She was in Verona

There were two places in my entire trip where I deem to be my pit stops, simply cause I spent very rushed time there, the first has been mentioned - Salzburg while the next one is in Italy, specifically Verona; a total of 1 1/2 days.

Transportation:
Your feet. Buses are aplenty, but honestly, the key places in Verona are pretty damn near. The city centre itself is not huge, save for a couple of places slightly off the normal track, everywhere else is within walking distance. One place I reckon you might need a bus to is if you stay near the city centre and need to get to the train station, as it can be quite some distance when you have luggage.

Base/Hostel: B&B Castelvecchio
Location: 3.5/5
Environment: 3/5
Dorm: 4/5
Really easy to find once you realise it's the tunnel next to McDonalds, which makes it super convenient if you are tired of Italian food, haha. It's private property so there is no obvious sign, but the lady host will meet you there at the time you agreed, and it's actually on the 2nd floor of a building. Location wise is not too bad though it's much nearer to the city centre than the train station, so it was a bit of a hassle to drag my luggage across the main motorways, especially in the rain. Environment can be quite dodgy at night because it is a small alley, but it's just a short walk so that should be fine. Being a B&B, it's pricier than hostels, but it was a lovely break from hostels because it felt like home and the host was really friendly. Everything was well-prepared from good shower amenities to awesome breakfast amenities like an espresso machine, juices, cheese milk bread etc.

Day 1
Morning arrival in Verona
Castel San Pietro
Scaligero Bridge
Verona Duomo
Church of St. Anastasia
San Zeno Church
Castelvecchio
Roman Amphitheater
Piazza Bra

My first thought arriving in Verona, "bluff people" - at least when I made the reference to the movie "Letters to Juliet" which was part of the reason why I chose to stop by Verona. Because if I remembered correctly, Verona was very classic when portrayed in the movie, but in real life it is so freaking modern with crazy branded shops. Along the piazzas you'll find tall buildings that contradict each other, you have the top floors with ancient designs (pretty!) and the ground floors are the trendiest high-end shops. Like woah. The other first thought was "Definitely a city of love", you can see love engravings EVERYWHERE. It's the Romeo & Juliet vibe perhaps.

Note the more classic architecture contrasted with the trendy glass-paned shops

So, my first stop was a place slightly out of the city centre, Castel San Pietro which I was told is a great viewpoint of Verona. Note that my sightseeing plans often begin with the furthest place since I assume it would take the most time. I enjoyed the climb up to the hill, and because it was away from the main areas, it was generally quiet, spent quite some time just enjoying the view, pretty darn good view I would say.
The Scaligero Bridge is the last standing Roman Bridge in Verona, so it was quite a gorgeous side especially with the Adige River rapids. Among all the bridges over rivers, I would say I like River Adige best.

 Climb up to Castel San Pietro

 View from Castel San Pietro

Rapids of Adige River

After that, I headed to the Duomo, which was gorgeous, though much more understated that Venice's basilica. With Verona's attractions, there are usually no audio guides. Entrance fees come with a flyer that explains the attraction and at some places, there are permanent guide machines where you put in a Euro and then listen to the explanation. The St Anastasia Church was gorgeous with its gold lining, and perhaps one of the busier ones compared to the Duomo or the San Zeno church I'm about to describe next.

 The Duomo, don't you love the colours?

The gold linings of St Anastasia

I was told that San Zeno Church that lies slightly at the outskirts of the city centre is quite a nice sight and has a scenic route by the river. My advice, go there in the evening. It's quite a walk, and while scenic, the blazing sun was annoying more than warm. And having an umbrella out just makes you stand out more as a Chinese tourist. The church itself was alright, I did enjoy wandering around in the back because it was built upon an older structure, so you can see the archaeological remains; I have a penchant for churches like that. Oh, if you are in the area, look for the corner Gelato shop at the rows of shop opposite the church, the coffee & yoghurt combo was out of this world!
Another thing about the scenic route, it was pretty alright. But it was also the first time I've seen so many lizards since I've been to the Europe! Couldn't even walk by the river bank because they were jumping out of nowhere. I'm guessing I interrupted their sun-bathing.

 Scenic route, that's another Roman-looking bridge 

The structure underneath San Zeno, uber cool

After visiting churches, it's on to castles, Castelvecchio is an old castle transformed into a museum that shows exhibit of paintings (which was a large part of the collection) and some sculptures as well as visit to areas of the castle that were once functional (i.e. the towers). Again, climbing to the top makes it a good viewpoint, and it was out of the city centre so while there are people, it was not massively crowded.

Part of the walls of Castelvecchio, you can actually walk around half the perimetre of the walls

In the evening, I spend my time at Piazza Bra which is the main piazza you see once you enter the city centre of Verona, and it is massively packed, but Bra (which means wide) gave the impression of space, so it was not that suffocating. I finished my first day with a visit to the Roman Amphitheater which is basically a large space similar to the Colosseum. I would have loved to see the night performances they have, unfortunately for the night I was there, there were no performances.

The Roman Amphitheater

Day 2
Casa di Giulletta (Juliet's House)
Piazza di Erbe
Clock Tower

Woke up early in the morning, took a long time with breakfast - it's one of my favourite things to do. Then headed of to Juliet's House, and it's really less pretty than depicted by the movie. The gum covered walls, were seriously quite icky but well, all in the name of love ;) Other than the famous Juliet statue (whose right breast is faded because rubbing it is thought to bring good luck in love) and the balcony, basically it's just a really simple visit to the interior of the house where there are various Shakespearean quotes and some exhibitions of pottery from previous eras. Oh, there's also a room complete with computers for people to write emails to the secretaries of Juliet who supposedly will reply all the emails (I've yet to receive mine). Amazing what a movie can do to the tourism of a city.

