Travel The World

Day 6 - We drove from Budapest to Vienna. Vienna was once the center of the mighty Hapsburg Empire. Upon arrival, we went on a city tour with a drive along the elegant Ringstrasse . Vienna's Ringstrasse or The Ring Road is 5.3 kilometers long, where the Vienna State Opera, the Parliament, City Hall, and many more buildings built in the second half of the 19th century that were mostly architectural masterpieces.  We went down from the bus to walk from Hofburg Palace (wish we went inside the palace), which used to be inhabited by the imperial family, and today houses the office of the President of Austria. We walk through Heldenplatz or the Heroes Square, the name is based on the two magnificent horseman monuments created in 1860 nad 1865. The last stop of our city tour is St. Stephen's Cathedral or in German, Stephansdom. It is the mother churh of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and is one of the most important Gothic structures in Austria today. The roof i...

Day 4 - We left Prague through Moravia, where Napoleon established his headquarters during the Battle of Austerlitz and arrive in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Bratislava borders Austria and Hungary, and is the political, cultural and economic center, and also the largest city in Slovakia. We had a short city walk and after having our lunch, we're on our way to Budapest.  After dinner that night, we joined the Illumination Drive around the city's landmarks beautifully illuminated in the night sky. Budapest used to be two separate cities with Buda on the west and Pest on the east bank of the river Danube . We drove around the places listed as UNESCO World Heritage site. The view of Danube embankments including the Chain Bridge, Gellert Hill, Citadel, and Buda Castle are all part of the World Heritage today. First stop for the night is Vajdahunyad Castle which was built in 1896 as part if the Millenial Exhibition to celebrate the 1,000 years of Hungary. It house...

Day 2 -  After that, we head to the Czech border in the Bohemian Forest and travel to Prague.  We arrived at our hotel, Andel's, which is very near a shopping mall so we got to shop a little before dinner.  At night, we joined the Prague by Night excursion where we had a guided walking tour.  We went to Strahov Monastery at a hilltop where you can have a fantastic view of the city.  Next we stopped by a local tavern to have some drinks and listen to traditional music.  And finally, the evening highlight is the walk accross Charles Bridge that crosses the Vltava river and connects Prague Castle to the Old Town.  At the end of the bridge is a gothic tower called the Old Town Bridge Tower which opens to the Old Town.  You can get a nice view of Prague Castle from the square right in front of St. Salvator Church, which is considered to be one of the most valuable example of early Baroque architecture in Prague. Day 3 - It's the day to...

It's our 4th time to Europe, and this time, we visited Central and Eastern Europe, with Globus again.  5 of us this time with my cousin and her husband.  The tour includes countries like Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Austria.  This is the shortest Europe trip we've ever had, only 12 days.  But maybe because I'm getting old now, I'm missing my family more every time I travel, so this short trip is just perfect for me. Day 1 - We arrived at Munich International Airport past noon and were met by our Italian tour director, Anthony and our Italian coach driver, Sergio. After check-in at Le Meridien Munchen, we still have some time before our welcome dinner so we decided to walk around the area of our hotel.  Just accross the street of our hotel is the main train station or Munchen Hauptbahnhof .  Inside are lots of different food stalls, shops, and mini convenience stores.  Dinner that night to meet our tourmates. Day 2 - In the mornin...

Day 15 - That morning, we boarded the ferry to Wales but the ship this time is smaller I guess, because we can all feel it swaying and it made me feel so dizzy most of the trip.  In Wales, we drove to Cardiff for an evening of Welsh entertainment.  Cardiff Castle is nice with the guide giving us a short tour before the dinner.  The dinner would've been nice as well but I think they overbooked the night we were there.  The place was packed and the servers who are also performers can't serve everyone fast enough. Day 16 - Crossing the border again to England, we went to one of my favorites in this trip, the Roman Baths .  The place is simply amazing, we spent hours there but still can't get enough.  For lunch we stopped by Glastonbury , notable for it's myths about King Arthur then head to Exeter .  We got a chance to walk around the city before it's time for us to meet the group again for dinner at a very nice place in Dartmoor called The Old I...

