From Papua

Went to Jayapura the capital of Papua from Dec 26th - Jan 1st'12, the city's view, with hills and Lake Sentani, was amazing. Yet the unfairness of centralization still has a strong smell in that city...what bothered me the most was when I heard how newcomers from Java and Makassar tend to think themselves above local Papuans, more civilized, etc. No wonder the Papuans no longer want to be part of Indonesia.

Nice is nice at night

The Intriguing Rome

ROME DAY 1

Arriving at Rome's Termini Station at night. Upon circling around the back of Termini while trying to find my hotel, my memory went to Terminal Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta. Termini is Rome's main station, like many train stations in Western Europe, the station has nice stores and restaurants. Yet I found the back of Termini quite dirty and unpleasant with beggars standing everywhere. Luckily my hotel --albeit close-- was located to the direction of Colosseum. The room was quite small but more importantly, it's in a good area where I can visited important parts of Rome by foot.

As it was already near dark, that night I just went out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant in front of Termini station then taking a nice long bath before went to bed.

ROME DAY 2

Walking past a small store on my way to Colosseum, saw 'ROMA PASS' sign on the window. Went in and bought Roma Pass for 36 EUR. It covers ticket to Rome's main antiquities including 48 hours free public transport. Plus, ain't need to wait in a long line when visiting Colosseum. This blueprint for stadium construction along with neighboring artifacts of Roman Forum and Palatine Hill made thinking of all those famous Romans that have stepped their foot on that path I walked. 

Lunch was a giant size pizza not far from the Pantheon where tombs of Italian greats were. I ate it while enjoying the beauty of Rococo's masterpiece of Trevi Fountain. The place was so crowded by tourists, I felt lucky to be able to get even a small spot for resting me feet there. But then again, everywhere in Rome during Springs were so crowded with tourists. I didn't even need to check my map to find all the main attractions. I just simply followed where the crowds (read: bunches of American tourists) go.  

Lastly, took a detour through Campo de Fiori - Piazza de Spagna and the Spanish Steps. Took a bus ride back to Termini, checking the station's bookstores and had another dinner at the Chinese restaurant I went last night. It was foolish thing actually, having dinner in a mediocre Chinese restaurant while in Rome. My appetite however told me differently, my appetite directed me to a plate of rice, be it a plate of fried rice I could have been cooked better at home.


ROME DAY 3

When visiting Paris, I could not help to think how blessed these Europeans were. With list of Europe great minds coloring the world's history and building human civilization. During my visit to the Vatican, the same thought was crossing my mind. It was such a terrific experience surrounded with beautiful paintings and amazing --I gotta say-- level of holiness. 

After spent my entire daytime walking through an endless hall of Vatican Museum to Sistine Chapel, I no longer had the energy to stretch feet to Rome's Jewish Quarter or Ghetto. So I took a bus instead. Was it worth the trip? Uhm, there are stores and as I was told, good restaurants there. Because I traveled solo, I did not have the courage to go in and eat alone. People seems to be part of small or large groups, talking and laughing loudly, making me felt a bit lonely. Bought another pizza for dinner and ate in my small hotel room. It was good, if only they have small .   


ROME DAY 4

Early morning flight back to Holland after a week way. Last night when I stopped at the lobby to order taxi, the concierge suggested that I could just take Rome's airport trans service. I would be picked up at the hotel in a comfortable minibus, and it would be less expensive. Good choice. "Ok? Then I'd make the call for you," he says. Well, grazie!

Home of the Milanos

First impression: clean, neat, well-organized and businesslike.

Dig deeper and I found: clean, neat, well-organized, businesslike...the city felt less lively than Rome.

What made me sorry: unable to see Da Vinci's Last Supper Painting at Santa Maria delle Grazie and visit AC Milan's San Siro Stadium.

Unforgettable experiences: 

- climbing up the stairs at The Duomo. Milan's most famous Cathedral, the Gothic Church was built in 1386 and impressively beautiful. In fact, Milan is home to oldest churches in Italy maybe even Europe, since the city was capital of the Northern part of late Roman Empire.

