Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts

Date: 15th April to 23rd April 2015
Duration: 9 days
Type: Tour Group
Airline: Malaysia Airlines
Cities: Istanbul, Bursa, Kusadassi, Pamukkale, Konya, Cappadocia, Ankara, Bolu.


April is a special month for us -it's my parents' anniversary. At first, I thought of not joining this trip since my annual leave is almost gone. I just accepted a new job offer, which means my current annual leave will be prorated.

Finally, I decided to go to Turkey since it is one of the destination in my list. The total costs for the 9 days trip blew my mind. Its costs ONLY RM4500 per pax! This costs cover airline fares, hotels, transport, tickets and full meal.

Our MAS flight was scheduled to be 11.30 p.m that departed on 12.am. This is a non-stop flight to Atartuk Airport in Istanbul. Overall, the MH hospitality is good but I am quite disappointed with the inflight meals. Flight was smooth with little turbulence.

Once arrived, we proceed to the Immigration counter which took a huge chunk from our time. I was held at the counter for 10 minutes, with the Immigration officer doing a live background check via phone call. I do not know why, the only reason I can came up is because of the illegal migration to the country next to Turkey.

Collect our bags, freshen up a bit and we were ushered to our bus. And I am yet impressed! Our bus is a VVIP bus - reclining 1-2 seats with screens full of entertainment and complimentary WiFi! We met our Turkish tour guide, Mr. Ouz.

The Blue Mosque Courtyard

First place of visit is the famous Sultanahmet Mosque or Blue Mosque a.k.a Masjid Biru. When we first got here, everyone was going nuts for the tulips, including myself. Many thought Netherlands was the native country of tulips but it is not. Tulips actually originated from Turkey. Tulip was derived from an Arabic to Turkish word which equally mean serban.
Interior of Blue Mosque


Blue mosque was famous for it's beautiful hand-made blue tiles. The mosque itself is huge and the interior is just beautiful. The lamps are hanged from the ceiling had gold interims. We exited the mosque and walk through the courtyard to another historic place called Topkapi Palace. We passed by the infamous Hagia Sophia (Im a bit sad we didn't enter though). The weather is quite cold since it is end of Winter and beginning of Spring.
Before the First Courtyard Entrance

YES!

YES!

We enter the Topkapi Palace through the First Courtyard which is filled with blooming beautiful Spring flowers. There are several complex in the palace compound. We then enter the Middle Gate or Bab-As-Salam where ticket are inspected and there are security screenings. One of the artifacts is the palm-size Ruby and Prophet Muhammad PBUH artifacts.
 Ibu and Ayah 

At the end of the Topkapi Palace

Middle Gate



We walked out and I bought some chestnut from the small stall outside of the palace. We had our first lunch in Turkey near the compound. We ate a kebab set. My mom bought a snow cap for my dad which costs 5 Lira since he's freezing.


Nasi dekat Turki ni bukan nasi. Dia macam pulut. Tapi I bedal je. Kucing kat sini, mak oi gemuknya. Anjing opun gemuk jugak.


Next, we venture to cross over the Marmara Sea to our next destination which is Bursa. We rode a vehicle ferry to Bursa. One of the activity is having loads of Turkish coffee and feeding seagulls. I got to feed the seagulls all the way to Bursa. The coldness? Yeah it is worst that Europe.

Seagulls

The ferry

People selling chestnut


I, of course sleep the whole way to Bursa. We reached Bursa when it's getting dark. Mr Ouz actually has a Masters in history. He is so informative! macam masuk crash course kelas Sejarah Turki masa dalam bas. We stayed at Tiara Thermal Hotel which is quite nice. I accompanied my parents to go out that night to have a relaxing stroll. And I, chase a fat cat as usual. Dinner was provided at the hotel, same goes for breakfast.
Spring is here

Some scenery

Our hotel room.

We check out from the room and off we go to the Grand Mosque of Bursa or Ulu Cami. C was pronounced as J. Kira masjid jamek la ni. Inside, there is this beautiful fountain for us to take ablutions. My parents performed a salah there. There is a natural lighting above the fountain. It is just gorgeous. The fountain water is cold as ice.
Ulu Cami

Outside the Silk Bazaar

The fountain
Next we venture to the Silk Bazaar! Turkey is famous for this especially their scarves. I splurged here where I bought 4 pashmina. One thing unique is everytime you went to a store, the owner always get you a Turkish tea-complimentary of course. There's a choice between apple or pomegranate.


