Paris Day 1

Part I
It was close to 9AM when I landed at Paris Charles deGaulle International Airport. Since I used a low-cost airline, EasyJet, I was not surprised when my airplane stopped at the tarmac in front of a square building that was used as a terminal for EasyJet. No gate! No shiny curvy Frank Gehry surfaces, no reflective windows or fast food places. I was starting to get hungry. I was in France! Not many people speak English here. In my hand i was holding a French phrases pocketbook. Excusez-moi s'il vous plait [excuse me, please]. Parlez-vouz Anglais? [do you speak english?]. As I was standing in the line to the customs, I was reciting common French phrases and trying to feel like a frenchman. That was exciting! I really loved the pocketbook and the romantic language. The customs official didn't speak much and he spoke in english, so I was all right.

My next step was to find a means of transportation to center of Paris. The airport is pretty far from the city centre, and one of the ways I could get to my hostel (hostel, not hotel) was by commuter train to Gare Nord. My hostel is only several blocks away from Gare du Nord (North Station), so I opted out of taking a cab (it is quite expensive!). Finally I managed to find the train terminal near the airport -- I had to walk some distance to another newer and more shiny terminal. Everything around me was foreign. I felt that I would not survive without the French pocketbook. I was still reciting in French the phrase that I'd say to the ticket clerk as I stood in the long line at the train terminal. Using my broken French I uttered Je voudrais un billet à Gare Nord, S'il vous plait, which in English means "I'd like one ticket to Gare Nord, please" at the ticket booth. I was relieved when the clerk finally understood me on 2nd try (he actually knew English!).

I went down to the platform and could not figure out which side of the platform to use to board the train. Luckily, there was a gentlemen from my flight close by, and I knew that he might know English since he was flying from UK with me, so I asked him. If you are in a foreign country language of which you do not know, try to find familiar faces, or exercise the following phrase a lot: "Parlez-vous anglais" until someone gives you an affirmative nod.

The train that I boarded was actually double-decked -- there are a lot of trains like that in Paris (commuter train, not a subway). And it ran on wrong side of tracks -- on the left instead of right. Weird. A lot of trains in France travel in the same pattern as cars in UK -- on the left. As I was sitting by the window and observing people around me, I thought of learning some more French. Only the pocketbook was nowhere to be found. I almost had a panic attack! My most prized possession in the land of unknown was gone! I almost felt that my time in Paris was doomed to be ruined. I had to decide whether to turn around, buy ticket back to airport, look for the book (I was almost certain I might have left it at the ticket counter -- so much for excitement of speaking French!), and go back to Gare Nord. However, the ticket costed some money and I did not feel like spending another part of day waiting in the line at two locations, so I thought that perhaps I could find a bookstore near the hostel. It would be hard, but I felt it was the only thing I could do at the moment.
North Station is huge! [1][2] I was so lost trying to find a way out. EXIT/WAY OUT in French is 'SORTIE'... What are we sorting? I had to ask several people around me, but the salespeople in kiosks did not know English well enough to point me in the right direction. When I finally got on the street level, I stood in a loong line to the tourist information kiosk. I bet everyone in that line was a tourist and they did speak various languages -- from Mandarin/Cantonese to English. The lady in info kiosk was very helpful and she spoke perfect English. She told me that it would be a good deal to buy a 3-day museum pass, which I did. That museum pass really saved me money and was so awesome on time. I did not have to wait in line for tickets in museums, and I could go to any museum in Paris at any time without having to buy a ticket for every visit. Suppose it rains, and I hide in Louvre and get a chance to see Renaissance paintings once again, Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo without shelling money out of my wallet. That did happen actually. More on this later.

I stayed at Friends Hostel on Boulevard de la Chapelle, close to Montmartre (subway stop Barbes-Rochechouart). It is a 10-minute walk from Gare Nord. This was a dirty hostel in a sketchy neighborhood, but given hotel rates in Paris, I had to be cheap. This was the closest cheapest hostel to city centre that I could find and it was right in front of the metro (subway) stop. The person at front desk was courteous, but could quickly lose temper if you asked too many questions. They would not accept anything but cash. Since I just flew in from UK, I had no large quantities of Euro cash. So I had to go to the closest bank. I was told that I can use any ATM in Europe rather than use traveller's cheques, and my bank would figure out the exchange rates (often in its favor). This is still more convenient than looking for currency exchange bureaus (and in some cases even better) I checked in hostel, stowed my luggage in the locker room and went in search for the bookstore. There was a Virgin Megastore a block away from the hostel. I asked the store staff to direct me to the French pocketbook, but the staff's fluency in English was practically nil. Since Virgin is a British brand, I expected a good portion of the staff in Paris branch to speak English, but it was not the case. I was lucky that lady understood my wild hand gestures and keywords (Francais Anglais BOOK. Since I didn't have the pocketbook, I had to come up with my own creative way to mimic French). When I finally found the pocketbook and bought it, I could feel relief and warmth coming back to my veins. AT least I got a new friend in my new French pocketbook.


Part II (Guide to Paris, Day 1)

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Beginning of a start...
I really wanted to see Louvre, so I made it my first stop for that day. I wanted to approach Louvre from distance rather than just surface at the Carousel (in middle of the square that Louvre encircles), so I took the train to Opera station and got out right in front of the Opera Garnier. [1] It is the Paris' version of Metropolitan Opera in New York City, an equivalent of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre on the grandness scale. I was amazed at how beautiful the buildings around me were as I walked along Rue de la Paix toward Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Gardens). They were all in French Baroque style, which is the same style as Louvre and Versailles Palace. These were the most beautiful buildings I had ever seen and would allow me to call Paris the most beautiful city in the world. When you walk on Rue de la Paix in the direction of Louvre/Tuileries, you'll pass by a tall greenish column. You would be in Place Vendome. [1] On top of the Column (Colonne Vendome) there is a statue of Napoleon, and the column's exterior is coated with bronze. Rumor says that these bronze platings were made from the 120 cannons that Napoleon has captured at the Battle of Austerlitz.

In front of Louvre and Jardin des Tuileries (French gardens)
Before you reach Jardin des Tuileries you would have to pass Rue de Rivoli -- the 5th avenue, Rodeo Drive of Paris. This street runs from North of Louvre along Jardin des Tuileries toward Place de la Concorde. Jardin des Tuileries is a French-Style garden with a lot of dust. It is really not my style of park -- I prefer English gardens where there are more trees and where symmetry does not exist. Unlike English Gardens, French Garden has a lot of roads suitable for horseback riding, for carriages. It is also symmetric, with symmetry extending all the way from Louver past Place de la Concorde, past avenue des Champs-Elysee, past Arc de Triomphe, past Arc de la Defense. [this is actually an intentional axis of symmetry] [1]. Jardin des Tuileries reminded me of Renoir, Manet and Degas paintings, in particular of Renoir and Manet paintings of gents and dames with umbrellas taking to each other in the garden. I really did not like the Gardens of Tuileries because i felt like they were too dirty and that it would be easy to step on dog shit. Unlike in United States, French do not usually clean up after their dogs, which explains why there are so much dog shit on Paris streets. Also, since I did not like standing in the sun, it was hard enough to find shade because there were not so many trees in the garden. French seem to prefer open spaces more than shade. It was a pretty warm day, I would say a hot day. From Jardin des Tuileries one can look East and see Carousel of Louvre (the Pyramid). Look east and you will see the Luxor Obelisk at place de la Concorde and the Arc of Triumph (Arc de Triomphe) in the background. The axis of symmetry lies across the Louvre Pyramid, Luxor Obelisk, Avenue des Champs Elysee, Arc de Triomphe, and past it to La Defense (a modern business district of Paris) and its modern arch.
The exterior of Louvre was fantastic. There were a lot of people, and a good share of them spoke English. In fact, every now and then I would be approached by a family asking me in plain English to snap a picture. I guess my MIT shirt made me an easy American target for other americans.

The Louvre
I am a big fan of Renaissance and Impressionist Art, and I wanted to take a look at Louvre's vast collections, including Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. I snapped quite a few shots of Louvre. Le Louvre facade is in French Baroque style, built for the Sun-King himself, Louis XIV. The building itself is enormous and spans across three large wings/pavilions. It would take 3 days or more to see every work of art on display in Louvre! The main entrance is actually modern. The pavilions of Louvre are all connected to each other -- so at first glance they look like a square horseshoe, each of the pavilions occupying each of the three sides of the horseshoe. [1] In the middle of the horseshoe that opens toward Jardin des Tuileries and Arc de Triomphe is a square with fountains and the famous Pyramid of Louvre. It was built not by Louis XIV's architect, but three centuries later, by I.M. Pei. He is MIT graduate! This pyramid is made of glass and serves as a roof for the concourse and main lobby of the museum, which actually is at the level lower than the square. [1] In order to enter Louvre, one has to enter the Pyramid and then either walk down the wide spiral staircase, or take the escalator down to the lower level. The pyramid is just a tip of iceberg. Once you get down to the large lobby, you can enter any of the three pavilions (Sully, Richelieu, and Denon). All of the three pavilions exhibit works of art only until impressionism. There are three main museums in Paris, each for its own era in art history. There is Louvre which covers everything from ancient ages to Renaissance and 18th century. Then there is Musee d'Orsay, which covers the era of Impressionism, and then there is Musee Pompidou which covers modern art. I have visited all three of them.

