Western Europe Trip 10 Negara dalam 20 hari - PART 1

Stuttgart, Germany. March 2018

Salam and Hey Travellers!

Ketika saya menyambung manaip entry ni, its already May 2022 whereas i started drafting it in September 2021 HAHA almost 1 tahun dah mengarang ni oi! adoi OK Malaysia finally opened up its border on few months ago dan rakyat jelata telah pun bersuka ria melancong ke Turkey, Swiss dan seantero Europe! on top of that Alhamdulillah, umrah trip juga dah dibenarkan. semoga Suzai Dathul Ezaidah dijemput ke tanah suci Mekah & Madinah amin! :')

Btw this Europe Trip happened on 16th April 2018 to 4th May 2018. secara totalnya, i mengambil masa 20 hari dan cover 10 negara. pada asalnya, plan i hanyalah untuk ke beberapa negara di bahagian 'Western Europe' sahaja, percayalah! HAHA namun plan punya plan, eh dekat dah ni pergilah sekali, eh alang-alang tu singgah jap lah 1 day trip boleh setel ni, eh rugi pulak kalau dah masuk Italy ni better masuk Austria sekali sebelah je, dan akhirnya, hamek kau 10 negara!! HAHAHA ye in only 20 days guys, padat namatey.

SORRY for the long and such a traumatic intro. huhu lets get into the topic! please also noted guys that this EUROPE story will be separated in 3 post coz if i combine semuanya panjang berjela sangat and loading pun lambat nanti. i'd try to shorten and simplify all the post as best as i could. hence, please expect for the detailed of each country in another separate post later ya. anyhow, i've blogged some of them, please proceed with the mentioned link ya :)

DAY 1 : 13 hours stranded in Changi Airport, Singapore

Bermula dengan PERMULAAN YANG SANGAT BURUK! this was the most awful travel experience i've ever had in my life. haha ramai yang dah tahu bahawa i dengan my travel buddy, Kak Pah telah terlepas our Norwegian flight to London. cerita penuhnya sila baca di sini Chronology of Me missing the flight to London!

so eventually, we flew with Turkish Airlines and that recorded as my first time fly with them! haha i dont fancy their inflight foods as much as Etihad's and Qatar's though.

alamak camne nk kawin dgn Turkish guy ni?? LOL

Dipendekkan cerita, so kami beli another Turkish Airlines ONE WAY ticket direct to Stuttgart, Germany that cost us RM3,700 !! sebabnya our next schedule already arranged and booked, thus by hook or by crook, kita mesti sampai di Stuttgart by 19th April before proceed to other destination. so by doing that, we skip London and Cologne and burnt out few transportations which are

Ryanair Flight - London to Cologne, Germany (£13)

DB Train - Cologne to Stuttgart, Germany (€ 24.90)

DAY 3-4 : Stuttgart, Germany

first time meeting Dayah, a bloggermates who ive known for quite sometimes and eventually met here in Stuttgart. photo taken at the Killesbergpark Park.

Alhamdulillah setelah bersusah payah melalui pelbagai ujian dan rintangan LOL serta perjalanan yang mengambil masa lebih kurang 24 jam which including transit 3 hours in Istanbul Airport, kami pun sampai di negara yang pertama Germany. ye sehari habis kat penerbangan sahaja, macam tu lah long haul flight tapi itu lah yang menjadi kegilaan ramai traveler, betul tak? the feeling is unexplainable and preciously exciting. 

FYI i tak pernah sampai negara Turkey lagi but 3 hours transit is super short, pergi jamban pun terkejor-kejor wak HAHA apa lagi nak keluar airport sedut udara Turkey. its not allowable pun. so, after another 3 hours flight, kami pun akhirnya sampai di Stuttgart city dan disambut mesra oleh my blogger buddy, Hidayah and her husband, Ramon.

This Schlossplatz is like the main and most popular "hangout place" among local, boleh cakap tempat lepak dorang lah bak kata Dayah. Well, I'd say this city is a simple yet very nice and welcoming! bila city tu tenang, local people dia pun friendly and relax je haha as in tengok lah waktu tengah-tengah hari buto ni depa dok lepak piknik2 kat taman. seronok kan kehidupan di Kota Europe? cuaca memang cerah tapi temperature was around 11 to 17 degree celcius. depa pakai short and sleeveless je yang kita kemain berjacket bagai HAHA

how can one's mood not becoming better when seeing this kinda view?

So, first day tu of course kita still mood swing after what had happened. penat giler physical and mental! HAHA so we have a full day on the next day untuk discover Stuttgart. Stuttgart is actually known as a manufacturing hub of Germany. yup, dekat sini lah terletaknya HQ dan museum kereta mewah iaitu Mercedes-Benz dan Porsche! Wow kan?? but we're not going into any of the museum, we just chill-chill dekat city and the park je, kopi-kopi and people-watching but my fav pick is this Killesberg Park. the spiral stairs of Killersberg Tower is amazing!