Courtyard, and see the famous balcony?

Spent some time for coffee in Piazza di Erbe which is my favourite piazza because of the market stalls (good for souvenirs) and the general likeable atmosphere. Finished my time in Verona by climbing the clock tower, no taking the elevator, needed the exercise after all the carbs I have consumed, haha. It was raining the entire day, so that was a big of a bummer. My feet swelled really badly, and was itchy, might have been due to some form of allergy.

 Piazza de Erbe market stalls

View from the clock tower

Do try:
- Visit Castel San Pietro: I don't think you can go in the castle itself, I tried but there didn't seem to be any entrance. The area surrounding it is a good enough reason and I enjoyed the half an hour walk from the city centre (Piazza Bra) across the other Piazzas and the Adige River

- Visit Scaligero Bridge & River Adige: Spend some time admiring the river, it's gorgeous.

- Eat gelato at corner shop near San Zeno: Coffee & Yoghurt, SO GOOD

- Visit Castelvecchio: It's varied with exhibitions and visiting different parts of the castle plus it's a different looking castle from the cities I visited


- Visit Casa di Giulletta: Because you can't deny the influence of Romeo and Juliet, it's nice to pay homage to the story that has lasted centuries (albeit the silliness of miscommunication between the lovers), and it's nice to be able to see for yourself the location of a movie you've watched

- Visit Piazza Erbe: Good for souvenirs, and probably a cup of coffee just to watch Verona go by

Tips:

- Buy the Verona Pass, 15 euros get you to almost all the places of attraction especially the churches

- You can actually finish Verona's centre in one day, so if you plan to stay for more days, it's a lovely base for visit to nearby cities like Siena. I would have loved to go on a winery tour!

- Check for performances at the Roman Amphitheater; it would be amazing to watch a play there at night

She was in Venice

There are various ways to get from Austria to Italy, I chose a morning train which will have an interchange in Innsbruck (apparently really gorgeous) and it's one of the more scenic train routes.

On hindsight, a night train would have saved me some money as it was 7 hour journey. Though my concern was that the night trains depart past midnight and arrive around 6am, so I was a bit concern. Again, depending on your travel preference, night trains can save time, money, effort. I spoke to people who were on night trains, and most of them had pretty alright experiences, just have to be careful with belongings.

Anyway, the Austria-Italy train ride was probably my only and biggest hiccup in terms of transportation for my travel. Nearing the border of Austria, we were told that we had to take a bus to the next nearest station due to railworks. When I checked my journey, it only stated two train interchanges, so I wasn't too happy because I've never been good with bus stops. But it all turned out well, everything was planned properly and we made it in good time. The thing was that staff in the Austria trains station knew about this issue months ago, so I was surprise raileurope.com, which I bought the ticket from, didn't mention. Or I didn't check well enough. But it was not a big deal, and what's a journey without some hiccup. Plus, the staff and other passengers were helpful.

So I reached about 6pm into Venice, just as the sun set, and you honestly cannot find a better time to be welcomed into Venice, it was gorgeous! Although I kept reminding myself that I had not find a place for dinner and it was getting dark and I have yet to check in, I couldn't stop taking photos of the sights. So it was a quick rush to the hostel, dump my stuff, and then hurry to take photos of the sunset. =)

View from Ponte Scalzi

Transportation:
Has to be the coolest. I mean, you have the London Tube, the Austria Metro, and then you have the Venice Vaporetto - wheels on water. Superbly cool, though can be massively frustrating at times because of the amount of people, and the limited speed on water. Nevertheless, it is still very efficient because it does fit quite a lot of people at one go, and there was no ridiculous waiting time in between vaporettos.
That said and done, you can afford NOT to use the vaporetto unless you are going into other islands such as Murano & Burano. Even if you do want to go, you can buy the 7 euro for 60 minutes ticket, though it probably mean a two-way journey will cost 14 euros as there is no way you can walk any of those islands within an hour. The 48-hour Venice pass + Grand Canal tour I had was about 35 euros. You can get it cheaper without the Grand Canal tour, but I wanted to be touristy, so I got it. Walking to the other main attractions was easy on foot and bridges; it wasn't till the end of my 2nd day that I realise San Marco was quite a near walking distance to where I stayed. My map reading skills do suck.

Base/Hostel: Hotel L'Imbarcadero
Location: 4.5/5
Environment: 3/5
Dorm: 2.5/5
Its location was ace. Even though initially difficult to locate, which place in Venice wasn't? This is mostly due to the lack of street signs more than the location of the hostel itself. But it was right beside the main canal and 100 metres away from one of the main vaporetto stops. Plus it is less than a mile to the train station, superbly convenient. Environment is a bit dodgy though, I can't imagine walking there at night because of the alleys I had to take, but I guess unless you're staying in a main tourist area. that can't be helped. I don't mean to be accusative, but I think I got my bed bug bites here, and it's HORROR - still relieving it now. It's not that the place was dirty, but it was really old, and thought kept clean, I guess it still wasn't as clean as a new building. Plus, there was no lock on the door, so despite being in an all female dorm, it was scary as it could be opened from the outside. Security was a huge concern because they had cupboards rather than lockers, so it was a lot of trusting things would be safe rather than knowing they would be safe. The staff were friendly enough but so many stereotypes ran through my mine, I was actually quite ashamed of myself. Again, I don't know if I was lucky, or if I was truly paranoid, everything was safe, except for the bed bugs.

