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Lisbon 2007

Sibylle and I went for a 5-day vacation in Portugal's capital, which was much beautiful than expected. Honestly, I can recommend Lisbon to anyone, especially off-season, when it's not crowded at all.

The city center has great charm, despite the obvious signs of neglect with many houses. It's just really, really pretty, and walking up and down the hills was totally worth the effort of taking it in at a leisurely pace. Even at the beginning of March the weather was great – we spent Saturday basking in the sun on the nearby beach in Estoril (much prettier than the one in Cascais, right next to it). Another daytrip was to Sintra – trains are very cheap, and the traditional little cakes alone worth the journey, not to speak of the cute town and impressive castles. It's not for nothing a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Also, the people are very friendly, a lot of them speak at least a bit of English or French – if we looked lost for even a second, someone always came to us and helped us find our way.

Lisbon 2007 . Lisbon 2007 . Lisbon 2007 . Lisbon 2007

You can find more photos in my Flickr album.

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Como 2006

Oops, I seem to have forgotten to share the photos from my vacation with Sibylle! In June we went to Como in Northern Italy for a week, staying at a beautiful B&B in Erba (half an hour's bus ride from Como) and doing several excursions in the area. It was a great holiday – and I can heartily recommend Le Due Torrette, owned by the wonderful Adriana! 🙂

Lake Como . Lake Como . Lake Como

Click for full size and see the rest in my Flickr album!

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Berlin 2006

I planned on posting about the family trip to Berlin much earlier, but things (i.e., my thesis) got in the way. Now I thought it might be nice to share the photos I took before the ones from last week's trip to Northern Italy… *g*

My parents went earlier and visited Dresden together with my aunt Leona, before all three met up with my brother and I in Germany's capital. I liked it better than I expected, truth be told, although the weather was quite dreadful and I was cold most of the time.

Highlights, roughly in chronological order: visiting the Pergamon museum; meeting and going to see X3 with her; yummy Chinese food in the historic Nikolai quarter; a boat trip along the Spree and the Landwehrkanal, past many of Berlin's sights including parts of the famous Wall; DVDs at good value; spending an afternoon with some distant but very nice relatives.

Berlin . Berlin . Berlin

More? Check out my Flickr album!

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Japan soundtrack

As I'm trying to find my footing here again, I've played around with something: Before I left, I created a 'good stuff' playlist – just random songs (74 of them) I enjoyed, some new, some old.

I actually didn't listen to as much music on this trip as I normally do, mainly because in Japan as a rule there's always a certain level of background noise, but a number of the songs did come to mean quite a lot to me, and I'll probably always connect them to this journey from now on. I thought I'd share this 'ultimate' playlist with you, including some words why I chose these songs. Hope you like it!

