Amsterdam,Netherlands

by BhagyashreePawar

Amsterdam is known for its canals, bright colored tulip fields, relaxed atmosphere and majority of cyclists. It  comes as no surprise that the Dutch capital has been welcoming not just me but several thousand people a year since ages. It is truly one of the most electric cities I have been to.

Stay– We were a group of 5 and preferred staying in a hostel so we could save money there and use it for other fun activities in the city. The rooms were luxurious and made us feel like home. It was well maintained and gave you Amsterdam vibes.( 107 euros for 1 night two days among 5 people, it also included breakfast) Name-  WOW Amsterdam. check-  https://www.wow-amsterdam.nl/

Language– Their official language is Dutch but everyone speaks really fluent English. It is a tourist friendly place to be.

Food– Dutch food is great but there are also many other food delicacies you can choose from. Do make sure to try their waffles, pancakes, macrons, variety of cheese.

What to drink– Heineken for sure, but you find many other popular drinks in bars. The nightlife here is worth experiencing, there are lots of clubs and pubs in places like Medieval Centre, Red light district and many more. For coffee lovers you need to remember that a coffee shop isn’t just selling coffee. There are cannabis cafes and they are literally throughout the city.

Museum– There is a list of museums you find in Amsterdam. You need to find the ones which suit you and are in your interest.

Travel– Rent a bike, it’s the thing to do when in Amsterdam. Or you can buy the I Amsterdam City card depending on how many days you are spending there. The rates vary on the number of hours you want it for. The one, two ,three or four day pass allows you to freely travel on Amsterdam’s excellent public transport and also includes a free canal boat tour and also discounts at some museums, cafes and restaurants.

What to do-

  • Rent a bike and do take the popular boat tour around the canal.
  • Study about the museums and explore the ones you like.
  • Find and take a picture at the I Amsterdam sign.
  • Experience the sunsets from canal views.
  • Go through the red light district.
  • Try their popular food options.
  • Visit the coffee shops and also try space cakes.
  • The “Heineken Experience” awaits you, this activity has actually managed to secure a place among the most popular Amsterdam attractions – and not just among beer lovers. This tour is very entertaining, it’s worth it.

                  – Entry 18 euros(inkl. 2 free chilled beers)

  • The A’DAM Tower is one of Amsterdam’s most popular attractions. The view from about 100 meters above the harbor, the historic center, some skyscrapers on the horizon is simply a feast for the eyes and cameras. Another tourist magnet on the A’DAM Tower is “Over the Edge” – the highest swing in Europe. On it you can swing at a dizzying height over the edge of the A’DAM Towers.

                     – (Entry 13.50 euros)

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

by BhagyashreePawar

When you decide to go around the beautiful country there are many castles around here as this country has some world famous history we have been through a couple of castles around Germany and my personal favorites are Neuschwanstein castle (Bavaria) and the castles in Heidelberg (Ohh!!! Beautiful city).

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Neuschwanstein is known as the famous Disney castle in Germany. People refer to it as sleeping beauty castle or Cinderella castle Germany and it does do twice with its exterior and a setting in the alps.

It is situated in the Bavarian village of Hohenschwangau and this castles beauty draws more than a million people visiting every year.

History

It’s built in the 19th century by a mysterious king Ludwig II, referred as mad king. It is said that the kings grandest fantasy was to create a perfect castle on the setting of Bavarian Alps. (Sad, but he never got his happily ever after).

He died in 1886, before the castle was built. A few weeks after his death the castle was open to public as a museum.

It is a pleasure for our eyes to watch such a castle.

The insides- The castle interior can only be visited with a guided tour which takes around 35 minutes.

How to get to the castle from the village?

Catch a train from Munich to Fussen and from there take either bus number 73 or 78, which takes you to Hohenschwangau. Our Bayern ticket did give us access to this bus. But to reach Neuschwanstein from this village Hohenschwangau can go by foot, shuttle bus or horse carriage rides. The ticket office is located in the village before you start towards Neuschwanstein which is on a hill and takes 40 minutes by foot.

  • The horse carriage ride costs – 6.00 euro uphill and 3.00 euro downhill.
  • Shuttle bus – 1.80 uphill, 1.00 euro downhill, and 2.00 euro roundtrip
  • Free travel for Bayern ticket holders from Fussen to Hohenschwangau
  • Hohenschwangau Castle
  • Horse carriage

What to wear?

  • There is a lot of walking so make sure you wear something comfortable (Sport shoes and comfortable clothes). It is pretty chilly usually as it’s uphill.
  • If you have time permits, I can recommend that you explore the town Fussen, have a nice evening dinner and return back with beautiful memories of the so-called Disney castle of Germany.

