Adventure Accounting

Guided by a map, I walked to Jardin du Luxembourg or the Luxembourg Gardens. I’ve been using the map for less than a day and it seems like I’ve been using it for a week already – it was already tattered around the edges. Jardin du Luxembourg is a public park – no entrance fees, yay! I was doing self-portait shots when a lady jogger took pity of me. She stopped and offered to take my picture. And I thought that Parisians were snobs. But some are actually nice! Kagalang-galang pose

Replete withfood , I headed out walk to Cluny Museum a.k.a. National Museum of the Middle Ages. I’ve mentioned many times that I am not a fan of museums but heck, I am in Paris! Time to do some art appreciation. I bought the 4-day Paris Museum Pass for €50. You can get the pass at the airport and some shops mentioned in their website. How to use the Paris Museum Pass : Fill-out the name and “valid from” fields at the back of the pass. The date is the first day that you will use the pass. You will show your pass every time you enter a museum covered by the pass. It is important to plan the schedule of your museum visits. Some museums are open on some days of the month so it might be cheaper to get a 2-day pass if you visit some museums on their free days. For an art enthusiast, this is a good choice – you can just go back to the museum as you fancy.

I am taking such a long time sorting out which of my Paris pics to share. Rome was already difficult enough, but Paris is even more difficult. You can’t take a bad angle of this city. I enjoy looking at them again and again that I get lost in reminiscing, and I keep forgetting that I am sorting out pics for a blog entry. ============================================================== My alarm went off at 6:30am. I wanted to play snoozefest with it right away but I had to consider my roommates. It is annoying when someone plays snoozefest with her alarm in hostels. I took a peek outside the window. It was still dark, and there were water droplets in the window. Uh-oh, it was raining in Paris . I did my morning routine and then I was bright and sparkly, ready to conquer Paris. I stepped outside my hostel... and I stopped. It was cold, but still manageable. Right then, I knew I made the wrong decision of shipping a lot of my clothes back home whenI was in Rome . I needed them...

From Rome, most tours would pass by Milan, Nice or Switzerland before heading to Paris. I could have spent a night or two in Switzerland or Milan, but I felt that Paris would be an interesting city that I needed to spend a lot of time there. I decided that I would spend 5 nights in Paris – the longest time I stayed in any city. I booked a 3:15pm flight with Easyjet which arrives in Paris Orly airport at 5:15 pm. The ticket cost me €60: €45 for the basic fare plus an extra luggage (20kg) for €15. Easyjet operates in Rome’s Ciampino airport. Terravision offers shuttle services going to Ciampino airport. I already bought a one-way   ticket in their ticketing booth in front of Rome Termini for €6 (I think it is cheaper if you buy online) the day before my departure. However, I cannot find the ticket on the day I needed it. It was just one piece of paper. I guess it must have fallen off somewhere OR I included it in the box I shipped back to the Philippines . I resorted to ...

So I said I’ll compile a table of expenses on a per-city basis. Still workin’ on it. Rome is a huge city. Unlike the other cities in Italy, the tourist attractions are relatively more  spread out compared to other cities like Florence or Venice . If there is a transportation strike/rally, prepare to walk if you have to.    The metro can get very crowded. Be mindful of your belongings.I didn't try to take a picture of the metro because I was wary of those pickpockets.   Water is potable in the public water fountains. It is free and cool. The locals drink them. A public water fountain in front of the Colosseum

Papaya Female Hostel is located a couple of blocks away from Termini Station. Is near Termini Station but it is not THAT near. You’ll have to spend 15 minutes walking. I almost got lost trying to find the hostel but having Pinoys all over the place, I wasn’t shy to ask for directions.  I was quite hesitant at first to book the hostel because they do not have their own website to book the hostels. You have to book via hostelbookers and pay a 10% deposit fee upon booking. I wanted to book with the hostel directly. However, not a lot of hostels can meet my criteria , so I just trusted to book using hostelbookers. Good thing everything worked out pretty well.  When I arrived in Rome past 3pm, there was no one in the reception when I arrived.  I had to go to the hotel across the street to look for a receptionist to show me around.  At €27 a night, I got a pretty good deal. Similar to Florence, Rome also had this tourist ta, which is paid in cash upon arri...

I already paid extra baggage fees amounting to a painful €70 when I flew from Frankfurt-Hahn to Venice. I was lugging a heavier backpack everytime I left a city (I enjoy moderate shopping, okay?). I didn’t want to pay more fees when I fly to Paris, and when I fly home to back to Manila. I started researching how I can ship some things back home before I fly out of Rome. My heavy baggage is also killing my back and shoulders. Although I was already using a wheeled luggage, it still takes effort to haul it off the trains. I still have to carry them sometimes.I found out that LBC has a branch in Rome . LBC Rome Address: Via Calatafimi 20, 00185 Rome, Italy My box with "Europe" in it. HA.

