danube.embankment

you are on your way to a foreign land, a new city, a land with a foreign language.  you don't know her well, but yet you can’t wait to meet her in person.  hungary is her name and budapest is the city that you newly acquaintance to.

you can’t wait to see the beauty of Budapest after you settled in your new ‘home’, an apartment in a charming neighborhood just one block behind the Danube river that facing margaret island. you walk to the danube river bank or some called it duna river (you guess is the same), the street is rather empty on a sunday afternoon, you wonder if it is safe to walk around just like that and have your camera hanging on your neck.  you follow your instinct and reach the parliament house, a building stood beside the danube river bank.

the parliament's entrance is looking out over Kossuth square. This neo gothic building apparently has 691 rooms, but you find a comfortable corner to sit and admire the parliament, just by the fooot of a statue. you said a statue because you don't remember his name any more.

your first impression about buda or rather pest lies within the danube embankment, you love the breeze that cools you down. You walk passed the parliament house to the riverside and there you wonder up and down and wait till the sun sets. far away, you see many misplaced shoes along the embankment.

 up close, you realize that these are bronze replicas of shoes.  and you say to yourself, surely there is a story behind these shoes.   these shoes on the danube embankment was created by gyula pauer. it is a memorial to the people who fell victim to the arrow cross militiamen in budapest and depicts their shoes left behind as they were cast into the river after having just been shot during WWII. this is the site where jewish men, women, and children lost their lives. The place where they were shot for their beliefs and thrown into the icy winter waters as a means of extermination only after they removed their ever so valuable shoes. they may have lost their lives, but the memory and their shoes remain forever.  heavy. You feel weary and sorry for the lost lives.  you ask God to bless these souls…

sun is about to set, it is good that you can shift your focus away from the heavy and weary bronze shoes.  you watch the sunset, the sky turn yellow, pinkish, orange and purplish.. Then the lights up. the amazing beauty showing herself in the twilight! you took a lot of photos of buda, you like her in the late afternoon, in the sunset, at the twilight and even after dark.

now you are satisfied, it's about time to walk back to your home before it is too dark. you are not sure how safe budapest is at night.  you walk back, pass the parliament house. it looks very different at night...

as you compare the parliament photo that you have taken at the day time and at the night time.  the building has a mythical look and scary feeling at night, at least this is how you feel it...

you look to your right, the ethnology museum of budapest also changes it look at night, more enchanting at least.

you walk further, the direction toward your home, and you see the fire lights up here at the square, you don't know what does it mean, it must be symbolic you guess! 

you want to eat something authentic on your first dinner, goulash comes to your mind naturally.  along the street that leading to your 'home' there are plenty of restaurants and eateries for local people really. you go into one base on your common sense, no english sign, no english menu, waitresses barely speak a word or two in english. this is what you wanted, a local restaurant frequented by lcoals only yet you are frustrated but at least the goulash shows up on your table is rewarding, you have your goulash with dumplings and a glass of red wine.  hearty but definitely the best goulash you have ever tasted so far...
and you go 'home' and call it a day.

[15th August 2010]

france.best.shots

yesterday i received a rather shocking news that my supervisor is leaving the company - involuntarily. my department lead also announced his departure by first october awhile ago. it will be an interesting time for me, a time of change certainly not for the worst. i always associate change with opportunity, after all this is not the first change i experienced so far in this company. i am doing good with the fasting and also spent my yesterday evening in getting my 'send' thesis up to date. i am a little sick, caught a cold... my nose is a little blocked. i hate flu because you are neither fit nor sick, but on the positive note, i hope this is the only flu i will catch this coming autumn/winter....

back to the france story, it took me awhile, but this is my last post about our road trip to france. after this i will start with my budapest backlog.....dauville is the city that we first visited during our road trip to france on 28th august but i have not written any thing about it because i just didn't like the city and don't think i will like it in the future. how should i describe dauville...hm mm... a little too pretentious, a rich men's playground, a breathing space and party city for the parisians that just summarize my view and impression of this city. he thinks otherwise, he actually like dauville that he wanted to revisit the city again... yet i discovered a few photos that i consider the best shots are coming from our short visit in dauville.

