Rome, Italy (plus Vatican)

Coloseum

After spending two days in Venice, we headed to Rome by bus. It took very long journey as Rome is in the southern part of Italy while Venice is in a bit north. When we arrived in Rome, it was already night and dark so we stopped by at a pizzeria nearby to have iftar. We then bought travel ticket for 2 days, and went straight to the bnb.

Roman Forum

Pantheon

Ruins are everywhere in this city

Our journey starts in the morning where we were gonna visit Coloseum. We took a bus to be there, though people actually prefer a tour bus to travel within Rome. When we got there, I was kinda surprised by the crowd. It was such a crowded place where people selling drinks and everything within every one step you take. It was like a traditional market, I say. We then went to Roman Forum, a place nearby Coloseum where the ruins of Rome are still preserved. Since many place can't be entered if you don't pay the entry ticket, we decided just to have a stroll and took pictures around them. Moreover, it was super sunny summer day yet I still have to fast during the day so I wanted to walk less. We then moved to Pantheon, a historical place in Rome. I also got tempted during my visit in Italy as gelateria is everywhere. I love gelato so much, but not ice cream. That's two different things tho! I also had to buy a new simcard there, as my simcard was blocked previously due to calling Agoda call center to complain about my booking.

Vatican City

We also went to Vatican city, where it is a sacred place for Catholics to visit. Unlike Rome, Vatican is a bit cleaner since it is a very small city within Rome. We saw the lining to enter the Cathedral in Vatican was very long, thus we decided not to come in as the day was super duper hot! (it is free of charge tho). We then just strolled around and stopped by to McDonalds to buy foods for breakfasting (iftar) to be eaten at home. We then spent one more night in Rome to continue our journey the next day.

Venice, Italy

My partner and I had a wonderful journey in Salzburg previously. Now we headed to Venice, Italy by train. We booked the hotel from Agoda. When we arrived in Venice, we directly bought 24-hour ticket for local transport (bus, tram, and water taxi), then heading to the hotel. When we got to the hotel, a very unpleasant thing occurred. No one showed up at the hotel. Moreover, it is not a hotel at all but a bed and breakfast registered as a hotel at Agoda and booking.com. I tried to call the property by having its phone number through google. We phoned and waited like 3 hours but no-one responded. I obliged to call Agoda call center for hours and it took all my phone data to zero. I demanded a refund due to this inconvenience occurrence. We then finally looked for a hotel nearby, and had a rest. Since we only had one night in Venice, we decided to go to the canal afterwards. It was almost twilight as i also had to break my fasting (it was still Ramadan). When we got to the canal, I then had a nice chocolate gelato for iftar. Thank God it was super delicious, prolly the best gelato I ever tasted. We were quite disappointed as we couldn't get into the canal as it was too dark. We then finally went back to hotel and had dinner nearby.

Most favourite thing in Venice

The next morning we went to the Grand Canal once again. We strolled around there and found not so interesting spots. There are many historical buildings but not as interesting as other buildings in Europe. The canal was quite smelly, and I thought Venice would be as beautiful as the pictures. Yeah, at least I already visited Venice. We then had to go to the bus station to continue our journey to Rome.

Quite cheap souvenirs

Salzburg, Austria

After visiting Munich, we moved to Salzburg, Austria. Actually, we did not attempt to visit this city, just to pass through before visiting Venice. But since we were on a euro-trip, we would like to give this a try. We stayed there in airbnb for 2 nights. Salzburg is well-known for the city of Mozart, as well as The Sound of Music. I think there are many tours providing these two highlights. The most tourist part of Salzburg is the city center, where many tourist attractions are merged in one place.  When we got there, the view itself is already beautiful. Salzburg is also lied in Alps, where beautiful mountains are everywhere. That explains why the level of this city is mostly uneven. People in Austria speaks German, that explains why both countries are from the same root, Bavarian. This could be titled as from an unintended visit to such a relieving journey. 

