In Rome, our last day in Europe

The next day was our last day in Europe. Not a bit on a rush since there was one last planned excursion for the day. We actually woke up a bit late and finished up around 9AM because usually, we start our day at around 7 in the morning.



Well, we were planning to go to the Vatican museum. We were going to see all of Vatican's glorious masterpieces. We commuted through train still and arrived at the station a bit drenched of Rome's summer. Don't be mistaken, the sun was not that scorching.... Well we arrived at the queuing area and there was a huge crowd. The servicing at the queue is quite fast so we went inside so unharmed and less sweat.



Our main target was the Sistine Chapel and so we had to walk a mile long I guess. It was a pleasure walk though seeing the different paintings, sculptures and some iconic epitaph of the Romans. The chapel was located at the far end and so we needed to walk a bit faster.

We arrived at the chapel and it was hugely packed. And seriously, no picture taking, and silence must be observed. Well, as human as we are, there are those who are so undisciplined and took pictures and the guards had to apprehend them. Since the place is crowded, you will hear from time to time some hushes and the guards will make it worse by shouting, "silence please". But yeah, the alfresco was really amazing. Imagine all the formidable forces of Italian renaissance joining forces with Michaelangelo. I would say Michaelangelo's "The Last Judgement" is really amazing. Sigh again, we were not allowed to take pictures. Well, consider this that camera flashes will destroy the paintings in due time so yeah we have to respect their rules.



After the tour at the chapel we were heading out. There will still many displays at the exit hallway. I was using my iphone most of the time because it was really handy. It was another long walk actually and we had to take a good pace because it was already lunch time.

We dined out at a nearby restaurant and I had tortellinis and some of my friends had other kinds of pastas. It was a huge meal as I have said they've got really huge servings.



After satisfying lunch, we headed back to our hostel, packed up, took the train going to the airport and viola, we were taking the Qatar Airways' 747 plane bound for Doha then to Singapore.

And that my friend was the most expensive travel I had(good luck to my savings {cough2x}) . Yet, it was the most amazing vacation I took and words and even photos are still not enough to describe the whole journey. I am planning to actually visit other countries in Europe and hopefully I win the lottery!!!

Ooops, some of the photos were in my external hard drive and I left it in Cebu when I had my new year vacation :(

Euro tour : Venice and Rome :)

From Paris, we went to Venice!



We arrived early in the morning. There was an Italian guy who rode with us. He's Andrea and he works in a bar and at the same time studied to become a cop. We asked him what to try in Venice and he suggested we try the Spritz and ofcourse the pastas.

We alighted at a wrong station, in fact we had to stop at the next station. So we waited for Kay and Elaine as they went to the counter to get another train tickets going to Venezia.

We arrived at Venice rather fast and the ride was smooth. The sun was bright and the sky was blue - very relaxing to start the day. We looked for our hotel and it was just a few meters walking distance from the station. Since we arrived too early, we left our luggage at the hotel's store room and we decided to look for a restaurant where we could eat. There were a lot of choices but we were particular for a place which has a wireless connection for the internet - it's the only way for us to upload our pics you see. We found one near the church and the fun part was there was a procession of bride and groom obviously for their wedding. The street was filled with lots of tourists taking pictures at everything fascinating and the well the famous masks of Venice were all over the place. We sat and ordered food. I had a spaghetti bolognese and God it was so good, thank you ;) We ordered Spritz and it had the strong one and it was really strong. I got a bit tipsy. Since there was free wifi, we had to browse and update our facebook. After the sumptuous breakfast, we decided to go back to our hotel, and prepare for our day trip. We cannot allow to waste time here because we will be staying just overnight :)



After we had our keys and stuff in order inside our rooms, we decided to go to the Plaza San Marco. It was a few minutes ride of the water taxi. The sun was blazing which I loved. I really like Mr. Sunshine and the tan will just be very perfect. Anyway, we reached San Marco and it was really crowded. Well obviously the gondolas were parked everywhere, and so it never escaped our cameras. We just had fun watching stuff sold by vendors and really nice masks and shirts. Before we decided to buy or anything, we just explored the place together. It felt like walking my entire life but it was fun though seriously tiring. I would recommend you to really wear a good pair of shoes.

We got tired of all the walking and hungry at that so we decided to dine. Their serving was huge and I had the pasta with squid ink. After that, the girls bought some HardRock stuff. I'm not a fan of the shirts so I did not have one with me. Anyway, the highlight of the long walks was to witness the sunset and it was really beautiful. Leme-leme an application in my iphone is really helful in making my photos a bit dramatic.

