Tuesday, November 24, 2009

How to level out the world

I am believe I am just lucky.

That's my attitude to face all the goodness in life.

In other words, I am luckier than most of people in my hometown, even in my home country.

That's also the line I was telling to my friend when we walked down the path on beautiful garden of Alhambra or alongside a beautiful beach in Phuket.



sagrada di familiaSagrada di Familia, Barcelona

king's palaceAlhambra, Granada

[inside] Notre Dame, Paris

Sacre Couer, Paris

This is one of my favorites stories, taken from Stories for Parents, Children and Grandchildren - Volume 1 - by my favorite author, as well, Paulo Coelho.
Once when Confucius was travelling with his disciples, he heard tell of a very intelligent boy living in a particular village. Confucius went to see and talk to him and he jokingly asked: 'How would you like to help me do away with all the irregularities and inequalities in the world? 'But why' asked the boy. 'If we flattened the mountains, the birds would have no shelter. If we filled up the deep rivers and the sea, the fish would die. If the head of the village had as much authority as the madman, no one would know where they were. The world is vast enough to cope with the differences.'

Mesquita in Cordoba

autumn has just started in Porto

The disciples left feeling greatly impressed by the boy's wisdom, and as they journeyed towards the next town, one of them commented that all children should be like that. Confucius said:

'I've known many children who, instead of playing and doing the things appropriate to their age, were busy trying to understand the world. Not one of those precocious children did anything of any great significance later in life because they had never experienced the innocence and healthy irresponsible of childhood.'
keywautumn in Berlinautumn in Berlin
ords: Coelho, books, stories, traveling, backpacker, backpacking, Europe, Eurotrip

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

street music ala Parisien



Stasiun kereta di Paris beda banget ya sama stasiun Kebon Kawung di Bandung.

Selain stasiun-nya lebih bersih, yang ngamen juga elit pisan.... ini anak-anak skolah musik kayanya.

Alhasil para pengunjung (termasuk kita, para traveler kere :-) pada nonton dan ngasi duit ... dengan rela tentunya -gak pake intimidasi.
street music, Paris, Gard du Nord, station, entertainment, traveler, traveling, backpacker, backpacking, Eurotrip, Europe, France, cheap travel

Thursday, October 22, 2009

things that (might) happened..

Cerita #3 : Nyasar di Lisabon


We're sorry we cannot provide this traveling story in English.
Selama di Portugal, walopun kita punya map tapi masih suka ajah nyasar. Akhirnya kita mesti sering-sering nanya orang kalo mau ke suatu tempat. Untungnya, orang-orang Portugal termasuk yang ramah dan helpful (love them!) However, masih ada juga kendala biarpun udah nanya ke (beberapa) orang. Love this part of Portugal!

Seperti waktu di Lisboa, sempet satu hari kita mengalami sesuatu yang gak direncanakan banget.
Dan fatal untuk seorang traveler. Yaitu, kehabisan uang tunai.
Moreover, waktu itu lagi weekend (hari Sabtu malem mau ke Minggu kalo gak salah)
temenku berkali-kali nyoba ngambil tunai di ATM tapi gak berhasil.

Setelah beberapa kali nyoba di tempat ATM yang berbeda (dan jalan beberapa ratus meter di malam yang dingin, kelaperan- gak punya uang buat beli makan.... sedihnya.... begini toh rasanya jadi gembel di negara orang) akhirnya berhasil juga ngambil uang di ATM
!!! The story might end up with the title: How to survive without money in Lisbon :-)
Lalu kita me-reward dengan makan paket hemat di KFC mallnya Lisboa, di deket Parque des Naçoes.
(Salahsatu KFC paling enak yang pernah gue makan ! gara-gara kelaperan :-)

Langkah berikutnya adalah nyari penginepan, karena mau nyari emergency host juga udah gak mungkin.
Kita udah punya hostel yang dituju dan alamatnya, tapi nanya ke orang-orang koq beda-beda sih jawabannya ?!?

