Review: Busabout 2013: Part 2
20:47:00
10 European Countries, 59 days, 4 flights, 15 bus trips, 3 long distance train rides & 1 overnight ferry
Welcome to Part 2 of my review of my amazing time with Busabout 2013!
So in my last post I left of in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
From Amsterdam we travelled to Berlin, Germany for 3 nights.
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| The Berlin TV Tower |
But on a little side note - the trip from Amsterdam to Berlin they stop at the most amazing roadhouse/truck stop I have ever seen in my life! The food - oh my god! It was amazing, you could get a stir-fry (choose your noodle, protein, veggies and sauce) then it was freshly whipped up right in front of you! Fresh juices & smoothies and the desserts! Just simply the best truck stop EVER! (If we had them in Aus, I bet people would travel around more!)
Berlin! I had such high hopes for you! You were great but, I was a little let down because US President Barack Obama decided that he would like to visit Berlin at the exact same time I was in Berlin, to commemorate the 50 years it had been since JFK visited Berlin and spoke at the Brandenburg Gates. So Berlin was in LOCK DOWN! I couldn't get to the Brandenburg Gates or the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe because Obama was speaking at the Brandenburg Gates just as JFK had. So there was a 5km radius around those two monuments that I really wished to see but sadly couldn't. However my Boyfriend had flown to Berlin to travel with me for 3 weeks, so we decided to go for a walk out to the Kreuzberg Quarter (known "hip" area) to visit Hard-Wax (one of the worlds most famous Vinyl Record Stores)because my boyfriend is an avid record collector. Berlin was also in the middle of a heat wave, the day we decided to take that lovely stroll to Kreuzberg it was 39 degrees Celsius so afterwards we visited the Berlin TV Tower to escape the heat!
We had decided to use AirBnB for the first time in Berlin, and it was great! We got this really cool apartment over an Italian restaurant, in a really up & coming area full of cafes and boutiques.
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| James & I in front of The Berlin Wall |
From Berlin we travelled to Prague, Czech Republic for 3 nights. (via Dresden - optional stop)
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| The Charles Bridge |
All I can say is WOW! I loved Prague, I knew I would like it, but it really blew me away! The Old Town Square, The Charles Bridge, The Astronomical Clock, Prague Castle, Lesser Town & The Jewish Quarter! Everything was just so beautiful! I loved the gothic & baroque style architecture & every corner I turned something amazed me. A big highlight for me was seeing the Astronomical Clock & walking across the world famous Charles Bridge, which I had seen in so many great photographs prior to leaving on my trip! I felt Prague was great value for money, the exchange rate at the time was about 1 Czech Koruny = 0.55c AUD. So we were getting 500ml beers for around $1.15 AUD. The food was great if you aren't scared of meat & carbs! One night in Prague we managed to get an invite to a exclusive club that only has several gigs per year, it was in a Hotel/Restaurant called "The Buddha Bar" it had an amazing atmosphere, the music was great (it was an record launch for an international dj)and the drinks.. oh so cheap!
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| The Astronomical Clock |
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| Fried Potato Cake & Beer - Yum! |
We ended up staying in Lesser Town under the Prague Castle in a hotel called "Design Hotel Neruda" the hotel is located in a building from the 14th century and has been tastefully renovated to a modern baroque style. It was a fair way away from the Busabout drop point, so we got a taxi to and from our accommodation.
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| View from Lunch near the Prague Castle |
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| Walking across the Charles Bridge |
Prague to Vienna, Austria for 1 night. (via Cesky Krumlov - optional stop)
I didn't really know much about Vienna when booking my trip, so I kept to the compulsory 1 night stay (so I could have more time in a more favourable stop). So on board the buses, the guides come around and offer optional activities you can do once you arrive to the destination, seeing as we were only in Vienna for the night, one of the activities was a Walking City Tour with a local guide and a Schnitzel & beer afterwards. Im glad I did the tour, I learnt about Vienna & the Austrian culture, and the pork Schnitzel at the end of the tour, it was MASSIVE and oh so tasty! Definitely needed it after walking around Vienna for 2 & half hours.
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| The Austrian Parliament in Vienna |
Vienna to Munich, Germany for 3 nights. (via Gruenau & Salzburg - optional stops)
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| The Stunning Gruenau - Optional Stop |
The trip from Vienna to Munich was a little bit of a big one, with a few stops along the way in Gruenau (definitely should have stayed for the optional stop! Beautiful can't even begin to describe this place!) & Salzburg (the inner lover of Sound of Music wanted me to stay!) Finally we arrived in Munich! If I had to choose out of Munich & Berlin to visit again, I would probably choose Munich! I just felt like I belonged in Munich. We were lucky enough to have a friend living in Munich who we could stay with. My boyfriend's child-hood friend Jackson has been living in Munich for 10 years and was more than qualified to show us the sights & a few hidden gems of Munich. One morning we decided to go visit the Viktualienmarkt, just off Marienplatz which has been in operation since 1807. We gathered some fresh bread, cheese, ham & some raspberries and borrowed Jackson's two bikes and rode around the Englischer Garten (English Garden) which covers 910 acres (one of the worlds largest urban public gardens - larger than New York's Central Park) and had a picnic. A sight to see in the Englischer Garten is the Surfing in one of the artificial streams. They get quite a crowd watching them, and its quite strange to watch because coming from Australia & having previously lived quite close to the beach, you just don't expect to see it in the middle of a land-locked city!
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| The Maypole at Viktualienmarkt |
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| Englischer Garten |
Munich to Wildschonau Valley for 2 nights.
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| View from the cable car ride |
Our visit Wildschonau Valley was our little holiday from our holiday. It was time to just relax, unwind and take in the breathtaking scenery! We took a few cable card rides up to various heights to hike around the glorious Austrian Alps. We packed a little picnic both days (including a little bottle of Schnapps) and picked the most surreal spots to have lunch each day! On our 2nd day in Wildschonau we took a bus a little further around to the town of Auffach and took the cable car up to 1903m above sea level, as we were going up in the cable car it started SNOWING! It snowed for about an hour, which was magical! Then the sun came out to top of our glorious time in Wildschonau Valley! We stayed at the Busabout drop off point - The Apsley Ski Lodge, it was nice and basic, we booked a private room with an ensuite.
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| Snow on the Alps |
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| SNOWING! |
Thanks for tuning in for Part 2 of 4!
I hope you enjoyed reading about my European Summer so far!
As always you can find me on:
Instagram: @loadsoflifestyle
Twitter: @loadsoflifestyl
2 comments
Oh my god! This is going to be a new fave blog! I absolutely LOVE reading about travel. Your European adventure sounds amazing so far (can't wait to read the other parts!!) Have you done Contiki? Austria has been on my list for years - sounds just as beautiful as I imagined!
ReplyDeleteHi Alli! Thank you for stopping by! I love love love to travel! Its my other passion in life (besides make-up artisty) I haven't done a contiki, however lots of my friends have. I'm not a big drinker/partier and definitely couldn't do it for 30 days straight, so busabout was more suited to my needs, however if its your thing busabout can definitely cater to that too! I had so much fun on my trip! Austria was so beautiful! It was just a great spot to unwind and enjoy nature! I hope you enjoy reading the rest of my travel posts!
ReplyDeleteMel x