Europe Trip 2.0: The King Has Landed

Croatia

Had a brief stopover at London upon my arrival from Iceland. Tubing my way via Piccadilly Line to Heathrow Airport, I took the earliest British Airways flight to Zagreb. After three hours of flight, I safely landed at the capital of Croatia on the 19th. The local time was one hour ahead of England, means seven hours behind of Malaysia's. Exchanged for small changes at the airport, I used the shuttle bus to the city for 30 kuna which operated for every 30 minutes. I dropped my luggage at the storage centre at the bus station, I spent the day exploring the city. Zagreb was a rather small city which could be easily covered on foot in half a day. The furthest point of interest, Museum of Broken Relationships, was just thirty minutes away. I exchanged the rest of my euro in town  before walking to my first stop, the cathedral. As the night fell at 4pm, at every corner of the city started to be illuminated by Christmas light decoration. Christmas market in Zagreb apparently was voted among the best ones in Europe.

Cathedral of Zagreb

Ban Jelacic Square

A quick fix for my sweet tooth at Princess Confectionaries

St Mark Church

Accessible with 40 Kuna, this visit was an interesting one as it featured the items of the ex-lovers

One of the exhibits at the museum. The label reads "He gave me his mobile phone so I couldn't call him anymore."

One of the christmas markets

View of the cathedral from the hilltop

One of the main streets in Zagreb, in Christmas decoration

My bus to Dubrovnik departed almost on time at 10.30pm.  Something interesting here is, you will need to pay additional 7 kuna to the bus driver for luggage service fee. It was 10 hours journey and I slept throughout the ride, except for the immigration check point crossing Bosnia border. I spent around two days in Dubrovnik which was more than sufficient to cover the old city. Since it was the low season, the island was not accessible during this point of time. The crowd was much lesser than usual. For instance, I went to the City Wall (entrance fee was 150 kuna, inclusive for free visit to Fort Lovrijenac within 3 days) around noon, despite of the online feedback advising visit early in the morning, I hardly spot anyone on the wall and I can enjoy the view with peace in an hour. Some of these places may seem familiar to the fans of HBO series, Game of Thrones. Dubrovnik Old City is used as the setting for King's Landing. Back in the hostel refreshing myself, I found myself yearning for dinner. Found a spot based on online reviews, I headed to Azur for a surprise treat which served fusion of Asian and local dish. 

Entrance to the old city (Pile Gate)

Dubrovnik West Harbour

Stradun, the main street of old city

The Rector Palace and Church of Saint Blaise

Old Port

Jesuit Stairs, or more famously known for walk of shame of Cersei Lannister

Saint Ignatius, on top of Jesuit Stairs

View from the City Wall

Fort Lovrijenac view from City Wall

Stradun illuminated in Christmas lights

This dish is called laksa by the chef. The brother is married to an Indonesian

Did I mention most of the eateries were closed during this time of the year and will only resume in quarter two of the following year? Apparently during the winter/low season, lots of the business owners would take a break to the major cities. Azur, the place that I had my first dinner, the owner decided to stay back for that holiday (and I was all by myself the entire time I was there).  I met up with my friends on the following day and we took the cable car (return fee for 150 kuna) to the top of the hill and had an overview of whole old city. 

One of my favourite seafood - fresh oysters (food savouring delicious dish emoji)

Teriyaki Tuna Steak

View of Old City from Fort Lovrijenac

View of mountain range beyond the hill

Top view of Dubrovnik old city

It was the warmest day in Europe throughout this trip

Dolce Vita to fix my ice cream craving to  conclude the evening

My last dinner in Dubrovnik - Pan Seared Shade-Fish Fillet

I detoured to Zagreb by bus and spent my third day in Croatia travelling, admiring the view of the journey. One of the major highlights for the current pitstop was the visit to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Two hours away from Zagreb, I took an early bus to the park. Some sections of the parks are closed in winter and the entrance was only 50 kuna (normal fee was 100 kuna) for one day ticket.  There were few routes available to enjoy the park but there wasn't much choice in winter. Considering only few check points were only available to visit, I spend around three hours there and I would say I was in love with the scenery there. When I thought I have enough of "foss" during my time in Iceland, I found myself was unable to resist the temptation of capturing the views.

Grand Waterfall of Plitvice 

The green lakes were mesmerizing

Duckies... duckies...

Two different paths but it still led to the same destination. Pretty much how life works too, eh?

Me closer to the grand waterfall

The famous wooden plank walk in the park

The cute little snowman. His right arm was off before I found him

Emoji with two heart eyes

Initially I bought return bus ticket to Plitvice without knowing that I can buy the bus ticket on the spot, basically on any bus that going towards Zagreb. Since I ended my visit early, I burned my ticket to get on earlier bus returning to the city. Had my very last stroll at the city for last minute souvenirs shopping, last glimpse of Christmas markets and last dinner before packing my belongings for my trip home.

Strukli, traditional dish of Croatia. It tasted like lasagna, without the meat, purely dough and cheese

Ban Jelacic Square at night

The quietest international airport I have been to so far during my overseas travel

I met up with my friends at Gatwick International Airport before boarding our flight back home to Malaysia. After away from home country for more than two weeks, I returned to Kuala Lumpur on the night of Christmas Day and back in office on the very next day. It was definitely a trip of nostalgia and out-of-the-world experience as there were so many firsts in this journey. Now I already have list of countries for my Europe Trip 3.0.

