Visit to Ephesus, Turkey

The dream of visiting Turkey especially in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus finally came true. It was last September this year when we had a 10-days vacation in this country.

Ephesus is a very interesting ruins located near Selcuk in Izmir, Turkey. It was amazing how they did those architecture during those ancient times.

The image you see here are the latrines in Ephesus and you can still see it today. These are actually public toilets of the city and our tour guide said that there was an entrance fee to use them during those times. There were still no hydraulic hose or pumps during those times but the people of Ephesus still had a good source of water to supply to the people living in this ancient city. The latrines were part of the Scholastica Baths and built in the 1C AD. There was a drainage system under the toilets.

Ephesus is truly a must when visiting Turkey. Such a fascinating historic place to see!

Shopping in Neumarkt

I guess some of you might still be busy for a last minute Christmas shopping. Not for me! I am finally done today after a little shopping in Neumarkt. I did not really find what I want but I bought almost the same stuff that I have been looking for. For my last minute New Year's shopping, I wanted a yoga block next week. I already have a yoga mat, a CD for training and even a yoga book. I am good to go for a real diet starting 2012. I believed I can do it this time. I just need to get rid of those excess pounds that I gained since living here in Europe.

The shopping I had in Neumarkt today was quite good. Besides getting some discounts I also had fun shopping under the snowy rainy day. Once the snow hits the ground, it melts immediately. Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

Shopping in Madrid, Spain

Visiting Madrid without shopping can be a boring experience especially for women. I hope you agree with me ladies. As we were still in Granada, we were already asking if there is an El Corte Ingles (The English Cut) department store nearby.

Finally during our visit to Madrid on our 6th day of trip to Spain, we finally had the chance to go inside El Corte Ingles. I was looking for puma coupons before we left to Madrid but I was not able to find one. My friend was also searching for Burberry bags but the El Corte Ingles where we went to in Madrid don't have it. The saleslady told us that they have it in their main department store. We were not able to go there due to shortage of time. I just bought a winter cap in this famous department store in Spain. Of course, I did bought some souvenirs from postcards to magnet, Spain travel guide, shot glass and some shirts.

I love Spain's capital city and I wish to go back there sometime in the future. The image here is one of the department stores of El Corte Ingles in Madrid.

Stopping-by in Salzburg Designer Outlet

It was a cold July morning when we stopped at Salzburg Designer Outlet. You might be thinking we went shopping there. Not really! After a long three hours drive from Bavaria, Germany to Salzburg, Austria, we really need to stop. Perfect timing that we saw a Mc Donald restaurant adjacent to this outlet. You know where to go first when nature is calling you. That was my first destination inside Mc Donald. If we had more time to go inside this Designer Outlet, for sure I will also have an empty shopping cart. I also know for sure, this outlet don't also have medical carts. Probably in our next trip to Salzburg, we can stop-by there again.

After taking our breakfast and personal needs in Mcdo, we drove to the city center of Salzburg for some hours sightseeing. And yes, we did saw and experienced a lot. It was so far a nice trip with friends.

Thanksgiving is Almost Coming

The celebration of the Thanksgiving for the Americans is almost coming. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Some American friends told me that there will be a lot of sales and promotions in almost all of the stores especially in the U.S. I heard from a friend that computers, Televisions, External hard disk drives and other electronics and gadgets will be also on sale. In fact a lot of products and goods will be on sale especially during Black Friday shopping. I want to ask if they are selling this so-called Maxtor. I just need one for hubby's pc.

The Thanksgiving is the equivalent to the Erntedankfest or Harvest festival in Germany. It is usually celebrated every month of October. Other countries in the world are also celebrating its own harvest festival depending on the time where they are having their main harvest.

It is always nice to be thankful for all the blessings and good things we received. I hope that we will also not forget the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

Halloween in Frankenstein Castle

It was quite a long drive but it was worth it. It was my first time visiting and spending Halloween in Frankenstein Castle. Thanks to good friends for taking me there. I did not expected too much people visiting the castle. You cannot really go directly to the castle. You have to go instead to Pfungstadt in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the state of Hesse. At the back of Toom Baumarkt, you can take the shuttel bus for around 15 minutes ride going on top of the hill where castle is located.

In the castle compound, you can see some kiosks selling Halloween stuffs. There is also a small beer tent and a restaurant inside. I am imagining how interesting it is to have one of this Restaurant Cook Jobs. Would you believe that the restaurant was so busy this afternoon. I guess there are thousands of visitors who visit the castle for the whole duration of the Halloween celebration.

taken inside the castle compound this afternoon (Oct. 30, 2011).

Frankenstein Castle is a hilltop castle about 5 km south of Darmstadt in Germany. Modern claims of the castle having an influence on the work of Mary Shelley remain controversial.