Love Bridge

Salzburg City Center

Living Mozart

Salzburg Cathedral

Even the cemetery is beautiful

In the city center, we visited Salzburger Altstadt, Salzburg Fortress, Salzburg Cathedral, and many other beautiful historical buildings (I can't remember them one by one as there are too many yet very close one to another). Not only historical buildings, Salzburg also has such a beautiful landscape of its Alps. We also visited Mirabell Palace and Gardens, a beautiful garden filled with many beautiful flowers. A friend in Munich suggested us to buy a sachertorte cake, a very popular chocolate cake in Austria. One slice of this cake is pretty expensive, around €7. I thought it would be very tasty (as I bought it for iftar), turned out it's not as delicious as people said.

Mirabell Palace and Garden

To kill the time before iftar, we unintendedly visited Hangar 7 in the evening (as a request from my travel partner), then had a nice walk while enjoying beautiful Alps when going home. Overall, Salzburg is worth visiting, truly represents Europe as a whole. One thing to be considered is the accommodation. Compared to other cities in Europe, it still considered very expensive. However, transportation and foods are still affordable in this city.

Hangar 7 Red Bull

Enjoying Salburg Scenery

Munich, Germany

Rathaus in Marienplatz

After visiting Berlin, we moved to Munich the next day. We took a bus as my friend wanted to experience Auto-Bahn in Germany hahah. We booked a room in airbnb, as it is more comfortable yet affordable to us. By the time we got there, we had an iftar (break-fasting) around Marienplatz with a friend who is currently studying in Munich. We had Asian dishes in a halal Vietnamese restaurant (I forgot the name). I was quite surprised as the portion is like super big and I couldn't even finish them all although they are super delicious. We went to a beer house afterwards (a must thing to if you're travelling to Munich). Since I don't consume alcohol, I just had a nice chat with them, and then went back to airbnb before midnight.

Pride of Munich

BMW Museum

In the morning, we began our journey in Munich. At first, we visited Allianz Arena, a very much pride stadium in Munich. The stadium is quite big, and very worth visiting compared to other stadiums in Europe. Second location to be visited is BMW museum, where the collections of BMW cars are located in the very heart of Munich. I didn't go inside as I didn't want to pay extra money but my friend did. I think it's worth it if you're an automotive enthusiast. As we didn't have much plan in Munich, we then just straight forward to English Garden, I think it is he biggest garden in Munich. Many people had their picnic there, or just sunbathing as it was during summertime when we got there.

English Garden

Berlin, Germany

Brandenburg Gate

After 2 nights in Amsterdam, We moved to Berlin by bus (Flixbus). We had an overnight during the journey on the bus. Yes you can imagine, I can never EVER sleep on the bus OMG. It felt like a nightmare to me. As the trip is on Ramadan, I must maintain my worship as well during the journey. I brought a little Quran in my bag so i can read it anytime I had spare time (mostly in transport between cities like this). We arrived in Berlin in the morning, and went straight to airBnB to put the luggage only. Our check in time is afternoon so we couldn't take a bath before our trip in Berlin hahaha. Thank God the host was fine if we put the luggage first before check in time.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Our first destination is off course Brandenburg gate. This gate a historical site of Berlin, symbol of the European unity and peace. Since I'm addicted to Abrahamic religion histories, I also visited Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This monument is kinda unique where the land has uneven levels, and also has its dark ambience. Our third trip was to visit Topography of Errors, where it contains many histories during Nazi regime. I can assume that Berlin is the city of German's history. As I quite like history, I can enjoy this city quite a lot. We then also visited the ruins of Berlin wall, where it used to be separating East and West Germany. 

Topography of Errors

If you are into European histories, Berlin is truly worth visiting. In addition, everything is a lot cheaper than any other cities in Europe. Foods are great, where many affordable yet delicious Turkish dish are everywhere in Berlin. Most of the Muslims here are from Turkey so I suggest you try Turkish dish if visiting Berlin. I had Turkish Baklava for iftar in one of the Turkish Restaurants and it was sooo good yummm!! German people are also quite good in English so you won't find any difficulties in speaking English. Our next journey is to visit Munich, where I'll post it right after this one ;)

Ruins of the Berlin Wall

Netherlands

I Amsterdam sign in central Amsterdam

As a master student in the UK, I sure don't wanna let go any chance of having eurotrip in this continent. Tight and dying schedule is one of the constraints to go through on this eurotrip journey. I only had one chance, which is a 2.5-week holiday after term-2 exams, before starting my project dissertation, so I applied for schengen visa long before summer time. It took me weeks to have the itinerary done, but finally it all set up. First country to be visited is Netherlands, as the plane ticket from UK is cheaper than going to France.

