This tradition is upheld even today, as grooms are not expected to sincerely ask the bride’s father for his blessings, or set up a formal dinner between the two families. In fact, such acts might be met with complaints and even a fine.

Of course, in the modern new world of today, things are a tad different. Nowadays, couples with phones pre-meditate their own schemes of kidnapping, with the groom simply waiting outside and the bride (mostly) sneaking out on her own. However, in the old days, grooms actually broke in to homes, tip-toeing and making sure the bride wouldn’t wake up her family, since a failed kidnapping scheme would mean no marriage, and the groom would be a subject of embarassment.

In the old days, when dating were not a custom, a groom could actually kidnap a bride who is completely unfamiliar with him. You might wonder how a woman would want to willingly follow an unknown man back to his home. The answer to that curiosity is a mystical spell which put the bride in a trance through out the entire thing. Once the bride arrives in the groom’s house, a marriage is almost guaranteed, since it would be dishonorable for the bride to refuse at this point.

The laws for a woman to marry in the Lombok tradition is not really about the age, nor their ability to cook. It’s their ability to weave a cloth. Girls are taught to weave from a young age. A single cloth usually takes about 2 weeks to a month to complete. Women in local, traditional villages are traditionally not allowed to work outside their village.

Marriage in Lombok is festively celebrated. Instead of handing out invitations, a wedding is normally announced publicly with a speaker to the entire village. The entire village is then invited, and the invitation informally extend to all their families and relatives. A single wedding could easily use up to 2 tonnes of rice, with the family feeling disappointed if it’s any less than that. Lombok families take ‘the merrier, the better’ strongly. Those who attend weddings normally bring gifts for the newly weds’ new home, along with bringing uncooked rice for the family on their wedding day.

After a bride is successfully ‘kidnapped’, a negotation is mediated with the head of the village between the two families. The bride’s family will request a certain amount of money, to which the groom’s family might agree or subject. The amount could be higher according to the bride’s degree of education. When both families have reached an agreed amount, the marriage can then proceed.

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If you are visiting the Palazzo Pitti, then you should hop on and proceed to the Boboli Gardens. Whereas Palazzo Pitti is a movie of vintage brown, it might be a great idea to finally let your sight turn to some green.

The garden was residence to the Medici family, and no other people were granted access. It houses sculptures dating back to the 16th century, but my favorite part was the panoramic view across the city. During autumn or spring, lounging around on the green field of the gardens makes a beautiful day out with family and friends. Try not to do it under Italy’s scorching August weather, though.

Its vast 45,000 square metres area is not an easy feat to complete without a bottle of water, so make sure you have one in your backpack. Take your time strolling around. Not only will you find sculptures, you’ll also find architectures and fountains that altogether create a lavish layout to view. The amphiteatre is not a feat to be taken lightly.

The centre of the amphiteatre is the Ancient Egyptian Boboli Obelisk, brought directly from Villa Medici in Rome.

The Fountain of Neptune is located at the end of the Amphiteatre, with a bronze statue of Neptune by Lorenzi. The fountain was built at the same time with its more famous partner Fountain of Neptune by Ammannati, located in Palazzo Vecchio.

Another sight not to be missed is the Grotto by Buontalenti. It is then right next to the sculpture of the famous Dwarf Morgante.

While this garden might not be as grand and breathtaking as the Florence Duomo, nor is it as lively as the Piazza della Signoria, it’s a new thing to try: getting lost in a garden in Florence.

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it’s cheap.

One packet of disposable camera cost less than 10 dollars. If you buy it in bulks, the price goes even lower than that. That’s why it is also a good idea to gift them to kids, and see what they have actually captured.

it creates one of a lifetime pic, literally.

The picture you take can’t be altered, edited, nor deleted. It’s a capture of the moment, per se. There is this feeling to a genuine picture at a precise moment, a candid scene that will remains completely the same as it was. Even for the pictures that turned out blurry or dark, I still could feel the memory to them and it’s just beautiful.

the feeling of finally processing your film

The disposable camera doesn’t allow you to look at your pictures until you finish the entire film. That feeling when you take your film to processing and see the results of the pictures is just a rush. It’s always exciting to finally see what you’ve been snapping at. I usually use one single camera (39 pictures) for one single ocassion whenever I travel. I snap away at literally everything- architecture, skies, nature, people.

the vintage effect on your pics

The disposable camera is obviously no DSLRs, and your pictures come out (to my delight and fondness) grainy and appear vintage. You don’t have to edit any single thing to have that vintage picture look.

it has a digital alternative

Yes, the disposable camera gives you an antique nostalgia and it has a different vibe to it. A different vibe which people actually look for. However, for the practical ones, who love the vintage effects from the disposable camera but can’t be bothered with the entire no edit, limited pics, complicated film processing- don’t worry. There’s an app for everything nowadays, including the disposable camera. It’s called Huji, and you can use the free version (lets you use it only as disposable cameras) or the paid version (lets you edit taken photos from iphone with the disposable camera vintage effect)

Well, here’s some results from my ventures with the disposable camera.

update: I have finally found a solution to my longings for using an analog camera again. AnalogCC sells a package where you can get a disposable camera AND included development of your pictures, sent directly to you digitally.
If that’s not enough reason to start snapping away, their disposable cameras come in all range of colours.
But here’s what really got me: they recycle every used disposable camera. Kudos for this, analogcc!

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Post contains affiliate links. Refer to my disclosure.

If you have been scrolling through pictures and pictures of little stalls with christmas lights, cups of steaming hot chocolates and roasting sausages–or Wurst, as the Germans call it– then there’s a big chance you have been looking at Weihnachtsmärkte– Christmas Markets.

Visiting Germany during the Christmas season is a little more magical than other ordinary months, and you really can’t miss seeing these Christmas markets. But with rows and rows of stalls and the lack of English description, it might get a little confusing at first. But that’s why we have this post right here: your First Timer guide to Germany’s Christmas Markets.

WHEN TO GO

First things first, a lot of people have some small misunderstanding about when to visit Germany to see the Christmas Markets. People think they are open during the Christmas season, so to speak from before to after Christmas. Yes, they are called Christmas Markets… but! They are open only until the day before Christmas, and on the 25th and onwards, you won’t get the chance to see them again.

Christmas Markets usually start operating during the last few days of November until the 23rd or 24th of December. Every city could be different from the other, but you can always check online! They are open 7 days a week, usually from around Mid-day to 8pm. (However, I recommend visiting after dark since you will love the warm glow from all the stalls with their christmas lights)

WHERE TO GO

Yes, big cities like Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin usually have larger Weihnachtsmärkte, although that doesn’t mean you should skip on the smaller cities. My favourite Weihnachtsmarkt is the one in Nürnberg, followed by Köln and Dresden. This year, though, I visited the Christmas Market in Fraueninsel, an island you could only reach by ship near Munich, and it was enchanting.

WHAT TO EAT

If you go to Germany and not eat their sausages, can you say you’ve been in Germany? Honestly, before I came to study here, I have always believed that German sausages were waaaay overrated. Boy, was I wrong. They are delicious.

QUICK GERMAN SAUSAGE GUIDE (p.s: correct me if I’m wrong!):

• Bratwurst: made of fine ground meat of Pork and Beef
• Nurnberger: smaller (finger-sized) Bratwurst
• Frankfurter/Bockwurst: made of Veal, Pork and sometimes other type of Meat
• Leberkäse: Bavarian specialty, made of Pork, Onions and Corned Beef.
• Weisswurst: Bavarian specialty, made of Veal, Bacon, Onions, Parsley, Cardamom and Lemon

They are mostly eaten with Semmel, a hard bread, and ketchup or mustard. A portion will cost about 3 or 4 Euros, although some stalls will have unbelievably big, long sausages (30 cm!!) which understandably cost more.

For those who come to a Christmas Market not looking for a heavy meal, you could buy different sorts of nuts instead. They come in many forms and you can choose your preferable Portion (100 grams, 200 grams..). My favorite is Gebrannte Mandeln. They’re served hot and is sweet with a little hint of salty. You should also try roasted chestnuts! Not to forget, my guilty pleasure: Nutella Crepes.

Those who don’t have a sweet tooth looking for some light bites can try Reibekuchen, a sort of potato pancake!

WHAT TO DRINK (!Note: Pfand- Paying for the Glass)

During the cold, icy december Months in Germany, nothing will warm you up like Glühwein (and they’re delicious!). Glühwein is heated and spiced wine, which has a strong cinnamon taste and can get you tipsy quite quickly. However, you might be shocked for paying such an expensive price for a cup of those, and that’s because you’re ‘paying’ for the glass as well. Glühwein itself costs about 3 Euros, and the glass will cost about 3 Euros as well (this glass’ price is called Pfand = deposit). After you’ve finished drinking, you can either take the glass home as a souvenir, or you can return it in exchange for your money back.

P:S: For children, or for the drivers out there, you can try the alcohol-free Punch instead! (it’s pronounced ‘poonch’ instead of ‘punch’)

SHOPPING IN CHRISTMAS MARKETS

Don’t only go for the culinary, christmas markets offer a lot of christmas themed products you will love. My favourite thing to collect is the snowballs! Aside from christmas themed statues and christmas tree decorations, I actually find soaps! They are handmade from natural products and came in all sorts of radiant colors. Needless to say, that stroll smelled heavenly.

You don’t have to worry about the price, the Germans are honest people and no, they don’t do tourist scams. You don’t even have to worry about haggling as they have a fixed price for every item. Win-win, right? Some of these small stalls actually accept credit cards, so before you use your cash, just make sure to ask!

Read also: A German (literal) Fairytale Town: Marburg

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The Altare della Patria is a classic. Standing tall and grand in the middle of Piazza Venezia, it features stairways, columns and also fountain. You can go up the monument and take in a breathtaking panorama of Rome.

This wall is a coincidence I stumbled to after venturing the Piazza Michelangelo.

Piazza Navona, always full of street musicians, artists and local eateries. This square is always so lively with the hustle and bustle of people’s activities.

I am definitely a fan of the orange walls of roman buildings. Couple that with the classic stone sign, and my heart completely fell for it.

Piazza del Campidoglio, sometimes overlooked by tourist, is a precious gem you must definitely see in Rome. It’s right behind Altare della Patria and next to the roman forum.

Well, this is kinda biased, but it’s my favourite ice cream parlor! You can also have breakfast here with muffins, cookies or their tiramisu.

Read also: The Best Gelato in Rome

This fountain can be found in Repubblica, just a stone’s throw away from Rome’s central station, Termini. Repubblica is also a district of Rome full of old churches and magnificent fountains you should check out!

Here’s another angle of Piazza Navona. Yes, the water is not necessarily sparkling blue, but it’s still a very lovely and beautiful square! You could relax and just absorb the vibes of Rome in this place.

Churches are the precious gems of Rome, and this one is no exception. I do personally, however, love every single one of the church in the eternal city.

Here’s a statue in Piazza del Campidoglio. The square is designed by the famous Michelangelo.

Read also: 10 Photos that’ll Make You Fall in Love with Rome

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THE PERFECT KIT

Despite phones’ cameras getting more sophisticated today (I love shooting on my small, compact iphone 6s), a real camera obviously offer more features and allow you to take even better pictures. This is especially the case when you’re shooting in low light or less favourable lighting conditions. I have previously always preferred my phone as a camera seemed heavy and difficult to operate. But apparently, not anymore! Here’s the compact, light and completely easy to use for beginners mirrorless camera, the Lumix DC-GH5S.