Day 1
Evening arrival into Venice
Canareggio District

It was late when I got in, so other than snapping shutters away, I managed to take a little walk around the areas of the Canareggio district which was not very far from the Santa Lucia train station. It was still rather touristy, but it was my first insight to Italian streets. Definitely tons of cafes filled with pizzas and paninis, GELATO shops and so many Venetian masks. I didn't get any, mainly because my bag wouldn't fit.

Look for shops like this for a cheap on-the-run lunch

 Day 2
Murano Island
Burano Island
Grand Canal Tour

Bright and sunny Sunday morning, an amazing quiet start in Murano Island which is the famous glass making island in Italy. I was quite surprised at the silence that greeted me when I reached Murano. Granted it was like 8am on a Sunday, and being a strongly Catholic country, most people were probably at mass. I really enjoyed those quiet moments until the hoards of tourists come in from nowhere, haha. I did a lot of walking (as with most of my trip) and while there's not much to see on Murano in terms of architecture, I enjoyed a free glass-making demonstration and a trip to the glass museum. Oh, it was an amazing place to shop as well. There were plenty of souvenir choices - I was so broke in Venice, but I guess happy broke. I can't remember which shops I went to, but I think they are mostly quite similar. Do walk around though, it's that one stretch with all the shops, and a couple others dotted around the island, but since it's so near, you can always make a detour back to the initial shop - if you can remember which one it was. HAHA.

Glass Museum

Then it was on to Burano Island, which was not a smart choice. As there is only two vaporetto lines to Burano from Murano, it would have been wiser to go on Burano first when it was less packed in the morning, then come from Burano to Murano in the afternoon, since people are less likely to leave early.
Anyway, an hour's wait later, I was on the most colourful address in Europe. Made me wonder which person went, "Let's make our island known, paint it with colours!" Didn't delve much into its history, so I'm not sure if it was always like that. What has been part of its history is its lace-making industry; which is what every shop sells. With the ticket for the Glass Museum, it also allowed entrance to other civic museums, which means the Lace Museum was included. Pretty cool to see all the designs, though I didn't learn much into the different lace needle methods, so many to remember!
Had my lunch in a random sports bar, and the fried seafood (calamari + prawns + fish + oyster), OMG, amazing.

Most colourful address in Europe!

Time to head back to the Santa Croce island which is where my hostel was. I walked further than I did yesterday just exploring the area around. Then I decided that it was near enough to sunset to do the Grand Canal tour which lasts for about 45 minutes. Basically it brings you around the main attractions, and you can hop-on-hop-off. Honestly, how cool can that be? Hop-on-off boat instead of bus, haha. I didn't go off the attractions but just enjoyed my whole tour on water, and satisfied the noob photographer in me. It has been long since I've been near any large body of water (Miss the beach SO MUCH), so the canals were lovely for me.

View of the Rialto Bridge from the Grand Canal Tour

Day 3
Rialto Mercato/ Rialto Produce Market
Basilica di San Marco/ St Mark's Square
Palazzo Doge/ Doge's Palace
Museum Korrer
Rialto
Jewish Ghetto

So I woke up in the morning to realise that there was no electricity in the hostel =_= Pretty funny, my dorm mates told me some of them had to deal with cold showers, lucky it was Italy. Might have hypothermia if it was the UK, I kid, we're not that bad la. First stop this morning was the Rialto Produce Market, which was barely open, because I'm always too early. Though I'm quite sure I checked and it states that it opens from 7am. Didn't bother me too much as I enjoyed the silence, and just started walking around and actually reached the San Marco square end of the island. Wanted to go into the basilica but as I have my heavy backpack, it wouldn't be allowed in, so I have to wait till the bag office opened at 9.
Decided to have some coffee (I was a massive coffee addict throughout my travel), and some panini, boy did it empty my pocket. My fault though, I could have stood by the bar with an espresso but I wanted to sit and do some writing in my journal. Which reminds me, other than in Naschmarkt, I didn't actually did the espresso-at-bar-standing up thing, cause I usually spend a lot of time writing and planning.
Head back to the St Mark's basilica, and it's as if someone unloaded tourists from the sky, it was extremely packed. By the time I got to leave my bag, the line was massive, especially with tour groups. Silly me forgot to bring my wallet along so I couldn't pay for the fee to climb the dome, or the fee to enter the altar area. With free entrance, it was just mostly walking around the main areas of the basilica, though you can take quite a while especially with a guide book or guided tour.

St Mark's Square as people start to pour in

Rialto Market, when it was fully opened in the afternoon

Remember the museum entrance ticket? Well, it gave me entrance to the Palazzo Doge or Doge's Palace, so I scurried out of the massively packed basilica and spent a good 1 1/2 to 2 hours in just wandering around the Palace. It's quite large really as you visit the residential areas and the prisons, mind you that I did not stop to see every exhibit, so I was considered to be moving quite fast. The prisons were pretty cool, and honestly a bit chilly. Not many people headed there, so it was just me and a couple of American tourists. By far I think it's one of the better preserve prisons, huge!

Then I headed to the opposite end of the square for Korrer's Museum. With Venice, there's a special phenomenon known as Acqua Alta which is when the lowest areas of Venice are flooded twice a day, for about 3 - 4 hours at the peak of the flood. There are walkways erected to avoid the flood, but most of the time it won't take you to where you want to go (because some police dude decided to block your way), or it's filled with queuing tourists, so you can't walk anyway. So most of the time people are walking in the ankle-length water because they are fascinated with the whole idea, or because we need to get somewhere anyway.

