Euro Ultimate Trip
Well well, I have finally reached the end of my three months Europe backpacking trip! Wish I could have written update emails during my travels but internet access was pretty precious.
Florence
We flew from Ireland to Florence. Narrow cobbled stone roads, city oozing with art and charm, quite a romantic little place ;) Really tested my patience standing 3 hours waiting to get in the Uffizi Gallery. By the time we got in, we were too knackered to really enjoy the artwork. Little did I know this was just the beginning of the waiting game... I've gotten really good at the art of waiting after this whole trip.
Rome
Ended up with the whole package of being a tourist in Italy and got my camera pickpocketed on the bus in Rome, despite the numerous warnings I received. Hopefully travel insurance will come through. I loved Rome despite what happened, there's just so much to see, so much significant history that have taken place there. Oh and I had the yummiest gelati there!
Naples
Naples seem to have a really bad reputation, I've even heard a few northern Italians claim they won't want to visit Naples which is a real shame. I loved it and was so glad I went! Yes, the traffic is crazy (heart skips a beat everytime you try to cross the road) and it's not the cleanest city but at least I got to see local life here - unlike Florence and Rome where its suffocatingly touristy. Plus, from Naples you can visit islands like Sorrento and Capri (I only managed to visit charming Sorrento).
Milan
Milan had a magnificent Duomo (cathedral) but other than that, I was expecting a lot more, especially it's supposed to the 'fashion and style capital' or something. A good stop over point to get to Spain.
Geneva
Geneva was an accidental stopover - we were on our way from Milan to Barcelona, got to Geneva and then found out there were no more available seats to Barcelona! Not to worry though, cos we totally fell in love with Geneva. After two weeks in Italy, it was refreshing to be in such a modern, clean and organised city. Red Cross museum, UN HQ and a memorable won ton soup to satisfy our craving for chinese food hehe. Oh can't forget the mouth-watering Swiss chocolates.. mmMMMmm
Barcelona
Barcelona!! Ask me which is my favourite city out of my whole trip? Barcelona's got to be one of them. The architecture, lively atmosphere, colourful scenes, (almost too) perfect beaches, relaxing parks - it's got everything I'd want in a city to live in - yes, to live in. Really loved being able to practice my Spanish here... it was coming back to me slowly (confusing it with some Polish). Many many interesting situations where I very proudly spoke a line to someone in Spanish, only to receive a string of Spanish I didn't understand and have to sheepishly revert to English :P
Madrid
Was expecting a bit more from Madrid after seeing Barcelona, since it's the capital and all but apart from the good museums and a few nice squares, didn't quite do it for me. OH! We went and saw a bull fight and OMG... I didn't realise they actually kill the poor bulls!!!!!! (Ok, well I have kinda heard but didn't believe it). After the dreadful scene with the bull, they brought another bull out, and another, and another. Why do they have to kill 6 innocent animals just for "entertainment"s sake? While the rest of the crowd was cheering for the bullfighters, I was cheering for the bulls to kick some ass!
Valencia
Despite the unbearable heat we had to endure in our days in Valencia, I loved this city and would love to go back there again someday. The night life was great and we saw an authentic flamenco dance - without the fancy colourful dresses but definitely with the famenco passion and spirit. The port where they held the Americans Cup was disappointing - nothing compared to the Auckland Viaduct! Ah... bless that place.
La Tomatina in Bunol
We went to La Tomatina Festival by joining the Beige Brigade tour (London based, kiwi run tour company) because it was near impossible to find reasonably priced accomodation ourselves in Valencia or Bunol. We paid a LOT to join this tour (it WAS in pounds *shudder*) and what did we do?! Both Anne and I... over...SLEPT that morning and missed the bus to Bunol!! By some miraculous luck, the hostel we were staying at, arranged buses to Bunol as well and we managed to get seats.
La Tomatina - for those who don't know - is the biggest food fight in the world where 30000+ people come to this little town and throw over 100 metric tonnes of ripe tomatoes at each other - it was complete frenzy! From the endless lung-squashing flow of crowds, shoes getting lost in the river of tomato juices, clothes being ripped off, the smell, sight, taste of tomatoes everywhere - it's a world gone mad for half a day. All fun and game for the tourists... not so fun for the locals cleaning up our mess. Bloody tourists eh?
