Euro Trip Part 1: Central Europe

So I started the trip on 28th of October 2014. We took the flight in late morning from Amsterdam Schiphol to Berlin Schoenefeld and we were in Berlin at around 15:00 and took the train to Alexanderplatz. Honestly, at that time, I had no idea about Berlin, I had no expectations, but the moment I got off the train, I knew it was awesome. We had sandwich from Subway, I shot a small timelapse close to TV tower while eating. And then we headed to our apartment that I booked with Airbnb.

We went in apartment, put our stuff and headed outside again. It was 9 or something, streets were awesome. I felt like I am in my home town. There were lights, small pubs, small shops, graffiti on wall and something was in air that made me feel home. Then we headed out for walk towards Alexanderplatz, there was some sort of festival going on there, we walked, enjoyed the cool wind and took pics. After that, we went back to Apartment and slept our asses off.

We woke up, I went downstairs to get something from super market and I was again mistaken to be Spanish by the Chinese lady there. After the breakfast, we headed outside to roam around city and see a few places. We walked and took pictures. Then we went to see Berlin Cathedral. Architecture of the building is tremendous and the interior is brilliant. I visited every part of the Cathedral and took pictures.

We spent quite sometime inside and then we decided to go to this place in Berlin called Classic Remise Berlin. The Classic Remise Berlin, a center for vintage cars, was opened in 2003 in a historic tram depot, originally built in imperial times, construction starting in 1899. Some architectural changes to the building were made in the 1920s. There were limited damages in the war, the places where firebombs damaged the building can still be seen on the ceiling. After the tram system was given up in then West-Berlin in the 1960s the depot did not serve any purpose and was in decay until the present owners bought it in 2002 and started to reconstruct it into a classic car center.

After watching the cars that I'd love to drive but can't afford at the moment, we headed to Pariser Platz. Pariser Platz is a square in the centre of Berlin, Germany, situated by the Brandenburg Gate. It was dark already by the time we got there and it was magical. There were a lot of people yet it was still very cool place. The wind at that time was also very soothing and refreshing. I decided to take a few timelapse and hyperlapse around there. After walking here and there again, we decided to call it a day and went back to apartment. I guess watching so many things just in one day, not bad eh?

Next morning, I went to see the Memorial of Berlin Wall. It was different than what I was expecting. You can barely find the traces of walls but there is enough information boards there that read the history of wall. I didn't spend as much time as I should have there moved to Museum Island to visit Altes Museum. I spent a few hours there in different sections of Museum, taking pictures and increasing my limited knowledge. After that, I was outside and I spent sometime in Museum Island and checked the other Museum from outside.

Then I headed to see the Charlottenburg Palace and the gardens. I reached there in afternoon and it turned out that I can't visit the full Gardens because they're very big and I didn't had enough time before they're closed. I didn't want to waste the day and I said, I'll see what I can see and got the tickets anyway. The palace was very beautiful from inside. By the time, I was done visiting the palace, Sun was almost setting down.

I came back to Brandenburg Gate at night and there I met a girl who was originally from Romania, but she lived in Austria and she was there for some business trip. We had discussion around culture, religion and how they contribute to the current situation of the World. After an hour long conversation, I decided to go back to apartment and sleep :).

Day four was kinda idle, we spent time roaming in city here and there, in random streets. Walking in unknown places without checking google maps. In the evening, I went to Berliner Fernsehturm also known as TV Tower of Berlin. Standing at the height of 368 meters, it is the tallest structure in Germany and gives you awesome view of Berlin. Only problem, windows are not as clean as they should be.

After spending an hour or so, taking a 360 degree view of Berlin from tower, it was again time to go back. We spent some time in Alexanderplatz and then went back to home. I called my host (we got the apartment from airbnb), and he was up for a few drinks, we drank and then he ordered some spicy food and then had some good conversation around woman and law and order conditions in Pakistan.

Nothing much to do, we woke up early and went back to Airport to catch the flight.

