Venice (22 Sep to 24 Sep 2008)

As Salzburg was cold and time was also running short, we decided to skip Zurich and Milan and instead go straight south to Venice. Again we decided to use toll free roads and the GPS again took us along scenic routes up the mountains. I have no idea where we travel but we do reach Venice at around 6.00pm. In Venice we decided to stay at camping ground as parking is expensive and hotel on Venice itself is also expensive. We stayed at camp Fusina which has their own ferry services to take us across which cost only 20 euro for 3 days of unlimited used.

The route from Salzburg to Venice took us through this mountainous road. As you can see, there are snows on the mountains.

Finally in Venice.

Riding on the gondola don't have to be an expensive affair. Its a short ride, i.e. just across one of the bigger canals, and cost only 1 euro. Well, you still have the experiece of riding on a gondola.

St Mark square. This is where most of the tourist crowd. Wow, its so crowded even off season. And look at the pigeons here, they are bold and will come to hand if you have bread on it.

Salzburg (21 Sep - 22 Sep 2008)

Salzburg is just about 3 hours drive from Vienna. We left Vienna about 8 in the morning and reach Salzburg before noon. Check into the hotel and book ourselves the Sound of Music tour. I guess you know that the Sound of Music was filmed here. I love Salzburg and the place is peaceful and serene. And it got new town and old town. We are staying in the new town and across the river, within walking distance is the old part of town. Most of the activities are in the old town. There is a big square full of shops and at the same time, since we are there on Sunday, there is a flea market as well as fun fare going on.

Across the lake is one of the house used for the filming.

The gazebo in the film. Its locked so we can only see from the outside

Red Bull headquarters. We pass this when the tour took us on a scenic view on the mountains roads. It all glass and surrounded by water. Look very impressive

Must try original strudels.

Vienna (20 Sep - 21 Sep 2008)

Leaving Prague in the late morning and arrive at Vienna around 1.00pm. It was drizzling and since we planned to stay for only one night, there was no time to loose. After checking into the hotel, grab some lunch and we went to Vienna town itself. Got some brochures from the hotel and asking the front desk how to reach the centre itself. Fortunately by the time we reach Vienna town, it has stopped raining. We walked around the city looking for the hop-on and hop-off sightseeing bus but couldn't find any. It look like a dead town with few people around and its Saturday. I wonder whether there is somewhere, something is going on. Anyway, we explore the town ourselves and almost always end up at the Karlplatz church and that is also our landmark to go back to the hotel.

Karlplatz church in the background

Roses in someone's garden. Look like roses still blooming in Autumn

Honesty the best policy.

Everywhere you see that they put the newspaper in a plastic bag and you just drop the money on the board above. I wonder can you do that in Malaysia!

Prague (18 Sep - 20 Sep 2008)

Its 8°C outside
Travelling from Potsdam to Prague and trying to save a few Euro's by avoiding toll roads, the GPS took us thru' mountainous roads which is scenic and good for us travelling at leisure, but unfortunately we reached Prague around 8.00pm. If you notice, its 8°C in Autumn and that's is only late afternoon.

Czech Koronas
The Czech Republic eventhough is one of the European Union, do not use Euro as their currency. So we have to change to Koronas for all our monetary transactions.

Ossuary Church
After driving the whole night, we decided to take a guided tour to Ossuary Church or also known as Church of Bones. Inside, there are skeletons and skulls everywhere and even the chandeliers are made of bones. Its a small church and you have the pay to enter the church. Anyway, the entrance fees is already included in the tour.

Kutna Hora
This is the building where the silver coins are minted a long time ago. Inside you will be able to see the minted coins through the ages. At that time working here was very prestigous, but nowadays it looks like a dead town.

Potsdam, Germany

On the way to Prague, we stop at Potsdam which was once a royal city. Park the car at film museum and walk to Brandenburg gate to catch the Hop on and Hop off Bus. The bus took us round the sightseeing route and the whole journey was about 90 mins. Since we are short of time, we just visit the Sanssouci Park which is one of the many UNESCO heritage site in Potsdam and just a short distance from the Brandenburg gate.

Berlin

Arrive Berlin on the 16 September 2008. Found a budget hotel at the Charlottenburg area. This is the British area. There is a big shopping area just 5 minutes walk away. Bought a leather wallet here as it was really cheap and also try the currywurst, the hotdog is soft and nice. The next day planned was to join a free walking tour of Berlin which starts a 1.00pm but instead we went to the meeting place too early, so decided to join the 8 hours walking tour which cost only 12 euros. Our guide, Terry is very keen and enthusiastic on the history and having a history lesson is no fun, so we keep asking him to just give us the background. One of the place he took us was this old theater and outside is this giant chair, well manage to climb on it with the help of Terry and took a pics. Berlin is a nice city with plenty of sightseeing. I am very impressed with the Sony Centre and the Renaissance Hotel. Both have very modern architecture.

Hamburg

Left for Hamburg from Amsterdam on the 15 September morning and arrive at about 2.00pm. Check into a hotel in Repeerbahn which is supposed to be a red light district. From there we took the S-bahn into Hamburg town centre and start exploring. It's a nice and clean city. Its was an overnight stay here and so there was not much time for sightseeing as we are leaving for Berlin the next morning.