Christmas Markets and Festive Atmosphere

Vienna transforms into a winter wonderland during the holiday season, with Christmas markets dotting the city landscape. We explored markets at various iconic locations such as St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Rathausplatz (City Hall), Schloss Schönbrunn, and Schloss Belvedere. Each market featured rows of wooden stalls selling ornaments, handcrafted gifts, and warm seasonal drinks.

The markets feature countless stalls serving Glühwein (mulled wine) in decorative mugs, which visitors can keep as souvenirs for a €5 deposit. The hot drinks were perfect for when walking around in the cold. There’s also food like Kaiserschmarrn (like a fluffy shredded pancake with sugar and jam), hot dogs, and chimney cakes.

While many stalls offer Christmas merchandise, we discovered that most vendors source similar items (likely outsourced). However, we learned of an artisanal market featuring exclusively local craftwork, though we weren’t able to visit it during our stay.

We heard about a market that exclusively sold locally made items, though unfortunately, we missed the chance to visit it. Another notable scene was the line of people outside Stephansdom, awaiting Christmas mass, reflecting the importance of the cathedral in Vienna’s holiday traditions. Despite this, the atmosphere remained lively

Museums and Palaces

Vienna is known for its rich collection of museums and palaces. Among the highlights of our visit was the Albertina, though art museums are not my usual preference. A more engaging stop was the Schmetterlinghaus, the butterfly house, located near the Hofburg Palace. This greenhouse contained numerous butterfly species that fluttered among tropical plants, including banana trees. The butterflies flew around at their leisure. Some would land on the leaves, or even on the walking path, so we had to be careful as we walked.

One of the more memorable moments was witnessing a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis. However, the warmth inside contrasted sharply with the cold winter air outside, making heavy winter clothing less comfortable during the visit.

The Schatzkammer, Vienna’s imperial treasury, presented a vast collection of jewellery and regalia from the Habsburg era. The treasury holds significant historical pieces, including the Imperial Crown of Austria and the Royal Scepter, reflecting the power and influence the Habsburg dynasty once held. The collection includes the largest emeralds in the world.

At Schloss Schönbrunn (a UNESCO World Heritage site), we took a guided tour through Maria Theresa’s private quarters, which are only accessible with a guide. Maria Theresa, the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions, was a pivotal figure in European history, known for modernizing the empire and her diplomatic maneuvers, including the marriage of her daughter Marie Antoinette (one of her 16 children) to Louis XVI of France. Schönbrunn, often likened to Versailles, served as a summer residence for the Habsburgs and features intricate Rococo interiors.

The Kapuzinergruft, the Imperial Crypt, provided a sobering experience as we explored the tombs of the Habsburg family, including those of Franz Joseph I and Maria Theresa. Franz Joseph, who reigned for nearly 68 years, oversaw significant political changes in Europe. The crypt narrates the legacy of the Habsburgs, a family that ruled Austria and much of Europe for centuries.

Culinary Experiences

Vienna’s culinary scene combines traditional Austrian dishes with influences from neighbouring regions. We sampled Flammkuchen, a thin flatbread from the Alsace region topped with crème fraîche instead of tomato sauce. The local Schweinsbraten (roasted pork) came served with Knödel (potato dumplings). This hearty dish involves slow-roasting marinated pork until tender, and the dumplings soak up the rich gravy, creating a filling and comforting plate.

Wiener Schnitzel, one of Austria’s most famous dishes, did not particularly stand out to me. I found the Japanese variation, tonkatsu, to be more enjoyable.

Flight Home in Comfort

The return flight offered a chance to experience business class. Upon boarding, sparkling wine was served, and throughout the flight, options for higher-quality food and drinks were available, including steak, cheese plates, smoked salmon, and Johnnie Walker Black.

The seats reclined fully, providing a more restful sleep, and the thicker blankets added to the comfort. Skippable ads during in-flight entertainment and access to the lounge with additional food and beverages rounded out the experience, making the flight much more enjoyable.

See more of Vienna here

Unlike our previous experience on the Celebrity Edge, where the buffet surpassed the fine dining options, this time, it was the reverse. On the Edge, we avoided the main dining rooms on cruise ships since the buffet usually offered better variety and quality. However, on this particular sailing, the specialty main dining offered restaurants were excellent while the buffet options were lackluster. It definitely just comes down to a skill issue with the chefs.

