I’d like to thank RG Optical Bacolod for my sexy Raybans. Echos lang.

 Si Joss medj fumufootball fan pala, so Camp Nou was part of our list. WOO! GO FC BARCELONAAAA!

Saktong poser lang.

 We headed out to the Olympic Stadiums next. Pero wala na akong pictures kasi madilim na. We met up with sila Ras and Francis there and we had dinner.

We had a set menu with cold cuts, shrimps and moule tapos meron pang main course. Choice between Paella or Steak. Syempre PAELLA AGAIN!!!

Gracias, Barcelona!!!

]]> http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/breezing-through-barcelona/feed/ 0 noellem05 DSCN3280 DSCN3281 DSCN3283 DSCN3291 DSCN3295 DSCN3300 DSCN3307 DSCN3312 DSCN3325 DSCN3327 DSCN3328 DSCN3334 DSCN3342 DSCN3346 DSCN3355 DSCN3364 DSCN3386 DSCN3368 DSCN3370 DSCN3376 DSCN3379 DSCN3388 http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/under-the-tuscan-sun/ http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/under-the-tuscan-sun/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:45:18 +0000 Noelle M. http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/?p=749 ]]>
From Roma we jumped on a train to FLORENCE, ITALY!

Florence is one of the provinces in the Tuscan Region of Italy.

Medici Family, Galileo, Art, Food

The place was small and quaint. Very provincial. Being in this place feels like you’ve been transported through time.

But before we went to Florence we stopped by Pisa! Pisa is a very sleepy town. When we got to the train station, we had to take a bus to go to the Leaning Tower. Halos walang happenings on the streets. Everything was really quiet and rustic. Most tourists, I think, go straight to the Tower. We just had a 2 hour stopover here.

Since we’re already here, might as well take some tourist-y photos with the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

With my boys.

While we were shopping for souvenirs, we saw a pack of Duff Beer! And how appropriate that we have Homer Simpson with us.

After we took pictures of the leaning tower, we ate at a nearby McDo. I got a HappyMeal! Yey! It’s cheaper kasi and mas maraming food kesa regular meal, may kasama pang toy! HAHA!

Look for the girl with the sun in her eye and she’s gone. ECHOS.

Here are pictures from Florence!

We had a free walking tour from our hostel. We missed a lot of it ’cause I “lost” my phone. So we had to run back to the hostel to look for it. Lo and behold nasa bed ko lang pala. Hihi. Sorry, boys.

These photos were taken on the Ponte Vecchio. It’s the oldest bridge in Florence. There are shops on it. Our tour guide said that before they sold meat and other food stuff. So intense daw ang amoy especially with the Tuscan heat. Today they sell jewelry and gold there. It also has a lovely view of the Arno River.

After walking around a little bit, we got hungry. There were dozens of stores that sell scrumptious Italian food, hirap magdecide!

Sarap ba?

We also tried the local Florentine dish called trippaio! A tripe dish made from calf’s stomach boiled with herbs and tomatoes served with a Tuscan roll. It’s really good!

Palazzo Vecchio: city hall built in 1299.

Look at this unbelievable street art! It’s made from chalk!

HELLA-DELICIOUS GELATO! Seriously, BEST GELATO WE TASTED WAS FROM FLORENCE.

The Baptistry of St. John, Giotto’s Tower and the Il Duomo peeking at the back.

Il Duomo

Next day we went to Piazzale Michelangelo. You can see a panoramic view of Florence!

Meganong effect?

Check out my cool Vitruvian Man coin!

With my boys, Homer included.

This is a replica of Michaelangelo’s David. Saktong pa-Top Model lang. CHOSA.

I’d be lying if I said that I don’t think about going home to them. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love this experience and I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it, but one can’t help but be homesick.

With 16 days left here in France, every part of me is aching to go home now. Especially because I have our new home waiting for me when I get back, you know, with what happened and all.

I’m still waaaaay behind on my posts about my trips, but I thought this would be a nice break from all my globetrotting photos.

Here are some SKYPE photos I took with the people who love me enough to stay up late or take time away from homeworking just to talk to me.

Hi Rocky!

Chikahan with my girlies.
Sorry sa kadire kong itsura, kakagising ko lang nyan. HAHA!

She’s on exchange too!

Ewan ko kung anong ginawa mo, Rob. Bakit ito lumabas sa picture mo! )

Wasn’t able to take a screencap of my call with ABBY Masyado ata akong kinilig sa mga kinwento niya. HIHI!