Ada yang bilang, mesti naek train antar kota dulu satu stasiun, ada yang bilang jalan kaki ajah 'gak terlalu jauh koq', ada yang bilang belok kiri, ada yang bilang belok kanan.

Lah, malah tambah bingung kita dan nyasar (LAGI) deh.

Karena udah pegang uang cash, akhirnya sih kita memutuskan naek taksi (
tiket kereta yang udah keburu dibeli, kita pake ilegal besok paginya :-) dan ternyata orang yang ngasi tau kita pertama kali yang bener kasi petunjuknya
!!
Banyak bertanya koq malah sesat di jalan......
keywords: travel, traveling, cheap travel, funny experience, Eurotrip, Europe, Lisboa, Lisbon, Lissabon, Portugal, backpacker, backpacking

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Things that (might) happened. . . [cerita lucu #2]

Cerita lucu #2. Diusir (lagi-lagi) Lifeguard di Tavira
We're sorry that we cannot provide this story, about funny traveling experience, in English, it might not pretty well told in other language. And this uniquely interesting in certain culture only.
The one and only 'beach moment' kita selama Eurotrip ini adalah di pantai sebelah selatan Portugal.

Nama kotanya Tavira, dari kota kecil yang bagus ini kalau mau ke pantainya harus naek boat lagi selama setengah jam perjalanan. Boatnya berangkat dari pelabuhan di kota dan tiket pulang-perginya gak mahal sih.


Kita udah dikasi tau sebelumnya sama beberapa kenalan bahwa pantai di Tavira ini bakalan bagus dan termasuk 'hidden paradise' untuk para turis. Terutama gue, si anak pantai, tentu aja menantikan momen 'sun, sand and sea' ini.

Nyampe stasiun kreta, kita nyari hostel (dan nyasar, walopun udah nanya orang sana-sini, abis nanya orang Portugis pake bahasa Inggris susah juga. Dia gak ngerti, giliran dia nerangin pake bahasa Portugis, kita yang gak ngerti).


Untung di hostel, resepsionisnya okeh banget Inggrisnya, dan informatif juga.
Ditanya segala tau (termasuk dimana cari tempat makan yang murah ;-)


Pas besokannya ke pantai, kita naek boat pagi biar bisa nikmatin lama disana.

Nyampe sana, pantainya bersih dan lumayan oke, lautnya biru dan langitnya cerah (tapi airnya masih aja dingin.... brrrrrr)


Kenapa gue bilang lumayan ? Karena pantai di selatan Lombok juga sebenernya ada yang bagus kaya gini, cuman gak sebersih di Portugal.
Dan disini lebih banyak nemu cowok-cowok cakeup versi Portugal juga....... *HALAH*


Anyway, orang laen mah pada bawa handuk pantai untuk berjemur, payung untuk berteduh, kita cuman bawa bekel makan siang doang.
Sunblock pun dapet gratisan dari cewe Turki yang barangnya ketinggalan....hihihi..

Karena gak bawa payung, disana ada sih zona payung yang bisa disewa. Tapi berhubung mau menghemat Euro, kita nyari aja payung orang yang gak kepake. Setelah 1-2 jam berjemur (sekalian bobo siang, anginnya enak.... adem :-) kita makan siang, maen-maen aer, dan berjemur lagi ..... tiba-tiba ada lifeguard nyamperin kita.
Trus dia ngomong pake bahasa Portugis : 'bla...bla.... bla.... '
Gue + partner mana ngerti, kita bilang aje : "Sorry, we don't understand Portuguese. Do you speak English ?"

Si lifeguard-nya keliatan frustasi gituh ngomong sama kita yang pasang tampang gak ngerti alias bego, sambil ngedumel dia ninggalin kita balik ke pos-nya. Kita ngebahas, 'Tadi dia bilang 'prohibido', emangnya kita salah apa?'

