Europe Trip - The Red Light District of Amsterdam

Maybe buying tickets with no seat reservation was a huge fault. We ended up struggling with our luggage and minimum energy inside the train which was very packed, maybe the most crowded one that we took through out the journey. 

Most of the seats were taken by people with seat reservations, we could find seat here and there but we could not stick together. In the end, we were separated and so were our stuffs. It was quite a tiring 3-hour ride, but yeah, we reached Amsterdam in the end!

Amsterdam Centraal Station is huge and integrated with the metro station. In front of the station there are a few tram stops and bus stops. It is the heart of the city. Upon arriving, we brought a metro-tram-bus pass for 4 days cost EUR 20.5 (~SGD 33) per person. Even until the last day of our stay, we did not know that the pass did not cover the train. 

We then took the train to Sloterdijk Station where our aparthotel was located. We got an apartment hotel near Sloterdijk Station, just 1 train stop away from Centraal Station. On the map, it looked near to the station. However, the actual condition was not that ideal. The wind was strong like hell and we needed to roll our luggage to the next block crossing the road. We were almost blown by the wind while walking. It was such a scene! When we settled down in the hotel, only we know that the wind speed was about 40 km/h that time. Oh Gosh, lucky we did not get blown away by the wind and landed somewhere else.

We took some rest and then made our way to the Red Light District of Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Red Light District is located at the Centruum, a short walk from Amsterdam Centraal Station. The area is actually called de Wallen whereby rows of shophouses in front of a small canal are actually brothel, sex shops, sex museums, peep shows, bars, gay bars, etc. And the most unique attribute of Amsterdam Red Light District is the prostitutes being displayed in the windows.

Prostitution is not something new in Amsterdam. The Red Light District is actually a way to prevent forced and illegal prostitution. Prostitutes in Amsterdam have their own union, frequent testing and standard monitoring. This is a profession!

Amsterdam Red Light District was there since the fourteenth century and now prostitution is legal in Netherlands.  However, only EU residents can have this occupation since no working permit will be given.

The Red Light District, still sleeping 

One of the window

One of the shop

The later it is, the more people will flock this area. We walked past and found many 'live mannequin' selling themselves: some were young, some were old, some were skinny, some were not so skinny, many kinds, many forms. We saw some ongoing transactions and we saw some closed curtains. However we did not take any picture because it's not allowed for the privacy of everybody transacting in the area.

I guess this is another face of Amsterdam which shows the openness and the respect towards all people. 

We closed our day and got back to the hotel after a simple dinner in Amsterdam Centraal Station. Most of the restaurants were not opened because Monday after Easter Sunday was a public holiday.

Next - Amsterdam City vs Keukenhoff Garden

Love is in the air,

Little Feet

Europe Trip - A Lovely Morning in Koln

We initially bought the seat tickets from Zurich to Koln since we were not able to get the couchette tickets due to full booking. After much consideration, we decided to suffer the seats for a night. However, the missing seat reservation caused us to be upgraded to couchette. For EUR 49 (~SGD 76) per person, we were able to get some sleep throughout the night.

We arrived in Koln main station at 6:00 am. In my thought, Koln should be a small city and the station should be small to. But to my surprise, the station is huge and it is integrated with many eateries and shops.

We went to deposit our luggage for EUR 7 (~SGD 11) per item. Then we went to the ticket office to buy another ticket for Koln-Amsterdam. Due to the bombing in Brussels 6 days earlier, we decided not to visit Brussels and just do short stopover in Koln before continuing our journey to Amsterdam.

We chose to have second class ticket without seat reservation. The customer service helped us to mix and match the best fare and we got the six tickets cost EUR 397.2 (~SGD 621), approximately SGD 100 per pax. That's the risk of purchasing the tickets last minute.

We sat in Starbucks until my friend arrived. The view that we got by sitting inside was just amazingly cool. Afterwards, we walked out and the breeze that morning was cold as ice. We then moved to our first destination just in front of the station, Koln Black Church or Cologne Cathedral.

Cologne Cathedral is a world heritage site since 1996 and the biggest gothic church in Northen Europe. The construction commenced in 1248 as the temple of three wise men but was completed only in the 19th century after a few stops. Prior to the construction of the church, the site had been utilized as grain storage, roman temple, to Christian buildings.

During World War II, the city of Koln was targetted in a bombing spree as the towers of Cologne Cathedral was easily spotted. The cathedral itself suffered fourteen hits. The whole city was flattened, but the church kept standing tall and proud at its 157m. The restoration was then completed in 1956.

Some people said that this cathedral was previously a satanism temple. However, there is no proof to that. I guess it was just some stories people made because of the gargoyles surrounding the facade of the church seem scary.