Surprisingly, I wasn’t able to Skype with my family as much as I expected. As in super minsan lang kami mag-usap sa net. But I always update them through e-mails, Twitter and Facebook naman. OH, the wonders of the Internet.

When Papa visited me in Nantes. We were able to call Cezanne and Mama

I think this was the first scheduled Skype Date with my family.

Skyping in our NEW HOOOME!!! :’) Cezanne gave me a virtual tour.

Papa and Mama in my new room!!!

And of course the person I Skyped with the most and the person who’s most puyat because of this is my mloymlens!  Hihi. :”>

Enjoying our date. It’s 8pm in Nantes and 2am in Manila.

Hihi. Cute [ako].

Emo.

He’s always staying up late for me. :”> Hihi. Sorry, you’re always puyat. Lamyu.

Para “magkatabi” effect. HAHA!

With Haiku the puppy, perfect for his macho-ness.

Honestly, looking at these pictures make me miss home more. Haaaay gulay.

Pero in fair, imagine if walang ganito. Edi nabaliw-baliw na ako dito nyan! Ibang klase talaga technology!

Thank you, Skype [Facebook, Twitter and e-mail] for letting me talk to the people I love most despite the oceans between us.

16 days.

]]> http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/salamat-skype/feed/ 0 noellem05 Screen shot 2011-09-12 at 9.49.22 PM Screen shot 2011-10-19 at 10.11.29 AM Screen shot 2011-11-09 at 3.31.34 PM Screen shot 2011-09-30 at 8.02.56 PM Screen shot 2011-09-17 at 9.12.44 AM Screen shot 2011-10-01 at 3.58.57 PM Screen shot 2011-12-04 at 1.00.21 PM Screen shot 2011-12-04 at 12.55.35 PM Screen shot 2011-11-19 at 11.37.02 AM Screen shot 2011-11-19 at 11.23.54 AM Screen shot 2011-09-08 at 7.44.58 PM Screen shot 2011-09-20 at 12.08.18 AM Screen shot 2011-09-21 at 5.32.05 PM Screen shot 2011-09-26 at 9.45.04 PM Screen shot 2011-09-26 at 11.44.07 PM Screen shot 2011-09-15 at 7.05.55 PM Screen shot 2011-11-19 at 4.02.04 PM http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/la-cita-eterna/ http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/la-cita-eterna/#comments Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:11:45 +0000 Noelle M. http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/?p=652 ]]> 2nd destination of our loooong vacation was. . .

ROMA!

This city was nothing short of spectacular.

We spent 4 days here and it seemed too short for us! There’s just sooo many things to see here.

Day 1

We met up with Ras and Francis. We went to the Colosseo, but we didn’t go inside.

So here’s an interesting story for you kids. Outside the Colosseo you can find people dressed up in Gladiator costumes. They’ll call you and be nice to you and say that you can take a photo with them. So we did.

Ooooh! Ang saya pa namin o!

Then after they make you believe that you guys are friends and that they are nice, THEY WILL CHARGE YOU 20 EUROS EACH! TENGINE. I mean I know that I’ll pay them somehow but 20 effing Euros EACH! Kala ko mga donation effect lang e. So I haggled and told them that we’re students blah blah. They charged us 10 euros EACH. THE HELL.

WARNING! There are a lot of people like this in Rome and in Italy in general. I’ll tell you more “pandaraya” stories as we go along. So moral of the story is don’t get caught up with Gladiator costumes.

So anyway. . .

After walking around the Colosseo we went to St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican!

Going inside St. Peter’s Basilica

This place was really big and elaborate. Talk about Church of the poor.

La Pieta

Altar at St. Peter’s Basilica. We weren’t allowed to go near. May harang kasi.

Swiss Guards and their colorful and Avant Garde uniforms. Pag may nangyaring krimen, makakatakbo kaya sila sa suot nila?

Sobrang tagal namin nagstay here. We bought sandamukal na Rosaries for our families and we also sent some postcards! After naturally mahilo-hilo na kami sa gutom so we ate dinner.

Then began our search for Fontana di Trevi! In fair we walked up-down-all-around to find this fountain! Thankfully it was worth it. The fountain was really big and majestic. Kung medj batsa na may tubig lang to maiinis ako ng bongga.

