Como? Where is it? Coming from an Asian country, I’m not familiar with the non mainstream tourist attractions in Europe. Como is one of them. It is actually a small city located near Lake Como, where it got its name, in Italy. The city borders the country and Switzerland.
Why did I go to Como? I actually went there to visit a friend. I needed a place to star near Milan, too. My friend was a student there and she lived in a student accommodation, just enough for two people to sleep. Her accommodation was not too far from the city center.
To get to Como, people can use trains. There are many trains passing this city. As it is a quite ‘famous’ place for people to come to spend their day off, it is not too difficult to get there. I think it is around an hour train ride from Milan.
Como is such a small city, anyway. The city is beautiful with its lakeside scenery. There are lots of hotels and cafes because people come to enjoy the city. Like other Italian cities, there is also a famous Gelato shop there. Despite the cold weather, I bought and ate Gelato when I was there.
There are not too many tourist attractions in Como, but people can certainly enjoy Lake Como by hiring a boat. Besides that, the hilly contour of the city makes people able to hike to the hill to enjoy the scenery. I think a memorial of Volta was built up there because of his relation to the city.
I quite like the atmosphere there because it was not too crowded and it has its own charm with its little shops, outdoor market, and gardens. I think it is an appropriate place when someone seeks serenity.
I will be happily recommend this place if you need sanctuary for your holiday. It is also close to Milan, and considering the condition, maybe this city is a better place to stay.
This article is way long overdue. So sorry! but since I’m an active traveler again now, it seems that I have to continue this AdventureNotes series.
Anyway, for this session, I’ll write about Rome! Who doesn’t know and doesn’t want to visit this city? It has its own unique charm and to be honest, you’d want to visit this city again and again, strolling at its small alleys. So, I’ve been in Rome twice now. The first one was when I did my solo Euro trip and the second was when I did a Euro tour with my family. This article will be based on the recollection of my memory from both trips.
People coming to Rome by plane will most probably arrive in Leonardo Da Vinci Airport. I took a train from the airport to get to the city center, Roma Termini Station. The journey was short and pleasant. However, when I stepped my foot on Roma Termini, it was very crowded; lots of travelers, lots of beggars, lots of officers, and lots of sellers. I was shocked and therefore tried to find a quiet place to think. I needed to adapt before finding my way around.
I had a quite interesting experience in Rome because I was lost for a while! It was kind of funny actually because I tried to find my hotel at that time. The hotel was supposedly not too far from the station. I walked around and around, asked people but still couldn’t manage to find it. It was difficult to find it because there was not too many people who can speak English in that area. After a long 2-hours search, finally I could enter my room! The owner responded to my email and came get me. It turns out that there was no sign of the hotel and actually I walked pass that hotel several times without noticing.
The first time around, I tried to use the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus to get around Rome. I purchased the ticket online for a 24 hour pass. During my time there, I found out that the HOHO bus was not that available. One time I had to wait for 30 minutes until the bus arrive. Additionally, the traffic in Rome was just not good. I thought that it might be faster to walk! Seriously.
I think the better option to get around Rome is by public transportation. Almost all of the attractions in Rome are reachable by many different means of public transportation, such as bus and metro. It was much quicker and cheaper. On my second visit to Rome, I bought a one-day travel card that I can use to get on all public transportation in Rome. It costed like a quarter of what I paid for the HOHO bus and I managed to see more Rome tourist attractions!
From both visits to Rome, I managed to enter some places, such as Colloseum, Roman Forum, and St. Peter’s Basilica. I had to buy tickets for the Colloseum and Roman Forum, but the entrance was free for the St. Peter’s Basilica. Rome is such a popular tourist destination so that to enter the attractions, we would be most likely have to queue, sometimes for a long time. Therefore, actually during the online ticket purchase, there is an exact time allocation for us to visit. However, it seems that the system did not work because I could enter Colloseum and the Roman Forum one day later than the appointed schedule on my ticket. All attractions mentioned above were worth to visit, besides they are legendary!
Besides those attractions, Rome is also famous for its outdoor attractions, such as Piazza and the Trevi Fountain. I went to Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, and Piazza Venezia on both of my trips. I love the environment in those neighborhoods. Some of those places are quite close to each other so that I could just walk. It was really nice actually comparing to taking a bus or metro because I could explore the small and charming alleys near those places. I even passed the Pantheon on my way from the Trevi Fountain to Piazza Navona.
