MUNCHIN' IN MUNICH

Back at it again to finally finish my final Eurotrip post, and we're finally arrived at our last city, Munich, Germany.

To be honest I kinda don't remember how I get to this city, I can only remembered arriving at the Hauptbahnhof station around 7AM. First impression, this city was freakin cold, I think it was 10C when I'm arrived. We also saw a lot of Bayern Munchen supporters roaming around the station yelling their chant over and over again only wearing shorts in that cold weather.

Our hotel was located 5 mins walk from that central station so it is very easy for us to access anywhere. I also managed to find my favorite food in Munich which is pretzel with cheese filling and chunks of salt on top at Yorma's. SO GOOD!

Yorma's Cheese Pretzel

We first went for a stroll around Marienplatz. See these buildings and colors? Welcome to Hogwarts! JK, this is not England. I noticed the city has a lot of old Medieval style building. FYI, I hate movies and TV series that takes place in Medieval era. But still, it was cartoon-ey and aesthetically pleasing.

Marienplatz

DISCLAIMER: we basically went for palace/ castle -hopping during our visit here, and all of palaces we've visited prohibit cameras during the tour, so for sure there were not much pictures to show but all of these palaces are VERY OVER THE TOP. comparable to Versailles.

First, we went to Schloss Nymphenburg. This palace was used as summer residence by the rulers of Bavaria, also known as House of Wittlesbach. Too bad the weather always gloomy during our 3-day visit there. The architecture style in Bavaria castles are mostly done in Baroque style. Very intricate. The highlight was the marble hall, it was beautiful.

Entrance

Marble Hall

The only room we can take photos at

"Backyard"

And then we went to BMW museum! You cannot go to Germany without looking for their crazy architecture and technology. Although I cannot do any test-ride on these cars, i am happy to just to be able to sit in  the car and play around with the interior. 

By Henry Royce

Luigi and Guido?

The second day we went for 30 mins train ride to Schloss Herrenchiemsee. This palace is CRAZY! First of all, it was located in the middle of a lake. We need to switch for a 10 mins choo-choo train ride, and then switch to a boat to arrive at the small island. You think we've arrived? not yet. We still have to go through this small forest by foot to get to the palace. Was it worth it? YES. 

This castle was built by the crazy King Ludwig II. He is famous for his interest in technology and I think this also the reason why Germany always linked to technology. The king's bedroom features this blue crystal ball which I totally forgot what it was meant for but pretty sure it has something to do with the king's love for the sun and universe-thing. The rest, you can pretty much google about it and get fascinated by how lavish this palace was.

Source: pinterest

Pro-tip: pre-book tour tickets beforehand to avoid crowd.

Either Front/ Back Entrance

Those fountains represent greek mythical gods

How amazing!

Fountain overlooking the lake

On the last full day we're on Munich we decided to go to the Schloss Newscwanstein. To get here, we went for I think 1 hour train ride, followed by a bus ride for a cheaper option to get to the bottom  part of the castles/ hills. First stop, Schloss Hohenschwangau. This castle was built by King Ludwig II father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria. Out of all other castle/ palace I've visited, this one is the most "basic" one, built in Medieval era. The view was absolutely amazing in here!

Medieval Style

Beautiful lake view

Sneak peek of the Neuschwanstein Castle

Next stop is the famous Schloss Neuschwanstein! Fun fact, this castle was the reference of Disney's Cinderella castle. It's real guys. To reach this castle we need to either hike for 20 mins or take a bus ride. We of course opted for the bus ride 😜

This is the craziest castle I've ever visited! It is basically King Ludwig's dream land. It features flushing toilet (imagine, in that era!), a telephone line, a theatre, an artificial cave and waterfall. Although this castle still remains unfinished, it was definitely worth visit!

Front Yard

So that's the recap of my visit to Munich, most of it was definitely unforgettable experience. We've encountered racism, walking on rain due to missing the choo-choo train schedule and getting that "such a cheapskate" look from a waitress because we shared a ginormous size of a chicken schnitzel. 

That freakin ginormous chicken schnitzel

HELLO HOLLAND!