Finally Got My Travel Books

While browsing online looking for Energy speaker seller, I ended searching another thing. I saw this book in a friend's house some weeks ago. I borrowed it from her because as I was scanning its pages, I found a lot of interesting places to visit. Finally last Monday evening while browsing online in amazon.com, I found this travel book. Sad to say, it is not available at the moment. I browsed another site and found the same book. I ordered it immediately. Today, the 501 Must-visit Destinations travel book was finally delivered to our home. It is a hard-cover and I found out that its original cost is 25.00 Sterling pounds. I bought it for 12.95 Euros and shipping was free of charge. I am quite happy with this book. It will give me more ideas of an interesting travel destinations especially in Europe.

Staying in A Hotel in Kumburgaz, Istanbul

This is a nice place where we stayed in Kumburgaz. It is a wonderful place on the Marmara sea, about 60 km far from the centre of Istanbul. Our 5-star hotel have some bars inside and outside of the premises. Of course, you can see there used bar equipment. I love this place especially that it is located on the seaside. You can see the floating bar of the Artemis Princess Hotel in my image there. I remembered walking at the beach during our stay in this hotel.

Overall, I would say that it was a memorable and exciting trip we had in Turkey.

Going to Spain in December

Mission accomplished again! We had been planning to book a trip to Spain since two weeks ago. After a final decision, I finally booked today our trip to Spain. There are a lot of interesting places that are included in the trip. The plane ticket, 4-star hotel, breakfast, dinner, tour guide and sightseeing to different places are also included in that 8-day trip.

It is always nice to see different places in the world. I am quite happy that despite being jobless, I still always have the chance to visit places. Thanks to all my donors and sponsors..lol! Talking about rv financing, why not if I can only afford it. Driving an rv anywhere in Europe for adventure and sightseeing is quite interesting. I will see if I will win the lottery next week. I will surely buy one... wink! Somebody's dreaming in the middle of the day.

Enjoy your weekend folks!

Preparing My Travel Gadgets

I am slowly packing for our incoming trip. Some more days and I will seeing one of the historical countries in Eurasia. I also need to pack my travel gadgets before the end of the week. A few days ago, I was looking for my rechargeable batteries to get it ready. Sad to say, I only found a few ones. I will also be bringing my laptop. I did not bought it in clearance laptops section. That's why it was a bit expensive. Other gadgets that I still need to pack are my cameras, charges, cellphones, cardreader, pens and journals and an extension wire. I am almost ready with packing. For sure, this will be another great trip in Turkey.

Time for me to sign-off. Today is quite a long day but I am very happy and satisfied with it especially after accomplishing a lot of things. Have a lovely evening Europe!

The Huge Beer Barrel in Hofbräuhaus in Munich

After doing some errands this afternoon like grocery shopping and household chores, I am finally back online. Those beer barrels inside the famous Hofbräuhaus are huge enough to hold thousands of liters of beer. It is made of wood and not stainless steel barrels. This is not really the biggest beer barrel I had seen. The biggest one I saw was inside Heidelberg castle during my visit with friends last November 2010.

Just letting you know that Hofbräuhaus has the second largest beer tent in Oktoberfest. It is named Hofbräu-Festzelt. I just remember this since Oktoberfest is fast approaching soon. Its own brew is the only beer served in their tent.

This year's Oktobest last 17 days and will take place from September 17 to October 3. I might see you there!

taken during my third visit with friends last August 2011.

Visit to Baby Hanna in Schierling

This is a special post for today and the story goes this way. I was talking to our neighbor last Wednesday last week. I was telling her that hubby will be a grandpa soon. It was around in the morning that time. At around lunch time, I received a call that someone already gave birth. I was quite happy and excited about the good news. When I mentioned it to hubby as he arrived from work that afternoon, I can see the sunshine in his face. He was so happy because he is finally a Grandpa, so I did!

It is time for me to slowly search for a nice personalized christening gift. Last weekend, I bought some clothes for baby Hanna. We also had the chance to visit them in Schierling, a municipality in the district of Regensburg in Bavaria, Germany. It is quite a nice place and I believed that it is a good place to raise a child, rather than in big cities like Regensburg. It was a wonderful day seeing one of the big miracles in this world, a new baby was born! Welcome to the world Hanna!

How sweet and beautiful she is in the image here!

I Love Green Clean Bavaria

This is one of the reasons why I love Germany especially in the state of Bavaria. It is a clean country with so many beautiful landscapes and scenery around. Bavaria is the largest federal state of Germany, located in the southeast of the country. Its location near the Alps plus Lederhosen and Dirndl tradition, the sausages and lots of beer made Bavaria as the top tourist destination in Germany.

