WANDERLUST DIARIES: PARIS

Paris was so very lovely. Honestly, I thought I'd be here for my honeymoon. But then again, considering how negative I feel towards marriage, chances are I will never be here for a honeymoon. Hahaha. It was still lovely nonetheless. Our AirBnb apartment allowed us to view Paris from such a pretty angle, and we were just situated right above Luxembourg Gardens - THAT PLACE is gorgeous. Jiahui & I dubbed that place as the Hyde Park of Paris. HAHAHAHA. The guy who rented the apartment to us was this really nice old gentleman named Alain, who spent quite a fair bit of time explaining things to us. He was so nice! 

So yes, we did touristy stuff such as visiting the Eiffel tower, Arc De Triumph and the Louvre (must go of course), and also did abit of underground things such as visiting the Catacombs of Paris, an underground mass graveyard where skeletal remains are stacked into pretty geometric patterns. I love that place. It had this morbid sense of beauty, something along the lines of the beauty of death.

And I also managed to visit Père Lachaise Cemetery who housed Oscar Wilde's tomb!?!?!? It was overwhelming. I spent so long in that place - partially because I got lost but that's okay. Food there was GREAT! We had a 3-course French Cuisine topped up with a set of cheese fondue. Excessive consumption of pastries began. Macarons, nougats, dark chocolates. EVERYTHING.

I really love getting lost in foreign places. It allows you to discover the beauty of the place, unplanned. I think we should all get lost once in awhile. 

Must visit places, if you're kinda like me:

Père Lachaise Cemetery

Le Cimetiere des Chiens (Pet Cemetery)

Jardin du Luxembourg

Catacombs of Paris

Eiffel Tower (duh)
Arc de Triomphe (duhz)

Louvre (duhzz)

Arc de Triomphe Carrousel

Galeries Lafayette

Champ Elysees

St. Germain des Pres area

Deyrolle - taxidermy

Luxembourg Garden! Btw, the trees all seemed to be trimmed to such geometric extent. It's hilarious and pretty at the same time. Hahaha.

The ever hospitable Mona, who waited for us patiently. She even took a photo with us despite the mad crowd. <3 You're the best, Mona.

The reason why Oscar Wilde's tomb is glassed up is because people were planting kisses and writing things on his tomb. But still, it was amazing being able to see this Irish author's final place of residence. :')

So yep, this officially concludes my mini Europe tour. It wasn't even an extensive roam-around. I merely had the chance to visit UK, and the others were just planned on a whim because #youdontgettotraveltoeuropeeversooften.

Thanks for the memories :)

WANDERLUST DIARIES: BERLIN

AMSTERDAM 🚄🚄🚄 BERLIN

We went to Berlin from Amsterdam, via train. It wasn't exactly a long tedious journey, but 6 hours sitting is no joke. Of course, the beautiful scenery compensated alot for the length of the journey. Beautiful landscapes and dainty houses along the way to Berlin.

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect in Berlin. We didn't google much on it either. It just felt that it was one of the must-go places because we've read so much of its history. From the war, to the concentration camps and killings, I thought that this was one of the places that we had to go, in order to set our perspectives in life straight.

True enough, it was nothing like how we could have imagine. It was like we entered this post-war apocalyptic world by chance. Graffiti everywhere. The buildings are grey and more grey. And the people were a quiet bunch. The nights were not as happening as we though it would be. But the information about the country was amazing. Visited the Berlin Wall, Topography of Terror and of course, Kreuzberg - alone. Kreuzberg was chill and laidback, definity one of the more hipster places I've ever step foot on. Despite the fact that I got lost.. It was really good. I love it. It was a good break from all of the extensive city-walking we were doing in the past few weeks.

Spoke to one of the locals (who spoke English, thank God!) and she mentioned that Berlin is much more upbeat during Summer. People are all kinda mehhhh during winter, so that explains.

And because it was winter, and I, as one of the people there, was feeling kinda mehhh as well. So I didn't snap much. Maybe I have more on my film camera, but not in digital format. #hipstermodeon

Must Visit Places, if you're kinda like me:

Kreuzberg

Cake & Death Cafe

Topography of Terror

Berlin Wall Museum

Hakischer Markt

Friedrichschain

I think I will definitely visit Berlin again. Perhaps in the summer where there are more things to do, and I can pack light. :) And I really wanna give Berlin a hug, I don't know why.

The off we went to the City of Love - Paris.