In terms of entertainment, the Apex outperformed its sister ship. The production shows featured incredible acrobatics and trapeze artistry. They also brought aboard guest performers, and we were lucky enough to catch magic sensation Josephine Lee performing magic tricks. We saw her perform a trick very similar to the Real Transported Man trick from the movie “The Prestige.” Ralph Harris added humor to the mix with a delightful comedy show.

While the food and entertainment was good, this itinerary did have two sea days with no ports of call. Since we had already explored the Edge last time, we had trouble finding things to do on those days. Next time, we’ll be prepared. What also was unideal was we happened to go at a time when people were getting sick left and right from stuff like the flu or new COVID variants, and everywhere we went, people were sniffling or coughing their lungs out. Despite our best efforts to avoid those people, we all got sick when we returned.

See more of Celebrity Apex here

It was a really faithful creation of the actual Gringott’s bank from the movies – complete with the goblins moving about too. It was really like being teleported into the Harry Potter universe in the movies. And like the movies, the people in the photo frames talk and move too.

The ride itself is a 3D motion-simulated thrill ride. Riders go through the ride experiencing a short Harry Potter 3D film with a roller coaster integrated into it. The coaster follows a track with drops and at times converts into a motion simulator that shakes depending on what’s happening. When a troll on screen “grabs” the roller coaster and “throws” it, the rider experiences the movements in real life. The plot itself immerses riders in the Harry Potter universe, fighting the forces of Lord Voldemort, riding through underground vaults, and facing dragons.

The centerpiece of Diagon Alley is Gringotts Bank, with towering dragon statues guarding the entrance, with the one at the top breathing fire every fifteen minutes. Diagon Alley also features wand shops and pubs selling butter beer.

Throughout the area, there are various locations that interact with wands allowing guests to perform “spells” ranging from making water fountains spray water to levitating objects.

We also got to visit Springfield from the Simpsons. I didn’t go to any rides here, but it was cool just to see the different elements of the show in real-life like Duff Beer, Kwik-E-Mart, Krusty Burger, Moe’s Tavern, etc. The attention to detail here is excellent.

I also felt like compared to before, there’s now a noticeable shift towards motion simulator rides with 3D movies. Back then, the rides had to rely on physically built special effects, like for example, when Terminator statues would light up or when a character got thrown into the screen in the movie and then suddenly appear in real life running away. Maybe I’m just nostalgic for the way things were. One thing’s for certain is that these 3D movies allow for special effects that weren’t possible before.

See more of Universal Studios here

The ICE is amazing, but it’s pretty expensive. It costs around ~120 euro to go across the country.

Back at Robocup, I got to see the robots in action once again! I also got to reconnect with a few of the people I used to know at Robocup too.

I also got a bit of time to walk around the city center. Downtown Leipzig isn’t very big, and since I went there on a Sunday, everything was closed and there was almost no one on the streets.

I spent about half a day there, and after that I went back to Berlin.

Link to photo album: here

Let’s Cross The Street… Diagonally!

This is no surprise really. There are lots of people in Tokyo. The crazy thing is that at the Shibuya crossing, the lights for cars can be red at the same time for all directions, and allows pedestrians to cross the intersection in any direction they want.

Their Metro System Is Complicated

That picture there shows only the metro lines operated by the JR Railway Company. There is another set that is run by other companies such as the Tokyo Metro Company. Route planning apps save the day!

Nintendo Is Big Around Here

Akihabara has many shops that sell used gaming consoles like Gameboys, Super Nintendos, and N64’s. They even sell tons of used games for them too. I managed to pick up a used copy of Tetris DS before I left.

I Finally Played TGM3 at the Arcade

TGM3 is a Japanese variation of Tetris that is designed to be very very hard (see this). The video starts getting crazy at about 3 minutes and becomes completely insane at about 5:08. Ever since playing lots of Tetris during my undergrad and learning about this game, I finally got the chance to play this at the arcade and not on an emulator. This was at HEY (Hirose Entertainment Yard) in Akihabara.

People Still Like Pokemon

I don’t think kids today in North America still watch Pokemon, but in Japan it’s still popular – popular enough for Pokemon themed stores.

