European Tours Thread 4

[^Vain_Chiq^]

^Will do. Medyo tamad lang ako minsan magpost after the vacation. Lol.

[jeune]

Mama squeak, sounds like you had a great time in Bruges! I love it there, it's chill  I didn't know about Fidel though hehe! Malapit lang siguro yung B&B nyo sa hotel namin. Did you do the beer tour? Luc's performance is really good, isn't it?

[mama squeak!]

@^Vain_Chiq^, haha! I know I understand, sometimes I'm like that too. Basta kukulitin na lang kita pag malapit na kami mag Tuscany road trip ni hubby.

@jeune, naku sis super enjoy kami sa Brugge! That's why we extended one more night. Dapat sana overnight kami sa Brussels but we liked the feel of Brugge better. Small city plus not much crowd. Halos naikot namin yung place. Buti na lang we didn't get the City Pass kasi hindi namin mamaximize because we ended up just going to two museums and we walked a lot. We didn't do the beer tour at De Halve Maan since there were renovations going on inside the brewery. We felt di sulit. But we definitely tried several beers. Sarap! Timing din na we were there on a Wednesday which happened to be the food market day for the locals and a Saturday 2nd hand/antique market naman. Hubby and I love markets!

We definitely loved Luc Vanlaere's performance kaya naman napabili kami ng CDs nya. Even though we know we can download his music for free on the internet, we felt na as an artist who offers free performances to everyone (specially to those who can't afford to pay) he deserves some help/royalty in what he is doing plus tulong na rin sa church who sponsors his venue.

We only found out about Fidel when we were there na since the canal tour boats and buses would stop by his window to take pictures of him. Lovely, friendly dog! He was a rescue dog saved by the owner of the B&B 12 years ago. When he was a puppy daw he would always make tambay by the coach along the canal-facing window watching the canal tour boats go by. Lagi nga sya pinagsasabihan ng owner to get down from the coach pero wa epek. Ayun later on sya na naging tourist attraction as the dog by the window in Brugge. I'll be writing a post about him and Brugge in my blog soon.

We really had fun on this trip! Hehe always naman. But this trip was extra special since we got to experience how it was to travel by luxury train (Venice-Paris) ala 1920s-30s style. It was hubby's golden birthday treat (showing our age!  ) I just finished a post of our Orient Express train adventure in my blog.

[little_princess]

Hubby are planning on going to Spain this fall, if given only one city to spend 5-6 days, what would be a better option - Madrid or Barcelona? We want to do some sight seeing and shopping for me too

[bagaholic_chewy]

^ if one lang, i'd go for Barcelona. Mas vibrant and chillax ang place (for me) and lots of shopping too. And sightseeing is good din.

[jeune]

Bongga ka Mama squeak traveling in style with Orient Express!  and I'm sure your hubby had a grand time

My Dubrovnik trip was amazing as well! It was cool to see places where Game of Thrones filmed inside the wall and outside by the fortress. All I can say is I wish we could've stayed longer

[shegie_285]

hi sis little_princess I vote for Barcelona too in terms of sightseeing. But actually mas naenjoy ko sa Madrid ang feeling ng nasa Spain, for me less touristy, and talagang nag-Spanish pa kami ni hubby dahil may mga bars kami napuntahan na hindi marunong mag-English or very little English.

There's a Spain thread (hindi ako marunong maglagay ng link).

We might go to Seville in August for the FIBA world cup if we can get a ticket for the Croatia vs. Phil match. We're meant to go to Prague but minsan lang ang FIBA so Seville muna.

[gj1206]

little princess I reckon you can do Barcelona/Madrid in 5-6 days. Managed to enjoy Barcelona in...I think 3 days? And one whole day was dedicated to watching the Barcelona Open! I liked Barcelona because Gaudi is amazing, but I liked the Madrid vibe more. Although that could be because we were there during the feast of the city patron saint so everyone was in a celebratory mood!

shegie_285 Loved Seville! I liked the easy vibe, plus the atmosphere...my friend and I stayed at the Jewish Quarter though, so the old Moorish cobblestone streets na parang eskinita was all over the neighborhood we were exploring. You can use your Spanish pa rin! Hehe.