There are special wishing chevers when you throw coins in the fountain.

1st coin ensures your return to Rome
2nd coin – you’ll fall in love with an Italian!
3rd – you’ll get married to that person.

Wag kayong mag-alala isang coin lang tinapon ko.

DAY 2 

Woke up bright and early to visit Museo Vaticano!

Garden inside Vatican Museum.

The round thing in the background is actually revolving! See!

We went to the Egyptian exhibit first.

It’s a Scarab!

THE MUMMY

Sobrang daming exhibitions! Kaloka! While walking around I bumped into Ange! Another JTA-er.

Here we are in the Room of Muses. :> Nakablend-in ako sa Chinese-ness nila.

What’s a trip to the Vatican Museum without going to the Sistine Chapel?

This place was unbelievable! The ceilings were so alive. And everything was covered in beautiful frescos. Unfortunately, you can’t take photos inside.

SO HERE ARE SOME SNEAKY PHOTOS I TOOK.

I took a lot of photos of the exhibits inside the museum. It’ll take me ages to finish this entry if were to include everything. So let’s fast forward to our next destination.

St. Peter’s Basilica, I took this picture while we were on our way to CASTEL SAN ANGELO. O! I almost forgot! We also went to the sites in ANGELS AND DEMONS. Castel San Angelo was one of them and so was St. Peter’s Basilica. Pinanood ko yung movie ulit when I got back in Nantes. And ang saya sabihin na “Hey! I’ve been to that place”

Bridge of Castel San Angelo.

Castel San Angelo. Walang Illuminati nung pumunta kami. Chos.

On our way to Piazza Del Poppolo, we saw a street exhibit of sorts. It was random items with witty captions to them.

These were some of my favorites!

Kung hindi mo nagets, sorry ka na lang.

Diba! May english translation din! Daig pa Louvre!

I won’t post pictures from Piazza Del Poppolo na lang. Wala rin naman kaming ginawa dun e haha!

We passed by The Spanish Steps. Hello naman sa super linaw kong picture, care of George my official photographer!

Another “mandurugas” story. May mga guys na umiikot with roses on hand preying on ladies. They’ll offer them to you saying that it’s a gift! DON’T ACCEPT THEM! They’ll ask some sort of payment after. Naganyan ako 2 times here sa Spanish Steps. THE HELL. As in they were really shoving it in my face and I was like: “NIGGA PLEASE, I DO NOT WANT THOSE DAMN ROSES!” It came to a point that sinabit na lang nila sa bag ko e! George, apart from being my official photog, he’s also my bodyguard, was quick enough to toss them back to the guy! Haha!

We were also supposed to meet up with the Rennes girls for dinner. So we went to all the places na kayang mapuntahan on the way to Piazza Navona!

We passed by a huge-ass gelato place! The people working there were Filipinos! Kirk, the guy working there, gave us FREE GELATOOOOOO!!!! Ewan ko kung alam to ng bosses niya. But he was badass that way. Just handing out those gelatos like a boss!

Gelato, is waaaaay better than ice cream. Once you went gelato, you’ll never see frozen treats of any kind the same. EVER. GELATOOOOOOOOO!!!

Enroute to Piazza Navona was The Pantheon!

O no big deal. Just chillin’ eating gelato under the Pantheon.

Ngayon ko lang narealize, wala akong matinong picture from Piazza Navona. Here we are with Natasha and the Rennes Girls! Photo was from Natasha. Ganda lang nung fountain. Kuhang kuha sa picture, no.

After a looong day of walking, DINNER!

We went to Trevi Fountain with everyone again.

THEN AFTER 2 MONTHS OF BEING IN EUROPE I FINALLY SAW KEVS AND ROCKY!!!! YEY!!!! I was running from one end of Roma Termini! Parang movie lang! ) BLOCK P!!!

JTA-ers! Nantes + Rennes + Dijon!

Photo’s from Natasha ulit!

Day well spent and well ended!

DAY 3

Dianne went back to Nantes na. She’s going to London with Iya for the weekend e. So I was left with the boys!

1st agenda of the day, aside from making sure Dianne got to the airport safe, was to meet the POPE! Every wednesday there’s and audience with the Pope. But we weren’t able to go in St. Peter’s Basilica na. Ang dami kasing tao. We just saw the Pope outside on the screen. So close yet so far.

