Aachen Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market), Germany - 28 November 2006

 

A hop and skip away from Maastricht in the Netherlands was Aachen, Germany, where some friends and I spent a day of sightseeing, eating and shopping. The festive spirit at Aachen's Christmas market was all-consuming with colorful Christmas lights, holiday trinkets and decorations, handmade crafts, heart-warming wine, and local food like wieners and Christmas sweets. What a great way to kick off the holiday season!

Paris, France - 25-26 November 2006

A familiar landmark - La Tour Eiffel

'Ooh-la-la...Pa-ree!' C'est bon la vie en Paris. Personally, I find most Parisians to be contradictory: self-assured yet passive/melancholic, contemporary yet traditional, authentic yet pensive, sweet and bitter... They have much to be proud of - Paris is after all the capital of a national culture that is steeped in a long history of conquests that have contributed abundantly to the world's literature, art, science and modern inventions. Some pics of my weekend sojourn in Paris below:

Above: At the Lourve; for those who recall, the Lourve was a focal point of The Da Vinci Code book/blockbuster

Above: The Winged Victory (Nike) of Samothrace in the Lourve - a marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory)

Above left: The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci in the Lourve; above right: Venus de Milo in the Lourve

Above: Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss (1787) by Antonio Canova in the Lourve

Above left: An ING Direct Cafe - so cool!; above right: Borat was a hit amongst some of us - here, a poster of Borat in the Paris subway

Basilique du Sacre-Coeur

Arc de Triomphe

Antwerp, Belgium - 14 October 2006

Madrid, Spain - 6-8 October 2006

Madrid's emblem: el oso y el madroño (The bear and the madrono)

I played hooky on Friday to spend the extended weekend in Madrid with my Bhutanese friend, Tashi. We rode the train up to Schiphol Amsterdam from Maastricht to catch the flight out to Madrid on Vueling Airlines, a new low-budget carrier from Spain. Our first priority upon arrival at the Spanish capital on Saturday morning was to look for a room to overnight. We lucked out to find one for E55 at Hostal La Perla Asturiana near the heart of the city in Puerta del Sol. Sweet.

Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, home to the famous Real Madrid football club, was on our must-see list. Tashi is a huge fan of the club thanks to her hero Raul Gonzalez who plays for the team. Other big names of the club include Beckham, Zidane and Ronaldo. 

Food was (and always will be) a highlight for the trip. We indulged in tapas, sangria, chocolate con churros o porras, gelato and smoked meats in the short time we were there. This political and financial center of Spain is also a mecca for the arts - there are plenty of museums and music, dance, and theater performances to visit, see, do, and enjoy. The lifestyle vibe is strong here in Madrid and thanks to the city's parks for leisurely walks, cafes, bars and restaurants for alfresco dining, and boutique shops for great shopping, it is definitely la dulce vida here in Madrid. This great city in the Iberian peninsula was definitely worth playing hooky for but the weekend did her no justice. She is definitely worth a longer visit next time.

Above left: Combinado de Ahumados; above right: chocolate con churros o porras
 

Above right: @ Parque del Retiro (near the Museo del Prado, which housed paintings by Francisco Goya, including 'The Clothed Maja' [La Maja Vestida] and 'The Nude Maja' [La Maja Desnuda])