- befriended a Philippine woman who works as an au' pair. I met her while having lunch in a fast food restaurant. She was on her day-off. Within an hour we went window shopping near The Duomo.

Recommended: since cleanliness and inside bathroom are my top priorities, I was truly satisfied with Delizia Hostel on Via Archimede. The place might be a bit far from Milan's city center (approx. 15 minutes bus ride from Milan Central Station), but for 50 EUR per night I got myself a very clean room with private bathroom. I arrived at Delizia after taking an early morning flight from Paris, my low-sugar level kicked in and I thought I would throw up right there, at the hotel's lobby area. I asked the reception if I could get a cup of sweet hot tea. He immediately prepared me one but refused to accept payment, even a tip. 

Paris, First Timer

First time in Paris! So of course I did lots of mistakes commonly do by Paris first-timers...

I haven't done enough research before my departure, partly because I was too busy preparing thesis proposal, party because it's not a well-planned trip. I booked cheap Eurolines ticket (55 Eur two-ways) in between breaks while sitting at the university library.

To take the bus, I needed to go to Eindhoven first. Then boarded six hours ride to Paris via Brussels. Spent most of the journey sleeping. I was too tired because the day before we --Indonesian students in Maastricht-- had Karma's farewell dinner at Athene until late night.

For me, Eurolines should be the last option for cross-countries travel. I found out later that there are better options than Eurolines which is dirty and has extremely uncomfortable seats...my back was hurt when I woke up.

I did mistake in choosing a hotel too. Having been inexperienced and spoiled by auntie Mir's first class accommodation. I booked for the cheapest motel online without carefully checking its reviews on Tripadvisor (and even Tripadvisor could not always be a guarantee).

As a first timer in Paris, of course I could not missed the city's most cliche' tourist places:

• Signed up for the Hop On-Off bus, I think it's the best way to visit touristy places for a first timer.
• Waiting in super long lines for Eiffel Tower and could not help myself to buy cute souvenirs in its shop. I'm a sucker for souvenir shops.
• Went to the Louvre and took a snap in front of Monalisa...so small, so ordinary!! There are many other magnificent paintings in Louvre, Monalisa however, is valued for its enigmatic codes.
• Took a stroll through Seine and visited Notre Dame.
• I once went to food court at Carrousel du Louvre for lunch...should have bought Parisian street vendor crepes instead.

Things I found out in Paris:

• Paris has great supermarkets...I done it the Dutch way and bought supplies for simple breakfast and dinner. 
• Paris is no different than any other big cities in the world. There are many parts of the cities that are beautiful and magnificent, but there also seedy neighborhoods around. My theory is the bigger the city, the more 'dark spots' can be found. 
• It's better to go to Paris with train than Eurolines! I could not stand to take another Eurolines back home so I went to Paris du Nord station and bought a one way ticket to Maastricht. It only took three hours and so much better ride. Plus side, Thalys train is super comfy, I wouldn't mind spending the night in it.
• Contrary to what people say, I found many quite helpful Parisians who are willing to speak English clearly. They even given me advises voluntary. When I bought my Thalys ticket at Paris Gare du Nord's ticket counter, the man behind the locket said, "You should buy your ticket long before, the earlier you buy the cheaper you get." 

A Day in Antwerp

When we met during Ayam Taliwang dinner party at Suksma's place, I asked Rini if she wanted to travel to Antwerp with me. She didn't sound too eager at the time, so I was surprised when on a Saturday morning she wrote on my Facebook wall confirming to come. Later in the afternoon, Yanti also wrote that she wanted to joint us. 

We agreed to meet in front of Maastricht Centraal Station on a Sunday morning. Then we took a bus to Liege followed by a train that went straight from Liege train station to Antwerp. I must say I admire Rini and Yanti cleverness. They seems have been travelling together many times before, because  there are two lines at the ticket counter of Liege train station, because they clearly knew how to work together in an efficient manner (am I sounded like those management books?). For example, when we were at Liege's train station, there were two lines waiting for turn in front of the ticket's counter. Rini immediately stood in one line and Yanti on the other. When it turns Rini's line was faster and she got served first than Yanti's, we all went to Rini's to pay our tickets.

