Prague - Budapest - Zagreb - Plitvice lakes - Split - Dubrovnik
"The deepest form of Love is curiosity" - Iordan
"Happiness Is Only Real When Shared"
Travel to Discover
Travelers: Apeksha Pathak, Jason Bosco, Sukanya Vishnu
Where to start from - Everything feels like yesterday. Prague - Budapest - Croatia chapter has been one of the most beautiful memories of the journey of Travel to Discover. Like all other travels, even this trip came and went like a flash and left us with everlasting memories. We at "Travel to Discover" feel blessed that we got a chance to meet such lovely people from different parts of India on this trip.
"Make Memories - because they last Forever"
The trip started on 7th July'17 from the magical city - Prague - we met all the travelers at the airport and the minute we met - It was a feeling that you are meeting your three friends after a long time and the coming 11 days ahead are going to be fun. We could see the happiness and that curiosity on every traveler's face - first Euro trips are special and that too when you start with Prague - it becomes all the more special.
We were staying at one of our best hostels which is at a walking distance from Charles Bridge and Prague Castle - Checked In and without wasting time our travelers were all set to explore this beautiful city. We walked our way to the beautiful Charles Bridge and the vibrant atmosphere at Old town Square got us into the Prague vibe. It's summertime and the energy of the city is TOP - tourists from different parts of the world, Children playing at the Square, people riding small scooters, ice creams, horse rides, people sitting in small groups having beers, people coming and doing performances showcasing their talent and so much more happening. When people around you are happy and everyone shares the same bond which is of travel - then you realize the value of that moment, it's priceless and becomes more special when you are sharing it with your other co-travelers. Our 1st day was a great start to our trip and we chilled in evening with some beers and never-ending conversations at the Charles bridge.
In Summers, Nights are short and days are very long in Europe. We were off to an early start next day after a good breakfast - we all made our way to explore the Prague castle, which is the biggest castle in the world and insanely gorgeous. The Vitus cathedral takes you back in time and you just stand outside like a child imagining - What is this Structure ?? When you will see it yourself, we are sure you will realize what we mean. Day rolled by with long walks from Upper town to lesser town and in-numerous number of walks through Charles bridge.
What happened next is a special memory for "Travel to Discover" One of our co-travelers - Sukanya Vishnu got a World Map tattooed on her leg. Tattoos are special and that too on a trip. Sukanya won our heart. That was special.
After cooling down the excitement with an ice cream and a long walk we finally reached our last stop and that's John Lennon wall - which has now become a known symbol of Prague.The wall is an Amalgamation of all the good things Humanity and this World needs and that's LOVE & PEACE. It's special and it's more of a connection.
After a long day, we had a long night coming.Night has an altogether different story to tell - Nightlife in Prague is never ending and our Pub Crawl was waiting for us at 9 PM.We were all charged up and set for Saturday night, Why Not be ?? Finally, we settled down for 10 pm slot as we missed the 9 PM one and got ourselves comfortable with more beers at Old town Square and later night just followed with meeting lot of amazing people from different parts of the world, stories, connections. We all danced our way through the night with a lot of laughs and alcohol. The best part of Pub Crawl is always walking back to hostel through Charles bridge. That's the only time when you can have the whole bridge to yourself.It was fun to meet people from Pub Crawl Kevin, Burak, Steve and lot more.Apeksha & Jason both have a lot of crazy stories to tell. It was fun.We all need a company to enjoy the drink with.
Sundays are always lazy if you are out on a Saturday night and that too in Pub Crawl in Prague - you know what's coming next day for you. Sunday - Lazy - Rest Day. We all met in evening to explore another beautiful and peaceful side of Prague, Petrin hill and Jewish quarters of Prague. The views from the hill are magnificent.Our stay in Prague came to an end with a beautiful long walk from Petrin Hill to all the way to the Old town square for food and then all the way back to the hostel.
People LOVE Prague and in return, Prague gives them so much more of LOVE. We wait for our time when this city calls us back for more LOVE.
We had a long road ahead of us and from Prague - we headed to Budapest - another very beautiful city, capital of Hungary and our relationship with Budapest goes a long way back from 2015.Budapest always calls us back.
We were staying on the Pest side of the city at a walking distance from all the major scene.The energy of our travelers surprised us again.Checked In and without wasting time they all are ready to head out. JET SPEED. We were on our way to District VII.One of the best places to hang out in Budapest.
Food followed with long conversations about this city and the plan how we are going to explore this city over our coming 2.5 days. The more you walk the more you feel like a local.After food, we strolled our way to Chain Bridge to get a glimpse of Buda side but Budapest welcomed us with heavy rain. Drenched but we were happy because Crazy cocktails were waiting for us with a dose of Red Bull in it. Budapest has a great nightlife scene and it's a good way of meeting new people.We were in the center of it all at one of the best Old World War Ruin Bar.
