FOOD IN COLOGNE

Eating is one of my favorite hobbies which is especially hard when you’re really bad at cooking. But okay that doesn’t matter for now haha! When in Cologne the big question is where to eat? Unfortunately I was only there for two days but I did manage to come up with some suggestions.

Oriental Healthy @ Cafe Buur

The one place I had been hearing all about was Cafe Buur so of course I wanted to go try it. It’s a new place with a menu including healthy and unhealthy foods, but all a very yummy. My friend got the salmon toast and I stuck to the big dish (because I like to eat…) Oriental Healthy. At least it was healthy so I didn’t feel so bad about eating this much. I was pleasantly surprised with the mix of foods since it actually came together really well. I highly recommend eating here, it’s a good vibe.

California Rolls @ Shokudo Köln

All you can eat sushi is always the right decision, especially when it’s cheap like this place. I was quite surprised to pay 12 euros for it, since here in the Netherlands you can expect to pay at least around 20 to be able to eat at one of the classic chains. We ordered a lot and ate a lot but did run into one tiny issue as our experience turned more into an all you can wait sushi…
Our second order took a solid hour, but we were so hungry and impatient we ordered dessert. But then the dessert came before our second order of sushi arrived so that got a little messed up haha. Nevertheless cheap and good sushi, Shukodo is the way to go. But keep in mind, you might end up spending a long time here!

I mentioned previously the German bakeries and their heavenly bread. They also sell sandwiches there, freshly made! I took this picture at the Wiener Bäckerei at the central station wishing I was hungry enough to eat one. Sadly not, except I could go for a salami sandwich right now. If you need to grab a quick lunch and want it to be good, this is your best option. My favorite part is really that it is all freshly made, especially the bread.

COLOGNE

I’ve been spending the last months at home and have really developed “Fernweh”. A feeling where you really want to travel and go explore but my schedule is so busy I barely get the chance to. And to be honest I’m broke. But I managed to fit a quick weekend in Cologne to visit my childhood best friend Katharina and wow we hadn’t seen each other in 4 years. But it felt like it hadn’t even been that long. The city is really pretty and we spent the weekend shopping and exploring the university park. I also managed to burn a hole into my pants with an iron, which just goes to show how great I am at household. Nevertheless I was still gladly strolling around town that day along the river and the Dom. I left early sunday morning to get back to reality and actually do some work for school but of course could not leave before taking a visit to the German bakery. If you plan on going to Germany, you need to visit a bakery because the bread is amazing. We finished a lovely cup of coffee and I was ready to head back home. With an adventskalender, bread and gelbwurst (because I gotta bring some german back home) I took the train back which of course was late because Deutsche Bahn can never be on time.

SZIGET FESTIVAL

For the first time this summer I was at a festival and I am so excited to have finally experienced it. The Sziget Festival in Budapest this year was a success and I can probably still find glitter somewhere in my hair haha! Besides being at the festival, we also visited Fisherman’s Bastion, a touristy place that overlooks the Hungarian Parliament. Really pretty! Of course you cannot visit Budapest without going to one of the famous baths and lucky for us we had a free ticket to access one of the most famous ones, not sure what it’s called but the entire building is yellow. To my surprise the city is filled with really good food spots and restaurants like this food truck alley Karaván. I had some yummy sweet potato fries (my favorite) with a fresh green smoothie and Lauren a burrito. I highly recommend coming here, especially on a sunny summer day!

A travel tip: if you need to fly somewhere but the flights are expensive, then read more abut our little trick: Budapest is super close to Bratislava which was much cheaper to fly into and then you can take a 2 hour bus ride to get to Budapest from Bratislava’s city center (also rly cheap). Like this you get to experience an extra new city, but you can also save money by flying into a surrounding location where there might not be so much demand to fly to. So when booking flights and they’re really expensive always make sure to look for other surrounding airports!

LUNCH ON PAROS

This post is quite late not to say the least haha, but it’s been a busy few weeks with uni starting and the beginning of my board year. It’s always nice to look back however on the summer vacation and the lovely last day spent in Greece. We had lunch (on the island Paros) at this place called Moschonas Fish in a little cute town named Naousa. What was really cool about this restaurant is that all the fish they served they had fished on their own, and they had fresh octopus hanging everywhere. Of course we had to eat the usual calamari which we were having every single day of this trip. We also had some tatziki with pita bread and were able to fill our stomachs before we proceeded to walk around the town. At this point of the vacation we were super tired so it was a relaxed day and we were looking forward to finally returning home.

THE QUIET ISLAND – SYROS

Leaving the buzzing island of Mykonos, our next stop was Syros. This less famous island seemed to be the vacation island for all the Greek citizens but it also meant that it was cheap and did not have crazy tourist prices. Dinner always consisted of fish, whether it was mussels or calamari, we were always eating good. Most of our time we spent relaxing on Vari Beach and increasingly getting darker skin. The second and last day we used to walk around the main town Ermoupoli, hiked up to the church on top of the mountain and take a trip back down. It was a relaxed town visit and we ended up spending most of our time sitting in the airconditioning and then taking our ferry to Santorini.

