Euro Trip 2017: Day 6 - A Splash of the Good Stuff in Cologne

I miscalculated the time it would take me to get to the Berlin ZOB (main bus station) from the hotel so, for a moment, I was anxious. I don't like that feeling of dread as you rush from point A to point B, worrying that you might miss your train, bus or plane. Thankfully, German precision won again, and it took no more than 30 minutes to get to the station.

One of the train stations on the way to the Berlin ZOB

It was a good thing, too, because the driver was quite stern-looking and no-nonsense. She drove the bus to the designated spot, alighted like a boss and cooly instructed the passengers that had gathered around her to place their bags inside the carriage hold in an orderly fashion.

When it was my turn, she said something in German which I took to mean that my bag was bigger than the allowed size. Result: I had to pay an additional two euros. It wasn't a problem, except she didn't have the exact change for the five-euro bill I gave her. She promised to give me the change later on. She found me at the gas station lining up for a Cherry Coke during a bathroom stop and she handed me the change with a small gesture saying that no, she didn't forget.

The bus ride was memorable because, unlike previous rides where there were almost always two men alternating as drivers, on this one, she was alone. She was quite a stickler for cleanliness, too. During another stop, she did a quick inspection of the bus and saw the bread wrapper I stuck on the net holder in front of my seat. She asked me, in German, to toss it inside the plastic waste bag hanging on one of the aisle seats.

And she never stopped talking. I wasn't quite sure what she was saying or who exactly she was speaking with (another passenger? somebody on speaker phone?). But it felt like she was talking during the whole nine-hour journey. But I wasn't complaining. She did get us to Cologne safe and sound.

The train ride from the airport in Cologne where the bus dropped us off to the city proper was quick. The hotel I chose was thankfully easy to find, just a few steps from the Messe-Deutz train station. Travel fatigue was setting in, but it was still light out, and I was eager to explore the city.

First photo in Cologne: the Messe Deutz train station

It was a short walk to the bridge and then on to the famous Köln Dom or Cathedral, which was as spectacular a sight as all the guidebooks and travel blogs promised. I walked around the Old Town just taking it all in. Clearly the decision to go to Cologne was the correct one.

The phenomenon of locks on bridges is clearly a popular one all over Europe and the world

A glimpse of the Köln Dom from the Hauptbahnhof

A walk around Cologne's old town

Spotlights made the Dom all the more beautiful

The Dom on the other side of the Rhine river

Ended the day with a beer at the hotel bar

Next: An unexpected cancellation

Euro Trip 2017: Day 5 - Foo Fighters Day at Lollapalooza Berlin

It was gray and overcast in Berlin on the first day of Lollapalooza, but the sun finally came out on Day 2. By the time I stepped out of the hotel and walked to the S-Bahn, I was already feeling like a local. I found a food stall in Ostkreuk train station that was selling Asian food (my beloved kanin-and-ulam combo) and filled my tummy up there before heading back out to Hoppegarten.

A glimpse of the Molecule Man on Berlin's Spree River

It wasn't even noon yet but people were already starting to make the trek to the festival, although it wasn't as crowded as the day before. There weren't any acts that I was particularly looking forward to seeing that day, save for the big headliner, who weren't scheduled onstage until early evening. So I just walked around and eventually chose to hang out at the press center where I started writing the story for Esquire.

Early bird view of Lolla Berlin

I liked this giant mural enough to take a photo in front of it

Flower crown girl at Lolla

At around 2 p.m, I went to the VIP lounge for a special backstage tour that organizers promised. A German rap duo was there to liven things up. They sang a German version of "Here Comes the Hotstepper" that was strangely transfixing.

Forgot their name but I admit to being entertained by their brand of German rap

Unfortunately, photographs weren't allowed during the tour, but it was way cool to be walking along the pathways backstage at Lollapalooza. We got a peek at the artists' area, although we were quickly shooed away, apparently because the Foo Fighters were making their way there at that very moment.

The best part was actually going up onstage and looking out onto the crowd while an artist was performing. I've never even done that in Manila or anywhere else, and to be able to experience it during a Lollapalooza show, with tens of thousands of eager faces looking up in pleasure and even ecstasy, was a pretty special feeling. 