Peak of the flood - taken from Korrer's Museum

Korrer's Museum was definitely big and comprised of a couple of smaller museums inside actually. There was the army museum, and I think two others on sculpture and modern art. Pretty wholesome and varied exhibition. Spent about 2 hours there, and although I didn't climb the basilica, windows in the Korrer Museum did provide some good view points for aerial shots of St Mark's Square. By the time I finished my visit, it was the peak of the flood, and I needed to get back to the Rialto. Initially I could have avoided wetting my feet, but there was this police officer who block the end of the elevated pathway to the bridges. So well, there goes my first experience of wetting my feet. Funny but not fun, canal water DOES NOT smell good. UGH.

Reached the Rialto end, and just basically wandered around taking photos. Was trying new routes to see how lost I could get but because it was largely a tourist shopping area, you never really get lost following the herd. Note that Rialto market is considered an attraction on its own especially for colourful fresh produce, and souvenir stalls. Rialto on its own is actually the area of the island, so there were quite some high end shops and cafes that are right by the canal.

Since I was getting sick of the crowds, I decided to head into the heart of Cannaregio district where the Jewish Ghetto was. My research tells me that it's the more quiet area of the island, so off I go. In Venice, I did more wandering around than other places. Mostly because its alleys and streets were perfect for that, and also because I went on a weekend, with Day 3 being a Monday, and the museums I wanted to visit were close! Superbly sad with my planning, it would have been better to exchange my Day 2 and 3's itinerary since Murano and Burano would have stayed open anyway.
And so I really did get lost in the Jewish Ghetto. I thought I had my direction, but I walked all the way to the end of the road, overlooking the sea and the railways heading into Santa Lucia. Totally bad orienteering. But it wasn't too bad, pretty fun actually. I did panic a little when I realise I am not sure how to place myself on the map I have, so it was mostly just retracing steps and trying to place myself on the map. I enjoyed the peaceful time I had on the bench overlooking the sea.

A shot of Cannaregio, quiet.

My 3rd day was actually really relaxed, even as I wandered around the Cannaregio district, I find myself back to Santa Croce and the railway station area so I decided to plop myself on a jetty (which was a water taxi stand) and do some reading. In hindsight, I could always have explored other islands, but I did not feel like taking the vaporetto; it was one of those times where it is the last hour of the opening times so you never know if you have time to get there, and get in. I attribute it to bad planning. But I did see most of what I wanted to see. For dinner, I tried squid ink pasta, which is one of the Venetian specialty dishes. Not a big fan, tasted very fishy. Haha.

 My reading spot under the bridge

Squid ink pasta 

Another sunset shot

Do try:
- Grand Canal Tour: I think it was really quite worth it, and would have loved to spend a day just hopping on and off. I think there were about 8 - 10 attractions so that would have taken up a whole day, and saved you from walking between attractions.

- Burano & Murano Islands: They were slightly different from Venice, and each had their specialty, so I felt it was worth it to see how lace and glass were made

- St Mark's Basilica: But perhaps with a guide book or a guided tour so you can understand its history better

- Doge's Palace: Just to see a palace without a massive garden, and visiting the prisons

Tips:
- To have a cheap filling meal, I'll definitely suggest a panini. It's cheap at most cafes, and you take it away with you so you don't pay for cover charge. The bread is massively filling for me, though I'm not fond of the ham, too porky. But try and judge for yourself.

- They were not joking when a lot of places close on Mondays, especially museums, so seriously consider that when you want to make any visits.

- Get the civic museum card, it's 14 euros at student price (valid with passport + student visa) and it gives you entrances to most of the common museums around Venice which I guessed would have made 3 days very busy if you were to visit all

- Spend time wandering around, whether it is in busy Rialto or the more quiet Cannaregio, there are really a lot to see in these places. Given that I came from Austria, there was a stark difference in the architecture, and that was really lovely to the eyes. If you are not too fussed about making your money's worth by visiting every single attraction possible, consider just getting a spot and people watch. It does not have to be at a coffee place, you could just sit on some random jetty.

- Stay for the sunset, best viewpoint by far for sunset is the Ponte Scalzi/ Scalzi bridge. It was near to the railway, so there were a lot of people but you still get quite an amazing view

- This is not from personal experience but from observation. Try not to stay in the Rialto or San Marco area, it's really packed, and the confusing alleys make it really difficult to find your hostel/hotel and there are A LOT of bridges WITH steps. Saw so many confused travellers, and I can imagine lugging your bags from the station into the vaporetto, and across islands, not fun.

- CHECK FOR BED BUGS. Don't be lazy. Google the methods, there are plenty.

She was in Salzburg

On to Salzburg, I took an early morning train in from Vienna but this has its pros and cons.

One of the better breakfasts I had, super yum meatloaf sandwich. And it was cheap

Pros - You reach bright and early and that's always a good start because you would have time to walk. As I said, I start my days early so this was not a big issue to me

Cons - Waste of hostel money. If you think about it, I can actually save one night of stay in Vienna and head towards Salzburg in the evening of my 3rd day rather than morning of my 4th day. It's a one hour plus journey away, so I technically would not arrive too late. But I was not big on night arrivals, and it was too near to take a midnight train. So I guess either way I would have to pay for a short one night accommodation whether it is in Vienna or Salzburg. Other option is to leave mid afternoon (4pm ish) and arrive in Salzburg in time for some light and nightlife.

So, Salzburg. I've never watched the Sound of Music, or at least I don't remember. But the meadows sure entice one to feel like they need to run across the greenery. It was a really clean city like Vienna, though much more quiet especially since the area I'm staying was technically outside of the tourist attraction.

Salzburg has two parts; the old city, where most attractions are and the new city, where the trains, hostels and businesses are and both are separated by the Salzach River.

Transportation: Buses mainly, cause there are no metros or tram. But everything was within walking distance so I just used what God gave me, my legs.