After the long walks and all, we decided to go back to our hotel room and some of us wanted to still check out some stuff so there we strolled the nearby streets and alleyways in our hotel. Peter went to our room first to take a rest while the girls went somewhere while I stayed outside just people watching. I have with me some book so I read at the same time. It was getting dark outside so I decided to walk around. I saw Kay and other girls coming so I caught up with them. We decided to leave our belongings and look for some place to dine :D




Then we called it a day!

The next day was we went to see the glass factories at Murano. They actually call the glass as Murano glass. We went to there through the taxi cab and it was interesting coz they showed us how it was made. Oh my the glass masterpieces were expensive. It was scary to even touch them or transport them or anything. After the tour, we wanted to eat but then there was no restaurant so we decided to go back to the plaza and stroll again until we found a place to eat. It was another pasta adventure. So yeah, after that we strolled and strolled. My feet ached. There was one moment that we just took a seat at a corner. Wahhahaha. Honestly, Venice was more expensive than any other city we just visited and I think there was not much other things to do. Staying there for two one night and two days was good enough :)

We left Venice at around 9pm and the couchette we had a a first class so the train ride was really great. It was the first time that I was able to sleep really well on a couchette. Darn the trip to Rome was rather short like 6 hours....

Rome we were on the next day and it was a bit cold in the morning of 7.

From the Eurail station, we took the mrt and from there began walk. Our hostel according to the map was a walking distance actually from the MRT. But we got lost (a bit) and just asked some people around and good thing we found our hostel. It was too early and the attendant was not really expecting us to be there on time. So yeah we had to ring the attendant before we can settle. There was an old elevator system in that building which was interesting and a bit scary if you'd entertain some of your imagination that seriously. Anyway, we had a light breakfast, we paid the owner whom we thought as the attendant and viola we were able to use our rooms. If my memory served me right the room which would be for Peter and I was still occupied till 10 am was still being used so we had to park our things at the girls' room. Since we have to visit some interesting places in Rome, we had to start to wash up and prepare.



After everyone had their turns in freshening up, we decided to start our excursion. Our first stop was the Colosseum. Their train station was convenient in fact the ancient structure was a walking distance .... We took the group tour of the Colosseum. Even though the queue was discouraging, it did not stop us from enjoying the tour. Well, sad to note that the Italian tour guide was heavily accented and that proved really a bit annoying when she began explaining things. Anyway, after the group tour, we were allowed to explore the whole structure and it was fun taking pictures. It's indeed a wonderful experience.



Our next stop was to visit the ruins of the Palatine Hill. It was a walking distance from the Colosseum but we couldn't find the entrance, in short we got lost. We had to turn back and head to the opposite direction and from there found ourselves at the right entrance. It was fun walking and climbing up the hill. The ruins were amazing. I was walking the paths of the gladiators again. Well officially, the first one was at the Colosseum :) At the top of the hill there was a spring water, so we tried it and it was really fresh. I managed to fill my water bottle twice as I finished the first one. The 500ml of water bottle is actually expensive as it can range from a euro to 3. Anyway, we went up to the hill top a good view actually and there was a museum. We did not get inside and just waited for the girls there who were using the loo. After that, we decided to descend and our next stop would be the St. Peter's Basilica. We took the MRT then alighted at the nearest station. It was another long walk and our tummy were calling us of the hunger. So we decided to stop at a restaurant and ate to our hearts content. After that, we also bought some ice cream ala Rome. The servings were huge just to remind you guys. After that, we continued walking to the Basilica. It was my first time to see the Swiss guards and they looked like clowns because of their colorful costume during that time. Anyway, the entrance of the Basilica grounds was amazing. All the huge pillars lining up with all the Catholic Saints on top. We took some pictures and all. Then we decided to get inside the Basilica itself. Wearing of shorts and sleeveless is not allowed in this holy place and since Bud (our Thai friend) was wearing sleeveless, she could not have entered the heart of the Basilica but the good thing was, we had scarves to cover her.



When we got inside the Basilica the feeling was really great. It's really spirited and holy. I had this unexplained happiness and feeling of peace.

After the Basilica tour, we got out of the place and saw this small post and gift shop. We entered and bought some stuff. I bought two nice rosaries for my aunts in Cebu who are really devout Catholics.