Afterwards I decided to spend the rest of the day just taking it all in. I walked around the sunny field with an ice cream in hand and enjoying the views of people enjoying themselves. 

I'll always look back at that afternoon walking around Lollapalooza

People in line for some food

Dressing the part

Managed to catch the set of London Grammar

The Foo Fighters' set started exactly as planned (this is Germany, of course). I was a bit bummed that I didn't get to take photos at the pit, but watching the show with tens of thousands of people was good enough. I couldn't believe my luck that, just a month before that day, I had never seen them live. And then, for some reason, I can now say that I saw them twice in a span of a few weeks. (I was in Singapore to see them just before they flew over to Europe to continue the rest of their tour).

Foo Fighters!

Dave and company were as lively and fun as the last time I caught them in Singapore

I got a bit paranoid about sticking around long enough to catch the waves of people taking the train back home so I made the very difficult decision to leave before the band finished their set. But I got what I went there for, which was to experience Lollapalooza in Berlin. I really couldn't have asked for more.

Til next time

Next: A splash of the good stuff in Cologne

Euro Trip 2017: Day 4 - Back in Berlin

The seven-hour bus ride from Munich to Berlin wasn't so bad. We stopped at a gas station for a quick break at around 2:30 a.m. I had to take a moment to process the situation: I was standing in almost-freezing weather somewhere in Germany in the middle of the night. There was a police car and some of the cops were chatting with (interrogating?) some of the passengers stretching their legs outside the bus.

Somewhere along the German autobahn

Rest stop in the middle of the night somewhere between Munich and Berlin

Soon we were off again. I must've slept the rest of the way because the next thing I knew, we were pulling into Berlin ZOB (main bus station). If the Munich train system was complicated, Berlin's is even more so. Thankfully, I kept my wits about me and found my hotel without any major trouble.

The Schonweide train station

Truth on a wall 

I got there at around 8 a.m. so it was too early to check-in. Thank heavens for wi-fi. I spent a couple of hours on my phone. But I decided to walk around for a bit and discovered an Asian restaurant inside a shopping mall across from the hotel. I got another chicken-and-rice meal, although they messed up my order and handed me a beef dish when I explicitly said I wanted chicken. I didn't budge.

Back at the hotel, I had just enough time to shower, change and get my stuff together before I ran out again. I was headed to the reason why I was in Berlin in the first place. Lollapalooza was Pedi's idea and I didn't think I'd actually get to go. But things worked out and I soon found myself squeezing between hundreds of festival-goers inside the S-Bahn going to Hoppegarten.

The scene at the Hoppegarten train station...

...and inside Lollapalooza Berlin 2017

There were A LOT of people

I've been to a few music festivals in the Philippines and elsewhere, but the scale of Lolla Berlin was on a whole 'nother level. The venue was massive (it was, or maybe still is, a racehorse park). There were four big stages, a few smaller ones, a kids play and activity area, dozens of food and drinks stalls, and tens of thousands of eager, music-loving, flower crown-wearing, mostly cigarette-smoking, beer-guzzling warm bodies that filled up the field. I wrote about the experience for Esquire Philippines.

Bear's Den! Their folk-pop sound reminds me of lazy Sunday afternoons back when I was a kid in the 1980s

George Ezra was a definite highlight of the festival for me

I was fortunate enough to have been given media access and spent part of the time hanging out here at the press center

Love and music

This was the best I could do during Mumford and Sons' set. I just spent the time listening to Marcus Mumford

There weren't a whole lot of Asian faces at the festival itself, and I was pretty sure I was the only one from the Philippines covering the event. I caught Bear's Den, George Ezra and Mumford & Sons sets, skipped Two Door Cinema Club and joined the long procession of people who left the festival at around 10 p.m. There was another day to look forward to.



Next: Foo Fighters hit Lollapalooza

Euro Trip 2017: Day 3 - Where I Bled Some More

I had almost a full day in Bled before I had to catch a bus back to Munich and then on to Berlin. There were two Pinays in the hotel and one of them suggested taking a boat out to the island. My timing was perfect--I got to the pletna dock just as one was about to leave.

