Prague: My perspective of this medieval city

I have finally come to Prague as the first stop on my Europe trip after hearing so many good things about this city. Some unique representations of Prague would be its medieval-like architecture, large beer, and lively nightlife.

Charles Bridge

While I venture out in the city, I saw many people enjoying a huge pitcher of beer everywhere I went, this was especially seen in the old town square. I was amazed to see a large group of people in this location. There were tourists taking photos left and right, and some of them were waiting to witness the hourly show, The Walk of the Apostles, from the Astronomical Clock, which located in the corner of the old town square.

Old Town Square

Astronomical Clock

After visiting the old town square, I walked to one of the oldest bridges in Europe establish back in the 14th century, known as the Charles Bridge. The statues on both sides of the bridge were the first thing that catches my eyes. The statues were unique, and each of them had their own historical stories. Since the Old Town Bridge Tower was at the beginning of the bridge, I also went up there to view the city skyline. Note: The admission ticket was 100 CZK for adults.

Overlooking the Charles Bridge from the Old Town Bridge Tower

Once you walk across to another side of the bridge, there are just as many options for attractions to visit. One of the attractions I went to was Lennon Wall, a wall filled with graffiti. I didn't particularly find any bond with this site because where I'm from, Philly, got so many graffiti of our own. To be fair though, there was a story behind this wall named after John Lennon, so I give my full respect to this historical site.

Lennon Wall

Moving toward my next stop, Prague Castle, it was quite a surprise that I was able to see the city skyline on the way, too! There are plenty of palace and castles to explore once you reach the top of the hill.

St. Vitus Cathedral

Hopefully, when you're finished with the Castle, the timing will be perfect to just walk over to the nearby Letna Park because this place is one of the best places to enjoy the sunset in the city.

Letna Park

Wenceslas Square and Dancing House were farther away, so I decided to visit them on the second day. I traveled by Uber the next day because it was so hot outside. Note that if you're from the States, you will find the cost of Uber quite cheap here, so at least that's a plus.

Dancing House

Wenceslas Square

The nightlife in Prague was just as amazing, and activities included live music, pubs, and clubs throughout the city. On the other hand, you should probably avoid any alley if you're alone just to be safe in a foreign country, especially females.

Powder Tower

Church of Our Lady before Tyn

Last but not least, go try some famous local food such as doughnut ice cream cones. It was delicious, coming from someone who's not really a dessert person!

Local dessert store 

doughnut ice cream cones

Overall, I would recommend Prague to anyone looking for a short two to three days getaway. I was able to cover a lot of major sightseeing places within a day and a half, but it would probably be better off taking the time slowly. The most upset part was I didn't get to try the famous Czech beer. I look forward to drinking it when I return the next time!

Planning: Trip Across 6 Countries In Central Europe

READ MORE FROM THIS TRIP:

1. Planning: Trip Across 6 Countries In Central Europe
2. Prague: My perspective of this medieval city
3. Budapest: City of the hot springs with beautiful architectures
4. Vienna: This is what it feels like walking in a Palace except it is as big as a city
5. Lucerne: Best panoramic views of the city from Mt. Pilatus
6. Zermatt: Meeting Matterhorn
7. Interlaken: Gateway to Jungfraujoch
8. Milan: My first exposure in Italy

Europe is one region of the world I haven't been to excluding Iceland in late 2017, so starting sometime in late 2018, I decided to plan a trip to Europe.

After many hours of research and countless revisions, the final plan was complete. I planned this trip to visit 6 central European countries in a circular loop starting in Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and then finally back to Germany.

It was extremely difficult to allocate the right amount of time for each city. No matter who I asked for opinions, everyone would all say "This place needs at least X days to explore. Stop making the trip so packed" However, I stuck with my plan as I was determined to see them all!

Frankfurt
Frankfurt was more so just a connecting stop during this trip, but surprisingly my stay at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel was fantastic. The hotel was very clean, and there were a lot of facilities including a night bar with multiple pool tables. The layout also gave me a modern feel, but I found it hilarious that the hotel was gigantic and made me feel like walking in a maze on my way to the room.

Prague
As the capital of the Czech Republic, its historic architecture attracts numerous tourists each year. One could choose to sit in the old town square having some of the best beer in the country or walk on the 14th-century Charles Bridge are enough reasons to visit. Last but not least, you wouldn't want to miss the Astronomical Clock dating back to the 15th century.

