A major highlight of my first trip to Europe in 2018 were the public parks and the beer gardens. I was incredibly lucky to have been in Europe during the biggest event of the year — the 2018 FIFA Worldcup. Yes, yes so go ahead and feel envious, I know I would have.
I remember during one of the matches we saw in Prague, we went to Riegrovy Sady.
Riegrovy Sady (Credit:Google)
Riegrovy Sady has a beer garden eponymously named the Riegrovy Sady beer garden.The ambience on the day of the match was electric — Trees and benches, a big screen & greasy food and hoardes and hoardes of screaming football fans. We were sharing our bench with a young polish couple from a small village in Poland. I took a video that day and you can see how thrilled we looked. It was the most fun that I had watching a football match.
On the last day of trip to Prague, we hiked up to this beer garden Letenske Skady. This place has sweeping views of the city. You must have a beer or two here and enjoy a panoramic view of Prague.
View from Letenske Skady
While Prague was quaint and beautiful with it’s beer gardens and pastel coloured buildings, the kind of impact that Amsterdam had on me was on a completely different plane. Last year, I travelled to the Netherlands and we spent most of our time exploring Amsterdam, Delft and Leiden. The biggest highlight of the trip was yet another public park — Vondelpark. This park is spread over a whopping 128 acres in the posh and chic borough of Amsterdam-Zuid. All we did that day was to lie under canopies of trees, reading and sleeping and watching dogs jump happily in ponds.
Our day at Vondelpark
I think that day, as i lay under the blue skies, my views changed on what really made a city livable.
It’s not just public transport or big jobs that make a city great. When young and old women lounge in a park with abandon, that is the stuff that makes a city great.
Whenever I visit public spaces like beaches and parks in India, I crave to have that lack of inhibition which I experienced in Vondelpark that fateful day.
I hope that someday i can hit the beach in Bombay, with a book in my hand and nap happily under the open skies. Lazy. Happy. Safe.
I am writing after many months. In the month of July, I made my first sojourn to Europe. It was just a 2 week trip across 4 cities. A little about us (husband and yours truly) -We host travellers from across the world in our Mumbai home via couch surfing. Most of them are European and are on year long sabbaticals from work or University. However, I don’t have the good fortune to either take that time off. So I had to do with 2 weeks of travelling through 4 cities which might seem ‘more touristy, less travelling ‘ to many.
We landed in Berlin on a sunny afternoon. However, before I go on, a little something about my bum. Does any of you get a terrible tail bone ache after a long flight?My poor bum was on fire while flying from Mumbai to Berlin. If you guys have a solution to the bumache, please tell me in the comments.
So we landed in Berlin and after going back and forth on trains, we managed to reach Grand Hyatt in Potsdamer Platz. The hotel is in a beautiful avenue where trees make canopies overhead and you can take a leisurely stroll down the street. My husband and I walked down to the nearby Fansmiele to see a crowd getting together for the England Vs Sweden match. Husband was feeling jet lagged and went back while I stayed back to watch the match. Some of my favourite moments from the match included the kiss cam. So far, I had only seen kiss cams in American sitcoms so it was a lot of fun watching it happen in person. I walked back to the hotel stopping midway at the Holocaust Memorial midway. While the memorial evokes a sombre mood, however, I enjoyed watching kids trying to feed sparrows.
On day 2, I slept in for much longer while husband went on a walking tour with sandeman tours. The Eng vs Sweden match had awakened the football lover in me. We decided to watch the match at a pub famous for football matches where you could sit on cushions placed on steps and sip on some brewed beer. Post the match, we decided to walk with no destination on our minds and found ourselves at the Hackescher Markt station. I haven’t seen a more beautiful metro station. It was hauntingly beautiful. We still had the better part of the night to enjoy and so we headed to BERGHAIN. So Berghain is famous for it’s bouncer and the screening system. Nobody knows who gets in and why they get in. There is even a website that predicts if you will get into BERGHAIN or NOT. We didn’t and we still loved it!
After going to Prague-Vienna-Budapest, we came back to Berlin. We attended the flea market at Mauerpark on a Sunday and saw the best open air karaoke of our lives.
