Cruise | Travel adventures across the World!!!

My first European city as a traveler, Amsterdam will always be a remarkable venture for me. Both intimidated and excited at the same time, I landed in the city to begin my incredible journey. To my surprise, it was just so easy to embrace the culture and uniqueness of the city. I was overwhelmed with the warmth of the friendly and fun-loving people in Amsterdam. The canal, cruises, bicycles and coffee shops, there is just so much that sets this extra ordinary city class apart from the others.

The most popular means of commute in Amsterdam is biking. Myriads of people can be seen biking through the city in the bike lane. Renting a bike to explore the city and experience the culture at the same time is definitely a great idea. Since all the landmarks in the city such as the Rijksmuseum, Dam Square, Central Station are so close to each other, it is not even tiring to bike around the city. Personally I love to walk and explore, that way I don’t have to care about the bike’s safety, but biking is fun too.

Holland is famous for its bulb flowers, particularly the tulips. One of things that was always in my bucket list was to visit the tulip garden fields in Holland. I finally got to see the Keukenhof garden which is the second largest tulip garden in the world. The striking colors of the tulips, orchids and lilies planted and arranged creatively in different patterns was really a breathtaking view. The garden is open for three months from March to May and I was lucky to be in Holland during the spring season.

Lilies

Orchids

Flower Show

Fresh Flowers

Tulips

Outdoor Garden

Amsterdam is known for its elite night life across the world. Leidseplein is the neighborhood in the city known for live entertainment, music, bars, restaurants and casinos. We really enjoyed the delicious street food there. Every evening, we would wander in different streets to experiment new smoky appetizing cuisines. One that I enjoyed the most was Turkish cuisine Donor Kebabs which is halal chicken stuffed in pita wraps which was inexpensive yet so delicious.

In short, Amsterdam is a spectacular and friendly city with delicious food, rich history and great night life. What’s your first European city as a traveler?

I am sterdam

Canals and bikes

I am Amsterdam

Dam Square

Biking

I was thrilled to visit the extraordinary city of Budapest which has a very interesting landscape of BUDA (hills) and PEST (flat land) separated by river Danube. River Danube flows in the heart of the city and the three outstanding bridges that connect the BUDA and PEST are Elizabeth, Freedom and Chain Bridge.

My visit to Budapest was short yet very sweet. Being unfamiliar with the city, we decided to take the hop on, hop off bus which took us around the prominent landmarks in the city. Our first stop was the Buda’s Castle District where I was amazed to see the phenomenal Matthias church, Fisherman’s Bastion and architectural Buda’s Castle on the hill. One thing I enjoyed the most was walking down the emerald green hills by the castle all the way to the Chain bridge to board on to the river cruise. We had complimentary river cruise ride with our bus tour tickets which offered us the best panoramic view of the city at night. The city of Budapest is at its best during night when the Hungarian Parliament, Buda’s Castle and the bridges look very lustrous and reflect onto calm water of the river Danube to make it even more delightful.

One thing I missed during my visit to Budapest was to experience the grand Turkish bath in the Széchenyi thermal bath by the Hero’s square which is the largest thermal bath in Europe. It is still in my wish list and I hope to accomplish it in my next visit to the beautiful city.