April's Nest 小欣的窩

2006/02/08

Germany - Frankfurt and Cochem - 2006/02/02 ~ 2006/02/08

Invited for a job interview in Germany, I flied to Frankfurt which was paid by the company. After the interview, I stood at the bookstore at the train station and chose Cochem as the destination where I wanted to stay for few days. Because of the low season, I was the only person at my room in the YH in those days. Sometimes when I woke up late, I would have my own small buffet ready with my name on the table. In general, I like the YH in Germany in terms of the cleanness and service.

02/02 ~ 02/04 Frankfurt
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/GermanyFrankfurt2006
02/04 ~ 02/06 Cochem
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/GermanyCochem2006

2006/01/22

US - 2005/08/17 ~ 2006/01/22

2005/07/10

Netherlands - Northern Holland - 2005/07/09 ~ 2005/07/10

7/9 Rotterdam --> Zaanse Schans --> Volendam --> Marken --> Monnicanedam --> A7 --> Heeg

7/10 Heeg --> Friesland --> Groningen --> Giethoorn --> Rotterdam

Photos of this trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/NetherlandsNorthernHolland2005

2005/07/02

Netherlands - Hoge Veluwe National Park and Kroller-Muller Museum - 2005/07/02

It's a nice national park where you could enjoy cycling.
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/NetherlandsHogeVeluweNationalePark2005

2005/05/24

France - Provence - 2005/05/20 ~ 2005/05/24

After the final exam, Wendy, Chester and I went to Provence to enjoy the southern France. We stayed at Apartment Pont Royal en Provence and had a rental car. I found that most the cities in the south are more friendly and easy going. :)

5/20 Amsterdam --> Nice --> Cannes --> Mallemort --> Pont Royal

5/21 Pont Royal --> Mallemort --> Lambesc --> Aix --> Lambesc --> Pont Royal

5/22 Pont Royal --> Arles --> Les Baux --> Avignon --> Pont Royal

5/23 Pont Royal --> Gordes --> Abbaye de Senanque --> --> St' Remy --> Pont Royal

5/24 Pont Royal --> Nice --> Amsterdam

Photos at Cannes:
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/FranceCannes2005

Photos at Provence:
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/FranceProvence2005

2005/03/28

Luxembourg - 2005/03/25 ~ 2005/03/28

After the midterm, I wanted to go somewhere natural with fresh air. Luxembourg looked like a good destination for a weekend.

On Friday when I arrived Luxembourg, I took the bus going north to Beaufort, a small town, directly. Although I spent some time to find my youth hostel because people didn't speak, I liked the friendly people over there.

On Saturday, I hiked in the forests, breathing the fresh air, forgetting MBA, and thinking of my family. In the afternoon, I rented a bicycle and cycled on the most tiring "Beaufort 4km". Although sometimes I had to "walk" the bicycle, it's definitely a payback on the downhill. :P

On the Sunday morning, when I was enjoying the easy morning with my breakfast, one guy kindly asked me "do you know that because of the daylight saving time, you should adjust forward one hour of your clock?" Because there are only two bus per day going back to the Luxembourg city center, one in the early morning and the other in the late afternoon, I knew I was in trouble. Since I missed the first bus, it meant that I will not only miss the chance to visit the city center, but also miss my train back to the Netherlands. At that moment I couldn't change the fact, so I still took my time to finish my easy breakfast. :) After that, getting some alternative suggestions from people, I started to walk to another town. Well, later I realized that I still couldn't make it on time, so the first time, and so far the only time in my life, I hitched a ride on the road. Of course, the ending was perfect, otherwise you won't see me today. :P

For photos of this trip, please refer to http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/Luxembourg2005

2005/02/14

France - Ski Trip - 2005/02/11 ~ 2005/02/14

It's a ski trip at Alpe d'Huez, arranged by the class. I was excited because it's my first time to ski. At the beginning I couldn't get the feeling to control the skis at all. However after the instruction by a colleague and the one-day practice, I could ski all the way down the hill with high speed on the second day! Learning from the experience, I realized that knowing how to fall is extremely important. On the first day I fell twice with the skis crossed, and was lucky that I didn't get injured. Later when I got better skill, I could fall with safer positions and even enjoy lying on the snows. :P

At night we took a walk in the town, went to the bars, or stayed at the apartment to eat, talk, drink, and etc. We had great time and enjoyed the snow so much.

It would be fun to go ski again and learn to be skillful!

There are photos of this trip at
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/FranceAlpeDHuezSkiTrip2005.

2005/01/03

Portugal - 2004/12/30 ~ 2005/01/03

After the trip in Spain during Christmas, Elissa and I took a train from Madrid to Lisbon on December 30th. On the New Year's Eve, we counted down with a group of people from Germany, Spain, and Italy. It's the most international New Year's Eve I ever had. :)

Photos are available at
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/PortugalLisbon2004

2004/12/30

Spain - 2004/12/20 ~ 2004/12/30

For the Christmas holiday, Elissa, Jenny, Daniel and I decided to go to Barcelona. After that, Elissa and I kept going south and had New Year's Eve in Portugal.

2004/12/20 ~ 2004/12/26 Barcelona
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/SpainBarcelona2004
2004/12/26 ~ 2004/12/28 Sevilla
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/SpainSevilla2004
2004/12/28 ~ 2004/12/29 Granada
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/SpainGranada2004
2004/12/29 ~ 2004/12/30 Malaga
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/SpainMalaga2004
2004/12/30 Madrid
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/SpainMadrid2004

2004/11/28

Belgium - 2004/11/26 ~ 2004/11/28

The first weekend after midterm, I went to Brugge with few colleagues and then visited Brussel by myself. However, when I walked on the street at Brussel, I met another group of colleagues. It's a small world, isn't it?

Brugge http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/BelgiumBrugge20042008
Brussel http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/BelgiumBrussel2004