There are still many attractions in Rome that I haven’t visited. I wished I could visit the city again, longer the next time around. Surely one or two days are not enough to explore this city.
Now, for the tips of visiting Rome!
1. Be ready with your Google Maps to find your way around because not too many people can speak English.
2. Buy the daily or weekly travel tickets. The attractions are easily reachable by public transportation. It is safe, even if you travel alone.
3. Beware of the weather. Rome can get very hot during the summer. The weather gap between this city and other cities in Europe during spring is also noticeable. Get hydrated!
4. Stay alert, especially in crowded place because there are quite a lot of beggars and strangers who may try to steal. Moreover, the city is packed during the summer months, it can get super crowded.
5. Try the gelatto and icy drinks! They are good. Regarding the foods, for Muslims who have to eat halal food, there is this restaurant really near to the Roma Termini station that sells halal and very yummy and delicious foods.
6. Purchase your tickets online. Sometimes they offer discounted price tickets or Rome pass that could get you into many different attractions in cheaper cost.
As there are so many Indonesian people in Germany, it is easy to find tempe (soy bean cake) in stores. You can find ANY Asian store and you will FIND it there! What a nice life. I saw a big Asian store in Heidelberg which has everything. From Indomie, sambel bajak, up to tempe. I’m kind of jealous… While in here, well, Alhamdulillah I have a friend who can make tempe, Mbak Tina. If she’s not here… Oh, I don’t know what I’m gonna do as it is soooo rare.
They still use blackboards in Germany universities.
Wow! I don’t know whether it’s cool or not but from where I come from, Indonesia, well… at least we don’t use blackboards anymore. Not even the whiteboards if you have computer and the LCD projector. It is also not the case in the UK. They use smart board in here. Well, mostly the computer though. I don’t know if it’s the case in other countries, but WOW! They still use the blackboard with chalks in Germany. They even still use the manual projector where you need to write on mica papers! Even though it seems to be an old school way, their blackboards are sophisticated. They can move and do stuffs. Haha! I think it’s so cool – as in unique. I didn’t know people still use that!
You won’t be lost taking the train inside Germany. Literally!
The train connection in Germany is sooooo good that you won’t be confused even if you are traveling alone for the first time as in my case. When you purchase the ticket, you will find which train you will need to take – with the number, from which platform you will get on the train, what time the train will depart and what time the train will arrive. If you need connecting train, you will also find the same information in your ticket. What a nice life! Hah! Comparing to the system in the UK. WOW! You will be confused if you have to change your train. Oh! And all the trains are rarely late, and the connecting time between trains is planned very carefully so that you won’t have to wait more than an hour. Well, this can be good or bad as I had to run to catch my next train because the previous one was delayed for 5 minutes. See, 5 minutes delay and I almost missed my next train. So cool, right?
On my way from Munich to Kaiserslautern, I saw a train station called Frankenstein! Woooooowww….. I wonder what can I see if I get off in that station. Frankensteins?? 😛
On the third day of my Easter vacation, I went to Heidelberg to meet Lana. I didn’t plan to go there before, but I was lucky to decide to go to Heidelberg. It is such a beautiful city. The city is not as big, but the old town is amazing. I like how the old town was built. The environment, the people… all was wonderful.
There is the oldest university in Germany there. It isn’t too big but it’s beautiful. Even the library was ‘oh my God’ breathtaking. Another attraction there is Philosophenweg. It is basically a street up to a hill where you can take pictures of the whole old town Heidelberg. You can also see a fort across the hill there. The day I went to Heidelberg was nice but a bit foggy so I kind of didn’t get good enough picture. But that’s okay. I had fun!
One of the cities that I visited during my trip to Germany was Kaiserslautern. Okay, where is it? For those who don’t know, don’t worry! I didn’t know myself until I looked it up in Google Maps. Haha!
It is a small city in the south west part of Germany, near the border with France. For a city, well, it is very small – even compared to Hull. Yeay! My city is not that tiny. 😛
What I noticed a lot during my visit in Kaiserslautern is the students’ life in Germany. The teenagers are much nicer than the teenagers in the UK. Really! The environment was also nice to study, I think.
