Category Archives: Europe

Safestay Hostel at Elephant & Castle in London, England

December 9, 2013 zaagitravel@gmail.com

If you’re looking for a hostel in London I highly recommend Safestay (Elephant & Castle).

Here are some of the reasons why.

1. It’s safe.

Like the name suggests, Safestay provides a safe and secure place to lay your head at night. A key card is required to enter through any door, even into the elevator and hallways. There is also a 24-hour receptionist at the front door.

I stayed in a mixed (boys+girls) 6 person room for 5 nights and never once felt uncomfortable. In fact, the guys in my room were awesome! An american, an aussie, and two handsome dutch boys. I’m even Facebook friends with them all. When you’re in a safe environment don’t be afraid to break out of your comfort zone and meet new people.

2. Easy transportation access.

There are six bus stops directly in front of the hostel.

In order, from nearest to furthest — although the furthest is less than 200 feet away:

1. Walworth, Larcom Street (SE17) (Stop D)

2. Walworth, Larcom Street (SE17) (Stop B)

3. Larcom Street (Stop B)

4. Walworth, Larcom Street (Stop A)

5. Walworth, Larcom Street (SE17) (Stop C)

6. Larcom Street (Stop C)

TIP!!! Take a photo of the bus route maps in front of your hostel. It’ll make getting home a heck of a lot easier!

I can confidently say that the bus was definitely my favorite way to travel around the city. The Tube/Underground (Elephant & Castle on the Bakerloo & Northern lines) is of course another option but you’ll have about a 5 minute walk through a bit of a sketchy area, which I did many times but always with a group of people and generally avoided it at night.

Most major highlights around London are a 10-30 minute easy and scenic bus ride from the hostel’s front door!

I would suggest buying an Oyster card, which can be used both on buses as well as the Tube. As of December 2013, a single bus trip with cash will cost you £2.40; OR £1.40 with the Oyster card with a daily cap of £4.40. A single Tube trip with cash will cost you £4.50; OR £2.10 with the Oyster card with a daily cap of £7.00 or £8.40 depending on if it’s peak or off-peak season. This is all aside from the fact that it’s just plain annoying to have to get out cash to pay for public transportation when you can simply swipe a card and be on your merry way!

3. Clean and comfortable.

The entire property was spotless and the rooms were cleaned daily. While the building itself is from the 18th century the hostel is quite new, having opened in 2012.

Some of the amenities include:

– individual bed curtains

– large lockers underneath the beds

– free wifi in common areas

– free continental breakfast (cereals, croissants, yogurt, juice, coffee, etc.)

– bar and restaurant

Other bonuses:

There’s no age limit on guests! Even families are welcome.

Staff is friendly and professional!

___

I always recommend Safestay to anyone I know traveling to London. You can bet the next time I hop across the pond I’ll be paying them another visit.

You can browse hostels and book a bed through HostelWorld.com.

The hostel’s address:

Safestay at Elephant & Castle

144-152 Walworth Road
Elephant & Castle
London SE17 1JL

Europe, Russia

An Afternoon in Saint Petersburg, Russia

September 24, 2013 zaagitravel@gmail.com

Russia…

It still hides behind a mysterious cloud. Only in fairly recent history have outsiders been allowed to visit and yet many still don’t — possibly due to the difficult visa process — amongst other reasons.

One way around the annoying visa situation is arriving by cruise ship and taking the cruise line’s offered trips, which is how many visitors to Saint Petersburg go about things.

But do I do that? Of course not. No, I have to be difficult. I have to pay WAY too much for an approximately 4×3 inch piece of paper that allows me to frolic around Russia without a tour guide because I tend to try way too hard to embrace the free-spirit side of my personality. Was it the best decision? Maybe. Maybe not. Both sides have their pros and cons.

If you are doing Saint Petersburg independently, here are some suggestions for how you could spend an available afternoon (or morning).

1. Sip a hot chocolate at Cafe Singer in the Dom Knigi bookstore on Nevsky Prospekt.
Located across from the Kazan Cathedral, the Dom Knigi bookstore towers over pedestrians below.

On the second floor resides Cafe Singer with it’s decadent pastries and a vast variety of both cold and hot drinks to sample. It’s not the most affordable place in town but the view is incredible, the food and drinks are delicious, and there is free wifi. Need I say more?

2. Admire beautiful Russian architecture at the Church of our Saviour on Spilled Blood.

Just down the road from the Dom Knigi bookstore is the Church of our Saviour on Spilled Blood.

This stunning piece of Russian architecture, located beside the River Neva, was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was murdered in 1881.

The church, which was closed due to political unrest for a significant part of the 20th century and then under restoration for decades, only opened back up to the public in August 1997.

TIP: My friend’s DSLR camera lens was stolen right off her body as the camera hung from her neck while we walked towards the church. A group of men ran by and hit her arm with a small book as a distraction. Seconds later the lens was gone and she was devastated to say the least. Don’t become a victim. You can prevent this by keeping your camera directly in front of you and holding on to your lens at all times. Same goes for your bags. Keep your purse or backpack in front of you and keep a hand on it. Also keep an eye out for anyone/anything suspicious. Being aware of your surroundings could save you a lot of heartache — as well as time, money, and your safety. Prevention is key.

The interior of the church, which holds Russia’s largest collection of mosaic art (several thousand square yards) is beyond impressive and truly breathtaking.