Rome has a lot to offer. I have a lot to share. My posts are scattered. I don’t know if I should blog on based on the day, the type of attraction or place. Nevertheless, I enjoy back-blogging because it allows me to always reminisce about my Europe trip.  Coming from the Vatican , I wanted to spend some time in the ruins before meeting up with a former colleague of my dad, who now works in Rome. Understandably, my parents need someone to check up on me, since I was traveling alone . Hahahaha. It would be good to converse in Filipino again.  When I got back to Termini station, the exhaustion got me. I’ll just visit the rest of the Roman Ruins next time. I walked back to my hostel to rest for a bit. No roommates, so I had a peaceful hour of rest. I headed out to the Colosseum (our set meeting place).  At day: At Dusk:

The Vatican Museums is just one metro stop away from St. Peter's Basilica ( Basilica Sancti Petri). St. Peter's Basilica is regarded as one of the iconic Catholic site.  I almost didn’t go to St. Peter's Basilica because: I wasn’t really up to the challenge of climbing another tower The Italian sun was so unforgiving. It was very tiring to walk. I felt that I lacked time to pack – I was flying out the next day and I haven’t done any shopping. I had to find LBC in Rome. I planned to ship some stuff back home before I fly out to Paris. Else, I am in grave risk of paying the painful extra baggage fees, again. I had an empty stomach and I wasn’t ready to conquer the rest of Vatican I wanted to use my ticket to visit the Palantine Hill and enter the Roman Forum again before I meet someone for dinner But what is a trip to the Vatican City if I wouldn’t see where the Papal Event is being held? I was almost ready to get a table at the nearest restaurant outside the...

Vatican is a city within the city. You can step foot on a different country without leaving Rome. Vatican has its own flag and its own coat of arms.  I woke up with slightly aching legs from all the walking I did the day before . Good thing the metro was in full operation. I had no plans of walking to the Vatican City. How to go to Vatican City: I took the metro line A and got off Cipro stop (closer to the Vatican museums) – €1. If you plan to head off to St. Peter’s Basilica first, your stop is Ottaviano – which is closer. I initially planned to ride a bus going there but I was warned by my roommate in Florence about the pickpockets in the buses. After losing my Ipod , I was not gonna take a chance this time. I read how the queue can be extremely and excruciatingly long so I booked my ticket online (via this website ). Vatican museum tickets cost €15 plus a “pre-sales”/online booking fee of €4 = a total of €19 . Before booking, note that the tickets are non-re...

I took hundreds of photos of all these ruins in Rome. It is difficult to choose which photos to share.  After my roaming in the morning , I decided to explore the big 3 ancient ruins in Rome: The Colosseum, The Palantine Hill and The Roman Forum. From Piazza Venezia, I walked along the street overlooking the Roman Forum (Foro Romano).  I found it quite amusing that there are all these ancient ruins in this busy city, and people just walk past them. I guess the magnificence gets old if you live there.

My second day in Rome started out early. I was the first one to get up and I prepared for the day ahead. Breakfast started at 7am in a nearby cafe. I plotted out my itinerary for the day. There's a heart in my coffee. I cannot get lost. I cannot make mistakes.  I do not have the time to get lost or to make mistakes. I headed off to Termini Station to ride the metro. I still wanted to use the metro instead of the bus system as my primary mode of transportation. Luck wasn’t on my side. There was a rally that day and the metro was closed. Phoooey. A lot of tourists were also disappointed.  My next option, was to walk, walk and walk to get to those spots. Under the sun. For one whole day. I briefly considered to sign up for a tour or a hop-on hop-off bus but I immediately dismissed the idea. I didn’t like the idea of having a stone-set itinerary, even though I had limited time in Rome.  Rallies. Boooo.

Most of my roommates are traveling Europe in a counter clockwise direction, while I was traveling clockwise. They’ve all been to Paris and Rome so I got loads of tips for these cities. In my itinerary, I put these cities at the last leg to “save the best for last”. I’ve heard oooh and aaah stories about the magnificence of Rome but it always ended with a word of caution: “Beware of pickpockets in Rome”. I’ve read a fair share of warning about this ancient city crowded with pickpockets. Leaving Santa Maria Novella of Florence

Florence is the perfect base if you want to do daytrips of nearby towns. I believe some places deserve an overnight exploration, it can be exhausting packing and unpacking everything (for me, because I am a pack rat ). Florence is filled with tourists. The cobblestone streets are narrow and noisy. I didn’t find any quiet alley unlike the streets of Venice . If you can't read a map to save your life, Florence have these street signs which leads you to the popular tourist spots. 