Paris
Missed my train from Barcelona to Paris due to another "over-sleeping incident" :P was told the next available train to Paris was in 6 days time! You've got to be kidding me I thought! So ended up taking a 16hr bus to Paris the following day and only got 1 day in Paris. Did pretty well for such a short time in Paris - saw the main touristy sights - Louvre, Eiffel Tower and crepes of course. A place to re-visit in the future for sure.
Brussels
How can anyone not be in a good mood chocolate shop hopping all day? A pub with 2004 different types of beer, the waffles, the mussels (I must say though, NZ mussels are still the best)... all adds up to a heavenly time in Brussels. Was good catching up with Abhijeet after such a long time :)
Amsterdam
Crazy fun Amsterdam. Seeing is believing. From the proud red light district, masses of bikes (its frightening walking around Netherlands with bikes zooming past left, right and centre), the Febo hot food vending machines to the "coffee" houses, welcome to Amsterdam! It was fascinating visiting the Anne Frank House and I had a hilarious time at a comedy show titled: "Me, Myspace and Ipod". All good fun.
Stockholm
Ahh... beautiful Stockholm. Stockholm was another city I could see myself living in. It was so nice to see Judit and Nisarg here - definitely a nice place to live in. The crisp morning air, the stunning natural beauty within this city built on 14 islands, a city with a focus on brilliant style and design. Apart from some crazy attacking sparrows in Skansen Park (they were after our cinnamon buns which we desperately protected) - love the city! Oh, and saw real life reindeers for the first time! Why did I think they were fictional animals? Rudolf, the red nose....
Copenhagen
With their proud vikings ancestory, flag flying everywhere, real Danish pastries (it's just pastries for them) and wicked driverless metro - Copenhagen was a cool place. Ole gave us a grand Copenhagen tour from the hippies and druggies in Christianshavn, deer forests to the huge Tivoli amusement park - where we delightfully discovered a karaoke bar!
Prague
This was my second visit to Prague - the few days in my first visit was just not enough for gorgeous Prague. Really glad I made it back again and this time actually take the time to just absorb the beauty of the place (trying to block the tourists out at the same time). With Sandy, Vendula and Marketa in Prague, it's always a nice mini-NZ reunion in Prague... good ole' NZ.
Athens
Was not expecting too much from Athens from what I've heard but the fantastic night lights, efficient public transport and the fact that there's still life at 5am was quite cool and reminds us of Asia actually. It was amazing just being at the site of Acropolis but unfortunately, having arrived at 3am that morning, we were too knackered to appreciate it fully.
Greek Islands
Our original plan was Mykonos then Ios. Had an absolutely perfect day in Mykonos. Our lovely pension host picked us up, got to our private room with our own bathroom and TV! (after staying in hostels for so long, this is super luxurious) and basically spent the whole afternoon swimming in the blue clear calm sea, basking in the warm gentle sun, dozing off or reading my book (been gobbling up books in this part of my trip - love having this holiday within a holiday).
The next day we took a ferry to Ios and after an uncertain 5 hour wait for the ferry to depart, we had a rough ride as the water was extremely choppy. So bad was the weather that we had to stop in a random island we haven't heard of, Paros, as the ferry couldn't continue on further. Spent the night on the ferry (surprisingly good sleep probably due to the rocking motion) thinking, hoping that we would have reached Ios by morning. But no, still in little Paros and that's where we were stuck in for the next few days while all the ferries were cancelled, cancelled, cancelled.
Luckily we had a knight in shining armour, Mike, owner of a pension, who saved a studio for us and helped us while we were stranded in Paros. Being stuck there, we missed our flight from Athens to Munich for Oktoberfest ><" but everything happens for a reason - a lot of great things wouldn't have happened if we didn't go with our Plan B.
Venice
Plan B was taking a ferry from Patras to Venice - the city I couldn't make in Italy the first time but still wanted to visit! Took a grand cruise ship (complete with bar, swimming pool, club, casino, shopping arcade - ok "shopping arcade", it only had three shops). The 30 hour ride went by too quick (the cabin we managed to get on the second day was uber-comfortable, we didn't want to leave!). Anyway, reached Venice and well I've heard people say that Venice is a bit over-rated but I still really enjoyed the place with its water taxis, beautiful (and touristy) Venetian masks and glass and the St.Marco Square - winner of the most number of damn pigeons.