Base/Hostel: YoHo Youth Hostel
Location: 3/5
Environment: 4/5
Dorm: 3/5
I got a 4-person bedroom with shared bathroom so I thought it was inconvenient to have to go to the bathroom which is shared by everyone on that floor. That said and done, shower amenities were good, if you are early, the 4 bathroom stalls are not packed, it was clean and there was ample space. Environment was lively, it was a really colourful building, but as I was there for only a day plus, I did not hangout at the common area. The dorm was smaller with only four people, but there was a lack of plugpoints, and for travel that's never good news. Really funny that my dorm mates that night were all Asian females, from Korea, Japan and Taiwan, and darn friendly.
Location wise, it's a half-half between the old town and new town, so not too bad. Though it can be difficult to find it at the start because if you take a wrong turning (like I did), you venture deeper into new town instead.

What a colourful front door no? 

Day 1
Geitredegasse
Alter Markt
University Square Market
Hohensalzburg Fortress
Cathedral
Mirabell Gardens
Linzer-Gasse

Salzburg's old town is pretty small actually, all those markets and streets are actually located in the same area and interconnected. While not much about history, I really enjoyed walking and taking photos because the architecture was quite distinct from Vienna. It was more classic, and had a more "historical" vibe to it.

A lot of shopping can be done, again, mostly clothes and other expensive stuff which I was not interested in. I did do some shopping for souvenirs, but I was taking photos and just taking in the scenery as I was walking down these streets.

University Square Market - had more stalls than Alter Market when I went

One thing I had to do in Salzburg was to try the Kaischerschmarn, which is a traditional Austrian dessert made of chopped up egg pancakes served with plum stew. Simply because I didn't manage to try it in Vienna. So I was hunting cafes that served those. And I found it *JOY!*

YUMMEH.

My sightseeing was limited to Hohensalzburg Fortress which you can choose to walk up to the hill it was on, or take the cable-car-elevator-thingamajig. I did half and half so I took elevator up (at this point my feet still hurt massively) and walked down. Spent a good 2 hours plus there as it was huge. The ticket price included a guided tour in the residential area of the fortress and after that there are a few museums where you can visit on your own. There was the Puppeteer Museum and another two historical museums, with names in Austrian that I can't remember.

The walk down was scenic and lovely, so if you had better brains than me to wear good shoes, do save your money on the elevator, and do the walk.

Part of the Hohensalzburg Fortress

View from the Hohensalzburg Fortress

After that it was to the Cathedral, and it was HUGE. Very gorgeous. In terms of architecture, probably more similar to Karlskirche than Stephansdom. Spent some time there in peace.

I actually really liked the interior of the Cathedral. It was not elaborate with mosaics, or colours, but the paintings and colour scheme was lovely.

Then it was on to more walking really, I was looking for souvenirs from Austria for a couple of people, and the markets were really quite lovely for that. Stopped at cafes, because that is a must for me in every city.

On my way back into the new town, I detoured into the Mirabell Gardens. Didn't enter the Mirabell Palace because I didn't feel like I want to pay for another castle, plus it was near closing time. The gardens were alright, not as grand as the Schonbrunn Palace in decoration and scale but it was a nice walk especially in the warm breezy weather.

Entrance to Mirabell Gardens, the building at the end is the palace

Before dinner, I did a little exploration of the new town, mainly taking more photos of the city. I also walked to the train station and back to make sure I knew the way and won't miss my train the next day.

Day 2
Fingerlos Cafe
Linzer-Gasse

Linzer-Gasse; full of cutee signs

My train was around 11am, so it gave me some time to walk, especially since I was awake at 7am. Unfortunately most of the shops were not open so I set on a apfelstrudel + Viennese coffee breakfast and just took my time. It was drizzling so it made it a bit difficult to walk, but I did head back to Linzer-Gasse, a famous shopping street just before the new-town-end of the bridge into the old town.

To be fair, you can finish the main attractions in Salzburg in a day. And I think the value of Salzburg lay more in the outskirts? I would have loved to do some hiking and visiting the salt mines. It was not on my agenda this time round to visit outskirts, but as you would read in my coming posts, that would be one of my greatest  darn-should-have-done-it.

Do try:
- Visit Hohensalzburg: It's probably the main attraction, and it's a good one too because it's a different looking castle, and you have entry to other museums. Plus it has got quite a good viewpoint of the city

- Visit the markets: Whether it is the Alter Market or University Square Market, if you have a penchant for local stalls and street markets, these make good photographs and to snap up some souvenirs - or even a quick lunch really

- Walk the streets: If outdoor sports is not your thing, then take your time to walk, and just enjoy the quaint looking streets of Linzer-Gasse and Geitredegasse.

She was in Vienna

Okay, so I've been requested by some people to share details of my trip, and I guess it does give me the motivation to post some of the details up. So I guess I'll be posting a skeleton of my almost-2-week trip alone, and I'll be posting mostly on my schedule for the day, some places to look at, places to miss and what I would have done differently...and maybe the occasional funny story. There are just too many stories to be recalled in a short post, which might bore you out anyway, so ask me in person, bwahahaha.
Full photo sets are already on FB, so I'll just post one or two key ones here that will help with recognizing the places.