We had to catch train from Amsterdam Central Station to Paris, city of lovers. We got up early and went to CS and got into train. Travel in train was super smooth and we were in Paris in less than 3 hours around 12:30 or something.

We went to apartment straight, dropped our stuff and went outside again. Grabbed expensive but crappy in taste lunch.

Do I have to mention that our first stop was Eiffel Tower. First view of the tower was amazing, but the surrounding park was dirty. I felt that it wasn't maintained at all.

After spending sometime taking pics and roaming around, we walked around the city and went to the big shopping street. Then we went to a bar and had a few drinks. Later we went to Arc de triomphe and took some pictures.

Now we decided to see Eiffel Tower in night, we went there and went all the way up on the tower. It offered a tremendous view of city.

Next day, we started to roam in the city, walking here and there to explore city and architecture. Here are a few pics from the trip.

Afternoon, we went to see the Musée du Louvre. We went inside and god that place is big. We went to different parts of Museum and here are pictures.

After getting out of there, we spent sometime outside and went back home.

We had to catch flight from not a very nearby airport in noon so morning was idle, we checked out and then walked outside. Then we got into the bus and reached airport to fly to next stop.

We took flight from Paris CDG to Barcelona. To be honest, I had no expectations from Barcelona, mostly because of lack of my own knowledge about the city. We reached there around 17:00 (5 PM) and took metro to our Airbnb. The moment we stepped out from metro, I saw and felt 'This is going to be awesome'. The architecture, small streets, that old Europe feeling.

It took us around half hour to locate our apartment (thanks google maps). We dropped our stuff and went outside to get some food and roam in the city. I loved that city in first half hour. Those small streets, old buildings, people using Spanish. First thing first, I had to visit Sagrada Familia.

Sagrada Familia is really worth visiting. The architecture of it is totally different from any other church or cathedral I have ever visited. We spent a lot of time in Sagrada Familia and then came out and decided to check the city at night.

Later in evening, we decided to visit Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya and Montjuïc Castle. We went there in afternoon and the view of entire city from there was spectacular. We spent hours there, took a lot of pictures, watched sunset. The castle itself is also worth visiting. It was built in 1640 and offers panoramic views of the city and harbor. After watching the sunset, we headed back down and explored more of the city streets at night.

Second day was the most exciting and tiring day. We decided to visit Montserrat Mountain. Montserrat is a multi-peaked mountain range near Barcelona. It is the site of the Benedictine abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat, which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary.

We took train and then rack railway to reach there. The monastery is spectacular and so is the nature around it. We hiked for hours on different tracks. The views were breathtaking. After spending whole day there in mountain, it was time to come back to city.

Third day in Barcelona. We decided to go to beach. Barcelona's beaches are awesome. We spent time there, walking along the shore, taking pictures. The weather was perfect for a beach day.

After spending time at beach, we went back to city, roamed around, had dinner and then went back to apartment to pack our stuff for next destination.

Flight from last night was awful. There was a massive thunderstorm which caused the worst turbulence I've experienced so far. From airport, we took the bus to our apartment and reached there. Our host told us that this is one of the worst storms she has seen in Geneva. Next morning we went outside to see the city and surroundings.

We went to see Mont Salève. It is a mountain of the French Prealps located in the departement of Haute-Savoie (France) and is also called the 'Balcony of Geneva'. We took the cable car to go up, hiked for a while and came back.

We also visited Lake Geneva and spent time there. In my humble opinion, Geneva city itself doesn't much to offer but it's surrounded many beautiful nature that makes it worth visiting.

Our Estonian host, who is leaving Geneva and dating an Indian guy made us the most spicy food I ever ate in Europe.

We flew to Rome and the view from flight was awesome.

We took flight from Geneva to Rome. We reached there around 18:00 or something and we took bus to city. Rome is fascinating. The streets are full of subtle golden light which makes it look fantastic.

We went to the apartment and dropped off our luggage. One of the guys from apartment asked me if I'm Spanish or Mexican. Well, I'm neither of those. And then I was out again in the city to see a bit of Rome at night. I was walking here and there randomly and that's how I explored the city. Every street was interesting. There were people everywhere, there were small shops, small pubs, small pizzerias.