Japanese War History

Yasukuni Shrine is a shrine that commemorates those who died serving the Empire of Japan. Some of these commemorated people happen to be considered war criminals, where 14 of them are A-Class war criminals, which makes this place quite controversial. It was reported that Shinzo Abe, as the Prime Minister of Japan, visited this shrine, which angered the governments of China and Korea. Near the shrine itself, there is a museum that chronicles Japanese war history, known as the Yushukan, where visitors can see various relics and artifacts from the different wars that Japan has been involved in.

The Future Is Here

The Miraikan, also known as the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, displays the latest cutting-edge technology from Japan. Asimo, the Honda Robot is one of the main attractions here, as well as the display of humanoid android robots (like the picture below).

Odaiba, A Less Busy Part of Tokyo

Odaiba is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, and has lots of attractions like scenery, museums (like the Miraikan), shopping, and amusement parks (like Legoland and Joypolis).

Lots of Temples and Shrines

Tokyo has no shortage of temples and shrines. The Sensoji Temple in Asakusa is among the famous ones. To me it is that Japan is to temples and shrines as Europe is to churches and cathedrals.

Scenery at High Places

Tokyo Skytree is the tallest structure in Japan and features an observation deck that allows visitors to see the surrounding area. I felt my ears popping as the elevator took me to the top because of the sheer height of the building. At the observation deck, there are touch screens that give information on various landmarks that can be seen. On a clear day, it is possible to see Mount Fuji from here.

For Collectors of Figurines

The Akihabara Radio Hall has a collection of stores with lots and lots of figurines from various anime series. Other stores even sell models of tanks, battleships, etc. There was one in particular that sold giant models from blockbuster Hollywood movies like Robocop, Batman, and Terminator. Would have liked to take a better picture, but they had a strict no photography policy.

WTF

It’s true. Japan has lots of weird stuff. That picture below is for a place called the Robot Restaurant. It’s hard to explain. It’s better to watch this (it starts off pretty weird and just gets weirder).

Links to more photos:

• Tokyo
• Akihabara
• Asakusa
• Yasukuni Shrine
• Odaiba
• Tokyo Skytree

The first destination for the day was Rockefeller Center. This is the place where a giant Christmas tree is placed during the holiday season. The front of it, by the fountain with the statue of Prometheus, would also be a giant ice rink. During the summer, an outdoor restaurant takes its place.

There is also an observation deck at the top known as the “Top of the Rock” that we didn’t go to. They advertise that from up there, people can see an unobstructed view of the whole city.

The inside looks quite nice too!

I guess the designers of Rockefeller Center really like mythological characters because apart from the fountain with Prometheus, there’s also a statue of Atlas.

Beside Rockefeller Center is Radio City Music Hall, an entertainment venue that, for a time, was a really popular tourist destination. It is said that the hydraulics used for their stage were so advanced for its time, that the US Navy used the same hydraulics when constructing aircraft carriers during WWII.

Also beside Rockefeller Center is St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I always thought everything in NYC was really modern, so I didn’t expect such historical architecture.

It happened to be a Sunday that day, so the inside was filled with people attending church.

Our next destination in the afternoon was the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. That place was so interesting for me that it would make this post super long, so I think I’ll save it for a separate post.

More photos here

Because I didn’t manage to see some of the attractions when I went to Paris the first time around, I went again. In this trip, I went to Paris as well as Normandy. This post only talks about Paris and I’ll write one later about Normandy. Even though it was my second visit to Paris, most of the sights I saw this time around were different.

Getting there

Since our trip involved going to Normandy, this meant that we needed to buy tickets using the French railway company rather than Deutsche Bahn. In order to avoid that, I used a EURail pass to go everywhere. However, since the EURail pass doesn’t come with train seat reservations, we had to go buy one for our train to Paris. It just so happened that the only train available for reservation was the City Night Line. We should have reserved seats for the train earlier than two days before. My friend and I managed to get the last two spots on the train. The third person we went with still had to buy his train tickets and ended up on a train that left earlier that night. This meant that we had to look for him once we arrived in Paris. When we got to Paris, we looked everywhere in the station for him and couldn’t find him. We couldn’t call him either because of the change in cellular network when leaving Germany.

