Aix-en-Provence was actually not included in our itinerary, but in the end we decided to take a quick stop and were thankful for that decision. Aix is a wonderful small city and famous for its art schools and universities. We wandered aimlessly through small narrow alleys, observed some random details, as well as enjoyed the quiet idyllic atmosphere of the city on Sunday afternoon in the middle of summer. It really took only a brief moment to fall in love with Aix. Too bad that we didn't have enough time to explore more.

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Marseille is located on the south coast of France and the second largest city of the country after Paris. The city is founded in 600BC and is one of the oldest cities in Europe. Marseille has definitely a lot to offer: Vieux Port (the old port), Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde (where the old fishermen used to have their boats blessed in this church), Palais Longchamp, Cathedrale de la Major (with amazing mosaic floors), Parc National des Calanques (with dazzling blue sea and spectacular lime cliffs), La Corniche (a road by the sea with lovely views of the Mediterranean sea) not so far from Vallon des Auffes (a small and colorful old port), Palais du Pharo (which is built by Napoleon III in 1858), Le Cours Julien and La Plaine (a hangout area with a lot of graffitis, cafes, book stores, fountains, and playground).

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Lyon is our first stop of our three weeks journey to south France. It is the third largest city in France, so we thought it would give a similar touristic vibe like Paris. But we were completely wrong, because we hardly saw any large group of tourists, only a few travelers like us or some local tourists. And the best part is: no one tried to scam us or to rob our belongings. Maybe we were just lucky or just happened to be there at the right time and place.

It was the last Sunday in June as we strolled around Lyon. First, we visited Théâtre et Musée Gallo-romains and imagined how cool it would be to watch a play with the view of the city as the background. No wonder they still use it for concerts and plays in modern days. Then, we walked to Basillique de Fourvière, which is not so far from the Théâtre, before exploring Vieux Lyon. Too bad that we only had one day to explore Lyon, because we had to leave for Marseille in the evening.

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Essaouira is a dazzling old city with fortified walls, fishing harbour, a lot of seagulls, strong wind, and good seafood. A fellow traveler who we met in Zagora told us that this place is a perfect place to surf, but the sea water can be very cold in winter time. Similar to Ait Ben Haddou, many films are also shot in this location (one of the is Game of Thrones: the scene when Daenerys Targaryan met the unsullied).

As a typical Moroccan old city, Essaouira has narrow alleys and red city walls, as well as lively atmosphere. However, it also has its own charm, as well as more relaxed and friendly vibe than Marrakech. It's only about three hours drive from Marrakech, so it's really worth to visit.

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During our road trop to Zagora, we had a chance to stop at Ait Ben Haddou and explore this magnificent Ksar (a collective group of dwellings), which is established in 757 is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The Ksar is constructed with clay bricks and has thick defensive walls to protect its interior. Even though the city is abandoned, there are around four families still living there, while most of the citizens live in the nearby villages.

We were surprised by the fact that there are a lot of film studios in Morocco, especially in this area. Ait Ben Haddou really gives a sensation of time travel to the ancient Egypt or other desert cities. So, no wonder that a lot of films (e.g. Gladiator, Prince of Persia, Babel, even some episodes of Games of Thrones) are shot in this Ksar as well.

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If one visits Paris, he/she won't miss this remarkable iron lattice tower, which was built in 1889 and stands 320 metres tall. The Eiffel Tower has become both an icon of France and one of the most recognizable structure in the world.

Visiting Eiffel Tower was also on our top list; however, seeing the super hellish long queue at the tower discouraged us to go up and see the whole Paris from the top of the tower. In the end, we just strolled around the tower, and somehow it was the right decision to do so, since there are a lot of places where we can enjoy the view of the magnificent tower.

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Our first stop in Paris is Louvre, the most famous museum in the world. To tell the truth, visiting Louvre on Easter holiday wasn't a great idea, especially because it's packed with tourists. Thankfully, we bought Paris Museum Pass, which allowed us to skip the super long line at the entrance. 

Since Louvre wasn't the only destination that day, we only had about three-four hours to enjoy the museum. That's why we only managed to stroll around only one of the three wings, namely Denon Wing, to say hello to Mona Lisa, Madonna Of The Rocks, and Nike of Samothrace. 

Despite the tourist swarm, Louvre remained charming and entertaining. Somehow, it was fun to observe, not only the paintings and sculptures, but also the visitors. However, it would be still better to visit the museum not on public holiday and plan at least a day or two if you want to see the whole collection of Louvre. 

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We decided to visit Paris for easter holiday. It's about 5 hours drive from Frankfurt to Paris, and we thought it would be better to take a short break at Metz, which is located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers, not far from the Schengen tripoint where the borders of Germany, France, and Luxembourg meet. It is the capital and the prefecture of the Lorraine region and the Moselle department.