I recently made a trip to Bangkok in the month of June (2018). I figured that a blog post would be a great way to spread the joy and wonder that i experienced during my week-long stay in this extraordinary city.
The city’s landscape is so extraordinarily diverse that it puzzles you and amazes you simultaneously. There you are, looking at the midriff of a 50 floor slick city skyscraper and suddenly you are confronted with the sight of a centuries old grand orange and golden temple.The city is 500 years old and these beautiful temples stand testament to its history and grandeur.
Now, coming to how you should spend your time in Bangkok, I would recommend that you try to cut your travel time and cover all the sights in one area at a time.I have made 3 Weekday/Weekend itineraries. You can start with Day 2 or Day 1, there is no particular order.
Day 1 (If it’s a weekday)
Start your day at 8:30 (or 10:30 if you are lazy like me) and visit the Grand Palace. If like me, you are fond of centuries old ornate architecture then you have reached the right place.The entry fees is 500 Baht which depending on where you are coming from could be dirt cheap or exorbitant. Once the entry fees has been paid, you have an option to rent an audioguide(headphones) for 200 Baht which will give you ample knowledge about which exquisitely beautiful porcelain in which building was sourced from where [China ;)]. There is also a free group guided tour inside the temple.
After the Grand Palace, you can proceed to MBK Center to shop. Please remember that Bangkok is hot and you don’t want to spend a day walking in the heat. So you can use the daytime to shop or to get a massage. If your shopping experience extends to just clothes then don’t bother going to Chatuchak Weekend Market. MBK Center has the same clothes at the same prices and it is air-conditioned. If you like phones and gadgets then it has a whole floor dedicated to just Mobile Phones. If you Iphone is locked then there are several shops on the 4th Floor which will unlock it for you and give you a SIM. Those Indians/Pakistanis/Bangladeshis who don’t have a taste for authentic thai food can head to the MBK center food court which has an Indian Food stall.
From the MBK Center, you can proceed to the Jim Thompson House which is a 15 minute walk. So, Jim Thompson was an American who revived Thailand’s Silk Industry in the 1950 and 60s. He was also a collector of antiques which you can see on display during a guided tour of his house. The house is beautiful and it has a lovely garden. The entrance fees is about 150 Baht for Adults. The house also has a nice restaurant on it’s premises where you can grab some lunch.
You can then take a taxi/Tuk Tuk to your hotel/hostel and rest. In the evening, you can head to Rajadamnern stadium to watch a Muay Thai Match. You can visit this website to check the schedule beforehand.
Grand Palace
Day 2 (If it’s a Weekday)
Reach the ferry terminal at Wat Phao at 8 am and cross the river for just 4 Baht to see Wat Arun Temple. Wat Arun opens at 8:30 am. Wat Arun is a beautiful, beautiful temple. You can climb Half way up the temple and find the view rewarding. I have been told that people head to Wat Pho at 6:30 in the evening just to see Wat Arun and Wat Pho light up the skies.
After the temple tour, you can proceed to the flower market for a bit. There is a ferry from Wat Arun which will drop your very close to the market. The Flower market also has cooking classes for those who want to learn how to cook authentic thai food.
In the afternoon, you can head back to the hotel or movies or indulge in some other activity that has caught your fancy.
Evening is a good time to go to Lumpini Park. Now, if you took the Ferry from Wat Arun to the flower market then you already know that there is a ferry terminal just behind the market. You can head to Lumpini Park next. You will have to catch a ferry to Sathorn Pier from the flower market terminal. Once you get down at Sathorn pier, walk to Saphan Taksin BTS Station which is just next door to the pier. From Saphan take a BTS to Lumpini Park station. From Lumpini Park station, a skywalk will take you very close to the park so you will have to just cross the road and get there. Once you are at Lumpini Park, you can send a quiet prayer for me because the park is THAT good. You can sit near a pond and look at turtles, pigeons and monitor lizards for hours. You can spend 2-3 hours here and just soak in the positivity and the greenery and thank the Lord for small mercies of life. Now there are a couple of things you can do near Lumpini Park. The close-by Lumpini stadium holds Muay Thai matches so you can check the schedule here and plan accordingly. Another thing to do is to head to Erawan Shrine which has folk dances starting 6 pm. It’s a 1.2 km walk to Erawan Shrine from Lumpini Park. There are a couple of Rooftop Bars in the vicinity that offer a great view of the city. The most important thing to remember is that if you are staying near Khaosan road then you will have to take the ferry back to Flower Market/Wat Pho as Khaosan road doesn’t have a BTS station. Now the last ferry leaves ta 6:30 pm so that’s another thing to keep in mind before you plan the 2nd half of your day.