This camera is not heavy nor gigantic like the camera I used to have. It fits to my small travel backpack, and I definitely do not need to carry around another camera bag. Another important factor to me is the battery life. With my iphone, I would need to carry around two powerbanks for the entire day, whereas this camera’s battery could last even longer than an entire day.

Using the automatic mode, you could easily take pictures with great colors, which is why this will definitely suit camera rookies (like me!). Aside from its amazing 10.28 Megapixels, the Lumix DC-GH5S also takes videos in the astonishing 4K Quality. This allows you to take great travel videos which will wow your friends and relatives.

EDITING THE PICTURES

Yes, your pictures turn out great, but you might want to have the similar tone to every picture for your instagram. This is the popular “one-colour/tone” feed nowadays. But, of course, you shouldn’t worry anymore, because Lightroom got your back!

Lightroom (free for mobile) is an editing application, which mostly rely on the use of “presets”. By having a preset, you could apply the same editing effects to all your picture, thus creating the same “style” for every single one of them. I have been using them for my feed as well, and so have many instagram travel bloggers.

You could, of course, create your own presets. However, you could also buy “presets” created by people who are quite expert in the field already. Some of the stunning travel bloggers’ presets could be quite pricey, so for those who are not sure about the purchase, I would recommend firstly checking out etsy. In fact, my favourite preset-pack right now is from etsy, and for only 9,5 Euros you can get it here. I find the pack suitable not only for my travel pictures, but also for my ootd pictures. It’s currently my go-to!

Tell me if you have your own hack in creating the perfect travel pictures!

X, Jesica

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Post may contain affiliate links. Refer to my disclosure.

Firstly, what I love about Din Tai Fung is its simplicity. Yes, it’s a world renowned restaurant, and it’s definitely not shabby, but they don’t blow the place up into some fancy elegant dining place. Price is surprisingly very logical, especially considering how delicious their food are. (I spent $40 for 2 people and got even desserts)  Secondly, the kitchen is not closed, as there’s a big window from which you can peek in. They actually have a pretty strict standard, as even the weight of every dumpling skin should be measured exactly on a scale.

Read also: 5 Reasons Why You Must Visit Lombok, Indonesia

Service in Din Tai Fung is excellent. They have more than sufficient waiters, who are very friendly and will explain the cuisines to you. Don’t dwell yourself too much looking at the menu, and without any doubt, order the Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings). I prefer the combination with chicken and shrimp fillings, however you can also opt for chicken only (or pork only in branches outside Indonesia). They even have colourful Xiao Long Bao (in Jakarta, Indonesia.) These colourful Xiao Long Baos are made with natural coloured fillings such as cheese, spinach and more.

There is a unique way to enjoy your Xiao Long Bao, which the waiters could show you gladly. You put the Xiao Long Bao on a soup spoon, and tear open a skin to let the broth inside ooze out. You then slurp the flavourful broth, and enjoy the Xiao Long Bao. Another optional addition is ginger and soy sauce when tasting it.

Another must-try aside from their Xiao Long Bao is the noodles. My favourite is Wantan Noodle Soup. The broth is amazingly tasty and is made without any artificial flavourings. Their noodles are also handmade, and both texture and taste are unbelievably delicious. Top that off with steaming hot Wantan… yum! Don’t like noodles? Then you should order their egg fried rice. Or you could follow my path and order both of them instead!

Some other dishes I would recommend in Din Tai Fung would be their Corn & Chicken soup, Kung Pao Chicken, and Shrimp Rolls. Out of these three, my favourite is Kung Pao Chicken. It’s spicy, stir-fried chicken with peanuts and chili peppers. In Din Tai Fung, the heat of the chili is not overwhelming, though!

No meal is complete without dessert, right? This is my absolute favourite, Mango Pudding. It’s fresh, sweet, and the perfect closing you need for the perfect dining experience.

Summing it up, I love Din Tai Fung. I honestly can’t wait to return and gobble up those delicious dumplings again! Its price is so worth it, the quality of the food is five star rating, and the taste? Absolutely scrumptious. Would totally recommend this place to everyone!

Read also: 10 Photos that’ll Make You Fall in Love with Rome

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Lombok is 30-Minutes away from Bali via air, while taking the Ferry would require 3-4 hours. However, more speedboat transfers between Bali and Lombok are becoming available, and it takes a mere 1 hour. There are abundant daily flights from Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, to Lombok as well.

If you’re traveling alone, I would recommend joining an open tour or hiring a guide. Having a local with you will save you from tourist scams or unfriendly treatment. Although, those who don’t like joining a tour shouldn’t worry- the people in Lombok are definitely very friendly, and getting around the city is totally uncomplicated. If you are not familiar with navigating in a foreign place or doesn’t want to waste energy driving yourself, rent a car with a driver. It usually costs around 400-450K Rupiah ($35-40) daily, including both driver and gas. Drivers usually can set an itinerary based on the places you want to see as well.

Of all the beautiful places I visited in Lombok, here’s my personal highlight during my stay:

GILI TRAWANGAN

Gili Trawangan is the biggest island among the Gili Islands (Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air). Here you can leisure around on white sand and snorkel in clear blue water. It’s 8 minutes away with a speedboat, or about thirty minutes with a bigger motor boat. Beware of high prices and just leave if someone’s really insistent about “you can’t find any other boat available there so you need to use mine”.

Motor transportation is not allowed on this island. You can get around the island with a horse cart (cidomo), but I prefer cycling around. It takes about 40 minutes to cycle the entire island. A lot of accommodations are also available, along with some excellent restaurants and bars. Prices in Gili Trawangan is however higher than in mainland Lombok, but you can enjoy a great mall for about $10-$15 per person. Don’t worry about currency as well, there are money changers in the island, albeit a slightly lower exchange rate from other currencies to Rupiah.

SNORKELING IN GILI ISLANDS

Snorkeling in Gili Island is one of the best thing through out my trip in Lombok. Fishes, sea-turtles, corals, and even some “mysterious” underwater statues would be a feat to your sight. There are a lot of snorkel equipments rental around the island, also diving courses and boat rental. You can save cost by joining a group snorkeling tour, or enjoy a private leisurely time under water with an exclusive private tour. Don’t worry if you’re a first timer, they’ll teach you the basics and a guide will ensure your safety in water.

AIR TERJUN BENANG KELAMBU (BENANG KELAMBU WATERFALL)

Instead of boasting its height, Benang Kelambu wins your heart over with its curtains-like waterfall. In fact, this is what gave it its name, Kelambu, which is a type of curtain. You can do an hour walk through quite a steep trail, or ride a motorcycle for a fixed price (about $10-$15 for return trip- Jun’18). After the motorcycle ride, it’s a 15 minutes stair descend to the waterfall. Come here early in the morning to avoid crowds, and use comfortable shoes. The trail might be slippy since part of it is mud.

TIP: After you came up from Air Terjun Benang Kelambu, visit Air Terjun Benang Stokel just 500m away.

BUKIT MERESE

Located along the Kuta Lombok shore and right next to the famous Tanjung Aan, Bukit Merese is a change of view to the sea and shores. It’s resembles an area of savanna hills. Hike for around 10-15 minutes to the top and enjoy the sunset there, it’s said to be one of the best sunset viewpoint in Lombok. The viewpoint offers a vantage point to clear blue sea and white sands, with the wide sky and the horizon as its background.

TIP: Before you enjoy the sunset on Bukit Merese, spend some time lounging on Tanjung Aan. Don’t forget to bring sunblock or a cap since there are no trees on Bukit Merese, and the sun could be scorching. Pack a bottle of water or buy one before you hike just in case.

LOMBOK CULINARY

And here is without doubt my favourite part.

Lombok’s culinary dwell on the spicy side, and even as someone who’s used to spicy food, they could sometimes be too much for me. They are, however, definitely delicious. One of the signature culinary in Lombok is ayam taliwang and plecing kangkung. Ayam taliwang is basically grilled chicken, topped with some very spicy chili. Eating this is usually accompanied with Plecing Kangkung, water spinach blanched and then topped with herbs and spicy chili.

That aside, I would have to say that my personal favourite is Sate Rembiga, it’s satay from beef meat with herbs and spices- and yes, it’s spicy. The locals eat it with Lontong, rice cooked in banana leaf. It’s the best. It really is.

If you’re not one who can eat spicy food, you can try fresh seafood that came right from the sea instead. Fishes, crabs and squids are three of my favourite dishes.

Here are all the 5 reasons to visit Lombok, do you have any other reason? I’d love to hear yours!

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With my just recently discovered fascination- traveling, I set off to see more of Indonesia I’ve never seen before, despite living 18 years there. And nope- I didn’t spend a heavenly weekend in Bali. To be honest, actually, Bali is not that appealing to me anymore.

It’s probably better known than Indonesia itself. I’ve meet countless people who have no idea what ‘Indonesia’ is, but know exactly about Bali.

Yes- Bali is beautiful. But it’s getting more and more crowded and we all know what happens to a place as more tourists came by: it gets polluted. I’ve always been happy to see people excited about flying to Bali, and more tourists are raising awareness, even taking actions themselves by collecting trash on Bali’s beaches. And I used to really, really love Bali. But, well- the Bali I knew ten years ago wasn’t what it is now. Pristine beaches, untouched nature? Not so easy to find anymore.

Despite that, Indonesia remains an exotic destination you should definitely visit. I still can’t believe how beautiful its nature is. Bali isn’t the only place you should head to.

So here I’ll drop a few pictures of the places I visited in Indonesia during my two months stay. From the vast blue sea to exotic animals to old antique buildings, here’s my country: Indonesia.

P.S: I won’t write the name of the places in the pictures, anyone knows where it is? Mind to guess?
Or drop by and comment the city you really want to visit in Indonesia! Maybe I’ve been there, or maybe it’s still in my bucket list as well.

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Castel Sant’Angelo and the after hour glow. It was spring and just across the other side of the river, there was some live music. It was such a beautiful twilight. Head down the stairs at the end of the bridge to enjoy this picturesque private view.

Here’s a shot of Ponte Sant’Angelo, taken on another day. I have hundreds of pictures of this famous bridge, but this is my favourite. The color of the sky was unbelievable.

Spanish steps during an unbelievably sunny winter-turning-to-spring day.

This one was taken around christmas. I am always so in love with Rome during December, the streets are full with pretty lights.

Colosseum under a pretty cotton-candy sky, taken during spring. Spring is my favourite season to visit Rome, the weather is just perfect!

Altare della Patria taken under the same sky as the previous photo. Since I was taking a picture against the sun, it creates this amazing majestic silhouette effect. The result was unbelievable.

I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of Trevi, and nope- I’m not going stop throwing coins in anytime soon.

Don’t you just swoon over those roman alleys, with that classic orange walls and those green crawling across the windows?

I’d like to think that the roman forums look different every time I pay a visit. It could depend on the weather, or the colour of the sky… it feels like coming to a different place every time.

This was taken near Repubblica, one of the less visited Roman gem, Fontana del Mosè.

Honestly, writing this post took me down memory lane… Can’t wait to be back.

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The very best thing about Der Fette Bulle is that it’s directly across the main central station. Arriving in Frankfurt and then munching on the best burger 15 minutes later? That’s just the dream, isn’t it?

I don’t only come for the burgers, I come for their rustic interiors too! They have a wall of bricks on the one side, while on the other side it’s a rack filed with vintage wine bottles. It doesn’t stop there, they even project a black and white movie on their brick walls!