Tau-tau si Lifeguard balik lagi sama temennya, kali ini temennya yang ngomong sama kita (pake Inggris yang lumayan dimengerti sama kita),
dia bilang: " Eh lu berdua tuh dilarang diem disini. Ini payung punya kita, untuk lifeguard. Kalo elu mau pake payung ya pake yang sebelah sana, bisa sewa."
Barulah kita ngerti......... owh gitu toh maksutnya.
(Padahal dari tadi kita juga udah bikin asumsi sih, kali aja ni payung punya si Lifeguard abis enak gitu posisinya strategis....) keywords: traveling, travel, backpacking, backpacker, cheap travel, Portugal, Tavira, Portuguese, beach, sun, sea, sand, Europe, Eurotrip, vacation, experience

beach in TaviraPantai di selatan Portugal yang sebenernya biasa aja di banding pantai di selatan Lombok

PS. Cowo-cowo Portugal (or yang gue temui selama di Portugal) emang cakep-cakep!
Christiano Ronaldo itu gak ada apa-apanya dibanding cowo sebelah gue yang lagi berjemur -sambil telanjang dada...... ehemmmm.... tapi ada cewenya gituh deh.


Sunday, October 4, 2009

Cerita luchu saat ngetrip (bahasa Indonesia version only)

Sans souci, Postdam
#1. Diusir satpam di Sans Souci, Postdam

Cerita bermulai dari suatu hari yang panas di Jerman, di akhir bulan September (jarang-jarang!) aku pengen ke Postdam, liat istana Sans Souci.
So berangkatlah kita dari Berlin menuju Postdam, setelah menyiapkan bekal buat makan siang juga disana (yang nyiapin temenku sih, aku bantu ngabisin aja :-)
Sampai sana, cuaca bener-bener cerah ! Langit biru, mataharinya hangat...

Setelah muter-muter istana, karena tambah siang tambah panas, juga efek dari perut kenyang abis makan siang, akhirnya kita memutuskan untuk tidur siang di rumput depan istana musim panas Sans souci yang empuk.
(setelah Eurotrip berakhir pun, kesimpulan gak berubah, rumput Postdam emang yang paling enak untuk dipake tidur siang!)

Tidur siangnya enak banget, dibawah bayangan pohon, sampe akhirnya kita dibangunin sama dua orang satpam: 'Sori, kalian dilarang bobo disini.'
Kita masih coba ngedebat lagi dengan bilang: 'Tapi gue liat disana ada juga tuh orang yang bobo, jadi kita pikir boleh.' (emang bener)
Satpamnya bilang lagi: 'Oke, nanti orang itu juga kita usir.'

Berakhir deh tidur siang kita yang nikmat.

Catatan : karena gue gak bisa bahasa Jerman, dan satpam itu ngomongnya pake Deutsch, jadi gue mah bisa pura-pura pasang tampang bego (
yah kalo ada aturan tertulis pun, emang gue gak ngerti artinya ... )

funny stories, Eurotrip, Europe, backpacking, backpacker, Indonesia, traveler, traveling, trip, cheap travel, Postdam, Sans Souci, Germany, Berlin

Friday, October 2, 2009

coming back home : Munich - Dubai


it feels like a dream and its time to wake up.

realizing my vacation has come to the end, I wept in my seat on the flight back home.
the sunset has seen my tears down on my face.
for it has been a great journey, a fantastic adventure, with such a partner and it was all must come to an end somehow.
I hardly say goodbye to the things, especially to those nice things happened, but he has made me saying it loud.

i already miss it all.
the weather in Portugal. autumn in Berlin. smell of olive tree in Andalusia.

a French friend told me that French people didn't say goodbye, instead they would say, 'Au revoir'
means 'see you later'.


so I'd say
Au revoir.

pertama, harus diakui bahwa ada masalah psikologis yang belum terselesaikan.
namanya perpisahan.
dan itu pasti selalu, akan terjadi, pada semua cerita.
terutama cerita yang bagus.

tiba-tiba aja jadi sedih.
untuk semua hal-hal menyenangkan yang telah dialami dan harus kembali ke realita.


itulah konsekuensinya jadi orang dewasa.

aku kecanduan.
sama traveling.
parah parah parah.


keywords: Muenchen, Dubai, Eurotrip, backpacker, backpacking, Germany, Europe

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Muenchen : Dachau Concentration Camp

memorial siteDachau Concentration Camp, Germany

The words 'Arbeit Macht Frei' (Work Makes Free) written in the front gate of Dachau Concentration Camp, the first concentration camp that established by Nazi back then on the beginning of World War II.