Salzburg
Magical Salzburg - one of the favourite places I visited. The hills are certainly alive. There's really something about Salzburg – the pure jade coloured rivers, majestic alps, lush greeneries, neat and tidy baroque architecture, overlooked by a mighty fortress. How can one not be in a happy mood with The Sound of Music songs merrily singing in your head all day? Pretty cool seeing where Mozart was born and lived as well! Highlight of course... Sound of Music tour hehe ;) and dinner up on the fortress, overlooking Salzburg was nice too.
Munich
I was only in Munich for half a day, on the way from Salzburg to Dresden. Only had time to do the free walking tour and not much else. The city was definitely packed with people, I loved seeing people dressed in the traditional costumes and generally pretty cool seeing what the city becomes during the mad Oktoberfest. Did you know they set up an Australian embassy in the Munich British consulate every year during the three weeks festivities due to the number of intoxicated Australians who loses their passports?! :D
Dresden to Poland
Dresden was a pretty city - lots of interesting architecture and history but being the last stop before I go back to Poland, I wasn't in much of a sightseeing mood. I was just so ready to get back! When it came time to finally head back to Wroclaw, I went on my last spacious and comfortable German train, got to the border of Poland and I was so happy hearing and seeing Polish again! Even the old creaky Polish buses and trains brought a warm sense of familiarity. Ah... it's good to be back.
Wow! congratulations if you've reached this far.
How do I feel now? Soooo happy to be back in Wroclaw (my bed, consistent hot showers, cuppa tea when I want, plentiful power sockets, my laptop...and different clothes to wear!) Oh and feeling broke (glad I've gotten Western Europe out of the way expense wise). It has been exciting visitng all these countries but a few days here and there is not enough to really know the city or country! In a silly way, everytime I step into a new city, I feel a bit sad that it's one less place I can enter for the first time and absorb its first impression.
Right...I really don't know how I'm going to summarise three months of travel in a nutshell but here goes! Be prepared! By all means, just skip to the cities you're interested in reading about.
Intro...
Three months ago, I flew to Turkey to be at Mustafa and Burcu's special and beautiful weddings, then headed to England for two weeks, met up with Anne who has been working there for a few months and together we set off for our big Euro Ultimate trip - first stop Ireland!
Florence
We flew from Ireland to Florence. Narrow cobbled stone roads, city oozing with art and charm, quite a romantic little place ;) Really tested my patience standing 3 hours waiting to get in the Uffizi Gallery. By the time we got in, we were too knackered to really enjoy the artwork. Little did I know this was just the beginning of the waiting game... I've gotten really good at the art of waiting after this whole trip.
Rome
Ended up with the whole package of being a tourist in Italy and got my camera pickpocketed on the bus in Rome, despite the numerous warnings I received. Hopefully travel insurance will come through. I loved Rome despite what happened, there's just so much to see, so much significant history that have taken place there. Oh and I had the yummiest gelati there!
Naples
Naples seem to have a really bad reputation, I've even heard a few northern Italians claim they won't want to visit Naples which is a real shame. I loved it and was so glad I went! Yes, the traffic is crazy (heart skips a beat everytime you try to cross the road) and it's not the cleanest city but at least I got to see local life here - unlike Florence and Rome where its suffocatingly touristy. Plus, from Naples you can visit islands like Sorrento and Capri (I only managed to visit charming Sorrento).
Milan
Milan had a magnificent Duomo (cathedral) but other than that, I was expecting a lot more, especially it's supposed to the 'fashion and style capital' or something. A good stop over point to get to Spain.