Florence is a great base if you want to explore the other cities of Italy. It served as my base for my Cinque Terre , San Gimignano and Siena daytrips. You can also visit Pisa and Lucca. I had a roommate who stayed in Florence for 6 days and she just town hopped everyday. I immediately liked Hostel Archi Rossi's website. The hostel is also near the train station of Florence - Santa Maria Novella. I didn't get lost trying to find the hostel. I liked how prompt the hostel was in answering my emails. I was this skeptical first time booker of a hostel so I wanted to make sure I understood everything. They patiently answered all my questions. I reserved directly using their website. Hostel's lobby

I rode the bus from Pontigossi which will bring me to Siena. I had a nice nap going there. I woke up feeling groggier than I felt that morning. Ugh. Getting sick in an ultimate dream vacation. Not good. Still, the positive kick came in and I mustered all my energy to get off the bus to explore the walled city of Siena. I took a picture of the bus schedule going back to Florence. The ticket from Siena to Florence costs €7,10.

I signed up for the other tour offered by Walkabout Tours – their Best of Tuscany trip . The tour takes you in three cities which are Siena, San Gimignano and Pisa for € 80. BUT BUT BUT. See...the call time for the Cinque Terre trip was at 8:00am. I went home and had a pretty late dinner. Which means I read my emails and checked all my social networking sites pretty late. I did my evening bathroom rituals late. I slept late. Which all leads to this conclusion: I woke up late. The call time for this one was 8:30 which is actually not that late considering that my hostel was just five minutes away from the meeting point. I woke up with a slightly scratchy throat – which is probably from eating all that gelato since I landed in Italy. I finally got up but I knew that I can’t get ready in time for the tour call time. Oops. It was my fourth day in Florence and I did not want to explore Florence any further because I was getting tired of all the tourists roaming around (even thou...

We had a deadline to be at the town of Vernazza by around 3pm so that we have time to roam around the town. At the onset of the tour, we were advised to be on time since we had to catch trains and boats which we do not have control over. During the planning stage, I planned to stay in this town for a night and explore the mountains by myself. I could see how crowded with tourists the town can be.

Italy is famous for its food, churches, museums and ancient ruins. Cinque Terre is a breather from all that history and art. Cinque Terre (translated as Five Lands) is a coast of the Italian Riviera. It is composed of five villages: Manarola, Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, and Riomaggiore. Everything that surrounds these villages is called the Cinque Terre National Park which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. View going to Cinque Terre When I was doing my research for the Italy leg, I got a suggestion from a forum that I should try the CT tours offered by Walkabout Tours . Reading about the place, it can actually be an overnight destination. Even Rick Steves included CT in his itineraries. However, I found no suitable accommodation within my budget. The accommodations can almost go as high as the price of accomodations in Venice . Also, it didn’t appeal to me that I have to drag my suitcase and all my stuff for an overnight stay. Makes sense to just join a travel group fo...

I wasn’t planning to do a lot of things in Florence because I find the city quite dizzying with all it has to offer. But I got a hold of this map provided my hostel which shows all the tourist spots and I could just get there by walking. Since I was used to walking for 6-8 hours a day at this point, I decided to conquer whatever I could. Ponte Vecchio Ponte Vecchio is the city’s iconic bridge built over the Arno River. Ponte Vecchio is the destination if you want to find relatively cheap jewellery – or so says the travelers that I met. I am not a fan of jewellery so I left the shops alone and admired the buildings surrounding the bridge. Not much to do here if you do not really plan to shop.    Calm waters. 

Florence is the land of artwork – must see for the art enthusiasts out there. You will get dizzy with the art your eyes can feast on in this city. Museo di Palazzo Vecchio Cost of ticket: €4,50. The PaIazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy. I read about this but I didn’t plan going to the Museo because there’s just so much to do in Florence. However, I wandered off from the Duomo and found this brick fortress-palace. It was quite interesting for my eyesight as we do not have a variety of brick structures in the Philippines. They have this fake statue of David outside. I repeat. It is a fake. A FAKE. The purple camera case with a fake David

I left Venice at lunch. Boarded Trenitalia to take me to the cradle of Renaissance: Firenze (Florence). Florence is around two hours away from Venice. At around 1pm, I landed in Santa Maria Novella station. The trains that took me to Firenze I easily found my way to my hostel. Thankfully, I didn’t get lost this time. I dumped my stuff in the room then headed off to explore the fourth city of my Europe adventure. Florence’s major tourist spots are concentrated in one area so everything is accessible by foot. Everybody walks. Unlike in Venice where you can get lost and find a charming deserted alley, Florence’s streets are teeming with the tourists. It can be quite sickening at times to see all these tourists in one place. Oh right, I am one of them.

