Summer Bloom in Europe

Summer is a colourful season when flowers bloom. The flowers that bloomed in Europe are so different from those in Asia.

I wonder what were their names.

Buckingham Palace, London, England

Brussels, Belgium

Budapest, Hungary

Sculpture Park, Oslo, Norway

 

Salzburg, Austria

Paris, France

Versailles Palace, Paris, France

Zagreb, Croatia

Book Culture

“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

- Dr. Seuss, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!"

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Florence, Italy

Naples, Italy

Madrid, Spain

Plitvice National Park

One of the highlights of my European trip is the day trip to Plitvice National Park, one of the two national parks I've been in Europe the other being Cinque Terre. I would say any visit to Croatia would not be complete without a stop at the park. 

There's lakes, cascading waterfalls and trees throughout the park. Simply breathtaking, stunning, awesome, unbelievable and all the superlatives you can possibly think of.
I think if heaven was a place on earth then it would look like Plitvice.

The natural phenomenon that shaped the lakes thorugh sedimendation of limestone only occurred in few other places around the world, the most famous being Pamukkale in Turkey. It was said the landscape changes everyday. It is recognised as a World Heritage site and the following is a brief desciption from the site:

"The waters flowing over the limestone and chalk have, over thousands of years, deposited travertine barriers, creating natural dams which in turn have created a series of beautiful lakes, caves and waterfalls. These geological processes continue today. The forests in the park are home to bears, wolves and many rare bird species".

There are buses from Zagreb's main bus station. I reached the station around 7.00am but the tickets for the earliest bus was sold out so I had to wait for the second bus. I noted the last few buses back to Zagreb so that I would be mindful of the time. I brought some sandwiches and drinks for lunch in the park at the station in case the price there is expensive and to avoid being stuck in a long queue.

The sitting arrangement in the bus was very messy. A seat could be assigned to 2 people. My seat was actually taken by another person, so I went to sit at another empty seat. Halfway another person who boarded the bus was suppose to take the seat I was occupying so I went to reclaim my original seat. In the midst of all these mess I met a Korean gal. When we reached the destination she introduced two other Korean gals whom she met in the bus station while waiting for the bus. These 3 Korean gals were each travelling solo and together we formed a travel group. Power to gals solo travellers.

The entrance fee is 110 Kroner (discount would be given to ISIC holder). There are a few routes detailed at the ticket centre, each take between 2-8 hours and each can be covered within a day. There are 4 places where you can stop each called Station 1, Station 2 and so on. Each has washrooms, food stalls with eating area and information centre.

The route we chose started at Station 2 (main entrance) and the duration is estimated to be 4 hours.  We begun with a bus ride to Station 4 then followed by a walking trail to P2 where we wait in line for a ferry ride across the biggest lake in the park to P3 before continuing on another walking trail all the way to Station 1. However this time the path would get steeper. Then we took a bus from Station 1 to get back to Station 2. The bus ride and the ferry ride are included in the entrance ticket. I would highly recommend this route if you are like me who like to save the best for last. P1, P2 and P3 are places where you board ferry and only P3 has the same facilities like the stations.

We had early lunch once we reached Station 4. We sat at the eating area and ate what we brought. The line to buy food was rather long. Along the walking path we stopped for numerous photo sessions as Koreans they love to take pictures (of various poses and angles).

We often walked on wooden walkways along the walking trails and at some point the lake was just below our feet. The lakes are in the most beautiful and gorgeous shade of blue/green and turquoise. Swimming is not allowed but you can dipped you feet in the water.

The most breathtaking sight are found at the end of our route on the last walking trail with cascading waterfalls.

If heaven is this beautiful then I want to go to heaven. I imagined myself as a pixie with wings flying around Plitivce as my playground.

The route we chose.

Pictures courtesy of my Plitvice travel buddy.

Check out more pictures in google image here.

A Guided Tour to Roland Garros

When I reached the location the last guided tour had  already begun but the people who worked there let me join the last tour in the midst. I can't thank them enough for their kindness.

Top right is the souvenir shop. Bottom left: The entrance. Bottom right: Signage showing the directions and distance of the other Glam Slam venues; Wimbledon (365km), Flushing Meadows (5839 km) and Melbourne Park (16950 km) . 

The top part of the stadium is engraved with names of the winners. 

The Tour

 Center court where the finals are held.

This is the ladies' locker. Locker #19 is reserved permanently to Steffi Graf the 6 times champion. The locker is still there just that the number now becomes 18bis.

Rafael Nadal's favourite locker. Every year the defending champion get to choose his locker first. Apparently Nadal always choose this locker. The guide said probable because its close to a bench. I forgot the locker no. Maybe soon this locker will his permanently as the 7 times champion.

 To the left is the sitting lounge.  The picture in the middle is the press conference room and the guy seated was my guide for the tour. On the right is the locker room.

There's this room filled with players' signatures on glass surface attached to the wall.