Der Fette Bulle has this small bar shaped like a small house, with glasses hanging and lines of aperitifs you should try.

Knowing the famous waiting-time and full-crowd of Der Fette Bulle, I decided to have lunch on an odd hour (2 pm). You can do this if you would like to avoid the long queue. Coming here at 12 or 1 would require some patience, both to get seated and to order.

Their main burger was named after themselves, “Der Fette Bulle”. Double patty, double cheese, bio-egg, beef ham, tomato, cucumber and drizzled with Barbecue sauce- It ain’t that hard to understand why it’s theburger of this restaurant.

Instead of that monstrous “Der Fette Bulle” burger, I’m more of a fan of their cheeseburger. Although even cheeseburger won’t compare to the love I have for their sweet potato fries. They aren’t greasy, and not a hint of soggy. My favourite part is ordering the extra sauce from their wide varieties of option.

If you’re not a fluent in german, no need to worry! They have both german and english menu available, and you can definitely order in english.

Not quite feeling it to eat meat today? Don’t worry, they have a set of veggie-burgers menu as well. They also have this special offer, where you can get “a burger-of-the-day” and fries/salad for the price of 8.99 €.

This one is their New York burger, which was quite recently added to their current set of menu. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the sweet-potato fries I was talking about.

This one is classic fries, sprinkled with rosmarin and thyme.

After tasting (and tasting and tasting) their burger personally, I think it’s quite safe for me to say that their burgers are amazing. I grew up in a culture that doesn’t really eat burgers, it’s not actually in my favourite food list, but this can have an exception. Well, now that I’m looking at all these pictures again and remembering about those delicious patties… I think I’m going to reserve a table soon. See ya, or like the germans say, Tschüß! (It’s T followed by an s, then comes c and an h, I know! But no panic, it’s pronounced similarly to “choose” and “juice” combined. Ch-uice!)

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These are the general FAQs that I’ve received in the span of this month. If you have any question that’s not mentioned here, always feel free to ask me! Contact me via Twitter DM or my email. I’ll try my best to respond as quick and as helpful as I can!

→ If I am not self-hosted through WordPress, am I no longer a wordpress blog?
If you are self-hosted through bluehost, siteground, hostgator, etc. doesn’t mean you no longer have a wordpress blog! You are still a wordpress blog, but now you own your content. You can connect your blog to a wordpress dashboard, which might look a little bit different and more complicated than your current one. However, don’t worry! You can still use your current dashboard as well. (More on that later)

→ Do my posts still appear on Reader?
You can connect your self-hosted blog to wordpress.com via Jetpack. Jetpack also enables you to still use the WordPress Reader feature! For example, I am now self-hosted with Bluehost but you can still read this post on WordPress Reader.

→ How much do I have to pay?
All inclusive, if you take the 3 years plan, you will pay around 5 Dollars a month to keep your website running, protect your personal data registered to your domain, and so on. It’s the all included price. Use this Bluehost coupon to get you a discount.

→ Can people still follow me via WordPress?
Yes they still can! You can insert an external follow button into your wordpress as a widget. This functions completely similar as a follow button in your current website! People can also follow you via Reader. I can still access my site and reader, just like before going self-hosted!

→ Will I lose my followers?
The only thing you’ll lose when migrating your site is your likes. Comments, posts, followers, you can migrate everything! It’s very simple and easy as well.

→ What will happen to my old website?
When you move your content to a new website, the old wordpress website will still be there, along with the content and everything. It’s your choice if you want to use a redirect feature, which will redirect people who try to view your old website to your new one. It is, however, a paid feature. You can also simply put a big banner on your homepage saying that you migrated, along with links to your new website! Voila!

→ Will I lose my theme?
Yes, when you migrate your website, your theme will not join the journey. However, you can install the same theme again on your new website. Or! You can use more available free themes right now, which looks even better. Another option is buying your own theme, to make your website looks even more professional, and giving you access to more features!

→ What is SSL?
SSL is basically a certificate to make sure your website is a secure one. This will let you gain people’s trust since they can without worry enter credit-card and personal details. Bluehost offers a free SSL with their plan, even their cheapest one. You can use my discount code.

That’s most of the questions that I received! Feel free to ask me personally via Twitter DM or Email if you have other questions. Hope this helps clear a few things for those of you who want to go self-hosted!

For more details on choosing a host going self-hosted, you can read this post.

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Post contains affiliate links. Refer to my disclosure.

Those Gelato!! that will keep Rome a happy memory, especially for your tummy. The true, good Gelato in Rome deserve to be pronounced another masterpiece, together along with Trevi or the Pantheon. So choosing the right one is important!

The simple pointers in choosing gelato is, if you see them stacked high and showered with toppings, avoid those.
See those vibrant colors, fluorescent and neon and eye-catching? Avoid those too.
Good Gelato should be stored in a pan or completely covered in a container. They also use natural ingredients, which will result in natural colors as well.

1. Lemongrass

This is my favourite go-to everytime I’m off to Saint Peter. Lemongrass is directly on the Ottaviano metro exit, and is the best companion for the scorching hot summer days. As you stroll from the metro exit towards San Pietro, you will encounter another Lemongrass. Yep, one of them is in Via Barletta, and the other in Via Ottaviano. I love this since as I stroll with my Gelato from Via Barletta, it’s gone by the time I reach the one in Via Ottaviano. Time for another one!

TIP: Ask for Panna on your Gelato, you won’t regret it!
Oh and have I mentioned they serve mouthwatering muffins and really great Cappuccinos as well?

2. Frigidarium

Located a stone’s throw away from Piazza Navona, don’t let it’s small interior fool you. Frigidarium has been serving their famous Gelato for decades. It boast a collection of about 20 flavours all made from natural ingredients. My favourite here is Straciatella and the good old plain Vanilla!

TIP: You can ask them to dip your Ice cream cone to dip it in chocolate, which will then harden around your Gelato. It’s of another World!

3. Grom

Grom is everywhere to be found in Rome. In the central station (Termini), directly next to Piazza Navona (Via Agonale), and more to find during your stay! My favourite flavour is Pistacchio and Nocciola. They also offer special cones coated with chocolate and sprinkled with crunchy peanuts!

TIP: Don’t only go for their Gelato, and try their excellent Frappes and Sorbets as well. They do not disappoint!

4. Venchi

This is my personal best and personal favourite. Venchi is well known as one of the best Gelaterias in Rome. Don’t let the long queue stop you from getting those wonderful Gelatos. They also sell the prettiest (and delicious) chocolates and chocolate packages! What’s not to love?

TIP: You can ask for chocolate sauce to be drizzled on your ice cream and it’s just divine!

Those are my favourite Gelaterias. I’d love to know about yours, too. Tell me if there’s a Gelato I need to try in Rome, or ten!

Locations for the best Gelato in Rome

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Most of the guides to Positano advise you to take the trains. However, they’re mostly pricy and you need to exchange in one or more cities. Such a fuss, right? There’s actually another Solution, a direct bus to Positano from Rome for only 21 Euros!

Marozzi Bus is what I’m talking about, although their website is only in Italian. It’s quite simple to navigate however, and if you have any questions feel free to contact me or just write a comment!

The Trip, Tickets, and Schedules

Travel during Summer

If you’re traveling during summer (1 June-30 September), well then you’re in luck! Between these dates, the Marozzi Bus has a daily direct bus from Rome to Positano. You will depart at 7.00 am from Rome Tiburtina Bus Station (not Termini!, you can take the metro B to this station). At 11.30 you will arrive at Positano! You will however change bus once in Sorrento, to a smaller one. It’s a simple change, though, and they will inform you about it clearly so don’t worry!

The Marozzi bus travels through the line of Pompeii, Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi. So if you’re departing from Rome and want to see other places along the Amalfi coast or the ruins of Pompeii as well, you definitely can with the Marozzi!

Day Trip to Positano

If you’re planning a day trip to the Positano, the Marozzi bus will depart from the same place you arrived at 16.10, and arrive in Roma Tiburtina at 9 in the night. Be on the bus stop about 15 minutes before departure! The one way ticket cost 21 Euros and return ticket 37,5 Euros.

Traveling to other cities from Positano

Directly from your Marozzi bus stop in Positano, you can find a Tabaccheria (a small kiosk). If you’re planning to go to Sorrento (a station where you’ll find more options of transport: Trains, Long-distance Bus, etc), you should buy a ticket for the SITA Bus here. The SITA Bus is a local means of transport, they run along the Amalfi Coast. Be sure to check their timetable, you can find it here. It’s much better to buy tickets in a Tabaccheria since there have been bad experiences trying to buy the tickets on board. (Higher price, unclear information, miscommunication…)

From Positano, the SITA Bus takes an hour to reach Sorrento. Sorrento is also a lovely town, with great delicious seafood pastas. Try it if you have some free time in Sorrento. I traveled to Naples from Sorrento, and the journey took about an hour. There’s a train every half hour or so. This train is not the safest train in the World, but in my experience so long as you pay attention to your belongings and stay alert it’s definitely not a problem. Again, I bought tickets from a Tabaccheria since the owner speak enough English for him to understand me, and recommend the best means of transport.

Travel during other months

If you’re not traveling in June-September, you can still take the Marozzi bus from Rome to Sorrento. They depart at 3 in the afternoon from Rome Tiburtina and arrive at Sorrento at 7 pm. From Sorrento, take the SITA bus to Positano. They have available departure times for your connection: 19.25, 20.00, 21.00 and 22.00. However, this Marozzi connection does not depart daily, so make sure to check the timetables!

Review

The bus is very comfortable, with AC so don’t worry about the summer heat. You can store your big luggage in the luggage compartment on the side of the bus, or bring your smaller luggages on board and store them overhead. It’s definitely much more comfortable than struggling with your bulky baggages to board trains and change connections, and always keeping a hand on them. There was no toilet, although you will have a 15 Minutes Rest-stop where you can buy snacks or go to toilets. This takes place in the middle of the trip (2 hours after departure).

Tiburtina station looks quite ‘shady’ on first impression. But as long as you stay alert (side note: you should always be alert in Rome), there is definitely nothing to be afraid of. It also has some small coffee shops and bakeries if you’re looking for some snack to bring abroad. You are allowed to eat on the bus. The bus station is directly across the train station, it’s different from the local bus stops. You will find clear pointers to reach there and if you’re ever in doubt, just try asking around. The location for Tiburtina bus stop can also be checked in google maps!

The Ticket itself has your seat number printed on it, although it’s quite difficult to locate the seat numbers on the bus. Sometimes tourists just sit on the ‘first come-first serve’ basis, but if you ever find yourself without a seat, just speak to the person sitting on your designed seat. They’re mostly clueless as well about the seat number, especially since it’s all written only in Italian.

Tips

• Try sitting on the right side of the bus from Rome to Positano, you’ll have access to this grand scenery of the Amalfi coast. It’s so beautiful!
• While the Marozzi bus is quite on-time for Departure, the SITA Bus as well, it’s better to be safe than sorry, right? Especially if you’re trying to catch a connecting train or bus. So make sure to be on the bus stop earlier, and it’s much better to take an earlier bus than the one you’re scheduling for.
• Positano is quite a maze, especially when you’re trying to navigate your ways through the houses, so make sure you have a map, or that you have available phone connection + enough battery to rely on google maps!

That’s it! Enjoy your trip to Positano, and if you have any questions I will do my best to answer them as soon as possible!