Seine
I deliberately did not spend a lot of time in the Louvre so I could see more of the city. I think I spent 3-4 hours in Louvre from late morning to mid-afternoon. Fron Louvre I decided I would walk along the most romantic river in the world - Seine, and maybe gaze at some of the happy couples walking along it. In some of the movies, where action happens in Paris, there are scenes where camera pans across the quai on Seine (Quai means waterfront street/avenue), where there are stairwells going down from quai to the water level and where romantics and happy couples go to make love.
I left Louvre square through the south (river) archway onto the Quai and then onto Pont des Arts -- the bronze bridge of Arts that crosses Seine from Louvre to Assemblee Nationale (National Assembly) on the south bank. [1][2] From this bridge one can see the oldest part of Paris, which is basically an island called ile de la Cite (City Island). This island was the place where Paris first was founded. Long time ago all of the city was on this island, separated from the rest of the world by a body of water. Notre Dame, old barracks, and another old church are on that island. The zero mile is on that island, and many mileage markers in France start from this point. One of the most amazing places of Ile de la Cite is the westward tip of the island. This is where Pont Neuf (New Bridge, but its not that new) crosses the Seine across the island. Pont Neuf is the oldest standing bridge in Paris. [1] A small part of the island lies to the west of the bridge, and it overlooks Seine, Louvre, Pont des Arts, and sometimes Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower). This is a very narrow point with trees and standing at its tip is like standing at the tip of the ship floating towards Louvre. [1][2][3][4] You really feel like you are in the middle of Seine. This is an amazing place and I highly suggest going there if you have a chance. You cannot miss it. It's like that scene from Titanic where Jack and Rose stand at the front tip of the ship pretending that they are flying. Another good place to go on a date.

Bank of Seine and Ile de la Cite (City Island)
Walking on the south bank of Seine, you should pay attention to the bookstands. During the day many of these stands are open and vendors try to sell books to the public. South bank is pretty famous for being a popular place for writers and poets and members of the literary society. There are many cafes on the quais of the south bank, from Assemblee Nationale through Place st Michel (where bridge from I'le de la Cite crosses the Seine). Writers like Hemingway, Ezra Pound, and others would frequent these cafes in the past. A good illustration is in Hemingway's book titled "A Moveable Feast". Try to walk down the bank feeling like an enlightened soul.
I walked to Place Saint-Michel (on south bank, where Boulevard Saint Michel starts its way in the direction of Montparnasse) and crossed Seine onto the City Island. From there I walked west to Pont Neuf to experience the feeling of being in the middle of Seine, then walked down the quai on the south side of the island toward Notre Dame. I had a burning desire to see Notre Dame, which, unfortunately, is the place that millions of tourists flock to the moment they arrive to Paris. The square in front of Notre Dame cathedral was full of people, tourists snapping pictures of various features of the cathedral's facade.[1] I was thinking that there would be a long line at the entrance to the cathedral, but there was almost no line. Notre Dame cannot be considered to be as old as the City Island itself, and it only became the attraction after Victor Hugo published his "Hunchback of Notre Dame" book. Victor Hugo is considered to be a hero in Paris and one of the most respected figures. Notre Dame from the inside looks like many other Roman Gothic cathedrals, such as Westminster Abbey.[1][2] It has many beautiful glass window paintings, especially on a sunny day when sun rays shine through them.[1][2] I spent a considerable amount of time looking for the entrance to the towers but could not find one from the inside. I wanted to climb up the towers and see the famed gargoyles of Notre Dame and perhaps enjoy the view on Paris. Notre Dame is visible from many areas of the city, so I thought that the view would be excellent. The entrance to the towers is actually on the outside, on the right side of the cathedral as you exit through the front entrance.[1] You would have to walk around the corner and stand in a long line. The line was not super long, but it was moving slowly -- people would only be let in groups at time intervals.

Views from towers of Notre Dame
Once I was let in (my Paris museum pass was handy as I did not have to purchase tickets), i went up the stairs to one of the towers (I believe it was the North Tower). The ascent was pretty long because there were a couple of slow people in fron of me, and we did not use elevators, just stairs that spiral around the tower's core. Once you get to the top, the views are rewarding. From my experience, views from top of Notre Dame beats any views from Eiffel Tower. I actually never went on top of Eiffel Tower during my stay in Paris (in this case I have never been on top of Tour Eiffel). Eiffel tower is too overrated, and I am amazed at how many people prefer going on top of Eiffel Tower. If the lines to Tour Eiffel are too long, you would end up wasting half a day waiting in the line and then ascending up on elevators and then on top and then descending. Eiffel Tower is too far from historic districts and due to its height would make it hard to enjoy the details of Paris' beautiful architecture. Notredame is right in the middle of Paris and its low height allows to enjoy Paris from above. From the top of Notre Dame you can still see the details of exterior of many buildings close to it, and still can see as far as Louvre and Tour Eiffel. Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower) is in the plain view from Notre Dame, as is another memoriable landmark -- Sacre Coeur Basilica (Basilique de Sacre Coeur). If I had more time, I would have visited Sacre Coeur, which is in the Montmartre district of Paris. Sacre Coeur is on the top of the highest hill in Paris (on the summit of bute Montmartre). Those of you who have extra time, you should definitely visit Sacre Coeur!

Back to top of Notre Dame. The views are spectacular. You can see the Notre Dame square [1] and Seine below [1], Sorbonne [1] and Tour Montparnasse in the South, Les Invalides and Tour Eiffel in Southwest [1], snaking Seine river in the West and East Pont Neuf, Pont des Arts, Louvre [1], faint outline of Arc de Triomphe (Arch of Triumph), and La Defense in the back (Business district of Paris), Basilique de Sacre Coeur in the North [1], roof of Notre Dame and green statues of apostles on the roof [1][2], and a full view of Ile Saint-Louis [1] and Seine to the West. Also, there are famous gargoyles all over the roof of Notre Dame. I snapped many pictures of the gargoyles with the views in the background. These turned out to be really cool pictures.[1][2][3][4][5]

From the North tower you can walk along the roof to the South tower and then descend down the south tower to the exit at southwest corner of the cathedral.
I was really amazed by the sights that I decided to take a break on the square in front of the cathedral. As I was sitting on the bench studying the tourbook and my french phrase book, an old man sat next to me. He tried to talk to me in French, but I could make out anything. From the hand gestures I guessed that he was probably gay (he was pointing at himself and me and motioning the 'together' gesture). I was slightly disgusted, but I never showed that. I tried to be as nice as possible, and lied to him in broken french that I already have a girlfriend and am not available. You guys have to watch out for some types in Paris -- they may be gay (there is more freedom in artistic expression in France than anywhere in the world).

Le Saint Chapelle (church)
After I got some rest, I decided to walk around Ile de la cite (City Island). I visited one of the oldest churches in Paris, Le Sainte Chapelle (The Holy Chapel), which was built in 13th century. It has a very unique interior shaped by golden simple archs.[1] Most of its interior has been recreated, but the stained glass windows are authentic.[1][2] These are really beautiful. The church itself is a classic example of gothic architecture. To reach Le Sainte Chapelle, you would have to walk toward Pont Saint-Michel and along Boulevard du Palais. The entrance to the church is not obvious -- you have to follow signs through the courtyard past some fences and construction barriers.

Ile Saint-Louis (St. Louis Island)
There are many other noteworthy places to visit on the City Island, but I got fed up with crowded streets, so I walked back to Notre Dame in order to find the connection to a neighboring island, Ile St. Louis. I walked to the back of Notre Dame [1] where there is a maze of bushes. I was told that there should be a really good holocaust/WW2 memorial at the back of Notre Dame, but I only learned about this after I came back home from Paris. So, if you are in Paris, do check out the Holocaust Memorial at the back of Notre Dame. Ile de la Cite (the City Island on which the Notre Dame is) is connected to the other old island on Seine -- Ile Saint-Louis. There is a bridge Pont St. Louis that connects the two islands. Ile St. Louis is famous for its Sorbet ice. Be sure to grab at least one sorbet for your snack there. I think I ate 3 sorbets that day on the island! They are quite tasty. While Ile de la Cite is touristy, you will be surprised that the neighboring Ile Saint-Louis is a lot more quiet, more residential and old world. Ile Saint-Louis has a lot of pretty residential homes and narrow streets between them.[1] I just wandered around looking at these houses. There is another place on the island that may be of some interest to those who like sculpture, especially Rodin's sculpture. If you walk along the Quai de Bourbon on the north side of the island, be sure to stop by house 19 (19 Quai de Bourbon). There will be a plague commemorating Camille Claudel.[1] For those of you who have no clue to as who she is, she was the famous student and mistress of the master of sculpture August Rodin. She lived on Quai de Bourbon at the very end of 19th centure to the beginning of 20th century. As you walk down the quai, Quai de Bourbon turns into Quai d'Anjou. There is one house on this quai, #17 Quai d'Anjou that used to be a hotel, Hotel de Lauzun. The building is worth a pause -- it's baroque facade is very beautiful, especially with gold-plated fish on its roof drain pipes.[1] Ile Saint-Louis will make you feel serene and at peace.

