Archives for April 2008

France has a lot of ground to cover in a week exploration, but Courtney Dyer would not trade her experience for anything. In March, Dyer traveled through Paris and Barcelona as her break from school.

After a rigorous eight-hour plane ride, she arrived in Paris, where she stayed for the first three days of her trip. Excited about her trip, she explained that the touring began as soon as she checked into the hotel.

"We figured out the metro system in Paris very well because we used it daily," Dyer said.

In only three days in Paris, she was able to explore many famous and interesting sites.

"We were able to take a bus tour of Paris, so we saw the Arc de Triomphe, the Military Hospital, Notre Dame, and the Opera House," Dyer said. She also took a night cruise on the Seine, where she was able to see the Eiffel Tower and other buildings at night sparkle in their natural beauty.

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Take a dream ride on Europe's most famous panorama road. Take a trip into a world of rock and ice.
Pass through glorious mountain forests and over mountain pastures full in bloom - and experience the fascination of an artic wonderworld, after passing through several climatic zones.

France's most famous tourist attraction is probably the Eiffel Tower. This magnificent structure, built in 1889, is located next to the Seine River and rises about 317 meters.  From the top of the tower, visitors can enjoy wonderful views of France's capital city. Visitors to the European Union always rank the Eiffel Tower as one of Europe's best attractions.  It has recently been nominated to become one of the world's seven wonders.

In the parts of Europe occupied by the Soviet Union after WWII, both urban planning and the environment suffered under regimes interested in slap-dash solutions to difficult problems. The result? In the Czech city of Brno, train tracks are built into the downtown roads. As seen above, passenger and freight trains in downtown Brno run directly at street level, in a road lane parallel to motor traffic. Thanks to Czech photographer Michael Uhler, we have plenty of pictures. It looks like these tracks will stick around for the time being; neither the national nor local government has the funding to install new grade crossings.

Ever wondered what it would be like to party with the stars? This past Spring break I was able to get a taste.

My sister works at the famous Gramercy Park Hotel in NYC. She cocktail waitresses at the swank Rose Bar in her stunning black Narciso Rodriguez back-zippered dress that fits like a glove on all of the modelesque servers. The atmosphere is funky and laid back, with upbeat lounge music playing in the background. The lighting is very bare; the stone fireplace and tiny table candles create the minimal glow. It's as if you're in ancient times reading the drink menu with candelas. Maroon velvet curtains hang down over the doors and plush rose-colored cloth lines all of the booths, seats and comfy royal-like chairs throughout the bar. Surrounding the discerning celebrities and hotel guests are eclectic murals and paintings that mirror their very styles and pull together the overall modish theme.

 The drinks are as trendy as the guests. I tried the rose martini, which literally tasted like I was drinking a flower, the incredibly delish fig martini, and my favorite, the vanilla martini, which came with an orchid floating atop. My friend tried ordering a cosmo and the waitress simply would not let her because there were so many amazing specialty martinis to sample. We then finished off the night with champagne, every girl's favorite. And as we sipped on our bubbly we peered over to the table in front of us and spotted Entourage star Jeremy Piven surrounded by a booth of girls. Later in the night we saw Crash star Terrence Howard in a tight suit and hat and Leonardo DiCaprio's model girlfriend Bar Rafaeli. Supposedly a Sports Illustrated cover model was roaming around as well.

So if you're not a celebrity, model or posh hotel guest, just try working it. Up-and-coming photographers, businessmen and stars saturate the bar, who I'm sure are more than willing to buy some girls a few drinks. And if you're lucky, you may even walk out with a number.

As far as I remember 16 countries, but 3 of them just plane
transit for 2-3 hours, lol

Home: Indonesia
Current stay: Germany
Been in (in order of visitation): Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan,
Korea, Srilanka, Dubai, Netherland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland,
Italy, Qatar, Nepal.

Places will visit next year: Chile, France, some Eastern Europe.
Just dreaming: US, UK, Africa, otherpart of Europe, other part of Asia,
and everywhere else

Favorite place: Homeland, there is no place like home...!