Botel (boat hotel)

We arrived in Amsterdam Schipol at night, and then took a train to Amsterdam Centraal, and continued to take a ferry to the hotel. Surprisingly the ferry is free, as a service from the government to bridge from one location to another as dams are everywhere in the Netherlands. We had two overnights at Botel (Boat Hotel), where the rooms are floating above the boat. This is very unique, but quite worth it as the price is affordable. This eurotrip is surely a challenge for me as I have to fast as well during Ramadan. However, this is the only chance for me to have this trip (cries). I bought some foods from Amsterdam centraal for iftar and suhoor before going to the hotel.

Traditional Shoe Factory

Windmills in Zaanse Schans

In the morning we began our trip. We went to I Amsterdam sign, but we didn't expect there would be a lot of people (you dont say). We then walked to Heineken Museum, but we didn't go inside as we have to pay for the ticket (yes we are that cheap bastards). Then we decided to look for day ticket for transport, but we ended up lost in Amsterdam lol. We finally went to Amsterdam Schipol to buy 2-day pass ticket for €26, and continue to go to Keukenhof. Oh if you wanna take picture of I Amsterdam sign, better go to Schipol Airport, as it is not as crowded as in Amsterdam. On the journey, we checked on the internet that the flower festival in Keukenhof had ended one week ago. We then finally went back to Schipol (lol) and discussed where to go next. We then decided to go to Zaanse Schans to see the windmills. We have to go back to Amsterdam Centraal to get to Zaanse Schans by bus.

Agrarisch Museum

Amsterdam Royal Palace

One of many canals in Amsterdam

Zaanse Schans is indeed a beautiful, rustic and traditional place in Netherlands. There are also traditional shoes factory, and traditional dutch cheese factory in Zaanse Schans. I am more into this kind of travelling than visiting buildings or cathedral. After some times, we decided to go home as I was too tired having my first fast with travelling hahah. We took some nap on the hotel, then continued strolling Amsterdam at night after iftar. We went to Red Light district, where yeah you know, a "restricted" area in Netherlands. I love the situation like a lot of people but not too crowded. We had a cup of coffee and chats, and also grabbed some food for suhoor.

Amsterdam City

The next day we went to Agrarisch museum of Amsterdam (not too worth it actually), then visited Amsterdam Royal Palace. This is like the Buckingham palace of Netherlands. We noticed that we still had a few time so we visited Ajax Amsterdam as well hahah, only for a couple minutes though. Before ending our trip, we bought some Indonesian food for our journey to the next trip, Berlin. There are several Indonesian restaurants in Netherlands, and the taste is so good. As you know, we were colonised by this country for hundreds of years so there are many things in common between Indonesia and Netherlands. Mostly Dutch people use bicycle for transportation, as their land is flat and supporting. Overall Netherlands is worth visiting, especially for Indonesians.

Ve's Birthday in Warwick Castle

When my family went to England the other day, it happened to be on my daughter's 3rd birthday. I made her a birthday pie that day, and all of my family finished it before we went to Warwick Castle lol. My daughter was so excited to go to Warwick Castle, as she's a huge fan of Frozen. She said she wanted to visit Elsa's house :). Warwick Castle is located in Warwickshire, not very far from Coventry. I think it is one of the best attractions in West Midlands. I already bought the ticket online, as it is way cheaper than buying on the spot. Since it is still on West Midlands area, I also bought group ticket for bus day pass from Stagecoach West Midlands since it has more reasonable price for one group of 4-6 people. Once we arrived, we watched the Eagle Show. It was quite attractive, as many people were really into the show. My daughter asked me to buy a tiara from merchandise store, as she's having her birthday that day. We also went inside the castle, where there are many rooms to be visited. My daughter was really thrilled as she practised some of the lines from Frozen hahaha. We did also enjoy the green grass yard of the castle, and had a lunch at the underground resto buffet inside the castle. What is more exciting is my daughter and I had a maze adventure to collect all the stamps provided inside the maze. This is definitely the best castle in England for family. Before we went home, she also enjoyed a good time in the playground with some other kids. 

Birthday Lunch wefie

Playground temptation