Le Marais quarter
Leaving Ile Saint-Louis via Pont de Sully, I walked straight toward Place de la Bastille. It was already becoming evening. It was around 5-6PM when I walked into Place de la Bastille. The walk itself was pretty short, only 10-15 minutes. The sun was still up (sunset at Paris happened at around 10PM in June, so if you are visiting Paris in winter, you will not be able to use my itinerary in full. Place de la Bastille is a square where Bastille prison stood. It was the site of the famous storming of Bastille during the French Revolution, at which point the prison was destroyed. Currently there is a Bastille Opera house on the square and a column that commemorates the Revolution of 1830 (not Bastille storming which happened in 1789).[1][2]
From Place de la Bastille I walked down Rue Saint Antoine toward Rue de Rivoli and Louvre. The neighborhood between Louvre and Place de la Bastille is known as Le Marais. This district was popular in the medieval times as the district for aristocrats. Many of them built their residences there. Some of the houses lining up Rue Saint-Antoine were very beautiful, including one house that had many windows and window shutters, and all of the shutters were open thus giving the house a fairy-tale look.[1] After walking several blocks on Rue Saint-Antoine, you should see a narrow street Rue de Birague on the right. Walk down Rue de Birague until it culminates at the arch adorning a bright-red building with white decorations.[1] Go through the arch and you will see that you have entered a large complex of red-brick and white-stone buildings that enclose a small square-park. Since it was evening, there were a lot of Parisians in the park. The park-garden looked a little like Washington Square in New York. There was a lot of commotion. This would be a good place to observe Parisians after work. The whole complex and the square are called Place des Vosges. This is the oldest square in Paris. Originally known as Place Royale , it was built by Henri IV in early 17th century. The pavilions that encircle the public garden in the middle of square (which is encircled by road) are the good example of pre-baroque architecture.[1] The buildings are built of red brick with white stone visible on every edge, whether window edge, corner of the building, or around arches.[1][2] I was really captivated by the look of these buildings. Place des Vosges had many famous residents: madame de Sevigne, Victor Hugo,[1] Bossuet, Cardinal du Richelieu all lived there. The place also has many arcades framed by stone pointy arches under every pavilion. This is a good gathering place in any weather, rain or shine.
I walked out of Place des Vosges onto Rue de Saint-Antoine, which later became Rue de Rivoli. Walk into one of the side streets branching from the north side of Rue de Rivoli, especially onto Rue des Archives. Walking down Rue des Archives, you wil see the medieval-looking walled compound with pointy towers. This is a classic example of Gothic Architecture.[1] This is the residence of the Guises. For those of you who do not know who Duke of Giuse was, you should read Dumas' Queen Margot (La Reine du Margot). Guises were famous for their role in the war of Religion. Guises were Catholics, but Henri of Navarre was a Huegunot. During the St. Bartholomew Massacre in mid 16th century, many Huegunots were purged by the Catholics under the direction of duke of Guise.

Hotel de Ville
If you walk on Rue de Rivoli in the direction of Louvre, you will pass by Hotel de Ville -- the Paris City Hall. This building is in Baroque style and was slighly orange in the rays of the setting sun.[1][2] This is a place where Maximilien Robespierre planned his Reign of Terror. The coup of 9 Thermidor Year II also happened there. Then Robespierre was shot in jaw and arrested. He was later guiliotined at a different location (place de la Concorde). Hotel de Ville is a noteworthy place to look at because of its beautiful facade and its location on Seine. From the square in front of Hotel de Ville you can see Seine, Ile de la Cite, and Notre Dame soaring above the buildings of Ile de la Cite.[1][2]

Musee Pompidou (Modern Art)
Walk north of Hotel de Ville on Rue du Renard toward Rue du Rambuteau until you see a modern building adorned with multi-colored pipes. It looks like a factory from inside out. This is Centre Pompidou, also known as, the Modern Museum of Art of Paris. Its abstract architecture might seem like an eyesore amongst ancient buildings, but if you ignore the other buildings surrounding it, it looks very creative. One distinctuve feature of the Centre Pompidou is the diagonal glass pipe that takes the shape of the staircase and which houses escalators connecting different floors of the center.[1][2][3][4] I had some time before dinner, so I went in. Again, I did not have to buy any tickets -- my museum Pass alowed me to go in and out without any problems. The exhibits at Musee Pompidou were below my expectations. I thought that the museum had a vast collection of modern art, whereas in reality, it did not seem to have a lot of modern art. I saw two paintings by Kandinsky, maybe 3 Chagall paintings, in total there were very few paintings by famous abstract painters. I was slightly disappointed by the selection of art. However, the views from the top floor of Centre Pompidou were stunning. The sun was setting down and I could see Eiffel Tower in the distance in the way of the sun.[1] Looking north I could see Basilique Sacre Coeur. It looked so grandiose closer by perched on top of the hill overlooking Montmartre. Another good viewing point in addition to towers of Notre Dame.

Sunset on the Seine
Leaving Pompidou I walked down to the Seine in hopes of catching the sunset on the river. I walked along the Quai from Pont Notre Dame in front of Hotel de Ville to Pont Neuf and onto Pont Neuf. From there the view of Seine, Pont des Arts and Louvre is plain spectacular. I highly recommend watching sunset on the Seine. Sunset in May/June happens around 10pm, which is pretty late.[1][2][3]

Seine again
After the sunset I crossed Seine on Pont Neuf, walked a short distance on south bank to Assemblee Nationale and Pont des Arts and crossed Seine again to Louvre.[1][2][3] Pont des Arts was crowded with youngsters. Teenagers in 18's-21's were sitting in groups on the bridge chatting with each other. I have no idea what makes Pont des Arts a popular spot for teenagers on that day. Some were smoking god knows what, could be some sort of weed because the smell was not that of a normal cigarette.

Place des Halles and Fountain of the Innocents
My tourbook suggested that I check out Place des Halles and Fontaine des Innocents (Fountain of Innocents) which was in the neighborhood, so I went North again. Forum des Halles is a large underground mall with a garden on top and the old Eglise Saint-Eustache (Church) in the background on its side. Les Halles is significant because it used to be the traditional central market of Paris. The central marketplace was demolished in mid 20th century to make place for Forum Les Halles, the ugly underground mall it is today. However, Les Halles is not why I went there. There is a beautiful fountain at the southeast corner of Les Halles. It is called Fontaine des Innocents (Fountain of Innocents). This is a limestone/clay slab that has four sides, each of which has an arch. Three of sides have bas-reliefs and sculptures. The fountain is inside the opening formed by arches. Water sprouting from the fountain formed a cake-like shape and then poured down the steps from arches to the pool surrounding the slab.[1] This fountain is worth a short walk from Louvre.
Then I had an idea of checking out Louvre in the dark. I walked back to Louvre and snapped some fabulous shots in the night mode of Louvre pavilions and the pyramid. Some of the pictures turned out to be excellent.[1][2][3] Some of you would consider ending the day in Louvre, but I felt that I still had some more time until the subway closure. Subway in Paris is called Metropolitain, and the website said that it closes at 1am. Since my hostel was not close to the city center, I had to make sure that I did not miss the last train. However, I felt that I had enough time.

Night strolls and Place de la Concorde
With the time that was remaining in the dark, I wanted to explore Champs-Elysees at night, so I walked along Jardin des Tuileries on Rue de Rivoli to Place de la Concorde. Place de la Concorde is a big square between Jardin des Tuileries and Avenue des Champs-Elysees. It has many pretty fountains and mansions around it.[1] One of the mansions is one of the oldest and most exclusive hotels in the world, Hotel de Crillon famous for debutante Crillon ball. Another point of interest on Place de la Concorde is the American Embassy. That's right. For you Americans who are escaping street riots, you should run to Place de la Concorde to seek refuge at the embassy. Besides stately pavilions with columns, Place de la Concorde is distinguished by the Luxor Obelisk. This Obelisk was shipped straight from Egypt as the gift to the French people. This Obelist is one of the three Cleopatra's Needles. Place de la Concorde is famous not for its obelisk or pavilions, but for its history. It was the main square for executions during the French Revolution. The guiliotine once stood there and beheaded a lot of people, one of them was Queen Marie-Antoinette, another victim was King Louis XVI, and another noteworthy victim was Robespierre himself who was executed at the end of Reign of Terror.

