Jellbell from Hell: My Big Break

And here it is! The long awaited post on my 1-month long holiday to Europe. For the sake of posterity, I'm recapping my itinerary here.

Day 1 - Windsor & Eton (Windsor Castle, Eton riverside)
Day 2-5 - Stockholm (Nobel Peace Museum, Skansen, Vasa museum, Gamla Stan, Sodermalm)
Day 6-9 - Reykjavik (Golden Circle tour, Northern lights tour, South Coast tour)
Day 10-26 - London (I did so much here that I don't know where to start/end!)
Day 27-33 - Paris (Chateau de Versailles, La Tour Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees, Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, Musee du Louvre, Musee de l'Orangerie, Musee d'Orsay, Printemps)

This trip was special to me for 2 main reasons. Firstly, it was my first wintry holiday and secondly, I had a whole week to myself to explore London. I have mixed feelings about travelling in winter, to be honest. I love the absent crowd and how the snow makes everything so white and special. On the flipside, I really detest how slushy and slippery the snow becomes and how I was restricted to wearing that same pink puffy jacket everyday (yes, you'll naturally realise that as you view my pics).

Here are my random thoughts and feelings about each place I visited.

Windsor - So, so quaint. I love Windsor castle and regretted not being able to visit St George's chapel within the castle grounds, as I had a long lunch and returned a tad too late (they close early in winter). I do have a 1-year pass to return FOC to the castle anytime, though I doubt it's going to happen anytime soon.

Stockholm - A cold, gloomy and expensive city. I think we were at the wrong place at the wrong time...had the weather been better, Stockholm would definitely have been more appealing. Having said that, I did enjoy Skansen (an outdoor museum) - we experienced heavy snowfall (very memorable) and saw a real moose here! We stayed at a quirky rented apartment in Sodermalm, which has an antique elevator that I absolutely adore! Oh, and real Swedish meatballs taste exactly like the ones at our local iKea store.

Reykjavik - My favourite leg of the trip. Before the recent volcanic eruption, hardly anyone paid any attention to Iceland, and many friends were surprised to hear that I was going there for a holiday!! But seriously, go there and you will instantly fall in love with Iceland. I always thought Scotland is possibly one of the most scenic places in the world, but now, Iceland takes top spot. The sunrise and sunsets are spectacular, the nature is unspoilt and magical, Icelandic horses are so endearing, and the seafood is extremely FRESH & TASTY. We were there for 4 days and I wished we had more. Would love to go back again in summer to see the cute little puffins, ride the petite horses and visit the magnificent Jokulsarlon lagoon!

London - Ahhh, always a favourite of mine. If you've been following my blog, you'll know that I was in London in mid 2009. This time round, I caught up with everything that I wanted to do but didn't have a chance to before. I went to the Sir John Soane (interesting), Tate Modern ("interesting") and British (boring) museums, I watched Wicked (good), Jersey Boys (too good), Blood Brothers (average), Warhorse and Deathtrap (the former 3 being musicals and the latter 2 plays), I checked out Camden market (didn't like it) and Petticoat Lane market, I visited the Tower of London (which paled in comparison to Windsor castle), I went for a quintessential British afternoon tea at St James Sofitel hotel, I emptied my pockets at Bicester village, I took side trips to Bath and had excellent warm scones at the Cotswold, I revisited my favourite sights - London Eye, Tower Bridge and Big Ben and my favourite markets - Portobello, Upmarket in the east & Borough.

Paris - Je t'aime Paris! I love the language, I love how romance permeates through every being in Paris, I love the many ponts (bridges) across the River Seine, I love Eiffel Tower, I love seeing my favourite Impressionist artists everywhere in museums, I love quaint Montmartre despite how "dangerous" the travel forums make it out to be (it's not lah!), I love the Palace of Versailles (but cannot bring myself to like Kristen Dunst as Marie Antoinette), I love bag-shopping in Champs Elysee and Printemps, and I love going back to our cosy hotel every night at Montparnasse (the location is great, by the way...and did I mention FREE wifi?).