It's all about the money (Transport)

My transportation expenses for my European trip

 From                To                   Mode of Transport                       Local currency       Amount   MYR 
1 Paris                Ghent              Bus (Eurolines)                               EUR           29.00     121.80
2 Ghent               Brugge           Train                                                  n/a      
3 Brugge            Brussel           Train                                                 EUR             8.00       33.60
4 Brussel            Antwerp         Train                                                  EUR             6.70       28.14
5 Antwerp           Rotterdam     Train                                                  EUR           18.40       77.28
6 Rotterdam       The Hague     Train                                                 EUR             4.30       18.06
7 The Hague      Amsterdam    Train                                                EUR            10.70      44.94
8 Amsterdam     Haarlem         Train                                                EUR            10.30       43.26
9 Amsterdam     Berlin              Bus (Eurolines)                              EUR            64.00     284.90
10 Berlin             Oslo                Airplane (RyanAir)                         EUR           50.99      221.29
11 Oslo               Trondheim     Airplane (Norwegian Air)               EUR           37.31     165.78
12 Trondheim     Bodo              Train (nsb.no)                                  NOK         299.00     170.83
13 Bodo              Sortland         Bus (Nordland Fyikeskommune)  NOK         166.00       97.08
14 Sortland         Tromso           Ferry (Hurtigruten)                          NOK         625.00     350.35
15 Tromso          Budapest        Airplane (Air Baltic)                       EUR           29.10      578.15
16 Budapest       Zagreb           Train (MAU-START)                       HUF       8100.00     133.65
17 Zagreb           Budapest       Train (MAU-START)                       n/a
18 Budapest       Salzburg         Train (MAU-START)                     HUF      10530.00     166.74
19 Salzburg         Zurich             Train (OBB)                                   EUR             85.20     371.18
20 Zurich             Munich            Train (SBB)                                   CHF           107.00     434.88
21 Munich           Prague            Bus (Eurolines)                            EUR              35.03     150.64
22 Prague          Vienna             Bus                                                EUR              12.60       52.92
23 Vienna           Venice             Train (Trenitalia)                           EUR             70.34     302.45
24 Venice           Florence          Train (Trenitalia)                           EUR             36.40     156.52
25 Florence        Pisa                  Train (Trenitalia)                            n/a
26 Pisa               La Spezia         Train (Trenitalia)                            n/a
27 La Spezia     Rome                 Train (Trenitalia)                         EUR              36.50      156.95
28 Rome            Naple                 Train (Trenitalia)                          EUR             10.50         45.15
29 Naple            Rome                 Train (Trenitalia)                          EUR             10.50         45.15
30 Rome            London              Airplane (RyanAir)                      EUR              61.99       275.27
31 London         Madrid               Airplane (RyanAir)                       GBP             95.06       466.09
32 Madrid          Barcelona         Bus (Alsa)                                     EUR            30.51        131.19
33 Barcelona     Lyon                  Bus (Eurolines)                             EUR            64.00       279.57
34 Lyon              Paris                  Train (SNCF)                                EUR            66.50       289.51                                                          Grand Total                                                                                                                     5693.32

I spent approximately RM20,000 for my European trip that covered 31 cities in 101 days. On average I spent RM200 a day.

(1 Euro is around RM4.2-4.35)





           

Paris: Top 10 Attractions

10. Hotel de Ville

9. Place de la Concorde

8. Pompidou Center

7. Arc de Triomphe

6. Seine Cruise

5. Versailles Palace

4. Notre Dame

3. Sacre Coeur

2. Louvre Museum

1. Eiffel Tower

Lyon

"In Lyon the walls tell stories, mostly very tall tales."

"The residents of the city are called Lyonnais."

"Lyon was historically known as an important area for the production and weaving of silk and in modern times has developed a reputation as the capital of gastronomy in France."

FC Barca

Barcelona: Top 10 Attractions

10. Parc Guell

9. Plaza de Espana

8. La Boquena

7. Casa Battlo

6. Gothic Quarter

5. Barcelona Cathedral

4. Beaches

3. La Rambla

2. Casa Mila

1. Sagrada de Familia

Madrid: Top 10 Attractions

10. Plaza de Cibeles





9. Almudena Cathedral / Catedral de la Almudena



8. Puerta Del Sol



7. Temple of Debod / Templo de Debod



6. Rastro Market / El Rastro

5. Retiro Park / Parque de Retiro

4. Reina Sofia Museum / Museo Reina Sofia

3. Plaza Mayor





2. Royal Palace / Palacio Real



1. Prado Museum / Museo del Prado

 

The Madrid Ruta/Route 1 passes by all of the above places. The tour starts at Paseo del Prado (boulevards) where the Prado Museum (1) is closely located, passes by Plaza  de Cibeles (10), Temple de Debod (7), Royal Palace (2) and Almudena Cathedral (9) which is next to the palace. Then proceed to Rastro Market (6) along Calle Toledo which is a market that open only on Sundays and public holidays. Thereafter followed by Plaza Mayor (3), Puerta del Sol (8),  Reina Sofia Museum (4) and ends at Real Jardin Botanico. The Retiro Park (5) is just beyond the garden.


Alternatively there's Madrid to the river tours from Plaza Mayor which are walking tour that you can take on your own. A map on the routes can be obtained from the info centre in Plaza Mayor. 

List is in English followed by Spanish and a summary of a youtube video on the subject.