Day 9 - We crossed the border to North Wales and through Snowdonia National Park .  We had a lunch stop at Llanfair­pwllgwyn­gyllgo­gery­chwyrn­drobwll­llanty­silio­gogo­goch (no, I can't pronounce that word no matter how hard I try, I listened to it multiple times and i can only hear gogogo, LOL! =P) where we also stamped our passports as souvenirs. ^^  Then we went to Holyhead to board our ferry to Dublin.  It was a pretty smooth 4 hours (I think) ferry ride to Dublin.  Upon arrival, we went straight to the our Irish Night experience with more music and drinks. Day 10 - It's a short city tour day with a photo stop at the largest church in Ireland, St. Patrick's Cathedral .  We were then dropped at Trinity College to go in The Old Library and view the 1,200 year old Book of Kells .  Sadly we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside.  We went shopping after, where my friend bought a bag worth EUR2,000++ at Brown Thomas. @_@  That night...

Day 4 - Our first stop for the day is Hadrian's Wall , a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and after a few pictures, we crossed the England-Scotland border, and took more pictures there as well. =P  Our first stop in Scotland is Jedburgh where the Jedburgh Abbey and Mary Queen of Scots' House are.  It's also our lunch stop, my friend tried the Haggis, while I tried their scones.  Then we went on a guided tour to Sir Walter Scott's Abbotsford House .  After the tour, we're on our way to Edinburgh where we checked-in at Radisson Blu, a very nice hotel at the center of the city, then had a little walk around before it's time for our Scottish evening experience.  The Scottish evening includes dinner with some Scottish music and dancing, not that great but at least the Haggis is good. =) Day 5 - We went on a sightseeing tour with our local guide, wearing a kilt, around the city then stop at Holyrood Palace , the official residence of the British monarch in Scotla...

We went to Europe again!  It's definitely our favorite destination for long trips, there's just so much to see, and I never get tired of seeing all these amazing places. =)  This time, we joined Globus on a British Tour, 17 days, but with the flying in and out plus a day extension, it's a 21-day trip for us. Day 1 - We arrived in London at around 3pm, checked-in the hotel, freshen up, then at around 6pm, out we go.  We didn't get any good sleep on the plane in our 15 hours flight but it's a waste to just go in and sleep right? =P  There's a 7 hours difference in time too so even if it's 6pm in London, it's actually 1am in Manila.  So with our head floating, we checked out the neighborhood for shops and food for dinner. The next day is the first day of our tour, we met our tour guide, Paul Barton who is by far the best guide I've ever met in all my travels.  He is witty and funny which is why he reminds us of Mr. Bean.^^  And our coach driver...

I just noticed that I didn't post anything about my trips in 2013. =(  I hope I'll find time to post about them in the future, but for now, I'll just post one trip from December 2013 which is with my family. ^_^ We arrived Jeju Island around lunch time and met our guide in the airport.  We went directly to lunch, a hearty grilled beef meal, we ate it the Korean way wrapped in lettuce.  Next we went to Osulloc Tea Museum where you can buy different tea products and they also have a coffee shop that sells their famous green tea ice cream. Still on the same day, we went next to Joanne Teddy Bear Museum .  I've been to the teddy bear museum in Seoul Tower before, but it's different here.  In Seoul Tower, they have more small bears dressed and placed in a scene like a wedding ceremony, or a village full of working citizens, etc.  In Joanne Teddy Bear Museum they have giant bears in different costumes.  They even have a gallery of Bae Young Jun bear...