Place de la Concorde is the starting place for Avenue des Champs-Elysees -- the grandest street in Paris. The shops do not start there, however. The end of Champs-Elysees near Place de la Concorde is a park-like street surrounded by trees and small pavilions hidden in the gardens. If you stand in the middle of Place de la Concorde facing Avenue des Champs-Elysees, you can see Arc de Triomphe in the distance.[1][2] If you face in the opposite direction, you can see the Louvre and the pyramid of Louvre.

I walked down Champs-Elysees in hopes of finding the Metro entrance, but was unable to find one. It was already close to 1am, and I gave up my goal of reaching the shops of Champs-Elysee and enter subway there, so I headed back to Place de la Concorde and took train to my hostel from there.

This was a long day and I tried to fill it with as many attractions as I could. I feel particularly proud that I was able to stay alert and awake on the same day I flew into Paris from UK.

Cambridge UK

My first stop in Europe (if you call UK part of europe. I don't) was in Cambridge, UK. I flew directly from Boston to London on an overnight flight and then took a bus to Cambridge. I had arranged with a friend of mine in Cambridge that we would meet at the bus station. However, I was not sure how long it would take me to get out of the airplane, go through HM customs and HM passport control (HM stands for Her Majesty -- this was everywhere!), so I did not know which bus I would take to Cambridge. We have decided that when I get out of airplane and before I board the bus I would call Mark from the pay phone. However, the lines to HM passport control were too long (not to mention that I was the last to exit the airplane due to my sitting in the last row, it took a while for me to get to the other side of the passport control. Sweating profusely, I ran to the bus station and bought the tickets. I was told that the bus should arrive shortly, so I actually did not have time to call Mark from a pay phone.
There was a problem with buses -- my bus never came. Therefore, I boarded a slightly different bus (my original bus was an express to Cambridge, but it came so late that the bus that I boarded would arrive to Cambridge before my bus even with local stops out of the way).
Since I had to reach Mark somehow, I decided to risk using the phone that my professor gave to me. I took an exciting class in the Spring in which we programmed in Python on Nokia phones. The class was "Pervasive Human-Centric Computing" and it involved writing programs for highly-mobile devices, such as mobile phones, PDAs and crickets (indoor-location devices). At the conclusion of the class I asked my professor if I could borrow the phone to use in Europe since I had no other quad-band handsets. The professor allowed me to borrow the phone under one condition that I would not use the class-issued SIM card and would use my own SIM card (which I planned to purchase upon my arrival to Cambridge). However, when i boarded the bus to Cambridge, I had not yet bought an UK SIM card, so I had to use the US SIM card to call Mark. Yeah. Not a nice thing to do, but I had no choice. I did not want Mark to feel that I did not care. He is such an amazing person. Besides I thought that if I could keep the conversation under a minute, the charges would not be that large.
I was Staying at Mark's college in Cambridge. He was a student at one of Cambridge University colleges, the Sidney-Sussex College, which is right in the middle of the town on Regent Street. It turned out to be a really convenient location, close to other major colleges (King's, Trinity, etc...) and close to shops and pubs.
The first thing that I wanted to do was to get a new SIM card. I was feeling guilty to my professor that I used some of US minutes in UK, so I wanted to avoid doing that again. Mark and I visited various phone career shops, but none of them would offer an International SIM card at a reasonable rate. I wanted a SIM card that would work in both UK and in Europe, but at every place they told me that I would have to buy a separate SIM card in Europe, and I could use UK card but at higher rates per minute in Europe. I went ahead and bought the T-Mobile SIM card. Shortly after I sent a text message to Tina, a friend of mine whom I knew from the summer before (we were in California together), and on who I had a short-lived crush. I knew that she already had a boyfriend (in Cambridge), but I still wanted to see her as a friend.
Later in the day we all finally met. I invited Mark to come along with me to the dinner at Trinity dining hall. There were a handful of CME students in our group, and I knew some of them already. We all decided to go punting the day after.
After the dinner in the Harry-potter-like dining hall at Trinity College some of us stuck around in Tina's room and played Monopoly until later into the evening.
Then I thought of going to the BeerFest and try out the fine English beer and ale. Mark and John (his best friend) were already there and I believe more drunk than me =). i was totally sober. The beer fest was awesome. There were many booths with kegs behind them offering different varieties of beer. I rented a beer mug and then paid like 1-2 pounds (1pound = $2) for each fill of the mug, depending on which beer I selected. Too bad I arrived within the hour to the close time, so I did not get to try many varieties of beer. Mark lost his prized MIT brass rat that evening at the fest. We joked that he lost his ring of power and might. Although the event staff tried to help him find the rat, he still does not have one anymore. I hope he got a new one to renew his power.

The next day the weather was perfect. It seems that I bring clear skies wherever I go. It was cloudy and rainy not long before my arrival.
I saw Jess Lam at King's. She was as adorable as always and we had lunch and she gave me a tour of King's College. I feel so lucky to have great friends. Jess' room is huge! It looks like a room from renaissance with (I think) oak doorframes, oak bookshelves, probably oak or redwood table. I am probably making this up, but the wood looked pretty nice and expensive to me. The room reminded me of a scholarly study room. I also saw the King's library and some of other King's students cramming for the tripos exams. there was certainly an aura of ancient-ness. Everything looked old but in good shape -- boooks, bookshelves, caged windows, desklamps.

The weather was perfect and despite the fact that some Cambridge students had to prepare for the finals (I timed my trip to be in town right after Tina was done with her finals), many CME (Cambridge MIT Exchange) students came to go punting. I saw Arjun! We rented two punt galleys. It was awesome.
Punting was awesome. Tina originally planned to punt to Grantchester, but it would take all day, and we only started punting late in the afternoon. So we had 2 boats, and the 2nd boat was pretty slow because the Cam river was packed with other boats and they had difficulty navigating hen there are many boats that can block your path. At one point we encountered the river lock (the water level was higher than where we started from), so we had to climb out of our boat and pull it on rolleys to the upper river. It was pretty cool to experience. There were other boats who used the same rollers to descend into the lower river. They would release the boat and let the boat roll down and land on the water. Kind of like a roller-coaster ride. where you ride a log down the water slide and land in the water.
The next morning I had a flight that departed at 6am from a different London Airport. This meant that I had to catch a bus as early as 3am to Luton. I had already booked a flight -- it was an EasyJet flight to Paris. EasyJet and RyanAir are two low-fare airlines -- my EasyJet flight costed me about $60 (after taxes and airport fees). I did not think about how tired I would be on the first day in Paris, but I felt that my urge and desire to see the most beautiful city in the world (I was not sure that Paris was most beautiful city in the world just yet) was greater than my tiredness. After a 1-2hr flight I landed at Paris Charles De Gaulle International Airport. EasyJet is pretty cheap, so it was no surprise to see that the terminal was a cheap warehouse as well. So much for glass and modern-architecture terminals. More to come in next blog...

flight from Boston to London

Virgin Atlantic is an amazing airline! Their seats recline comfortably -- although I was sitting in the last row, there was ample of space behind me for my seat to recline almost fully. When you recline your seat, the seat pad also moves forward, giving you a sense that you are more of lying down. Also, the padding on the seats is closer to leather than on most other airlines.
Another cool thing about Virgin Atlantic planes is that they have almost complete home entertainment system. There are TV screens in the back of every seat, and they are larger than screens on any other airline. As far as I can remember, we could choose from a collection of more than 50 movies, we could watch some TV shows (not live), or play games either by ourselves, or with any other passenger on the same flight. The controller was sort of like a handset and could double as a game controller (think wii-sized controller). The service is excellent too, food was nice, but not superb. If you had to choose any flight between U.S. and London, choose Virgin Atlantic!!!!