It was not feel scary at all when you're visiting the place with hundreds of visitors altogether, until I watched the documentary movies (yes it was gratis) and informed how this story begun.

Started from the end of the World War I and how Nazi was won the election
(lesson learned: democracy didn't always chose the 'nice' party), and how was this anti-Semit movement leading to death of millions people during period 1933 - 1945.


It is a long story to be retold, yet intensely intriguing.


tulisannya : May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945
because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living to defence of peace and freedom
and in respect for their fellow men

'Never Again'
marked in four different language in the memorial site of Dachau concentration camp.


My friend recited 'History belongs to the winner'.

Means the winner could reshape the history, which is normally occurred in any countries in the world.
But Germany took the fact that even the democracy had chosen the dictator, they also learned from history that it should never happened again.

Waktu kita di Muenchen, ada dua pilihan : satu, pergi ke Salzburg (kotanya Mozart) dimana disana bisa ngeliat kota-kota tua ala Eropa.

Atau pilihan kedua, Dachau, salahsatu kamp konsentrasi pertama yang didirikan Nazi pada jaman diktator Hitler berkuasa.

Karena udah bosen liat kota-kota tua, akhirnya aku lebih milih Dachau.
Dan pengen tau juga tentang sejarahnya kenapa ini dan itu terjadi.

Sebelumnya, aku udah riset kecil-kecilan dengan bantuan tante Wikipedia dan om Google untuk cerita tentang kamp konsentrasi, dan juga ngobrol sama beberapa orang yang udah pernah ke Dachau sebelumnya.


Tips dari mereka : pulang dari Dachau, harus dilanjutkan sama kegiatan yang entertaining. Supaya gak frustrated dan kepikiran udahnya.

It was a good advice indeed.

gas chamberini dia salahsatu kamar gas (chamber room)
yang dipake untuk ngebunuh tahanan secara massal,
sebelum dimasukkin kesini tahanan mesti dicukur dulu rambutnya dan disuru telanjang

gross krematoriumgambar mayat orang-orang yang ditumpuk
karena krematorium udah gak cukup lagi menampung orang yang mati

Kamp konsentrasi Dachau memang pertamanya dibuat untuk tujuan tempat kerja orang-orang pengangguran, pengemis, debil (sebelum akhirnya jadi tempat 'pembuangan' orang Yahudi) dimana mereka suruh bangun jalan, infrastruktur, dan peralatan perang Jerman- yang waktu itu memang lagi perang dunia kedua.

Disini ada audioguide yang bisa dipinjem, untuk tau keterangan tentang arti masing-masing tempat yang kita lewatin.
Pas kita kesana juga ada semacam pameran visualnya, bisa lihat dokumentasi yang berhubungan dengan peristiwa Nazi, sejarah terbentuknya kamp konsentrasi, perang dunia pertama dan kedua.


Juga ada memorabilia yang berhubungan dengan kamp konsentrasinya; baju tahanan, alat bekas percobaan yang dilakukan tenaga medis Jerman ke para tahanan.


Banyak juga visual guide yang cerita gimana perlakukan tentara atau bahkan dokter-dokter Nazi yang memperlakukan tahanan secara gak manusiawi.
Tahanan yang mencoba melarikan diri biasanya ditembak mati ditempat.
Tahanan yang 'nakal' mencoba melawan juga dihukum berat supaya jadi 'contoh' buat tahanan laen supaya nurut sama tentara Nazi.
Juga banyak tahanan yang stres di tempat ini karena beban kerja mereka yang gak manusiawi juga situasi tempat tahanan yang mirip kandang binatang, akhirnya mereka mencoba bunuh diri dengan cara menabrak pagar penjagaan yang emang dialiri listrik.

