Living life like it’s a fairy tale…

Back from travelling across Austria! Was in Melk, Graz, St. Pölten, Hallstatt and Linz in the past 3 days, and I’m glad I’ve seen so much more of this country :) By the way, photos will be up in due time, so hold your breath :p

So yeah, out of the 9 Bundesländer (states) in Austria, I’ve finally visited 7:

1. Wien (Vienna)

2. Burgenland

3. Salzburg

4. Tirol (Tyrol)

5. Niederösterreich (Lower Austria)

6. Oberösterreich (Upper Austria)

7. Steiermark (Styria)

Is anyone interested in exploring Kärnten (Carinthia) and Vorarlberg in June? Drop me a message :)

Anyway, took part in the UN-organized Fight Hunger: Walk the World 2007 event on Sunday. It was quite fun -I’d never realized that Donaupark is pretty big!

Went to catch Die Fledermaus on Tuesday with Ika at Volksoper. It’s without a doubt Johann Strauß II’s most famous operetta and boy, I’m in love with it! The music and singing are delightful, the setting simple yet lovely, the plot light and entertaining. Plus, it has the right mix of opera singing, orchestral music, ballet and Viennese ballroom dancing!

Wien Volksoper (taken during one of the intervals)

We were fortunate that despite the fact that the operette was in German, there was an English subtitle to refer to. While it wasn’t the most comprehensive of subtitles, coupled with the cast’s brilliant expressions + body language, it enabled us to laugh at the jokes (which were in German, of course) along with the rest of the audience. Besides, it is also an easy and perfect way to improve my German, wahahah…

And oh, the best thing of all, our tickets only cost €1.50 each! They’re standing room tickets but hey, we’ve got a pretty good view from up there so I’m not complaining :) And and and… I seriously think I could live in Vienna happily ever after just because watching opera/operette/ballet/play here is so affordable I could go every single night without burning a hole in my pocket =D

By the way, if you’re wondering about the difference between opera and operetta, click here to find out more.

Now, picking up where I left off in my Easter Trip travelogue, below are some photos from our day trip to Sintra, Portugal. The town, bestrewn with palaces, churches and country estates that stretch out in splendorous green down to the ocean, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

Câmara Municipal de Sintra (Town Hall)

Palácio Nacional de Sintra, the summer residence of the kings of Portugal

The view from the top of the palace

Torre do Relógio (Clock Tower)

Fonte Mourisca (Moorish Fountain)

Fonte da Pipa (Barrel-shaped Fountain)

A glimpse of Castelo dos Mouros (The Moorish Castle) as we climbed up the Serra de Sintra.

“Known in ancient times as Mons Lunae (the Hills of the Moon), because of its strong traditions of astral cults, still clearly visible in the region’s countless monuments and archaeological remains, the Serra de Sintra is a granite outcrop roughly 10 km long, rising abruptly between a vast plain to the north and the estuary of the River Tagus to the south. It is a mountain range that twists and turns, projecting into the Atlantic Ocean to form Cabo da Roca – the headland that marks the westernmost point of’ continental Europe.” -from the Sintra UNESCO World Heritage Site Portugal website

A glimpse of Palácio Nacional de Pena, a perfect specimen of Portuguese romantic architecture dating back to 1840

And now, a series of photos taken at the fairy tale-ish Palácio e Quinta de Regaleira. It’s a massive estate built between 1904 and 1910, during the very last years of the Portuguese monarchy.

 

If not for the rain or some unknown misfortunate incident which SPOILED MY BELOVED CAMERA that day, the day we spent in Sintra would have been a great day. For the record, I love my Exilim camera to bits (for it took the most brilliant blue-sky pictures in the world, no kidding), so it was quite devastating that now I have no choice but to put it aside in the drawer. Luckily, I could still count on Cheryl and Min Dan’s cameras for the rest of the Easter Trip, so it wasn’t too bad and you can click here for more photos of Sintra, thanks to the two of them :)

Gotta go now, catching Macbeth at Volkstheater later tonight!