Well, really it was 17 days the 2 days were flying in and out of Europe.
Day 0 – I left for Manila, my friend AJ went with me and we flew Etihad
Day 1 – Touchdown Rome airport at 7AM and we hustled ourselves to Termini station so we can get to Naples and then Sorrento. I wanted to see Naples being that it’s the birthplace of pizza but I got scared of the reviews and people saying it’s like Tondo. Sorrento is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples, what I really wanted to see was Amalfi coast but it’s hella expensive to stay there and longer to get to.
Day 2 – Stay in Sorrento. It’s such a small town you can literally walk from the train station to the town proper. When I think of this place I think of limoncello (incidentally, I still have my small bottle), the BEST black cherry & amaretto gelato, freshest seafood pasta, and abandoned water tower.
Day 3 – Leave for Rome. Go on a free walking tour to see the tourist attractions like the Pantheon etc. The first time I went the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain were being renovated, and I guess being an old city medyo madumi (and by that I mean tons of graffiti, garbage in the streets). Also, someone tried to scam us, at first he was offering us free watches as welcoming gifts and then he asked for money LOL.
Day 4 – I think the fact that we’re predominantly Catholic influenced me to go to the Vatican but I don’t consider myself religious so I was mostly interested in the historical aspects. Ang daming tao sa Vatican Museums and I didn’t even go inside St. Peter’s Basilica. Instead I stayed in the square and sat down.
Day 5 – Leave for Florence. Honestly at this point I didn’t know what to expect of Florence, I only “knew” about it from the movie Under the Tuscan Sun and after our nene moments in Rome I was more guarded when I got here but my gosh, after taking a few steps on their cobblestone streets all worries went away. I’ve decided I couldn’t love this place more.
Day 6 – Go on a Tuscany tour which also stopped at a vineyard for lunch and we had cheese, pasta, and wine tasting (drinking too).
Day 7 – I didn’t want to leave, there’s so much more to see but we had to head out to Venice with a quick stop at Padua. I want to say ride a gondola for the experience but if you’re saving cash just ride a vaporetto, it’s the same concept LOL.
Day 8 – Murano tour, I’ve always wondered how and where Murano glass and those colourful stock photos they show on TV sets in appliance stores came from.
Day 9 – Leave for Innsbruck and Seefeld. We left Venice 1:30pm and arrived in Innsbruck at 6:30pm, the original plan was to go outside and check out the place but we ended up waiting for the bus ride instead. It was supposed to be a train ride to Seefeld but I guess during summer time they use buses? I’m not certain tbh. At 8pm we finally arrived in Seefeld, went to our B&B, left our stuff, and then walked to town (which was 500 meters away) to grab a bite. Afterwards we headed back and slept, a couple of hours later I was awoken by a bright light which I initially thought was the sun rising pero it was the moonlight! Ganun ka-liwanag!
Day 10 – Go up the Rosshuette. Nakakatakot yung funicular as it crosses one point to another! My surreal moment was when I saw an overlooking view of the town proper, a town surrounded by mountains ❤
Day 11 – Take a side trip to Vienna before heading to Salzburg. I met up another friend in Vienna and we had lunch at the home of the original schnitzel, Figlmüller Wollzeile, hindi ko naubos although I did get drunk on their grape spritzer LOL.
Day 12 – Maybe it was all the traveling but by this time I was getting tired from moving from one place to another in such short times and I was ready to not do anything on this day. You might say sayang coz I’m out of the country and that’s one day I can see and experience new things and you’re probably right but at that time it’s what I felt doing, you do you boo LOL. I managed to go on a DIY walking tour of the landmarks made famous by Sound of Music.
Day 13 – I was supposed to go to Hallstatt but it was raining this day tapos my eyeglasses broke the day before and I didn’t bring contacts! When I checked to see how much a new pair will cost masyadong mahal so I ended up buying glue, chaka pero tipid. Anyway, instead of seeing Hallstatt I went to Munich for lunch instead.
Day 14 – Depart for Prague. Ay grabe, dito ako na-stress ng bongga! I don’t know if they were just fixing tracks so we ended up taking bus transfers but we were moved from one station to another, it was so confusing! I also went on a free walking tour in the afternoon.
Day 15 – Prague Castle Tour. Be prepared to walk uphill but once you get to the top you’ll be greeted by Prague’s panoramic views. Another sort of sayang moment, we were supposed to go to Cesky Krumlov pero naunahan ng katamaran and we ended up staying in town.
Day 16 – Bone Chapel Tour. A short trip from the town proper, we road a train to get to the actual place and as for the chapel, it is literally made up of bones (the fixtures to be specific). It’s a bit spooky considering they used actual bones and if I remember correctly in the 13th century daw the abbot of the monastery brought back sand from Palestine and scattered it across the grounds and because of the direct associated to the Holy Land aristocrats were soon buried here.
Day 17 – Return trip to Rome in the morning and then flight back to Manila at night. This was actually the WORST day of my trip. While I was sleeping I woke up around 4am to pee and when I came back my phone was no longer to be found 😦 along with it are the photos I took. All of the photos. Saklap, bes! I remember being in such a state of shock and I didn’t have time to look for it anymore because I have a plane to catch. It was one of those moments where you just have to keep moving forward. Much like life, di ba?
it begins with a step 