Selesai sudah sesi melontar pertama. We moved to Yesil Cami or known as the Green Mosque. The most distinguish feature is the mihrab, which is the place where the Imam lead the prayers. It is beautiful and gorgeous. It is blue and turquoise (hence green). We are lucky that mr Ouz knows the Imam and he let us in to the mihrab! It was prohibited area. The Imam then recites surah Al-Mulk, all of us are mesmerized by his voice and how happy he is to see us.
The nice and kind Imam and the beautiful mihrab.


Quick fact about Green Mosque: The floors are brick laid to provide heat during winter. The exterior of the mosque does not finish completely. You can see some carvings are done mid-way.


We then ventured to the 6 hours journey to Kusadassi... see next part.





























I still could not believe we get to go on our dream Europe Trip vacation. We are forever grateful for the opportunity. We have made millions of memories in Europe. Be it happy or some extreme comedic memories which I cannot mentioned hehe.

Jet lagged? Yes. It is weird that we do not get any jet lag when we arrived in Paris but was hit by it pretty bad when we get home. Travel bug? I took extra leaves so I can rest well at home and manage the jet lag situation.

CB and Dila went to work the same week and had some incidents of dozing off at their desks. Erk?
Tu la, orang lain semua cuti. Rajin pergi office last2 ambil EL sebab tak tahan mengantuk.
So, all of us sit down and ask each other one question – Which country/city do you like the mo
st?

For me, every place is special but there are some places have that super attraction that you would want to go again in future. In my context, my favourite city/country is Switzerland and second place goes to Nice. Why Switzerland? I don’t know, it is like love at first sight. I fell head over heels for this country. It is beautiful, peaceful, super clean, people are friendly and I could not imagine being anywhere else except here. Even, if we go to Europe again, I will definitely visit Switzerland again.

I Love You
The scenery of Switzerland continues to haunt me until this day. Nice, offers a laid back old town kinda feel. It has beautiful old buildings and it was ‘saved’ from the hustle of the big cities. The fruits, flowers are the best in Nice. The people are very nice compared to the Parisian. They are more welcoming and warm towards tourists.

Well, everyone has their own opinion. I know a lot of us see cities like Paris and Venice as the Holy Grail “you’d lose the game if you miss this place” kinda perception. They always thought Paris is THE ONE. Many are disappointed and fell short after finding out maybe things are not to be as they expected. Well, I was not one of the city-lovers. I lean towards travelling to out-of-city places. For me, Paris, Venice and Rome have their own attractions (the architecture!) but it is not entirely for me. I was always drawn to beautiful nature, scenery rather than concrete jungle.

Even for shopping, I love shopping in Nice since I can shop calmly and take my own sweet time rather than shouting, hustling around the big boutiques.

But hey, that is just me. After I came home from Europe, I learned to appreciate my home country even more. To love Malaysia even more. It may seems old fashion, but those who had carry 30kg of suitcase up and down, will know what I mean. To me, Malaysia provide a better public transportation facilities i.e Escalator, lifts, toilets, etc. Generally, ASEAN countries have the best public facilities ever i.e Singapore. You Malaysians and Singaporeans will know this. Especially those who went to Europe. We ASEAN nations, always provide a facility to accommodate our people and visitors so that they are comfortable. We did a really good job and we should be proud of it.

When there is good, there is also stuff we can help to improve. People connection for example. Europeans are friendly some times and very accommodating. I have been treated very well in Europe, in which shame for me to say, I have been treated quite rudely by some Malaysian hotel staffs. There is a lot of room for improvement for Malaysia, like cleanliness, littering especially.


Coming home, I finally identify myself as a budget-backpackers-leisure-traveler. I love beautiful scenery more than cities. I appreciate beautiful coastline and Alps that skyscraper. Lesson learnt from this trip I hope will make me a better traveler, a better person and a better citizen.
For the last leg of our Europe Trip, we sure do walk a lot. We visited the Vatican on the last day in Rome. As mentioned, we pre-purchase the Vatican entrance ticket due to the infamous complaints that the queue is very long. We left our luggage at the hotel when we checked out. For lunch, I and Su manage to bring along the rice and chicken from yesterday as packed lunch. CB and Dila decided to buy from the vendors at Vatican.

We get to Vatican by using the Metro in Rome. We disembark at the nearest station to the Vatican. From here, we walk. Don’t worry, you won’t get lost since you only have to follow the crowd. Vatican is easily distinguish by the tall Vatican walls.

At the first sight of the wall, we can see the famous queue line. We proceed on the right lane, straight to the Vatican entrance where they indicate passage for E-ticket. Our queue doesn’t take long, about 5 minutes or so. Inside, our e-ticket was converted to the museum pass at the counter. Prior entering, there will be an X-ray scanner. Foods are off limits so we left our food at the counter to be picked up later.

