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| Hamburg, Germany |
Eh when I look back at my Trip to New Zealand entry, lebih kurang je, beza 3 hari je huhu, patutlah rasa penat semacam.. atas kekangan masa dan cuti so terpaksalah buat apa yang mampu. I hop from 1 place (or country?) to another, actually malas nak mengaku buat Europe Trip within 17 days, but I decided to “ JUST DO IT" because it's the right time & right place where flight tix was a good catch! For return trip (Amsterdam) I booked masa Traveloka tengah buat Europe promo, tolak tambah cost dia lebih kurang je harga flight pegi NZ haritu (logically flight duration almost twice longer) flew with Etihad & booked 2 months before, ada meal+30kg luggage & in flight entertainment (haha penumpang AirAsia tegar yg berasa amat bersyukur,lol) so it's a pretty good deal!
Dan yang paling penting semua kawan kat Europe (samada yang kenal masa travel & kawan Msian) tengah ada di rumah! Kalau lambattt sikit diorang tengah travel ke mana-mana, so no excuse for me to not to go now.
INITIAL PREP
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| my "little" homework |
Macam biasa haha my life is a joke *tetiba* I was contemplating, I was having a personal issue when I bought this flight ticket, it was very spontaneous without doing any proper kira-kira sebab aku terfikir life aku ni dok berjaga-jaga macam mana pun, dok macam tu jugak, ending yang sama jugak, why don't just risk it on this 1, at least aku memang akan berada di bumi europe.
So, I was struggling to get up from bed to make sure to at least prepare something for the trip. 2 weeks before, like it or not I have to scold myself to make sure at least I plan for my accommodation, transportation AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING Europe is soooo hugeee & I have sooo little time, I have to at least decide WHICH PLACE I WANTED TO VISIT in Europe (?)
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| Arrow showing my bus route |
So first of all I have to understand Europe map, what's doable or not. Err..to be honest I never bother to study about Europe before sebab masih rasa belum ready walaupun dah bertahun-tahun fikir nak pergi, hehe.
I'm glad I have few friends who are very helpful when I was planning for my trip. I avoid France & Italy this time because.. hurmm I am not a fan of city & typical tourist area, I have friends that live out from the touristy area but kinda too far.. & I don't have enough time for this trip.
ROUTE
So finally I decided my routes a week before I flew *wink wink*
• Netherlands [Utrecht, Hoon] --> (3 days)
• Germany [Hamburg, Berlin] --> (5 days)
• Czech Republic [Prague] --> (4 days)
• Austria [Innsbruck] --> (3 days)
• Netherlands [Liesse] --> (1 day)
*Back to Netherlands since I am taking return Amsterdam flight
I know some people will say "CALM DOWN WOMEN" but haha well I have reasons why I go to each of this city/country aaaand I dunno when will I be back to Europe.
TRANSPORTATION
Bus is my second home in Europe hahaha I use Flixbus when I travel from 1 country to another.
After I done my research, taking bus is way cheaper than taking the train.
My Bus Routes:
• Amsterdam -> Hamburg (6 hours) *
• Hamburg -> Berlin (3 hours)*
• Berlin -> Prague (5 hours)*
• Prague -> Munich (6 hours)* + [transit] Munich -> Innsbruck (2 hours)
• Innsbruck -> Munich (2 hours) + [transit] Munich -> Utrecht (11 hours) *
* wuhooo!! somehow I survived that 13 hours bus ride from Innsbruck (Austria) to Utrecht (Netherlands) & straight wentto Keukenhof for the WHOLEDAY #joycried #wonderwomenme
Tips: I bought InterFlix pass for 99€ (approximately RM500), I can choose 5 different destination with a flat rate of 20€ each, which I find is very cost effective;
(1) I can save a lot on my accommodation taking midnight bus
(2) Most midnight bus cost more expensive (30€-40€) compare to day time bus.
Those in * I use my InterFlix pass
I took 7 bus ride in total! The other 2 were a short distance (2 hours each way) which only cost me 8€/each so I bought them individually without using my InterFlix pass.
Fyi, ni first time pakai FlixBus, so aku agak sceptic sebenarnya, 99 euro bukan murah woi woiii~ tapi memang the cheapest option. Tiket bas ni semua settle before fly supaya tak pening kepala dah sampai sana & I went during Easter week, so a bit worried if tiket bas habis. But once I download FlixBus app, I loveee it! I can track down all my bus schedule!