Next day rolled smoothly and we dived deep in the history of this city with our Bus tour taking us to all the major sites of this city and riding on top of a bus all across this city - We can surely say - It's a great experience.We explored all major places and afternoon reached Buda Castle , while we were at Buda Castle just taking a walk after good heavy Mushroom Pizza we got a chance a to meet a nice guy Tomas from Hungary, big fan of AC Milan and conversations rolled about Italy & India and in next half hour we had our invitation for a Jazz concert in evening.Our day in Budapest was long and travel-filled. We drove Segway outside St.Stephens Basilica, wine followed with never-ending conversations on some topic or the other. Some left for thermal bath experience and rest headed for the Jazz show.It was a nice local bar with very local vibe - good people around sitting drinking and sharing stories. Jazz scene did not happen for some XYZ reason but we were greeted by Tomas the local who invited us and then we got a very local insight to this whole city and our travel just became so personal.Life is about that friends.When you meet amazing people on road then beautiful conversations follow. He took us to a local restaurant later in the night and after a heavy meal, we were on our way to the hostel - via Chain Bridge in Rain, tripping on Andrassy Avenue.
What we went looking for at Chain Bridge was not there, but the good part of life is, there is always the next time. May Be next time - Who Knows ???
When you meet amazing people on road then beautiful conversations follow.Budapest we Thank you for being such a great host. We are gonna be back for more Love.
Trip rolled from Budapest and what waited for us was pure Magic.We were off to meet a new country "Croatia" - Yes Croatia. We were all set to chill at Chill Out in Zagreb.The capital city of Croatia. We checked in and made more friends - Dorotea the receptionist wasted no time and walked us through with the city map - do's and don'ts. We already had a plan of visiting one of the biggest national parks of Europe "Plitvice Lakes National Park" next day and that was another beautiful surprise which we were totally unaware of.Croatia never felt a new country to any of us. Checked In and without wasting time our hunger took us in search of a local restaurant.After food we were lucky we bumped into a store "PMS" run by Marta who had traveled in India which led to never-ending conversations and she invited us for some beers just after meeting her.The night flowed with conversations on different topics and when it got ended nobody knows.
Zagreb, It's a beautiful start to our relationship.We miss YOU
The morning we were all charged up for a good long day of hiking in the Plitvice Lakes national park with our guide Vederan who had been in the park more than 200 times - that's a big number like his muscles. A great guy we were lucky to meet him and with him, it felt like a walk in the park.Plitvice is a trip on nature and who doesn't love nature.Everything is so natural from big waterfalls to different types of fishes, snakes, boats - All GREEN & BLUE. We headed back in evening after a long day and followed invitation by Marta for some beers, later her friend Eva joined us and we got to learn so much about the local life of Croats in Zagreb. It was a pleasure to meet Dorotea, Marta & Eva.
Plitvice lakes - just be the way you are.
The trip was reaching its end and we moved down south in Croatia and hit the beautiful city Split along the Dalmatian coast. Split was a crazy weekend - because of Ultra Music festival happening in the city so the energy was Full Power and you can see literally the whole world in one city. The Old part of the city reminded us of Venice as you can see all Venetian architecture.The beautiful Diocletian Palace makes this city stands out.Small - Small cobbled lanes leading up to the beautiful Riva Promenade from where you can see the whole sea and boats lined up.People sitting on benches facing the sea and lost in conversations.Where time goes in this city, NO IDEA? Slow and Smooth.
Weekend was a mix of everything - to crazy nightlife scenes to long walks up the Marjan hill for epic sunset view to chilling at the Bene Beach followed by a long walk back home and in between meeting people from Ultra Music festival and chilling with them , to long walks along the promenade to dancing on some Bollywood numbers with our crazy traveler Apeksha - Night Owl.
It was one of the fastest and one of the most memorable weekend ever - Split
Finally, we were off to our last destination Dubrovnik - Pearl of the Adriatic - now we know why it's called that.The road from Split to Dubrovnik makes you so much curious as to where in the world are you heading.One of the most scenic drives you can cherish.You have the beautiful Adriatic running parallel to you and then you end up in Kings Landing - Dubrovnik - A city surrounded by massive walls and you are staying right in the middle of it.Crazy.
A tour of the walls really introduces you to this city and in-numerous walks along the main street Stradun makes you so much part of this city. Never ending Ice Creams and long walks all you need to really get to know this city.The views from the walls of the city are insanely gorgeous and from the cable car, all the way up to the mountain is beautiful too.An experience in itself.The nearby Lokrum Island where you have the GOT Iron throne quite famous among tourists - the island is gorgeous and have a small beach pool as well.
Dubrovnik came to an end with a small get together dinner at one the hidden bars of the city from where you have the whole Adriatic opening up to you.We all sat enjoyed some wine & beers. The trip came to an end and we all could really feel how we were when we met the 1st day of our trip and how we are on the 11th day. Travel brings a beautiful change and beautiful memories that we all cherish for Life.
Thank You for being nice to Us.We meet soon - Dubrovnik - You are really Pearl of Adriatic
We were happy that everyone walked back home with a lot of memories and that's what matters.Memories stay forever.Happy that we have this trip as a chapter in our small journey.Love for travel connects the world.Connecting Cultures.
India - Prague - Budapest - Zagreb - Plitvice Lakes - Split - Dubrovnik
Thanks to all travelers who joined us on this beautiful journey.It was indeed a pleasure to meet you all and this trip happened all because of you.
Love - Travel to Discover - Everything happens for a reason , Love & Hope always #Mutlumesc #TeIubesc