EUrope trip recollections

Everyone has a dream that they would like to achieve at some point in their lives. For me, one of these dreams was to visit Europe and see the snow peaks of Alps. I wanted to do so before my graduation from MIT, and it seemed like an impossible task at first because of time constraints and enormous workload, but after some careful planning, I was able to choose classes that have no finals for the spring term before my graduation. The graduation itself was 3 weeks away from the last day of classes. This gave me ample time to tour European sights. Originally I wanted to come with a friend or more friends, but most people I know either had finals, or already made other plans , or did not have money. I don't mean to sound like a rich guy -- I am not, I just happened to save money from my past internships with the purpose of using it on this trip.
After the unsuccessful attempt to sign up friends to come with me, I resorted to plan B. I thought that I would tour europe alone, by myself and visit some of my friends on the way. I had some friends studying at Cambridge University in UK, a friend who lives and works in Heidelberg, Germany, a friend in Munich, a couple of friends in Zurich. So I carefully planned a route that would include these stops. I talked to some of friends online to make sure they had time to meet with me. Some of them offered me to stay at their place.
My initial itinerary was:
Boston
Cambridge, UK/London (2 days)
Paris, France (3.5 days)
Strasburg, France (1 day)
Heidelberg, Germany (2 days)
Munich, Germany (3 days)
Zurich, Switzerland (3 days)
Neuschwastein Castle, Switzerland (1 day)
Interlaken, Switzerland (2 days)
Zurich, Switzerland. (0.5 days)
Fly to Boston from Zurich
I wanted to visit a romantic town after Paris -- a town on the Rhein, Strasburg would fit that profile perfectly, but that meant leaving Paris on an overnight train a night earlier as opposed to traveling during the day and seeing the French landscape. Dan (a friend in heidelberg) suggested that I skip strasburg altogether and just come to Heidelberg (which he believed was a town as romantic as Strasburg). This made me wonder if I could take a high-speed train from paris to Heidelberg, but there were no direct hi-speed trains during the timeframe I would be there. The only fast service would connect Paris and Koln (Cologne) in Germany via Brussels/Belgium. Unfortunately, my Eurail pass only covered three European countries: France, Germany, and Switzerland. This would mean that I would have to pay extra for just whisking through Belgium. The train would be nice -- it is a high-speed Thalys train departing from Nord terminal with a transfer to high speed ICE (Intercity Express) train in Germany from Koln to Heidelberg, direct. That would mean traveling north and south again. I decided to just take a slower EuroCity train in the east direction to Karsluhe from Paris-Est terminal with a short ride on ICE train from Karsluhe to Mannheim, and then on a regional S-Bahn commuter train from Mannheim to Heidelberg. This sounds like a lot of hassle, but was cost-effective at least. I wanted to fit at least one high-speed train into my traveling itinerary. A short ride on ICE would satisfy that wish.
Then it came time to plan train travel from Heidelberg to Munich and from Munich to Zurich. I planned to travel alone, but Dan said that he would be happy to accompany me to Munich and perhaps to Zurich as well. We both had friends in these two cities, and Dan wanted to visit some of them. This was perfect! I finally ahd a travel companion! No more lone rides and no more struggling to speak German. Bitte?
I also decided to take the trip to Neuchwastein Castle out of my schedule. Dan said that it resembles Cinderella Castle in Disney World too much and that there would be too many tourists there. Heidelberg has its own castle which Dan said is Romantic and should satisfy my desire to see a Bavarian Castle that would be nested deep in the mountains. Well, Heidelberg Castle is on the hill, not near any mountains, but a trip to Neuchwastein would mean a deviation from my planned route (it was in the other direction from Munich than Zuerich, and would involve taking a train and then a bus). As much as I wanted to see the Cinderella castle, I ultimately decided to follow Dan's advice.
I always wanted to visit Geneva, but it was not possible for me to squeeze it into the 2.5 days of my trip. This would mean shortening some of my stays, and all of other cities and places deserved more stay time than Geneva. I mean there's nothing so special in Geneva, perhaps a view of Mont Blanc and the U.N. When I went online to find flights from Boston to Europe and inside Europe, the trip from Geneva to London was cheaper than a ticket from Zurich to London. It was costing like $63 for a one-way trip. However, because I took too long to decide, the price went up to $113, nearly double the original price. The Zurich ticket rate also went up. So I ultimately decided to take a late afternoon train from Interlaken to Geneva and then fly the next morning. This would give me some time to tour Geneva late at night and then early in the morning. I thought that a stroll on the lakefront would be enough.
I have made other changes to my itinerary on the fly while in Europe in response to environmental conditions, but I will talk about them later in my blog. The Beauty of Eurail Pass is that you can use it on any select number of days during the 2-month period. I bought a 6-day 3-country Eurail Pass which would allow me to travel on train on any 6 days within the months of June and July. I could jump on any train on any day without having to buy tickets beforehand. This turned out to be a good investment of time and money. I highly recommend getting select eurail pass if you are on tight budget and plan to travel a lot by train within a certain timeframe and would not like to wait in lines to buy tickets. Eurail Pass gives you a lot of flexibility! Youth flexiSelect pass offers amazing savings for people 25 years or younger.

My final itinerary became:
Fly from Boston to London
Cambridge, UK (2.5 days)
Paris, France (4 days)
Heidelberg, Germany (2.5 days)
Munich, Germany (3 days)
Zurich, Switzerland (3 days)
Interlaken, Switzerland (2 days)
Geneva, Switzerland (1 day)
Fly to Boston from Geneva

More time in Paris!
So I had to buy a lot of tickets.
Round trip plane ticket from Boston to London Heathrow direct on Virgin Atlantic (~$610)
Bus ticket from London Heathrow to Cambridge central bus station (bought on site)
Bus ticket from Cambridge to London Luton Airport (bought on-site)
One-way flight from Luton Airport to Paris DeGaulle Airport on EasyJet ($60)
train ticket from CDG airport to Paris Nord terminal (~$10) (bought on site)
EuRail Select 6-day Youth FlexiPass (France-Germany-Switzerland) (~$310)
one-way flight from Geneva to London heathrow on British Airways (~$113)
Here is the link to the mapped route of old itinerary:

View Larger Map
and new itinerary:

View Larger Map

More to come, including my recollections at each of the places that I visited.

London, Day 3

On Day 3 Yang had other things to do, so I thought I'd give London another visit. This time I was on my own in UK, and it was really cool to be able to move in all three directions without having to worry about friend's wishes. I think I walked through every major neighborhood in teh city center on that day. I woke up early on that (maybe too early) because I wanted to see the historic Changing of the Guard at the Buckingham Palace which started at around or right after 11am. Basically I got on the train in Cambridge extra early -- at around 8am, but there was some development on the railroad and the train ride that should have taken me 50 minutes turned out to be 2 hours long. However, I got to experience the full rush hour life on the train. I enjoy watching people, and this time it was no exception. I tried to find what makes Britons different from Americans. Most people were reading newspapers, and very few were talking on teh cell phones. In the US it is more likely to find people constantly talking on the phone. Other than that I didn't see much of a difference. I also happened to notice that many of the passengers were patient, whereas in teh U.S. I'd expect them to be highly impatient.
The train that I took was from Cambridge to King's Cross Station in London. There are two lines connecting Cmabridge to London, and Yang told me that King's Cross is a better one because there are so many metro (subway) lines at that station

I was not late for the Changing of the Guard, and there were many people waiting at the front of Buckingham Palace. I could find a good spot on teh steps of the Victoria fountain in front of the palace, but it was kind of far.
I did not find the changing of the guard any more intersting than tourigng the city. I think this event is overrated. Too many people, and the guards in red uniform just walk past you with drums and trumpets blaring. they have nice fur hats though that extend about 80cm above their heads. After the ceremony ended, I happened to pass by another lcoation where I saw the same guards joking with each other, taking hats off, sort of being informal and boarding the white busses. It felt funny because I saw them being highly formal at the Changing of the Guard.
One fun fact about the Queen's residence -- whenever she is at the palace, the Royal Standard flag hovers above that residence. If she is not home, then the Union Jack (UK official flag) is raised.

My camera ran out of power during the changing of the guard, so i was really desperate to find replacement batteries. this was the only time I was uncomfortable during the day. I had extra batteries, but i thought I had replenished tem, but it turned out that they lasted all day.

My next stop was Westminster Abbey. This time the crowds were not that bad and I was able to use my MIT ID to get a student discount. They do know what MIT is in UK!!! That is awesome! So, make sure you take advantage of student discounts! When i was standing in the line (it moved pretty fast), I came across two girls from the U.S. I knew they were from America because 1) one of them wore the Cal sweatshirt (Cal in cursive means UC Berkeley), and 2) they were talking pretty loud. Since I like watching people, I am going to talk a little about what makes Americans so easy to recognize. Americans are typically impatient, and they are also loud most of the time. Whereas many English people and Britons respect privacy and quiet, Americans talk loud whenever, in other words, they are usually inconsiderate about others around them. I saw some kids just running through the Abbey shouting, and i knew that they were Americans because their parents were not that strict about their behavior, and because they did not seem to care much about respecting the silence. There were way too many American tourists. I like to think that more than 50% or even 75% of tourists in UK come from the United States. perhaps because UK is an english-speaking country, and also it is the closest country in Europe to the U.S. in terms of distance.