Budapest
Budapest consists of two cities: Buda and Pest, joined together and separated by Europe's second-longest river, the Danube. Head to the Buda Castle and enjoy the panoramic view of the city, join the Parliament Building tour, embrace Hungarian food, and certainly, don't forget to experience in one of Budapest's famous baths.

Vienna
In the world capital of music, imperial-like architectures can be found everywhere you go, and you don't want to miss Belvedere Palace and Schonbrunn Palace. Don't forget to attend one of the classical music concerts in the Musikverein, State Opera, or Symphonic Orchestra before you leave the city.

Zurich
Unsurprisingly, the financial center of Switzerland demonstrates why it's one of the most expensive cities in the country, with many high-end luxury brand stores on both sides of the streets. However, don't let the surface of its wealth scare you away. Look beyond that, and the city is a gateway to anywhere in the country.

Lucerne
Not only do tourists love the most iconic site located in the center of the city, The Chapel Bridge, but it's also surrounded by spectacular scenery from any angle regardless of how you view it. Additionally, three nearby mountains, Rigi, Pilatus, and Titlis are all part of the Swiss Alps, and they're definitely the most popular activity for a day trip from the city.

Zermatt
The mighty Matterhorn alone should give you all the reasons you need to pay a visit here. Moreover, the area is one of the premier destinations for winter activities such as skiing and snowboarding in the Swiss Alps. While you are here, consider visiting 5-Seenweg, Glacier Paradise, and Gornergrat. Staying up in the mountains overnight is even better!

Interlaken
This town is a gateway to the Jungfrau region and sits between the two emerald-colored Lakes Thun and Brienz. The area is a paradise for mountaineers because of its numerous hiking trails and magnificent views of the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. Paragliding, one of the most popular activities here, allows you to overlook Lakes Thun and Brienz from the sky.

Milan
If you're a fashion lover, you have to visit the Quadrilatero della Moda. As a photographer, there's nothing better than visiting the most iconic Duomo di Milano while embracing its culture. If you're a foodie, then the local spaghetti and pizza are something you don't want to miss, and they certainly live up to the hype and do not disappoint.

Transportation
It's very convenient to travel by train in Europe. Eurail Pass and Swiss Pass allow you to take an unlimited amount of rides except for a few scenarios in Europe and Switzerland respectively. Before you decide to buy a pass, the two factors you should consider are time and frequency of the use.

Moreover, there are a lot of options in Switzerland's rail pass such as Swiss Travel Pass, Swiss Travel Pass Flex, and Swiss Half Fare Card. To find out which one suits you the best, you should list the itinerary entirely and calculate the cost of each individual segment to see the differences.

Websites information for rail passes and the time table of the train:

1. https://www.swiss-pass.ch/
2. https://www.omio.com

In my case, time is everything to me, so I even opt to take flights here and there to maximize the amount of time I get.

Apps to download in Switzerland
SBB Mobile: The app can store the ticket and the travel pass, but you're supposed to bring a physical copy of travel pass still. The app shows the departure and arrival time, departure and arrival platform, and how to change the train if needed.

MeteoSwiss: The app predicts the weather within Switzerland with high accuracy. However, you should use this as a supplement only when you arrive places like Zermatt and Jungfrau regions. In these areas, there will be LiveCam almost everywhere, so you can absolutely look at the status of each attraction before heading up to the mountain.

Cost
Here are the charts for my major expenses during this trip. The total hotel cost is shown in the chart below, but transportation and hotel costs were split between my friend and me.

Have you been to any of these cities? I'm excited to hear about your experience! Stay tuned for the next episode of this series.

One of the world's most well-known waterfalls: Iguazú Falls

There are three waterfalls that are in completely different leagues of their own worldwide: Iguazú Falls, Victoria Falls, and Niagara Falls. If you ever have an opportunity to visit one of them, you will realize no other word than magnificent can better describe them.

I decided to take a trip to visit Iguazú Falls during Memorial Day weekend. The waterfall is a UNESCO World Heritage, and it is also one of the widest falls on earth.

My friend and I took uber and a taxi from our hotel, Belmond Hotel das Cataratas, to the park on the Argentina side. I would recommend having someone who is capable of speaking both languages Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish (Argentina) to be safe. Remember to bring your VISAs and passport because you will be crossing the border.

