Escape to Italy

The Colosseum

Although my life in the day of New Year 2012 was quite boring, which was stayed in my dormitory room for the sake of saving the mushroom kingdom, I had so much fun on the Christmas Day 2011. I traveled to some cities in Italy, including Rome, Pisa, Bologna, Venice, and Milan. So, here's my experience in each city:

Rome:

I stayed in Rome for two days. While in Rome, I went to Vatican Museum, Vatican City, Rome's Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Navona, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, and walked through history in the Roman Forum.

Horse Bite

Vartican Museum and Colosseum are absolutely places that you have to go in Rome (I guess everybody already know this). But did you know that the entrance ticket for the Colosseum is free during Christmas season?? Hehe. Personally, I like the view at the top of Colosseum and also from outside of the Colosseum (from the Colosseum Metro station, then go to northeast). Nevertheless, I did not see anything special from the inside of the Colosseum.

By the way, I almost lost my wallet when I was in the Metro station. Thanks to my jeans, the thief was (she) failed to steal my wallet. But lucky does not come twice, because I got fraud when I was in Colosseum by two clowns who dress like a roman soldier! They greeted us with smile and offered us to take pictures with them. *They never told us that we ought to pay them for the pictures* Because I thought they were a part of the Colosseum performance, I agreed to take pictures with them. In the end, they asked our money for the pictures (€20 / person)!! *GOSH* That price was really too expensive for the photos that they took (believe me, the result are very UGLY!). After bargained, we managed to reduce the price to (€10 / person). Finally, we pay them and walk away.

Thus, please be careful if strangers suddenly approaching you and be nice to you. Whatever their clothes, how big their smile, and their languages, just walk away from them. Don't receive anything from them and don't agree to them. They don't deserve even a single penny of your money!

Pisa:
On the third day, I left Rome and went to Pisa by train. The main attractions in Pisa are Cathedral Square, Baptistery of St. John, and Tower of Pisa. All of those buildings located side-by-side. Thus, you can really save your time and still get great pictures. From the main train station, I took a yellow bus to go Pisa Tower. Interestingly, I found many Indonesian tourists in this city, maybe around 5 groups. But, I did not say "Hi" to them or trying to communicate with them.

From top-left, bottom-left, right: Cathedral Square, Baptistry of St. John, Tower of Pisa

Bologna:

Comune Di Bologna

We treated Bologna as a side-quest of our journey in Italy. We visited the city for less than 4 hours. Nothing much to see and do in here, I also don't know much about the city. But at least, I saw a big Christmas tree and a live concert that singing some Italian songs. Not bad!

Venice:

Small Alley in Venice

In Venice, prepare the map of Venice and be ready to get lost. You will not find any Metro stations or any buses in this beautiful city. Venice uses boats as its main transportation service, either it is the normal boat (€6.5 for a single trip) or the expensive gondola tour (prepare about €20 to €30).

As you can see from the photo on the right, that's how small the alley in Venice can be. The normal road probably size to 3 to 4 times bigger than that. So, prepare your foot if you want to travel in Venice.

I went to St. Mark's Basilica, Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Square, and the east port area of Venice. The first three places are located in the same area. The city is divided by Grand Canal and all buildings seem like floating in the water. In short, although Venice is not beautiful as in my imagination, I still like the scenery and atmosphere of Venice.

Milan:

One Example of A Deceive Trick in Europe

I went to Milan's The Duomo and Castello Sforzesco in Milan. Overall, I prefer to travel in Milan than Bologna.

The photo on the left give you an example of an old deceive trick in Europe. I have seen this trick in France, Spain, and Italy. They said they will give a bracelet for free, but later they will ask some money as compensation. Actually, they are not really bad (if you compare them with the thief or those clowns!) because they are not trying to steal our money. They just do this kind of "job" for living.





That's all, thanks for reading my review about Italy. So, what do you think about Italy? Do you still want to travel to there? If you guys would like to ask anything, feels free to ask in the comment section. Grazie! :)

Here are some photos from my Italy trip:

Venice and Milan Scenes

A Beautiful Autumn at Aachen

Autumn... Is Amazing!

Indonesia has only two seasons, which are dry (hot) season and wet (rain) season (which also hot). It is different with most European countries that have four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. This is the reason why I never know much about autumn season.

Fortunately, now I have the opportunity to experience the autumn season because this year I am in the Germany. At first, I did not really care about it  due the weather was very cold outside. But, in the end I went to Westpark in Aachen to see and feel the autumn season.

Westpark

After visited Westpark, I was hoping Indonesia also has a autumn season. Hehe. Maybe if Indonesia have it, then there will be many park in the city. The result of this is a big public yard for normal people to play prank, picnic, or to just hang out outside. I believe not every people want to go to a mall. They just don't have a better choice to choose. In fact, park is a very nice place for cycling, running, picnic, barbecue, romantic walk, small baseball game, and many other outdoor activities.

Here are some other photos from my trip to Westpark:

 

Fluctuat Nec Mergitur (Paris, France)

The Eiffel Tower and Its View

Paris, France is the first international city which I traveled with my travelling group. At first, I was very afraid to go there because there are many rumors from my senior that say many cases of theft, fraud, and robbery happen in Paris. But, I cannot go back anymore because I have booked the ticket and I don't want to lose my money. More importantly, I don't want to lose a chance to travel to the one of the beautiful cities in the world.