LINKS
Marozzi Bus Website
SITA Bus Timetable

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Marburg is widely known as the place where the Grimm Brothers studied. The Grimm Brothers are Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, who collected and published Folklores in the 19th century. These include “Schneewittchen” (Snow White), “Dornröschen” (Sleeping Beauty), “Aschenputtel” (Cinderella), and “Der Froschkönig” (The Frog King).

Not much is known internationally about these two brothers, whose folk tales are still read to children’s bed time nowadays. But, what you should know is that their take on these fairytales are not so bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. Their fairytales are mostly used as ‘warnings’ for children, written in times where discipline relied heavily on the fear factor.

In their version of Cinderella, one of the stepsister cut her toe to fit her foot in the shoe, while the other cut a part of her heel. Later on, on Cinderella’s wedding, pigeons pecked on both of their eyes and left them blind. Needless to say… the Grimm Brothers’ stories are a lot more grim. (no pun intended!)

However, Marburg is not tainted with the grim stories. Instead, it’s a colourful little city. The town is not built on a plain terrain, instead it houses steeps inclines, with “more stairs on the streets than in the houses”. In fact, the city is divided to two parts, one of them the “Oberstadt” or upper town. There is also an elevator between the “upper town” and “lower town”.

The main activities and tourism of Marburg center around “Marktplatz”, a square filled with cafés, restaurants and small merchants. From Marktplatz, you can also go to the Marburg castle, although it’s a steep climb up. In the area of the castle though, you will find one red shoe, depicting Aschenputtel (Cinderella). The castle serves as a museum as well, and since it’s located on the top of Marburg, you will be able to enjoy quite a panoramic view.

The town gets alive around 10, as restaurants start opening and people start coming in to shop, dine or simply take a stroll. Being one of the smaller cities, restaurants in Marburg cost quite cheaper in contrast with the bigger tourist destinations. However, there are only a few hotels in the city, although most of them are located centrally. Options include, nonetheless, holiday homes and also rental apartments. (Welcome Hotel is located right across the elevator to this city square, and offers excellent breakfast. I stayed there once and would definitely come back.). All of them are listed in booking.com.

Next time you’re in Frankfurt and would like to get away from the crowd, Marburg is the place for you. A one way ticket cost about 12 Euros, and journey takes about an hour. If you’re travelling in groups, buy the Hessen Ticket which is valid for an entire day and 5 people instead. All tickets can be bought in the Deutsche Bahn website (Official German Train Company).

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Apparently, not only does travelling by plane save me time, it was also saving me money. Yep, plane tickets are cheaper than train or bus tickets (!!) especially for long journeys. All this time, I could have avoided that 12 hours bus ride, the 3 hours transit and another 5 hours on the road? Why didn’t anyone tell me this?! And that there are flight tickets as low as 21 Euros?!

Firstly, for shorter destinations, bus and trains can sometimes be cheaper. So, not sure how you should fly there? Don’t worry, even if you don’t know how to get there (where to transit, which airport, which station?! so many questions…) because there’s an app for that! It’s my all time favourite, Rome2Rio, it shows all the possible routes, layovers- with the price and travel time along. How amazing is that?!

Here you can also see that flying is the cheapest option: 38 Euros!! Despite that, not all airlines are so ‘generous’ in allowing you to fly cheap. Here are some of my favourites: Vueling, Ryanair, Eurowings. Well, favorites here mean that these are the ones I have used, and which have provided me flights (return) that cost less than 100 Euros. There might be more cheap airline companies out there, but these are the ones that I coincidentally have used.

PS: If you do want to travel by bus, I swear by Flixbus. They have the most extensive routes in Europe, wifi on board (!!), is convenient (I usually get car-sick during long drives but not with them!) and cheap. They offer for most routes the cheapest fares. Flixbus also allows you a big baggage up to 20 kg and a small package for onboard.

Through out these 3, they have proven that they are completely competent airlines. There is no ‘this one is better than that’ here, it just depends on your routes, since some routes are available on one airline and yet not on the other. If you’re trying to compare more airlines, you can use cheapflights or skyscanner instead! These two websites are known to give you the cheapest tickets available! (However, they apparently don’t include Eurowings or Vueling so check their fares as well!)

So, the upside is: they’re cheap. And the downside? They’re cheap. You might be raising eyebrows at me now. But the thing is, who wouldn’t want to fly from Frankfurt to London for 35 Euros? Tickets are selling really fast, so if you’re trying to use these airlines make sure you book them 1-2 months in advance! Sometimes booking near the deadline might have an advantage though, they might have some last minute promos! But to be safe, just book in advance!

Here’s another unbelievable offer from Vueling, they have tickets from 20.99 Euros!

That’s my small guide to cheap flights across Europe. Ask me for any questions and I’ll try my best to answer them. Now, what do you want to see? The classy London? or the ever-eternal Rome? Book your vacation now!

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I was previously roamterra.wordpress.com but now I’m offtotheworld.com talesfromjes.com! Finally I’m going self hosted after bickering to and forth with myself for a month (in two different animated voices, of course). Here’s the entire process.

Firstly, I’m just gonna let out a loooong breath. I was so afraid to go self-hosted! Not only because that means I’m no longer blogging for free (although, that is one of the reason) but another reason is because this blog has been such a stress-relief for me. I was so nervous going self-hosted would make this a ‘serious’ thing and instead of relieving my stress, it would induce it. But, first few days of self hosted and I’m really glad I did it!

I’m writing this post to describe the entire process, cost, and how I feel about it. I feel like lots of you must also be on the constant debate whether to continue using the free platform, or take it up a notch.

Host

This is the crucial, most important point. Which host are you going to choose? Yes,  you can choose to host with wordpress, but it’s way expensive.  You can opt for other web hosting to which you can connect your wordpress site. The three most known hosts are Bluehost, Siteground and Hostgator. Choices, choices, choices… which one, then?

Hostgator and Siteground offer free Site migration, which will mean that they’ll move everything from your old website to your new one and you can just sit back and order some coffee. This shouldn’t be a key feature, however, since site migration is not difficult! (more on that later) For a professional opinion, you can refer to tons of comparisons uploaded on google. Read it carefully, choosing the wrong host is definitely not what you want.

Price for Hosting

This was one of the key factor for me. Firstly, choose ‘Web hosting’. These hosts have plans like ‘WordPress hosting’ which cost more, but you don’t need that. And, before you purchase your plan, surf the internet for coupons, there are plenty of them. You can also use my link for Bluehost here.

I finally settled with Bluehost, with their cheapest plan, with a code that reduces the price to $3,95 a month. Here’s if you wanna use the same code: Bluehost. (Contact me on my email: Jesica@talesfromjes.com or twitter DM @talesfromjes if you want to have even a lower price. I will show you how to get the biggest discount from Bluehost! So contact me before you purchase your web hosting from Bluehost!)

Why Bluehost? I didn’t give it much thought, just that it’s the cheapest plan out there, really. They have 24/7 live chat support (which I use all the time, since at first I kept messing up! I know nothing of websites) and they provide you with SSL. That means, your website is going to be deemed secure, for example, to enter credit cards info (when you’re selling) and other stuffs.

Hostgator  do not provide SSL, you will need to pay an additional fee to have your website security certificate. That means another additional expense (and quite a significant one, at that). With Bluehost, the only additional cost I had to pay was to keep my information private as the domain owner ($16). You want to buy this option, since otherwise your name, contact information, and even address will be accessible to public.

I’m not going to act as a pro and straight-forward recommend Bluehost, though. They have been quick in helping me with live chat support and so far I hadn’t had any problem, but it’s only been about a week. Morely, they are the one officially recommended by wordpress.org. Thus, I can connect my website to wordpress.com, and still appear in Reader. This was so important to me as Reader is where bloggers mostly and easily interact.

Checking Out / Purchasing

After a (very, very) long thought, I finally decided to take the 3 years plan from Bluehost. Yes, yes, I know! 3 Years sound like such a scary and long commitment, but hear out my reason. When you first sign up with Bluehost, you get access to discounted price with this link, but when you renew your plan.. it’s back to the original price! The original price which is twice the discounted price. For 3 years, along with domain and everything, it rounds up to about $150 . It costs only $50 a year to run your blog professionally.

You then proceed to fill out your details, pick your domain (for free!), complete the payment (CC/Paypal) and voila! You own your own blog!

Site Migration

At first, I was sweating and squirming thinking about migrating my site. I mean, how can I do that without any professional help?! But, it turns out, it was really easy. You just need to head to export your old blog, and then import it in dashboard. Thing is, this process took quite some time (of course, duh). But the inexperienced, silly me was completely convinced I did something wrong and that I have finally lost my content forever. All the while, I was bombarding all the personnels in live chat support… kudos to them for being very, very helpful!

After my site was migrated, I installed Jetpack to connect it to wordpress.com…and there you go! It’s done!

Start building

Deciding to go self hosted was honestly the best decision, ever. I suddenly have access to all these amazing plugins and widgets which make my life so much easier. And to finally be able to use those cute (and free) themes!! For one full day, I was busy setting up my blog because I was that excited.

Take a look here to a page in my previous blog, which I created complicatedly. I needed to do manual html coding, and edit some images, and then align them personally, and coding (which I’m so bad in) again. And, this was the result.

But! Now that I have access to all the amazing plugins in wordpress.org, I created an upgraded version of it, all in two minutes and with a few clicks.

So, if you guys are wondering whether or not to go self-hosted, I would say yes. Don’t stress about making your blog monetised so immediately, firstly- have fun and meet amazing people! The best part of blogging for me is my satisfaction and happiness, being all giddy looking at my new polished blog. But on top of it all? It’s all the people I’ve met through blogging and their supportive words. I grin every time I answer to a comment or interact with you guys. That’s worth it all.

If you want to go self hosted with Bluehost and want a discount: click here. And since I’m now self hosted with Bluehost myself, feel free to ask me questions and I’ll try my best to explain everything! x

PS: I myself know how nerve-wracking it is to actually go self-hosted. So ask me anything. I’ll be glad to help all I can! Contact me via twitter DM @talesfromjes or email Jesica@talesfromjes.com

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St. Peter’s Basilica

The starting point here is the St. Peter’s Basilica, in Vatican. Technically, Vatican is an independent country and not a part of Rome, but well, it’s located right there in the middle of the city. If you’re staying far away from St Peter, take the Metro A to Ottaviano, 8 Minutes away from San Pietro.

There’s always a long queue to enter the Vatican but it progress constantly. However, queues could take up to 30 Minutes since they have a thorough security check at the entrance. Make sure you’re not dressed in shorts of any crop tops, nor those open-back blouses. They want visitors to still respect San Pietro as a religious site, which is why appropriate dress code is applied.

Once inside, you will be wowed by every single thing. Every single sculpture and every single design will make you hold your breath. I have always thought that Michelangelo’s Pietà, seen from my computer screen or magazines, was not that special. That was, until it was before my very own eyes. It’s dazzling.

Take your time inside and don’t rush your visit in San Pietro. Make sure you explore every corner there is. I planned this Rome-24-hour-itinerary with this in mind, that you’ll spend hours inside. Well, maybe not hours only inside. Go and climb to the top of the dome, and see the striking panoramic view of Rome, along with the symmetrical colonnades of St Peter’s square. Entrance to San Pietro is free, but you’ll need to pay for tickets to the dome if you opt to see it. You can take a lift for half of the climb, but you’ll need to ascend the second half by stairs. The view is definitely worth it, though. And people are understanding! Don’t feel pressured about the ascend up, just climb slowly. (Unless you’re claustrophobic, then I advise against it, since it’s quite a cramped space.)