this portrait is quite nice (in my opinion) with decent depth of field at the city center of dauville. with me stepping up in photography, he is now my model...

another nice picture taken in dauville at the sandy beach

another two photos taken at dauville city center, which i collage and play with the extreme depth of field by focusing on the yellow rose or the statue...

the lens of my nikon d90 sometimes give me problem. this photo is taken when i was not able to focus with the d90 although i could still take picture with it. but the result of not being able to focus actually creating a lomo look photo that i much sought after for... this looks like a photo taken in the 70s isn't it? i mean the faded color of the wall plus the overall color tone makes this a classic shot

a.tapestry.with.a.history

what makes a tapestry so famous? the textile, the woven, the embroidery or the story? you wanted to visit this tapestry on your way to saint-malo, but you spent too much time in dauville and so you still remembered that what he said “the tapestry can wait, it has been there for thousand years, and so it can wait for a few more days..”. so you didn’t visit the tapestry until your return journey where you drove all the way to bayeaux just to have a glimpse of this long tapestry that holds a record of history about the norman conquest of england.

fourth september

bayeux cathedral, this is quite a predominant landmark for a small city like bayeux, the cathederal is visible as you approaching the city

you parked your car somewhere nearby the cathedral and then walk your way to the tapestry

the entrance to la tapisserie de bayeux, there is a replicate of viking boat apparently with some history that you have forgotten...

the bayeux tapestry has been housed in a building which also houses the town’s multimedia library...

there are quite a few sun chairs for sun seekers, but you are not desperate anymore for your already stock up your sunshine for the entire autumn and winter

you are not allowed to take any photo on the actual tour of the tapestry. at the entry, the staff handed you an audio player based on your choice of language. you opt for english, he opts for dutch. from that moment onwards you are transported to a different world, the narrator explains the story of the legendary animals, ships, vikings, norman and saxon cavalries that illustrate the exploits of william and his opponent harold, another pretender to the throne of england. the background music or sound enhances the atmosphere further.. you sometime have to pause the audio as there is so much to see for every section (the scroll is numbered and the narration is based on the number as well), you try to observe the minute details of the embroidery and try to re-live in the history...

at the exit of the museum that leading to the bookshop, here there are a few reproductions, an extraction of certain sections of the lengthy carpet

you are done with this tapestry visit, just outside the museum, this water mill catches your attention

you think this is a beautiful wall story to add to your collection

you adjourn to a bistro nearby for lunch.  your picardie duck salad is full of the internal organs, from duck liver to whatever you can see in this picture.  this is really too much for you, you can take duck liver with pleasure but other duck organs? no..no... he has to help you up with this salad

his galettes with ham and cheese (some sort of savory crepe that is quite common in the region of normandy and brittany) is a lot lighter to the palette.

you both are so full now.  you are refueled. you know your next meal will be at your home, where you belong because the vacation is officially over ...

last.sunset.at.saint-malo

well, the time has come, for you know "to everything there is a season" (ecclesiastes 3). you have enjoyed your time here and your time is up. it is about time to move on...

you know you will miss the reflection of the cotton puffy clouds on the wet beach and also the moment where you can have the whole patch of beach by yourself..

you will miss excitements of the discovering the new continent where you find the plateau of mussels and wondering if you can just pick them up and bring them 'home' and cook them...

you will miss this coast city which is blessed with abundance of shell fish and seafood

you still haven't go the time to figure out why les rochers sculptes (sculptures) in rotheneuf (about 5 min drive away) are crafted... but you remember there is a nice restaurant next to these sculptures overlooking the sea that you would like to come on the last day

your take a last look at the main lobby of your apartment overlooking the sunset, this is the only place where you can get wifi access (as if you needed) but you never care to get connect to the world the entire week, you sometime accompany him here (while he satisfying his internet urge) but you are just happy and contented with your book and the sunlight

