Travel – elephant and daisy

48 Hours in Prague

It’s been a while since me and my boyfriend returned from our trip to Prague and my travel bugs have been biting me relentlessly so I thought writing a blog post might stop the biting for a bit. To me, Prague is a grand city that is decorated by beautiful yet mysterious looking medieval architectures with lots of hearty food and gorgeous parks, a city that is perfect for hopeless romantics like me.

S T A Y

We picked a place called Prague Holiday Apartment and the location of it just couldn’t get any better. You can reach the famous Cafe Savoy by foot and the peculiar looking Dancing House is just one bridge away.

If you’ve only got 48 hours in Prague like us, an itinerary like below should bring be able to bring you a lifetime memory:

E A T / D R I N K / S E E – DAY 1

Go to the Cafe Savoy for brunch. The decor of the cafe is grand and elegant. They have a wide selection of breakfast choices and Czech gourmet dishes. We went to this restaurant twice because it was that great!

After the heavy brunch, you should now be recharged with energy and it’s time for a little walking. Walk to the famous Charles Bridge from Cafe Savoy, venture your way to Prague Castle and Mala Strana (the oldest town in Prague) where will find yourself surrounded by ancient chapels and cobbled lanes. You can end your walking tour at Oldtown Square where the clock tower is, wander around and take some pictures.

After all the walking, you are probably feeling a bit peckish, there’s an Amorino in the old town that you can get the creamiest pistachio gelato!

Our original plan was to go to U Kroka or Ferdinanda for dinner, places we found online that do Czech food and have good reviews but unfortunately, both of them were closed the night we wanted to go so we stumbled upon a restaurant called U Glacubicu in Mala Strana and the food turned out to be great! I had a potato soup call Bramboračka and it was utterly delicious! I would definitely suggest you have a dinner there too.

Last but not least for day 1, visit the pub area near Charles Bridge for a few drinks, if you are looking for a place to dance off the calories of the dinner you just had, you can go to the Karlovy Lazne, it’s a huge club in central Prague.

E A T / D R I N K / S E E – DAY 2

After a full day with lots of walking, laughing, drinking and eating, you must be a little exhausted by now. Go get yourself pampered by enjoying the spa at Boscolo Hotel, we spent two hours there swimming, enjoying the sauna and steaming and it was a pretty soothing experience.

Now you should feel rejuvenated and ready to keep exploring the city but you will need some fuse to do that right? So chow time! Visit Konirna in old town if you like alfresco dining and want to try local Czech food. After lunch, take a short walk back to the Charles Bridge area to digest the food and you will see there’re paddle boats and water zorbing along the bridge that you can go play. Guys, if you haven’t tried zorbing yet then you are really missing out some serious fun here. It’s much much hard than you imagine, we managed to stand up and roll for about 5 seconds max but I guess the constantly laughing burned off at least 500 calories for us.

One of the most memorable things that we did in Prague was visiting the Letna Beer Garden. It’s a leafy outdoor beer garden decorated with fairy lights with lots of benches and tables, live music, food and beer situated up on a hill where you see the view of the whole city. We had a really good time there and I am pretty sure you will too.

Alright, let’s get to dinner time (how much do I love food…), we had a delectable meal at an Italian restaurant called Pastar, their risotto and seafood rigatoni were so good and you shouldn’t miss out on that!

lenta beer garden in prague — Letna Beer Garden

If you are taking a return flight at night, there are a few more things that you can do before leaving Prague:

Petrin Park – It’s near the apartment that we stayed, there’s a small store at the bottom of the park where you can buy a few cans of chilled ciders and bags of crisps while sunbathing.

Mint Prague Fashion Market – A super good weekend market that when we were wandering around Charles Square, you will find lots of small independent fashion shops and a stall where you can learn calligraphy, the lesson was priced reasonble was very enjoyable.

Before we got to Prague, we were warned a few times that Prague is not safe, full of pick-pocketers and tourists often get scammed. Luckily we had a safe few days in Prague and made encounters only with beautiful views, gorgeous food, and nice people! 🙂

Paradises Exist | Three Days in Lombok

Paradises are real! My boyfriend and I decided to spend my birthday in Lombok – Indonesia, an island that has nothing much but a pristine ocean, sweeping bays, and bars where you can watch the blood-red sun dances off the Pacific Ocean. We had a hell lot of wonderful moments on this island that we wanted to relive as soon as we stepped on our return flights.

To stay

We stayed at two different resorts in Lombok – Katamaran Resort and Svarga Resort. Both of these resorts are located on the Mangsit beach in Lombok.

Katamaran was only built a few years ago hence everything inside the resort is still very new and clean. The resort has two swimming pools – a double decker see-through infinity pool plus a smaller pool, lots of sunbeds, poolside bar, two restaurants and a luxurious spa. The Spa is definitely a highlight of the resort as it has the most breathtaking view a spa salon can offer! We had a 120 minutes massage treatment that ended with an aromatic rose petal bath and it was just perfect!

The second resort that we stayed – Svarga was a birthday surprise planned by my lovely boyfriend. The hotel’s design is simple and neat which I adored and our villa was built on a cliff with a lovely private pool and sunbeds. We lounged around the sunbeds all day when the sun was out and sat by the pool at night to chit-chat until we finished the very last drop of wine. The only downside of Svarga is the resort is a bit old so some features of the rooms might be a bit rusty or broken but overall it was a good stay too.

