Loading...
Start a new Travel Blog! Blogabond Home Maps People Photos My Stuff

Hello Europe!!

a travel blog by wangyng


I'm spending the next 3 months sleeping on strangers' couches around Europe!! So this is probably the best way to keep track of what's happening with me or where I am. Please do leave comments and let me know what's happening with you and back home on this blog!! Remember to always leave time for yourself no matter how busy you are! ;)
view all 536 photos for this trip


Show Oldest First
Show Newest First

Prague, Czech Republic




permalink written by  wangyng on April 30, 2008 from Prague, Czech Republic
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
Send a Compliment

Prague - beautiful city, unhappy people

Prague, Czech Republic


my stay in Prague wasnt d most beautiful 1 but definitely memorable. as much as d city is really beautiful, d people seems to b very unhappy n dissatisfied... they dont seem to like tourists or juz any1 who doesnt speak czech.

we didnt find a host here too so we went to a hostel. it was d 1st time we went to a hostel for this trip n it was such a bad experience! this dated back in Berlin. they called n told me d hostel is overbooked and i cant have a room for 4 nights as per my CONFIRMED BOOKING email says. johannes was with me when that happened n he said that is not my problem. so he helped me speak w d hostel n then called up the booking center (a different site) n made a complaint. the booking center managed to confirmed my booking. when we were checking in, a guest at the hostel told us all his money n valuables were stolen from his room. on the 2nd night, i was back from sightseeing and went back to my room. i was shocked to see the room now has 4 beds (instead of 2) and all our belongings were no longer there. we went to the reception to ask about it and d staff says we need to change our room. i was upset n say why didnt anyone tell us. d staff said someone tried to contact us but we were not contactable. this is an absolutely lie cos we only left the hostel at 12pm, and they have my phone number from the booking form. d staff then said he just started his shift n know nothing about it n brought us to our 'new room'. our stuff were all over d room, things throw in whatever bags n bundled together. this is absolutely repulsive as i had stayed in many hostels and never had any experience like such! i had to worry about whether my stuff will go missing from this room again everyday i am there. and every morning, we hear some1 complaining about missing stuff. very very unsafe hostel and the management has no respect for the guest's property n privacy. i will never go back to this hostel n i urge everyone not to go there if u have a choice... hostel name is Sokolska Youth Hostel in Prague.

great experience so far isnt it... d city was definitely a hot tourist spot cos i think i saw more tour groups here than all d other cities combined! from all over d world!!! u cant get any photos WITHOUT any tour groups in them. let's put it this way, u r lucky to be able to move from 1 sight to another! Charles Bridge has soooooo many people dat we were stuck in 1 spot for 20min... i worry for my safety on d bridge. it is sooo packed, i dunno if d old bridge can take it. but thank goodness for d good old QUALITY of ancient builders, it stands strong n firm of cos! but i got really tired easily fr trying to get fr 1 pt to another pushing thru d crowd n queuing for entrance... it was really crazy!!! juz see 4 urselves...

but there is some good thing of cos... at d square, there's some people doing d free hugs campaign. these people comes from all over europe. of cos we have to be part of such a meaningful project!

czech is also known for its honey cake. i understand it totally cos it is absolutely delicious!!!

just looking at d photo makes me drool.... yummmmmmm...

of cos d prague castle is another big spot u have to go. b4 goin to d castle, i saw many postcards of d Golden Lane in d castle. building in d lane looks soooo nice n colorful n picture perfect! i was really looking forward to that. but... of cos i could never get d perfect picture as in d postcards.. cos there were... yes u guessed it... lotsa tour groups again!

we went to Vysehrad. it is a very nice area every visitor should go. it's free n u get a really nice view of d city. we juz sat there for an hour or so i think, enjoying d view n peace (no tour groups there!) it's a piece of heaven!!! ok i am exaggerating but after 4 days of squeezing thru ppl trying to get to places, it really is nice to not have to push or be pushed! it is a nice end for our stay here.



permalink written by  wangyng on May 3, 2008 from Prague, Czech Republic
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
tagged CzechRepublic and Prague

Send a Compliment

Plzen, Czech Republic




permalink written by  wangyng on May 4, 2008 from Plzen, Czech Republic
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
Send a Compliment

Brloh, Czech Republic




permalink written by  wangyng on May 6, 2008 from Brloh, Czech Republic
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
Send a Compliment

Plzen - student town

Plzen, Czech Republic


i need to talk about d bus.. we so arrived in style to Plzen... NOT! we were at d bus station, waiting for our bus while looking at all other buses, thinking "maybe ours will be like that new 1, or that 1 over there with Wifi! dat'll be so cool!" then when our ride came, our jaws dropped! it really dropped!! it was this old bus that looked like it belongs to d 80s in Singapore! not d most comfortable or nicest smells! but we made it!