'ma maison' is over tomorrow, and now you finally capture the front entrance, you still remember how passionate and service from the heart the male reception is at the front desk. helping you up with all the enquiries and reservations. you asked God to bless this man....

one last flash back of ma maison from the beach front, oh dear, you just didn't want to go....

you know how much you enjoyed the lazy day at the terrace facing the sea. you will miss those moments especially your daily swim and the turkish bath routine that you take in so well in just one week. you gonna miss doing nothing but sunbathing and reading and just enjoying the view while you lay down on the beach chair

you opt to dine out on the last night in saint-malo. the restaurant that you original wanted to go is fully booked, so you opt for this seaside terrace to end your stay here and the beautiful sunset accompany you all the way to the dawn for the very last time

the seashell decoration, the rosé wine, the water carafe, all form a part of the last supper in saint-malo

and the scent of your starter, you have the fruit de mer salad with quinoa for yourself

he opts for the hearty charcuterie salad, which is also very delicious...

you had scallop skewer as your main course, but is a little disappointed with the scallops that are little over cooked, you would prefer it lightly seared 50% cooked but what is delivered to you is 80% cooked...

he had a grilled dorade fillet as his main, thankfully the portion is not as big as the starter
and after tonight, the holiday is over, you have at least 8 hours to drive back to your adopted land. nevertheless, you are really thankful to God because you already enjoyed it to bits...
!!ã bientôt saint-malo!!
[we spent a week and total seven nights (28th august to 4th september)  at reine marine in saint-malo. this is the first time we visited brittany region of france and saint-malo appears to be a pleasant surprise to both of us. we don't mind going back again, perhaps not staying in saint-malo but may be other part of brittany. yet again, who knows when the next time will come.. the world is so big and there are more places to visit in the years to come, but one thing for sure, we enjoyed saint-malo trip very much...]

nantes.midpoint.for.friends

nantes, what can you say about this city.  hmmm, it is a meeting point with a good old friend of him.  a compromise.  a midpoint for both.  you drove 176km southbound from where you ‘live’ in saint-malo to nantes. they drove the similar distance from la rochelle to nantes. that makes nantes a midpoint for both.

it is very hot and warm day. the meeting point is in front of cathedral st pierre and st paul.

while waiting for friends to arrive, you sneak in to the cathedral to avoid the sun, enjoy the cooling effect from the marble floor, it’s free after all. 

this cathedral is definitely a gothic architecture, very white and airy interior. 

you actually quite enjoy the stroll inside the cathedral and trying out the different feature of your camera. you marvel at the reflection of the sun and the color of the stained glass on the floor

the whiteness of the walls and the rich colors of the stained-glass windows make for a striking contrast. you are happy with the bokeh effect that you have wanting to try and finally got the candle appears in bubbles shape.

you observe the wall, some craved images are faded and you look at the door and wonder why the door doesn't match up to the interior of the cathedral.  this door is just made of plank woods...

by the time you stepped out the cathedral, his friends already arrived.  the little girl is cute but demanding and full of expressions. she laughs and she cries as any other toddlers of her age.

you didn’t do much in nantes, neither have you see many other sights. it is just a city, uninteresting one, and industrialized one.   the presence of friends makes this day trip a little different.  you walk by chateau des ducs de bretagne – a fortress in the city center, rather interesting but you didn’t go in for a visit.  it is a hot day, the guys want to walk to the river side and expecting a promenade along the river where they can chill but after 30 min walk under the severe uv exposure, they realize there is no such promenade. 

along the way, a building catches your attention. it is la tour LU (LU tower) - a picturesque tower or rather russian/communist inkling tower. you remember some time you munch on biscuits with the logo “LU”, and here is the birth place of these delicious biscuits and a peculiar tower, although the actual production line is no longer here, the empty factory has become a museum of some sorts.

and that's nantes to you, where the venue is not the highlight but it is the friendship that you cherish.