If you are looking for a wider range of facilities and more choices of restaurants, then you should stay at Katamaran. But if you are craving for a detox and quiet holiday in a secluded place (there are no alcoholic drinks served in the hotel) that no one can disturb you, then Svarga would be a good choice for you.

alt="blue ocean in lombok" — Katamaran Resort

alt="Katamaran Spa Lombok" — Katamaran Spa

To do & See

I’d say the thing that you must do when in Lombok is NOTHING. When we were not splashing ourselves in the tranquil waters or trotting along the sand as the sun sets, we were zipping fruity cocktails under the shade and it was fabulous.

Lombok itself is a sleepy village but there is a town called Senggigi in case you get bored (I won’t!) of the laid back resort life. It is a long strip with a few bars, restaurants, massage parlors and homestays.

On the last day of our trip, I was actually all ready to stitch myself to the sunbed but it was a stormy day so my boyfriend dragged me out to kayaking at Senggigi town and I am so glad he did that cause we got to watch the sun sinks into the surf on our little kayak and it was a remarkable experience! The price to rent kayak was very cheap compared to other popular holiday destinations, thanks to my boyfriend who managed to bring down the price from 80,000 Rupiah (6 USD) to 50,000 Rupiah (4 USD). Well done boyfriend!

Do pop by a bar called Sunset Bar if you happen to be in Senggigi town, it’s a beach bar facing the ocean inside a hotel called Senggigi Beach Hotel, it’s a good spot to sit back and relax with a few cocktails in hands.

To eat

Our best meal of the trip was the first dinner that we had at the beachside restaurant in Katamaran after we landed Lombok. They have this clear ox tail soup that will make you forget how to spell stress! Unfortunately, it was too dark for us to take any pictures (truth be told – we were too hungry to stop and take photos). We also enjoyed a delectable meal at yet another restaurant in the resort called Kliff, the view from the restaurant is amazing and the decor is also one to die for. Kliff serves east-meets-west fusion, the food was ok but the view ‘tasted’ better. We also really enjoyed the room service at Katamaran, we went to bed every night with a happy belly after gobbling all the delicious Mie Goreng topped with a fried egg that has a crispy edge, tender center and a runny yolk in bed! Last but not least, we went to a restaurant that was recommended by a few locals called New Furama, they do local Indonesian food and the grilled fish we had was pretty darn good.

We loved Lombok because it’s a place that doesn’t have too much that is happening which made us feel truly relaxed and unwind. After this trip, I believe we have found our paths to a true paradise.

A Week in Germany

I have returned from the best trip of my life a month ago. My boyfriend and I decided to go to Germany to watch his favourite rock band – Blink 182 (Coldplay happened to be playing in Germany during the same week of Blink 182 and of course, we were not going to miss that).

Germany is synonymous with a few best things that exist in the world – beer and juicy sausages that no one can resists, which explains why the first thing we did after we landed Munich was to try the famous traditional Bavarian breakfast – boiled white sausages and pretzels (we washed the food down with a pint of beer of course). Other than sausages and beer, we wandered around Munich to enjoy its history and beautiful park. The city itself is upscale and filled with historical buildings, my personal favourite of Munich has got to be the lake side beer garden – Englischer Garten. It’s a huge urban park with a beer garden inside where you will find reasonably priced Radler (so refreshing!), moist roasted chicken and the vibe there is simply amazing.

Munich

Stuttgart

After a brief encounter with Munich, we arrived in Stuttgart where my boyfriend’s sister and brother-in-law live. Thanks to these two lovely hosts, we did a lot of things that tourists probably won’t get the chance to experience. We went to a strawberry farm to pick strawberries, had a full on white asparagus meal next to a vineyard, went to a local wine shop where they sell the most delicious locally made wine. We also went to Ludwigsburg Palace, it’s a massive Baroque style palace built in the 16th century, we took one of the twice daily English tours and went round the King’s side of the palace (some tours take the Queen’s side of the palace) and it was a fantastic experience.

Leipzig

We took a short flight from Stuttgart to Leipzig to watch the amazing Coldplay. Apparently, Leipzig is an up and coming city that lots of young people start travelling to. We found a really nicely built restaurant call Bayerischer Bahnhof that was transformed from an old train station to a beer hall/restaurant. We had yet another hearty meal before screaming our hearts out at the concert and had the best time of our life.

Neuschwanstein, King’s Lake and The Eagle’s Nest

Neuschwanstein was the destination I was excited about the most before the trip among all the places that we went. Mainly because of the romanticised ‘Disney Castle’ but I would say it was not as romantic as we thought it would be. The castle is alluring from afar but perhaps there were too many tourists (myself included) and the palace has lost its dreamy atmosphere.

Before heading to Austria, we also had a quick visit to the famous King’s Lake and The Eagle’s Nest. The King’s Lake was beautiful and gave us a respite from all the urban hustle and bustle, you will find yourself surrounded by a lush heaven of forest and a crystal clear lake.

We headed to The Eagle’s Nest after the short stop at the King’s Lake, you need to buy tickets (~16 euros) from the ticket office at the Hintereck parking area and take a shuttle bus from there. The 20 minutes bus journey was a great experience itself because you can enjoy the stunning view as the bus driving up the beautiful Alps mountain. We were warned that the nest is gonna be freezing and it was really really cold up there so we decided to warm our stomach first with rich goulash and curry at the restaurant up in the mountain before exploring the nest.

King’s LakeUp in The Eagle’s Nest

The only German city that I had been before this trip was Berlin and I didn’t really enjoy it that much but this trip has completely changed my feeling towards Germany. My absolute highlights for Germany were definitely the stunning architecture that you get to enjoy just strolling around the city with Eiskaffe in hands and the food (=sausages)! Throughout Germany, you’ll find lots of outdoor sausage vendors and the ketchup loaded currywurst is definitely the best thing ever invented and you must try once when you are in Germany!