OK LONG AND MORE DETAILED story of Stuttgart - CLICK HERE - 5 Things to do in Stuttgart.

Special shout out to Hidayah, Ramon and of course, the kids. thanks for the great great hospitality, thanks for being so welcoming and even bringing us around! thanks a lot guys for everything, never did i forget our short memories though. wish I could meet you guys again in Basel pulak, ameen to that :')

U NEED TO KNOW

Currency : Euro (€)

Public transport : S-bahn, U-bahn, Trams, Buses, Taxi

Transportation (intercity) : DB (Deutsche Bahn) Train, the German Railway system

Landmark : Mercedes-Benz Museum (FYI Stuttgart is best known as an automotive industry!)

my first train journey and the view has already so fascinating. so our mood had successfully recovered!

So, on the next day 8:07am kami menaiki DB Train from Stuttgart main station -> DB Nurnberg HBF yang mengambil masa lebih kurang 2 jam. then, later need to transfer to a DB Bus outside of the station direct to our next country, Czech Republic. Gosh view sepanjang dalam bus ni pun cantik tapi kita dah kepenatan plus we need to fully recharge before sampai Prague HAHA coz we gonna only have 4 hours to explore the city LOL giler kan?!

DB Train + DB Buss - Stuttgart, Germany to Prague (sorry i lost the pricing!)

DAY 4 - Prague, Czech Republic

serious lah macam lukisan kan? cuaca cerah pulak (read : panas) memang cantik sgt Masyaalah :)

Pada pagi hari keempat, kami menaiki DB Train dari DB Stuttgart Station to DB Nürnberg HBF (Hauptbahnhof = Central Station) seawal jam 8.00 pagi. again, shout out to Hidayah's husband Raymon for sending us to the station. thank you so much guys, now missing you the whole fam. insyaallah we'll meet again soon ya :')

Train + Bus : Terminal Stuttgart to Terminal Praha (5 hours journey in total)

Note that Prague is also known as Praha. dekat sana depa tak panggil Prague tau depa panggil Praha LOL menurut pakcik google, Prague is one of the "most beautiful city in Europe" and thats the reason this city is being included in our endless list. 

So, basically, we only have 5-6 hours to explore the whole city (read: as much as we could!) yup i know its crazy and kinda wasted. itu lah jadi nya bila TAMAK! HAHA adoi but im not regret any of the decision cumanya i do always wanna comeback to Prague and atleast stay for 1 night and mesmerized myself seeing this stunning city at night.

memang penuh umat ya on this whole bridge, instagrammable photo tu apo? HAHA

What should i highlight? gosh sejujurnya setiap sudut di kota ini bagaikan lukisan kota europe especially dekat landmark nya "Charles Bridge" that's crossing the vital river and overlooking the whole city and the other bridges. seriously, tak tergambar dek perkataan lah guys tambah-tambah lagi cuaca yang cerah menjadikan semuanya jelas, terang dan Oh OK again cantik! HAHA ok bear in your mind that this renowned bridge is always flock with crowd ya unless you dtg pagi2 subuh haaaa 

U NEED TO KNOW

Currency : Czech Koruna (Kč / CZK)

Public transport : Trains, Trams, Buses, Taxi (FREE for over 70 years old citizen)

Landmark : Charles Bridge, Old Town Square

2018, bende alah ni belum sampai Malaysia haha makanan wajib yg korang kena cari dekat Prague! #TRDLO

My only advise is guys, please wisely arrange your itinerary although this city is tiny and lot of people claimed that 1-Day trip is enough to cover it but bear in mind that you need extra 3 hours to be at the airport and plus 1 hour from waiting and riding the bus to the airport. HAHA we made a slight mistakes, so we have only like 4 hours to explore this beautiful city. what a waste kan? yet anyhow Alhamdulillah Allah bagi peluang sampai juga :')

Bus to airport - took about 30 minutes (RM5)

Ryanair Flight 9pm - Prague to Budapest, Hungary (€ 26.70)

DAY 4-6 - Budapest, Hungary

OMG Budapest! i would say its quite underrated as not many people (read Malaysian lol) going to this city nor knowing its charm?? sejujurnya bandar ini termasuk dalam itinerary kami kerana ianya berada di "laluan" yang sama and Alhamdulillah kami decided untuk bermalam selama 3 hari di ibu negeri Hungry ini dan berpeluang menerokai hampir seluruh bandar Budapest dengan tenang haha

