Dresden - The New Center

In my third day in Dresden I crossed the bridge to the new part of the city. Guided by my host I went in the center of the Old Town, near the train station and visited a nice mall they have there, like three streets big. After a nice smoothie we headed towards the New part of the city, but with a little detour. We stopped in a nice park which was crossed by a very tiny train specially used to transport tourists. At one end of the park there was this amazing building, like the Grand Hotel Budapest, used, as I could judge by the technological equipment placed around, for night shows. 

After the park we went to the new part of the city and I discovered that it is just so different from what I have seen of Dresden. Nice, hip people, old building, lots of colors and pubs, and small, cozy places to have a nice lunch. There were no many places to visit there, but for a park with green grass to sit on and a photo exposition documenting how Venice was reinforced to get through the war. Actually, those were some impressive photos which really taught me something about WWII.

In the New Center there were also a lot of nice small boutiques with genuine products, handmade or home made by locals. The locals being hip young people who opened their own businesses. So I did not spend much money on that day either, because the food I had with me and the walk was free. Also, window shopping is the cheapest way to shop by not spending money and of just dreaming of things and how good they would suit you.

On my last day in Dresden, until I left with my Blablacar ride, I stopped in the Old Center and had a nice cup of coffee, cheap, actually, listened to music being plaid on a piano placed in front of the cathedral and enjoyed just sitting in the wind. Also, the tram tickets are not that cheap, something like 2 euros for one ticket, but, as I said before, while in the center, you just do not need transportation. I used my tickets to get by tram to the place where I had to get into the Blablacar ride. So, these being said, just enjoy cheap, folks!

Visiting Dresden on a budget! - The Old Center

Just like I did with my trip to Prague, I also planned one to Dresden. It all started when I looked on the map to see what are cities are close to Wroclaw and so I picked Dresden. I love Germany, mostly the German language so travelling there was also an opportunity to speak the language. I looked on Airbnb for a nice, private host. I found one that suited my budget for 3 days in the city completely destroyed during the WWII. For transportation I went to Blablacar and found there a nice ride to, and later also from Dresden.

Once in Dresden I started visiting the city by night, right before going to my host and into bed. The lights, amazing, all the way home, amazing.

The best part of visiting Dresden is that there are two parts of the city, the Old and the New one, separated by a river, connected by bridges, and in both places the main attractions are in a very small area. So the time you need to see all you want to does not get wasted on wandering for ages.

The Old Center

Early in the morning of my second day in Dresden I started visiting by firstly going to the main attraction, St. John`s Cathedral which was completely destroyed during the war and impressively rebuilt. I benefitted from a student discount, and for 5 euros I went to the top and saw the whole city in the morning light. After that I went to the Fehrkehrsmuseum to see a long history of vehicles in Germany. Once out of there I headed towards the Ethnological Museum. It was the most impressive museum I have lately been in. Not only the expositions, but the architecture of the building was impressive. The collection of artefacts was so rich that one day is just not enough if anyone plans on seeing every little thing in very little detail. I saw from jewelry belonging to princes and princesses of the Kingdom of Prussia to belongings which were taken from the Turks whenever they lost a war against the formerly mentioned nation. It was really impressive to just switch rooms in a building and immerse myself in a completely new world. Not to mention that on the last floor of the museum there was an exhibition of photos taken in Italy during WWII. I can say, the main theme of most expositions in Dresden at the time of my visit was WWII. That was good, because I managed to find out more about what happened during those times.  

The ticket which allowed me to get into this museum was actually a pack ticket valid for all the museums in Dresden. The good thing about buying something like this is that it saves you money, but one disadvantage is that it is valid for only 24 hours, so you have to be hasty, however, the silver lining of this drawback is that all the museum are in the Old Center and within very little walking distance. So, all in all, you can do it if you want it. Where I stopped for lunch, you might ask. Well, no where. On the night of my arrival I went to Lidl, Germany is the mother of cheap supermarkets, and from there I bought vegetarian cheese and salami so I did some nice sandwiches to have not only in the morning, but also during the day. The only things I spent money on were the tickets for the museums and coffee.

2ns Day - Still in Prague

Early in the morning I was headed towards the city center to start again visiting. On my way I climbed a hill close to the place I stayed at, and I enjoyed a really beautiful and clear morning view of Prague. Next stop, after passing many other statues, I went to The Beatles` wall. After that I headed myself towards the top of the well known castle in Prague where everyone was gathered to witness the changing of the guards. Leaving the castle behind I took the Golden Lane and visited small rooms built in the protective walls of the castle. Enchanted by the Golden Lane more that of the castle rooms 

I went down the hill to go and visit Kafka`s house. I got to Kafka`s place just to realize I am tired of visiting museums, and I ended up going by the river to look for a post office and send some card home. I discovered a very narrow street between building which was guarded by some street lamp which allowed access to persons one by one. I saw some yellow penguins, bought a nice, very thin and proportionately tasty disk waffle and crossed the river to get to the center once again. And here the most precious attraction awaited – a drawing exposition of Dali`s and Warhol`s sketches and drawings. It was not that cheap, but very, very amazing.