Rather than waiting for him to show up we just proceeded to the hostel. I went to buy tickets from the lady at the ticket window and tried to buy day tickets for the Metro. Luckily, I had prepared for this due to my prior experience in Paris before. I had looked up the phrase in French for this and bought the tickets successfully. I managed to do this using only French. When I asked for the student discount the lady there asked me how old we were. Luckily I still remembered random French vocabulary from Grade 5 and I knew how to answer the question.

Once we got to the hostel and dropped everything off, we found that the check in time wasn’t until later in the afternoon. Finally, I got a text message from the friend we were trying to find and apparently he had been in the train station the whole time, but we somehow couldn’t find him. We went back to the station to get him and brought him back to the hostel.

The check-in process for our hostel was quite painful since the guy at the front desk looked like he tried to work as slow as possible. In order to check people into their rooms, each person had to fill out a form telling the hostel staff their names, nationality etc. Using the slowest work efficiency, he handed out the forms to one party at a time. It also didn’t help that the party ahead of us were a bunch of snobby American girls from Texas (they were probably even slower than the guy at the front desk). Once we filled out the forms, the guy would take his sweet time looking through the files to find our reservation while watching a Tennis game on the side. It look almost 45 minutes for us to check in. After checking in though, we began to see tourist attractions.

Arc de Triomphe

Although it was my second time coming here, I could still admire the beauty of the structure. It represented many of Napoleon’s victories and also featured many of his generals. On the ground directly underneath the arc, are plaques remembering the most recent wars that France fought in. Also there is a plaque of General de Gaulle’s radio speech to the French people over BBC. Near it is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Avenue des Champs-Élysées

One end of the street is the location of the Arc de Triomphe, but on the opposite end is the location of the Louvre. We walked along this street for a little bit and stopped whenever we saw something cool. We ended up passing by the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. We also passed a bridge that had statues made of gold. Near the bridge, a couple was taking wedding photos. They definitely chose a wonderful place to do that. This is where we left the Champs-Élysées and walked across the street to the Invalides.

Les Invalides

This palace consists of museums and monuments that relate to the military history of France. It is also a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans. A few well known attractions there are Napoleon’s Tomb and the Museum of the Army.

Chapel of Saint-Louis-des-Invalides

The chapel here also matches the look of the exterior of the palace itself. It was inspired by Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Famous Tombs

The most notable tomb here is most definitely Napoleon’s. His sarcophagus sits in the center and directly beneath the dome of the Invalides. Among others buried here are some of his family and other French war heroes such as General Foch (he is the one who described the Treaty of Versailles in 1918 as an “armistice for 20 years”).

Musée de l’Armée

The Museum of the Army had exhibits that pretty much described all of France’s military history. We didn’t have enough time to see every exhibit so we only saw the exhibits on World War I, World War II, and France during the Medieval Age. Since we were all technically residents of the EU according to their definition (we each hold a student visa), they granted us free admission into the museum.

The exhibits on the two world wars had so many cool things to show. In addition to teaching the history of the wars, they also showed many weapons used in the wars. I got to see World War I and II era weapons, artillery, uniforms etc. They even had a V2 rocket. They also had a Nazi flag on display as well – something that people don’t ever see in Germany (even in museums).

The exhibits on the Medieval Age showed a large range of armour worn by warriors and even the armour used by their horses. The best part about this exhibit was that each set of armour had a different design in a variety of sizes. The exhibits even had a section showing Japanese and Chinese suits of armour. Also displayed were various weapons that the warriors carried. They showed different types of swords, crossbows, and even muskets.

Eiffel Tower by Day

This is probably the attraction that everyone goes to Paris for. I don’t think people come to Paris and don’t see the Eiffel Tower. It is just an amazing feat of engineering (at the time) and an amazing structure to look at.

Another thing I found out about the Eiffel Tower is that the grass fields in front of the, the Champ de Mars, is perfect for picnics. Anybody who has a chance to do that must do it. Maybe something like sitting on the lawn while eating a baguette while staring at the Eiffel Tower.

Notre Dame

This is another attraction that I revisited. I could have skipped going to this place when I came the second time around, but it is definitely a must-see for people who have never seen it before.

Place de la Bastille

Here is the historic location of the fortress-prison, Bastille Saint-Antoine. On July 14, 1789, an attack on this prison marked the beginning of the French Revolution. Every year on this day, France celebrates Fête de la Fédération, which is known as Bastille Day in English. Although the prison is no longer there, a historical plaque on the side of a building describes it. In the center of the roundabout here is the July Column, which is a monument to the Revolution of 1830, that saw the downfall of Charles X of France.

