红酒·绿茶 / Red Wine & Green Tea / Vin Rouge et Thé Vert

I spent a considerable amount of time planning this trip and the result was a very satisfying itinerary. The first thing to do in planning a trip is to prioritize your goals. To me, the order is 1) safety, 2) cost, 3) content and 4) comfort. Because I care about safety, I ruled out the much-recommended option of taking night trains, which also increased comfort. Because I care about cost, I chose to stay in hostels, instead of hotels, whenever I could. Because I like art museums more than night clubs, I kept a tight daytime schedule while reserving most nighttime for sleep/recovery. Next I had to decide where I would visit in this trip and how. Use maps from here to help you decide. There were two cities I wouldn't miss for the world: Paris and Roma. So I reserved four and three days, respectively. Then I tried to cram as many cities as possible in between. The main means of transportation was, of course, by train because of its great convenience and low cost. But when I needed to...

I traveled very little in my teenage years. Not because I didn't want to. On the contrary, my favorite comic series is exactly "The Adventures of Tintin" . I fancied all the exotic places Tintin went to and hoped I could be there someday. A trip to Bruxelles could not be complete for me without a visit to the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée (Belgian Comic Strip Center) . Statue of Tintin Originally uploaded by yisu79 I was greeted by a statue of Tintin along with a picture of his creator, Hergé . Moon Explorers Originally uploaded by yisu79 As expected, the Tintin exhibition is the most popular of all, even though the Center is not only about Tintin. Many Faces of Tintin Originally uploaded by yisu79 I indulged myself in the exhibition. Memories of my childhood kept coming back. I remembered that I had a special box under the bed for all my Tintin books. Whenever I felt down, I would take out one of them to read and become better. Cap...

I waked up at 6 in the morning to catch a 9:15 Ryanair flight to Bruxelles . In case you haven't known, Ryanair is one of many low-cost European airliners which offer flights at sometimes unbelievably cheap prices, ideal for small business owners or student travelers like me. However, there are catches: 1) Watch out for expensive taxes (the listed price is before tax); 2) Prepare to pay for your checked luggage (travel light!); 3) Make sure which airport it is going to (they use smaller airports which might be far away from the city center). As long as you know what you are getting, you can make an informed decision. For example, I had considered another flight by Brussels Airline, which costs about the same if you add the bus ticket (€11) from the South Charleroi Airport (CRL) to the city. But the flight was too early (6am) for me to catch. Bourse de Bruxelles Originally uploaded by yisu79 I arrived at my hostel, 2GO4 , before noon. By the time I settled down, I've...

Santa Maria sopra Minerva Originally uploaded by yisu79 Having left Musei Capitolini, I started my routine of random walk. Before I realized it, I'd wandered into Santa maria sopra Minerva, a church with an elephant-supported obelisk and a modest entrance. Michelangelo: Christ the Redeemer Originally uploaded by yisu79 As an art lover, I struck gold in finding a Michelangelo statue inside. Piazza Montecitorio Originally uploaded by yisu79 Another obelisk in Piazza Montecitorio, just in front of the Italian Parliament. For your information, there are 13 of them in Roma. Click here for an outstanding source of information on obelisks in the world. Piazza Colonna Originally uploaded by yisu79 Considered by many as the historic center of Roma, Piazza Colonna was the home of the Column of Marcus Aurelius. The busy street, Via del Corso, took up one side of the rectangular space. In the background was Galleria Colonna. Spanish Steps Origi...