Castel Sant’Angelo

After you’re ready to leave San Pietro, you’ll walk 5 Minutes to Castel Sant’Angelo, located right next door. Since I planned this as an itinerary consisting of free activities, I meant it for you to adore this masterpiece from the exterior, which is just as beautiful. If you want to enter Castel Sant’Angelo, ticket costs 10,50 Euros. You’ll get to see five floors, each filled with perfectly preserved frescoes and also the collection of weapons. This castle used to serve as the papal residence. The upper floor also outlooks a view of the city!

Piazza Navona

From Sant’Angelo, walk the short distance to Piazza Navona, a lively square featuring fountains, street musicians and artists. It’s where Bernini’s famous Fontana dei Quattri Fiumi stands, translating to Fountain of the Four Rivers. During the end of the 15th century up to the 19th century, this square is where the public market would be held, before it was finally moved to Campo de’ Fiori. During the end of the year, there is, however, a christmas market here! In Piazza Navona, don’t forget to visit this yummy ice-cream stall, Grom. Try a cone!

Pantheon

Next, Pantheon is only a 5 minutes strut away from Piazza Navona. Michelangelo, who was definitely not an easy man to impress, proclaimed the Pantheon to be the design of angels and not humans. It’s that beautiful. Up until may 2018, it was free of charge, but now they will start charging 2-3 Euros entrance fee. The biggest concern here is not the price, but the unavoidable long queue on the ticket office located near the Pantheon. Fingers crossed the system is going to run smooth!

Fontana di Trevi

The last destination for your day will be Trevi! Walk from Pantheon to Trevi, but, BE WARNED! This neighbourhood is full of Pizzerias and Gelaterias, along with that italian-styled restaurants you’ve always seen in pictures. Grab a quick bite here, or go for a full course, just say the word and your wish shall be fulfilled. To be sure of your choice, and make sure you get authentic pasta, check out Trip Advisor! They have this feature where you can check restaurants near you.

As you reach Trevi, it’s going to be definitely advantageous for you to return to your accommodation. Don’t worry if it’s too far to reach by foot, since Trevi is a vicinity away from the Metro station Barberini. But before you left, don’t forget to throw in a coin with your right hand through your left shoulder! Legend has it this will ensure your return to the Eternal City. And, I mean, who wouldn’t want that?

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Oktoberfest was actually first initiated in 1810. King Ludwig I, at that time a crown prince, invited the citizens of Munich to the fields in front of the city gates and attend the festivities from his marriage. This field is then named Theresien Wiese, to honour Crown Princess Theresa, whom then-Crown Prince Ludwig married. This place, translating to Theresa Fields, is where Oktoberfest is held in present time.

Honestly, I’m not much of a drinker. I would chug down a glass or two when I’m out on parties, but generally, I don’t drink alcohol. The taste of beer isn’t something that suits my taste, although I need to say: out of all the beers I have drunk in my life, the Bavarians do know how to make their beer.

Despite that, Oktoberfest is actually an event I wait earnestly for, being a student in Munich myself. But when most people would go for the beer, I go for the festival.

Don’t imagine Oktoberfest as a big open club where people get drunk and bodies are laying on the ground passed out from alcohol. It actually resembles a theme park, and you will see lots of families attending this particular event. There are all kind of rides, from those suitable to kids to the extreme ones even adults would think twice about!

For Oktoberfest, visitors would typically wear the Bavarian traditional costume, Dirndl for the ladies and Lederhosen for men. These costumes are normally sold starting from 100 Euros, while it’s also completely normal for some excellent ones to exceed 300 Euros. You can, however, find cheap Dirndl for about 50 Euros (usually in Amazon!). Another tip is to buy them after the Oktoberfest, and using it for the next year. After Oktoberfest ends, they are normally sold in discounted price. Here’s a link to 30 Euros complete Dirndl-set. In shops, 30 Euros would only get you the inner shirt. Don’t fret, men! Here’s a 50 Euros Lederhosen to save you money and let you buy more beer!

Is all they’re saying about the crazy 1-litre-beer-glass true? Yes!

You can enjoy beers in big tents with capacity of about 80 000 people. If you’re visiting during mid-day or the afternoon, finding a vacant seat wouldn’t be too hard. However, during the weekends, people normally reserve tables to ensure a place. You can’t book individually, you will need to reserve an entire table (8-10 people), which is quite pricy too.

Food here cost around 12-20 Euros, while the 1-litre-beer is about 10 Euros. If you’re trying to be economical, drink only the beer inside and head out to enjoy the stall foods instead. French fries, roasted nuts, Nutella crepes… Bratwurst! German sausages are yum! They’re only 3-5 Euros. Do try the giant Bretzels in these tents though!

Tents are different one to another in terms of food, price, and so but the one thing they have in common: Beer. In all tents, there is going to be Music, the all-together-toast every 10 Minutes- Prost! and strangers talking to each other like they are childhood buddies. It’s an amazing vibe, with people laughing and being completely care-free.

Don’t worry about safety though! Oktoberfest is heavily facilitated with enough securities that’ll ensure no drunkards will start anything rash. Munich is definitely adequately equipped and prepared for this biggest Beer event. Not only do they pay extra attention on the Fest Location, they also add extra security for public transportations!

For this fest itself, the later it gets- the more people! Tents are jam-packed in the evening, and would stay like that ’til late at night. Don’t rush your beer! Everyone would always say: think of a marathon instead of a sprint. Take your time sipping, toasting to strangers, laughing, conversing with people who flew thousands of miles just for this event, and enjoying yourself. You’ll be surprised at how it feels like everyone knows everyone. I, for one, was completely blown.

Aside from the beer, though, don’t miss trying one of the rides in Oktoberfest! It gets really pretty at night too, with stalls and attractions all lighting up at once. People who live in Germany would normally come once completely for the beer, but return for the festivities!

Even if you’re not a fan of beer (like me!), you wouldn’t regret coming to Oktoberfest. It’s such a relief from your stress, like unscrewing all your inner worries. It’s no wonder it’s deemed the World’s largest fair- Oktoberfest.

Important tips for those who travel for Oktoberfest:

• Book hotels early! Accommodations are booked to the brim, it’s 7 Million people attending! The best website to book hotels or hostels is via booking.com. They are extensively used in Germany.
• Book your transportations early as well. Flight tickets during the Oktoberfest are known to quadruple. Check cheapflight for, well, cheap flights! If you’re travelling by bus, use Flixbus. Refer to EUrail or the german official trains, Deutsche Bahn for those travelling by trains.
• Jacket! Munich is quite a cold city, and if you’re not drinking any beer, then those Dirndl or Lederhosen only might be too cold for you.
• Don’t hold back! Talk with people, toast everyone around you, it’s a festival so don’t be shy!
• Last tip, and the most important one: Have fun!

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I have always thought that I have no self-control whatsoever, but apparently I have improved! I held myself from screaming in happiness, and caught myself just in time before I do the double somersault. But hey! It’s my first ever nomination, the Mystery Blogger Award!

Philomena Kendi nominated me for this award, to which I’m not only grateful, but awestruck! She just started her blog and yet I have grown to enjoy her writings very much, so you all should definitely check out her blog!

Moving on to the 5 questions I was asked, which had me grinning all the while typing as it was so much fun answering them!

1. Describe the experience of writing in 3 words.
 Calming, thrilling, teaching. – Writing is what calms me down whenever I’m feeling anxious, and yet I always feel excited jolting down my ideas. Moreover, it taught me to keep learning, and to always improve yourself.

2. How would you tackle a writers block?
 This is my famous method- I take a 30 minutes shower! (20 Minutes of just standing there feeling like Picasso designing his masterpiece) There’s nothing like a warm fuzzy shower that will rain ideas down on you.

3.Which movie character and in what movie do you think perfectly features you?
 Stitch! Everytime I see Stitch trying to do his best with good intentions and ending up destructing things, it reminds me…of me! And yet, just like Stitch has Lilo, I have people around me who still stick with me through thick and thin. (Sending hugs to you guys!)

4. Why writing?
 I honestly don’t have a concrete reason. But, I am first and foremost a book nerd! And I am sometimes so amazed by how the author of a book could make me feel so bewitched to an alter universe, not putting down a book until I finished that last page. That’s how I started writing myself, out of adoration for writers in this World.

5. Which do you prefer.. Kids or pets??
 After a long bickering (between me and myself, in two voices I create to make it feel real), it’s kids! I think seeing someone grow up and being able to fully converse with them, actually knowing what they’re feeling and thinking, would be something amazing. 

6.Your partner just broke up with you. Tomorrow you seem him or her all over someone else. Speak your mind. 
 To be honest, I wouldn’t be able to utter a word. What I’m sure of, though, is that I will head to the nearest mart, buy the 1 litre ice cream, crawl into my bed and not get out ’til I finish that ice cream tub.

Just as I was nominated, I would also like to nominate the authors whose works I truly adore. They could turn my cloudy days to a bright spring through only my computer screen.

Mother of Girls

Dole Whip and Books

Worldwide Footprints Blog

Notes from Alex

The Smurfy Gamers Blog

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Now proceeding to the rules!
1. Put the award logo image in your blog.
2. List the rules
3.Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
4. Answer the questions you were asked.
5. Nominate 5-10 people and notify.
6.Ask your nominees any five questions of your choice and one weird or funny (specify)

Here are my questions, have fun answering them!
1. Who is the movie character that inspires you most?
2. Two favourite things about blogging!
3. What is the best decision you have ever made in life?
4. Pick an object that in some ways resembles you.
5. In which environment do you feel most productive?
6. If you could date anyone, in this entire World, who would it be?

So, there you go! I would like to thank Philomena Kendi once more for this nomination!

And to add a few words, I am new to this ‘blogging’ but I’m so grateful to meet the people I met because of it.

With that said, if I’m to mention the club I know best (in my amateur knowledge), it would be Barcelona. The club known to host some of the best players in the World.

Firstly, I was quite doubted on whether or not I should visit this stadium. I thought, I don’t even quite understand the concept of offside. But thankfully, the stars aligned and I made the better decision: I booked the tickets online on their website and went to see Camp Nou, Barcelona.

The first place I entered was the Museum and Trophy display, where you will see the history of the club, along with Messi’s line-up of 5 FIFA Ballon D’or. Seeing all these would have anyone gasping, football fan or not, it’s such an impressive journey that FC Barcelona went through.

Throughout the Camp Nou experience, you get to visit the visiting team’s dressing room, press room, even walk down the stairs where players enter from during matches, along with cheers through loudspeakers. You get a glimpse of the excitement and the hype the players get before a match. And then, of course, it’s the massive, largest stadium in Spain and Europe, with a capacity of almost 100 000 spectators.

After the Camp Nou Experience Tour, there is this large souvenir area, with goodies ranging from keychains to jerseys. Even I launched to a shopping spree, picking up pencils and pens and even candies with FC Barcelona wrappers.

Oh, a sidenote, through out the tour, there are spots where you can take a professionally shot picture (albeit the long queue). You can then, at the end of the tour, buy your pictures as an album, or printed on keychains. It’s quite expensive for a photo album, but since this is not an everyday experience, I bought one to bring home!

Coming from a very-amateur-and-very-beginner football fan, with very minimum knowledge of football… I truly believe everyone should visit Camp Nou. The experience itself gives you a thrill and excitement you wouldn’t find in any ordinary stadium! Here’s where you can find out all about it: Click here.

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Post contains affiliate links. Refer to my disclosure.