Till then, see you in next excursion!

Europe Trip 2.0: Winter is Coming

Iceland

Met up with the group at Luton Airport, the plane took off at 2.00pm local time for a 3-hour flight. Sharing the same time zone as England, the night has fallen upon our arrival. My friend booked a car through Reykjavik: Rent-A-Car for the 5-day trip. Exclusive of petrol, the car rental cost 67150 ISK which were shared by five of us. A shuttle bus was provided to bring us to the shop to retrieve the car. Loaded our luggage and we headed to nearby grocery store for a quick shopping for our meal for next few days. Checked in at The Base and we rested for the night.

Our ride for the five days

Around this time of the year, the sun rises around 10am to 11am in the morning and sets around 4pm. That translates to very minimal day time for us to explore the small island. With population of only three hundred thousands, there was barely any traffic when we were out of the city. The temperature was below ten degree but there was no any snow. It was cloudy too, and we only had one night with full of stars. Windy it was and it was such a killer to be out. Regardless, it didn't stop us from enjoying the magnificent scenery.

Our first stop was the Kerid Crater. It was the only site that we have to pay for the entrance fee which cost 400 koruna. The crater wasn't that visible when we arrived but as the sun started to make its way to the sky, the blue (or emerald) lake started to unfold. Lingered there for a while before heading to our first "foss" or waterfall for the day. When I thought the first waterfall was grand enough, I found myself to be more mesmerized for subsequent stops. As the night called, we checked in for our second stay at Horgsland Cottage.

Kerid Crater (Kerio)

Iceland flag in the distance, can't believe I was finally at the island

The view while we were on the road

Seljalandsfoss

Skogafoss

View of the fall from top

Serenity. Cloudy weather.

Glacier lagoon was the first place we visited for our day two. There weren't much berg during that time and I wonder if the impact of global warming was getting a little too real. Seeing an iceberg just quickly reminded me of Titanic which caused it to founder back in 1912. As we drove along the way, the mountains of ice appeared before our eyes and we couldn't help but to capture the memories. We came to a gorge and this hidden gem caught me by surprise as I didn't see it coming. I can't seem to be able to pronounce the name myself, Fjaðrárgljúfur. We concluded our day with a visit to black beach. The basalt stacks brought me back to Jusanggeoli Cliff in Jeju. The place that we stayed was nearby township of Selfoss. My friends cooked a very Asian dinner to fill our hunger.

Me at Glacier Lagoon. Look at how cloudy it was? 

White walkers incoming?

Fjaðrárgljúfur, my tongue was twisted...

Different perspective from the gorge

Reynisfjara or Black Beach

One of my favourite sights would be on this day. As we arrived early at the place, the low light condition due to the late sunset kind of hindering grandeur of this particular point of interest. We warmed ourselves at the nearby shop in which I had mocha (most mocha I had there cost 700 Krona) and we returned to the site. I find myself in awe at every angle of Gulfoss, which made me so eager to visit Niagara Fall one day. Not far from there is the Great Geysier. One of the geyser blows up for every six to eight minutes. Pingvellier National Park, on the other hand, features a number of rock formations which includes a number of mini waterfall and lakes within its vicinity. Listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site, this place is historically significant for being the founding place of Iceland Parliament.

The majestic Gullfoss. Now I want to go to Niagara

Literally waiting for six to eight minutes for this shot, with hand shivering holding the phone/camera

One of the falls at Pingvellier National Park

My friend mentioned that it would be a clear sky of the night, and subsequently, the chance of spotting Northern Light could be higher as usual. There we were, after enjoying our dinner, looking out among the starry sky, hoping to have a glimpse of the aurora. To our disappointment, after few hours of waiting, it just didn't come at all though some of us were disillusioned that she saw one. I guess it wasn't our luck. Oh well, for me it was just a bonus if was able to catch one for this trip.

A shot taken by my friend, looking into the night sky, hoping for aurora

For our very last road trip, we finally headed back to the capital. Along the way, we dropped by Kirjufell, one of the most famous landmarks, it might be familiar for the fans of Game of Thrones by HBO. Snaefellsbaer National Park was our last pitstop before checking in at Reykjavik. Had our dinner and a quick visit to the famous church. The wind was very strong that night and I thought I could be blown away, literally. We called it a day after strolling down the street and packed our stuff for our very last day.

Recall this mountain in Game of Thrones?

Twelve Apostles in Iceland?

Last check point before heading back to the city

The famous landmark in Reykjavik

My last night in Iceland

Two of my friends took early flight back to London and the three of us decided to take a dip at Blue Lagoon before checking out from Iceland. Booked our ticket online, we made our way to the location. The place provides luggage storage if you needed any. We still have our car for that. You would be provided with a bracelet and a towel upon entry. Locker is provided to store away your belongings. Fret not, it is not onsen so you can have under garment on though you still need to take a shower prior entering the pool. After dealing with cold weather for the past five days, finally we get to immerse ourselves into the warm blue water. The entry inclusive of one time free mask and drink. Dipping ourselves for around one hour or so before having our last meal at the restaurant. Returned our car and checked in our bag, it was our turn to bid goodbye to Iceland.

Overview of Blue Lagoon

Feel the warmth!

Lamb Fillet with Shoulder of Lamb. Not always a lamb eater but this was nyum!

There were not much city life in Iceland but the sites are totally out of the world for me. This was the most north part of the earth that I have been to so far. Now I wonder how's Greenland going to be like.