Westminster Abbey is a place where Kings have been buried. Nearly every monarch is buried there. Queen Elizabeth I and her half-sister Queen Mary I were buried next to each other in one of the tombs. this is a little strange considering the fact that Elizabeth and Mary exhibited dislike of each other, and the fact that Mary was Roman Catholic and Elizabeth -- Protestant. Mary did rule before Elizabeth and she converted English religion to Roman Catholicism, but Elizabeth I would later reverse her policies. I also saw the throne that is used every time England crowned a new King or Queen. The coronation has happened in Westminster Abbey since 1066. This is a very long time, and it is great to be in the place with so much history.
Besides the members of teh royal family who were buried in different tombs and transcrepts there were scores of famous people also buried in the Abbey. those include Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, Maxwell, Darwin, Kipling, and Geoffrey Chaucer. Tombstones were everywhere adorning the floor of the Abbey. I walked on the tombstone of King Henry VIII, but he was actualy buried at Windsor Castle, not in Westminster Abbey. There were many sculptures and statues commemorating different aristocrats and famous poets and scientists. I'd say definitely visit Westminster Abbey! Despite its crowds, its a place worth to visit!
Taking pictures is disallowed inside the Abbey, but I was able to find a place where pictures were allowed, so I took some beautiful photos of the Abbey's courtyard with the Abbey's spires in the background. See my photos (look on page 2, bc page 1 is cluttered with too many pics of the Changing of the Guard)

After the abbey I decided to tour London's streets, so I headed down Whitehall, past Downing Street, trafalgar Square, and then down the Strand. Since I wanted to see most of the city in one day, I took advantage of my Day's travelcard. It allowed me to ride the train from Cambridge to London and back, as well as complete access to the London's Tube system and bus network. It is a pretty sweet deal. basically you can hop onto any of the double-decker busses and ride them for as long as you want. The Day Travelcard is valid for the whole day, which is pretty cool. Also, one strange thing I noticed -- The round trip ticket from Cambridge to London's King's Cross station is priced the same as one-way trip. I had expected the price to be double of the one-way ticket. At first I thought that there was a mistake... but Yang later told me that the pricing of British transportation system is very weird, and I am OK with that as long as its not too expensive. The day travelcard is like 4.80 pounds, whereas a single ride on the Tube is like 1.30 pounds. Not a bad deal, right? ANd it allows you a lot of freedom in moving around.

So I suddenly got this desire to see the Eurostar high-speed TGV train that connects Paris and Brussels with London via English Channel. Had I had more time, I'd definitely taken that train to Paris and toured the French capital and cultural capital of the world in one day. It would be so highly convenient in the way that I would not have needed to travel from Paris International airport which is outside the city to the center of Paris. The rail is a better choice because it conencts center of London with center of Paris (Waterloo - Gare du Nord). However, I didnt have time or money to do that, so i just went to Waterloo to check the trains out. I took a double-decker bus from The Strand across Thames to the Waterloo Station. It is the only International train terminal in london, and the terminal to paris is pretty heavily secured -- the trains are inside the glass tube, so the closest I could get to Eurostar train was from the outside and I took the picture through the glass wall (not a great picture, but its good enough for me).

Having seen enough of Waterloo, I took the double-decker bus back to The city and The Strand to where I started. Strand became the Fleet Street -- a name famous for law offices and news agencies. Reuters is based there, and so is BBC headquarters (though the later is on Cannon street, closer to the City of London). Let me talk more about what London as a whole is like. basically, London and the City of London are two different places. London includes the City of London and otehr neighborhoods such as City of Westminster. The City of Westminster is where royal family used to (and still does) live, and where the Prime Minister lives and works, and where the Parliament meets (in the Westminster Palace, which houses Houses of Parliament, right beside the Big Ben). The City of London is the city's historical and financial core. It is known as the British Wall Street and it has stock exchange, The Bank of England, various other Exchanges, and many banks, financial and insurance firms are based there. It has many of the modern buildings and scyscrapers. Two skyscrapers are worth checking out -- one is the Swiss Re building which is basically a rounded cone, sort of looks like a glass rocket (designed by Norman Foster). The other is the headquarters of Lloyd's, which is one of the largest insurance firms in England. The building itself looks like the guts of a factory -- it is basically made out of metal pipes that are visible in both exterior and interior.
If you walk down The Strand to Fleet Street, if you'll pass by a dragon statue in the middle of the street you'll know that you stepped through the boundary between City of Westminster and City of London. There is also a small Church standing right in the middle of teh Street (St. Mary-le-Strand). Cars move around on both sides of the church, and it's as small as the island in the middle of Times Square in NYC. The Strand is a really pretty street. Somewhere either on Strand or on the Fleet Street there is a Chamber of the Courts, which is sort of like British version of The Supreme Court. that's why there are so many law offices around it, and there is also a place called "The Inns of the Court". The Inns of the court is tucked beside the row of buildings lining up the Fleet Street. There is no formal entrance or a sign to it -- you just have to know where to go. The Inns of Courts is an area hidden from the Fleet Street, and overlooking the thames River. It is a collection of inns where Barristers (English lawyers) work, and where law students live and work and study. I read in the guide that every law student in the country has to live and work at the Inns of Court at some point during his education before he can officially become a barrister. Pretty cool? I had no idea what the inns looked like, so i just wandered around aimlessly in the crevices between buildings and came across a nice rounded church. The church was completely surrounded by other buildings, and it was not tall enough, so other buildings sort of overshadowed it. It's a really cool thing -- the church packed into teh dense network of buildings. The buildings are really pretty too, they look what a regular inn would look like (sort of like old dorms at Harvard). When I enetred the inns of the court, I felt like it was really quiet as compared to very noisy Fleet Street. I felt at peace. It's a nice getaway from the loud City.

Walking down the Fleet Street you would get to St. Paul Cathedral. It is the largest cathedral in London and was built by Sir Christopher Wren who had built so many buildings in London (and the main Library in Trinity College, Cambridge). The tour guide claims that it took Wren nearly 25 years to build St. Paul's Cathedral. The building itself is in the Baroque style and it's dome is visible from far away. Though the church itself is not on the river, it is visible from nearly everywhere on the South bank of Thames and from every Bridge from Westminster to beyond the City of London. It looks like many of the Capitol buildings in the U.S. cities. I had timed my visit to St. Paul's so that I'd bypass the admission fee (like 5 GBP, or $10, thats pretty steep). If you enter the cathedral after 5PM, you can tour it free of charge, and if you are religious enough, you can actually take a service inside.

I still had plenty of time to see the rest of London, so I went to the river and hung around on the Millennium bridge. (The bridge is rumored to have been swaying once it opened on the first day due to its resonance matching the resonance of teh wind, so it had to be stabilized). It is a pedestrian bridge conecting St. Paul's Cathedral square to Tate Modern museum (which is essentially an old rectangular brown warehouse-type building that once housed the main power plant of London. From there I could see the Tower of London far away, and I felt like I wanted to walk to it. The next Bridge on my trip toward the Tower of London is London bridge which basically separates the modern part of the City from the older neighborhood. This is where I walked to the river and down to the pedestrian walkway. The rest of the time I walked along the North bank of Thames all the way to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. It's a very nice walk, sort of like walk in NYC along Hudson coast. You have buildings soaring to teh left of you (really close) and Thames on the right. From the Tower of Londom I got on Tower Bridge (its the one that has two towers and a suspension bridge between them (the bridge can open up for tall ships)). Once I got to the other side of Thames, I just walked all the way to Westminster Bridge along the South bank of Thames. The sun was setting down, so it was a nice view on the City of London backdrop. You could see St Paul's Cathedral and the City's skyscrapers. Oh and I did pass by The SHakespeare's Globe. It's nothing special, just a round white about 2-3 story structure that has wooden truss. It's not even the real Globe -- teh Real Globe burned down a while ago, and was replaced by teh current one (on a slightly different location, and closer to the riverfront). I had a not-so-expensive dinner under Waterloo Bridge (there is a theatre district, soft of like city Opera and Ballet right by the Bridge). Since I was there in the evening, the place was quite busy and a lot of people were outside either chilling or having dinner. After I finished the dinner I visited one of the theatres to use a bathroom. The lobby was packed. When I got out of bathroom 5 minutes later, the lobby was deserted. There were not many people outside either. Everyone just evaporated into the thin space.
The sun was setting down when I decided to try the London Eye -- the Millennium Eye that is supposedly the highest and largest observation wheel in the world. I have known that the lines were really long -- when Yang and I were in London on the day of my arrival to UK, the line was really long and slow moving. This time there was absolutely NO line. This is why I decided to hop on board. Also the timing could not have been more perfect -- the sun setting down at 9PM. It was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!! It was quite expensive, and I would have benefitted from bringing a friend to take pictures of me, but it was worth it. There were about 6 people in my cabin -- the cabin supposedly can hold 15 or more people. The whole trip around took about half an hour. The wheel rotates really slow, so you don't feel like you are moving at all. The cabin is basically a glass sphere, so you can look in all directions. I could see all the landmarks and places I've been to that day and earlier. You can see pretty far from atop of the wheel. I definitely recommend doing the same thing I did -- hopping on the Eye on some weekday evening. Weekends could be a different story. The London Eye is HUGE! London Eye is right on teh other side of Thames River as the Westminster Palace, so it was nice seeing Big Ben and roofs of the palace from above. Oh, one fun fact about Houses of parliament -- if there is a flag above the Palace, then the house of Commons is in session. I heard that the Prime Minister gives a speech to teh House of Commons every Wednesday, so I'd imagine this is when the visitors would most like to go inside. Even if the PM is not inside, the lines are pretty slow-moving and long. When I tried to get in, they told me to wait for 2 hours. I shrugged my shoulders and did not stay because there are far more exciting places in London worth visiting rather than waitin in the line for some boring debate.

