Europe

Day 16: Milan

We planned for a trip to Barcelona but when we reached Verona station, we realised that there is no direct train to Barcelona! Not sure if it is due to the World Cup disruption again.

We have to top up 70 euros for the seat and could not use the Eurail pass we have. Hence we decided to take a regional train to Milan instead.

Since we have been to Milan before, we just took some random walk in the city and hop on to Ventimiglia. We slept at the train station in Ventimiglia and caught the 4.30am train to Monaco, preparing to continue to Barcelona.

Day 17: Cannes and Nice

Unexpectedly, there was a flood in Monaco. Thus there was no train to Barcelona! We can only stay on in Cannes! It didn’t help when the locals were speaking in French and we could not understand.

We explored Cannes for 2 hours before deciding to spend the night in Nice.

At Nice, we found that there is bus to Marseilla and from there we could go to Barcelona! However, we have already booked the hostel in Nice and decided to just forsake Barcelona.

Nice was good. We love strolling by the beach.

Day 18: Switzerland Interlaken

It was raining and cold throughout the entire Switzerland trip. We took the golden pass and the scenery was magnificent. Saw many grassland and beautiful houses on mountain top. However, halfway through our journey, we fell asleep as we were too exhausted!

Day 19: Switzerland Interlaken

Bought some watches before we head off to next destination.

Day 20: Frankfurt

Frankfurt was a random stopover day trip before we head off to Paris! We were deciding on a midpoint as travelling directly from Interlaken to Paris by train will take too long.

We decided to save the hostel fees by sleeping in the airport.

Exploring Frankfurt city which is pretty small and mostly commercial business district.

Day 21: Paris Moulin Rouge

Reached Paris late at night as we spent time locating our friend’s house. So we just explored the Moulin Rouge area.

Day 22: Paris walking tour

Day 23: Paris, Shopping at Champs Elysees

Caught evening sunset from the top of Eiffel

Day 24: Paris, Notre Dame, Lourve Museum

Day 25: Brussels walking tour

Joined a walking tour that brought us to the famous peeing boy statue.

Day 26: Brussels to Amsterdam

We wanted to visit the Atomium but decided to give it a miss as we were just too exhausted towards the end of the trip. We were randomly walking around the city, looking for good Belgium chocolates.

We were supposed to head to Amsterdam but we missed the last train so ended up sleeping in the airport… again! 😦

Day 27: Amsterdam, walking tour, red light district

Apparently in Amsterdam, guys can pee anywhere!

No photo-taking allowed and I think it is also good to respect the ladies who are working there.

Day 28: Rotterdam

Went to Rotterdam for some country sightseeing

Final shopping stop: Primark! Really cheap!

Day 29: Amsterdam to Copenhagen

After almost a month of travelling, we finally headed back to Copenhagen, our sweet hostel home. We had an awesome adventure but cannot wait to return to our hostel to have a good rest!

This shoe-string budget Europe trip is so memorable even in years to come.

Day 1

With our backpacks, we are ready to explore Arctic Circle! Ironically, we didn’t know the place we’re going is already in Arctic Circle!

After 5 hours from Copenhagen, we reached Stockholm (capital of Sweden) central station.

Our 2nd Burger King meal. Because it’s one of the cheapest in Sweden! But we really felt so unhealthy because we didn’t eat much vege and fruits in Denmark. And now in Sweden we have limited water supply. We cant refill in toilet like in Denmark because the toilets in Sweden are ridiculously expensive! SGD2!

From Stockholm, we boarded a night train to Abisko.

Because our night train was delayed for 1 and half hour, we got a complimentary sandwich and drink for our next train to Abisko!

Day 2

Finally reached Abisko! After such a long ride!

Our room. I booked a 6 bed bunk but the owner was nice enough to give us 2 beds room to ourselves while still charging us the 6 bed’s rate.

Kitchen. For this price that we paid, like 30SGD per night, it’s actually very good. Especially in such a far North place!

And we’re back to childhood times!

Abisko, paradise on Earth.

We are 2 proud Singaporeans!

The sky that I saw while lying on the frozen lake.

We suddenly wanted to ski on the frozen lake! So we rushed back to hostel and get our ski equipment!

First time skiing!

And then we caught the Northern Light! So touched! Although it was not as spectacular as the night before which we missed. Our trip was not wasted! But I know I can’t capture it on my lousy camera so I just stored it in my memory =)

Way back home after Northern Light adventure.

It was snowing. Abisko was the place where we last saw snow.

Day 3

We decided to go for dog sled despite the ridiculous high price because so many people kept saying “YOU MUST GO. IT’s SO GOOD”. It’s 200SGD for less than an hour of dog sled session.

We travelled to Björkliden for the dog sled. Our hostel actually offers a dog sled package for only 900SEK but it was fully booked!

You can see the word Narvik on the screen if you zoomed in. Narvik is in Norway and if we just board the train for another like 10-20 min, we’d reach Norway!

Everywhere looks so beautiful. Stunning.

Can you see a U-shaped between 2 mountains? That’s the legendary lapp-gate. Apparently, it’s very well-known to the Swedish.

These dogs are big and looked fierce but they are very friendly!

Dog sled tour.

The guides and the dogs brought us to the mountain top and the view was AMAZING.

The sun was fabulous!

We saw some good location to ski in Björkliden and we wanted to come back tomorrow to ski but because we missed the train so we ended up skiing in Abisko, just outside our hostel. It wasn’t bad.

After the ski, we decided since we have some time we shall go find that National park and the legendary frozen waterfall!

Without any map nor people to ask, we embarked on our adventure! We decided to walk along the highway even though the hostel lady advised us never to walk on highway because the cars are very fast. There wasn’t any public transport too.

The highway with cars driving passed us at 300km/h! We feared for our life whenever big trucks drove pass us.

After 40-50 minutes of walk, we finally reached National park!

And this is the legendary frozen waterfall. We were amazed how the cold get freeze the running waterfall at that moment.

And that marks the end of our Arctic Circle trip. Stockholm tomorrow!

Day 4

Stockholm

Stockholm is more vibrant than Copenhagen! I think not many people come to Denmark because

1) Tax is high so things are so so expensive

2) Nothing much in Denmark.

Sunday is a dead town in Copenhagen as nothing is opened except for museums and restaurants. Even supermarkets are closed. But still Copenhagen is a nice place to live in. People are really nice!