I ate pizza from local pizzeria and it was awesome. I spent a few hours roaming around and went back to apartment.

Next day, I woke up early and went to see Colosseum. Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and sand, it is the largest amphitheatre ever built. The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum.

The architecture is tremendous and it's worth spending time there. After spending time around Colosseum, I went to see Palatine Hill. Palatine Hill is the centremost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. I hiked up the hill and spent time there exploring the ancient ruins.

Third day was very hot. We decided to go to Vatican City. Vatican City, officially Vatican City State is a walled enclave within the city of Rome. With an area of approximately 44 hectares and a population of 842, it is the smallest state in the world by both area and population.

It was very crowded and very hot. We spent time there, took pictures and then decided to go back. Later, we went back to Colosseum to see it from inside. The interior is spectacular.

In the evening, we had dinner in a so called Indian restaurant as we were craving Pakistani food, but the food wasn't as good as we expected. After dinner, we went back to apartment and called it a day.

We were in Prague in late afternoon. It was a cloudy day and we took the bus from airport to Prague city center. On the way to hostel, we made a stop at KFC and there I had the best KFC of my life. Best KFC, period.

We went to the hostel and checked-in our stuff. This was the first time during the whole trip where we were staying in hostel. And also my first experience in hostel. It seemed nice and clean. We spent sometime in beds to get some rest. After resting a bit, we decided to go out. We walked around city center without any aim and came across some interesting buildings and things. Specially at night, the city looked something straight out of fairy tales.

Later, we decided to visit to walk to The old square town. The Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí) is one of two main squares in Prague. With its ancient buildings and magnificent churches, this is one of the most beautiful historical sights in Europe.

After spending quite sometime there, we walked towards river and I still remember, it was one of the places like I've imagined when reading fairy tales. After roaming around here and there, we decided to go to a night club and dance. I don't remember the name of club but they claimed to be Europe's biggest night club.

After getting a few drinks and dance, we were tired and decided to return to hostel. On the way, I again stopped at KFC and again had the best KFC of my entire life.

We woke up next day and decided to go to Vrtba Garden. It was a sunny day and perfect for this kind of walk. We went through Old town square again and everything looked awesome in sunshine.

Due to fall, the leaves was showing so many awesome colors in park that it was mesmerizing. There were a lot of tourists in the park so it was hard to take pictures but I still manage to capture some shots.

After spending noon here, we decided to go to Petrin tower. Built as a mini version of Paris's Eiffel Tower, the Petrin Observation Tower was built in 1891 for the Jubilee Exhibition. The tower is 60m tall, which doesn't seem particularly high until you add in the fact that it sits at the summit of Petrin Hill, which is 318m (1043 feet) high. Climb the 299 steps to reach the top of the tower and the view over Prague is magnificent. The Petrin Observation Tower is set in landscaped gardens, which make for a pleasant stroll all year round. The views towards the tower were beautiful filled with colors of fall.

After spending evening at hill, we decided to go down and see the John Lennon wall. The Lennon Wall or John Lennon Wall is a wall in Prague, Czech Republic. Once a normal wall, since the 1980s it has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles' songs.

Later we took walk towards Charles bridge of Prague and again it was magical view. We came across a place where there were many locks on the bridge just like any other famous bridge.

It was a lot of walking today and we felt really tired. We decided to go back hostel and get some rest. All in all, today was an awesome day and we had a lot of fun.

Despite the face that we were so tired, we still decided to walk and visit National Monument in Vitkov which is National war memorial & history museum offering panoramic city views & a chic rooftop cafe. We got lost on the way to the monument and ended up roaming in streets of Prague.

Later we managed to find our way to monument, which went through some nice nature and woods. Again, due to fall, the whole place was full of colors and everything looked so beautiful that it made us feel fresh again.

That was our last destination of the whole trip. We went back to hostel after that and packed our bags and went to airport. It was my first trip in Europe and I knew that I'll be traveling soon again.