Eiffel Tower by Night

Because I never got to see this the first time I came, I had to take this opportunity to visit the tower in the night. However, since it is still early summer, the sun didn’t finish setting until around 11 PM, so I had to wait a little while before I could get a picture of the tower in the night without the light of dusk. While at the tower, I spotted a couple hugging in such a way that I could get a romantic shot (at least I tried to) of them with the Eiffel Tower (3rd pic).

Our reservation for the Eiffel Tower was at 11 PM, but we only managed to get tickets for the second level and not the top level because those tickets were all sold out. It was okay for me I guess, since I’ve already gone up to the top before. The lights of all the buildings looked really nice, but unfortunately my camera couldn’t really capture it that well. I tried playing with the exposure time, so that kind of helped.

On our way down, we didn’t want to wait for the elevator like everyone else so we took the stairs. I can’t prove it, but I think going down the stairs was totally faster than waiting for the elevator. Going down the stairs also allowed to see the giant lights that lit up the tower in the night. In addition to just the bright lights, the tower would have a light show every show often where the lights on the Eiffel Tower would flash. I only managed to see a bit of it as we left the tower.

Moulin Rouge

Another famous tourist attraction is the Moulin Rouge. It is located in the red light district, but the place attracts so many tourists who wish to see musical dance entertainment. The Moulin Rouge is also best known as the spiritual birthplace of the modern can-can dance. We only looked at the outside, because the shows there were very much out of our budget (90 euros minimum).

Musée du Louvre

Since the Louvre was so large that I couldn’t see everything last time, I went back again this time to see the things I never saw the other time. One of the exhibits I missed out on last time was the exhibit on the interior design of the residence of Napoleon III. I also saw the inverted pyramid that the Da Vinci Code made so famous.

Château de Versailles

I originally thought that this mansion was just a mansion that Louis XIV lived in, and I never knew that the palace took up so much land area with its canals, gardens, and orchards. I knew Louis XIV lived extravagantly, but I never saw it firsthand until coming to this place. Seeing the remains of his rich-flaunting lifestyle gave me the impression that this guy must have been the biggest douche-bag ever. Almost everywhere around/in the palace was something made of gold or a fancy statue (sometimes both). Going inside Versailles would have cost us 15 euros, but since we’re residents of the EU, it was free.

When we got inside, we were surrounded by so many tourists that it was almost impossible to walk anywhere. It’s as if the staff there just kept letting people in regardless of how many people were inside just to make more money. It didn’t help that each doorway acted as a choke-point for all the people trying to get out.

Once we got outside, everything was okay. The air suddenly smelled nice, and we got to feel the gentle summer breeze. And we go to enjoy the beautiful gardens and orchards. There was even an artificial lake a few hundred meters down that people rowed boats on.

Père Lachaise Cemetery

Even though this place is a cemetery, it still attracts a lot of tourists probably because a lot of famous people are buried here. Names I know off the top of my head are Frédéric Chopin (pianist), Joseph Fourier (mathematician and physicist), and Jim Morrison (from The Doors). I didn’t really try to look for these people, but we did stumble onto Chopin’s grave. That was a really cool find. The graves here have the most extravagant design I’ve ever seen. All the graves I’m used to in Vancouver are just plaques in the ground, but the ones here are huge. One grave could be for an entire family and not just an individual.

Catacombes de Paris

I had no idea that the remains of about six million people were buried beneath Paris in a series of tunnels until I came here. The catacombs here used to be a limestone mine and even now the rocks on the ceiling of some of the tunnels still drip water. Before going in, we found out that the staff there only permitted 200 people inside at a time, so we ended up waiting in line for almost 2 and a half hours before being able to get in. Even though the tour was only about 45 minutes, it was so worth it. Never in my life have I seen skull and bones stacked up in such macabre ways. In some parts of the catacombs, some of the bones were loosened from the stack and people could easily take a giant femur and start waving it back and forth (I don’t know why anyone would do that though). And for those who are sick enough to, could steal a skull as a souvenir. Although, I couldn’t resist touching century-old skulls and bones. It is also said that Robespierre is among these remains, but no one knows exactly which one.

Photos: here