Some tips

  • If your base camp is from Bavaria (Munich most of the times) check the Bayern ticket (Regional ticket for Bayern state) as it saves your money (more profitable in a group of 5 people).
  • Pick a less busy day to visit (weekdays).
  • Make sure you check the weather (most of the time its rainy so carry umbrella with you).
  • Buy tickets in advance to save your time.
  • Carry little snacks and drinks.
  • Try the quark balls
  • Explore some nearby towns.

Thank you so much!

  • Neuschwanstein castle, Germany
  • Neuschwanstein Castle
  • Marienplatz, Munich
  • Cathedral Church of Our Lady, Munich
  • Odeonsplatz, Munich
  • New Rathaus, Munich

Why Studying Abroad is Worth

by BhagyashreePawar

Let us change the way you see the world. By creating your own adventure, making new friends, experiencing different cultures, new cuisines. See the world in a different light, when you study abroad everything changes.

I am currently doing my MBA in Germany and this is the first time I have travelled somewhere outside India. Studying Abroad has its own perks that nobody should miss.

 Discover the new you

Studying abroad will help you find yourself. Staying away from your family, friends and comfort           zone you rely more on yourself. By exploring new countries and cultures on your own, you will see a side of yourself that you didn’t even know existed. You learn to find your own ways, handle your own mess.

Make you bilingual

Being in your comfort place and learning through apps is one thing, but sitting in the classroom, communicating with native speakers and laughing with new friends will bring life and love towards your second language. It is one of the best ways to be fluent.

Back in India I did learn German and Japanese language and was very confident about my knowledge, Moving to Germany for my Master studies gave me an opportunity to communicate with locals and boosted my confidence. Studying with an International crowd introduced me to languages like French, Spanish and many more.

Beyond your comfort zone

When you leave everything that is comfortable, you will face some unavoidable situations. You have to face them and take risks. You might get homesick and want to rush to your parents…….but you can’t. You will overcome every challenge and realize your own capability which will build your confidence and make you an independent individual.

Improved Culinary skills

A new country means new food. Whenever you visit the stores it will be an adventure and discovery of new dishes each time you eat outside. You might also end up learning new recipes and exploring new fruits, vegetables, spices. If you are foodie like I am you will end up trying new cuisines as well as become a great cook.

Add value to your Resume

If you’re planning to continue with your education, studying abroad will be a major asset to your resume. International education and experiences will build your profile and help you learn new skills and techniques. 

Travelling is easy

When you plan to study in Germany, like me (where you get a Schengen visa) it makes travelling and exploring very easy. You can easily find cheap and good deals to travel to your favorite countries through trains, flights, bus etc. You also can get a few discounts being a student and travelling is easier and cheaper when in a group.

Develop your Personality

Staying away from family and handling everything individually does mould you into a better person and develops your personality and boosts your confidence. It polishes your skills and makes you a better person who is more confident, independent and fearless. You learn to stand for what is wrong and right and make the best use of various possibilities that come your way.

A new perspective

After you see another way of living, you will have a new perspective and learn to appreciate what makes life unique.

Zadar, Croatia

by BhagyashreePawar

When we think of visiting Croatia we often think about Dubrovnik as Game of Thrones was filmed here or Split as it’s the most spoken about. We, a group of 6 friends decided to take a trip to Zadar in our Campus off. Ryan Air as usual gave us the best deal so we could fly in our budget for 3 nights. The best part was our flight duration was 2 and half hour and both the times we landed in just 1 hour 10 minutes.

Zadar is a small but beautiful city with bright but subtle colour buildings. It is a small old easily walkable town. Walking through the streets here is a complete relaxation as it gives you those positive holiday vibes. Though small there are many things to see. My favourite part was walking through different streets and reaching the sunset every evening, it was soothing and a peaceful escape from your everyday routine.

The trip was not a sprint so we spent 2 days within the city wandering, exploring, watching sunsets, visiting illusion museum and tasting good food. Zadar is home to Croatia’s one of the most famous churches. Church St. Donat which is simple and round-shaped. The town also has an attractive Cathedral with beautiful portals and a bell tower to climb, which gives you best views of the Town. Wandering around the city you will find a traditional city market where women sell homemade lace cloths and men/women selling slabs of Salty Pag cheese and famous Croatian wine.

Zadar has a beautiful waterfront where you have a Sea Organ and Sun Salutation. Sea Organ is an art installation, formed by cutting steps of the concrete waterfront section. It is a small musical instrument played by the waves. The higher the waves, the intense the music.

The blue disc, a solar powered light display which lights up at the night is the Sun salutation. It soaks solar rays, and dazzles coloured light patterns and brings happiness to people standing on the discs. There are some smaller discs which radiate their own rainbow glow. This is like a huge solar powered public dance floor with sea organs music.