The city is small, but gorgeous. I just love the details, the narrow alleys, and the architecture. The highlight is the gothic St Stephen's Cathedral, which really blew me away. I even found it more overwhelming than the famous Notre Dame Cathedral.

Overall, the city is really worth it to visit, especially as a teaser before continuing our journey to Paris.

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After we spent our Christmas in Prague, we drove to Budapest for New Year. It was a 5 hours drive through 3 countries; Czech, Slovakia, and Hungary. The road was okay, though not as good as Autobahn in Germany. The things we didn't really like was the 130 kmh speed limit and the Vignette.

Budapest is the capital city of Hungary. The name Budapest came from Buda and Pest, which used to be two different cities until 1873. What makes the city so beautiful is the Danube river, which lies between Buda and Pest. The long history also makes this city so special, although at the first glance it doesn't seem so old like Prague.

We met our other friends there and had already planned the whole journey together. We tried the famous spa, walked around the city's highlights, and spent our new year's eve in a club (just like the most traveller guides suggested about Budapest: Spa and Nightlife). And traveling with more people was actually different than usual. It was fun, since they're so energetic and of course, photogenic. Somehow it gives another feeling than photographing some random people for some street photography. We just can tell them to pose, although we prefer to capture their pictures when they're off guards.

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The Charles Bridge (or Karluv most in Czech or Karlsbrücke in German) is the famous bridge and the top must-to-see attraction in Prague. The bridge crosses the Vltava River and connect The Lesser Town or Malá Strana (which is below the Castle Area) and The Old Town

The Bridge is about 621 meters long and 10 meters wide. It has three bridge towers; two on the Lesser Town side, and one on the Old Town side. What makes this bridge so beautiful is the statues. There are 30 of them standing on both left and right side of the bridge. They give the feeling as if they're watching everyone who crosses the bridge.

For us, the bridge is the highlight of our visit to Prague. We're so fascinated by it and came back every single day of our stay. During the day, it's so packed with the tourists, artists, and souvenir kiosks. Despite of hectic situation, the bridge seems so cheerful and lively.

On 2nd day of our visit, we managed to get up extra early and rush to the bridge to take some picture of it. It wasn't 100% empty (there were also a few people like us with their camera gears), but it was worth it. The dawn at the empty bridge was so gorgeous. It revealed more its beauty and gave the mysterious vibe at the same time. There were some creepy auras because of the silhouette of the statues and crossing the bridge at the dawn also gave the chill of time-traveling to the Middle Ages.

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Prague (or Praha or Prag) was on the bucket list for a long time. To tell the truth, a japanese manga, called Monster (by Urasawa Naoki), made Prague became one of our wanted destination. After a few years of longing, at last we had the opportunity to visit this gorgeous city last Christmas.

What makes Prague so special is its long history. It has been through many eras, wars, and revolutions. The little damage from World War II allowed most of its historic buildings and architecture stay in its true form. It's really a good place to learn the history of architecture, since you can find different kind of buildings from different era, such as Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Art Nouveau, and so on.

The whole city is actually quite big, but the main attractions located near each other, and makes it easier to explore. Its rich cultures also makes the city feels so lively and there're also a lot of interesting details to be found.

Despite of massive tourism (which makes this city quite expensive), Prague became our favorite city. Visiting Prague during Christmas also allowed us to experience their Christmas Market. And the best part is it stayed open during the Christmas! (in Germany, Christmas Market only open until Dec 24th)

It might be a little bit late, but Merry Christmas anyway...

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It was almost Christmas, and we decided to drive around for the holiday season. Since our destination was Prague, we decided to depart a day earlier to make a stop over in Dresden. It's a beautiful old city with a long history. It was totally destroyed in World War II and has undergone reconstructions in the past few decades. Maybe it was really too beautiful to forget, and that's why people decided to rebuilt the city, especially the important historic buildings. They also took the original materials as much as possible to rebuild the whole buildings, that's why you can find black (original) stones in every facade of the reconstructed buildings.

Our visit to Dresden was kinda short and the weather wasn't that nice. But Dresden charmed us in anyway; apart from it's beauty, it also has delicious foods in affordable fancy restaurants. We also managed to learn more about night shots and had difficulties photographing architecture in midday because of the grey sky (photoshopping a fake sky is not a good option!). Most of all, we regret for not taking any pictures from the other side of the river. Now we're considering to be back on summer.

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Hello there! I'm back!

Four weeks vacation seems a lot, but time flies too fast. Long vacation also means a huge amount of photos. And that also means a lot of homework (editing stuffs) to do.

About our journey, Singapore was our first stop. I've been there so many times before, but this time was different. Before, Singapore was only about shopping, now it's about photography. It has a lot of cultures in such a small area, that's why I found the city so fascinating. 

Since I have too much photos for one post, I decided to divide them in a few posts with different themes. For this post, it's about the highlight of the city: The Modern Side of Singapore. 

Enjoy!

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