#4.15 Twenty - Two (Part 3)

"We're always tend to be envy of other people's life until we got a full look of their stories. Over the 22 days, being exposed to different people and cultures had made me feel blessed and be a lot more content with my life. There was irrefutably a great shift in perspective. "

Due to the hilarious movie Europe Trip, we had this wild kind of expectation that everything in Bratislava would be cheaper than dirt. It was, of course, not true but the price was quite reasonable compared to certain countries. We only got to spend a short afternoon in this small town but I must say that I was very impressed by the unique, creative and good-quality handicrafts sold at the stalls. =)

Some of the neat souvenirs.

Such beautiful angels.

Miraculously found this bear over here. =)

After Bratislava, I finally came to Prague and walked on Charles Bridge after being jealousy and all for almost a year. Prague arguably had the most interesting history and legends of all countries. Among them, I was most fascinated by the Golem tale and felt deeply sorry for the Jewish children who perished unrightfully. 

Before we left this beautiful city, we visited a shop owned by a nice couple that sold all types of puppets, handicrafts and souvenirs. While browsing around, I came across a decorative handicraft and after much hesitation, I decided to buy it for myself. It was a small hot air balloon which had got two big suns painted on it. It was like a symbol of hope that would serve as a reminder to myself in the future that come what may, the sun would still rise up high in the sky.

They said that everyone who came here must give it a touch. =)

On Charles Bridge.

The suitcase that kept all the drawings of the Jewish children.

One of the heart-breaking paintings. 

Inside the church. 

The guard must have all the patience in this world.

A must-take photo in Prague.

Our dinner before leaving Prague. 

My hot air balloon!!

In Germany, we paid a visit to Dacau Concentration Camp after watching the Italian film "Life Is Beautiful". It was absolutely one of the best movies that made you laugh and cry till the end and I would highly recommend it to anyone who had got a heart but it's best to prepare a box of Kleenex by your bed side beforehand. 

Frankly, I just couldn't understand the reason behind any oppression in this world and the horrible things that were done physically to and fed into the minds of the prisoners. It's disgusting to say the least. 

While there, we also grabbed the opportunity to try out the good food and beer. Among all, I loved the ice wine from Rhine Valley the most and it's certainly the best wine that I had ever tried so far. 

Dacau Concentration Camp. 

Inhuman.

German sausages.

Beer after the fulfilling dinner. 

The ice wine from wine tasting session in Rhine Valley.

After countless days and nights, we finally arrived at Amsterdam, Netherlands before we headed to Belgium, which was our final destination of the entire trip and I should let the photos do the talking this time around so that I wouldn't sound so long-winded. I was not being lazy I swore! =P

My first thought: Tom and Jerry!!! 

Windmill - The signature look of Amsterdam.

Began our evening canal cruise. =)

Bikes, bikes and bikes everywhere. In the river too, they said.

The you-knew-what came in all funny shapes and sizes.

On the second day, we were here so early that no one was even here yet! 

The location in Museumplein that everyone must take photos of.

Visited the Van Gogh Museum later and this was
my favourite painting by Van Gogh in the museum. 

Windmills in Zaanse Schans.  

And more windmills!! 

All of us in a clog!!

The colourful clogs - One of the most famous Dutch products.

Belgium fries again!!

I doubted if I would ever go on any tour that lasted that long ever again in the near future, especially when University life was coming to an end real soon. Previously, all I knew about these countries were through the mouths and opinions of other people, but I was glad that I now could make up my mind and decide for myself if I did love and enjoy a certain place.

All in all, this 22-day journey was surely an injection of blissfulness, excitement and happiness in my life. =)

I Lived - One Republic

#4.14 Twenty - Two (Part 2)

"This astonishing journey had definitely been an eye opener for me in a lot of different ways. =P "


Once we hopped off the ferry, we were immediately greeted by the breathtaking morning view of Dubrovnik! We learnt that it was the filming location of Game of Thrones but too bad I didn't watch the hit Tv series. 

After putting our luggage in the hotel, we took a guided walk around the city and even visited its market that sold unique local snacks, sea salt, lavender products and lots of other stuff. It rained heavily in the afternoon so we decided to have coffee and cake in a restaurant to get some shelter from the downpour. After that, we took a funicular up the hill to enjoy the bird's eye view of the walled-city from the top and ended the beautiful day by having dinner in a fancy restaurant located up there. =)

The morning view of the city of Dubrovnik from far away.

The addicting local snacks sold in the market. 

Simply spectacular!!

The stunning evening view before we had our dinner.

Squids!!

Our scrumptious dinner. =P

On the second free day, we spent a few good hours climbing the city wall and got to see the picturesque view from a completely different perspective. The best part of the day was no doubt the quality time that we spent in Cafe Buza. It was surely a blessing that we got to sit by the blue adriatic ocean sipping coffee and drinking beer. Absolutely nothing in this world could top that carefree feeling and if only I could wake up every morning to such a lovely scenery!!

Began our city wall walk!

Quaint was the word!!

Almost near the end of the walk.

Fried squids and mussels as lunch!!

Iced coffee and cold beer!!

Chillaxing at Cafe Buza!!

The next day, we had a quick stop by Mostar, Bosnia. The city looked a lot different than the others that we had been to in the past few days but still offered one of the most fantastic views. We even had the chance to try out the delicious Turkish coffee and the traditional meat dishes. We didn't quite know the right way to drink the coffee so we asked the waitress to show us the correct steps to do it and it was certainly a cute new experience!

The Turkish coffee!!

The sausage-like meat dish. 

A small town with a completely different vibe. =) 

Its famous bridge!!

The following destination was definitely one of the highlights of the entire tour - Plitvice Lakes National Park. Although it was raining for the whole day, I still felt so close to nature and it was indeed a great feeling. Astounding cascading waterfalls would come into view every now and then and the water was cool and crystal clear that at certain places far away from the waterfalls, fishes could be seen darting to and fro at the slightest disturbance. 

The transparent lake water. 

The surreal view from the top. =)

The fishes. =P

At night, we came to the dragon city - Ljubljana and I spent a great night in this small exquisite city. In fact, I would rate it as the best night of the entire tour. Pleasant crowd, great music, right weather and a small glass of beer made it the perfect night of all nights. As far as I was concerned, this city itself was way more romantic than Paris! 

It made me realise that I didn't need no nothing to fully savour the moment that felt so much like an eternity. Sometimes, we were just too caught up with capturing photos, buying souvenirs or writing postcards that we forgot to take a step backward to give ourselves some space and time to utterly embrace the right feeling and that was one of the most important lessons that I had learnt from this trip.

At the Dragon Bridge.

Any time was ice cream time!! 

Venice, Austria and Budapest were our up-coming destinations. As promised, we returned to Italy again and it was way too hot to be able to walk around comfortably but we still had the experience of a lifetime by going on a nice gondola ride. As for Austria, we spent a quick afternoon in Graz and the night in Vienna and we had no idea that we could watch live opera from a Tv screen outside the opera theatre. And lastly for Budapest, its splendid night view would be remembered for a long, long time to come for sure. =)

The gondolas. =) 

The view from the bridge.

Our gondola ride!!

A significant story behind this monument.

Budapest's Parliament building. 

At Heroes Square. 

The must-try cake in Budapest. =)

Taken before the sunset. 

Going to get our dinner soon!

Even though I would not stop whining throughout the trip especially on long hours of mundane bus ride, I knew deep down that I would be eternally grateful and incredibly proud to say that I had  the right company to be able to admire all the beautiful views together. =)  

Anaconda - Nicki Minaj