I feel like I walked the entire city in 2 days (there's nothing cool behind the Tower Bridge, and behind Westminster (Houses of Parliament). All the landmarks and cool buildings are in between.

Photos Part I | Part II

Day 2 in UK (Cambridge in June)

I don't know, but for some reason I am starting to remember my week in UK vividly. Maybe it is because I'm reading my friend's blog, and maybe it's because I interact with some of Cambridge students who are studying at MIT this year. Right now I am telling myself why I had not done CME when I had a chance last year. I have had my reasons, but I think the fun that I would have had in Cambridge had I been there for one year greatly outweighs my reasons for not going. So my reasons for not going were: lack of Computer Science classes (Cambridge isnt well known for Computer Science, and CME is intended more for EE majors). Second reason, perhaps the most important one was that I wasn't sure I'd be getting the same services I get at MIT. Many of you know what I am talking about.
So a friend of mine who is in UK right now for one year of CME (Cambridge-MIT Exchange) seems to be having a great time. Cambridge students do not have lots of work, or at least it does not appear so cause they do not have hard deadlines for psets. What do they do all the time? Party? perhaps. One thing I can say is that almost everyone is active in some sort of extracurricular activities. I used to do some of the extracurricular stuff at MIT such as being a photographer for the Tech (student newspaper), and being on UA Committee on Student Life. However, my coursework at MIT has drowned me in psets, leaving very little time to do everything else. I bet students in Cambridge have much more free time than MIT students. Poor Cambridge students at MIT!

I spent the entire second day of my UK time in Cambridge visiting various colleges.
Yang is a really good host, showing me around the University and its colleges.
We started the day with a breakfast in the largest bar in Europe -- The Regal. It is an old cinema theater converted into teh bar. Inside you feel like you are in a 2-story tavern (the indoor space spanned 2 floors with a spiral staircase) The food was nice and decently priced. British Pound is very strong against US Dollar, so while things do not seem to be expensive in UK (the prices seem to be the same), considering the nearly 2:1 Pound to USD ratio, makes everyihng so pricey. For example a 5 GBP food entree is actually not $5, but nearly $10. I actually found out that I spent too much money in UK, almost 1.5 more than I originally intended to spend just because of the exchange rate.
After the breakfast we visited colleges. I visited Trinity, King's and St. John's colleges. These three are the wealthiest and most famous colleges in Cambridge. (for those of you who are illiterate with Cambridge system -- Cambridge students go to lectures together in departments, but they get tutoring and supervisions in their respective colleges. Students apply to colleges, and upon acceptance they live and study in their college. Colleges are pretty independent of each other (or so it seems), each having its own bar and facilities. Professors are also affiliated with colleges, so a professor who is a fellow at a college is mentor to students in that college. Some of you might wonder whether Stephen Hawking's fame makes him a fellow in Trinity or King's colleges, but he actually is a fellow in a lesser-known college - Gonville-Caius College.

Hmm, so I think I have seen some of other colleges as well, but the three I remember most are Trinity, King's and St. John's. Passing through the gate of Trinity I could not help but notice the college's founder, King Henry VIII staring down at me. I got a chance to visit Trinity's chapel. It looks really nice inside, and there is a sculpture of Sir Isaac Newton. He is a Trinity alum and also served as a fellow in this college. Trinity has some other notable alumni like Sir Francis Bacon among others. When I stood before the Newton statue, I felt like this place was magical -- so much talent has originated there. It certainly felt powerful. I guess somewhere on Cambridge campus an apple hit Newton in the head and made him conceive F=ma. That must have been some sort of magical apple. I have not seen a single tree on Trinity campus (at least on the city of Cambridge side of the river). Colleges like Trinity and King's have buildings that surround a large courtyard. The grass in these courtyards seems to be sacred -- no one is allowed to walk on it, and signs "KEEP OFF THE GRASS" are everywhere. Grass is everywhere, but trees can be found on the other side of the river as Trinity campus appears to encompass both banks of Cam river.
When I was in Cambridge, it was during the final exams (Tripos) period. I had timed my arrival to UK to coincide with Yang's last tripos, so that I would not interfere with his studies. However, some students were still studying and taking exams while I was there. This is why many colleges did not allow visitors at the time. They were closed to the public. However, I was a special vistor -- so Yang could actually get me into the colleges (he has friends in these colleges). I tried not to look like a tourist, even though I had a great urge to take many pictures inside the colleges. I only took few photographs, and at times when very few people were around. However, I found out.. some of the nicest views of the colleges are from the river, and you do not need to get access into the college campus in order to take pictures -- just take pictures from the boat on the river (I don't remember if Trinity's courtyard actually faces the river, but King's really does).
St John's has a really huge campus. It has buildings on both sides of the river, and there is one really famous and pretty bridge connecting some of the buildings. It is the Bridge of Sighs (sort of like the bridge of the same name in Venice). Unlike the other bridges, it is the indoor roofed bridge. There was another unique bridge across the Cam -- the Queens' College bridge. It was built with wooden planks arranged in such a way as to form a really weird truss. Rumors are that the original bridge was build by Isaac Newton, and he used some sort of a complex truss that no one was able to figure out. It was a wonder that his bridge actually was stable. later some people tried to replicate his work and disassembled the bridge and assembled it back. However, no one was able to assemble it the same way, so current architectural design is slightly different than that of Newton's.

We tried punting. Yang was a student at Magdalene College, which is right on the Cam river. In Cambridge most of colleges (especially older ones) are located on the Cam (a small river that runs across Cambridge). Most of them have their own punt boats. Some of you might wonder what the punting is. It is not grunting and punting in response to some menial task. It is not rowing either. So, punting means pushing the boat with a long pole against the river's bottom. Cam river is pretty shallow almost everywhere, so it is easy to use the river's bottom to propel the boat. The boat is very flat and long (more streamlined). The punter stands on the back tip of the boat and pushes the boat against the riverbed using a pole. The same pole is used as a rudder to steer the boat left or right. Yang was punter for most of our tour of colleges on the river, but I did try punting more than once. It was a little scary because you know that with electronic equipment on me its very crucial that I do not fall into water. I am not afraid of water at all -- I don't actually mind getting soaked once in a while, as long as my hearing aid and cochlear implant are tucked safely in a dry place. However, I wanted to hear the sounds of Cambridge, so I did not take them off.

The City of Cambridge is a really beautiful town. It has a medieval look. Most churches in teh city were built in gothic style. Many of the college buildings were also built in gothis style, especially chapels. Some of the colleges had buildings from Elizabethian era (sort of like a castle tower with 4 spires at corners). The university itself is spread out in the city, and there are no distinct campus boundaries. Each college has a self-sustaining campus which is bounded by either buildings, walls, or fences. Most colleges close their gates in the evening, so to get inside, you needed to have the key, and the only way you could have a key is if you are the resident of the college. I guess this is really inconvenient to visit a friend in another college. Both you and a friend would have to meet outside in the city (a very popular meeting location is in the King's parade, just outside the King's College main gate). This is unlike MIT where your ID card can get you into some of the dorms.

Pictures of day 2 are online in my photoalbum

Europe thoughts & London Day 1

Allright -- I think I am settling on blogger/blogspot as my ultimate blogger choice. It seems to be less cluttered than other blog sites...
Anyway, here goes my first official blog entry. It's Sunday right now and I have done nil work yesterday or on friday eve. I think at MIT we have this habit of procrastinating -- the general notion is that MIT students like to party on Fridays and Saturdays (note: party does not mean drinking liquor, it also sort of means hanging out with friends, et cetera...)
Anyway, some of you may know -- I am seriously considering going to Europe this January/IAP... however, some of my friends are not sure of their winter plans. If you would like to join me, email or IM me... I would like to try skiing in the Alps at some point, or maybe just stroll through the nice riverfronts of Seine, Danube and through narrow streets. true, I have been to UK in the beginning of last summer -- though it was a weeklong trip -- I saw so much during that time. I got to experience Cambridge, UK (north of London), and Windsor Castle west of London. I think I have pretty much seen all of London in 3 days. I think if you go to London for more than 3 days, you can basically not go sightseeing anymore, just hang out at london's pubs. Definitely visit The George pub, and walk around the inns of the court. It is a nice place in the city, just off The Strand (a famous London street filled with news agencies and law offices). You will not find the entrance to the inns of court easily -- you have to really know where it is. It sort of looks like a small archway to some yard, and once you go through it, you'll be in a different world. A pretty quiet world, i must admit (after all don't all law students need some peace and a quiet place to study?) If you are lucky you could bump onto barristers (if you have no idea who a barrister is, you should watch the movie "A Fish called Wanda").

