THAILAND | Monday, 24 Nov 2008 | Views [852]
Truth be told, I have been to Bangkok more times than to any other city outside Manila. Indulge me while I do the math. 1997-2008 without a miss multiplied by 4 times a year, initially for leisure then mostly for work. It is an understatement to say ... Read more >
Tags: airport, bangkok, phuket, thailand
FRANCE | Sunday, 22 Apr 2007 | Photo Gallery
Paris
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SWITZERLAND | Wednesday, 18 Apr 2007 | Photo Gallery
Lausanne and Geneva
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ITALY | Tuesday, 17 Apr 2007 | Views [754] | Comments [1]
It's a known fact that Florence houses one of the best museums in the world, the Uffizi. My guidebook said that Uffizi has the largest collection of Renaissance art in the world. Well, obviously. I would be disappointed if it had at least one artwork ... Read more >
Tags: arts, birth of venus, boticelli, culture, david, florence, italy, museo de accademia, museum, uffizi
ITALY | Monday, 16 Apr 2007 | Views [2510] | Comments [2]
I was a boy scout with a mission when I woke up on my second day in Florence. I will go where few Filipinos have ventured before. I will go to a little obscure town named Montevarchi. All for the one thing we mortals cannot resist to do when we travel, ... Read more >
Tags: cab, italy, montevarchi, outlet, prada, shopping, taxi
ITALY | Sunday, 15 Apr 2007 | Views [696]
Goodbye Rome as I checked out of my hotel, took a cab to Termini and rode the train to Florence. Florence was the first stop to this train ride that actually would go to Milan. Like all my train rides in Italy, this was also a non event, except that ... Read more >
Tags: culture, david, duomo, florence, italy, ponte vecchio, rome, sightseeing, train, trattoria
ITALY | Saturday, 14 Apr 2007 | Views [730]
I really thought long and hard on how to spend my last full day in Rome. I have seen all the major tourist traps and I wanted none of it anymore. So I decided to catch a train to Pisa. So off to Termini I went, bought myself a ticket and waited for ... Read more >
Tags: italy, leaning tower, pisa, termini, train
ITALY | Friday, 13 Apr 2007 | Views [662]
I heard people who have been there say that nothing can prepare you for the Vatican. Yet still I had to come prepared for it. I arrived at exactly 8 am only to be greeted by a long, long, lone line of people who were ahead of me. The line snaked ... Read more >
Tags: churches, rome, sistine chapel, vatican
ITALY | Thursday, 12 Apr 2007 | Views [668]
I woke up late today for the first time in a long while since I started my travel. Primarily because I wasn't jetlagging anymore. Today I promised myself, I am going to take everything slow. I relished my breakfast which was plentiful in my lovely ... Read more >
Tags: american tourists, colosseo, fora romano, palatino, piazza navona, roman forum, rome, sightseeing
ITALY | Wednesday, 11 Apr 2007 | Photo Gallery
Rome, Pisa and Florence
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ITALY | Wednesday, 11 Apr 2007 | Views [732]
An adrenaline rush woke me too early in my last morning in Madrid. Good, because I had to catch a 7 am flight to Rome. Bad, because it was a feeling of agitation over the unknown. It was my first time to fly budget outside the Philippines so I didn't ... Read more >
Tags: airports, fountain of trevi, madrid, pantheon, rome, spanish steps
SPAIN | Tuesday, 10 Apr 2007 | Views [735] | Comments [1]
I read a lot about Prado Museum, how it's been described as one of the world's best with a very rich collection of Spanish masters. I was therefore excited to see it. That was the agenda for the day for me. After breakfast, I was off. Prado didn't disappoint ... Read more >
Tags: culture, goya, las meninas, los burachos, madrid, picasso, prado, spain, velasquez
SPAIN | Monday, 9 Apr 2007 | Views [683]
In Madrid, I was back having breakfast in my hotel. It's always a pleasant experience taking my time to eat bagels, jam and some fruit while planning what I was to do for the day. The experience was made more pleasant by the nice Pinay staff I met at ... Read more >
Tags: culture, madrid, palacio real, parque del oriente, picasso, plaza mayor, prado, reina sofia museum, spain
SPAIN | Sunday, 8 Apr 2007 | Views [754]
My Easter Sunday consisted of a lot of thinking time on the train to Madrid. The 4 hour trip from Estacio Sants wasn't bad at all. Reflecting on what I have experienced so far in this trip was pleasantly interrupted from time to time by the spectacular ... Read more >
Tags: filipino, madrid, metro, philippines, planes trains & automobiles, spain
SPAIN | Saturday, 7 Apr 2007 | Views [683] | Comments [1]
My last day in Barcelona would take me from one end of the city, Park Guell high up on a hill, to the other end, the Olympic Stadium near the sea. This meant that I had to master the metro system. And on my last day, I did just that. Reaching Park Guell ... Read more >
Tags: barcelona, montjuic, park guell, perdrera, plau bastillo, sightseeing, spain
SPAIN | Friday, 6 Apr 2007 | Views [756]
I arrived in Barcelona early in the morning of Good Friday. Sleepy-eyed travellers were walking like zombies to a city that felt deserted. I was more like a sleep deprived zombie stepping inside a taxi. The cabbie didn't speak a word of English. The ... Read more >
Tags: barcelona, gaudi, sagrada familia, sightseeing, spain
SPAIN | Friday, 6 Apr 2007 | Photo Gallery
Madrid and Barcelona
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FRANCE | Thursday, 5 Apr 2007 | Views [845]
I left Amsteram early, catching the train back to Paris where I will ride my next train to Barcelona. I knew it would be a long day of travelling so I mentally prepared myself for the worst.
I finally arrived in Paris. I had to get to Gare du Austerlitz, ... Read more >
Tags: barcelona, france, paris, planes trains & automobiles, spain
NETHERLANDS | Wednesday, 4 Apr 2007 | Views [727]
The wonderful thing about not being anal about your vacation plans is that there's no pressure to come up with what to do when that day comes. And I learned this early in my trip. In fact, on my third day, I still had no game plan on what to do what ... Read more >
Tags: amsterdam, bath house, idle, netherlands, shopping, sightseeing
NETHERLANDS | Tuesday, 3 Apr 2007 | Views [750]
I woke up to a wet Tuesday morning. It was definitely much colder today than when I arrived. I still wanted to curl up in bed but I was too awake already. I really had a good night sleep, with a little help from legalized cannabis.
I decided to hit ... Read more >
Tags: amsterdam, anne frank, culture, museum, netherlands, van gogh
NETHERLANDS | Monday, 2 Apr 2007 | Photo Gallery
Amsterdam
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FRANCE | Monday, 2 Apr 2007 | Views [1025]
Finally landing in Paris. From the plane I saw the Eiffel Tower and had a good bearing of the city from the many times I had gone through the map of the city back home. Touchdown. I was in Paris. It felt both surreal and real at the same time.
I ... Read more >
Tags: airports, amsterdam, france, immigration, netherlands, paris, train
