Places Studious Students Are Not

Hello - sorry for the long delay, however I've had exams, moving out of my Swiss home (so sad), saying goodbye to friends, travelling around Europe with family and now travelling again by myself. I shall try to keep the post short one words and long on photos.

So a couple of months ago, I was not going to Stuttgart. I was staying home, doing group work for the weekend. Twelve hours later, I was on a train, going to Stuttgart. This is how exchange works in a nutshell. Stuttgart wasn't really that exciting; it's known for being the home of Mercedes-Benz, which is why I'm now the proud owner of a brand new black SLS. Admittedly, at 10 cm, it's not going to get me far, but hey, at least I now own a Mercedes Benz.

 The actual Mercedes Benz Museum building

I figure unless you're really into Mercedes Benz, you're not going to want to see a lot of these photos. On the other hand, Barcelona is far more enjoyable set of photos. Ji Nin & I once mopey in University Bar about the impending end of our jetset lives and close-proximity friendship decided to do the only appropriate thing for this kind of situation: go to Barcelona for the weekend.

 So you may notice a small Swiss bear on my shoulder here and may be wondering why. On route to Barcelona, Ji Nin and I were reading through the duty free catalogue and noticed Swiss bears for sale. As the responsible adults we are, we decided to buy one each. Sadly however, they only had one left. As a solution to the bear shortage, Ji Nin decided to get a watch and listen to me coo over our newly adopted Swiss bear, Baron Pilatus von Bar (of Bern). As this holiday was bittersweet, as it would be the last time we would travel together, we decided to include him in many of our photos.

 Colombus

 On the day we left, we decided to wake up early, walk down to the harbour and take photos of the sunrise, while lamenting about the cold and how we missed the sea.

 While you may have already seen a photo of Sangrada Familia with a Swiss bear, we didn't actually go in that day. Instead, we decided to visit after our sunrise on the harbour photo taking session. The best thing about the church? It isn't Gothic or Baroque. Also, Ji Nin loved the dance I did to 'Call Me Maybe' at a nearby cafe. Ask her if you don't believe me.

 A Gauidi-designed park which somehow ended up in the photos of the Gauidi-designed church

 A street's sidewalk

Another Gauidi designed building.

Ji Nin and I both hadn't expressed a desire before to visit Barcelona, but after our trip, I'd have to say it was probably one of the most beautiful cities I'd visited, and was a great place to visit. That said, a Swedish friend told me we didn't have a true Barcelona experience as we weren't mugged. Oh well. On a final note on Barcelona, here's Ji Nin's favourite photo of me ever:

Of course the adventures of Ji Nin & Luke didn't end, as one night (1 am to be exact), that strange atmospheric condition returned, and Ji Nin and I once again did the responsible adult thing, abandoned all our study, and went and played in it:

 Suffice to say, the night was magical. The study however was not.

Other Swiss adventures included ice-skating and skiing, with photos herewith:

 This lovely girl is Kathryn, from Manchester. Ji Nin & I went skiing with her. Kathryn & I will forever more have a bond of being completely incompetent when it comes to skiing/snowboarding.

 Apres-skiing. The mug in front of Kathryn is now in my possession, thanks to Kathryn. She wasn't letting her drink go to waste despite having to leave.

 The girls are going to hate me for this photo. Hence I only feel it's fair to include the one below:

This is me, being helped out of a Swiss river that I spectacularly skied into. It became the number one talked about story from the Exchange Student Ski Day.

 Another photo of St Gallen

 This is a lovely photo of Kathryn, Eloise & I ice-skating. Don't we all look happy? Now, contrast this photo with the next:

 Some more photos of St Gallen (I keep finding these photos in places on my camera or computer)

 Eloise and I decided one night to try a local restaurant that served horse. In case you're wondering, it was delicious and tasted like really tender steak

<And then I did some exams, moved out of Switzerland, got my bond back, hid a broken suitcase, lost a scarf, met my parents and grandmother back in Prague>

Our first tour took us through Prague, Vienna and Budapest over Christmas (Christmas itself was spent in Vienna). Sadly, it did not snow there, but we still had an amazing time.

First stop - Prague. As you know, I've already been to Prague, but I have to say, with the Christmas markets it was amazing (as you can see)

On route to Vienna, we stopped by the small, quaint Czech town of Cesky Krumlov. As you'd expect in a small, Czech town, it has a castle district and is pretty much built on a river island.

 Baron Pilatus's cousin eating his Christmas feast

We arrived in Vienna on Christmas Eve, went to a Christmas Concert and spent our Christmas Day exploring Vienna's many Christmas markets and stunning architecture.

 St Stephen's Cathedral on Christmas Day

 Schonbrunnen Palace (and Christmas markets) - Also Christmas Day

 Our Christmas Dinner in a hunting lodge

 More Christmas Markets

 The Hapsburg Crypt

 The Vienna Opera House

 Our Christmas Eve concert

Next was three days in Budapest, which much like Barcelona, was a city with unknown beauty. If you ever go to Budapest, you must see it at night:

 St Stephen's Cathedral

 The Grand Palace (I think that's what it was called...)

 The Parliament House

 Chain Bridge

 Fisherman's Bastion

 Ice Skating Resort

 The Fine Arts Gallery

 The Architecture Museum

 The Modern Art Gallery

As previously stated

 

Our adventure through the former Austro-Hungarian Empire was followed up with six days in mainland Greece:

 The Monasteries near Kalambaka

 After taking this shot, our guide told us how the monks live a traditional life. I then saw a monk outside, with mug of coffee in one hand and mobile in other.

 Monument to the Battle of 300

 Beautiful Delphi

 At the Delphi Museum/Ruins

 Greek coastline

 In the Olympia Museum/Ruins

 Dad & I about to run the original Olympic track

 Nafpoli

 Athens

 We stood here in the rain for 30 minutes to watch the Changing of the Guard. They decided to cancel it.

 The first modern Olympic Stadium

 Temple of Zeus

 Tourists with umbrellas will be the death of me

 On the Acropolis, where I was nearly deported for taking a photo of a bear in front of the Parthenon.

Considering I have close to seven hundred photos regarding Italy (I'm typing to you from the Cinque Terre!), I'm going to have to get back to you on those ones, but I hope nonetheless you've enjoyed these photos so far, and knowing I'm not dead!