After we had a great tour at the Basilica, we then decided to look for another Bernini masterpiece the fountain of Trevi. We saw one but it was not really the fountain we were looking for but it was a replica but still made by Bernini. Then we had to ask for directions again and after some few minutes of walking we found the real one. It was so crowded and all we could do was appreciate the beautiful fountain. The lights, the water splashing, the sculpture was really beautiful. I think it's one of the most beautiful fountain I saw in my life. The girls where busy throwing coins for their wishes (a bit superstitious). After the fountain trail we decided to call it a night and we headed back to our hostel.

Euro tour - Munich

The next day was spent visiting another castle. It was a two hour ride by train and 30 minutes ride by ferry. Herrenchiemsee palace is beautiful and it's interesting because King Ludwig II had it to be a replica of some sort of France's Versailles. It was said he admired the King of France and so he decided to immortalize it building his castle with French taste.

Here are the photos of our tour at Herrenchiemsee, but no photo's taken from inside the castle because it's simply not allowed.




After touring the castle, we had our really late lunch. Their serving was huge for us so it was satisfying even if it was really late.

The castle trip took us a whole day.

The next day, our itinerary was to tour the Munich central - MarienPlatz but before that, we checkout some noteworthy structures just around Munich. We also passed by the German playground for their very famous Octo-beer-feast.

At MarienPlatz, ee checked some shops and watched some street performers. Then we watched the show at the Sankt Peter. It's was a great church bell show which was not to be missed :)

After the show we looked for some place to eat and there was this one mall we went into and there's a good food court. We ordered a lot :) German food is a bit sour which was not so strange actually and the sausages and hams were really good.

After lunch, we decided to go to the English garden or the Englischer Garten. There was not that many things to do except that the place was famous for nude people sun bathing. It was actually summer in Munich even though it was sometimes rainy and cold. We were a bit tired of all the walking so we decided to just sit down by the lake and watched people. Too bad there were no nude scenes =))

Anyway, we needed to still prepare our stuff because we will be leaving Munich that night. Our next stop was Paris and of course with love.

To be continued....

Next Stop, Munich Germany !

Gutten Tag !

Well, we left Barcelona and dropped by at Mallorca airport then went to Munich still via Air Berlin. The flight was a bit bumpy (and I hate turbulence which sends my stomach to a roller coaster) and so everyone was scared - not to death though. I believe we were praying then ....

We reached Munich late in the evening and we were meeting David at the airport. After we got our things, we went out of the arrival area and saw David...

We got out tickets and proceeded to a friend's house - actually Peter's friend. Mai was the one playing host to us. She's actually Filipino - German. Her mom is a Cebuano and when she finished her university in Cebu, I think she flew to Germany to stay and work. She's fluent in German but as what I have known, she's still more Filipino and she's proud of it :D She is with her hubby in their apartment and yeah we were the couch surfers ;)

We reached the station which was near Mai's place and the weather was a bit cold. They waited for us and it was so kind of them. David actually went with us as well and left after we safely arrived at that station (I forgot the name of that station). Anyway, it was late so when we arrived at Mai's and Glenn's place, we just had to sleep.

The next day arrived and our itinerary would be to go to castles in Bavaria :) We had our mini breakfast with all the yummy sausages and a cup of coffee just to have a good kick in the morn.
It was more than two hours of ride and people were actually sleeping in the train and since I had coffee, I was just enjoying the scenery. Their houses were totally different from what we have in my place (Cebu) and they were uniquely Bavarian.

We alighted from the train and we took a bus going to Schloss Neuschwanstein. A castle of Konig Ludwig II. An impressive castle I must say where Disneyland castles got their inspiration from. We actually had to options when we reached the entrance, either we take the chariot which we call in Cebu as tartanilla or we go there by bus - most of us wanted to take the bus but we did not fail to take some photos with the parked horse carriage. The castle is atop of the mountain sitting gloriously and so it added more chill. We had to wear scarves and our jackets :) We reached the foot of the mountain and we had to trek to reach the castle. It was a fun trek obviously and everyone was cam whoring. The castle was huge but they said it was not finished. Anyhow, we decided to get in and took that very long queue. There were lots of tourists and the good thing was we came earlier. After some minutes of waiting, it was our turn for the castle tour. Unfortunately, no picture taking was allowed. Sigh.... I just had to feast with thine eyes :D The view from atop was amazing when one is looking from beyond and the back drop was gorgeous with the hilly country side, farm villages and lakes and on the other side there was this water falls. That was the most beautiful castle tour I had in Germany! The tour lasted for around 45 minutes, more or less and since it was lunch time, we decided to eat at the castles resto. It was simple yet chic place to have lunch :) The sausage again danced on our plates then to our bellies and the cakes, not to forget were really heavenly. I love their food - very fattening ! =)) After the castle tour we trek and went to this nearby bridge where there's also a great view of the whole milieau. On the bridge you can write some dedication of some sort and I wrote my name, my address, and cebu !!! And just for fun, I wrote some of the names of my office mates and friends :)