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| Dalam apps dia macam ni |
Oh how to use InterFlix pass? Once you purchase that 99€ pass, you will received 5 different codes for you to use when purchase the bus ticket. But you have to wait for 48 hours before they activate it. A bit confusing sebab there is no e-mail that indicate code kau dah di activatekan ke belum, so kena lah try & error lepas 48 hours tu. Fuhh sisturr takut jugak memula, tapi Alhamdulillah, all transactions gone smooth.
How much did I save? *drum rolls* After I sum up all 5 bus destinations, I save approximately about 50€ for ticket bus & 4 nights accommodation worth of +-60€ ! (Dah RM550 jimat tu! Yay!)
ACCOMMODATIONS
• Netherlands (2 nights)
- Thanks to Wouter & Guusje (I met them during my Cambodia Trip 3 years ago!) for letting me stayover in their lovely apartment & how funny, it was the last weekend they staying there & about to move to different places a week later ':D *btw Wouter ni macam Jim Carey, kerja aku gelak gelak dan gelak, adeee je nak membahan haha crack!
• Hamburg, Germany (2 nights)
- Farah's place! My Malaysian friend tengah buat Master in Hamburg. It was a very nice apartment & neighbourhood less than 1 km walk to the lake <3 Thank you masak kan dinner & bawak jalan-jalan too! Danke Schรถn!
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| Kitorang randomly take picture depan rumah orang haha! |
• Berlin, Germany (2 nights)
- Corner Hostel [14€/nite + 3€] - the cheapest & safest hostel I found in Berlin, buuut it's damn 4 km away from the city. Kenapa ada plus 3€ kat situ, itu untuk bedsheet, tapi tak masuk akal backpackers nak bawak bedsheet sendiri, lepas tu kalau dah check out tak boleh lepak kat hall, whatevs~ BUT the good part, hostel was comfy & the pantry was not bad (Ohh the free coffee was good too!).
• Czech Republic (3 nights)
- Sokolska Youth Hostel [9€/nite] - ooohh my favourite hostel for this trip & huuge kitchen love it! I even extend for 1 more nights! Oh btw I met a Czech friend that I met in Taiwan a year ago, just so happen she's in Prague! (how I wish my jodoh story is more like this, lulz)
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| Jana bring me to the best ice cream shop in Prague, Ricotta cheese & fig flavor ice cream, yums! |
• Austria (3 days)
- CS Theresa - last minute found my host! Cute studio with alps view <3 She even put a lil chocolate on my bed as a welcome gift & invite me for tea with her neighbour, Thomas!
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| Triple 'T'! Tea with Theresa & Thomas! |
ZE EXPERIENCES
My initial perceptions before I went, I feel like all city in Europe looks the same to me, until I get myself there only I realise, hey every city/country have their individual attractions!
Netherlands
Thanks to my very very helpful Dutch friends Wouter & Guusje <3, I experience a lot's of things here, the cute canals, cute building, appreciates how the old skool windmill functions, drink tea at the park, cool cafe boat, went to little town & neighbourhood, family dinner, picnic & flowersss. Rasa macam balik kampung, they temankan me like 24 hrs & siap bagi ole-ole *cried*
Hamburg
Visiting another friend (haha Thanks Farah! Paling banyak tolong <3) A major port city, it's interesting that I went to the old under the sea tunnel that was build in 1911! A day before I left, it was snowing & everything turns white!
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| from this |
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| to this on the next day! |
Berlin
A place where WWII happened, I'm glad I join free walking tour to every city that I visited & this is the best one! The next day I even extend my visit to the Holocaust Sachsenhausen concentration camp, such an educational experience.
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| Berlin Wall |
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| Sachenhausen concertration camp |
Prague
My first impression when I was here, rasa seperti di dalam dunia Shrek! haha! Lot's of cute romantic building with some medieval architecture. They actually called Prague a little Paris! I was torn to decide whether to watch orchestra or ballet, I decided to watch the Swan Lake ballet, and I love it~! Most of the time I rest & enjoy prague slowly.
Inssbruck
Aahhh finally mountains! I wish I was here for a week. It's a city surrounded by the alps! and everything are just by walking distance! I love this place! Went to the Nordkette's peak by cable car.
Oh ya when I was in Europe I somehow miss the less touristy simple life in Nepal, reliable safety in Japan & how everyone in Australia call me 'love' without even feel paranoid of tourist scams. Europe is beautiful & unique, tapi just kena sentiasa berjaga-jaga a bit, be aware of scams & pick pockets & sometimes you accidentally walk to dodgy area, sampai aku paranoid yang taknak mintak tolong strangers lah (so not me when travel, lol) sooo perhaps I'll blog some tips bila rajin nanti, haha~
WOW panjangnya post ni! OKlah BYEee~