Kita ke Dachau ini udah dateng pagi banget, tapi masih aja enggak sempet ngeliat semua bagiannya. Sampe akhirnya pas lagi liat gambar-gambar di pamerannya, tiba-tiba udah dikasi tau sama satpamnya kalau mereka mau tutup.


Gak kerasa banget.

Abis seru banyak hal menarik yang bisa dipelajari dari sejarah Jerman dan kamp konsentrasi ini.
Baik dari segi historikalnya juga dampak sosialnya ke kehidupan Jerman sekarang.

Pas balik ke Muenchen lagi,
Rathaus (=gedung walikota) yang kalo siang warnanya polos sekarang tiba-tiba jadi warna warni kena permainan cahaya lampu.

Waktu itu masih Oktoberfest juga, jadi rame banget banyak orang di jalan.
Lumayan untuk bikin gak kepikiran soal jutaan orang yang mati di kamp konsentrasi.

rathausRathaus warna-warni banyak lampunya

Info harga: Tiket XXL dari Munich ke Dachau ~ 11.80 €

keywords : Dachau KZ, Munich, Muencheh, Germany, Bavaria, Oktoberfest, Eurotrip, Europe, backpacking, backpacker

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

München : Octoberfest





Beer or Wine ?


Occasionally (or most of the times), people living in Germany drink beer on special event. But on Octoberfest, it is so legally, established, organized event that you can have beers as much as your capability and get drunk heavily but it would be still okay. I think Homer and his friends would set this place as their playground (for a month). The name is Octoberfest but it started on September until early of October. When I get there, it was almost reached the peak, the last week of Octoberfest. We could see in the street people get dressed in traditional Bavarian's style, and as soon as we arrived at the fest, found some people already got drunk (it was 4pm, quite early to get loaded for me) a litre of beer (it's Octoberfest anyway!) costs 9,60 €.
No wonder it will always be such an occasion for Deutschland !

Contrary to the fact above, I found out very few of Parisiens (or if they really exist then I didn't notice) nor Spanish/ Portuguese people drink beer on special occasion. Instead, they prefer wine as a company for food. Porto also has this strong, sugary wine, uniquely produced in the area, name Port Wine. It was saying that French women could eat much but they still thin because they drink red wine. Don't know much whether it's a fact or just a myth but I do love wine better than beer.



keywords : Munich, München, Octoberfest, German, Bavaria, Europe, Eurotrip, backpacker, backpacking, Port Wine

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

If we ever missed the train . . .

Yes we've missed the train from Paris to Berlin, and though we were trying to evaluate how this thing could happened (the baggage took longer than we've expected, the metro didn't leave on time, etc) still we tried ... or I tried, to look at the bright side. Despite it cost us additional 15€ to catch our train at Metz, but apparently it was well worth it!


Bukan museum atau lokasi foto pre-wedding, tapi ini stasiun kreta di Metz

This is what Wikipedia saying about Metz (it's definitely out of our plan, so I found out about this later on) "
MetzFrench pronunciation: [mɛs]) is a city in the northeast of France, capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. It is located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers."

Kejadian ketinggalan kereta ini emang bener-bener seru, kaya di film, mulai dari H2C (harap harap cemas) karena bagasi yang keluarnya lama, trus lari-lari di bandara Charles de Gaulle buat ngejar metro ke arah Gard du Nord. Dan metro-nya lama pula datengnya! Udah lama pake brenti beberapa kali dulu di beberapa stasiun. Sampe akhirnya dari Gard du Nord diulang lagi kejadian lari-lari ngejar metro ke stasiun Gard du L'Est -secara kreta CNL (CityNightLine) kita brangkatnya dari stasiun Gard du L'Est. Dan pada akhirnya ternyata teteup ketinggalan juga... *hah hah hah*. Cuman untungnya ada mbak-mbak yang baik yang ngasitau 'cobain deh ngejar CNL-nya ke Metz'. Yasud... kita beli tiket TGV ke Metz dan nyampe sana malah nyempet muter-muter dulu plus dinner. (Lagi-lagi kebab). Dan lumayan juga, nyobain TGV... kreta enakeun ala Prancis yang super cepat. Ha ha ha !