So, we went to Paris from 6-9 August 2011. Let me explain first on how to travel in Paris. Based on my finding, the best way to travel in Paris is with Paris Metro (short for "Métropolitain"). Paris metro is a rapid transit (subway train) system which contains 16 lines and divided into 7 zones that we can use to travel to every part of Paris city. People can find more information about ticket which suitable with their plans in here. In my case, I chose to buy one day pass ("Mobilis") ticket for €6.10 to €17.30 (depending on number of zones). In fact, I only traveled in zone 1 and I also got a discount price because I am a student (ISIC card will help). Thus, I spent less than €6.10 on transportation for one day.

Now, here is my experience travelling in Paris which is sorted by day:

• Day 1
  We stayed in Bed and Breakfast Hostel which is located near Bonne Nouvelle metro station. We arrived in the hostel around 8 PM, we put our stuff in the hostel and directly headed to the Eiffel Tower. We can't go to the top of the tower because it was already closed. Night time is the best time to see the Eiffel Tower because it's more beautiful with the lights that surround it. Thus, I suggest people to queue for the Eiffel Tower in the afternoon (because it would be a very long queue), climb up around early evening, then climb down to see the Eiffel Tower from the park (near the tower) in the late evening.



A View From the Eiffel Tower

• Day 2
  On the second day, we went to  Sacre Coeur, Arc de Triomphe, Invalides, Pont Alexender III, Eiffel Tower (we climbed to the top of it), and took the Siena River Cruise. When we was travelling to Arc de Triomphe, one of my friends got fraud and lost her money for €180 (approximately  Rp 2,169,155). Their trick was by asking my friend to play with them in a game like the picture below:
  
  

  

  Which one is the white one?

  The rule for this game is very simple: the player has to guess which one is the pot that has white dot. The dealer will turns over all of the pots and start to shuffle them. If the player success to guess where the pot which has white dot, he will gets twice of his bet. But if he loses, then he will lose his bet. The minimum bet of this game is €50  (Rp 602,543). Thus, please be careful for this kind of things if you guys would like to travel to Paris. Don't speak to any strangers (except to ask directions) and don't receive anything from them.

From top-left, top-right, bottom: Notre Dame Church, Invalides, Sacre Coeur



• Day 3
  On day three, we went to  Louvre Museum, Notre Dame Church, and Pantheon (by the way, Rome also has Pantheon). Louvre Museum is extremely huge, we spent 4 hours to saw every part of the museum. Louvre Museum is the location of the phenomenal film "The Da Vinci Code" and it's also the place where the famous painting "Mona Lisa" is stored.
  
  

  

  Mona Lisa

• Day 4 (final day)
  On the final day, we departed from early morning to fly back to our city, Aachen, Germany.

Well said, Paris is truly one of the best cities to travel. But it also has some drawbacks, which are:

• The subway station which is dirty and confusing
  The city of Paris is great and beautiful (the surface), unfortunately their subway is not. The subway station is filled with garbage and graffiti. Moreover, there are 16 lines of Metro Station and 5 lines of RER which are connected to each other. Sometimes we have to change to another line (more than one) to get to our destination.
• Unofficial sellers which are roams in various part of tourist attractions
  I know they need money to buy foods, but I don't like the way they try to sell their "stuff." There was one case where they pulled my hand and forced me to buy their goods. But, for those who are interested with cheap souvenirs (I cannot guarantee about the quality), those unofficial sellers are very helpful. Tourist can buy a miniature of Eiffel Tower with price range from €5 to €30 (bargain is a must).

Conclusion:
There will be always pros and cons for every city. Paris is definitely a great choice to travel, but I suggest you guys to really prepare your travel plan to avoid unexpected events.

Here are more photos from my trip:

Left-bottom: The Baptism of Christ by Cornelis van Haarlem

L'Amour et Psyché by François-Édouard Picot

A Dam on the Rotte River (Rotterdam)

Dark Clouds

Approximately, one week ago, I and my friends traveled to Rotterdam, Netherlands. We also traveled with other students from RWTH and FH. This travel is organized by INCAS which also handle all issues regarding university students.

We spent 2 hours by bus to go there. Our bus stopped in a place where it has many windmills, I cannot remember the name of the place. One of the guides told me that windmill actually is use by Netherlands to protect them from floods. Those windmills serve to drain water into the river which will be forwarded to the sea.

After we arrived in Rotterdam, suddenly the weather changed dramatically and become uncertain. Sometimes it was rain, stopped, and then it suddenly rained again. Fortunately, INCAS provided the entire participant a tour guide (divided by groups) which told the history of Rotterdam city. In the end, the event went well and I was very happy.

Here are some photos from the trip:

Speed Duck

This is a Kubuswoningen (Cube House); it was built by Piet Blom in 1984. There are 32 cubes attached to each other. I cannot imagine how funny if normal people actually live in there. The house consists of three floors and there is one room which is specially designed for kitchen. To go inside the house, tourists need to pay around €2,50.

The Harbor Area

Kölner Lichter im Rheinpark, Germany

Sparks!

I took these photos when I was in Köln to celebrate the Köln's Light event. It was very difficult for me to capture a perfect firework photo without a tripod (I would say it's impossible). Anyway, here are the best shots that I got in that day:

Firework Tree

Smile :)