A few things to keep in mind as you read this somewhat-travel-journal:
a) I under-budgeted; which means I spent more than I intended of my initial RM5K for the entire trip covering everything. That said and done, it is possible to keep it to that amount if you don't spend on souvenirs, gelato and other unnecessary stuff. I'm being absolutely serious.

b) My days started really early - which means waking up at 7am on average because I like to go to places before the world comes crowding in, and I'm back in the hostel before 7pm as this is my first time travelling and I'm paranoid about being out late. Again, this is a personal preference, and I definitely can see how it will be altered if and when I travel next time round. I'll probably do a "What-would-I-do-next-time" post, just to summarize some lessons I learnt

c) I was sightseeing more than being absolutely delving into the history or attractions in the different cities which was my initial intention. It was not till the end of the trip that I realised this, but again, awesome lesson for the next travel(s). So read this as if you are reading a first time noob traveller who probably fell into every tourist trap (both on purpose and on accident). Plus, I was not (or trying not to be) rushed, so I was not very particular with making sure I saw every single possible attraction within my time or money's value - not a proud trait, but it was how I chose to travel.

d) I have to admit that I did not do much research on my part especially with regards to stories behind a lot of the cities because i) I am lazy and ii) trip was mostly done on a whim. So it was more of going through the list of places on the Internet that I should be visiting as a first timer and then reaching the place then deciding how to go about it. I mostly do this in between visits (i.e. during lunch). The bulk of my research went to what food should I try because I was really keen on the gastronomy aspect of culture. Again, it's personal preference.

e) I visited in mid-September where weather was relatively sunny (too hot at times) and sunlight was still long; sun rises about 6.30am, sets about 7pm, 12 hours of sunlight is really good for travelling. Of course, the more the better.

Enough of ladida-s, let's begin, with Austria, zooming in to Vienna.

Might I say, I LOVE VIENNA.
Perhaps it was the first city I ever visited on my own (outside of UK), perhaps it's because there is a 90% similarity of the city name to my own name, or perhaps because of its understated elegance.

I would compare it to Paris, which a lot of people do, but it was less of a hustle-bustle and it was cleaner and calmer. I was not a big fan of Paris when I visited, so I thought Vienna was a lovely understated reincarnation.

I spent 3 days in Vienna.
Transportation: Pretty awesome, used the Metro/underground mainly. It was timely, clean and wasn't even crazy jammed pack even during weekday peaks.

Base/Hostel: Hostel Ruthesteiner (http://www.hostelruthensteiner.com/)
Location: 4/5
Environment: 4/5
Dorm: 3/5
Map was pretty good, so it was quite easy to find the hostel. And true to its website, it was really near the Westbanhof station which is a key train station. It's just a street away from the main road so when I arrived I was a bit worried as the street it was on was a bit quiet, though that turn out to be a good thing actually. As the hostel is made up of various disconnected buildings, don't be concerned if you are sent to the opposite street (as I was) for your dorm. I liked the environment, common area was well-lit, pretty gardens. The common kitchen and eating area was pretty busy, so it was a good place to get to know people.
The dorm was relatively comfortable, with a proper working hot shower. Again, I think with dorms it depends a lot on your dorm mates, whether they are obnoxious or nice, and I do hear about cringe-worthy stories.


Day 1
Evening arrival to Vienna
Walking around
Sigmund Freud Park
Freyung

I usually spend my first days in cities walking around and trying to get a feel of my base in comparison to the places I want to visit. As orienteering is not my best strength, it does take a few turns before I actually get hold of a visual map in my mind.

Didn't do much on the day, trying to settle to the fact that I am actually in Vienna and am actually travelling.
As a Psychology nerd, the first thing I did was to go find Sigmund Freud park, I mean, it's Freud okay. Just to realise I'm probably the only one excited over it. HAHA. People were just laying there, rubbish strewn around, not the prettiest park. I guess I should have gone to his museum instead, but I decided on buying a bratwurst and walking around Freyung.
From what I guessed, Freyung is probably the more upmarket area of Vienna. There were expensive looking shops, and the cobblestone streets were all proper and seriously clean. It was nice to take photos though, and it was here when I realise that although Viennese buildings are mostly grey and really modern looking, if one looks into the "tunnels" between buildings, there are often really really PRETTY courtyards. It's like you would think that it's one-dimensional flat structure, but beyond the tunnels, there is a more classic world, and quite different architecture than what is seen in the front. I loved Vienna for that, it's like little pleasant surprises.

Also, it was really easy to walk around Vienna. If you had sensible shoes, you can actually walk to a lot of the attractions without needing the metro.

Met some dorm mates who were pretty cool, they shared some lovely stories. Note that I chose female-only dorms for all the cities I visited.

Day 2
Albertinaplatz
Schonbrunn Palace
Stephansdom
Judenplatz/ Jewish Museum

I made a mistake on the 2nd day. I wanted to try Palmhaus, which is a really famous coffee house as I thought it was open for breakfast, it was not. So I should have gone to Schonbrunn Palace, which was much nearer to Westbanhof than go to Albertinaplatz which was the opposite end in the city. I made quite a few mistakes like this, mostly due to lack of research really.
And I really wanted to go to the Schonbrunn Palace, so after an expensive breakfast, I took the metro all the way to Schonbrunn and spent a good 2-3 hours there. I bought a ticket for the Palace itself, Garden and the Gloriette (a viewpoint). There was also an option to go for a apfelstrudel (apple strudel) demonstration class, but it was on hourly basis so that did not match my time. My feet almost died walking the gardens, and no, it was too huge to complete in 3 hours.

Schonbrunn Palace

The Gloriette, you must pay to climb to the top

From there, I headed back into the city, and went to the main cathedral, Stephansdom. The cathedral was lovely, architecture was much older, but still very elaborate. I'm still learning the terms of Baroque, Gothic, Flemish etc art styles so I can't say for sure which one the Cathedral belongs to. Entrance is free, but you have to pay a small fee to get into a claustrophobic-inducing lift to get to the top. I paid, because I was determined to climb a viewpoint at every city - and they are mostly in churches or cathedrals

Note that Stephansdom was in Stephanplatz, a popular tourist area where shopping is aplenty if you like. Mostly clothes and stuff, a couple of souvenir-ish shops, but I don't fancy shopping when I travel unless it's for souvenirs.