In the list of places you need to visit in Spain, Seville probably wouldn’t make the top-three-cut, and is less known compared to some of the most famous tourist destinations in Español. But with chance and luck, you might find yourself in this beautiful city, asking yourself why you didn’t come sooner.

CASA DE PILATOS

A mixture of Italian Renaissance and Spanish Mudéjar, Casa de Pilatos is also considered the prototype of the Andalusian Palace. It hosts one of the greatest antique azulejo collection in the World.

You could visit the lower ground only for 8 euros, or see the complete house (lower+upper ground) for 10 euros. For lower level tour, you get an audio guide and do the look-around solo, including the beautiful garden. However, the complete house tour would be a guided one and last 30 minutes. The upper level contained paintings and such, so opt for them only if you’re interested in paintings and some of the original furnitures.

REALES ALCAZARES

Reales Alcazares is the oldest royal palace still used in Europe, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The second floor is still used by the royal family as their official residence. The design and style gives us the idea of the cultures that has influenced Seville throughout the time since the 11th century, when this palace was built.

In peak or holiday season, ticket offices are quite crowded so I recommend booking your tickets online! Plan quite a lot of time for this site since there are lots to see.

This royal palace is a massive area and you will find yourself venturing not only through rooms and parts of the palace, but also through time! It has evolved along with the influence in Seville through out the centuries.

CATEDRAL DE SEVILLA

Just across the Reales Alcazares, Seville Cathedral is actually the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See. It is registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Seville Cathedral is the third largest church in the World, while as a gothic church it is actually the largest, with a whooping area of 23,500 square metres.

Thankfully, we booked the tickets online already and managed to skip the queue to enter. You need to reserve a specific time on a specific date, and the price for an adult is 9 Euro, which include entrance to the Giralda (tower) as well. Now, the only setback is that the website is not available in English, but with some trial and errors you’ll find your way!

⇒ Another way to skip the queue is to go to Church of El Salvador, and then purchase a combined ticket which include entrance to the Cathedral as well. Church of El Salvador is also a beautiful place to visit while you’re in Seville, and there’s no loss in giving it a look through!

As I finally went inside, the looong queue totally made sense: the interior of the Cathedral was simply breathtaking, along with all the gothic designs and the architecture. It was such a shame that we visited a day before a religious celebration, and hence some parts of the church were not accessible because of the preparation. Nevertheless, it’s still magnificent!

PLAZA DE ESPANA

Plaza de Espana is located 15 minutes away from the Cathedral shaped like a half hemisphere, and there was this half hemisphere ‘lake’/’pond’, with beautiful bridges for people to walk across. There is also a chance to take a small boat along this small water body, and honestly it kinda reminded me of Venice. Also, in the middle of the entire grandeur is a fountain, and all around the building there are tiny alcoves, each one representing one of Spain’s province.

This place is no doubt my favourite part of the entire Seville tour. It was also the shooting scene in one of Star wars movie. Try to visit early in the morning or quite late in the evening (during summer) to avoid crowds.

Here are the places I visit during my stay in Seville, but do tell me if there’s something I missed! Drop your own favourite places or recommendations of Seville!

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Disneyland Paris is located on the outskirts of the city, but there’s a train (RER A) from Paris that commute to Disneyland in only 40 minutes. You will exit directly to the entrance of the magic kingdom. You can book tickets for the park, the studio, or both of them. Since I figured I was quite short on time, I bought ticket for the park only. Book tickets to skip the queue, but book them only from the official website of Disneyland Paris! If you’re also worried about where to stay, (especially since Disneyland is quite far away from the city, and firework show during summer last ’til 1 am!!) they have a package for Disney Hotel. And, for the icing of the cake, you get to meet characters there. Waving to Mickey as you eat your croissant? Yes, you can.

The first thing that will greet you as you pass the security clearance and ticket control is a row of shops, all full of every kind of disney merchandise you could dream of. You are going to consider buying everything, 10 stuffed animals and about 15 cups, and I’m not going to judge, because that’s exactly how I felt.

And guess what, you can even have a haircut in Disneyland. It is, truly, the land of imagination, isn’t it?! If you want to find out more about the shops there, there is an extensive explanation in their website! God, I wish I knew that there was a list of things I should buy. I missed the star wars socks! (wails sadly)

However, I recommend doing your shopping at the very end, as you exit Disneyland, since there’s “World of Disney”, the big central shop which has everything. These small Disneyland shops vary in things they sell, which might make you regret buying something in a shop since you found something better in the next one. In Winter, World of Disney is still open even after the fireworks show is completely finished. (Not really sure about summer, though)

After the row of shops, you will be welcomed by the sight of this pretty castle, inspired by the Sleeping Beauty. What awaits you behind that is disney-themed attractions from Star Wars to Dumbo. A small tip: visit everything, even if you think that you wouldn’t like the ride or that it’s only suitable for a child. The decorations and the settings are all worth visiting!

You can also ask questions in the office to know if your favourite character is going to be present for pictures that day. Their official website also shows where and when you can meet your favourite character! Click this link to see information about the shows and parades.

For lunch, you might have heard that meals in Disneyland are quite expensive. While that is partially true, doesn’t mean you can’t find an affordable and reasonable price when you dine there. In the maps of Disneyland, they categorise restaurant based on the price as well, so no worries! You could have a meal set for about 10-15 Euros.

Anyways, now that we’re talking about food, you can actually sign up for a meal with disney characters! This might give your children/little bros and sis the time of their life. Hey, *I* would have the time of my life. More about it here.

I went to Paris in January, two months before was the release of Coco. I’m quite surprised that in such a short amount of time they have already built a Coco-themed restaurant. I’m not complaining though. As I watch the movie, I was in awe of the bright colours that were present as the ‘theme’ for this movie, but to see it in real life? I was wonderstruck.

At the evening, there is this parade from the Castle up to the primary entrance. Now, real advice, whatever you do, you should not miss this parade. Whatever you’re doing, drop it and go running to see your favourite disney character on a carriage. Personally, for me it’s Olaf. And yes, I screamed his name along all the 7 year olds who were present.

The grand spectacle of Disneyland Paris is for sure the fireworks show, Illumination. Hours vary depending on season, since a fireworks show with a bright sky wouldn’t be spectacular. But no matter how late this show starts, this is the obvious, definite, compulsory show you need to see in Disneyland. It’s a combination of fireworks, special lighting on the castle, and even a fountain show lighting up the dark night. It’s really like entering a magic dream away from reality.

Post contain affiliate links. Refer to my disclosure.

Where should you stroll to in a sun-less Paris?

Obviously, the Eiffel. This 324-metres-tall tower is dazzling alright under the sunlight, but it’ll definitely steal your heart when it light up the dark Paris sky. It lights up everyday after sunset up to 1 am, or 2 am in summer. It will twinkle for 5 minutes, putting on a light show, every hour. But from where should I enjoy this Paris landmark?

Right below Eiffel itself. Take the metro to Bir-Hakeim or the RER to Champ de Mars – Tour Eiffel. From there it’s a 5 minute walk to this iconic symbol of Paris.

But, wait. Don’t stop there.

Cross the Seine through Pont d’Iena to Jardins du Trocadero and take even more pictures there. And also at Palais de Chaillot. If you have seen social media influencers posting those pictures in Instagram where they’re sitting on a stair incline, with Eiffel in the background? They took it here.

Don’t get ready to call it a night, yet. Next on the list is Place de la Concorde. Take the metro from Trocadero to Concorde, and admire the beautiful Ferris Wheel. Tip: on a cold winter night, buy some hot crepes with Nutella oozing inside.

Finally, we’re on to our last stop. Walk 15 minutes to the famous set of Wonder Woman, Monte Carlo and The Da Vinci Code; Louvre. Aside from the pretty setting of Louvre at night, this also means you get to skip the crowds of tourists and feel like having the place to yourself.

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This is part of my 3 days budget-travel trip across Milan, Venice and Verona.

Firstly, this town is a small area you will want to explore to its fullest. For that, I highly recommend walking instead of taking the bus or renting a car. When you plan your day-itinerary right, it’s completely possible to see the entire Verona by foot.

How to plan the right itinerary? Plot the places you want to visit, I recommend marking them in google map. This ables you to see how you could most efficiently plan the route for the day. Make sure you’re not making detours around since not only it waste your energy, you’re also losing valuable time to view this pretty city! If you would like my help to plan your day, you can absolutely ask me via comment or the contact form.

CASTELVECCHIO BRIDGE

The Castelvecchio Bridge, or also known as the Scaligero Bridge, was once featuring the largest span in the World. From here you can overlook Ponte delle Vittoria and Chiesa di Sant’Eufemia by the Adige river bank. If you’re someone like me, you might spend half an hour here taking pictures of all angles. Not only does the construction wow you, this bridge overlook such a scenic view of Verona.

There wasn’t a lot of people, which made me love Verona even more. It’s a lively city, but definitely not overcrowded.

ARENA DI VERONA

Think of it as Colosseum’s smaller sister, but as beautiful and as grand. Arena di Verona is, until today, still very well preserved. It also houses up to present time some large-scale operas. In its prime, the capacity was 30 000, but now only a maximum of 15 000 audience are allowed.

CASTEL SAN PIETRO

You need to do a slight hike to reach Castel San Pietro but it is a must, compulsory go-to place in Verona. Just look at that view! As I was walking the streets of Verona, I knew already that it’s a stunning city, but seeing it from above took it to a whole new level.

After completing my trip in Verona, it’s not hard to see how this city inspired the most famous love story to date. No matter which turn you take or which direction, you always end up finding a pleasing site in every turn.

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I’m sure most of us are left with this wanderlust feeling towards Venice after the Tourist, as Angelina Jolie does her actions on a boat through the canals. Or in Casino Royale, the famous 007, concluding the ending of the movie in Venice.

This is a part of my 3 days budget-travel across Milan, Venice and Verona. Read more here about how I travel for less than 100 Euros across 3 cities.

Being completely honest, Venice isn’t in my top to-go destinations. Yes, it certainly has its appeal. However, Venice has mood-swings all over the year. It’s such a pretty, cheerful city with the sunlight. Nonetheless, mostly, it’s covered with mist and grey skies. Couple that with the fact that Tourists from all over the World are packing the place, and Tourist-scammer always on the action. (I once had a man yell at me, because I refused his “feeds” for the birds, but he insisted that I pay for it anyway. Even though I avoided and vigorously said no, he said that he has given me the “feeds” anyway, and I had to pay. “Has given”, as in his context, means him dropping those “feeds” to my hands, even as I was refusing)

There are, however, reasons that do make Venice the romantic city it is known as, attracting tourists from every country. The city is an amazing feat itself, built upon water, somehow sustaining life even in such an unusual terrain. Anyway, here’s a list of my personal top 3 possible reasons why Venice is universally known as one of the most beautiful city in the World.

PIAZZA SAN MARCO, BASILICA SAN MARCO

Piazza san Marco is the centre of tourism in Venice, and it ain’t so hard to see why. The square is beautiful, filled with birds feeding on seeds on the floor. It’s spacious, even with tourists huddling everywhere.

It’s also where you’ll find Saint Mark’s Basilica, which altar is built with gold, silver, and 1927 gems. Saint Mark’s Basilica, for its gold ground mosaics and Venetian symbol of wealth, is known as Chiesa d’oro (Church of gold).

When you’re intrigued to see the city of Venice from above, you should go and climb the bell tower of Saint Mark’s Basilica. I personally didn’t go, discouraged by the very long queue.

