Friday, April 19, 2013

On Being Stranded in CDG Paris

Speaking of experiences, here's a start. Some of you might have known what happened if you're in my Facebook friends' list...


I was stranded in Paris CDG Airport for 5 hours because I missed a connecting flight! LOL.


11 hours from Singapore and just 30 minutes of transfer, I must've wasted too much time looking for sign boards and finding my way out; but upon passing through the EU Customs, despite running to the gate, I was late by 1 minute... And hence, I was asked to board the next connecting flight 5 hours later...

Where to? Stay tuned.... :D


But on a side note, I gotta say, CDG Airport is on top of my list for being one of the most beautiful airport (architecturally). Loved the contemporary designs... :D



Thursday, April 18, 2013

On the Eurail

I'm sure many knows about Eurail. It's supposedly a cheaper ticket for those who want to backpack around Europe. So while I was planning for the 6-weeks long journey in this fantastic continent, I'd decided to get this pass. And boy, I had no regrets. It is a Netherlands-based company, registered in Luxembourg, that sells passes and tickets for European railroads and is owned by a group of European rail carriers and shipping companies.

Basically, it's like a train ticket. And you have many different packages to choose from. 10 days in one month; 15 days in 30 days; Every other day; Continuously. Just saying. And for instance, we opted the 15 days in 30 days for our journey from Vienna to Amsterdam. So it means we are only to travel on 15 separate days within 30 days from the first day we travel using the Eurail ticket. And therefore, you ought to really plan out which date you are to travel. Of course, the different packages comes in different prices; for the fickle minded who have not planned out where and when he wants to travel, the continuous pass would do great, as he gets to travel any day he wanted without limit (i.e. not limited to 15 days only); and therefore, it would be more expensive.

Apart from the duration of travel, there's also the region where one wants to go - select pass, regional pass and global pass. Select pass means one would select a few countries which borders one another during the trip; while global means all the countries in Europe. Many would thought traveling in Europe allows one to go from Czech all the way to Germany and Italy and then France and the UK. But there's a catch. UK is not included in the Global pass! And France doesn't participate in the Select Pass! So while we have decided to only travel through the few countries during our trip, we had to go through Germany to reach Holland on our Select Pass as we could travel through France from Switzerland to the Benelux (Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg). Speaking of which, while we actually opted the Select Pass of 5 bordering countries from Austria to Holland (Austria - Switzerland - Germany - Belgium - Luxembourg - Holland), the three northwestern European countries are counted as one, the Benelux.

Also, there's another catch. While I was trying to explain to a Dutch friend about the train ticket who got so ever interested, he wasn't allowed to purchase it! The Eurail is only available for non-European citizens. But fret not, the locals get to enjoy similar benefits from InterRail.


I have not really calculated if our travel actually was cost effective in the end, but considering we traveled up to few places per day, we figured we should probably make it up to the 1k cost of the tickets in the end. (We purchased the group ticket from Vienna onwards, while I had the Eastern Pass covering Poland, Czech and Hungary earlier costing about 600 euro)

For more information, go ahead to the Eurail main page.


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

On the Spin-off...

Another spin-off. LMAO.

Now that Medielicious is so famous (as if), Medie has decided to spin out another blog just for the travel to Europe. It was afterall, a backpacking of 6 weeks duration.

Now now... if by any chance you came across this post in time before it's being pushed down, here's the itinerary:

Poland - Warsaw, Krakow
Czech Republic - Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Kutna Hora
Hungary - Budapest
Austria - Vienna, Salzburg, Innsburck
Switzerland - Schaffhausen, Luzern, Bern, Zurich
Leichstentein- Vaduz
Belgium - Brussels, Brugge, Ghent, Antwerp
Luxembourg City
Holland - Amsterdam, Almseer, Alkmaar
Germany - Cologne

10 countries in 6 weeks.

For some it would've been a waste. After all, many actually just touched down for one day in Brussles before moving on to the next city. But having our Eurail, it actually saves up a lot on our travel. And hence we spent much more on accomodation.

Now here's some tip on traveling in Europe. (As if I'm THAT experienced) But gathering from what I went through while I was there, it's best to travel during the low season, although it might not be as fun for most of the festivals/carnivals/parties only happen during Spring/Summer... But there's a good point in traveling during the low season - you get cheaper accommodation! For instance, our Aparthotel in Vienna actually cost half than that of the high season.

But for the whole 6 weeks to be summarized in just one post, I think it's a bit too overwhelming.

And hence, stay tuned. :D