Japan 2005 – a travel soundtrack
1. Kaze Wo Atsumete – Happy End (From 'Lost in Translation', a movie that describes my experiences quite well.)
2. 99 Luftballons – Nena (German 80s hit song – first song I ever sang in a karaoke box!)
3. You're Beautiful – James Blunt (My current goosebump song.)
4. The Blood of Cu Chulainn – Jeff & Michael Danna (From the 'Boondock Saints' soundtrack, a song that never fails to make my mind travel.)
5. One Line – P.J. Harvey (Very intense – it has come to be my ultimate 'Professionals' song and I would kill for a fanvid using it…)
6. Und wenn ein Lied РȘhne Mannheims (Not normally my music, this song reminds me of and traveling with her.)
7. Under the Milky Way Tonight – The Church (This was my New Zealand song, even before I knew that The Church are a kiwi band.)
8. Die Katze – Annett Louisan (One of the songs I sang to myself when I was walking in the mountains, although the voice of the singer takes a bit of getting used to.)
9. Jerk It Out – Caesar's Palace (The iPod song – I might have danced to it out in a field, when no one was watching. *g*)
10. I schänke dir mis Härz – ZüriWest (I felt the need for music in my own language sometimes, and this is an all-time favorite.)
11. The Blower's Daughter – Damien Rice (Another goosebump song, for some reason I keep forgetting how beautiful it is.)
12. When Doves Cry – Ginuwine (After Baz Luhrman's 'Romeo & Juliet' I just adored this song – for this trip, I dug it out again.)
13. Sitting Waiting Wishing – Jack Johnson (Jack Johnson makes excellent travel music – and this song reminds me of the hours I spent waiting for connecting trains… *g*)
14. Your Song – Keane (I think shared this cover just before I left and I kept listening to it on repeat.)
15. Good Life – Leslie Mills (Discovered this song a couple of years ago through a website that used the phrase 'raspberry sun' – I just love the lyrics, they're so me.)
16. W. Nuss vo Bümpliz – Patent Ochsner (Another Swiss German song that's been a favorite of mine for years.)
17. Ice Cream – Sarah McLachlan (Heard this song on 'Felicity' one time, loved that it mentioned chocolate – and it led me to discover Sarah McLachlan.)
18. Universe – Savage Garden (Will always remind me of a certain special morning in Southampton when I was 17 – one of the few songs that I find truly sexy.)
19. A Sorta Fairytale – Tori Amos (Probably my favorite Tori song.)
20. Almost Human – Voltaire (A chance discovery, this just speaks to me.)
21. Heimweh – Plüsch (This song is called 'homesick', and I listened to it whenever I missed home or felt lost in this strange country – it always cheered me up, strangely enough.)

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Singapore airport

So now I'm on my way home and Japan is really behind me. Had a lovely day yesterday, though – karaoke in those little karaoke 'boxes' really is a lot of fun, and the National Museum was very interesting, too. I even managed to fit all the books and souvenirs I'd bought into my suitcase, yay! *g*

The first leg of the flight was uneventful, except that once more I had special requests – in this case that I wanted to cancel my special request: The nut-free/vegetarian meal they served me last time wats so flavorless that I decided to just risk it and eat the regular meal. There's always a choice of two meals, after all, so I shouldn't have a problem avoiding peanuts…

Now I'll hang around the airport for five hours or so. They have a lot of stuff here for passengers in transit, some of them even free – I might check out the movie theatre and grab a bite to eat, as luckily I kept 10 Singapore dollars. And my mobile is working again, how exciting! 😉

Well, enough for now, maybe I'll get bored later. If not, my next post will be from my laptop at home…

ETA: Ha, I found a TV where an episode of my beloved Gilmore Girls was showing – and fifth season, too! 😀

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Last day

Today is my last day in Japan – tomorrow will be spent traveling, and Monday morning I'll arrive in Switzerland. Because my plane will arrive early no train from Basel gets to the airport in time, so I'll have to make my own way home, sadly enough… But enough of this, as I'll have six hours in Singapore tomorrow evening, part of which I'll probably spent online. (Also, I mastered the apostrophe on this keyboard, yay!)

In my last post I was talking about going to Nikko, wasn't I? That was really lovely, and we even had time to drive over to a very impressive waterfall in the mountains. Back in Tokyo in the evening, I quickly checked into the other youth hostel and was then taken to the Katayama family's home, where a wonderful feast was waiting for us three travellers. It was incredible, with an amazing number of dishes, one better than the other – and they had even baked a cake for me, which said 'Welcome Eva!' I did feel a bit self-conscious, though, because apparently my chattiness is quite unusual for Japanese standards, as Mr. Katayama pointed out to me – several times… 😉

But anyway, I don't think anyone's ever done anything like this for me before and can't thank the Katayamas enough for their hospitality.

Yesterday I met up with Mie again (who might be reading this!*waves*) and we went all over Tokyo looking at shops and stores. You wouldn't believe some of the things you can buy here! (Amy – we went to a Chinese place for lunch, because they had chive dumplings like the one we ate in Bugis that day…) Among lots of glitter, impractical winter clothing and fake fur, I found a beautiful skirt (which I'm wearing right now) and some other bits and pieces, including several goodies from 'Snoopy World', where I felt right at home, of course. *g* I wasn't succesful in my quest for a nice pair of boots, but that's okay – I just have to accept that my taste isn't the fashion right now… In any case, I had a lovely time with Mie and ended the day on the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, looking out over Tokyo by night.