Geneva
Geneva was an accidental stopover - we were on our way from Milan to Barcelona, got to Geneva and then found out there were no more available seats to Barcelona! Not to worry though, cos we totally fell in love with Geneva. After two weeks in Italy, it was refreshing to be in such a modern, clean and organised city. Red Cross museum, UN HQ and a memorable won ton soup to satisfy our craving for chinese food hehe. Oh can't forget the mouth-watering Swiss chocolates.. mmMMMmm
Barcelona
Barcelona!! Ask me which is my favourite city out of my whole trip? Barcelona's got to be one of them. The architecture, lively atmosphere, colourful scenes, (almost too) perfect beaches, relaxing parks - it's got everything I'd want in a city to live in - yes, to live in. Really loved being able to practice my Spanish here... it was coming back to me slowly (confusing it with some Polish). Many many interesting situations where I very proudly spoke a line to someone in Spanish, only to receive a string of Spanish I didn't understand and have to sheepishly revert to English :P
Madrid
Was expecting a bit more from Madrid after seeing Barcelona, since it's the capital and all but apart from the good museums and a few nice squares, didn't quite do it for me. OH! We went and saw a bull fight and OMG... I didn't realise they actually kill the poor bulls!!!!!! (Ok, well I have kinda heard but didn't believe it). After the dreadful scene with the bull, they brought another bull out, and another, and another. Why do they have to kill 6 innocent animals just for "entertainment"s sake? While the rest of the crowd was cheering for the bullfighters, I was cheering for the bulls to kick some ass!
Valencia
Despite the unbearable heat we had to endure in our days in Valencia, I loved this city and would love to go back there again someday. The night life was great and we saw an authentic flamenco dance - without the fancy colourful dresses but definitely with the famenco passion and spirit. The port where they held the Americans Cup was disappointing - nothing compared to the Auckland Viaduct! Ah... bless that place.
La Tomatina in Bunol
We went to La Tomatina Festival by joining the Beige Brigade tour (London based, kiwi run tour company) because it was near impossible to find reasonably priced accomodation ourselves in Valencia or Bunol. We paid a LOT to join this tour (it WAS in pounds *shudder*) and what did we do?! Both Anne and I... over...SLEPT that morning and missed the bus to Bunol!! By some miraculous luck, the hostel we were staying at, arranged buses to Bunol as well and we managed to get seats.
La Tomatina - for those who don't know - is the biggest food fight in the world where 30000+ people come to this little town and throw over 100 metric tonnes of ripe tomatoes at each other - it was complete frenzy! From the endless lung-squashing flow of crowds, shoes getting lost in the river of tomato juices, clothes being ripped off, the smell, sight, taste of tomatoes everywhere - it's a world gone mad for half a day. All fun and game for the tourists... not so fun for the locals cleaning up our mess. Bloody tourists eh?
Paris
Missed my train from Barcelona to Paris due to another "over-sleeping incident" :P was told the next available train to Paris was in 6 days time! You've got to be kidding me I thought! So ended up taking a 16hr bus to Paris the following day and only got 1 day in Paris. Did pretty well for such a short time in Paris - saw the main touristy sights - Louvre, Eiffel Tower and crepes of course. A place to re-visit in the future for sure.
Brussels
How can anyone not be in a good mood chocolate shop hopping all day? A pub with 2004 different types of beer, the waffles, the mussels (I must say though, NZ mussels are still the best)... all adds up to a heavenly time in Brussels. Was good catching up with Abhijeet after such a long time :)
Amsterdam
Crazy fun Amsterdam. Seeing is believing. From the proud red light district, masses of bikes (its frightening walking around Netherlands with bikes zooming past left, right and centre), the Febo hot food vending machines to the "coffee" houses, welcome to Amsterdam! It was fascinating visiting the Anne Frank House and I had a hilarious time at a comedy show titled: "Me, Myspace and Ipod". All good fun.
Stockholm
Ahh... beautiful Stockholm. Stockholm was another city I could see myself living in. It was so nice to see Judit and Nisarg here - definitely a nice place to live in. The crisp morning air, the stunning natural beauty within this city built on 14 islands, a city with a focus on brilliant style and design. Apart from some crazy attacking sparrows in Skansen Park (they were after our cinnamon buns which we desperately protected) - love the city! Oh, and saw real life reindeers for the first time! Why did I think they were fictional animals? Rudolf, the red nose....