All in all Prague was entertaining, filled with surprising statues, places and myths. I let you discover them by either joining free walking tours or private ones. Just do not focus on the beaten traks and take the narrow streets. You`ll encounter a lot of cheap entertainment for all tastes.

Enjoy cheap, folks!

Visiting amazing Prague - 2 days on the run and with a small budget

Living in Wroclaw has its perks. Wroclaw is the meeting point, they say. Weel, what I realised is that Wroclaw is a really good spot from where to start your travels. Whether you want to go to Berlin, Prague, Dresden, or anywhere in Europe for that matter, you can easily reach your destination.

I planned to go to Prague. But how and for how long? Well, just for 2 days and on a very low budget. So it was 2 days, one night at my airbnb accommodation, but lots and lots and lots of nice places, good art, surprizes from behind buildings, and a lot of walking.

Day 1

So, I booked my ride with Luxexpress for 4 A.M, so I would arrive in Prague in the morning and so I would start visiting as soon as possible. Luxexpress was the most amazing transportation mean ever. It was really Luxurious: comfy seats, personal monitors, lots of leg space, tea and coffee, nice toilet and quality driving. Too bad I was tired and I culd not enjoy all these for the full 4 hours of my ride.

I arrived in Prague sometime between 8.30 A.M and 9.00 A.M. I opened my heremaps app and I set the route for my first destination, the town center. I got a nice cup of coffee in the station and went on to the central point of the city. I had looked up a Free walking tour there, just to have the chance and get acquainted with the surroundings. I found the meeting place for the tour and joined it. The weather was nice, chilly, but sunny. People were noisy from early in the morning, and that gave me a really nice feeling of being in the center of action. During the tour I had the chance to see most of the places I had booked on my heremaps app. So, after the tour, knowing where everything was positioned, I went to visit each of the attractions in more detail. I went to the Jewish quarter where I visited the Jewish cemetery, the one which has grown in height and not in width or length, the Synagogue there, the streets filled with expensive stores, and a museum of Jewish history in Prague. 

After visiting the Jewish quarter I went on to look for the Dancing House, and Kafka`s ever changing mechanical statue. On my way I entered a nice pop art exposition in a gallery, where contemporary artist, Pasta Oner. Since I paid little to see the Jewish Quarter and the Dancing house and Kafka`s statue were for free, I could spend a little more money to see this exhibition.

After this I was headed towards the center to go visit the Beer Museum and the Sex Machine Museum. On my way I saw other interesting and fun sculptures hanging from strings above the streets. Piece of advice: always take the not so main ways. Do not go behind building or into dark places, but just keep walking in the narrow streets, they offer most free surprises. Beer Museum was quite cheap, and, besides visiting the actual museum which looks more like a tiny warehouse, I got the chance to taste 4 types of beer, this was included in the price. After having drunk the honey super tasty beer glass I went to the Sex Machine Museum, which was, well, just go and see for yourselves.

After a long walking day I went to my Airbnb accommodation where I slept very soundly until the next morning. Even though this flat was on top of some disco club, I heard nothing. So this is the benefit of a full day, the disadvantages of cheap accommodation do not bother you. And this is how low budget works.

How I travel cheap

Let me tell you something about cheap, cheap travelling that is. It is possible. When I plan on going somewhere all the people I tell the news to respond by being amazed of how much money I have. How do I do this, I am just a student, whom am I robbing? Well, I tell them, I am Romanian, I have my secrets. Discriminatory jokes left aside, cheap travel is possible. You just have to plan it well, not even well in advance.

For me it works like this:

1. I get the idea of where I want to go;

2. I get cheap tickets, plane or bus, going to the ryanair app, to polskibus website or to blablacar;

3. I look up for accommodation on airbnb

4. once the transportation and accommodation are sorted aut, I check tripadvisor app for things I want to see;

5. I use the heremaps app on Iphone to mark all the atractions I want to visit;

6. I always mark the address I have my accommodation at and save battery to always fiind my way through the new town;

7. I buy rice waffles, sliced cheese, cashew nuts, almods, apples and bananas to take with me;

8. I avoid entering stores (clothing, souvenirs, food) not to be deceived into spending money;

9. I always ask if the service provider offers student discount or under 26 discount;

10. I pack light so I do not need to go to my accommodation in order to live my luggage, so I am able to start visiting as soon as I get to my destination;

11. I plan my arrival and my departure to be early in the morning, or late at night respectively.

These are just the basic steps I take in order to have a nive trip, energetic, cheap, but full of entertaining activities.