The rather downside of the students’ life in Kaiserslautern – at least for me – maybe the accommodation thing. My friend, Ulfah, told me that finding a student accommodation in Germany, generally, is very difficult. Not only because of the high price, but also because there is lack of student housing. What??? Yeah, while I, in the UK, am guaranteed to be able to find student accommodation easily, they need to strive to find a place to live.
I am so grateful that I can easily live in a nice student house with nice housemates and nice facilities. Those that aren’t available for some friends in other parts of the world.
I went to Munich last Tuesday. I went there by train from Milano Centrale. That was my first experience going to Germany and Munich is a good place to start. There are so many places to go but as I had only 5 hours, I needed to pick which ones to go to. Here are the list:
1. Neuerathaus: the new what is it? ah, town hall! It is a very nice place with a kind of Platz (I don’t know the English word for this) in front. The building itself is massive and beautiful, with a kind of Gothic touch in the architecture.
2. Glockenspiel: this attraction is literally attached to the Neuerathaus. It’s a clock which has a dancing creatures during the hour change. It is located in the central tower of the Neuerathaus. I didn’t see the dancing thingy but that’s okay. I got to run around to see other Munich attractions.
3. Viktualienmarkt: this is a market! People usually sells daily grocery products and – yes! Wurst! As Germany is very famous for its sausage, Wurst is the main product sold in Viktualienmarkt. Along the way from Bayerstrasse to Mariensplatz (where the Neuerathaus is located) and to Viktualienmarkt, you can see St. Paul Cathedral and other historical building, I suppose. Walking around the Viktualienmarkt is quite nice, as long as it isn’t snowing which in my case it was so… yeah..
4. Residenz Museum: this is the only museum I visited in Munich. Well, I wanted to visit the science museum but it’s just too difficult as it snowed which makes it too cold to walk around too far. The Residenz Museum is very very very big! You can spend the whole day there if you are really into museums. It was the place for the rulers of Munich to live. You can still see the whole rooms and furniture in the museum. What interesting in this museum is that there is one room called Schwartz Raum which means black room; and you can see an illusion painting on the ceiling. It makes the room looks two stories higher than the actual one. How cool is that! And, as most palace in Europe, there are lots of wall paintings.
Those were the places I visited in Munich. I regret that I didn’t plan it well enough so that I couldn’t go to Allianz Arena and BMW Welt. I should go to those places another time. Another important thing is Germany is cold during the almost spring time so don’t underestimate the weather. I didn’t prepare myself for that kind of weather so that it was too cold for me. But anyway, Munich is a great place with nice and friendly people.
I am sure that Irene will LOVE this flight. They gave “sponge bob” merchandise to children passenger. Yeah, I wish I were a kid so I can get the merchandise and give it to Ireno!
Ha! That is just the fun prelude. This is what I found during my journey from Jakarta to Doha: I saw some “TKW” or women worker. They went to other countries to work. I saw a few of them in the waiting room before we got on the plane.
A women came to me and I could tell that she is scared from the look of her face. She sat and asked whether that is the correct waiting room for a plane to Dubai. Well, the plane was surely goes to Doha. I looked at her ticket and she needed to transfer to another plane in Doha. I explained this to her and she got confused. Well, after three times trying to tell her that, I gave up. I said, I will help her to find the plane to Dubai after we arrived in Doha. Then she asked permission to send a text to her sister. I found out that this woman’s name is Mrs. Nur. She told her sister to take care of her kids. Well, what a life. I wonder how this woman feels. Maybe worried, maybe sad. I don’t know. I can’t even imagine.
However, I was sure that this woman was scared. She told me that she was left alone and was separated from her friends. She didn’t know what to do, couldn’t speak the language, and that was her first experience. When I asked her whether she knows her employer or not, she said that she didn’t know. She didn’t know who will pick her up in Dubai Airport and didn’t know who to meet. I wonder how she can survive.
I am sure that if I am in her position, I must be scared to dead. In Doha International Airport, I found even more women worker. They tried to read the flight information board. I helped them to find their gate. That was the only thing that I can do. Those women worker working so far away to earn money for their family. They sure have a very big and brave heart. I pray for their welfare and well-being. I hope they can always find strength whenever they are.
The Adventure of Izzao 