Iguazú Falls is a transcontinental waterfall between Argentina and Brazil. Each side has its pros and cons. The Devil's Throat, most commonly known and the highest point of the waterfall, is from Argentina side, however, the Brazilian side provides a great panorama view of the waterfall.  

The view at the Devil's Throat was breathtaking and its flow rate was intense. The flow was so strong, that it caused so much mist constantly. My camera almost got wet and damaged, and it would be a disaster if I had to purchase another new camera.

If you are interested in visiting the Devil's Throat, you'll have to enter through the Argentina side. Note that the park is enormous, so it may take up your entire day if you prefer sightseeing slowly. Normally, people would spend a day in Argentina and another day in Brazil to completely explore the waterfalls.

• Orange route - Devil's Throat, approximately 2 hours
• Blue route - Upper Trail, approximately 2 hours
• Yellow route - Lower Circuit, approximately 1.5 hours
• Red route - San Martin Island, connected from the yellow route, approximately 2 hours
• Brown route - Macuco Trail, approximately 3 hours
• Green route - Green Trail Trilha Verde, approximately 15 minutes

I recommended going to the Devil's Throat and Lower Circuit first because they present a different perspective of the fall compared to the Brazilian side instead. Note that Devil's Throat may actually take up a lot longer than 2 hours especially during peak season because you have to take the train there, and the park is very crowded.

Within the park, you may see a lot of Coatis, a type of raccoon, but BE WARNED that they are very aggressive towards food and drink especially at the train station food stand. Please do not feed them randomly just because you want to take a picture with them.

After you finish visiting the Devil's Throat, I recommend stopping at Cataratas Station, because you can then head to the Lower Trail and visit some of the other waterfalls. There are only two ways to get to the Lower Trail, and both ways starting at the Cataratas Station: walk through Green Trail or take the train but it only stops there on the way back from the Devil's Throat.

When you initially enter the park, you may consider finding out the timing of the boat to San Martin Island first and plan your schedule accordingly. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to visit there as I arrived at the park in the early afternoon. The parks closed around 6pm, but the last boat stopped operating around 3pm.

The bottom line is, visiting Iguazu Fall over a long weekend was definitely worthwhile even with the little amount of time I spent there. I enjoyed my time in the park and got to witness one of the most spectacular waterfalls in front of me. It allowed me to relax and not worry about all the work I left behind, and I felt like I was truly living in that moment!

Eye-catching attractions in Rio de Janeiro

As a travel enthusiast, I always want to visit Brazil because of the most iconic attraction, Christ the Redeemer, from Rio de Janeiro. I swear to god that whenever people talk about Brazil, this picture would show up everywhere on the internet! Not only it's a gigantic statue (125' height) of Jesus Christ, the platform of where the statue also allows you to overlook entire Rio, surrounding sea and jungle. The view was absolutely mindblowing.

Here is a photo I took with the poster because the weather was ridiculously cloudy when I was there, it blocked the entire view among the statue itself. But I promise you that if you visit on a sunny day, this is the exact view you should expect to see.

On the other hand, this is what I saw instead...such awful weather when I was there...Check the weather before you go.

Tips: I strongly recommend taking a round-trip van transportation to see Christ the Redeemer because it may take you AT LEAST 30 minutes to wait for an Uber afterward since most likely they would have to drive up to the mountain. You can find the van transportation information here.

The next attraction would be Sugarloaf Mountain. No, it's not the same Sugarloaf in Maine or Maryland in the States! Here you can take a cable car to the peak of the mountain, and there is two stops total, so make sure you also visit the last one, which is the peak.

There is a helicopter tour at the platform of the first stop, and the tour flies every day from 9am until sunset. In hindsight, I would love to visit here during the day. I thought the view was underwhelming at night because there weren't enough lights in the city compared to other cities I have been to.

Don't get me wrong though. It was still absolutely worth to visit, but I just had a very high expectation that's probably different than some of you. If you have enough time, helicopter tour route 3 (there are 7 different routes) will even fly you over to see Christ the Redeemer from the sky. That would be awesome!

Last but not least, have you seen countless of pictures showing that someone was holding on a dangerous cliff-edge drop!? Well, check it out Pedra do Telegrafo if you have extra time in Rio, but note that there will be a hike so leave yourself enough time. Or you can choose to visit one of the most famous beaches, Copacabana beach, which is not too far from the Sugarloaf Mountain.

