Goodbye Europe, Hello Singapore! I'm back!

Hellooooo~ Ok I'm officially back from my one month Europe trip and all I can say is.. I miss Singapore but not the weather :( It's sooo hot but I'm not an air-con kinda person so yeah I need a 24/7 fan around me hahaha. In Europe, you just have to open the window and you'll get completely free air-con already lol soo shiok please! It's been nice wrapping myself up but my skin didn't do so well under that cold weather... It got extremely dry, rough and gross even though I've applied moisturizer :( But anyways, it's actually getting much better after I'm back... Oh well~ My skin must be feeling super at home now LOL!

I've been experiencing pretty bad jetlag for the past 2 days... such as sleeping at close to 4am @_@ It's terrible man, but I'm sooo glad that I finally got a much better sleep after a cup of camomile tea before bed yesterday! 好难的一夜好眠 :D Oh and one more thing! I had an IKEA date with Mum yesterday and got a new floor lamp for my room *YAYYY*!! Can't wait to put it up so today shall be my unpacking day!

Apologies that my travel posts are on hold because my last few days at Frankfurt was unexpectedly crazy! My brother and I went mad shopping so I couldn't get back to posting because we got back late everyday :X I didn't even touch my laptop for the last few days can you imagine hahaha. But I'm already halfway through the next Switzerland post so it will be up veryyy soon ok!! Here's my latest Switzerland post in case you missed out :) Be back in a few days! x

With love,

Shirley

SWITZERLAND (Day 1 & 2) - Spiez // Murren, Gimmelwald, Trummelbach Falls, Lauterbrunnen

SWITZERLAND Day 1 & 2

<Walters B&B, Spiez, Murren, Gimmelwald, 
Stechelberg, Trummelbach Falls, Lauterbrunnen>

Click below to read more about my 8 days trip in Switz! :)

• Switzerland Day 3 & 4 - Coming soon :)
• Switzerland Day 5 & 6 - Coming soon :)
• Switzerland Day 7 & 8 - Coming soon :)

Before I start my Switzerland post, if you've been keeping up with the posts on my 5 days trip in Paris, I just want to say a big THANK YOU for reading! :) My only goal while doing up these travel posts is to bring a part of the country closer to you, wherever you are~ :) I'll also do my best to include as much information as I can and hopefully it'll help anyone out there who's doing itinerary planning for their upcoming trips! Trust me, I know it's a hell lot of work to do (fyi: my 1 month Europe trip covers Paris, Switzerland, Vienna, Prague, Frankfurt & Munich) but yeah once you get through the hair-pulling phase, it'll all be worth it!! ;) 

{ Day 1 }

This was just the first of the many breathtaking views of Switzerland; Shot taken right from our room window! Sooo beautiful~ #thankful

This is the view after stepping out of Walters B&B! I really love it soo much and it's literally a dream-come-true knowing that I'll be waking up to this view for the next 4 nights! Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take pictures of our room but it's really spacious! Moreover, it is conveniently located near Interlaken Ost train station with the local supermarket COOP just opposite the station - all within reach in less than 10min by foot :) 

Thanks to my cousin's recommendation, I'm really glad that we chose Interlaken as the base for 4 nights to explore Murren, Lauterbrunnen, Gimmelwald, Brienz, Spiez & Montreux! For more information on the Swiss Travel Pass that I purchased for this trip, check out my post on Europe transportation.

Spiez. 

It is a small, quaint little town offering spectacular views across Lake Thun. Known to be a picture postcard town in Bernese Highlands region of Switzerland, it is easy to discover just by "getting around". They say you can catch this special "holiday feeling" that made Spiez a famous wellness and wellbeing location. Well, I certainly agree with that!

  

The medieval castle surrounded by vineyards.

