Started the day taking picture of the cathedral that was near my hotel. St. Catherine Cathedral.
St. Catherine Cathedral.
Then walked to another cathedral. Diana said it was beautiful and I should not miss it, so I decided to get there before heading off to Amsterdam.
The Kathedrale.
Indeed it was beautiful. Met another Malaysian there. She helped me take a photo of me and the cathedral. =)
By noon, I was in the Central Station, ready to take the Intercity train to my next stop. Amsterdam!
Random Street.
First things first, checking in at my hotel. Hotel Mozart. Then, Red Light District. I was at first scared to be there alone, but then I realized it was OK. It was only 7pm and there are some 'girls' already ready for work. No pictures allowed, so this is the best that I can do. The name Red Light District came from the red or rose(as they called it) colored lighting to indicate the 'special' shops.
Shops with the red lights are 'special'.
After that, I walked around and stumbled upon Chinatown in Amsterdam! Yippie...
Woke up at 9am today and had my complimentary breakfast at the hotel. I had all the pastries I never had here in Chicago there. =) Happiness. After breakfast, headed out to the The Grand Place.
The Grand Place.
After taking enough pictures, I headed to Manneken Pis. There are many stories related to this famous statue of Brussels, I have no idea which one is betul. Haha...
Manneken Pis
Then, it was time to go for museums! I went to this museum which was built on an old palace. So, basically there was another world underneath the roads and buildings on top. The best part is, we can go to the undergrounds to see the remains of the old palace.
This is the ceiling of the old palace, underneath the museum.
This place is scary and dark. I went down there alone and I got scared, that I would get lost down there and nobody would save me. So I went back up, to the museum and waited for someone to go down with. Along came Diana, and I asked her if I could walk with her down there. Diana is from Columbia and she is also traveling alone, like me! =)
We ended up spending the day, sightseeing together. I got to know more about her. Miss Diana is a student, studying psychology. Right now, she is studying English in London.
After the scary underground walk(which was not scary anymore thanks to Diana), we visited the Museum of Music Instruments together. =) I saw so many pianos!
The white and black keys are switched!
Piano with drawing.
We went to the Royal Palace. And I saw the guard change! Happy... My timing was great. Not that I planned for it. =)
Royal Palace.
In Brussels, every building looks like this.
Some random building by the street.
It was really beautiful. Also, on some designated walls, comic strip mural was painted. There are many comic murals throughout the city, but I did not get to see all of them.
Comic mural
We came across some parks and took many pictures.
Random park.
At the end of the day, we had dinner together. This is where we had dinner. There were so many restaurants here. It was crazy. We did not know which restaurant to go to. Also to make things worse, the menu were similar. Makes it even harder to choose.
Street with lots of restaurants.
And for dessert, we had the famous Belgian waffle! It tastes so good. I have no idea what they put in it, but it was great. So yummy! I want more. =(
Waffle with strawberries, whipped cream and caramel.
It was already 8pm, and we ended our journey together at the Grand Place.
This is how it looks at night.
That was the end of Day 3. Was indeed a very very happy day.
After a very good night sleep, I was suppose to go to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. It is a book written in the 6th century about the Gospel. D-loh could not wake up in time so I ended up going alone. Cacat punya d-loh. Haha... No pictures were allowed in there. =(
The first thing you see when you enter Trinity College.
After Book of Kells, met up with d-loh, Hatim and Craig to makan lunch. Good hearty Irish lunch. After that I am off to the airport to Brussels. Arrived in Brussels and checked-in at my hotel. Les Ecrins Residence. This is how it looks like. I like the window. Too bad it was raining, didn't get to see stars while I am lying on my bed.
Touched down in Dublin at 6:45 am! By 7:15 am, I was already on the shuttle bus to the city center. I was the only person on the bus. Felt like some kinda celebrity, had the whole bus to myself. Haha… Too bad it was not a limo. By 7: 35 am, I was at the city center.
First mission was to check in at my hotel. Abbey Hotel. This is me with Mini and my Lonely Planet guide book.
Pretty good hotel with nice, big bed. =)
Next up, jalan-jalan around town. It was only 8:00 am and there was absolutely nobody in town. Really. NOBODY. My guess was people was either in bed or IN BED. The shops are all closed but the public transport were running. There was sunlight and the weather was perfect. Picture time! Since there was no human being around, I took some really nice pictures, like this.
This is Bachelor's Walk and River Liffey on the left. Nobody except me, at Bachelor's Walk.
Continued walking alone and this is the Post Office. This is a historical site because the 1916 Easter Rising happened here, amongst some other buildings.
Absolutely good picture, not ruined by other tourists trying to take pictures because I was the only tourist there at that time. =p
As I was walking on O' Connell Street I stumbled upon this.
Pulau Pinang in Ireland?
I did not eat at this restaurant. I didn't go all the way to Dublin for Malaysian food. Anyways, I think I can cook some pretty decent Malaysian dishes myself. =)
As soon as it was 9:30am, I took bus No. 78 to:
Translation: Kilmainham Jail.
The jail was situated on top of a hill. This is for air ventilation, important for good sanitation. Back in the days, there was no heat or electricity there and I could imagine how terrible the condition was. Cold cement walls and cold stone floors. I followed the guided tour in the jail. The tour guide told stories of the famous prisoners and the conditions in the jail. It was really cold in the jail. And the rooms were really small. I did not take any pictures of the individual rooms because I was in a somber mood. The tour ended with the tour guide showing us where the leaders for the 1916 Easter Rising were shot. Again I did not take any pictures. Just to respect the place, although photography was allowed. I only took three pictures in the jail. One of them is this.
Victorian Wing of the jail.
Alright, enough about the jail. Next up, met up with d-loh to follow a walking tour about the history of Ireland. It was really worth it and I would recommend it to anyone who visits Dublin. I learnt a lot about the history of Ireland's independence from both the walking tour and the jail tour. It was during this walking tour that my jetlag decided to kick in. I felt terribly tired and all I could think of was bed!
However, we had more in our itinerary. Bus No. 78 again to Guinness Storehouse. We learnt the 5 important ingredients in Guinness. Barley, malt, water from Wicklow Mountain, yeast and Arthur Guinness himself. Haha... That is funny. But it is what they said.
Fun Fact
I like this poster. See how the birds serve Guinness using their beaks? Hillarious. I hate birds by the way.
Our Guinness experience ended with a pint of Guinness in Gravity Bar, on top floor of the building. Jetlag+Guinness=Best Sleep Medicine Ever.
Had dinner in Temple Bar area with d-loh then called it a day and headed separate ways. Pictures in Temple Bar area still with d-loh who is in London at this moment. Will update pictures when d-loh gets back.
St. Catherine Cathedral.
The Kathedrale.
Random Street.
Shops with the red lights are 'special'.
Street name translated into Chinese. =)
National Monument.
This is my room with my KFC dinner. =)