Plzen is pretty much a small student town. so things are not so expensive compared to Prague. our host Miguel is a Young medicine student from Portugal. correction... our host is a cheeky smart alec who has d answer to everything! it was fun thou to see eve n him squabbling over d littlest things! we also attended 1 class with Mig. d lecturer was kind enough to let us sit in... althou i suspect his intention was to make fun of us by asking us questions on acute appendicitis (d topic of lecture that day)...

mig n us each cooked a meal for each other. no i didnt make curry this time cos it was really making me sick! i cooked stirfry veggies with oyster sauce n beef slices n steam egg. a nice n simple meal. mig loves d egg so much he insisted i gave him d recipe... which are juz eggs n water n some salt to taste....

d Synagogue n d memorial left d deepest impression i guess. d memorial has loads of Stones. each Stone has d name of 1 victim of d Jewish massacre. it was a lot!

we only stayed 2 nights but it was really fun n i really enjoyed d stay n Mig's bringing us around. he invited us to go to Portugal as well. so now i have a definitely place to stay in Portugal! yeah!!




permalink written by  wangyng on May 6, 2008 from Plzen, Czech Republic
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
tagged CzechRepublic and Plzen

Send a Compliment

Brloh & Ceske Krumlov

Brloh, Czech Republic


Brloh is a very small village about 45min bus ride away fr Ceske Krumlov, which is where we wanted to stay initially. but cos there's no host from Krumlov who actually respond to our requests, we decided to go with brloh. besides, how often do u get to stay in a village in d mountains... just d bus ride to d village gives u magnificent n panorama views!!

frank, our host stayed with his parents (retired), who are very open-minded, generous and warm people. d parents only speaks czech so it was impossible to really speak with them much. we managed however, to 'chat' with mum pointing n lots of actions. it was quite fun actually!

mum is a typically stay home mum who cooks n look after d family. d whole time we were there, mum was always baking or preparing food. so we had home cooked food n freshly baked desserts all d time!

o yes, we went to Ceske Krumlov for a day trip. it is a very small town, very beautiful like Prague, but not nearly as much tourist as Prague. we did d usuals, went to d castle, went up a tall tower to get a 360 view of d town, walked thru d long stretch of souvenir shops, n had a really good lunch!

our last full day in brloh, we did d mountain trek around the area. frank n parents will drive out n go trekking furtherer away fr d village. they showed us d starting point for d trek/walk. it is pretty simple, we just need to follow d sign.

it was not a difficult except for 1 hill that was really steep. i think it's a 45-degree slope! but besides that, it is not too difficult n we get really nice views all d time.

it was really difficult to leave this time cos i had such a great time here. d sceneries but mainly d people. frank n his parents r really d nicest people. we also met frank's neighbor who is 2m tall (darn should have taken a photo)!! he is also a very nice person to hang out n chat with. i felt like crying when i left Brloh. this was d most drama moment for me on d trip so far! but being traveller, saying goodbyes r usual so i juz had to go n be thankful that i had a great time here, n maybe secretly wish/plan to be back again someday...

permalink written by  wangyng on May 8, 2008 from Brloh, Czech Republic
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
tagged CzechRepublic, Brloh and CeskeKrumlov

Send a Compliment

Vienna, Austria




permalink written by  wangyng on May 9, 2008 from Vienna, Austria
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
Send a Compliment

Vienna - a heaven for opera fans

Vienna, Austria


Vienna feels like Berlin, very big with lotsa sights but more leaning towards classical music n opera than history like Berlin. u really feel it in d air! it's like so many people walking d streets holding some kind of string instruments: violin, viola, cello, etc. u cant not feel d culture here. here's pictures:

we wanted to see d Vienna choir boys. we were told that they will sing durin d sunday church service, so we went but we see no choir boys. it was some middle-aged guys, who were probably former members of d choir. it was a bit of a bummer but o well....

there's some realy nice food here as well! they have dumplings with fillings. kinda like our chinese dumplings but made with flour n not rice. n d my host Daniel brought us to this restaurant that serves a huge portion of Wiener Schnitzel. it was such a huge serving, i ate only half of it n brought d other half home for lunch d next day!

i'll juz let d pictures talk as usual for d rest of d trip in Vienna.










permalink written by  wangyng on May 12, 2008 from Vienna, Austria
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
tagged Vienna and Austria

Send a Compliment

Salzburg, Austria




permalink written by  wangyng on May 13, 2008 from Salzburg, Austria
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
Send a Compliment

Innsbruck, Austria




permalink written by  wangyng on May 14, 2008 from Innsbruck, Austria
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
Send a Compliment

Viewing 31 - 40 of 65 Entries
first | previous | next | last

View as Map View as Satellite Imagery View as Map with Satellite Imagery Show/Hide Info Labels Zoom Out Zoom In Zoom Out Zoom In
find city:
trip feed
author feed
trip kml
author kml

   

Blogabond v2.40.58.80 © 2024 Expat Software Consulting Services about : press : rss : privacy