When you don’t even try to get the cheapest

I have told you a few posts ago how to get to Lviv, but I did not tell you much about it. Actually, it is pretty famous for its prices, especially for cigarettes. In the moment you get to Lviv you don’t have to worry about the food, because there will be no more sandwiches in this trip, you don’t have to check well the prices before going to a restaurant or for public transportation. Everything is cheap in Lviv, so it is really hard to spend a lot of money, especially when you come from a more western country.

Lviv is a city that takes you back in time. A part of it brings me to the communist times, to those dark times, when police was strict and the buildings were in a bad shape because of lack of money. You feel poorness everywhere around you.  The soldiers are walking on the streets, are having lunch at the table behind you or are shopping in the same store as you. In the moment you stop seeing them as something special you lose the fear or the feeling of discomfort.

Still, once you get to the old town everything looks renovated, well done, many restaurants, a main church, a sign with Lviv where you can take pictures and many interesting buildings, most of them churches. I fell in love with the city from day 1, because it has that diversity and that honesty which cannot be seen in other cities.

I like this place because they try to be better, but still they try to keep their authenticity. That is why you will see places where trees are dressed in wool recreating a decor as it would have been a playground for a cat, some restaurants with soviet influence or churches with many people celebrating.

I cannot believe that I say that, but until Lviv I have never eaten so many times in a restaurant in such a short amount of time. I have been to restaurants for having breakfast, lunch or dinner. I found a really cute place where the food was ridiculous cheap and I had the best milkshake that tasted like whipped cream, a borsch and pancakes for about 2 Euro. Every time I was eating there I was challenging me to eat for 5 Euro, but my stomach couldn’t handle so much food.

Despite the good food and the insanely low prices, restaurants in Lviv are famous for their themes.

We went to the bunker place where at the entrance you had to say a password ‘Slava Ukrainii’. A big guy was opening the door dressed as in the soviet times and was giving for free a shot to everyone. Inside, the restaurant had a really authentic air. The guns were everywhere and you could take pictures dressed as a military person with a gun, small or big. The fun part is that you can shoot Putin or other main political figures and you have to pay only 50 cents for 20 shots. They come for free if you spend a lot of money in there, but for us it was not the case. The prices are a bit higher than in the other places, but it is worth it. Many musical moments, simulations of attacks and good times are waiting for you there.

There is another place where we could not enter, but it is very famous among tourists. The masochist word is related to Lviv, therefore there is a place dedicated to masochism. It’s a place for the fans of 50 Shades of Grey. Especially because after you have a good dinner, if you want, the waitress can spank you a bit, or a bit more with a whip. If you are sensitive to rough touches you should not ask for a spank, because it will hurt you.

My favourite place was a medieval restaurant dedicated to ways of torture. You could actually try some of them and the personal was dressed according to the theme. The food was delicious and you could see how the meat is done on the huge grills inside. When the bill came, they delivered in a really unique way, but that’s a secret and you’ll have to go there in order to see for yourself.

After you finish with the restaurants, you can go up to the hill from where you can see the whole city. We enjoyed a really nice sunset and the view was worth going up on the hill.

In conclusion: We love Lviv and we cannot wait to go there to see more.

Enjoy your trip!

A place with a view

Let’s say you plan on going to Berlin for the weekend. Today I’ll tell you what you can do in order to enjoy the view from above for free, close to the main attraction points and have a really good time. Let’s call it visit to Bundestag.

Nearby Brandenburg Gate is the parliament of Germany, called Bundestag. It is a really nice building, in a neo-renaissance style, surrounded by large parks with old trees and many spaces for relaxing. The address is Platz der Republik 1.  

Above the main building it was created a dome of glass which can be visited by tourists for free, but only if a reservation is made in advance. To be safe, I recommend trying to book the place with two weeks in advance because there are a lot of tourists who are visiting this place.

Once you get in front of the main building you will see some white buildings with some fences in front of it. There you have to go in order to show your booking, your id’s and get checked by someone from security in order to not enter with something that can threat the safety of the others.

After you passed those parts, someone will guide you to the entrance and then you will have to take the elevator.  Upstairs you will be asked what languages do you speak and you will receive an audio guide who will tell you what you can see from the panoramic view and some historic facts.

According to the tour that you chose you can have a walk also inside the parliament where you can find out more about the activities they have and some quick lesson. Still, for tourists the visit of the dome with audio guide is the best option. Once you get up you can enjoy the view sitting and breathing the fresh air.

Enjoy your trip!