Smart eh?

After nearly two hours journey, we finally arrived at Antwerp Central Station. Antwerp Central Station is nothing like Brussel Central, it's also big and reminded me of Amsterdam Centraal Station, but much cleaner. 

As we stepped our foot outside the station, I immediately decided that I like Antwerp. The city is very different from Brussels, Liege and Bruges that I also have visited. It's definitely more crowded with a mix of modern and busy vibes all in one. No wonder, Antwerp is known as "Diamond City" with 70% diamonds of this planet earth are traded there. Also well-known as "fashion cit"y, Antwerp's the Meir, is one of the most famous shopping street in Belgium. 

First we had lunch at a Spanish restaurant not far from the train station. Considering we wear our clothes in Small size, we each ordered a large portion of ribs that came in with fat fries without hesitation. Delicioso!

Then we went ring-hunting in several diamond shops nearby. Because Rini went for a mission: to give design options for a relative that will tie the knot. Yanti was on a mission too, to give a hint for her 'other man' who had left his long-time girlfriend for her and has given hint that Yanti might be the one. To flirt with this other man (Yanti herself is not single), she asked me to take several pictures of her pointing to the rings that she'd like...talk about clear hint ;D.

We spent most of our time in Antwerp wandering the Meir and then trendy Kammenstraat. There are also ZARA stores along the Meir, but while in Antwerp we thought it's better to go shopping for brands that are not available in Maastricht.

Medieval Spell: Bruges

"There is this movie: Lost in Bruges, you should watch it before you go there." 
That's the respond I got from at least three people when I told them that two of my friends, Cumaziye & Denitsa, and I would go for a one day visit to Bruges. 

I ended not seeing the movie (too busy writing paper for our last module), but loving the city. 


The first thing I noticed about Bruges: 

Petite town, line of old brick houses and medieval buildings. Upon strolling around the city (that can easily be done by foot), I could not help to think about Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel and Beauty & the Beast. The town looks exactly like the background setting in those bed time stories.

The things I did in Bruges: 

Sightseeing of course. There is no better way to explore Bruges than by utilizing your shoes. I enjoyed walking between Bruges' many alleys with line of old brick buildings and cute little shops. 

Three of use managed to pass the Katelijnestraat -- Steenstraat with its St. Salvator's Cathedral -   Roezenhoedkaai with its beautiful view and canal -  Dweerstraat - the Markt with its long colorful buildings and then visited Bruge's famous chocolate museum, Choco-Story, not far from the city's Royal City Theater.

I firstly imagined something like Tim Burton's Willy Wonka movie, turned out, Choco-Story is a serious museum. Despite we were fed on chocolate history and documentary (we also ended watching a documentary about chocolate), it was not all boring though, because the best part of Choco-Story lies on its ground floor. Where visitors could see statues made from chocolate and see chocolate making demonstrations. This shallow lady favorite from all was, of course, the museum's shop. All nice and warm. 

The thing about the food:

Three things cross my mind upon Belgium food are: chocolate, frites and waffle. The three of us know that to have a cheap yet fulfilling snacks in Bruges is to buy ourselves frites with mayo. But I never into big fries like Belgium type of frites, and it was a cold 2 degree winter, obviously too cold to eat outside. 

"Too cold to eat outside, it's nice if can rest our leg in a cafe and have something to drink," says Denitsa.

"We should try Belgium waffle while in here," says Cumaziye.

It was almost three when we finally settle to a place that not too expensive yet quite nice and warm with light wooden furniture. I had waffle with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup while Cumaziye ordered waffle with strawberry toppings and strawberry ice cream. We both had chocolate milk for drink. While Denitsa ordered lunch menu and had beer. 


The thing I was most impressed with:

The ancient medieval architecture of course. Bruges indeed is a very old town, started to form during the Pre-Roman Gaul era and by 19th century was one of the world's earliest tourist destination. In 1909, an association called Bruges Forward: Society to Improve Tourism was built. 