Monday, September 21, 2009

Porto, Portugal


So this is the reason why I came to Portugal. The story began when I had my trip to Thailand, then I shared a room in Phuket with a girl from Berlin, her name is Kath. She's been to half or the world (or many places that I've never been) so I asked here, if I wanna go to Europe, which place that she thinks as most beautiful place to visit. And her answer is Porto, in Portugal. And how she was crying when she had to leave this town.
[ I didn't cry when I left Porto, but I made up my mind next time if I had a chance to visit Portugal, I will spend at least a month to discover this beautiful country ]

I'm captivated.

Youth hostel - Pousadas de Juventude
Porto
Rua Paulo da Gama, 551
Tel. 226 177 257

e-mail : porto@movijovem.pt

Youth hostel @ Porto : 15 € / person

Day ticket : 5 €
Dinner + Lunch : 8 €


PS. And here also we had a most luxurious dinner ever (during our trip) in a fancy Italian restaurant, with a seaview, dish out 22 € for 2 person. That was also as a reward after a night before we didn't have any cash, didn't succeeded to withdraw a cash, so when we finally made it to get a cash, it was already late at night, both of us terribly starving and tired of walking in a cold and windy weather. Nevertheless, we have survived the worst part of our journey and got things to celebrate. [smirk]



keywords : Porto, Portugal, Youth hostel, Pousadas de Juventude, Europe, Eurotrip, backpacker, backpacking

Friday, September 18, 2009

Lisboa, Portugal


Love this town at the beginning and I got the feel that I could live here forever.

Portuguese people also the nicest ones I have met in my trip :-)
In the train to Lisbon, an old guy was (try to) chat with me in Portuguese, 78% of the conversation I didn't know what he's talking about. And the rest of it, I knew what he's trying to say but didn't know how to reply in his words.
But human kind is uniquely interesting, they know smile is universal language by any means.

Our host in this lovely town name Miguel. He's a charming, handsome, blue-eyes guy with a character like a big brother. You will feel respect to him instantly, and he was taking good care of us.
Like one night, when he couldn't hang out together with us, he arranged his friends to take me&my friend going out to cool places to feel the night life of Lisbon. His friends also adorable as well, I mean, they're really nice to be with, and treat us really well.
Until I got my first jackpot... ehem, I threw up in the corner of the street and spilled out my pizza and salad from my previous dinner.
But still they seemed okay about it, and found me a taxi to get home.

What a great night.




Portugal, negeri asal pelaut terkenal Vasco da Gama, menyimpan banyak sejarah yang berhubungan dengan masa kejayaan Portugis di masa lampau.
Banyak kosakata dalam bahasa Indonesia yang berasal dari serapan kata Portugis, seperti misalnya : Igreja, yang artinya Gereja dalam bahasa Indonesia.
Orang Portugis juga ramah, dan suka ngumpul-ngumpul sama teman dan keluarga (mirip orang Indonesia juga lah).

Train Lagos to Lisboa (per person) : 19.85 €
Dinner (KFC) : 3.25 €
Metro ticket : 5 €
keywords : Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal, Belem, Europe, Eurotrip, backpacker, backpacking

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Lagos, Portugal

It's more a part of England or Germany territory than Portugal itself.
Even though (in some part) Lagos is a nice place, but it soooo touristic as well.
Heard people talking in English and Deutsch than in Portuguese here, ironically when we got lost, we could just ask people around. No communication barrier here !


de Juventude, Youth hostel, Europe, Eurotrip, backpacker, backpacking
Youth hostel - Pousadas de Juventude Lagos

Rua Lançarote de Freitas, 50

Tel. 282 761 970
e-mail : lagos@movijovem.pt

Train Tavira-Faro- Lagos (per person) : 8.45 €
Youth hostel @ Lagos : 12 €
Dinner : 5।81 €