We decided to go back to our pit stop :) To go downhill we need to take the bus and it was a quick ride. We decided to buy some souvenirs for friends and family and just agreed on a meeting place. I think we lost Bud and Elaine and so Kay and I were checking back our tracks while the other waited to the bus stop. Alas we found them in our second round of searching. It's actually difficult if you're a bit lost because the signs were in Deutsche or German you can't expect the country folks to actually converse with you in English (but not quite sure about this so don't take me seriously). We took the bus then the two hour ride train going back to Munchen proper. Kay had to meet some Cebuano friends who were vacationing as well in Germany so David, Elaine and I decided to tag along. They're a Cebuano couple who were living in Vancouver, Canada. I forgot their names (waaaahh need to ask Kay on this). Kay met her in Tokyo where she was studying her Masters while Kay was working as a software engineer. Anyhow, we were a bit lost as to where is the BrauHaus (beer house). After some minutes of walking we found the place. I think there was a miscommunication of the landmarks :) We settled and ordered food for dinner and of course the very famous beer in a huge mug. Trust me, they have the best beer in the world !!! :) It was so much fun talking to the guys and since David is Indonesian, we had to converse in English :) Though sometimes we do speak Cebuano. The place was actually very noisy but the atmosphere is just so inviting and really happy with all the banging of the beer glass plus this folk band tuning the entire building into their nice songs even though I didn't understand what they were singing :) One of the best beer session I had with friends :D After we finished, we went to the souvenir shop and I bought a cap for my dad and a pen for my brother :) Then we took some pictures, went out, saw HardRock cafe Munchen so we decided to run across as it was raining and checked out some stuff. I am not really a fan of the cafe or any of its souvenir stuff so I did not care to buy anything but instead, I busied myself taking some pictures from my iphone - imagine Sting's guitar on display and some artists :) The rain was still pouring hard, and the clock was ticking late, and yeah we waited a bit for the rain to subside or maybe stop. It did not come to a stop but the raindrops were a bit manageable already so we decided to go back to our temporary niche. David was so kind, in fact he went with us to the train station. We were sleepy but we need to be very careful simply because their station is a bit complicated like in a single platform, many trains will pass, just like bus stops where you have buses going to different routes. I know Kay was good in directions and so we were in safe hands :) We got to the apartment quite tipsy and sleepy.

To be continued....

Third day in Barcelona {Espanya}

Continuation : Still In Barcelona Spain

The third day was our last day in Barcelona. Our schedule allowed us to go only to Montjuic. We woke a bit relaxed but was surprised that at 8AM the district was still asleep. The restos were closed and it was hard to look for a decent breakfast. So, we ate bread with some spread and a glass of juice.

Out stop was Montjuic and we had to take the train. The train system is not that complicated but you have to be aware of the pickpockets as there are so many of them especially in trains. We reached there too early so we have to wait for the cable car operation to open so we spent a good 30 minutes at this park full of flower. We just took some photos....

We took a single route going to the fort while Peter and our Japanese friend had the round trip. We wanted to actually do the hiking....

Reaching the castle took us around 10 minutes and the ride was so interesting. You get to see the city on your left and on your right and beyond is the Barcelona harbor. As usual when we reached the top, it was all cam whoring :D

There was no guide and all that and we did not take any information map. There was a lot of Catalan history already care of Brian so we just wanted to explore and check for nice views :D After touring the huge fortress and having that 360 degree view of Barcelona, we decided to go back to the plaza and have lunch and get ready to our next destination :)

We had our lunch at this cozy resto serving local stuff. All of us had the Paella ala Catalan! The serving is actually huge and we were surprised cos we thought it's good for one person but nope it's for two for regular Asians. Anyway, we ate everything - remember we did not have a good breakfast :D

After our sumptuous lunch, we headed back to our hostel to prepare for our next stop.

We were riding a bus going to the airport and we were on time which was just perfect. We were taking Air Berlin going to Munich Germany. But, we had to stop at Mallorca Spain and took another plane of same liner going to Munich.

I actually fell in love with Barcelona because of it's history, their arts and culture. Oh Gaudi! He is all over the place - in a great way :) The warm greetings we had when we met folks in Rupit. And I love their Summer !!! Definitely a must to go back and experience Spain once again .... Viva Espanya ;)

To be continued :)