If anyone ever asks how I describe Bruges in one line, it's this: European traditional. 
  

..

Mine

Cumaziye's

)

Brussels: A Three Days Trip

DAY ONE

Got another email from auntie Mir. This time she was coming to Brussels for another international event. So I came to meet her there.The journey was a lot less drama than my trip to Vienna since Maastricht - Brussels is only an hour away by train. I didn't even need to book a ticket because there is always a train from Maastricht that goes to Brussels every forty minutes. 

Maybe because the trip would not have been too much hullaballoo...by auntie standard, I had got in late at her hotel room. She had wanted to take Brussels City Tour bus and we were forced to run catching the latest one without much success. It was valuable experience for me though, seeing my high-power auntie ran to catch a bus like an ordinary Jakartans. Oh, and she even ran faster than I did despite her age. 

Running to catch a bus, however, was not the only ordinary thing we did that day. We then went for a cup of coffee around European Quarter and than took underground metro to an area near Brussel's Historic Centre. I couldn't remember the district name but the street is wide with line of chic shops and nice restaurants. Auntie went in to one of the shops and bought herself a pair of shoes. Afterward we went for dinner in a Chinese restaurant. 

DAY TWO

While auntie spent entire day attending conference, I took the time to sleep until 9 o'clock before having breakfast downstairs. I think nothing can beat the experience of having breakfast in five-stars hotels in Jakarta. Five-stars hotels (4 stars also) commonly offer much wider varieties from Indonesian selection to Western (sometimes Indian and Chinese) menus. From Jakarta to Medan, I usually ate multiple plates and bowls when I was staying in a five-stars hotel. Here in Europe, in a five-stars hotel in Brussels, with choices only include cereals, muesli, breads and fruit, without even a scrambled egg station, breakfast only took me around 15 minutes.  

I later spent the entire day until late afternoon exploring the city all by myself. First walk was around EU Headquarter and then lunch at a busy restaurant around the area, then I walked (yes walked!) to Saint-Gilles area. Saint-Gilles probably the busiest area in Brussels, with multiple shops, bars and eateries. 

The most interesting place I went that day is the Comic Museum. During my mom last six months, dad used to come home after a long day at St. Carolus with children books he borrowed from the hospital's library. In between thick books he brought for me  and my brothers, there would also be comics such as Tin Tin, Asterix Obelix and Smurf (my favorite). In honor of childhood days spent reading Europe-original comics, a visit to the Belgian Comic Strip Center surely could not be missed while I'm in the city that claims itself a comic-strip capital. 

Having spent that afternoon on my feet, I decided to get an early dinner so my tired legs could rest. I stopped by at one of those eateries around Grand Place-Grote Markt and ordered escargot with garlic sauce (forgot the name) when came a text from auntie. 'Where are you, let's go to dinner with people from the embassy', she wrote. 

Apparently information that former Deputy Senior Governor of Indonesia Central Bank are in town has reached the embassy people. Resulting to our ride --the embassy's black Mercedez dong ;D--- to a posh Indonesian restaurant that night. There, waiting for auntie, were a bunch of 'suite' people aka. the bureaucrats. Not all though, some of the the ladies were ordinary 'ibu-ibu pekerja', all nice and friendly. One of them is around my age and her husband is an editor for Indonesia's National Geographic magazine. Cool, eh?

Like in a Vienna trip, sometimes I feel guilty when I get to spend time with auntie, like I stole her from her daughters. But I also know that she always does equally the same to her nieces and nephews.Overall I did enjoy my time there. Watching auntie calmly tackle all cornering questions on Century case made me proud. And one bureaucrat couldn't believe his ears when I told him that we took underground metro to dinner the previous night. Well, me too... when auntie told me that Japan is the only country with super clean subway stations, I realized --with a slight surprise-- that she must have had taking public transport when she travels abroad. Which is very unlikely for a famous figure like her.  

Since it was auntie's last night in Brussels, she decided that she wanted to see a bit of Brussels on the way home. We dropped by in front of Grand Place-Grote Markt where she told me that almost every cities in Europe are designed similarly. "You can find a church, town hall, shops and market all in the center," she says.