Amsterdam

Cheese Galore

I tried to think about a catchy title for this post but my brain can only work to that point so let's laugh silently for my skill. Anyways, as you can read from the title, let's talk about Netherlands!

It is actually the country i was landed on for the first time in Europe since my sister lived here. Surprisingly i did not get any jet lag and after my sister pick me up from the airport we went straight to the subway and arrived at Amsterdam Centraal Station. Of course since I'm a tourist and this is my first time in Europe everything was so fascinating to me, including going on a boat ride crossing to a small island where there was a cafe on it and a huge I Amsterdam thing whereby people (I mean, me as well) taking pictures at.

To be honest Netherlands is not my favorite country because of the weather. It is so indecisive! but mostly it is always gloomy. Funny how this Eurotrip sometimes makes me look stupid because we were going in and out to different countries with different weather so I carry a thick jacket to Greece and Italy. People are giving me that "why are you carrying that in this weather" look.

I also did not spend that much time in Netherlands because let's be real, my only "must-go" is Keukenhof Festival and that's all i wanted. Thankfully the weather during our visit there was sunny and breezy. It was really nice.

Tulip Field

Keukenhof

Should I add a caption to this?

Cherry blossom

I also had a joyous time on Primark! It's absolutely better than H(and) M, especially the price. I came from Indonesia and supposedly everything seems expensive to me but in this place, I actually can shop as much as I was in Indonesia, or even more. Everything is so freakin cheap with a good quality. SO MUCH WIN! (it's probably because end of season as well)

Keukenhof

Somewhere in Amsterdam

I actually did not stayed in Amsterdam because my sister lives in Eindhoven, a small city 30 mins train ride outside Amsterdam. To be honest I liked Eindhoven a lot more compared to Amsterdam because it was a slow-paced-kind-of city, which I liked. Amsterdam on the other hand got a lot of things but the city was too busy and a bit dirty.

On another note, do not forget to buy those chunky fries with samurai sauce and also lots of cheese there!!

STARTER PACK - EUROTRIP 2016!

keukenhof - Netherlands

Eiffel Tower - France

Notre Dame - France

Monaco

Fontana di Trevi - Italy

Castel Sant'Angelo - Italy

Somewhere Behind Marienplatz - Germany

Ah, can't believe i'm writing this, and yes, you are reading that title correctly. I went to Europe!

It all began when I have discussion with my mom about what-am-i-going-to-do-with-my-"arisan"-money. Europe was never on my bucket list in my short term vacation plan. I always wanted to go to Japan. Then my mom started this mind-games that makes me consider twice and my sister was also wanting me to go there (Europe), she wanted to go to Greece, and I have always wanted to go there too so a  few weeks later we were skype-ing to plan our trip.

A few tips for those of you planning for a trip to Europe:

1. Do your research, find out about the Visa, how much you need to pay, which country you're applying your Visa to, how much money you need to prepare and all that shit. I would  recommend this page for guidance.
2. Prepare your money. It doesn't have to be unbelievable amount of money transferred to your bank account in a short period of time. They just wanted to know if you are able to live there according to your plan.
3. Do not buy your plane tickets yet! Do it after you got the Visa. I mean, if shit happens, at least you won't lose your airplane ticket (and it's not cheap guys)
4. I would suggest not to take visa services. It's not that hard and you are basically paying extra for nothing. Those visa services cannot replace you for your visa interview.  You still have to attend it yourself so..what's the point?
5. Don't panic! during your visa interview the interviewer might look and sound intimidating but that's their job, all you need to do is be calm and collected, answer their questions straight away without any hesitant. When I got interviewed it probably took 5-10 mins and he only asks when I'll be leaving and be back and what I'm going there for.
6. Airplane tickets can be really expensive and I would suggest to take the fastest route possible. Go check this website so you can get the exact same flight with various prices and make sure all the tax and all that shit is included in the price. Go for the midnight flights because I have proven that this will help you avoid jet lag.
7. Have fun! this is your vacation anyway, enjoy it, you deserve it!

Will post each country experience with no particular order. Stay tuned!