Summer 2014: Vienna, Budapest, Prague & Krakow (Part 2)

Assalamualaikum, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

All praise to Allah, the Supreme Ruler of the world, and salawah upon the Last Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

My friends and I rode the night train to Vienna from Venice. It was a long bumpy ride in a small carriage. Well, if you want to have a taste of what the night train, you might not want to do it again. But for backpacker, it might save your accommodation for the night. Haha.

Vienna is the international city. It was beautiful with marvelous modern architecture. We stayed at Meininger Hotel, which is good and cheap. I like it. We went to the State Opera House, St. Stephen's Cathedral at the heart of the city, Hofburg Palace, Parliament building and Rathaus. In the evening, we went to Schloss Schonbrunn which is a palace, a big beautiful one, with large garden. We hiked to the top of the hill, to see Neptunette, Gloriette and the city from the top.

in front of opera house

Hofburg

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Rathaus

Schloss Schonbrunn

Gloriette

Neptunette

The next day, we went to Budapest. It was long hour train to budapest, and long walk to the hostel. But the hostel was awesome. We got an apartment with living room, kitchen, balcony, and two rooms.

I walked to the chain bridge for about 3 hours which was exhausting. But the journey and view were awesome and I like it. The next day, we went to take the tour using hop on hop off service. We went to the Buda Castle, Citadel, Hard Rock Cafe, Chain Bridge, Heroes Square and all. Since it was very hot, about 38 deg celc, we prefer to spend most of our time on the bus. On the night, we rode the cruise along Danube River.

Heroes Square

Synagogue

Parliament

Chain Bridge

Budapest

Then, we went to Prague. Like last winter trip, I brought the group to see the view from the castle, which was mesmerizing. I met my senior, Aized for while.

2nd time prague

View from our apartment

Then, our last destination was Krakow, Poland. We took night train as well. I managed to contact my junior who studying in krakow, Hanan. Nothing much on krakow because we pretty much exhausted for our 17 days trip. 

Square

Cloth Hall

The next morning, we flew back to London. I was sad to leave those unforgettable memories, and wish to have the time to go back in the future. I met a lot of people, that taught me a lot of things, like where to go, how to go, what is the culture and more importantly, self-development either inside or outside. 

"O Allah, thanks for all the sustenance you gave upon us and please bless us our journey and the people we met."

With that, I end this long story with

Thank you for reading. I am back to being busy. I am sorry for the lack of update.

Thanks. So. Much. My friends who accompanied me.

Illaliqa'. Wassalam. :)

Summer 2014: Viaggio in Italia (Part 1)

Assalamualaikum, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

All praise to Allah, the Supreme Ruler of the world, and salawah upon the Last Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

The journey started from London. The first destination was Rome, where we landed at Fiumicino Airport. Rome was big, but we like to walk instead of getting on the public transport. We went to Roman Forum and Palantine Hill in the morning, it was crowded but nice historical view and I like it. Next, we  went to Colloseo, the so-called gladiator place. It was amazing. Afterwards, we walked to Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and a few nearby Piazza.

 Colloseo

 Trevi Fountain

 Roman Forum

Vatican City

Second day in Rome, we went to Vatican City. There, we went to Bible Museum. Then, we wondered around for a while in front of Castel Sant Angelo & Palazzo di Giustizia. The next day, we took a train from Roma Termini to Santa Maria Novella, Firenze. After checked in, we went to Pisa Stazione and see Pisa.

Pisa

The day after, we walked around Firenze or Florence. Florence was beautiful city with old design building, big churces and unique places. There was a Da Vinci museum but we didnt go there. We climbed up the Piazzale Michelangelo to see a great view of Florence. Santa Maria Cathedral was clearly viewed from up here. On the last day at Florence, we travelled to the beach, Viareggio. It was very hot and we were tanned.

Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore

Firenze 

View from Piazzale Michelangelo

Viareggio.

From Florence, we took a train to Milan. Milan was a big city, with city life and crowded people. It was also a place for shoppaholic and fashion lover. We went to Castello Sforzesco, Duomo di Milano and few other places. We only stayed for a night before going to Venice.

Castello Sforzesco

Duomo di Milano

Then, we headed to Venice. We were very excited to see the city on the water. And guess what? It was awesome!! I walked around the city, trying to find my way through the labyrinths and maze. It was like a mazerunner. Venice was full of couple, lover, husband & wife, romantically having their dinner by the view of the water passageway.

Dear future wife, i wish to hold your hand, walking through the city, having dinner on our honeymoon, in this city. haha. keep dreaming. ;p

What I found in Italy was there were a lot of people trying to trick the tourist out of their money. It was a bit dangerous, but if you practice a good travelling tips and be confident to walk away from stranger, you will be just fine. Just be careful and ignore the roadside seller.

The country was once a centre for roman empire, which adopted Christianity into their system. So most people will come to visit churches, which to my amazement were very beautiful and full of arts. I got to know the history behind the translation of Bible at the Vatican City, where I enjoyed but forgotten. 

In Italy, there were a lot of ice cream places, with good prices and variety of flavours, especially during summer. My friends and I even had twice or thrice of ice cream every day during our visit. My favourite flavour would be capuccino, mocha and a few others. So, for others who planned to visit Italy during summer, please enjoy the wonders of flavours of the ice cream.

It wasn't that hard to find halal food in Italy especially big city. Though we had very limited choices of kebab and a bit of rice menu, we were very thankful to God for the meal to fill our small tummy. Alhamdulillah. :)

"O Allah, I humbly thank you for giving me the chance to walk on your earth, breath the variety air of culture, facing hardship to gain experience, to You I belong and to You I'm heading."

Sorry for taking this a bit long. I was quite occupied with the holiday few months ago. I will resume the next part for Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Krakow. Stay tune. :D

Illaliqa'. Wassalam. Thanks for reading.