I read before in a travel book that due to the love of cars of German people, they planted a lot of trees to make the air and surrounding cleaner. That is also the reason why you see a lot of trees in Germany especially in the Bavarian region. Most farmers and even ordinary people in Bavaria are using composter. The composts are being used in their farms and gardens. We also have a compost pit in our garden.

I love the landscape in Bavaria with its green surroundings and beautiful hills. This is one of the reasons why I feel in love with this region. This image was taken while we were on our way to Augsburg last 2009.

The Fountain in Trocadero, Paris

This is one of the fountains that I love in Paris, France. The fountains located in front of Trocadero (Trocadéro in France) from across the Eiffel tower and Seine River are huge beautiful one. I am thinking if commercial pumps are being used here to continue pumping water to form these beautiful fountains.

The site of Palais de Chaillot is located in the Trocadéro. This is also one of the sites where you can have a good view of Eiffel Tower.

For sure, you can easily find Trocadéro because it is just across Eiffel Tower.

8 Years in Europe

Time flies-by so fast nowadays. I have been living in Europe for 8 years now. I found my second home in this continent and I am quite happy and contented about it. For almost 8 years now, I am also happily married to my loving and kind husband. I just remember makemypromisering.com because I wanted a new ring for our 8th wedding anniversary. I found very nice ones in this site. Just tonight, hubby was also asking me what I like for my birthday since it is coming soon. I told him that I don't need anything but probably a little wish. My friends in facebook are already sending their birthday greetings and wishes. Aahhh, it is nice to have a lot of friends around. Thank you so much for all your greetings. I truly appreciate it.

From Europe to the World

It's a small world after all! Yes, it is truly a small world. If you want to get hold or have a contact with your family and friends anywhere around the world, it is very easy nowadays. Through the use of conference call equipment or the help of internet you can already make a video call, voice call or chat online and have a contact with your friends and love onesanytime and anywhere. There are also these so called social networks like facebook, myspace, friendster, netlog and many others, where you can find photos and images of your family and friends.

Whether you are in Europe, Asia or any part of the globe, getting a contact with anyone is already possible. Thanks to the invention of our modern technology like computers, internet, cellphones, television, etcetera, it made our lives easier and more convenient.

Designer Outlet in Salzburg

You might be thinking that I went shopping again. Not this time. There was a story behind it. We happened to stop-by in this part of Salzburg because somebody wanted to eat in MCDonald. It happend that it is just adjacent to this mall. I saw the sign Salzburg Designer Outlet. I always hear advertisements over the radio about this luxury store. Good to know that we did not go inside the store or else I might ended finding rocawear for hubby.

Salzburg Designer Outlet offers a mix of top designer, high street and sports brands. As the sign says here that you can avail of 30 to 70 % discounts all year round of the various designer brands in this store. That is quite an interesting shopping experience.

Window Shopping at Debenhams Mall in Birmingham, England

Do you love shopping? If you happen to visit Birmingham in England in the future, don't miss to visit Debenhams. It is a famous British retailer operating under a department store in UK, Ireland and Denmark.

I had the chance to visit its store in Birmingham during my three weeks holiday in England that time. I don't remember seeing color ink cartridges during my window shopping in that mall. I just enjoyed looking around with a friend.

I found out that Debenhams has franchise stores in the Philippines. Here are the locations of it;
Makati City, Glorietta 4, Rustans Department Store
Mandaluyong City, Shangri-La Plaza Mall
Quezon City, TriNoma Mall
Santa Rosa, Laguna, Paseo de Santa Rosa Mall
Davao City, Abreeza Ayala Mall (soon to open)

Debenhams in Birmingham, England during my visit last November 2005.

Importance of Travel Insurance

I believed you are very familiar about travel insurance especially when you go for a trip or vacation out of the country. Travel insurance is a medium to minimize the financial risks of traveling. These risks may include illness, accidents, lost baggage, missed flights, canceled tours, emergency evacuation, getting your body home if you die and some other more.

Nowadays there are a lot of insurance agencies online that offer any forms of insurance from travel insurance to life insurance, accident insurance, car insurance, home insurance, etcetera. This is one advantage of internet and computer because at the comfort of your home, you can already browse for anything.

To all fellow travelers out there, insurance might be a good deal for you especially if you travel. For some, it might be not. If you want to have a peace of mind when you travel getting one is always good.

The Birthhouse of Mozart in Salzburg, Austria

It was one of the greatest birth announcements in the classical music world! The birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I believed you are very familiar with this name. A famous composer and musician who composed over 600 works. I am happy to visit the birthplace of this famous classical composer.

The yellow house you see in the image here was taken during my second visit in Salzburg, Austria. Mozart's birthplace at Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg is now a museum that displays his music instruments, portraits and letters from the Mozart family. The famous exhibits include Mozart's child violin, his concert violin, his clavichord and the harpsichord.