DAY THREE

It was early morning when auntie woke me to say goodbye and catch her flight. She reminded me that a car from embassy would take me to go to Tin Tin Museum and Atomium, places that I had failed to go the day before. I have to say, going around in a Mercedez feels a bit too posh for me. But I had spent hours trying to find Tin Tin Museum without much success, while that unfriendly driver at least knows how to get there.

Of course I couldn't found the place, because there is no Tin Tin Museum...but Herge Museum! The place was in a small alley that could be easily mistaken as a regular apartment slash regular shop building. An interesting place, they even keep old stash of the comics' original in line of glasses. 

Next stop before the driver took me to Brussels Central was Atomium which I don't think I get. It supposed to be one of Brussels's icon, a mix of artwork, super modern architecture and science (atomic shape?). Then I found the place is built in demand for (pretentious) reflection, aiming visitors to question things like: what kind of future we want tomorrow? Our happiness depends on what? Huh?! Contradiction aside (it's impossible to build such an impressive figure without inviting --even the tiniest-- effect to environment), top of Atomium does overlooking a nice view...covering entire city all the way to Antwerp.  

HO-HO-HOLIDAY IN AMSTERDAM

This year was my first time welcoming Christmas without family presence. It doesn't help that there would be no church service in Maastricht since people normally spend Christmas Eve having dinner with their family or closed ones. 

"We traditionally go to church on Christmas day," David Mackelburg --a classmate-- told me.

To avoid feeling lonely and miserable during Christmas Eve, I emailed Agnes, a friend from Junior High who is getting her Master degree in Utrecht, to check if she already has a plan for Christmas. Luckily she agreed to spend Christmas in Amsterdam and she even has a friend that could sublet his apartment to us!

So on 24th morning, I took the 2,5 hours train ride to Amsterdam. Her friend's place, Tri, is about  10 minutes by bus from Amsterdam Centraal. Located in a quiet neighborhood with little shops and a supermarket --Albert Heijn-- near.

Tri's place is a studio apartement and it reminded me of Anne Frank's hiding place with steep stairs and (what I called) super effective arrangements. Since his apartment doesn't even have a bathroom sink, I either wash my hands in the shower or in the kitchen's sink. However, it's quite a nice place filled with unique fireplace and modern (read: practical) furnitures mix several second-hand antiques. 

I enjoyed strolling around Amsterdam Museum Quarter. But then she refused to buy --admittedly-- an expensive museum card Agnes, so I went visiting Van Gogh Museum alone. I promised to meet Agnes near IAMSTERDAM giants in one hour, so as impressed as I was with Van Gogh paintings and early sketches I must did the tour very quickly. Both Van Gogh and Rijk Museum have extensive collections but Van Gogh has this nice shop selling beautiful stuffs. Including cute leather bags with 'cuter' price tags....*youknowwhatImean*.

Apart from exploring Amsterdam, we did two kinds of simple yet delicious cookings during Holiday. The first one was Mashed Potatoes with mushroom sauce for Christmas Eve dinner. The second one was spaghetti Aglio Olio that looks more like a fried noodle for our Boxing Day lunch. 

"So far I only do simple figuring-my-own-recipe kinda cooking. I still not a good cook like most Indonesian girls in Maastricht..."

"Not yet, we're on our way...," Agnes replied.

Overall, I had a nice time celebrating my first Christmas without family in Amsterdam. I also grateful to be able to attend a Christmas Day service in a church. The service was in Dutch and although we didn't understand most of it...still it's a church. 

Because (for me) it won't be a proper Christmas without a church service. 

Happy Christmas!

Classy Vienna

On one winter day, I received an email from my Auntie Mir. She was invited to be a speaker for an Economic Conference in Vienna. So I went there to see her and to give myself a break from this hectic Module 3 assignments.

The trip to Vienna taken place on my second week living in Vijvardale. The flight was schedule on a Tuesday noon so I arrived at Vienna Airport around late afternoon. I made a wrong decision and bought super expensive City Airport Train tickets (which I found out later was not even necessary).