Koln Black Church, view from Starbucks

No matter how cold it was, we should pose

Somebody told me that the church had been in restoration forever

The station, view from the church

The so called park in front of the church

The church main door, so magnificent

The interior of the church

High ceiling, strong pillars

The organs

Mother Mary

The side view of the church

The gargoyle in front of the church

We then walked out and was greeted again by strong wind. We walked towards the Hohenzollern Bridge, which was destroyed in the assault during World War II. Prior to the bombing, the bridge, which spanned across the Rhine River, was utilized as railway and vehicular bridge. However, the reconstruction only catered for railway and pedestrian. And, this is the Hohenzollern Bridge that we know today.

The bridge was repaired fully in 1959. Additional two tracks were added during the renovation in 1980. About 1200 trains pass through this bridge nowadays and God knows how many pedestrians put their 'love lock' here and throw the key away into the Rhine.

Hohenzollern Bridge

Across the river, looks like industrial part of the city

Love locks

Rhine and the beautiful city

Taking picture on the famous bridge

We did not manage to walk all the way to the other side of the bridge because of the winds. We walked back and decided to warm ourselves inside a cute little cafe at a corner nearby the station. My friend kept urging me to try the cakes. She said no people in the world could bake like Germans did. So, yeah, of course, we tried the cakes. And all were heavenly!

Our feasts

Selfie

We intended to visit Lindt Museum actually but the band were tired and seemed to fall sick already, so we decided to take the noon train to Amsterdam for early check in and some rest. We bid goodbye to my friend and we bid goodbye to Koln.

I like this little city and I hope I can visit again, of course with the rest of the Germany.

Danke schans.

Next - Red Light District of Amsterdam


Love is in the air,
Little Feet

Europe Trip - Wandering in Zurich

We reached Zurich around 7:00 pm and I had my good friend waiting for me at the platform already. I was so happy to see her even for a short time. She is living in Zurich with her husband and she told me that Zurich's beauty would be nothing as compared to Lucerne's.

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland located at the German-speaking part of the country. It has Lake Zurich at the south-east. Zurich is full of financial centres and banking giants, despite low population. 

There was evidence of settlement during the stone age and bronze age nearby Lake Zurich. In Roman time, Zurich was called Turicum and Turicum was the border between Gaul and Italy. There was a tombstone dated back to the second century referring Zurich as the tax collection post.

Germanic Alemanni tribe settled here in the fifth century. Louis the German founded Fraumunster Abbey next to a Roman castle, Grossmunster in the year of 853. The city was then ruled by an abbess until the fourteenth century when an independent mayor took the throne.

To date, Zurich has a democratic culture which is quite unique. The citizens can vote on legislative proposals and laws and elect the members of municipal council and executive. 

So, my friend brought me to walk along the city centre but all of the shops were closed due to the public holiday. It was Easter Sunday! It felt so quite and serene. We walked along Banhofstrasse where all the luxury boutiques were located. Then, we reached the bank of Lake Zurich.

Lake Zurich is much wider than Lake Lucerne, but without the Alps at the background, it felt kind of plain.

Lake Zurich

Another view of Lake Zurich

The wind messed my hair

The lake and the city at the other side

We crossed over to the other side and they told me all the water fountains found around the city were drinkable, unless a notice not to drink it present. We kept walking on the cobblestone alley while chit-chatting like there would be no tomorrow.

Please feel free to drink

The streets to be explored on foot

There are 2 famous churches in Zurich, namely Grossmunster and Fraumunster located at each side of the lake. Grossmunster is Roman Protestant church while Fraumunster is Evangelical Reformed Church of Canton of Zurich. We stopped a while in front of Grossmunster.

Fraumunster

The miniature of Grossmunster

We then walked to the so-called night district of Zurich. But yeah, don't think of something naughty because the night district here just means it's more lively at night. I saw many restaurants, pubs, and local shops.

Entering the night district

They brought me into a Swiss restaurant and we had delicious Swiss food. I love rosti! I had difficulties reading the menu and got them to explain every single dish to me before I finally chose.

Rosti, sausage, and onion sauce

Rosti and pork with mushroom sauce

Spatzle with cheese sauce

We were having fabulous time

After having a nice dinner and continuous chit-chat with this dearest friend of mine, we walked back to the station since I have to catch the train to Koln. The sky had turned dark blue but the city still emerged its beauty. Zurich may look like an old lady but surely an elegant one. I hope one day I can be back and explore more of this city, and of course to meet them again.

Zurich at night

They accompanied us till we boarded the train. There was some glitch as our purchased tickets did not come with seat reservation and there was no instruction to reserve seat beforehand whatsoever. So she helped us to talk to the machinist and he asked us to board the train first.

We waved good bye to them and really thanked them for the hospitality.

I miss you.

Next - A Lovely Morning in Koln


Love in the air,
Little Feet

Europe Trip - Mount Titlis, Snow All The Way

Sunday morning, time to explore Mount Titlis!