{ Day 2 }

This is another main reason why I love Walters B&B! Mr Walters would prepare breakfast according to your preferred timing between 6-10am (Mon-Sat) / 8-10am (Sun). The picture may not seems like it but it's super filling -- almost equivalent to 2 meals! (Tip: Pack half of the bread & ham into a container or ziplock bag as part of your lunch! That's basically what we did for the next 3 days!) This entire breakfast set costs CHF$7 per person and the best part is, you get to try different combinations of fruits/yogurts/egg choices depending on what Mr Walters chooses to prepare on that day! We were never disappointed with breakfast; in fact, it's what we look forward to the most! PS: The hot chocolate is a MUST TRY! :D 

All ready for the day! First stop, Murren!

Hello you cute little boy!

The journey from Interlaken Ost to Murren takes around 45minutes (I think~ or maybe lesser haha). First, you'll have to take a train from Interlaken Ost station towards Lauterbrunnen station. There are frequent trains towards Lauterbrunnen, perhaps every half an hour if I don't remember wrongly! Don't worry if you're unsure because you can always check the train arrival and departure timings via the trusty SBB website!

Once you're in Lauterbrunnen, follow the directions on the signs with the cable car image, which is where you'll make the ascent to Grutschalp.

From Grutschalp, hop on to this connecting train which will take you along the ridge to Murren! Be sure to sit on the left side of the train for the best view of the valley and mountains!

The view is just breathtaking! 

We've reached Murren & it's reallyyy high! 

Omg.

Omg x 2.

#NOFILTER. Can you imagine?! My friends kept saying the background looks like photoshop haha!

I really loveee this part of Switzerland so so much :)

Fresh mountain water in its purest form; what my brother & I term it as the "miracle water" hahaha~ Get your bottles ready to fill it up! You can either drink it which is seriously the most refreshing water I've ever drank omg~ Or you can wash your face with it (psst, I heard that it can cure pimples too) ;)

Murren.
It is a beautiful car-free village and everything is accessible by foot. Buy groceries from the local supermarket COOP if you need to because only Murren has it in that mountainous area!

After we were done exploring Murren, it was time to make our way down towards Gimmelwald & Stechelberg!

Gimmelwald.

It is a quaint pedestrian village with a very peaceful and laid back setting. 

This is the gondola ride that we took to get down just one stop from Murren to Gimmelwald. We didn't walk around much here but just sat on a swing facing this huge sheer cliff as you can see from the picture above~ All I can say is... that's the best swing I've ever sat on :)

View from the gondola as we made our way down towards Stechelberg!

Our next stop is to visit the famous Trummelbach glacier waterfalls! From Stechelberg, you can either take a bus or simply follow the signs and walk to the Trummelbach Falls. Of course, we chose to walk and just took our time to enjoy the scenery~ I remember having a good chat with Jeffrey, so it was a pretty nice bonding time for us!   

After a slightly long but relaxing walk, we've finally reached the Trummelbach Falls!

Entrance fee is CHF$11 per person. 

After purchasing the tickets, we took this lift that brought us up to around half the height of the mountain where we'd began our exploration!

The amazing view from up above~ Look how tiny the houses are!

Inside the Trummelbach Falls :)

It can be quite slippery inside so do hold on tight to the handrail! 

One of the glacier waterfalls~ It's really super cold inside that we could actually see the "mist" when we exhaled haha! It was fun because you know~ we can never get to experience that in Singapore lol! Anyways, this also marks the end of our second day in Switzerland!

This was what we prepared for dinner since guests are able to use the kitchen at Walters B&B!

Yes, it's really expensive in Switzerland. Don't ever doubt that even for a second lol! The prices are literally twice (or even more) than the usual amount which is crazy. One example is Starbucks because I was really craving for it but it costs around SGD$10/11 just for the smallest (tall) size which made me very hesitant to buy even though I wanted it so badly~ Another good example is that day where Jeffrey & I shared a standard Burger King meal that freaking costs SGD$22! Ohmygod~ But okay we were quite hungry so once in a while nvm lah lol~ I'm just reallyyy curious how much the locals earn in order to sustain such a lifestyle~ Anyways if you want to go budget, definitely buy groceries and cook if you can!