From Minsk, we're on our way to Warsaw, Poland! ^^  It's a pretty long travel so it was late afternoon already when we reached Warsaw.  Not to waste the day, we decided to walk around the city with a map and a very nice weather. =)  Most of the shops are closing so there's not much to see, until we saw the Palace of Culture and Science .  We took some pictures even if it's dark already, we went back the next day to take pictures again but it looks better at night. =) The next morning, we made a short stop at the Royal Lazienki Park (Royal Baths Park) to take our group picture at the famous monument of Fryderyk Chopin .  Too bad we don't have enough time that we can't explore the place, they said it's huge and had lots to see. We went straight to the Old Town .  The entrance to the Old Town is the Castle Square where the Royal Castle (but we didn't enter though =S) and King Zygmunt III Waza Column are located.  With a local guide, we walked t...

From Moscow, we drove passed Borodino, the site of Napoleon's (French) invasion of Russia, known as the Battle of Borodino.  We stopped by Smolensk for lunch before we continue our drive to Minsk, the capital of Belarus.  Before finally reaching the city, we passed by the Hill of Glory along the Minsk-Moscow Highway.  The memorial complex was built in honor of the victory in the Great Patriotic War and the soil for the hill were collected from different cities and fields where the most fierce battles were. We entered Minsk through it's main street, the Independence Avenue and had a short stop at Victory Square for some pictures.  At the center of the square is the granite Victory Monument with a replica of the Order of Victory on top.  Next stop is our hotel, Minsk Hotel, to check-in then dinner. Just a corner away from our hotel is the Independence Square .  Before dinner, we were able to walk around Independence Square and see the Cathedral of...

From Novgorod, we arrived in Moscow late afternoon already, so after checking-in the hotel and dinner, we went straight to the famous Moscow Metro .  Our tour director picked a number of stations that we stopped at and they all have different architectural designs and all are amazing!  It's like walking along an underground palace in one station, then to a museum the next, etc.  The metro is bustling with people so we can't spend too much time admiring the designs and taking pictures, but it's really worth the visit. =) The last station we got out from leads to the Red Square .  The Red Square is really beautiful at night, with St. Basil's Cathedral and the Spasskaya Tower lighted, and the GUM Department Store so bright with all the light bulbs.  We've also seen the Red Square by day when we went back the following day, the place showed a different charm by day than seeing it at night. On our 2nd day in Moscow, we traveled to the town of Sergiyev Posad...

On our 3rd day in St. Petersburg, we enjoyed walking along the canal where they offer a cruise for those who wants to tour the city through the canal.  Then we're off to The State Hermitage Museum , one of the largest and oldest museums in the world.  The museum has a huge collection of paintings and other art and culture pieces.  The whole museum is so enormous that it's easy to get lost inside.  We saw the Peacock Clock, then entered via the council staircase, and the rooms like the Large Italian Skylight Room, Gallery of the History of Ancient Paintings, The Great Imperial Throne, St. George Hall, The War Gallery of 1812, etc.  The place is huge and there's just so much to see but we don't have much time so we had a quick lunch and we're on the road again to our next destination, Novgorod. Novgorod is in the middle of St. Petersburg and Moscow, so before going to Moscow, we stayed one night in Novgorod to appreciate the city.  We stopped at the ...

We left our hotel earlier than usual because we'll be crossing the border to Russia.  Our first stop in St. Petersburg is the Peter and Paul Fortress where the Peter and Paul Cathedral is located.  We were able to go inside the cathedral where the remains of Russian Emperors and Empresses were buried. On our way to our next destination, we passed by St. Isaac's Cathedral and the statue of Peter the Great called the Bronze Horseman .  We arrived at the Moika Palace , also called the Yusupov Palace because it belonged to the House of Yusupov, a wealthy Russian noble family.  The building is also the site of Grigori Rasputin's (a.k.a. the "mad monk") murder, and they also have a wax figure exhibit of the murder scene in the exact rooms where it happened.  The whole palace is amazing!  Starting from the marble grand staircase with intricate ceiling designs, and each room has it's own theme, there's a music room, Blue Bedroom, Ballroom, Red Drawing Roo...

