Category: Europe
-
Day Trip from Barcelona: Hiking Montserrat
Easily one of the most beautiful days of my life. The first thought that comes to mind when someone says “Barcelona” would be the famous beachfont, La Sagrada Familia, FCB / Camp Nou, La Rambla… but hiking in the mountains? Little do people know that the mountain range 50km northwest of Catalunya’s capital is a magical world entirely…
-
Madrid Day Trips: Walking & Hiking in Cuenca
Skip the town, head to the trails One drizzly day in Spain, we decided to drive to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Cuenca from Madrid. I wish I knew then what I knew now, otherwise we wouldn’t have wasted time walking aimlessly around the pueblo. Of course when we got there (around lunch time),…
-
Easy Hikes from Madrid: La Pedriza
Spring is now in full blast with bright and clear skies… but before the excruciating heat of summer arrives, now is the time to take full advantage of Madrid’s amazing hiking trails. None is more famous or spectacular than La Pedriza on the southern slopes of the Guadarrama mountain range. It was difficult to find English…
-
How My Trip to Toledo, Spain Was Ruined by a Spanish Shopkeeper who Attacked Me
Everyone who knows me knows how much I love Spain. But there was one particularly nasty incident that marred my experience in the country, and it happened in Toledo. Everybody raves about how beautiful this city is, and there’s no denying that. But instead of walking along the river and enjoying the atmosphere of the…
-
Berlin Diaries: Day 1
Tuesday Night, 24 November [9.30pm] I land in Berlin, finally, after a three-hour layover in Moscow (all the women look like dolls! But what happened to the men…?) An airport worker pushing an elderly’s wheelchair ran over my foot, and now I’m bleeding from the ankle. Not the best start. My body goes into shock…
-
Can travellers transit through Moscow without a Russian visa?
Answer is: yes! As long as you’re staying in the airport. The terminals in Sheremetyevo International Airport are connected. I just landed from Hong Kong en route to Berlin at Terminal F. From there I simply passed through the transit counter + security check and walked (10 minutes) to Terminal D. No visa needed, just a…
-
The Cheapest Way to Travel Around Europe
A quick rundown on what’s out there, based on my experiences hustling to save on travel costs… (Disclaimer: These are mostly based on my stay in the Iberian Peninsula) 1. BlaBlaCar (Ride sharing / car pooling) Safer and more convenient than hitch hiking, I stumbled upon BlaBlaCar trying to find ways to travel last minute without…
-
Madrid: Horseback-riding in Manzanares El Real
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m adventurous, fearless to a fault, and hate to say no to new and enriching experiences. On the other hand, my sister is the more cautious, sensible one (she always said whereas she would see the dangers of things, I would see only the possibilities). So when our newfound Madrileña friend Almu…
-
Madrid: Catching a Bullfight (Corrida de toros) in Las Ventas
Two days ago I watched a bullfight for the first time in my life in the famous Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid, thanks to my Tita Camille and her colleague, a die-hard bullfighting aficionado named Sylvia. When my tita (aunt) first asked me if I wanted to watch it, I hesitated because…
-
Best place to watch the sunset in Madrid: Temple of Debod
Perched on a small hill in between Rio Manzanares and Plaza de España is this temple brought to Spain from southern Egypt in the 1970s. If you were wondering what an ancient archeological site such as this is doing in Madrid, it’s because of Spain’s help in saving the temples of Abu Simbel back in 1960 during the…
Morena Travels 