Alright that's about it for this post :) Do come back in a few days for the next post on Day 3 & 4 where we visited Brienz and the breathtaking Montreux including a vineyard tour! The pictures are so incredible that I'm very sure you'll fall in love with Switzerland even more! Till later~

With love,

Shirley

PARIS (Day 5/5) - MORE Cafehopping, Pierre Herme, Sacre Couer ♡

PARIS Day 5 (last day)

<Falafel for brunch, MORE cafehopping, Macarons hunt (Pierre Herme, Gregory Renard), Sacre Couer>

Click below to read more about my 5 days trip in Paris! :)

• PARIS (Day 1) - Room Tour, Eiffel Tower, Montparnasse Tower ♡
• PARIS (Day 2) - Cafehopping & Macarons, Luxembourg Gardens, Notre Dame, Louvre ♡
• PARIS (Day 3) - Palace of Versailles <Day Trip> ♡
• PARIS (Day 4) - Picnic @ Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees ♡

For our last day in Paris, our only goal is to satisfy our tummy with as much good food as possible! From my research, they say this store sells the best Fallafel! If you don't know, Fallafel is a traditional Middle Eastern food, where deep-fried balls made from ground chickpeas and fava beans are wrapped & served usually in a pita, almost like a wrapped sandwich but a really HUGE one!

Address: 34 Rue des Rosiers, 75004

Nearest metro: Saint-Paul (Closed on Saturdays)

We ordered the Special Fallafel which you should definitely give it a try because it's really very nice!!

The fallafel balls are topped with turkish salads, eggplants and houmous sauce. Trust me, the portion is soo huge that it's really filling enough as one meal! 

Super satisfied with brunch! :D

We then made our way to Pierre Herme since it's sort of nearby~ If you've read my Day 2 blogpost, you'd know how much I love the macarons from Laduree! So it's definitely a must for me to also try out the best macarons from Pierre Herme!

Top (left to right): Olive & Mandarin  ||  Passionfruit & Chocolate

Bottom (left to right): Caramel  ||  Rose

My favourite is the unique flavour combination of Olive & Mandarin, a proven crowd pleaser! But the rest are all very nice too :D

Subsequently, we strolled and made our way to Berko known for their cheesecakes and cupcakes!

The interior is very pretty and if you see clearly, they separate the cafe layout with super cute signages indicating "Cheesecake Street" & "Cupcake Street"!

Tried out the salted caramel cheesecake which is very nice and rich in its flavours! It may look slightly small in this picture but it's actually a really huge piece! You definitely need to share it if you just treat it as a dessert after a meal. But if your stomach is empty, I've read that it might just be filling enough to even replace an entire meal haha! It all depends on your stomach alright!

Visited the Sacre Couer and the view of Paris up there is indeed gorgeous!

Le Mur Des Je T'Aime

This is the "I Love You" Wall featuring over 250 languages, located on the square at Place de Abbessess in Montmartre.

The last stop of the day was to visit the famous parisian chocolatier Gregory Renard Cacao Et Macarons!

Address: 120 rue St. Dominique 75007 (Closed on Sun & Mon)

Nearest metro: Ecole Militaire

The window display is just TOO PRETTY!!!

Yes I know, macarons again~ hahaha :p

Their macarons are priced at 1.20euros a piece, very cheap BUT quite small too haha! Nonetheless, they tastes really good and I'm glad that I get to try them out before leaving Paris!

I think from this post, you can see that I absolutely have a very sweet tooth and also a soft spot for macarons hahaha. I know it's not very healthy but what can I say~~ I'm on a vacation righttt hehe. Well, that's one attempt to make myself feel better & better I shall feel~ lol! Ok lah. I definitely cut down on all these sweet stuffs after I'm back in Singapore. For now, let me just indulge myself in all these sweetness :)

Last but not least, THANK YOU PARIS! You've been nothing short of amazing :)

Next post will be on SWITZERLAND! Till later! x

With love,

Shirley