First thing I did is to find a room for one night because auntie Mir was only to be arrived the next day. Fortunately near Vienna's flower market area, I immediately found this pleasant place for 70 EUR per night. I got in, paid, check-in, put my things, and in a few minutes was back in the street again for dinner and a night stroll.

Just before got back to the hotel after taking a walk on my 1st night in Vienna

The next day after breakfast I went to Vienna's favorite shopping area Kantner Stase. After spending some high-quality time at Zara (aka. shopping), I picked up my things at the motel and went straight to Hilton Plaza Hotel in this nice cozy street not far from the Parliament area. Auntie Mir was already at her room, and her first comment after opening the door was, "Wow you looked stylish!"
Coming from a lady with purple hair like her it's really is something :). Then she told me that her luggage with my Tarivid and the food I ordered from her super-cook housemaid: frozen chili sauce with Indonesian traditional crispy beef or dendeng balado went missing in the airport. Singapore Airlines has found the luggage and would send it to the hotel tomorrow afternoon, she says. But I must go back to Maastricht tomorrow day time while it's also important for me to get back with Tarivid in hand because this antibiotic ear drops could hardly exist in Europe.

Finally I decided to cancel my morning flight back to Maastricht and instead took the OBB train later at night. The train's route was not a simple one either: Vienna-Salzburg-Munich. From Munich I took a German night train and arrived at Utrecht Centraal in time to catch an Intercity train back to Maastricht. The German night train was uncomfortable experience and I spent the entire night without sleep, but taking Holland's Intercity train that day turned to be even worst experience...I couldn't find a seat at all and was stuck near the door, spent half of the trip standing. Then I finally got tiny spot to sit at the stairs. Never before I could be so happy to find --even an improper-- place to sit.

After spent more than 10 hours on the train you must think one would want a nice rest as soon as she arrives at her comfortable tiny (and new) room... but no! I had promised Gogo I would met him in the library at 1 o'clock. And then from noon till dawn we did recordings for our radio documentary project, fourth module finale assignment. The next day after attending Sunday Service at church, I once again met Gogo at the library and did our last recording.

Well, I often describe myself as a hardworking person and walk the talk*wink*.


Places visited:
Vienna's famous and truly impressive Christmas Market "Vienna Magic of Advent" at Rathausplatz (there are also several Christmas Markets in the city but not as big); shopping street Mariahilferstrase at night; Vienna's famous Opera House; historical Cafe Central (I hesitate before finally found the courage to get in because the place has this intimidating ambience for a cheap-looking tourist like me); spent most of my time in Karntner Stase --Vienna's favorite shopping street (a quality time at Zara!); oh...and Sacher Cafe.

Matching outfit with these folks at Vienna's Opera House

Cafe Central

A friend from Arts & Heritage program, Bianca is Australian-Indonesia decent and Vienna's original, before I left, I Facebooking her and asked for a-must-try cafe in Vienna. She told me about this place, Cafe Sacher, where I should try Vienna's famous Sacher Torte. I did and it taste superb! Like Cafe Central, Sacher Cafe has a European classic feel too.

Cakes & Chocolate @SacherCafe

To sum up, things cannot be missed in Vienna: 
Christmas Market during the winter and the city's beautiful cafes with its beautifully-taste desserts.

A 3-in-1 Day: Aachen - Cologne - Dusseldorf

We --a group of Indonesian students in Maastricht-- were invited for a dinner at Tante Jane's place. As an Indonesian we will always miss our Indo food, as a student we shall not miss the chance to enjoy a free-meal. So dinner at Tante Jane's is apparently one of the highlight moment for Indonesian students living in Maastricht, a chance to enjoy a free Indonesian meals that shall not to be missed. 

I met Rio and Kenneth at the Centraal Station, the three of us then took bus number 5 to Tante Jane's. She lives near my old dorm in Brouwersweg. A clean and simple house in a good neighborhood. Having only met her twice, first when I came to the Ayu's farewell and twice when we traveled to Den Haag for Lebaran, she still doesn't remember my name. Oh well...