First, we enter the Vatican museum. Queues are long here because we merged with everyone else, so be patient. It was so crowded. The musei is very big and some places, there is only one way traffic. So, you have to follow the crowds.
Map Room. See the crowds??

We are quite unlucky to be stucked behind a huge tour group that stopped at every map in the Map Room. By the way, map room is my favourite room in the Vatican. We see many artifacts from other civilization including a real mummy! We have splitted – CB went with Dila and Su and I are together. There is no chance of getting lost because each room at the Vatican musei will direct towards the Sistine Chapel.
A mummy from Eqypt

Sculpture in Greek Section


I can summarized my experience in Vatican museum as being in a sardine can. Packed and crowded. There is no chance for you to stop to look at pieces a little longer. It was uncomfortable. We did not enjoy ourselves here as we enjoy being in the Lourve.
The famous spiral staircase of Vatican Musei

Saint Peter's Square

We finally regrouped and headed towards the Sistine Chapel. In here, there are no photographs allowed. Sistine Chapel is beautifully preserved. There is a lot of people lingering in here, I guess to rest their feet a little bit. We then go out of the musei and walked to the St Peter’s square. Basically Rome and Vatican are made famous by the book adaptation movie, Demons and Angels. I think there might be some service that morning because the square are filled with empty chairs. We intended to go inside the St Peter’s Basilica, but looking at the crowd and the long lasting line, we chickened out.
We basically go out the Vatican and seat under the tree to have some lunch. We then walked together and head back to our hotel. The owner was kind enough to keep our bags. We pick up the luggage and proceed to Roma Termini to board the airport bus. We know realize that this is the end of our magical trip. There were mixed feelings – we are tired, sad, accomplished and happy at the same time.

At Roma Termini, we went to the Terravision counter to buy the shuttle ticket to the Fiumicino Airport. In Rome, there is 2 airports – Fiumicino and Leonardo Da Vinci. Be careful when you buy tickets. We board the bus and head to the airport. After checking in, we manage to pray at the Multi-faith Prayer’s Room at the airport. We grabbed some snacks while waiting for our delayed flight to Paris.
After 3 hours flight – we sleep all the way due to exhaustion, we arrived at Orly. I called our hotel in Orly to pick us up. Kat sini la kitorang belajar guna public phone untuk dial local number. Setelah 2 kali cuba akhirnya Berjaya jugak.
 
Our bunk bed

The hotel’s shuttle was efficient. They have a big van and the hotel is just 15 minutes away (the hotel transfer is free). Checking in, the hotel was as depicted in the website. The decors are new, it was very spacious and very clean too! CB and Dila decided to sleep and packed in the morning while Su and I packed it that night. After packing, we sleep peacefully.
We have a full day for this 2 days. Today, we are having a self-walking tour starting from Colloseum to the Piazza Navona. As usual, Google Street is my BFF. I made my own map. We started the day by queueing for the Colloseo, thanks to the pre-paid ticket. Colloseo is build in the 70AD as part of the entertainment facilities for the Romans. It is most famous for its utilization as a stage for gladiators – they have a dungeon and underground pathway where they keep the animals for the gladiator’s battle before it was partially destroyed by the earthquake.

The colloseo from outside
The Metro station of Colloseo is very close to the ancient site. There are a lot of gladiators hanging around the area for some paid photography session. We don’t take interest in them. It was a long queue even with the prepaid tickets. But when we get inside, the crowd subsides and we enter pretty much very easily. The area of Colloseum opened for the general public is the 1st and 2nd Floor. To access the underground, you need a special pass that can be purchased. We 1st enter the 1st floor to go around this great amphitheater. It was huge and below, we can see the structures or part of hypogeum of underground tunnels. Back on its glorious days, the arena and the underground tunnels were separated by a wooden floor.

It is amazing on how people in the ancient world are capable of building a place that can fit thousand of people. They do not have cranes or any other modern technology for this. It is interesting of how the decision on arches, beams, its own configuration affects the stability and durability of the amphitheater.
Inside the Colloseo

We did not take an audio guide, but we follow closely some tour groups to listen on some facts about the colloseum. It can be done for tour guide that ‘project’ their voice to the crowd instead of using a radio comm.