I am trying to compile a table of expenses on a per-city basis which I will be posting hopefully soon. This is similar to the other table budgets of my other trips. However, the improved blogger still does not have that "table" option. It takes up so much time editing a table and it frustrates me that the end product does not look like my nice excel spreadsheet. I'm working on this and will post these one I get around the nitty-gritty task of table formatting for blogger.  You have to stay in Venice overnight. Some daytrippers arrive in the morning, have lunch, take pictures and leave in the afternoon. Allow Venice to charm you by exploring its beauty at night . If you have 1)huge luggage with you, 2)you are just staying in Venice for a few nights and; 3) your hostel is far from a water bus stop, consider leaving your huge luggage at a baggage deposit facility in the mainland .  Think how you will cross bridges with your wheeled luggage.

Finding a cheap accommodation in Venice is not easy.  Since I planned to stay in hostels, my budget per night is only €25-30. However, Venice is one of those tourist-driven cities where the cost of the accommodation is staggering. In fact, the cost of my hostel in Venice is more expensive that my hostel in Paris (and I thought Paris is the most expensive city in my trip). There are options to stay in the mainland and just travel to the island via buses and trains but I believe that is a huge mistake. You have to stay in the island to really know Venice. I found L’Imbarcadero (read that slowly then memorize) via Hostelbookes – one of my reference sites in planning my Europe Trip.I booked directly using the hostel's website . There are interesting doors and doorknobs throughout Venice

I’ve written how enchanting and enthralling Venice can be at day . Watch out, its beauty is lethal at night. The city has a special life at night. I’m not talking about partying in the streets ‘til dawn. Rather, the city reveals its serene side at night.   Venice is eerie and fascinating at night. I initially planned joining a Venice guided night tour but since I was having a blast exploring the city alone, I scrapped that plan. Jolie lookin regal. From the movie The Tourist. Venice is coined as one of the most romantic cities in Europe. It doesn’t seem like that at day. But shows how romantic it can be at night. Well, it is difficult to absorb all the romance-ness when you are exploring the city alone. Haha. I had a jam-packed morning and I spent most of the afternoon happily getting lost in the narrow and nameless alleys. I retreated in the comforts of my hostel – and rested my tired legs. By sunset (which is around 7-8pm), I was ready to feel Venice’s magi...

Beside the Byzantine St. Mark’s Basilica is the gothic palace called Palazzo Ducale or Doge’s Palace. The palace is linked to a prison by the Bridge of Sighs. I didn’t book a ticket for this one. I spent around 30 minutes queuing to buy tickets. Not that bad considering that I was in line past 9am. I was more prepared for the sun this time. I splattered facial sunblock all over my face and I lathered sunblock in my arms. I got the Muve museum pass that will allow me to visit other museums in Venice – which cost me € 18. Again, I am not a fan of artwork. What drew me to Doge’s Palace was that...it was a palace. Save for the Coconut Palace that we have in the Philippines, I haven’t been into any palace. I was interested in looking at the structure and the room designs.  Again, there is an ongoing construction/restoration.

Piazza San Marco is located at the heart of Venice. After getting lost, walking the narrow alleys and crossing multiple bridges, I found the Piazza – in complete chaos. There were tours being conducted in all languages. I passed tour groups of Chinese, Japanese, French and Spaniards.  I navigated my way to the center of the plaza to take a picture of St. Mark's Basilica or Basilica di San Marco. Well, there are these lampposts and construction sites that's kind of an eyesore to the sight. Lamppost smack in the middle

I had the first glimpse of Venice when I was in Macau way back in 2008. We explored the Venetian Macau – a hotel and casino resort.   Hahaha! Back then, going to the real Venice was still a dream with no plan. Venetian Macau The man-made scenery was nice and amusing. You could see that it was man-made but it was still picture worthy. There is a canal and you can ride a gondola (cheaper than the Venice price of course). The gondola - Venetian Macau version

Since I flew to Marco Polo airport, I had to ride a bus going into the island. It took me around 15 minutes to get my thoughts in order. I’ve landed in Italy. I was traveling alone again. I was actually excited and scared to go sol again.   Ciao! Buon Giorno! Italia! Arrival at the airport My passport was not stamped when I departed from Cologne . It wasn’t stamped either when I arrived in Venice. I guess Schengen really “borderless” when you travel between Schengen countries whether you travel via train or plane. Too bad, I was expecting to collect some stamps.

After Cologne, Germany, my next stop is Venice, Italy. It is a long 14-hour train ride to Venice. I read in forums that there are budget airlines which offer cheap plane rides. Tru enough, a one-way fare to Venice cost me € 50 - almost a third of the price of the train price. Some pointers in booking your tickets: The ticket is non-refundable and non-rebookable, according to the carrier’s conditions. If your visa is denied, you can’t get your money back. Book at your own risk. The closer you book near your flight date, the more expensive it is – unless they have a seat sale. I bought my flightv from Frankfurth-Hahn airport going to Venice via Ryanair for €50 3months and 3 weeks before my actual flight date. I booked and paid even without the visa yet. Took a risk with this one.