[little_princess]

Thanks for the suggestions! Still undecided but I would really want to see the Gaudi works, my family went there last year and said it was nice. They really didn't enjoy Madrid much but Seville was really pretty.

Can we do Barcelona and Seville? Or is it too far? Toying with the idea of going to the Fatima in Portugal as well but that can wait.

[gj1206]

little_princess Not too sure how long travel time is between the two, but they are in opposite sides of the country...a friend and I did Seville in 2? or 1.5 days and um, masakit sa buong katawan! Hehe. You'll be doing a lot of walking around Barcelona rin, so I reckon you'd end up super tired. Not a lot of soaking up the atmosphere of the cities.

[shegie_285]

We decided not to go na to Seville. Flight times don't work for us.. There'll be next time..

little_princess have you checked the fast train? Madrid to Seville is 2 1/2 hours lang so maybe Barcelona to Seville is around the same, you might be able to squeeze Seville and then fly out of Seville.

[crzysxycl]

Hi ladies. Ask ko sana if pwedeng lumabas ng Schiphol airport if I have a connecting flight there? Medyo mahaba kasi yung oras, pwede bang mag ikot ikot muna sa Amsterdam tapos balik nalang ulit ng airport? Sorry, noob question. Thanks!

[^Vain_Chiq^]

^if you have schengen visa then yes pero kung wala then no. To continue on the topic, we'll be going to Algarve, Portugal in 2 weeks instead of Tuscany .

[crzysxycl]

^i see, salamat sis! first time ko kasi sa europe, kaya clueless kami pareho nung kasama ko.

[mama squeak!]

@^Vain_Chiq^, talaga? Inaabangan ko pa naman your Tuscany tour again. Baka we might do it next year (sana matuloy na after the third attempt!)

@crzysxycl, yup if you have a schengen visa and a long layover in Amsterdam you can go to the city. You can back read on the Amsterdam thread where I posted a DIY 10-hr visit (reply#50).

[crzysxycl]

^wow.. thank you sis!

[^Vain_Chiq^]

@mama squeak! - Yup. Last minute decision to go to Algarve instead, beach destination kasi feel namin ngayon due to the cold, rainy and gloomy dutch weather now. Lol. We will still go to Tuscany maybe end of August to September so I can still update you .

[charybelles]

Hi mga sis! Pahelp naman sa itinerary. Planning to leave on june 11 until july 11. First time sa europe! Super excited. We only have free lodging sa france. The rest we want b&b nalang. We want sana to visit italy too, spain, amsterdam, prague and munich. Doable kaya to mga sis? Like what you've said I've noticed na parang amazing race nga ang peg.i will just be with my husband for a dream honeymoon.

Paris 7 days

Rome 6 days
Florence-Pisa
Milan
Venice/Veron

Barcelona 4 days
Madrid

Munich, Germany. Or frankfurt? 3 days

Amsterdam 3 days

Greece 3 days
Santorini
Mykonos

Zurich, switzerland 2 days

Prague 2 days

Although still not sure. Willing naman kami mag let go ng ibang place if super kapos sa time. Wala pa rin kaming booked ticket pero yung travel agency namin manila paris rome manila flight binook for us para sa schengen visa costing around 1450 usd. Patulong naman mga sis. 😊😊 thanks a lot in advance. Its goin to be a big help.

[miss understood]

you might wanna check traveltips.usatoday.com/travel-distances-europe-22570.html

[charybelles]

^ Thanks sis. After back reading for quite sometime im down to just 3 countries. France, Italy and Spain.  Paranf mas okay ifeel per city rather than covering all the grounds just because we are in europe already. Hi Mamasqueak, letters_to_cleo and vain chiq and to all other sisses. Thanks for this thread coz I find this very helpful too.