There are three national parks very close from Zadar- Paklencia, Plitvice Lakes and Krka. The third day was our best decision during this trip where we planned to visit the Plitvice National Park. We went through a local tour guide which was around 70euro. (500 Kuna) we also got an additional student discount here. The tour included a pick up from your location, walk through the national park, boat rides within the park, lunch and drop at your location. We got to meet many other people with the same tour and see the best spots in the national park. (Perks of having a local guide)P.S. You can explore the place all by yourself as well it is not necessary to go through a tour, but a little bit of study and budget planning is recommended.

Plitvice Lakes National Park is a 295 sq km forest reserve. It has a chain of 16 lakes joined by waterfalls. There are walkways and hiking trails around and across the water. The water is so clean that you are allowed to drink it. There are boats which link the upper and lower lakes. Walking through the clear turquoise water surrounded by forests with the sound of waterfalls is the best view you can ask for. This place is perfect and makes you realise how beautiful nature is. It is like a gift from Mother Nature, a home away from home. My words won’t do justice to this place with mesmerising views but I hope these photos do.

P.S. You are not allowed to get into the water here, if you are looking for a swim amidst the nature KRKA is the best recommended.

The last day we relaxed in our apartment thinking about the best times we spent. I am not a person who likes to visit the same place again but Croatia deserves to be visited again. I am ready with the places I wish to visit during my next trip. KRKA is defiantly on top.

Currency: Kuna   1 euro= 7.4 Kuna (might differ)

Cards and Banks: Cards are accepted in some of the places when you eat but it is recommended you carry cash as most of the places you will need only cash. Withdrawing cash there you will have to pay some additional charges.

Language: Almost all the Croatians spoke English so communication was not a problem. 

Weather: Croatia has pleasant weather. The peak months are from June to August when it is hot and ideal water temperature for swimming which attracts most of the tourists. The other months are good to visit with pleasant climate, sunny skies and rains at times. It is usually cool and rainy winters and hot and dry summers.

Flights: There are many flights going to Croatia you can check RyanAir for the best deals in your budget. You can also check Eurowings, Easyjet.

Public Transport: Places are not very big so you don’t need public transport within the city, But if you plan to go to national parks or other cities or to the airport you will need to take public transport. Here you can check Flixbus, there are variety of tours, Take a Taxi or rent a car.

Stay: There are dozens of hotels, hostels, apartments which you can find online. As we were a group of six we booked an apartment which gave us access to everything as it was at the city centre. Name- Voshta – 2 bedroom apartment.

Food: We found a variety of must try sea-food in Croatia. You should definitely give a try if you are sea-food lover. Squid is amongst the most recommended food here. There are a few vegetarian options but if you tell them, many hotels can make veg dishes for you.

A DAY IN REGENSBURG (BAVARIA)

by BhagyashreePawar

When you stay in a beautiful country like Germany and have weekends free what do you do? For me its travel with my favourite travel partner, after the travel bug has hit us hard, I and my husband do not leave any chance to go explore new places around us.

Over a coffee discussion we googled top places to visit in Bavaria for one day trip and we got a list of top ten cities and Regensburg was one of them. It was a quick decision and we started with a list of things to do and places to visit. During a one day trip it is always better you start early so you have the whole day to explore. A small tip which we follow is take breakfast with us on the go to save time once you reach your destination.

Our Bayern ticket had the access to local city buses but Regensburg is best explored walking through the streets, it makes you realize it had a rich history. Every house had its own beauty with detailing. Beautiful doors, clocks, paintings.

Regensburg Cathedral also known as St. Peter’s Cathedral

Regensburg Cathedral is an example of important Gothic architecture in Bavaria. You will find beautiful Cathedrals in all the cities you visit. Every cathedral has its own beauty and story. There are many elegant sculptures decorating the exteriors, the details leave you speechless. I hope these photos do justice to my words.

Porta Praetoria

Just a few minutes from the Cathedral is the Porta Praetoria, the arched gate is the most impressive reminder of Regensburg Roman heritage. It was built in AD 179 by Emperor Marcus Aurelius as part of the Castra Regina.

Walking through the streets

Goliath House with its painting of David and Goliath made in 1573.

“Goldener Turm” (Grey) and “Bamburger Turm” (Pink)

Altes Rathaus

The Old Stone Bridge

The stone bridge in Regensburg is one of the must watch. It was built years ago and many sections are yet in its original form. For more than 800 years, until the 1930s, it was the city’s only bridge across the river. It is considered as a masterpiece of medieval construction and an important landmark. We spent good time walking along the river, sitting and watching the ducks swim in the pleasant weather.

