Adventure Accounting

After a tiring day of walking around, we went back to our hostel to rest for a bit and bathe. Yes, we haven’t bathed that entire time, so it was time to give time for hygiene. (We arrived in Seoul early and Zaza backpackers had no common bathroom) Refreshed with soap, shampoo and toothpaste, we set out to conquer Seoul Tower. Seoul Tower, N Seoul Tower and Namsam Tower, they are all one and the same. I read that you can ride the cable car going up the tower when I was doing my research. But, for some reason, I think that slipped my mind and I forgot about that. When we asked help from our hostel, we were advised to take a bus going to the tower. The bus stop is just a stonethrow away from Myeongdong station. The waiting time lasted for about five minutes. Seoul Map, written in the walls of our hostel I looked at the map and the route of the bus consisted a lot of stops before reaching the tower. The bus ride took around, 30 minutes. It was a picturesque view going up the...

I know, I know. A title can’t get any cornier than this one. Everyone has an ultimate dream destination. Mine is Europe. Where in Europe? The iconic Eiffel Tower. From the movie G.I. Joe I walked from Arc de Triomphe going to the Eiffel Tower. I still had a couple of hours of daylight left. My plan was to enjoy the view at the top at night.    "Paris. Somebody pinch me." Almost there.

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.

Cologne is famous for its Cathedral – which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. The catherdral is locally called the “Dome” of Dom. The Dome withstood World War II bombings. During my planning stages, I was patterning my itinerary from Rick Steve’s best of three weeks and I wanted to spend time in Bacharach, aside from Cologne. However, I didn’t find any suitable accommodations which were available and within my budget on my preferred dates.  I initially thought of skipping Germany and doing Spain instead but Spain is relatively far from my other target destinations. The largest Gothic church in Northern Europe