Lagos pastinya bukan salahsatu tempat favorit gue di Portugal, terlalu banyak turis dan sebagian besar turis dari UK/ Jerman. Bisa dibilang ini Kuta versi Portugal.
Tapi justru disini kita ampir-ampir gak nemu kesulitan bahasa, karena pas nyasar tinggal nanya orang dan orang itu bakal ngejelasin pake bahasa Inggris ala UK.
Youth hostel disini juga bukan termasuk favorit gue (rangking terakhir), resepsionis-nya sih lumayan membantu dan informatif, tapi tamu-tamunya agak nyebelin... dan disini juga gue merasa, bener-bener sebel kalo denger orang ngobrol pake logat Inggris UK. Pokonya serasa gak liburan di Portugal deh.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Sevilla - Tavira

This small but beautiful town was actually out of our plan. But our host in Granada, Juanito, recomend us to visit this town instead of our first plan to visit Lagos. I like it a lot. One of the best places I visited in my trip. Good advice. And there's a concert in the city centre at the night, amazingly delightful।



Our hostel in Tavira was just recently built (3 months ago) so it's quite new and definitely a cozy place to stay। Comes in one package with a nice and well-informed receptionist name Cedric, we like him (thou' he's been very helpful, we just knew his name on when we're about to check out. what a shame).


Youth hostel - Pousadas de Juventude Tavira
Rua Miguel Bombarda, 36-38
Tel. 217 232 100
e-mail: resrvas@movijovem.pt

Youth hostel @ Tavira : 13 € / person
Dinner : 7 €
Boat to island : 1.9 €

Tavira sebetulnya termasuk kota kecil yang bisa ditelusuri bagian-bagian pentingnya dalam 1 hari, tapi kita putuskan untuk nginep 2 malem disana dengan alasan, kita gak jadi pergi ke Sevilla (karena disana juga gak punya host) dan juga karena Tavira punya pulau kecil yang bisa ditempuh pake kapal dari dermaganya.
Pulau kecilnya ada pantai yang mayan bagus, dan pas cuaca hari itu lagi bagus jadi orang pada berjemur. Tapi untuk berenang di lautnya ternyata masih mayan dingin ! (untuk ukuran orang Indonesia kali ya?) soalnya bulan September memang itungannya mau masuk musim gugur (autumn).
Jauh masih lebih nyaman kalau berenang di pantai Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa. . . pantes aja orang eropa banyak yang betah kalo liburan ke Bali.

Di hostel kita kenalan sama pasangan dari UK, Paul dan Anna, pas kita lagi sama-sama pake dapur trus akhirnya makan malem bareng sambil ngobrol.
Kita ngomongin betapa pentingnya menguasai bahasa asing (Spanyol / Portugis) kalau kita mau traveling ke tempat tersebut, soalnya kebanyakan orang Spanyol atau Portugis gak bisa bahasa Inggris. Lucu sih jadinya, kadang untuk pesen makanan aja gak selalu dapet yang kita mau, walaupun kita udah berusaha pake bahasa setempat.
Tapi buat mereka, kita masih lebih mending, mau usaha ngomong pake bahasa Spanyol/ Portugis yang ngaco, daripada orang UK sendiri kalau traveling selalu nyosor langsung pake bahasa Inggris, seakan-akan orang di seluruh dunia ngerti bahasa mereka. :-D

keywords : Tavira, Portugal, Pousadas de Juventude, Youth hostel, Europe, Eurotrip, backpacker, backpacking

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Granada, Andalucia : The Pilgrimage


For some people they get their traveling inspiration from movies, I get mine from book by Paulo Coelho. One of his book was describing the beauty of Andaluçia, and now I am here, looking the mountains by my own eyes. Then I was talking to myself, I probably moving here and spend most of my times wandering in places like these.
A moment of contemplation.

Walking the dog in the morning.

Smells of olive trees in the air.
Enjoying warmth of the sun.
Where everything is so beautiful.
This is what I called vacation.