Okay, ini satu tips. Kalau nak follow kumpulan tour ni, janganlah obvious sangat pulak. Dalam tu ada banyak tour group. Sambil rehat, boleh la dengar explaination dari tour guide yang ada kat sekeliling kita.
Staircase/Bench of Colloseum

On the 2nd floor, there is some exhibition about the colloseum – the history, the tools, the methods etc. The view from up here is not bad either. The stairs of the colloseum is high, I mean one step is like the height from my feet to my knee. For me, it is good to read on the place you are going whether before or during the visit. Know the place, the basic history and treat it with awe and respect it deserves not just as an Instagram-worthy piece.

2nd Floor of Colloseum

We then exited the Colloseum and passed the Arch of Constantine to go to the Roman Forum. Roman Forum entry is included with your colloseum tickets. Here, you can see the ruins of temples, buildings and basically some proof of civilization around the amphitheater. It is amazing to walk on the same road that existed thousand years ago. From uphill, you can see this is a city, with markets, temples, complex just like a city today.
Did you see the white building with chariot on top?That's the National Monument

Roman Forum

Wild flower

We took this photo up in the hill

Temple in Roman Forum

We planned to stop the tour here and resume after lunch, but we eventually decided to go through everything and then go for lunch. So, I have to improvised without getting lost. This was bearable because the next place is Piazza Venezia, which home of the National Monument that can be seen from the Forum. I read somewhere there is a major road from colloseum to the piazza. Later I found out it was called Via dei Fori Imperiali. Via in Italian means road.

We followed the traffic and we arrived at Piazza Venezia. We went up to take a closer look of the National Monument. Guards was readily guarding the monument and the tomb. Then, we proceed to the walking tour. It is easy because the original plan actually starts at the Piazza.
Here, we will venture on the famous Via del Corso a.k.a the tourist road. This is an ancient main road that connects to all major attractions in Rome. First, we walked to the Pantheon. Along the way, we did find some ancient basilica which I later identified as San Marcello al Corso. An old building smack in the middle of shops.

Piazza Venezia and the National Monument


Before reaching Pantheon, we decided that we will have lunch. So we enter a local tavern near the Pantheon and have lunch. This is our only experience in having pasta in Italy. Price was good, portion was very generous. I accidentally asked CB to ordered Salami – which is beef/pork based – we cannot eat those. You don’t know how sorry I am back then. Sorry CB!
Okay, ini kelakar. Masa order, CB nak sangat makan pizza tapi dia dah bosan makan margharitte pizza. Jadi, Nadia pun dengan selamba, eh makanlah salami. Rasanya salami ni dari salmon. Dia pun order. Sampai2 tengok rupanya salami ni daripada beef/pork. Alamak!!!!! Kesian CB tak makan. Kitorang share pasta dengan dia. Cerita ni, sampai balik Nadia kena bahan – sampai sekarang. Tapi betul OK, salami tu ada buat dari salmon. Haaa.

Our lunch at the tavern. The portion are generous right?

There were a lot of souvenir shops in the alley, we went in to buy some souvenirs. I bought the magnets and t-shirt for my Dad. We arrived at the Pantheon. There were modern gladiators outside coercing tourist for some photos. Since we have a pizza mishap earlier, CB packed the food and actually gave it out to the gladiators we met. Gladiators were happy and hungry too. We went inside the Pantheon and if you notice, every basilica or building in Rome will have the oculus. Oculus is the hole in the middle of the dome. It certainly give a mystic look added to the place.
Inside the Pantheon


Pantheon was a bit crowded and we didn’t spent too much time there. We continue our journey to the Piazza Navona, home of the famous Bernini’s Fountain of Four Rivers. Okay, I was heavily influenced by the Demons and Angels story. Okay? The fountain depicts four river Gods sculptures with an obelisk.
Fountain of Four Rivers

Pamphili Place

 Navigating through the streets of Rome is easy and it was pleasant. Piazza Navona is huge. We took photos of the fountain and Pamphili Place which is the Brazillian Embassy. Here, we venture out some food hunt – the famous Trescalini gelato. I have been reading everywhere that suggest this is the best place for gelato. I have been eating gelato since I arrived in Italy and I must say, it taste a bit better with trescalini.
Trescalini Gelato

We end our journey here. We walked for 20m and board the public bus to the metro station. I was being warned by several sites not to take the famous tourist bus – don’t remember what number, because it was the center of pickpocket. So, I comply and board a normal Roman day-to-day bus. We arrived at the hotel and rest for the noon.


At the evening, Dila convinces me to go to the Spanish Step for some window shopping. CB choose not to follow so she can rest at the hotel. So, me, Su and Dila ended up having our own little adventure. We have a stroll along the alleys and went in several shops. We even got to watch several street performances. In the end, no one buys anything and we went back to the hotel.
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

About Me

Adventures

Adventures

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

Popular Posts