My schedule in London was like this:
Day one:
Yang met me at Heathrow Airport and then we took the Paddington Express train to King's Cross train station where we left my luggage at the baggage storage place. I would be spending nights in Cambridge, UK, where Yang is a student. Then we started the adventure in the city. We took the Tube (yup, thets what Britons call the London Subway. The word "subway" actually means something else -- it is the underpass under a busy street. Think SUB-Way!), got off at Westminster Station. It was Saturday or Sunday, I don't remember, and we ended up walking up into the crowd. There were soo many tourists -- you can tell by just observing if theya re holding a tourbook. I was surprised to see that many of the tourists spoke Russian and were reading Russian tour books. The street was really really crowded, basically people breathed one ach others' necks. It was a total chaos! It was ahrd enough to even take pictures of the Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament (also known as Westminster Palace). I had to hold my camera up to take any clear shots, and pictures with me in it and big ben in the background were ruled out. Yang and I decided not to go on the Westminster Bridge because of the human traffic congestion.
We walked on the riverfront of Thames on the Westminster side. I did not sleep much on the plane, but I did not feel so sleepy ebcause of the excitement. For those of you who don't know me -- even if I am dead tired, but excited, I will not collapse into sleep in the middle of the street. (a side note: your day becomes 5 hours shorter if you fly to London from NYC), so if you leave U.S. early in the evening, you'll land at heathrow in the wee hours of the morning (wee hours for me is anything till 8am). basically, you can then claim that you have not slept for 2 days straight, though that would be cheating a little because your two days is 5 hours shorter)
Anyway, I always digress from the topic, so getting back on the track! Yang and I crossed Thames on the bridge connecting Charring Cross train station on Westminster side to the south embankment (waterloo side). We ended up walking all the way to Westminster Bridge on the south bank, passing by London Eye (a.k.a Millennium Eye is the largest observation (ferris) wheel in the world). I was getting tired and hungry, so we bought some ice cream. I didn't feel like this ice cream was any special (it was a soft yogurt kind of ice cream). The best street ice cream I have ever had is sold on the streets of moscow (just look for vendors with freezer ice-cream carts, and ask for "plombir" if you are in moscow).
When we got to Westminster bridge, there were still many people there, and we walked to Big Ben and houses of parliament. The crowds were not that heavy on the big ben side of the bridge (maybe because of bridge construction going on on that side and tall fence was obstructing the view of the wiver to the west of Westminster Bridge). I finally was able to ask yang to take a shot of me with Big Ben in the background! Woo hoo!
After crawling through the crowd around houses of parliament and reaching Westminster Abbey (the ultimate rest place of Kings), we found out that it had just closed. I think we got there ar around 3/4PM. I would visit the Abbey alone during one of my several trips to London later on.
My next destination was the Trafalgar Square and National Gallery of Arts. We walked down the Whitehall (a wide boulevard that passes many government buildings such as department of treasury, defence, and Downing Street. I even took the picture of the Downing Street sign! The street itself was fences and abrricaded and there were several armed guards at the outposts. There were also many people standing by the fence -- everyone wanting to catch a glimpse of Tony Blair or Gordon Brown. If you look through the fence, you can see the black brick building that is 11 Downing Street -- the official residence of the Primer Minister of UK. Not far from the downing Street there were two horsemen in the red uniform and polished hats/helmets. Those were Horse Guards. There is a Horse Guards Parade held once every summer to officially celebrate the Queen's birthday. The parade grounds were just a short walk from the Whitehall past the archway flanked by horse guards (there were 2 or 3 guards). (A fun fact: This parade ground will be the site for beach volleyball during 2012 olympic games in london.) When we reached Trafalgar Square, I thought I'd see the square's main attraction -- Nelson's column. However, to my dismay, the column had been cordoned off and covered with construction rack and draped in some sort of blue cover depicting the column underwater. too bad...
Also, Trafalgar Square is the final stop for many of the London's double-decker busses, so expect to see lots and lots of red busses around teh square. they almost form a complete circle around teh square.
We had lunch at Subway's sandwich shop just off trafalgar Square on the Strand (they have same subway's in UK as in the States). Actually there were too many people in the shop, so we ended up eating by the fountains on the Square and making sure that no pigeons come close to us (hehe... actually by mayor of london's decree, feeding of birds in Trafalgar Square is disallowed).
Still feeling lots of energy, we went into the National gallery and National portrait Gallery. All national museums in london are free of charge -- just like in Washington DC. I did not want to pay money for short stay, so it was all good. We focused mostly on Impressionist and Rembrandt paintings. I really wanted to see the famous portrait of Elizabeth I and of William Shakespeare. However, the shakespeare portrait was actually on tour in the U.S. (at the same time I was out of the U.S.). Howe sad! And i could not find the Elizabethian portrait that i have seen in art books. Many of you don't know but i admire good art, especially impressionitst paintings and landscapes, and artists who like to play with light, like Rembrandt. (to be honest, ever since I saw Paul Cezanne's landscape paintings, I have always wanted to visit European countryside. If you have seen it, try to remember Chateau Noir -- which depicts a house perched on the side of the hill, lit brightly by the sunset. I'd like to own such a house sometime in the future...
From Trafalgar Square, we decided to walk all the way along Pall Mall to the buckingham palace -- the royal residence of monarchy. Pall Mall is a street that is pretty heavy with traffic sometimes (traffic goes in opposite direction unlike U.S. traffic), but I heard that this street is closed off on Sundays, so people can stroll on it from Trafalgar Square to the Buckingham Palace and back.
To my disappointment, the palace building itself is not very attractive. It certainly empowers you, but only because you know that he Queen resides there and because there are guards in the red. The extrerior of the palace is nothing out of extraordinary. It's just a dull grey building. Ah, now that I am bored by buckingham palace, let me talk about taxicabs in London. A lot if not all of cabs in the city are black "Hackney carriages". They all look like mini coopers (slighly larger version, but the shape is the same) with a TAXI sign perched atop them. Virtually all cabs in London are black cabs like that. This certainly brings the old look to the city. The cabs look old, though on closer observation, one can tell that they have modern fittings and possibly modern engine.
Our next destination was Hyde park -- the largest park in London, not far from Buckingham palace. It looks just like central park with lakes and stuff, and sort of reminded me of some of the eduard manet, claude monet, and Renoir paintings where gents in tuxs and long hats and dames with umbrellas stroll down the masonic trails. While people around us were dressed in plain clothes, I still felt like i was in the impressionist paintings. Maybe it was because I was in Europe. Oh, and you can definitely compare that to boston Commons if you haven't been to Central park in NYC.
I also wanted to see the Speaker's Corner that one of my TAs liked to talk about. He told us that he actually tried giving a speech there. Apparently Speaker's Corner is famous for public gatherings there on Sundays (I think) and some member of the public would give a speech on any topic, and otehrs would listen. Of course, I think the speech should be something interesting and entertaining, otherwise, the only audience you would get would be pigeons. I am not talking about trying to explain how transistors work -- most of people in London don't give a shit about very specific topics.
Since we were there on Saturday, the place /corner was empty. So we decided to go to Leicester Square to get something to eat. We took the Tube there. Leicester Square is a center of theatre disctrict in the city. there are many musical theaters and movie theaters in this part of the city. It was quite crowded, and we ended up eating at one of the steakhouses. I forget the name of the place, but yang said that it was a steakhouse chain (they have 2 steakhouses in leicester square alone). the steak was quite good!!!
From there we headed to Piccadilly Circus which was a short walk. I wanted to see what the Times Square of London was like. Seriously the Times Square in NYC beats Piccadilly Circus! There is only one building with neon/screen boards (and most of it was covered in TDK). Feeling a little drowsy, and seeing that the time was after 9PM (UK time, not ET time), we went down to teh Tube and back to the King's Cross station where we boarded the train to Cambridge. The train was really really quiet unlike trains in the U.S. It was also much smoother ride than on any of teh commuter trains in the U.S., but ocassionally the car would swing from side to side. I wouldn't know because my head was so heavy and I was basically sleeping on the train though I really wanted to look out the windows. It was too dark outside anywya, so i did not miss much.
OK, I think i got carried away with this post. It should have been a much shorter post, but once I start anything, its very hard to stop, be it writing, or painting, or playing computer games. Of course, this is why i don't even start playing computer games!

More posts will follow (Days 2 through day 6-7). Really I am not writing this for myself -- I'm hoping that it will be a good tour guide for those who plan to visit London for a short time.
Oh and I have pictures of Day one online at
London Day 1

The start of my blog!

A good friend of mine had just started her Blog so that her friends would be able to read about her fun times in Cambridge, UK. I feel like it would not be fair for her to be the only writer while the rest of us are readers. Also, blogs are a great way to jot your memories into, and the written form can persist in this form for a while. When i get older, i would still be able to look back and read the blog about my college years.

woot, finally a blog

I am just playing around with different blog settings...