Today I'm meeting Nozomi and her friend Yoko (who I already met at the dinner on Thursday) and we'll go to one of the karaoke places. Definitely looking forward to that, as Sabine hooked me on this Japanese pastime back in Kumamoto… *g* I then plan on getting a last taste of Japanese culture by going to the National Museum, which is supposed to be really good.

Well, I didn't mean to go on like this, but it just happened, as it does… Guess I'll talk to you guys soon – take care of yourselves! *hugs*

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Tokyo

Slowly but surely it is getting to the point where I have to count the hours I have left to spend in Japan… On Tuesday, after traveling all day, I was picked up by two friendly young ladies, Nozomi and Mie (who is half-Swiss French) at Tokyo station, who brought me safely to my hostel and spoke excellent English, much to my relief!

Wednesday I then spent sightseeing – gardens, shrines, the impressive financial district and the Imperial Palace (from the outside, at least). Yesterday Nozomis father (sorry, cant find the apostrophe on this keyboard) drove Mie and me to Nikko, where we saw some impressive temples situated in beautiful big forests.

Okay, time is up – more tomorrow!

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Sapporo again

Had a lovely relaxing time in Sounkyo (although the weather didn't always cooperate and the famous gorge was partly closed due to rockslides) and the farming village of Bibaushi, where I rambled over the fields and stayed up late (until almost 11pm! *g*) chatting with a nice bloke from Amsterdam.

Only back here in familiar Sapporo for one night, as tomorrow it'll be ten hours on three different trains to get down to Tokyo, for the last part of my trip. In one week I'll be back home! But right now I'm still enjoying myself in Hokkaido – and tonight I'll be sleeping in one of those (in)famous capsule hotels! I'm curious to see how it is and hope I won't get claustrophobic. The hotel also happens to be a spa, but since I have a tattoo (how shocking!) I'm actually not allowed to use it. A girl at the tourist information (where of course I am typing this entry) explained to me that this rule goes back to members of the Japanese mafia having tattoos. I guess I'll just dash in later tonight for a quick dip (since I'm still not tired of the pleasures of Japanese baths) and hope I won't get in trouble… *

It's only 6.15 now but already pitch dark. I don't think I'll ever get used to this. I'll be heading in the direction of the hotel now (situated in the 'red-light' district of Sapporo), grabbing something to eat and provisions for tomorrow on the way. I'll be talking to you again from Tokyo, I'm sure.

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In the mountains

I must say, it feels good to be out of cities for a spell… Much less stressful rushing around, more just taking the beautiful nature in. Of course, the mountains are not specifically Japanese, but they're sporting the most beautiful autumn colors – and yesterday, I even saw snow!

Glad to say it was only at the top of Asahi-dake, the highest mountain, but still, it's definitely much cooler here. I even bought a pair of gloves, because they told me at the hostel that it'd be around freezing on the mountain. So I didn't bring those long-sleeved sweaters in vain after all… 🙂

Now I'm in Sounkyo, where there's a famous gorge to be seen. I'll do that tomorrow, though, when I have a full day. Can't check in here until 4pm, so when I log off here (it's nice and cheap) I'll go for a wander around town and maybe later for a nice bath at the hot springs. I'll get all relaxed just thinking about it! *g*

Brought my own provisions so I'll be self-sufficient – although the meal at the hostel last night was very nice (despite me not knowing what the heck I was eating), it's just too expensive. Especially now that I've learned that I have to stay in youth hostels after all in Tokyo – the people my cousin got me in touch with will 'only' play guides, not hosts. But (as long as I don't think of the costs too much *g*) that's completely alright, as it leaves me more freedom to come and go as I please. But that's in the future – now I'm off. Just hope my foot won't bother me too much…