Oh well papel! We still had a long day ahead of us! We still went inside the St. Peter’s Basilica and we went to confession and had all the rosaries we bought blessed.

After lunch we headed out on an Ancient Roman adventure! We took tours inside the Colosseo and Palatine Hill!

This place was huge! Imagine it was filled with bloodthirsty Romans before! INTENSE.

We had another tour guide waiting for us to take us to the Palatine Hill. Dito daw nagsimula yung buong Ancient Roman Rule! I’m not much of a history person but I got goosebumps while we were in this place. I don’t really know how to explain it. But it’s mainly about how time goes by and how past and present connect. Kakilabot how there were people here before and you can’t help but wonder, “pano pag ako naman yung “past” ng isang tao”.

Ruins of a Roman house! The tour guide said that Palatine Hill was where the affluent lived. The higher up in the hill you were, mas importante and powerful ka.

View of the Roman Forum from the Palatine Hill. This view was unbelievable in real life. Do you think the ancient Romans saw the same thing? Or maybe they saw something different, something grander and brighter perhaps.

I’m standing on the exact same stones the ancient romans used to walk on!

All boys!

ROMAN FORUM! Imagine living heeerreee!!!

I really love this picture! Swear, no post processing whatsoever. Just the sheer awesomeness of my Nikon.  If you haven’t noticed wala na akong nilalagay na “watermark” dahil sa sobrang dami ng bago kong pictures! Tinamad na ko! HAHA!

This is one long-ass entry. I absolutely love Roma! It’s the number 1 city in my list. History, culture and food. Super daming magagawa I think you can spend 5 days here and not get bored!

Arrivaderci, Roma!

We planned to go to ITALY-GREECE-SPAIN for those 10 days. Pero unfortunately hindi na kami nakapuntang Greece kasi medj shady yung time na dapat pupunta kami dun.

So ito naging itinerary namin:

ITALY

Milano
[pero stopover lang]

Venezia

Roma

Firenze [in place of Greece]

SPAIN

Barcelona

I took close to 500++ picture in this trip so I’ll separate the entries per place. Wala naman kaming masyadong ginawa sa Milano. Dun lang kasi yung flight namin. Hehe.

So first stop:
VENICE!

This is the view that’ll welcome you when you step out of the train station! BONGGA!

We just spent 1 day here, pero sulit! I think if you spend more than 3 days you might get bored.

Syempre si Homer pastar kahit kelan.

This is, hands down, the best pizza I’ve had in my life!

Delicious Limone Gelato! Once you’ve tasted Gelato, you’ll never go Ice Cream! Mayne! Heaven in your mouth! During this Italy trip I think I’ve eaten about 10-15 cups of Gelato. Mga average 3 per day! FRAGOLAAAAAAA THE BEST!

Shet. Namiss ko tuloy gelato

Venetian Canal.

Going up the Rialto Bridge!

View from the Rialto Bridge!

Here’s a nice history of the Rialto Bridge. Pakicheck lang kung anong mali

SHITBRIX!!!

Then we headed to Piazza San Marco!

Resting! Nilakad lang namin to from the train station to Rialto Bridge to here! Yung Piazza San Marco parang “coastline” na ng Venice!

One of the prettiest views I’ve seen so far.

Since we’re in Venice we rode a Gondola!!!

Going around the canals of Venice!

It’s Casanova’s house!

Going back to the gondola dock in Piazza San Marco

Nakita namin sila Ras and Francis! They’re both JTA-ers din. Remember Ras from my Paris post? We also saw Bea P., pero kasama niya parents niya e.

With our gondolier! Yung pagiging gondolier pala pinapasa from generation to generation!

Heading to ROMA!

]]> http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/venezia/feed/ 0 noellem05 DSCN2632 DSCN2630 DSCN2635 DSCN2640 DSCN2646 DSCN2647 DSCN2650 DSCN2652 DSCN2662 DSCN2663 DSCN2668 DSCN2670 DSCN2676 DSCN2677 DSCN2683 DSCN2684 DSCN2685 DSCN2688 DSCN2691 DSCN2690 DSCN2692 DSCN2694 DSCN2696 DSCN2719 http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/belgique/ http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/belgique/#comments Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:07:36 +0000 Noelle M. http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/?p=574 ]]> Last October 14-16 we were in BRUSSELS, BELGIUM!

Yes, that’s my hindi-pa-ako-naliligo-from-Paris look.