Copenhagen
With their proud vikings ancestory, flag flying everywhere, real Danish pastries (it's just pastries for them) and wicked driverless metro - Copenhagen was a cool place. Ole gave us a grand Copenhagen tour from the hippies and druggies in Christianshavn, deer forests to the huge Tivoli amusement park - where we delightfully discovered a karaoke bar!
Prague
This was my second visit to Prague - the few days in my first visit was just not enough for gorgeous Prague. Really glad I made it back again and this time actually take the time to just absorb the beauty of the place (trying to block the tourists out at the same time). With Sandy, Vendula and Marketa in Prague, it's always a nice mini-NZ reunion in Prague... good ole' NZ.
Athens
Was not expecting too much from Athens from what I've heard but the fantastic night lights, efficient public transport and the fact that there's still life at 5am was quite cool and reminds us of Asia actually. It was amazing just being at the site of Acropolis but unfortunately, having arrived at 3am that morning, we were too knackered to appreciate it fully.
Greek Islands
Our original plan was Mykonos then Ios. Had an absolutely perfect day in Mykonos. Our lovely pension host picked us up, got to our private room with our own bathroom and TV! (after staying in hostels for so long, this is super luxurious) and basically spent the whole afternoon swimming in the blue clear calm sea, basking in the warm gentle sun, dozing off or reading my book (been gobbling up books in this part of my trip - love having this holiday within a holiday).
The next day we took a ferry to Ios and after an uncertain 5 hour wait for the ferry to depart, we had a rough ride as the water was extremely choppy. So bad was the weather that we had to stop in a random island we haven't heard of, Paros, as the ferry couldn't continue on further. Spent the night on the ferry (surprisingly good sleep probably due to the rocking motion) thinking, hoping that we would have reached Ios by morning. But no, still in little Paros and that's where we were stuck in for the next few days while all the ferries were cancelled, cancelled, cancelled.
Luckily we had a knight in shining armour, Mike, owner of a pension, who saved a studio for us and helped us while we were stranded in Paros. Being stuck there, we missed our flight from Athens to Munich for Oktoberfest ><" but everything happens for a reason - a lot of great things wouldn't have happened if we didn't go with our Plan B.
Venice
Plan B was taking a ferry from Patras to Venice - the city I couldn't make in Italy the first time but still wanted to visit! Took a grand cruise ship (complete with bar, swimming pool, club, casino, shopping arcade - ok "shopping arcade", it only had three shops). The 30 hour ride went by too quick (the cabin we managed to get on the second day was uber-comfortable, we didn't want to leave!). Anyway, reached Venice and well I've heard people say that Venice is a bit over-rated but I still really enjoyed the place with its water taxis, beautiful (and touristy) Venetian masks and glass and the St.Marco Square - winner of the most number of damn pigeons.
Salzburg
Magical Salzburg - one of the favourite places I visited. The hills are certainly alive. There's really something about Salzburg – the pure jade coloured rivers, majestic alps, lush greeneries, neat and tidy baroque architecture, overlooked by a mighty fortress. How can one not be in a happy mood with The Sound of Music songs merrily singing in your head all day? Pretty cool seeing where Mozart was born and lived as well! Highlight of course... Sound of Music tour hehe ;) and dinner up on the fortress, overlooking Salzburg was nice too.
Munich
I was only in Munich for half a day, on the way from Salzburg to Dresden. Only had time to do the free walking tour and not much else. The city was definitely packed with people, I loved seeing people dressed in the traditional costumes and generally pretty cool seeing what the city becomes during the mad Oktoberfest. Did you know they set up an Australian embassy in the Munich British consulate every year during the three weeks festivities due to the number of intoxicated Australians who loses their passports?! :D
Dresden to Poland
Dresden was a pretty city - lots of interesting architecture and history but being the last stop before I go back to Poland, I wasn't in much of a sightseeing mood. I was just so ready to get back! When it came time to finally head back to Wroclaw, I went on my last spacious and comfortable German train, got to the border of Poland and I was so happy hearing and seeing Polish again! Even the old creaky Polish buses and trains brought a warm sense of familiarity. Ah... it's good to be back.
It's interesting that after three months of travelling by train, I still LOVE train rides. It's refreshing to have trains that can actually overtake cars on the road! (I am comparing to NZ trains for those who don't know).
Wow! congratulations if you've reached this far.
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