Kalau di bandar Prague tadi saya gambarkan dengan perkataan "cantik macam dalam lukisan" untuk bandar Budapest ini pula boleh saya katakan "cantik macam dalam mimpi" HAHA susah ye guys to find the right words to describe a precious scenery. thats why people quoted "travel - it leaves you speechless!" the experiences are always priceless and indescribable. im specifically referring to my utmost fav place among all, the "Fisherman's Bastion" Masyaallah view dekat atas ni cantik sgt!

my most favourable one, the Fisherman's bastion

The architecture here is influenced by many; Bauhaus, Baroque, Roman, pro-Italian and even Turkish-Islamic. gosh, I'd love to talk more about this influential haha but obviously i need more studies and space.  later lah ye. selain view dari atas "Buda Castle" overlooking the Danube river and the landmark "Chain bridge", transportat apa yang menarik di kota ini, hampir semua "tourist attraction" terletak berdekatan dengan each other, they are all "walking distance" sahaja.

Ini cadangan itinerary paling ringkas, mulakan tour korang seperti berikut

Fisherman's Bastion > Buda Castle Hill > Chain bridge > Hungarian Parliament Building

St Stephen's Basilica > Budapest Eye > Vorosmarty Square (locate Hard Rock Cafe and lot of shops!)

This Parliment building located across the river (PEST). yup, we're just walk and walk and stumbled upon all these attractions one by one. its quite easy i guess since signboards are clear plus you may just follow or ask other tourists haha FYI we dont have simcard throughout this journey and just depends on the FREE Wifi giler x?? yet we survived! tapi banyak drama lah so, dont follow ya huhu

BUDA - this view is taken up on the Buda Castle Hill

PEST - im now sitting on the other side of the river lol serious wei jalan kaki all the way!

FYI Budapest terbahagi kepada 2 bahagian iaitu Buda dan Pest (yup hence the name LOL) yang terletak di antara Danube River. Selain terpesona dengan view di atas Buda Castle Hill yang memperlihatkan seluruh kota Pest! saya memang jatuh cinta lah dengan kota ini kerana sepanjang berada di sini perasaannya adalah nyaman, selamat dan homie. walaupun cuaca terik macam ini sememangnya "panas" lah guys tapi temperature dalam 20 degree je lah and still selesa berjalan beribu KM. pergh mana balik trip tak auto kurus! HAHA

the landmark of Budapest, Chain Bridge

the Budapest Eye, ni pun sebenarnya terjumpa je bila jalan2 tu haha

the renowned. St Stephen's Basilica

Selain itu, saya memang tak lupa lah pengalaman berada di satu festival "Budapest Spring Fair" yang berlansung di Vorosmarty Ter / Vorosmarty Square. actually kt pun clueless tengok crowd coz we just suddenly bumped onto it, omg feels dia best ye macam berada dalam film mat saleh! HAHA i know this is silly but thats how i felt. minum kopi and enjoy the foods sambil layan hungarian songs dan dalam cuaca yang dingin ya tapi cerah! HAHA nampak nk explain pun susah, cumanya tak dapat lah simply try all the local foods tak halal kan, ended up kami makan potatoes HAHAHA

muka dah barai HAHA berjalan dari pagi kot?! we're actually aiming to see the lights and experiencing nightlife dekat area river tadi tu tapi masing2 dah low-batt plus tomorrow morning nak fly ke Italy pulak. so, we decided to just went back to our hotel and rest :')

U NEED TO KNOW

Currency : Huf (HUF)

Public transport : Bus, Metro, Tram, Surburban Railway Lines (HEV) & boat services 

The 1 DAY Travelcard is seriously the most effective way to travel around this city! very cheap and convenient, naik je apa nak naik tak payah pening nak beli tic or nak keluarkan budget lagi. then, on the 3rd day, supposedly we fly from Budapest direct to Rome, Italy but again, we faced issue on the booking confirmation where our names were NOT IN THE SYSTEM (Whizz Air €81 / RM374) then, kita pun adhoc beli new ticket with a double price, around RM600. pening mak nyah pening! 

Budapest 24hrs Travel card - ALL busses and trains around the city (1,650 HUF / RM20)

Ryanair Flight - Budapest to Rome, Italy (around RM600)

SHORT SUMMARY

to the NEXT we go!

OK lets take a pause on this DAY 6 AND CONTINUE later on the next post! in a short summary, i'd say the beginning of this trip is something that i wont forget for the rest of my life. obviously as im still remember every bits of it coz it was BITTER wei haha but Alhamdulillah we're both made it till the end. ye ending pun ada drama ye masa nak balik ke KUL. haha nantikan that one on the last part ya adoi lah

A huge thank to my travel buddy, Cik Pah who never complaint and always being so kind. i love you babe! thanks for agreeing to this crazy idea and still being a great travel buddy :') btw guys don't also forget to FOLLOW this hashtag ya

#SizzlingSuzaiisFlying

xoxo