Wat Arun
Lumpini Park
Day 3 & 4 (If it’s a Weekend)
There is the Chatuchak weekend market that shoppers are crazy about. Personally, I found it a very exhausting experience. Given a choice, I would have done it differently. I would recommend that you skip the Chatuchak market and instead go the night market JJ Green which in the same area and starts at 5 pm, closes at 2 am. You can first head to this beautiful park called Wachirabenchthatpark and hire a cycle to go around the park. It also has a HUGE butterfly garden and Insectarium which is under construction. I was very disappointed to find the butterfly park closed when I got there, there was a small lawn outside the main insectarium that a guard told me to visit which had exactly 3 butterflies all of which you can easily spot in India [Sigh]. So spend an hour at the park and then head to JJ Green Market and shop yourself silly. All these markets have massage beds so you can rest, get a boosting massage and attack the stalls again.
Now, if you don’t want to give Chatuchak a miss then get there at 9 am so you can miss the killing afternoon heat. If you are staying near Khaosan Road, then after a grueling day in the sun, you can reward yourself with a nice cocktail at the riverside rooftop restaurant called Baan Wanglang Riverside.
On a Saturday night, you should definitely go to Khaosan road. The ambience is electrifying. The road is full of revelers and the street is lined with pubs. There is music, good, liquor and a lot of dancing on the streets. You can get a massage when your feet start to give up and then join the party again.
Wachirabenchathat Park
Riverside View
Where to Stay
I stayed near Khaosan road and loved it. The place has everything – history, food, architecture and a nondescript street that comes alive at night. The grand palace and other famous temples like Wat Arun and Wat Pho are nearby.If it’s a hostel you are looking for then go for Printing House Poshtel which is about 200 mts from Khao san road. The tariffs are unbelievably low at Rs 600-Rs 700 (9 EUR/10 USD) for a place that is clean and beautiful and gives free breakfast. The only trouble that I see with Khao San is that it does not have a BTS station. So perhaps, you can look at a hostel/hotel in the PathumWan District which is close to National Stadium BTS station.
Private balcony with Dorm at Printing House Poshtel
How to Travel
Taxis – There are several taxis on the road. However, before you start make sure to ask if they will go by meter or you will get ripped off.
Grab App – It lets you hire a car and a bike too. So if you are looking for something cheap then go to the app and hire a bike.
BTS Skytrain – This is both cheap, comfortable and air-conditioned.
Food
I loved the street food. Crab on a stick was a favourite. Yum! While at Khaosan Road, you should also bite into some insect snacks for just 60 Baht.
If you live near Dinso Road or Khaosan and you are having trouble getting used to the local food then head to a restaurant called ‘The Kitchen’ just about 50 meters from The Printing House Poshtel.
There are many 7/11 stores which are basically convenience stores. These stores have SIMs, F&B, Cosmetics etc but what i really liked the most was the cold bournvita (sweetened wheat mixed with milk) for just 20 Baht . Never did i know Bournvita could taste so good when chilled. Now that i am back, I am resisting the urge to bring a small bournvita bottle home because i will finish off the bottle in a day.
Khao San Road
Worm Snacks at Khao San Road
Visa on Arrival for Indians
Indians can avail for the Visa on arrival Service. It will cost you 2000 Baht and you can pay another 200 Baht to skip the queue. However, whether or not you are an Indian National, be sure to carry pictures as per the dimensions given here. I did notice a photo booth at the airport but surely you don’t want to complicate things right at the beginning of the trip. Also, please carry print outs of hotel booking.
Sonam loves to travel 