Regensburg Sausage Kitchen

Just near the stone bridge you find a historic and famous sausage kitchen (Historische Wurstkuchl). For more than 700 years this place serves meals here with sausages as their main dish. During the summers you can sit on wooden benches and enjoy this dish with a river view. It is said when the bridge was being built, the workers would take a break and have their meals here. I tried sausages for the first time and absolutely loved them.

We had a beautiful day in the former capital of Bavaria “Regensburg” also nicknamed as “the northernmost city of Italy”.

ROME, ITALY

by BhagyashreePawar

From the day my husband announced we were travelling to Rome this valentines, being a foodie,I started dreaming of Pizzas, Italian wine and Gelato. I started packing for our trip with excitement,eager to try amazing Italian cuisine and all the flavours of gelato. Apart from the food I was also looking forward to explore the city which has many renowned worth seeing places and the history it is famous for. I suggest reading about all these places before you visit so you know what exactly are you looking at as every place has some history behind it. Without knowledge it would be you just walking through famous ruins, monuments, sculptures which look beautiful but with the content it is interesting to walk through.

Your ticket to the Colosseum usually gets you insights of Roman Forum and Palentine Hill. Taking a tour through the Colosseum you will reconnect to the movie Gladiator.(You must watch if you have not yet) Colosseum is the largest amphitheatre and when in Rome one must not miss a chance to take a tour to the Colosseum which is also considered as one of the seven wonders of the world.

Nearby walk through the ruins at the Roman Forum and Palentine Hill. The Roman Forum was once the centre of Rome and had the most important buildings and structures and today it is left with bits and ruins. This place gives you a glimpse into the life of the early Romans.

Visiting these places plus some places like Vittorio Emanuele II Monument, Campidoglio and you will find many more famous monuments,ruins,fountains when you walk through this area. It will take an entire day end it with some authentic Italian Food, you find various joints walking through the streets.

Watch the Pantheon’s Dome standing beneath it

Pantheon is one of the most famous temples in Rome, which is now a church and also has free entry. The strong and well-built structure leaves you mesmerised. When you step out and look around you find many gelato shops and food joints which serve amazing food. They have cozy and romantic sitting arrangements just perfect for a date night with your loved one.The days we were in Rome we made sure to try different joints in this locality and none of them disappointed us.

Another location for spending a nice evening is the Spanish steps. Relaxing here and looking through the city is an amazing experience. Located at the centre the steps connect Pizza Di Spagna (below) with Trinita dei Monti (above).

After watching about it in the movies and having heard about it who would miss a chance of tossing a coin in the Trevi Fountain? It has an interesting story behind it. If you toss a coin you will be destined to return to Rome someday.2 coins you will find true love and three coins your love would turn into marriage. The area around the fountain is usually always crowded and beautiful to watch during the day and night too.(P.S-lot of coins are collected every single day and donated to provide food to the homeless in Rome. So this belief leads you towards a great act)

Finally, a trip to Rome is incomplete without a visit to the Vatican City which is a small country of its own. It is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. Within the city there are many sites such as St. Peters Basilica, the largest church in the world and has the most renowned work within. Sistine Chapel which is the official residence of the Pope and has beautiful interior, particularly the ceiling. Vatican Museums which contain master pieces of paintings, sculptures and other works of Art collected through the years.

P.S- It is recommended to book the tickets in advance as the place is usually very crowded and long ques.

*Some more travel tips when in Rome*

Currency: Euro

Cards and Banks: Cards are accepted over all, but it is good if you carry cash as it is used for small items also some markets and museums only accept cash.

Weather: Resting near the Mediterian Sea, Rome enjoys warm weather. It is usually hot during the summers. (In February there was sun but wind so we did need our jackets)

Flights: Dozens of flights go to Rome every day you need to check based on your origin. We opted for Ryan Air as they gave us the best deal within our budget.

Public Transport: Wandering by foot is the most romantic way to discover every corner and street of the city. That is what we prefer. Rome has amazing public transport, various passes and also city tours. If you are in town for at least 72 HRS, try the Roma Pass ( around 38 Euro)which has access to public transport, entry to two museums and some discounts.

Stay: There are various hotels, hostels which you will find online. We preferred to stay at the city centre as it is easy to walk to different places. We had booked Hostel named as Mosaic and you can also find some great deals at booking.com.

Food: Authentic Italian food- Pizza, pasta, bruschetta and a lot more, the famous Italian wine and not to forget soooo many flavours of gelato to choose from.

Language: Italian is widely spoken here but you will find many English speakers and the locals are also very friendly. Italian is sweet to listen to and also recognised as the language of love and romance.