View from the top of Stephansdom

Then I had lunch at Figlmueller's which is worth a mention because it's only the most famous place in Vienna to have the famous Wiener Schnitzel - a thinly breaded deep fried pork/veal escalope. I got the veal one, and it was OMG-SO-GOOD.

Look for this building, Figlmueller http://www.figlmueller.at/en/

There was more walking around because with Vienna, there is quite a lot of sights worthy of photographs so I was walking from Karlplatz to the Museum Quartier, to the Burggartens, Volksgarten which really, are all walking distance.

I took some time to find the Jewish museum because it was hidden in a courtyard and I cannot read maps to save my life. With my lack of history knowledge, I think I could have done more to understand the history of the Jews in Vienna even though the museum I went into gave some insight on the life of Jews since the immigrated over to Vienna.

The courtyard with a Jewish memorial in the middle

Then I ended up in Palmhaus (FINALLY) for an afternoon tea and some reading, mostly to avoid the rain. If there is one thing to learn about the European weather, when it's crazy hot and humid today, it's probably going to have a torrential downpour tomorrow.

Day 3
Naschmarkt
Karlskirche
Michaelerplatz
Museum Quartier
Ringtrasse

So the rain continued into the next day which made it pretty difficult to get good photos or have a scenic walk. I went to the Naschmarkt early, TOO EARLY. All the stalls were barely opened, but to be fair, it would have been a better lunchtime option, as it was mostly food stalls. And for those who are staying longer and planning to cook, they seriously provide a good selection of ingredients. I took about an hour plus there, just walking up and down and having a "standing" breakfast. As with most European countries (at least with Austria & Italy), it is almost certain that you will have to pay a cover/service charge when you sit for coffee - in Austria it's usually a bread basket charge). Wandered around, took some photos. I especially love this teapot shop somewhere in the middle of the market, basically the market is made up of two streets with a row of shops/stalls down both sides, and in the middle. The teapot shop had a really good collection, and was seriously tempting me to buy (I didn't).

Then I moved on to Karlsplatz and ended up in Karlskirche which is another church, but this one had a museum attached so I paid a student price to get into the church, up the church and in the museum. Pretty good deal. The church was quite gorgeous, different architecture than Stephansdom, perhaps more modern with the use of mosaics.

After that it was to Michaelerplatz, and this was another silly mistake because I didn't realise I actually passed by this place when I went to Freyung. It was actually side by side, but the Spanish Riding School was there, and the architecture was gorgeous. At this point of time, horribly insensible shoes and wet feet made my feet hurt so bad, I could barely walk so I was really hobbling quite slowly and taking long stops.

View of the gate into Spanish Riding School + Empress Sissi's Apartments

I intended to visit the Demel Cake House, another famous cake place but it was so packed, I changed my mind to a tea place called Heissenberger. It was a good change from the coffee.

After that, it was more walking around, and attempting to take photos. I took the tram on the Ringtrasse which is basically a tram service that takes you around the inner city and allows you to see most of the attractions. I did not think too highly of it though I think it's mostly due to the rain and gloomy weather so there was not much to see.

Finally, I made my way to the Museum Quartier, which is basically an area where all the art museums are located. It was late so I did not make the final entrance, though I am not sure I would have appreciated the interior especially with its price. The Leopold museum which I wanted to visit was about 18 Euros.

Courtyard of the Museum Quartier

Another place I would recommend for food is the Mozart Cafe near the Hostel Ruthesteiner, relatively cheap and good food.

This concluded my Vienna leg of the trip as I took the early train into Salzburg next morning.

Do try:
- Visit the Schonbrunn Palace : I enjoyed learning about the Habsburg Monarchy, and the audio guide provided was quite informative. I don't understand the fuss about Empress Sissi other than how she maintained the good relations with Hungarians because she was mostly admired for her beauty (and her madness in keeping it). She was all over touristy items.

- Visit Stephansdom : Not only its architecture is quite different, it's free and located in a central area so it's a good place to go when you are short of visit time. I think it stays open till quite late

- Visit Freyung/Michaelerplatz/Judenplatz area: All within walking distance and make a lot of good photos, plus there are some nice cafes dotted around

- Visit Naschmarkt: Seriously best when it's fully opened and you are looking for food. Probably quite good for souvenirs as well

- Eat Wiener Schnitzel @ Figlmueller: MUST TRY, I cannot emphasize the worth of the money for this piece of deep-fried sin.

- Eat Sacher-Torte @ Cafe Sacher: If you are a first timer, try it where it originates, this chocolate cake was AMAZING.

- Eat beef-related dishes: Whether it is Plachutta (which is a beef-based restaurant with a few restaurants dotted around the city) or any other place actually - try the Mozart Cafe I suggested, quite damn good

Tips:
- Get the Vienna Student Card for transportation: Although I'm not sure if a student visa is a valid student identification, no one actually checked. And if you are going to visit places that are further than the inner city (i.e. Schonbrunn Palace), it is probably a good bet
- Don't eat Viennese breakfast at cafes in touristy areas, not worth it. Better to find a bakery, even a chain bakery, stand up, have a good brioche or croissant with melange (coffee & milk), cheaper and much better.

I'm Sorry, I'm Not Sorry

Had some awesome conversations, read some awesome writings, and here I am thinking, we should not made to be apologetic, not for not hurting people, not for being authentic, especially not for being authentic.

It' arguable that authenticity is a construct subjective to the one who perceives it. What we see to be true to ourselves may annoy the hell outta someone else.
I guess for me, the line I draw is when it seriously doesn't hurt someone. And no, being a reason for you to perceive as annoyance is seriously debatable.