[ I personally sense my vacation start here ]


Train from Barcelona - Granada (Renfe) : 35 €
Dinner : 27.5 € (for 3 persons)


keywords : Granada, Andaluçia, Andalusia, Spain, Europe, Eurotrip, backpacker, backpacking

Friday, September 11, 2009

Alhambra, Spain



It is one of those must-see places you have to visit before you die. And the story behind the Alhambra enhance the reason why it become historical than just beautiful (and touristic) place to pay a visit.




This is what Wikipedia said about
Alhambra :
The Alhambra (Arabic: الْحَمْرَاء‎, Al-Ħamrā, literally "the red one"), the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra (الْقَلْعَةُ ٱلْحَمْرَاءُ, Al-Qal'at al-Ħamrā, "the red fortress"), is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish rulers of Granada in southern Spain (known as Al-Andalus when the fortress was constructed during the mid 14th century), occupying a hilly terrace on the southeastern border of the city of Granada.

Alhambra ticket : 13 €
Luggage locker : 1.6 €
Bus ticket : 4 €
Internet : 2 €
Dinner : 6.5 €


Alhambra, Granada, Spain, Europe, Eurotrip, backpacker, backpacking,

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Barcelona : magicaL , , ,


If nine is a magic number then here, in Barcelona, we are suppose to triple our luck. A 'bueno pueblo' where evrything seems to romantic and people were kissing everywhere.

I already fell in love with this part of Spain since I arrived at the Bcn airport.
Moreover when the weather is warm and beautiful people walking on the La Ramblas street.
Local people here are very much different than in Paris (of course!) they are much more laid-back, friendly, helpful, and physically pleasing. I mean, the police officers that I met were quite good looking and also ordinary people that we met on Parc Guell, public park that made by Gaudi.

We're staying in Barcelona Youth hostel located in nature reserve park, it is quite far from center of the town itself, but for me personally, I really love the place.
I put this place as one of the top 3-best places that I've stayed throughout my Eurotrip.


Easyjet flight ticket Paris - Barcelona : 84 €
Youth hostel @ Barcelona : 12 € / person
T-10 Ticket : 7.7 €
Dinner : 6 - 7 €

More information about Barcelona : Barcelona Tourist Information
Barcelona Travel Guide

keywords : Barcelona, Spain, La Ramblas, Parc Guell, Gaudi, Europe, Eurotrip, backpacker, backpacking

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Barcelona : In Out Youth Hostel

Natural park
Here's where we stayed for 2 nights in Barcelona, away from the city noises and crowds of people.

In Out Youth Hostel
C.Major del Rectoret 2
Barcelona 08017
reserves 93 280 09 85

how to get there from the town (Plasa Catalunya)
take FGC train line S1 or S2 to Theressa, stop at Baixador de Veldrera, exit at Rectoret.

The bed costs 12 Eur/night (promo, regular price around 18-20 Eur), including breakfast and free access to internet, pantry if you need to cook.
Laundry, towel, dinner & lunch available with reasonable prices.

Restaurant
In Out

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Paris : Louvre Museum

L'Amor
Setiap minggu pertama awal bulan ternyata masuk museum Louvre tuh gratis (ini info yang udah gue tau sebelom nyampe Paris, penting soalnya =)
Dan karena gratis tentu ajah orang ngantri, makin siang datengnya makin panjang juga antriannya. So... info penting lainnya, lebih baik dateng pagi untuk ngantri. Museum buka jam 9am dan tutup jam 6pm. Louvre bener-bener salahsatu daya tarik Paris yang bikin gue orgasme berkali-kali karena koleksinya yang impressive banget, terutama bagian sayap Denon dimana ada koleksi antique oriental dari jaman 15-20 sebelum Masehi. Kita juga bisa minjem audiovisual guide (dalam 6 bahasa, seharga 6 Eur) dari situ bisa milih tur sesuai preferensi, seperti contohnya kalau mau liat koleksi penting dari Louvre, seperti Monalisa karya Leonardo da Vinci, Venus de Milo, Nike statue dsb.


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