It has almost been two weeks since I returned from my European affair, but it feels like a lifetime ago; a long series of blurs tinged with mixed emotions of happiness and melancholy. But during the fortnight, I have fought off serve jet lag; caved into weeks of sleeplessness; endured a bout of gastric flu and decelerated my mental thought process to the laid back pace that is uniquely Australian. So now I have a chance to share with you my high lights, low lights and middle lights.
Starting off with the high lights: -
- Seeking shelter from the horrible London weather under a window canopy of New Bond Street only to watch as a black Maybach pulled up along the kerb with a smartly dressed man stepping out of the driver’s seat, offering an umbrella to the rather old couple who walked into Chanel with me gazing in envy as I dreamed of one day when my wife will take me shopping at Chanel, not just any Chanel store, but the fine jewellery department only available in London, Paris and New York.
- Walking into Miu Miu and having the sales assistant ask me something in Japanese, then another assistant asking me something in Korean, finally followed by Chinese and seeing the exasperated looks on their faces when I said in English if I can take a look at the coat in the window.
- Uncovering the fact that Londoners are so fabulously wealthy and at ease with themselves that they can park an Aston Martin on the street
- Discovering the Red Light District in London
- Comparing the goliath emporiums of Selfridges with the trendy Harvey Nichols and the self parodying Harrods
- Stumbling by chance into one of the only two stores in Paris on the first day and emerging out on Rue Royale proudly flaunting the elongated shopping bag emblazed by the glistering name of Dior
- Seeing the glimmering top of the Eiffel Tower poking out the low rises of Paris
- Learning how to order a croissant and a latte in French
- Gazing into the closed glass pyramid of the Lourve only to be roughly interrupted by the fluttering chill of snow flakes
- Sitting on the boat ride at Euro Disney where there are figurines that all sing “It’s a small world after all” that was parodied in the Simpsons
- Gazing into the eyes of Mona Lisa and wondering what the allure was about her until it hit; she is priceless
- Discovering the Red Light District in Paris
- Comprehending the grandeur, elegance and romance of Paris whose leaders had grand dreams and ambition to create one of the most stunning cities in the world whose testament can be seen from atop the Grande Arch and looking straight ahead along the avenue, the Arc de Triomphe, followed by Place de la Concorde (a giant gold tipped oblelisk), Place du Carrousel (a mini arch), the grand pyramid and finally, the sprawling fortress of the Lourve
- Walking to Louis Vuitton and going “May I see this; yes, I’ll take it; may I see that; what about that one; does this come in the black leather; sorry, I meant the Taiga, not the Epi leather; I’ll take that too; oh, can I get them gifted boxed and wrapped please; no need to fill out my details, I’m already on your database; yes, this isn’t my first time at Louis Vuitton”
- Propelled along the French/Belgian snow covered fields at 300 kilometres per hour aboard the high speed Thalys train
- Finding somewhere to rest in Brussels after a tiring day of sight seeing/ shopping / getting lost and then ordering desert only to taste authentic Belgium waffles topped with Belgium chocolate ice cream: absolutely the best waffles I have ever had
- Discovering the Red Light District in Amsterdam…..
- Discovering Hong Kong abuzz at 3 in the morning and that dodgy corner noodle store offered some of the best wontons all for a measly AUD$1.80
- Going to Prada, the one that was Coming Soon
Low Lights
- Discovering the confrontational smell of pot emanating from the alleyways in Amsterdam
- Discovering the sinking mess that is the canals of Amsterdam
- Discovering that people live on the canals on house boats and probably growing pot inside
- Discovering that the people that lived on the canals boats were originally squatters who are probably frequent visitors to the Red Light District or worse, offering pedestrians sex and any kind of drug they wanted
- Discovering that those drug dealers/pimps aren’t going to get caught anytime soon and are probably fabulously rich from the hordes of backpackers too drunk, horny or too stoned to haggle
- Discovering that the prostitutes pay taxes and hating the missed opportunity of finding out whether or not they offered a tourist refund scheme
- Hopping blindly onto a train in Amsterdam in search of real windmills and tulips only to remember that tulips don’t grow in winter and to discover that the map we had was grossly out of scale, as to was the signage that pointed to where windmills were but lead us walking around in a huge circle
- George W Bush in Brussels to visit the EU which effectively ruled out half of the things I wanted to see
- Coming Home
Europe is such an experience that is beyond description. It is captivating, alluring and absolutely stunning. To have the opportunity to travel to Europe and to experience it is something I am thankful for, especially to those who helped me there, offered advice and put up with me. And the best high light: I’ll be going back.
posted by tykang @ 3/18/2005 10:00:00 PM
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