We checked with the receptionist about the weather on top of the mountain. She told us, partly sunny partly cloudy, -3 degree celcius. We were quite scared to hear the minus but we kept our chin up and proceeded with the plan. What a shame visiting Switzerland without stepping on to Mount Titlis?

So, we took a stroll back to the station and purchased our pass there. The pass the we got included two-way train ticket to Engelberg, two-way cable car rides, and Ice Flyer and it cost CHF 84.3 (~SGD 120). It was way cheaper than online booking. In the website, cable car rides from Engelberg cost CHF 89, without the train tickets and Ice Flyer. 

The train to Engelberg only run hourly. We catched 9:00 am train and reached Engelberg about 40 minutes later.

The train

The town of Engelberg is a town surrounded by mountains, a beautiful one. We walked from the station to the cable car terminus. But beware, there is another cable car here other than Titlis and we initially walked towards the wrong one. It took us almost half an hour circling the town before finally got the terminus.

The view when stepping out of the station

So European

Gorgeous

While we lost our way

Finally on the right track, what a view

Ow yeah this is it

The entrance

After entering the building, we changed our ticket at the ticket box before proceeding to the cable car. The queue was not that long and there were many counters operating. Not long, we had our tickets in hands and we proceeded to the cable car.

The first ride was a normal cable car sending us to the middle station. After that we were transported by TITLIS ROTAIR, a huge rotating cable car that could accommodate 80-100 people. We were supposed to be be able to enjoy the 360 degree panoramic view in the Rotair. But the reality, we could not even move inside since the Rotair was loaded fully. I could only see the back of the person in front of me.

Start to enjoy the view

White snow carpet

Going higher

Transfer station

TITLIS ROTAIR

After reaching the top, we walked out of the cable car and found ourselves inside a multi-storey buildings. Each floor serves different purpose, i.e. restaurant, lounge, photo studio, souvenir shop, etc. It was rather suffocating inside with the volume of people inside the small building.

The view at the top

Taking the view

Our first activity was the ice tunnel called Glacier Cave. It is one of the highlight here. I find it was more fun walking along the side of the mountain like what we did in Pilatus the day before.

The supported section near the entrance

The unsupported part, it's so slippery

Ice wall

The Glacier Cave, must be built by Elsa

We then prepared ourselves before going out to the snow field. And of course, we ate. I find eating is the most important thing to keep the body warm, especially for us who are not so cold-resistant since we are living in everlasting summer country. So, we stuffed ourselves and out we went!

Sunny weather, lucky us!

People were playing with the snow

Mount Titlis stands gracefully at 3,238m above the sea level and it is the highest summit of the range north of the Susten Pass. The everlasting snow here makes Titlis one of the most crowded attractions in Switzerland. Titlis is the place for people to ski or just to walk around, your choice.

A piece of snow ice

Another bucket list: eating the snow!

We climbed to the viewing gallery at the top. It was not easy but it was fun. We were not used to walking atop the fluffy snow but it was surely a cool experience.

On top of the world

My footprints are here

The Alps

A swan on top of titlis, my muscles are all tight and hard 

A giant white Hershey chocolate?

Relaxing on top of the world

I finally lay on a bed of snow

We walked down from the viewing gallery to the Cliff Walk, which is another attraction in Mount Titlis. Titlis Cliff Walk is a 1m wide 100m long suspension bridge that is hanging 3,041m above the sea level. 150 steps and you can reach the other side.

We tried to walk here but after a few steps, the winds blew so hard and it was getting foggy. We did not want to sabotage the rest of the journey so we decided to back off.

The Cliff Walk, fog started to come

It was so foggy!!!

We then proceeded to Ice Flyer station besides this bridge. Our pass included the Ice Lift and what we needed to do was just sit while the Ice Lift did its work. We rode it. The Ice Flyer was just nice for 6 people and it looked scary at first. We sat and we looked down, our feet hanging in the air and there was some part of the track sloping down quite steeply. However, it was a great experience, but maybe not for acrophobias.

Ice Flyer

Thrilled and happy

The ride is suspended on steel rope

The view

After that, we realised it was past noon and we needed to be back. We were lucky because we spent the sunny time up there. When we finished with all the activities, clouds and winds surrounded the area already.

We took the cable car rides back to Engelberg and walked to the station, this time not losing our way. But, we missed our train and we were required to wait for the next train. So, we had our late lunch and than back to Lucerne, walked back to the hotel to get our luggage, and we proceeded to Zurich with train. The ticket to Zurich cost CHF 25 (~SGD 35) one way per person.

Back to Engelberg

Engelberg small train station

Engelberg train station from across the road

Next - Wandering in Zurich

Love is in the air,
Little Feet