PONTE RIALTO

I have always been really biased towards architectural structures, and here’s where I display it again. Ponte Rialto is one of the 4 oldest bridges in Venice, crossing the grand canal. From Ponte Rialto, you can overlook the grand canal, the main body of water in Venice. When the weather is shining, this view is just the prettiest.

BURANO

This is my favourite best. Burano is a small island among the venetian islands. From Venice, you can take a water bus here, fare is also included in the day ticket! It takes around 40 minutes to reach this island, but skipping this would be a great loss.

After the hustling Venice, drifting to the quieter, emptier Burano feels like taking a deep breath. All of the homes in this island are painted with bright colours like blue, yellow, or red. Take lots of pictures here, it resembles an image straight out of our childhood fairy tale.

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1. ROME

If you’ve seen my posts, you will realise that most of them are of Rome. But I can’t help it, the more I came back, the more I love this city. Whenever you go, there is always something that captures your attention, there’s always a memoir from the civilisation it once was, and I can’t get enough of it. It is, after all, the eternal city.

2. POSITANO

Stepping my foot for the first time in Positano was like entering an alternate universe full of dreams. I have always seen those picturesque houses forming a sled, with the blue sea and stretching horizon- like it wasn’t real. But there it was, in front of my own eyes; hypnotising and very much true.

3. FLORENCE

Whenever people find out that I’ve been more than 5 times in Rome and never in Florence, they look at me as if I’ve grown an eye on my forehead. And after finally coming to see the cradle of the Renaissance, I could truly understand why. If Rome has this “ancient, eternal” vibe on it, everything about Florence screams “beautiful” and “elegant”. The biggest feat? Watching the quaint panorama of the city, along with the Duomo, from Piazzale Michelangelo.

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As I have written on my previous post, I was on a 3-days budget trip across Milan, Venice and Verona- in that order. I’m going to list everything I did on my first day of the trip in Milan: what I eat, where I went, everything! Milan is not only the luxurious-shopping-center it’s known to be, there’s more to discover.

The bus arrived in Milano Lampugnano exactly at 6:40, from which I then took the Metro 1 to Metro Stop Cairoli Castello. A single metro ticket cost 1,5 Euros, while a day ticket cost 4,5. I opted for the single ticket, since I planned my itinerary in such a way that I wouldn’t need to travel by metro the entire day.

First stop, the Castello Sforzesco, right above the metro stop Cairoli. Sforza castle was built in the 15th century and now houses a number of museums and art exhibitions. Since I was trying to press down budget, I sadly didn’t buy the ticket to enter and view the collections inside. But fret not, since you can enjoy walking leisurely in the park (Parco Sempione) within the castle walls and admire the structure of the castle, for free! I was there early in the morning but at noon, there are many visitors even having picnics by the beautiful garden.

The next stop was San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore, 10 minutes walking distance from Castello Sforzesco. I was particularly smitten with the interiors of the church, full of mural paintings instead of plain walls. It’s a cycle of frescoes, depicting the life of San Maurizio, work of Bernardino Luini. Don’t skip this place, oh and did I mention entrance is free?

After San Maurizio, I would recommend you visit Sant’Ambrogio and San Lorenzo before reaching the Duomo. They are in the same line, so you’ll pass by the two churches on your way anyway, and it’s such a shame to not stop by!

Sant’Ambrogio and San Lorenzo are two of the oldest churches in Milan, built in the late 4th century. While I prefer the interiors of San Maurizio, these two churches are larger in size and look gorgeous from the outside!

Along the way, I stopped by in a supermarket to buy some water and chocolate bread for breakfast. It cost me around 1,5 Euros and was quite filling, not to mention that it actually tasted good.

Now, the Duomo. Milan’s most famous landmark. Even though I was in a budget, skipping the chance to view everything this church has to offer would be a sin. I even went ahead and buy the ticket for the entrance, via lift. Entrance to only the church cost 3 Euros, while going to the terrace cost you an additional 13 Euros. You can, however, buy the 16 Euros Pass A, which include entrance to the church, the terrace, the archeological area and the duomo museum.

I didn’t book the ticket in advance, but then again, I was there quite early, so admission was relatively still empty. At noon, though, I saw long lines coming out the ticket offices. Definitely recommend you to book them online and skip the queue!

There was quite a tight security check to enter both the Duomo and the Terrace. Some tourists are wearing shorts, but they were let in anyway. Polite clothes are required, however, when you want to join the holy mass in the Duomo.

I figured to go to the terrace first before the church, since I thought it would get very crowded as the day proceed (which it did!). It was around 10 am and I stood in line for about 20 minutes before finally entering the lift. (One ascend is filled with about 5 people, plus the man in charge)

The lift was definitely a good option for me, since I was on a packed 3 days trip and tiring myself out during my first day is really a bad choice. If you chose to ascend with the stairs (250 steps), the ticket cost 4 Euros less.

As I reached the terrace, I honestly can’t believe how awestruck I was. Seeing those towers with such precise details on its carvings is truly a feat. The terrace is actually quite a big, open space. I took just about a thousand pictures here, posing here and there, kept gasping as I walk on and find more and more there is to this place. It was all monochrome, all grey stones, and yet it’s most ‘colourful’, with small minuscule structures carved in such perfection; as if telling its own story.

I proceed directly with the interior of the church, and although it was grand and striking, my heart has been won over by the terrace.

My ticket include admission to the archeological site below the Duomo, Battistero Paleocristiano. This place might at first seem as if it has nothing much to offer, but it actually offer a historical insight to baptistry sites that once were there.

After the duomo, I, of course, went to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Italy’s oldest still active shopping mall located directly across the Duomo. To be honest, it is beautiful, but I didn’t feel anything special towards this place. It might have been different if I’m someone who loves shopping, but since I’m not, I just simply pass by this place.

By that time, my stomach was asking for lunch, and I was waiting for that moment. Why? Because, I was dying to try the famous Luini. 

Luini is 200 metres away from the Duomo, and is known to serve one of the best Panzerotti, since 1888. It’s not only a tourist hot spot since locals are also known to love this folded slice of pizza, resembling a smaller calzone, but fried.

Based on my own experience, I don’t normally like calzone. However, I fell in love with these Panzerottis. Luini was packed with people but it didn’t take long for me to get my order. After long thoughts on I-want-to-buy-all-of-them, I finally chose the pomodoro e mozarella. This is known to be the ‘classic’, and it surely didn’t disappoint.

The big demand ensures that you’ll always get freshly cooked, piping hot Panzerotti. Honestly, you take a bite and could taste the crispy bread and delicious tomato sauce and that oozing cheese- all at once! One of these delicious fried snacks cost only 2,7 Euros!

Anyway, after Luini, there wasn’t any other big highlight throughout my day in Milan. We went to both Opera ad Teatro alla Scala and Pinacoteca di Brera, which looked amazing from the outside- but I didn’t get to see the inside since reviews told me they were not that special.

This was my second time in Milan, and the first time I was there, I saw the Last Supper painting already. I don’t have that keen of an eye for arts and while I admit that it’s magnificent, I didn’t go and visit it a second time.

To end the Milan trip, I took the metro 1 once more to Lampugnano bus station, ready to board to Venice. Wait for my next post about the floating city!

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Firstly, I would clearly state here that this is not a luxury trip. If you’re looking for vacations where you get to lounge in the hotel pool, enjoy a breakfast buffet and dine every night in a restaurant- then this isn’t the article for you.

I wasn’t in a state where I have been saving money exclusively for this travel, nor did I win a lottery, or took a part-time job for a month. For that, you must know that I desperately cut costs here and there to make this happen. My main purpose was to see new places and find new stories;

and here’s ¹how I made it happen, ²the breakdown of costs and my opinion on ³whether it’s worth it:

This is about my 3 days budget-travel across Milan, Venice and Verona. Click on the links to see more about how I ventured each city in this trip.

 HOW I TRAVEL CHEAP

1) I planned this trip two months ahead. This detail could make all the difference. Spontaneous trips are very rarely pocket-friendly. Booking way before your departure would ensure that tickets (bus, train, plane) and hotels are way, way cheaper. 3 Weeks after I booked my tickets, I found out that fares have gone up twice-even thrice the original amount.

More than that, you should also plan where you’re going to go. Booking museum tickets or other entrance tickets online would let you skip the line, save time, and sometimes, they even cost cheaper than on the spot fares. I also use TripAdvisor a lot to book cheap, fun tours or to simply book skip-the-line tickets. Here’s an example of a complete tour of Milan.

2) I travel across cities via night bus. This decision has won me 2 advantages. Firstly, I don’t waste time on the road, and I get to explore the cities more, since I have the entire day to do so. Secondly, travelling with a night bus would mean that you spend the night on the road instead of having to book a hotel. It saves a lot of money. Not to mention, I used the Flixbus. They’re most known across Europe and based on my experience, they always have the cheapest price. It starts at 5 Euros! If you ever travel across Europe, from cities to cities, or even across countries, definitely use Flixbus. I am car-sick very easily, so travelling via bus was once a no no no for me. Until I tried Flixbus, and it’s cheap, clean, quick and comfortable. It has adequate toilets and they serve the most extensive network in Europe. Book your journey now!

TIP: travel in pairs, or always in evens. Seats in bus are always in pairs, and travelling in pairs would mean that you can avoid having to sit next to strangers. In my experiences, I often get 2 seats for myself (especially in night-bus) or sit next to a nice stranger. However, sitting next to someone you don’t know might make you uncomfortable, and remembering that you need to sleep, it would be best to play it safe.

3) I skipped the fancy restaurants. No worries, folks, I did have my pizzas and pastas. Of course I did, it’s Italy! But– I stick to the rule of having a ‘luxury’ meal once a day, and they cost always less than 10 Euros. Good food doesn’t mean expensive food. Always check in Trip advisor to avoid getting scammed or ending up with bad dishes. They especially have the “Cheap Eats” category, which will allow you to munch on Italian foods while limiting expenses.

4) Buy snacks in supermarkets. This is such a simple, small, tiny, little detail– and yet very effective! Buy your water and bread/snacks in supermarkets before you set off in all your tourist destinations. Avoid buying them in restaurants or tourist sites. You might be surprise how much you end up saving by this simple tip! There are lots of them, you just need to type “supermarket” in your google map and voila. 

5) Plan your itinerary- walk, walk walk! Here’s another profit from planning ahead. You can group the tourist sites near to each other, and venture through them by foot instead of taking a metro to every next destination. Especially in Verona, you can explore the entire city by foot if you plan it right! By following a path of sites near to each other, you’d just keep enjoying every single one of them, and without realising it, you’ve walked the entire city! This is also good exercise, and you might spontaneously find something interesting along the way!

6) Pick the hostel. Hostel doesn’t mean shady rooms in a dark alley with bed that creak. That was ages ago. Nowadays, hostels are the top choice for budget travelling. It you’re too concerned sleeping in a bunk bed with 7 other people in the room, you can actually have a room for two in a hostel (perks of travelling with a friend!). The only thing is that you’ll get an outdoor bathroom. In Venice, I booked a room for two via booking.com for 80 euros (all fees, including tourist fee included). The entire place was actually very clean and comfortable, check in was easy too. Tip: with booking.com you can also see the location and compare prices quite easily. Pick a location near to the center (you can easily do this by seeing the map)

The bunk bed option is actually not that bad. I once slept in a room for 8 people, and I actually made some friends. If you’re travelling alone, this might be an interesting offer for you. Most hostels also have female only dorms. They also let you store your belongings in a storage, so don’t worry about missing your valuables! You should, however, bring you own locks for baggages. Some hostels provide you lockers but not locks. Before you book a hostel, read the reviews! Booking.com offers more than enough reviews provided by other travellers.