Since we’re travelling on a budget, we look for hostels that are fairly cheap. So with regard to accommodations our expectations aren’t that high. We just want a place to leave our things and pass out after a long day of walking around. And in Brussels we were pleasantly surprised sa nakuha naming bonggang room! It’s for 6 people but you can actually fit like 15 more people inside. You can have a mini party! They have WiFi, hot water, T.V. and breakfast!

In case you’re heading to Brussels we stayed at Brussels Royotel. Sulit talaga!

After checking in and picking Cham up in the train station we were STARVING! So we went to Grand Place!

We ordered set meals so they came with an appetizer, main course, dessert and drink.

Gambas

Dianne ordered ESCARGOT! In fair, masarap. Medj swampy pero keri lang. They served it in plates with special snail dividers haha!

Main course!

And of course, Belgian Waffle for dessert!

Then we went around Brussels Grand Place.

We also went to Manneken Piss! Yung mga nakikita niyong umiihing boys na statue sa mga fountain, SIYA YUN!!! Brussels icon pala siya.

After we went to the Atomium!

Next day [Saturday], dumating na si Iya! Yey! And we went to Brugge!

Syempre may photo-op din si Homer!

It’s a small town 1 hour away from Brussels. Medyo, “In a land far far away” yung theme niya.

Sabi din nila na it’s the “Venice of the North” kasi may mga canals din. So nag boat ride around the canals kami.

Black and white ang drama.

Then off to buy some BELGIAN CHOCOLATES! Yahoo! YUMMY!

We had dinner after choco-loko shopping! Had some Moule, another delicacy of  Belgium! YAMI.

Day 3 in Belgium, we went to the European Commission.

Teachin Cham how to pose. Kelangan pa niya ng commitment and conviction.

Vumogue.

Echos lang.

Hindi marunong yung mga boys.

It’s Homer time! Get it, get it?

After we took Iya to Grand Place!

It’s Homer at the Museum of Music in Brussels!

This is the best part of my trip!

Authentic Belgian Fries with scrumptious tartar sauce!!!

Strawberry Gaufre! It’s super light and crisp! Tapos sweet strawberries, chocolate and fluffy whipped cream! *DROOOOL*

Yey complete picture!

Bye, Belgium!

]]> http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/belgique/feed/ 0 noellem05 DSCN2401 DSCN2405 DSCN2418 DSCN2420 DSCN2421 DSCN2423 DSCN2431 DSCN2439 DSCN2440 DSCN2441 DSCN2445 DSCN2451 DSCN2470 DSCN2489 DSCN2487 DSCN2504 DSCN2520 DSCN2524 DSCN2534 DSCN2542 DSCN2543 DSCN2553 DSCN2564 DSCN2569 DSCN2570 DSCN2573 DSCN2577 DSCN2582 DSCN2589 DSCN2587 DSCN2595 http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/paris-deux/ http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/paris-deux/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:12:16 +0000 Noelle M. http://profoundexpectations.wordpress.com/?p=549 ]]>
So just after 1 week, we’re back in Paris! HAHA!

This time kasama na yung boys! We just stayed for 1 day, because we were on our way to Belgium and we had a long ass weekend.

So crash tours lang. We just went around and took pictures of the different sights around Paris.

First stop: THE LOUVRE!

Hindi kami pumasok though.

Yeah, we cool like that!

France na France!

Coolest picture ever!

Intense sa laki tong Louvre. Labas pa lang nakita namin a, ano pa kaya sa loob!

Then we went to Paris Opera House!

Hinintay namin si Phantom, wala e.

Then we went to Rue Rivoli. Shopping galore sa . . . H&M.

Saw this interesting building across the street.

After shopping, naturally, intense gutom comes next. We ate at a good Greek Restaurant.

Our waiter was really friendly. He told us that he had a Filipina lady friend from way baaaaack. Maybe it’s just us but we noticed his excitement and somehow longing when he told us his story. Haaaaay long lost love ang drama.

After eating we went to Notre Dame. Para makita naman ni Georgie!

Nice din pala siya pag gabi.

And here is where our mothereffing long walk began. Hello naman! Nilakad namin tong Notre Dame hanggang EIFFEL TOWER. ANAK NG KAMOTE. And it was all Joss’ brilliant idea. Kamote talaga. Mga ilang oras din kami naglakad! Ibang level.

But we got there rin naman, THANK GOD!