On our way to Helsinki, we boarded Silja Line cruise ship for an overnight trip.  Just like the usual cruise ships, they take your picture as you board, and you'll see them on sale later on in the gallery. ^^  Our tour director picked an early dinner buffet reservation since there are many guests on board. After dinner, we went to the upper deck to enjoy the sunset.  The wind was so strong that we had to hold on to our jackets, lol! XD  We walked around the lobby and checked out the shops before we finally decided to hit the sack to prepare for another day. =) The next day after breakfast, we finally arrived at Helsinki, Finland! =)  We went straight for a city tour passing by Finlandia Hall , Senate Square , Market Square , and the Uspenski Cathedral .  Next we stopped at Sibelius Park to take some photos of the Sibelius Monument before we head to our hotel for check-in. That afternoon, we head to the city on our own to check out the places we p...

Leaving Copenhagen, we traveled north-east across Oresund to Smaland .  We had a short stop for lunch and saw a couple of preserved moose, they're huge!  We don't have moose in our country so even if they're preserved, it's my first time to see a life-size moose.  We continue the journey past Lake Vattern and viewed the Brahehus Castle towards Stockholm. Upon arrival in Stockholm, we checked-in our hotel, a few minutes rest and we leave again experience a panoramic view of Stockholm.  We went to the Kaknas Tower , it's a TV tower that allows visitor to go up it's viewing deck and see the city of Stockholm.  We end our day with a dinner at Solnadals Vardshus , it's a really pretty small old fashioned restaurant with servers in aprons. =) The next day, we had a guided tour inside the Stockholm City Hall .  We entered the Blue Hall where the Nobel Banquet is held every year.  Just above is the Gold Room where the guests dance after the banquet....

In the morning after breakfast, we drove to Rostock to board our ferry to Denmark. =)  The ferry ride took about 2 hours so we had enough time to have lunch and check out the duty free shopping on board. ^^  Upon arrival, we took our coach again and drive to Copenhagen.  We checked-in our hotel, my favorite hotel in this whole tour, Marriott Copenhagen! With a map in hand, we walk from the hotel to explore the city.  We stopped by the Copenhagen Central Station to change some money, it's an old style train station that reminds me of Harry Potter. ^^  Walking further, we reached the Tivoli Gardens , one of the oldest amusement parks in the world.  Just across the street is the Copenhagen City Hall situated at The City Hall Square.  Walking further is the Stroget , the world's longest pedestrian shopping street, truly a shopping heaven from expensive luxury brands to cheap bargains. ^^ Stroget is not all shopping though, as we walk along th...

It's another wish come true, God blessed me with the chance to travel again to the other side of the world, Europe!  Thank You, Lord! ^_^  My first time to Europe was in 2008 (you can read about it here >> Europe ) where we mostly visited the most popular tourist spots in different countries.  So for our 2nd time, we decided to choose a more unique experience, we joined Trafalgar's " Scandinavia Russia and Independent States 2012 " First Class Tour. =) My post is actually a bit late already because I've been too caught up with work.  After my 3 weeks vacation, I have to catch up with so much backlogs when I got back.  We joined the tour last May, it's the end of spring so the weather is really nice. =)  Our first stop is Berlin, Germany.  I've been to Germany on my first Europe trip but I've never been to Berlin so it's an all new experience for me. ^^ We arrived before noon, went to the hotel, rest a little, then walked around the c...

This is a long overdue post. I was too busy (I'm actually still very busy =S) to blog about my last 2 trips. I'll write this one now, but don't know when I'll be able to write again for the other. =S Middle of this year, I went to explore one of the best places to visit here in my county, the Philippines, which is Boracay! We surely have some of the most beautiful beaches and I'm proud to say that. =) Many tourists visit Boracay for a cheap but relaxing vacation. The sand is as white as ever and the water as blue as crystals. The last time I visited Boracay was about 7 years ago. So when I went back, there's a lot of new things to see. There are more shops, restaurants, activities, etc. So many things to do if you're the outgoing type, but for the homey type, you can still find peace and quite in your own room with the beach view overlooking your window. =) It was raining hard the day before we arrived so we're worried that we might not e...