[we were there on second of september, a day trip out from saint-malo to meet a friend whom we hardly have time to meet when we are in the netherlands but have all the time to meet during our vacation]

intra.muro.saint.malo

[i had a good day at work today - praise the Lord for that!! (1) i walked into our 'supervisor room' and one of them who yelled at me last week, smiled and gave me a compliment on the work that i have done before my vacation, where he only manage to review just before i walked in. (2) my colleague who refused to use a common system all these while and i had received a lot of push back suddenly come to term and say i should give him a few days including this weekend, so that next week he will use the new platform for management reporting, now back to my travel story, i will continue from where i stopped....]

thirtieth august

although you stayed at the seaside apartment, but you know that you must visit the wall city somehow. so you make plan to visit on this fine sunny but windy day. as you are approaching, you wonder if you are at valletta (malta) again. For a few moments, you thought the view and scenery looks so very familiar with the exception that the old town is not really big but facing a fierce atlantic ocean. The fortresses, the castles are alike except you are surrounded by a different sea, unlike valletta where you are facing the mediterranean sea.

the wall city, also called intra muro welcomes you... this place has witnessed many history, used to be a fortified island at the mouth of river rance, a feared based for pirates, heavily fortified against the norman (english) attacks but now part of the mainland. as the name intra muro ssuggests, the wall is quite high and seclusive, you almost not able to see anything from the outside the city wall.

you walk past the wall and the fountain before entering the old city gate where you can see the town crest clearly visible from afar

the main building besides the wall is this cathedral st vincent which you didn't go in at all, you have enough cathedral visits but what catches your attention is the architecture of this cathedral. look at the monster like beast at the wall. is this medieval, gothic or renaissance? you are not expert in architecture but you think this is more gothic like but still the beast ornament is quite amusing. you ask "what is the function of these long neck beast?". he replies "may be they are water drainage, the rain water will flow through the mouth of these beasts". well you never know if this is right or wrong, but you don't care either...

you walk through the city center which is noisy, busy and full of people, lots of restaurants, smell of seafood and aroma from the bakery shops and finally reach the north western side of the wall...

you walk up the staircase at one of the station, from here you have the beautiful view of the ramparts and the sea. you enjoy the sound of the wave and wind here under the late summer sun... "quite an impressive view really", you say to yourself.

you walk along the wall and ramparts, you are refreshing as the cool breeze kisses you face. the view is superb, there are a few smaller islands that you could possibly walk over to at low tide.

by now you are hungry, you need food!! you walk passed many restaurants determining if these are for tourists or locals and you cannot decide until you walk into a small alley and see this restaurant where both of you know this one is probably not tourist trap. so you walk in and the ambiance is so homely. or rather girlie.

the restaurant is run by three young ladies, and there are color pencils on the table which encourage the creative inner you to start drawing something while waiting to be served...

you had a rather typical breton dish - blood pudding/sausage as your starter.. the dark lump is the blood sausage and the apple compote complementing it quite well...

your main course is nothing more than the humble salmon and scallop tartare. raw. fresh from the sea. simple but delicious...

he has this seafood tapas as starter that he is quite disappointing as he assumes it comes in the spanish version of tapas. but really you know tapas is just small bites

then the rather rich but really fresh fish in creamy sauce as his main. he likes his food but you just think it is too heavy for summer.

first september

you came back one evening, wanting to taste out the night life in the wall city.

you are disappointed by the quietness of the city wall. the city looks quite deserted outside, but as soon as you enter the city gate and into the inner city....

everywhere you go, you see restaurants packed with people.. the crowds are everywhere, almost all the restaurants are full at 9pm, it seems to be the perfect dining time. you already eaten at 'home' and so you settle yourself in a cafe for drinks only.

you wanna go to check out the city wall at night, but he doesn't have courage to do so, so you just turn back to the inner city...

as you leave saint-malo wall city, you turn back for the last glimpse and the city gate gives a different view and atmosphere at night.

and thus you bid so long, farewell, you need to say good night and perhaps good bye...

you return to your 'home' at the seaside just about ten minute drive away...