Malvika and Arjoon – Europe

Malvika and Arjoon went to Europe for their month-long honeymoon. Malvika writes about the highlights of their trip.

“Europe is a breath-taking destination and visiting their magnificent museums, rich galleries, operas and restaurante de puertas (underground restaurants)make for an amazing experience. It doesn’t matter what your taste is… posh or punk, you can experience it all in Europe and this is what prompted Arjoon and me to explore this part of the world. We visited Amsterdam,France, Italy and Switzerland, among other locations for our honeymoon.

 

 

Germany:
My husband had to travel to Germany for some work, so we started our trip from there where we visited Frankfurt, Berlin and Cologne.We had always thought that Berlin was about the Berlin Wall, but we discovered a lot more. The city is a mecca for graffiti and mural lovers, kebabs and gorilla clubs, besides the Berlin Wall, we visited the Ritter Sport Chocolate Factory, Hotel Adlon Kempinski (Arjoon is a huge Liam Neeson fan), Mitte, Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg.

  

Amsterdam:
Amsterdam is by far one of the most well connected cities I have visited. Canals, trams, trains, buses and not to forget cycles.We witnessed sunshine, snow, hail and rain, ALL in a span of one day.We visited the Tulip Museum,Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House. We also took a boat to take a ride along the Amsterdam canal rings.

Paris:
The tour up the Eiffel tower was an unforgettable experience. I did not know that it was being used as a transmitting antenna for over 450 channels and radio stations in France! At night, the lit tower looked twice as beautiful as it did during the day.We were there sometime during the end of March so it was freezing.Still,we did not miss out on eating the yummy ice-creams.The city is full of museums, shopping areas and heritage. Since we were there for just two days we chose to visit the Eiffel Tower and Louvre.We stayed at the Rue des Sablons which is a five minute walk away from the Eiffel tower, so for the time we were there we walked along the streets and enjoyed food at local eateries.

 

Majestic Italy
In Italy, we chose Florence as our base- we decided it would be best to live in a centrally located city and travel to the other cities, hence Florence.

Pisa:
The weather was amazing and this is a good place to have fun with photos, and capture picture perfect locales. We loved the climb up the leaning tower of Pisa and recommend it to one and all.

Rome: 
Like all other places, we explored this city on foot.Every inch of this city has historical relevance to it. We visited The Spanish steps, The Vatican City,Trevi Fountain,The Colosseum,Piazza Navona and Piazza del Popolo.

 

Venice: 
Our visit to Venice coincided with my husband’s birthday and it is every bit as romantic as people describe it to be.I strongly recommend that people buy Murano Glass artifacts from the Venice flee market.

Milan:
We decided to stop over in Milan for half a day and we window shopped all day! We also visited a castle museum,Castello Sforzesco, after a meal at a local bakery while it was pouring outside.We found a lot of stores that sold souvenirs and separate shops for ‘Made in China’ and ‘Made in Italy’ goods.

Breathtaking Switzerland:
I’d say it is difficult to see all of Switzerland in one visit. Every city has its own charm. We went to Zurich, Geneva, Thun, Lucerne and Interlaken. This was the only country where we did not book the apartment well in advance; we did the needful just a day prior to our trip, sitting in our condo in Italy.We visited The Jet dEau, Reformation Wall, United Nations Office at Geneva and I was surprised to see a travel guide in Hindi there!In Lucerne we visited Chapel bridge, Lake Lucerne, Dying Lion Statue, The Nine Towers and then took a cruise from Lucerne to Thun. Jungfraujoch is a must-visit too. The train from Interlaken to Jungfrau is a unique experience altogether.We were in Switzerland for a week and travelling around was never a problem here.The best option is to download the rail and the road maps, it will help you explore the region and go beyond the regular touristy options. Every tram/bus station in Switzerland offers free GPS for iPhones and Android, so make good use of it.

www.apartments-swiss-star.ch offers best rates and locations. Initially we were skeptical about the apartment but it had the most spectacular view of the Alps!

Advice to other honeymooners:
– Plan your trip well in advance.
– We planned our honeymoon all by ourselves aided by www.airbnb.com and www.apartments-swiss-star.ch/ for all our accommodation bookings after which we went to Jyoti Travels for our travel bookings. 
– Every station has an Information Counter.If you make an impromptu visit to a city and haven’t booked in advance then don’t fret.
– Make sure you arrive on time to catch your train, especially if you have made confirmed reservations, else you might end up paying an extra 8 Euros, per passenger, for the next reservation.
– Always carry a global Sim card to keep in touch with your folks.
– Do not carry extra luggage. In case you have to/ want to, you can leave your luggage at the rail station on per hour/luggage weight basis.

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