The three of us were the first to come. Then Mas Doni and Ka There arrived by bike, followed by the rest of the group which is almost the entire of Maastricht students minus Mita and Mbak Wulan. Among them were the MSM MBA's trio Mone, Billy and Dina. Tante Jane has prepared a long table for us to eat together and three of them were sitting next to me. They talked about their plan the next day when suddenly Mone turned to me, "Do you want to come with us?"

"Uhm...I have classes on Monday," I said. 

"C'mon, study hard, play harder,"  Ka There joint the conversation.

I looked at their faces and see that I had say too many NOs in the past, so I agreed to come. Actually I wasn't thrilled with the idea of travelling Germany during the end of fall. Germany is colder than the Netherlands, so without a winter jacket that I kept postponing to buy...I would find myself freezing! But they needed the fifth person (Kenneth would also joint us) for the 7 EUR day-pass train ticket.
So there I am with my warmest spring coat on a 6 AM Sunday morning at Maastricht Centraal. Thankfully that day the weather was not too cold although it's a rainy day in Germany. 

We firstly took Bus No. 50 that goes directly to Aachen. Our original plan was to go straight to Dusseldorf to see the largest Esprit Factory Outlet there (Mone...Billy...shop?? :D). But we missed the train that goes directly to Dusseldorf. So we took the train that went to Koln first which turned to be a good decision...I love Koln (Cologne)! Cologne is great, I like the city's zentrum, Cologne has really nice views.

By taking a bus from Cologne we finally stepped our foot in Dusseldorf and visited Esprit's headquarter in Ratingen. The place is super big and impressive but too bad it was closed. The good side was, me-Mone-Billy-Dina and Kenneth could have the entire factory (as big as football stadium) by ourselves. Yeah!

We spent the night in the crowded Dusseldorf zentrum, visiting winter stalls that reminded us that Christmas is near.

Having spent one third of the journey in a train, bus and a subway, we all didn't have the chance to eat properly the entire day. We only had some bread, canned drinks and stroopwafels  to satisfy our hungry stomach.  Yet the night was no longer young when we arrived back in Maastricht.


COLOGNE-DUSSELDORF FACTS: 
There is love and hate relationship between Cologne and Dusseldorf || Historically, there was a kind of hostility between the citizens of Cologne and Dusseldorf || Cologne is the 4th largest city in Germany || Dusseldorf is Germany's 7th largest city || Get this guys: order Altbier beer in Dusseldorf and Kolsch beer in Cologne, don't get them mixed up || It took 632 years to build Cologne Cathedral so the immensely large church can hold 40.000 people (lucky we made the time to visit the church during our short stop that day in Cologne) || Both Cologne and Dusseldorf lie along Rhine river || Cologne was a Roman city with a strong ties to Rome and Catholicism and has an easy-going vibe || Dusseldorf started from a small village, raised into a prominent economic hub and becomes a modern city with the largest Japanese community in Germany.   

DO YOU KNOW? 
German is the largest beer consumer in the world after Irish || Germany was known as the Holy Roman Empire and Kingdom of Prussia || There 300 variants of bread in Germany || There 1000 kinds of sausage in Germany || The Christmas tree (called Tannenbaum) tradition came from Germany || The first Oktoberfest was a wedding celebration for Prince Ludwing of Bavaria and it actually started in September || The first printed book was in German ||  Germany has over 400 zoos || Most taxis in Germany are Mercedez Benz (woohoo!), and Karl Benz along with Gottlieb Daimler are the creator of first motor-driver vehicles || Germans are known as brainy people, there are more than 100 German nobel laureates including the world's most recognized scientist, Albert Einstein || Who says Adi is Indonesian name? It actually a nickname from Adolf as Adolf 'Adi' Dassler, who founded Adidas || Adi Dassler's brother, Rudolf Dassler, founded Puma || The world's tallest cathedral is in Rome? Uhm no, Ulm, where Einstein was born || Beethoven, Bach, Schumann, Wagner, and Strauss might have established their names in Vienna but they were all Germans.