THE TOURIST ISLANDS – SANTORINI AND MYKONOS

Swept away by blue and white tourists cross these islands eating Souvlaki, taking pictures and occasionally partying. We were part of this move of people exploring the little town on Mykonos and visiting Oia on Santorini. Santorini was a short visit with 12 hours on the island. The goal was to go to the famous town for an hour and head back so we didn’t miss our next ferry. The island seems very pretty but in order to enjoy it you must go for a longer amount of time and stay somewhere were you are not overthrown with masses of tourists. Mykonos on the other hand was touristy as well but a lot calmer. We managed to stay a bit longer on this island (two days) and spent the morning in the town (discovering souvlaki haha!!) and the afternoon on the beach. Tanning in the sun, then going for a swim when it gets too hot is the best time to spend time and if you get hungry you can just order fresh calamari from the bar and enjoy that. If you visit Mykonos and want to party (because yes it is a party island haha) two places I really liked was Tropicana Beach Club and Paradise Club. Out of these two islands I must say Mykonos was by far my favorite. Despite it being expensive and touristy it has the ideal vibe you would expect from a Greek Island.

 

ATHENS

After three weeks I am finally sitting down and uploading the Greece pictures. Our trip started out in Athens but we were only there for a day meaning the exploring didn’t go beyond really good “fredo” coffee for breakfast and then heading over to the Acropolis. Going to Greece in high season (so July) meant many tourists and it was just a wave of people moving forward to see these historic creations. A few places I really enjoyed in the city was the Mary Poppins cafe. Sadly I didn’t get to actually eat here but we walked past multiple times. It is impossible to miss this place as it’s decorated with many umbrellas and all the workers are dressed in the outfits you can see in the movie. Overall, Athens is a city worth visiting but not sure if it is a place that calls my name for me to return.

GHENT

In combination to Antwerpen, our short trip included a train ride to Ghent. Another gorgeous city with a historic center.

The city is quite lively and it seems there is always something to do. During the time of our visit the city was hosting a festival, meaning stages were set up all around town. It looked like one big party but did ruin the look of the center. Despite that to get a good view, we climbed the St Bavon Cathedral. I think I must’ve died climbing those 500 steps but at least when I got to the top I was welcomed with a magnificent outlook onto the town. Now I’ve been able to recover for a few days from the recent trips and tomorrow the travels continue!

ANTWERPEN – YOUR LITTLE GETAWAY

Never before had I been to Antwerpen, despite it being quite close to where I actually live. The city has a gorgeous center with a Grote Markt that is filled with cafes buzzing with people at all times of the day. This destination, which is famous for its diamonds, has multiple museums to further your knowledge (if u want haha). With this in mind, my friend Philipe and I took a bus down there to explore the city. Our goal was to look at some museums and try out some trendy restaurants. But we were disappointed…museums are closed on Wednesdays (the full day we had) so that was a bit of a fail.

Instead, this trip turned into a little getaway. Hence the title haha. We splurged a little and decided to stay at the Raddison Blu on Koningin Astrid Plein. The view from the room was stunning, with the window perfectly framing the central station building. Staying away from this hotel room made exploring the city kind of hard haha. Starting the morning off with fancy room service and eating that in your bathrobe is the best way to relax and spend your morning. Sitting on the chair and finishing your freshly brewed coffee before showering and actually starting your day is honestly the best way to go.

Once we had actually decided to leave the hotel, we did get to know the city quite well. If you ever plan on visiting Antwerpen, I do recommend exploring the city as you can find some exciting spots (for a good view!!). One of the museums that did decide to be open on a Wednesday was the Mas Museum. This place is filled with exhibitions about a city in India to a Life and Death. Once you climbed the 13 floors to the top of the building you are welcomed with a view of Antwerpen making the climb totally worth it. Except it wasn’t actually a climb, there’s just a lot of escalators…

As a treat, I suggest trying ice cream from this place called Australian. Yes, a misleading name haha but to me this was some pretty good gelato outside of Italy. And I can’t forget to mention the restaurant called Morso. A place where you can enjoy some very yummy meat and eat yourself fat 😉

SUNRISES AND SUNSETS

Waking up at 5:15 am on the daily has been peaceful and therapeutic. Despite being super tired at that early time of the morning it’s a great time of the day to enjoy the sunrise. Not being disturbed by any sounds because the world is still deep asleep makes this entire experience more amazing.

The sunsets on this island are breathtaking. All I can do is stare into the nothing and enjoy the gorgeous orange light shining. To remember moments like this I always play the same song which fits the vibe perfectly and lets me enjoy my surroundings (Hanoï Café – Bleu Toucan).