No one should be made to feel that their opinion is on a less equal footing than others.
Or that their preferences make them weird, or freaky, or *insert not-nice term*

If I want to like Justin Bieber, I will like him
If I like emo chinese korean drama, I will like it
If I like to be less of a hipster, more of a hipster, more boring, less boring, crazy spontaneous, less spontaneous, funny, sarcastic, likes chilli, hates sambal...you get the gist.

It's funny how humans inadvertently sets standard for oneself, and funny how we are forever trying to achieve it till the point when we realise we live by standards others set for us, or we perceive others set for us.

We put everyone's word on a pedestal, and while I am all out for openness and empathy, it seriously doesn't work when it means your own perspectives are ignored, and devalued.

That said, it does not give you the damn right to be so entitled and think that being yourself means you can heck care about anyone at all.

You be the judge. You are always your best judge. Save for God perhaps. =)

Time for bed. Goodnight, and oh, you are alright, seriously, you are.

Spell with me; L-E-A-R-N (Repost from FB)

We are always learning. Life-long learning may sound like a fad that suggests the need to learn a skill in every point of your life. But above and beyond that, I think learning is something that happens everyday anyway. Oh, that's how to insert a landscape orientation into a portrait orientation ms word document. Oh, so that is how long it takes to roast a chicken. Oh, my toe nail peels so often it's making me annoyed with my toe. You get my point.

More than that is this idea of relearning that has intrigued me.With learning, comes schemas, scripts and in a more negative connotation, stereotypes. And these are all results of previous learning. Learning on its own is neutral, what we do with the learning can lean towards positive or negative. And relearning, that's the hardest.

Think of someone you have known for 10 years, or easier, your sibling.Think of how they would react in a situation where someone annoys them.....pictured it? What if one day they react differently from the picture you expected? What would your reaction be? Humans learn, unlearn, relearn and the cycle goes on.

Although learning is challenging; to unlearn and relearn, I think that's a more challenging path.

People change.

They change as they learn in different phases of their life.The question is, can you relearn what you have learnt about them? Are you willing to keep your mind, and more importantly your heart, open to knowing this new, yet so familiar person? Of course, rarely do people change their core unless there's a really radical situation, especially as one gets older. But it doesn't mean they can't change significantly for people to go o.O

I can't say I am the same person I am this time last year, and I know very clearly, I have changed. Which means, those around me would have changed as well, because well, time has its way.

In what way? Not really sure yet to be honest, but I'm challenging myself to relearn them, and to really seek understanding with my heart before saying, "hey, you've changed so much, I don't want to know you anymore ( which is probably the case rather than " I don't know you anymore")

And if that is still the case, despite putting in an authentic heart, then I can walk away with no regrets, saying that I have done my best, we can do better, just not with each other.

A friend once told me, if you walk away, walk away leaving it better than before. And sometimes, that's all that matters :)

Are you ready to learn again, and again?

Good morning, forgiveness (Repost from FB)

So as per usual, my brain is inspired by the random-est stuff, at random-est times, such as when one is all dusty and smelly trying to pack (too many) stuff into her luggage =)

I'm not a big fan of rock music, other than when I'm running or driving (very chi gek!) but I found out it's pretty awesome to be able to bop your head to the beats when you are packing, haha. Switchfoot was on my Youtube playlist today, thanks to a friend's share on FB (power of social media baybeh!), and 100 songs, no need to press repeat (Y!)

The song "Mess of Me" spoke to me quite loudly, I felt the need to speak to you, yes, you who are reading this.

Being compassionate is a bloody.hard.task. There's every other factor telling you not to - "life's not fair", "why me", "it's so tiring", "but" etc. etc. and almost very fewreasons to.

And honestly, there is a chance for "compassion burnout" when we are compassionate with everyone else BUT ourselves.

Yet sometimes, that's the person we need to be compassionate too, first.

For the mistakes we've done.

For the mistakes we did not do.

The song spoke about how a person has made a mess and wants to reverse this tragedy, wanting to live life fully alive and that no one can do that but him or herself. 

One paragraph spoke particularly to me:

We lock our souls in cages,

We hide inside our shells,

It's hard to free the ones you love,

Oh, when you can't forgive yourself,

Yeah, forgive yourself

It's difficult to forgive someone else. It's 10X more difficult to forgive yourself when you effed up. Especially when in a million years you never thought you would eff up like that, no, not you.

Then guess what, it's sure to happen to you. Never say never. Like really.

But if you can't forgive yourself, who can?

And in the midst of your self-awareness which spiralled into a form of self-focused-pity, all you can think is how bad the situation is, rather than how you can reach out and make it better.

I love Randy Pausch's quote"A bad apology is worse than no apology".

The world's full of too many already-said-sorry's-now-just-give-me-forgiveness.

Forgiveness is not an entitlement.

Forgiveness is earned, for yourself, from yourself. 

So reach out. There's only that much that time can silent. 

There's only so much self-blame.

There's only that many sorry-s before it turn stale and rots of insincerity.

Nothing says forgiveness more than effort, and you'll probably feel better you are doing something about it, like finally.

No one guarantees the outcome of effort, heck, no one guarantees the outcome of anything anyway.

But you want to try, because if you don't, suddenly you find yourself adding another sentence to your "Why I should not be forgiven list".

Please, we need to start striking things off that list.

Say sorry to yourself, work on changing that sorry-for-yourself energy to let's-make-the-world-better.

And no, I don't think that's airy fairy.

Compassion can change so much.

It's not easy though, and that's why it's worth it.

Good morning, forgiveness =)

P.S: For more practical acts of compassion and/or forgiveness, do what you do best, Google. Haha.