8 Must See Highlights in Death Valley National Park

I fell in love with astrophotography as of late, so I decided to research into parks within the States recommended for stargazing. Even though stargazing at night was where Death Valley originally caught my interest at first, I ended up liking a lot of spots within the park just as much. You can expect very little to non-existing light pollution at night in the park, so prepare yourself for a stargazing feast under the starry night.

The main reason I chose Death Valley was because there is a direct flight between Vegas and Philly. The park is roughly 2 hours drive from Vegas, which isn't so terrible if I want to make a weekend trip after work on Friday!

Here are the top 8 must-see highlights from my trip with 1 honorable mention that unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to make a stop at, Devil's Golf Course.

1. Dante's View
2. Zabriskie Point
3. Golden Canyon
4. Artists Palette
5. Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
6. Badwater Basin
7. Racetrack Playa
8. Ubehebe Crater

The first point of interest I would recommend is Dante's View. Standing atop the mountain hill here allows you to capture the entire view of the valley as well as the Badwater Basin, and it's the lowest point in all of North America with a record of 282 ft. below sea level.

Did you know a shot of Dante's View was used to recreate an overlooking sight of the spaceport town Mos Eisley on the fictional planet Tatooine in the film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope?

Next up, the Zabriskie Point! This was definitely my favorite spot in the park. Not only did the valley have a unique landscape of erosion, but it also offered multi-colors badlands with stunning rock formations.

Did I mention that Zabriskie Point is also one of the most famous sunrises or sunset photo spots? During both sunrise and sunset, the sunlight brings out the contrast and enhances the color variance that mother nature grants us daily.

Since Zabriskie Point was only a few minutes from The Inn at Death Valley, I also came here to stargaze at night.

Here is the Red Cathedral at the end of 3 miles hike

When I reached the Golden Canyon, I realized I had plenty of spare time before sunset, so I decided to take a hike in the canyon (which was roughly 3 miles one way.) Unfortunately, nature would prove me underestimating its might yet again, as I found myself slightly dehydrated and sunburnt due to the lack of shades throughout the hike, so you should certainly come here well prepared.

Artists Palette was located on Artist Drive, which was a small loop. Its vibrant colors looked absolutely surreal, and it would look even better at sunset (if you are not impressed with this stunning view already)!

Mysterious spot on Artist Drive

This mysterious spot cannot be found on the map because it didn't have an official name. However, the view was just as good as Artists Palette but in a different way.

Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, is essentially a giant salt flat. I found it interesting that there is a sign suggesting people not to walk on it after 10am because of how hot it is in this area!

The best time to visit here would be sunset because the salt flats were facing west, which makes it another popular sunset spot. consider walking further inside if you want to avoid the crowd. The further inside you get, the easier you can find some interesting hexagon-shaped formation of salt flat on the ground.

The last activity of the day was viewing sunset at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes before stargazing at Zabriskie Point at night. In hindsight, I should have arrived earlier, so I could walk far past the tourists and avoid tons of footprints to find a spot filled with a beautiful pattern of hills.

And I finally understood how it felt when one walks in a desert. Each step I took required so much more effort because there was an equal force on the opposite direction from the sand.

Teakettle Junction, on the way to Racetrack Playa

The next morning, I spent 6 hours round trip to visit Racetrack Playa, which is a dry lake feature with moving rocks. The drive was not fun at all because I had to drive a high clearance vehicle with four-wheel drive to be safe. And it was probably better to get there for sunset or stargaze at night as I was not impressed with what I saw during the daylight hours, quite dull and boring.

Ubehebe Crater is a volcanic crater on the way to the racetrack. Everyone should visit here at the very least, and whether to drive another 2-hours from here to the racetrack is your choice (I don't think it's worth it unless you are going there for sunset, stargaze at night, or you are a photographer). Be aware that the wind was very strong here.

Death Valley was one hell of a national park to visit because of much incomparable landscape it provided for photo shooting and hiking opportunity. However, the temperature here was also unrivaled to any other park, which held the highest record of 134 degrees F. Best suggestion? DO NOT COME HERE DURING SUMMER!

View more photos of Death Valley, click here

Will you be interested to come to Death Valley and see all of these phenomenal landscapes?

Let me know in the comment below and follow me on Facebook to see what I'm up for the next journey.