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The Significance of Train Journeys
For a tourist, there’s no better or more exciting way to explore Europe than to travel by train. Out of the many options of mode of transport to choose from, such as car, bus, or plane, undoubtedly, train travel is the most convenient and most reliable. It is a highly commendable mode of transportation for sightseeing unless you prefer to hire a car and drive on your own. Travelling by train gives you the freedom to easily move from one place to another not only in big cities but in remote rural areas as well and provides the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the countryside. Whenever I step…
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In love with Switzerland – A day in Geneva
Geneva is the second most populous city after Zurich and the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It is a global city, a financial centre, and a worldwide centre for diplomacy due to the presence of many international organisations headquartered including Europe’s United Nations and the Red Cross. CERN in Geneva is the birthplace of world wide web (www) as we know it today. It was invented by an English engineer and computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. I only had one day scheduled to explore Geneva, which, unfortunately, really did not do it justice considering its magnitude in history and the many interesting things to see and do. Still, I’m so…
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The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the centre of Christianity and the most sacred site of Christendom, is a church within the Christian Quarter of Old City, Jerusalem. It is also called the Church of the Resurrection but was formerly known by its original Greek name: the Church of the Anastasis. The church contains the two holiest sites in Christendom: the site where Jesus of Nazareth was crucified known as Calvary in Latin and Golgotha in Greek, and Jesus’s empty tomb, where he is said to have been buried and resurrected. Within the church proper are the last four (or, by some definitions, five) stations of the Via Dolorosa, representing the final episodes of Jesus’s…
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Ahoy Czechia!
I stayed in the Ibis Hotel during the first few nights in Prague but decided to extend my stay, hoping to do an extra day trip to a town called Karlovy Vary. I was interested to see the place featured in the movie Last Holiday where the actress Queen Latifah’s character Georgia decided to spend her remaining days on Earth. This was after being mistakenly diagnosed with having a rare brain condition and only having a few weeks left to live. She decided to spend her last funds on a luxury holiday in the Grandhotel Pupp to meet her favourite famous celebrity chef Didier. However, unlike Georgia, my ending was…
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The Greatest Traveler
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta, better known as Ibn Battuta, was born in Tangier, Morocco in 1304. He is a Muslim Berber Moroccan scholar, writer, geographer, at times a Qadi or judge and best known as an explorer and traveller. Ibn Battuta is considered as the World’s Greatest Traveler in History. He was twenty years of age when he left his home town in Morocco in 1325, to go on a Hajj, or a pilgrimage to Mecca to fulfill the Fifth Pillar of Islam. He finally returned home from travelling in 1354. According to some scholars, during his twenty-nine years of traveling, he was able to widely traverse a distance…
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Moscow, Russia
Moscow is the capital and the largest city of the Russian Federation. It is the seat of the government, as well as the political, scientific, historical, architectural, and business centre of the country. It displays the country’s contrasts at their most extreme. Its distinguishable symbols of great and terrible past, as well as ancient and modern architecture, are visible side by side. Today, imposing Soviet buildings, the Seven Sisters, or Stalinist skyscrapers representing Stalin’s empire and other impressive architectures spread all over in this intimidating city. You may love or hate Moscow. You may probably be visiting monumental and palatial areas at one point. Then all of a sudden, you…
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Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow, Russia
One of the things I did during my visit to Moscow was to visit the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics. With the help of my Russian roommate – Julia, I was able to organize my visit. Travelling by train from the Red Square area via Kitay-gorod to VDNKh station, I conveniently reached the museum after approximately thirteen minutes. VDNKh is the closest station to the complex, should you wish to travel by train. Services depart every ten minutes and it operates every day. Monument to the Conquerors of Space – Russia The Monument to the Conquerors of Space is a stunning 110-metre-high titanium spire erected in Moscow in 1964. It soars…
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Veni, Vidi, Venice!
The Merchant of Venice, The Tourist, The Italian Job and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, these are just some of the movies filmed in Venice. I was so excited to finally visit Venice from my few days’ stay in Florence following the footsteps of Robert Langdon in Dan Brown’s novel, Inferno. Luckily, I arrived in the morning at Santa Lucia Station which is just five minute walk to my hotel. After having my breakfast at a coffee shop next door, I hastily went to Piazza San Marco or St Mark’s Square, as if I was thrilled to witness a Carnival in Venice. Venice is the birthplace of the famous…
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Norwich City Football Club – The underdogs bite back
English Premier League is back after the European games. Some of the awaited games were those of the big teams such as Liverpool FC, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspurs, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc… Like me, their respective fans were extremely excited wondering who’s going to score among their best players and how many goals they would get, especially when they are playing against the ‘not-so-good’ teams in the League. As if they were already banking their scores at the expense of the underdogs. It’s a no-brainer that the objective is to strive and win every game and accumulate more points and goals to compete among each other to secure the…
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“Seek and you shall find”
To those who have already bought my book entitled INSPIRED TO TRAVEL; TRAVEL TO INSPIRE – A TRAVEL MEMOIR, maraming salamat sa suporta, kahit ang presyo ay medyo mahal. Most especially to those who even offered to pay more than the set price, you know who you are, thank you for your generosity. Maraming- maraming salamat sa inyo’ng lahat that you acknowledged and valued my efforts. Nakaka inspire kayo lalo. Please accept my heartfelt ‘thank you’ to every one of you! I wish that you too will be able to make your dreams come true. My advice: Work hard for it, focus, do not be afraid to ask questions, and…