Lake Bled's pletnas

A pletna is a traditional Slovenian boat that literally means "flat-bottomed." I was the last one to get on. The boatman expertly maneuvered two oars and barely stopped to get any rest for the whole 20-minute journey to the country's only natural island.

Pletna boatman with Prague Castle in the background

We had 30 minutes to spend on the island, just enough time to check out the Church of Our Lady of the Lake, the souvenir shop and the views of the mainland. I chatted with a nice English bloke who narrated his tour of Europe through railway. He was traveling solo, just like me, and was likely eager to talk to someone. The chitchat was brief though as we had to make our way back to our respective pletnas for the return trip.

The church in the island

View from Bled Island

That looks like a snazzy place for a weekend getaway

Photo break

I still had a few hours to kill when we stepped on the shore. I spent it by checking out a few souvenir shops for the perfect magnet (my travel souvenir must-have), the grocery store for a few supplies (mostly drinks and chips), and sitting on a bench by the water overlooking the castle. Ducks lazily swam by while racers in an international rowing competition happening that week whizzed past.

It was just the slowdown I needed; an authentic break from the daily grind. Too bad I had to travel halfway across the world to get it. I also couldn't help but think that the pleasure of traveling to a new place like Bled really ought to be shared. The adrenaline rush of experiencing the beauty of a new place would feel infinitely better when simultaneously felt by a travel buddy. Problem is, if you wait for things to reach that point, or the situation to be ideal, you may be waiting for a long time.

I guess you go on these kinds of trips when you can, and then hope to share them with people who matter when the time comes later on.

Bled street

Baking bread

It's in the details

Duck and castle

Next: Back to Berlin

Euro Trip 2017: Day 2 - How I Bled And Loved It

Tearing myself out of bed is a challenge on normal days, but out of warm sheets in cool weather, the struggle is definitely real. It's a miracle I can even wake up really. That first morning in Munich, it really felt like winter was coming, but I had to drag myself out of bed to catch an early morning bus. I planned my itinerary around potential stories, but when some of it fell through, I found myself having two extra days before I had to be in Berlin.

Cigarette butt I found on the ground at the Munich central bus station reminded me of someone

My book on the world's greatest cities came in handy and I decided to buy a ticket to Bled, a little town in Slovenia just off the border with Austria. Five hours is relative; it can go by so fast when you're enjoying yourself at a party or maybe making out with someone, but counting hours on a bus can be excruciating. I amused myself by gazing out at the typically European scenes outside the window--green hills, quaint houses, and the occasional castle on top of a mountain.

Somewhere in northern Austria

Goodbyes are often bittersweet

Next stop: Slovenia

I arrived in Bled about 30 minutes past schedule, which is rare if you know anything about German efficiency and transport. Still, it wasn't like I was in a rush. I think Bled was a reminder to just take it slow. I mean, the castle there is over a thousand years old.

Home in Slovenia. There were two Pinays working there

First look at Bled Castle

I strolled along the pathway running along the lake's edge after checking out the castle. Before I knew it, I was near the other side and it was too late to turn back. So I ended up walking all the way around the lake and found out later the lake is about six kilometers long. Strangely, I didn't feel all that tired afterwards. Maybe all that gorgeousness was a potent distraction from physical ills.

A view of the town from Bled Castle

Bled Island from the castle

Slovenia's slogan is apt

They put on a special skit at the castle

I did feel hungry, so I walked around trying to decide whether I should try the local specialties or indulge in some badly missed Asian cuisine. Meat-and-potatoes won out. I also tried the Bled specialty--their version of cream cake called Kremna Rezina. I loved it. Its soft and spongy cream filling wasn't too sweet and the crunchy layer added some texture. It's exactly my kind of thing.

Bled's Kremna Rezina

You wanna know what else was my kind of thing? Staying in and sleeping, which, instead of going out and finding nightlife, was exactly what I did after eating.

Bled Island

Next: More of Bled and going back up north