Milan

7) No souvenirs, yes keepsakes. I’m quite the sentimental person. I love to keep memoirs of places I’ve been. Nevertheless, we all know souvenirs would add a pressure to our budget. How to avoid this? Instead of buying those keychains and magnets, save things like entrance tickets! I find them actually more meaningful, and that way you don’t have to spend money on souvenirs.

 HOW MUCH DID I SPEND

Firstly, my day in Milan began with the must-go place: the Duomo. Entrance to the church and the Duomo museum cost 3 Euros only. I bought the Entrance ticket A, nonetheless, because I wanted to go to the terrace. It cost 16 Euros, and I got to go up with lift. For more infos on admissions to Duomo, check their official website.

The rest of the day I ventured through Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Teatro alla Scala, and more- all by foot. I didn’t enter any more sites with an entrance fee. At night I took the metro from Duomo to the Bus station Lampugnano: 1,5 Euros.

The bus from Milan departed at 23:50 and arrived in Venice at 5:00, Flixbus ticket was 13,9 Euros per person. In Venice, I bought the day ticket for Vaporettos (water bus) for 20 Euros (single ticket cost 7,5 Euros). With this ticket, I even travelled to a nearby island, Murano. It’s full of colourful houses, definitely not something you should skip.

I spent the night in a hostel in Venice. A room for two cost 80 Euros, so I paid 40 Euros for a night there. (This hostel was very central, 7 walking minutes away from Piazza san Marco. I booked with booking.com, which prevented me from booking a 150 Euro hostel, thankfully. It’s always booking.com from now on.).

The next day, I travelled again with Flixbus and took the 8:15 bus from Venice to Verona. It was a two-hours journey and costed an unbelievable 7,9 Euros. Through out the entire day in Verona, I walk from one site to another, except when heading to the bus station after finishing my ventures. The bus fare in Verona is 2 Euros when you buy tickets on board, and 1,3 Euros when you buy them on ticket offices.

All in all, I spent around 130 Euros in this trip, including the museum entrances, meals, bus tickets and everything.

WAS IT WORTH IT

Yes. My purpose was to see Venice, Milan and Verona. I got to visit all the places I planned to visit, enjoy their cuisine, and all under budget. The trip was cheap but still comfortable and very much enjoyable.

Tell me if you have more tips on how to travel in a budget, or ask me anything about this trip! In the next posts I will explain more about the details of my day in each city- itineraries, where I ate, places I visit, pictures… don’t miss it!

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Everyone knows the mainstream photo of Castel Sant’Angelo, where you stand from the Bridge right in front of it and take the picture. After your hundredth or thousandth time seeing it, you might feel like such a picture doesn’t look so special, and would like to try something unique or different. Here’s how you can do so!

Castel Sant’Angelo is one of the iconic symbol of Rome. To be in Rome and not stop by Sant’Angelo would be like ordering caffe latte without milk. Another reason to visit this majestic two-millennia-old castle is the fact that it’s located right next to Vatican.

When you’re planning a one day itinerary for Rome, including this spot would be the clever option, since it’s located between San Pietro and more tourist Sites such as Piazza Navona, Pantheon and so on.

Right, so there you are, in front of Sant’Angelo along with hundreds of tourists snapping the same picture on their cameras. What can you do to stand out?

TIPS FOR A UNIQUE SHOT

1) When you walk from Castel Sant’Angelo to the end of the bridge, you will see a stairs on the left where you can descend to the banks of Tiber. From this spot you can shoot the castle from a lower angle. (TIP: be creative and use the leaves hanging from tree branches to frame the castle.)

2) Now, to be legit, this isn’t actually a photo of Castel Sant’Angelo. However, many people missed their opportunity to actually admire the statues surrounding the castle. They are carved with unbelievable precision, it’s hard to imagine they’re created centuries ago! Snap a picture of them and admire the majestic effect, caused by taking the picture from a low angle.

3) Another object to actually photograph is the Ponte Sant’Angelo, the bridge right in front of the castle. You can take the pictures from Castel Sant’Angelo side, which is truly stunning during twilight hours. When taking the shot this way, you will have the sun on your back, allowing you to have all those shades of sunset in your picture, with the bridge basking in all that golden colour.

Anyways, here are my ideas on taking a different angle to view Sant’Angelo. Let me know if you have another suggestion! I would love to try more possibilities!

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When the sky turns to shades of red, and San Pietro is lighting up in the distance, Altare della Patria standing tall and grand in the background— in Giardino degli Aranci.

First of all, to make it clear, Rome is always beautiful. At any time of day. I could leisure around the city without any destination in my head, and end up in awe anyway. It’s full of ancient sites and lively vibes. Even after midnight, or early morning at dawn, you could see Trevi without the crowd or San Pietro lighting up.

However, I have always had a thing for sunset. That twilight sky with shades of gradations from red to pink to purple, I’m head over heels for. Which is why, I kept spending sunset in different places in Rome, until I finally found my perfect hideaway: Giardino degli Aranci.

This place, which translates to Orange Garden, is located on the Aventine Hill. It’s just next to the Aventine Keyhole. You will need about 25-30 minutes away by foot from Colosseum, and 15 from Circo Massimo. Giardino degli Aranci is actually not so far from these two sites. However, it’s an uphill walk, which is why you’ll get an amazing view to the city’s panorama.

Approaching sunset, this vantage point is normally crowded with couples who are enjoying the romantic view. And I can’t blame them, especially since there’s always this man serenading the entire visitors with his acoustic songs.

As you enter Orange Garden, you will see a path, with San Pietro’s dome in the distance. It’s such a beautiful sight, the Cupola seemingly framed by the tall orange trees.

You can also see Altare della Patria from this place and the Tiber. My favourite moment is the second it gets dark and the streets start to light up, along with the city. I took a lot of pictures, although none of them do the sight justice. You just have to see for yourself. It’s such a calming, peaceful, beautifully exquisite experience.

Here are some of the photos I took. Rome in different sunlights.

Rice, and cheese and tomato. Coated with bread crumbs and then deep fried. Next to Pasta and Pizza, here’s another Roman cuisine you shouldn’t miss.

It’s not a familiar name, and when you live outside Italy, it’s a slim chance you have even heard of it.

On one of my trips to Italy a couple years ago, I stumbled against these small snacks which immediately won my heart over. Now, whenever I catch a flight to Rome, it’s the first thing I look for. Morning, afternoon, evening, everytime I come across the sight of Supplìs, I would stop by and consider whether I’m going to buy them again. (Normally ending up in a positive answer, even if I had eaten 3 on the same day already)

So, what are those?

Supplì is a ball of rice with tomato sauce and cheese, and then coated with breadcrumbs, served deep fried. It’s a typical roman cuisine, though you might find it in other regions of Italy as well. In southern Italy, it’s more commonly known as Arancini, although Arancini and Supplì are actually different. While Supplì is filled only with cheese, Arancini has peas and meat along as fillings. This is, however, not always the case. But main point is, etymological aspects aside, Arancini and Supplì are deep fried rice balls with tomato sauce, cheese, and sometimes more fillings. For the accurate explanation and their difference, you might have to consult an italian. Me? I’m just someone who really, really love italian foods.

In the eternal city, it’s quite easy to find Supplì. They are normally in most Pizzerias, and in restaurants they’re usually served under the appetizer list. In most of them, they’re going to be filled with cheese and tomato sauce, sometimes Ragu sauce.

P.S: They look quite similar to Crochette, a ball of potato coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried. So make sure you don’t point to the wrong snack! This happened to me once, although I dont regret it at all. haha! Crochette is delicious too! Crocchettes are also usually quite easy to find, mostly in Pizzerias. Some restaurants also have them as appetizers.

There is, also, a small snack-bar (“Rosticceria”) dedicated only to Supplì. It has Supplì with different kind of fillings. I went there once, and their Supplì/Arancini is fantastic. (some of my italian friends told me that Supplì is smaller, while Arancini is the size of my fist. This particular place has Supplìs bigger than my fist.) The name of this snack bar is, implying to the one cuisine they specialize in, “i Supplì“. It’s located near the light rail station “Trastevere”.

I also once went to another Supplì restaurant, near the metro station Lepanto. It’s called “Mondo Arancina“, 3 minutes away from the metro station. There are even Supplìs with eggplants! Mondo Arancina actually have 2 other branches in Rome, although I have only visited the one near Lepanto metro station.

These small rice balls cost normally 1-1,5 Euros, when they’re the regular ones. However, the bigger ones (Arancini) may cost 2,5-3 Euros. They’re best when eaten warm, with all the outer part crunchy and then biting to that melted cheese inside. Whenever youre asked riscaldati? (heated?), you should say yes! These snacks served warm are simply delicious! They’re also quite filling, and is therefore, in my opinion, quite cheap. You could be full with two regular Supplìs or with one Arancini.

Next time you go and explore the ruins of Rome, don’t forget to try and find Supplì! It’s rice and cheese and tomato sauce, and deep fried! Who would want to miss out on that?

(more notes: I am definitely not an expert on this, so please correct me if I explained something wrong! tell me if you have tried Suppli/Arancini and what you think about it!)

A 15 minutes walk from San Pietro, with pizzas that’ll keep you coming for more. I love Pizza in Rome.

Apart from the title being my own personal, honest, declaration (I do LOVE pizza), it’s actually the name of a Pizzeria in Rome. I love Pizza is a 10-15 minutes walk from St Peter’s Basilica, and bustles daily with not only tourists but also locals.

It’s located exactly at Via Leone IV, 91, with “I LOVE PIZZA” written right above the entrance.

The interior is not very spacious, so if you’re a party of more than 2 people, take-away is truly the better option. At noon, tables are fully occupied with people coming in for lunch, and you can hear english to chinese to german to italian spoken in this Pizzeria.

The way you order is pretty simple. When you’re interested in only having quick bites of Pizza, you can simply point to one of the pizzas in display, and tell them how much you would like. They will then heat it up for you. I usually ask for 2 pieces each from 2 types of pizzas when I’m feeling like having a snack to bring along my walk exploring the eternal city.

When you order this way, they’re going to calculate the price by the weight of your pizza. The awesome thing is that you could have varieties of pizzas in one sitting instead of finishing only one type of it.  Another great thing from this place is that you’re probably spend only 4 Euros for quick bites and maybe 8 Euros for a regular lunch.

In the evening, or during dinner hours, this place is actually not so crowded and when you want to, you could dine inside. There aren’t a lot of people for dinner since most of them (including me) opted to have the pizzas as take-away and enjoy it at home.

I mean– good pizza in front of your favourite netflix series, who wouldn’t like that?

I love Pizza also give you the option to order a round pan of pizza, which they’ll bake on the spot for you. For this, it might be a good idea to order first by phone, so you can skip the waiting time! A pan of pizza cost around 7-9 Euros, and is worth every single penny.

The pizzas are actually quite thin, which is what I love. I have never been able to fully enjoy thick pizza, and I love Pizza is just the place for me. They’re also generous with their toppings and the cheese. Especially the cheese. These pizzas are not for the weak hearted!

Anyway, the next time you go and visit San Pietro, don’t skip this place! If you went to Rome and don’t eat Pizza, did you really go to Rome? I declare: nope!

A little confession: in my 7 days stay, I ate their pizzas exactly 4 times. I just keep coming back to get more Pizzas!

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