3. Grab some pierogi pies a few blocks away at Stolle.

West of the church, a few blocks away, is Stolle. I had heard about this place from many people in the months leading up to my trip. It was difficult to find at first (due to the street names in the surrounding area being so incredibly similar) but once we did find it we returned for a total of 3 meals in 3 days. It was that good (as well as inexpensive — key for a traveling college graduate’s budget).

TIP: If you see a place called Barcelona, keep going, it’s just around the corner. If you spot red awnings you’ve found it!

For my first visit to Stolle I tried a slice of strawberry and a slice of green onion. There are two sizes to choose from, small — shown here — and large, which is about double the size of small. Depending on availability, Stolle offers pies in: cranberry, cowberry, apricot, apple, lemon, sweet cheese, cabbage, rabbit and mushroom, green onion, herring, mushroom, chicken, fish, meat, salmon, and more.

As you can see, the girls clearly enjoyed their first taste of Russian pierogi pies! Look at those clean plates and big smiles!

Are you interested in traveling to Russia, why or why not?

Have you been to Saint Petersburg? What would you recommend to someone with only a day or two to spend?

Europe, Germany

The Tierpark Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany

September 12, 2013 zaagitravel@gmail.com 1 Comment

What if I told you that the best zoo I have ever been to is located just outside of Hamburg, Germany?

What if I told you that I am a former resident of San Diego, a city known for it’s zoo, and I still think the Hamburg Zoo is better. And not just by a little bit. By a lot!

As you enter the Tierpark Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany you are almost immediately greeted by a herd of friendly elephants. The big, gray, muddy animals are happy to hold out their long trunks in order to receive snacks from visitors, who are allowed to feed them.

I could have spent all day with these fascinating giants, but the girls and I decided to venture out and chose to take a counter-clockwise approach to exploring the park.

Heads up… these photos were taken with a DSLR camera, but without any zoom lens, just the standard factory lens that it came with.

The park itself is massive. It maintains a natural landscape that I have never seen at any other zoo. Green grassy fields sprawl out on either side of dirt walkways; tall trees frame the different exhibits making it feel like you’re really out in nature with the animals.

One exhibit that looked a little less natural but still beautiful nonetheless was this futuristic looking dome where a group of orangutans were hanging out, some of them literally.

As we left the orangutan exhibit we crossed an optional foot bridge with (fake) crocodiles swimming beneath us.

Down the main dirt pathway we came across a peacock that paused long enough for us to grab a quick photo.

Now just because we’re grown, have graduated college, and are beginning our own careers doesn’t mean we’re too old to have some fun at the kids playground, right?? The five of us piled onto this swinging contraption without hesitation and had ourselves an awesome time. You know you would do it too!

Like the grown-up kids at heart that we are, of course one of the highlights of the entire zoo was the gated goat petting area. Being that it was late spring during our visit we got to see many baby goats, including this little guy below.

The girls and I enjoyed loving on the baby goats.
Obvi.

The goats enjoyed the attention also.

But I think it’s important to mention that goats are very aggressive, however in a non-violent way. Maybe persistent, stubborn, or tenacious would be more accurate terms to describe their personalities.

TIP: Put any papers away, like your map, before going inside the petting area. I saw some teenage boys feed their map and a tissue to a pregnant goat. It annoyed me enough to say something, and even though they didn’t speak english you can bet they knew I was angry. Just because goats will eat nearly anything doesn’t mean they should.

TIP: grab some nutella crepes (the stand is located across from the goats) after being inside the petting area, as to avoid having the smell all over our hands while trying to pet the little guys and gals. If not, you’re asking to get your fingers nibbled on.

Same with the ponies.

Take it from someone who nearly had their finger chomped off by a pony at age 5. Animals don’t often mean to actually bite you, they smell or see what they think is food and before you know it you’re wishing it was Charlie that had bit your finger instead.

A couple minutes down the road we discovered this sassy seal. He/she put on a good show for us, repeatedly slipping in and out of the water, but not without lounging like a Victoria’s Secret model mid photo shoot. Minus the bikini. Scandalous.
To protect the seal’s privacy I’ll refrain from publishing those indecent pictures. You’re welcome, seal.

One of the kid favorites was the walrus, probably because of the face-to-face interaction.

I have a theory. Humans are intrigued by marine animals because underwater life is so foreign to life on land. Or what I like to call Reverse Little Mermaid syndrome.Maddie and Rachel played marine biologist before we went off to find Rachel’s favorites, the lions…

Awww, look at how happy she is.

Spending a few hours at the Tierpark Hagenbeck Zoo was by far the best way to spend time in Hamburg. I highly recommend it to anyone passing through the area. It is accessible by public transport; we took the metro system — exit the red Metro line 2 at the Tierpark Hagenbeck stop — which drops you off just around the corner from the entrance.

The park also has an aquarium connected to it — but you are required to buy a separate ticket for entrance. Inside the aquarium you can see fish, sharks, snakes, spiders, and the best part… there is a Madagascar room! Over 10 lemur monkeys climbing around a space the size of my kitchen, if my kitchen had a super high monkey-filled ceiling. We took pictures with the lemurs on our shoulders, heads, and backs.

I can hardly think of a better way to spend a day in Hamburg. Do yourself a favor and go!

Amsterdam, Austria, Barcelona, Cote d'Azur, Europe, Florence, France, Germany, Italy, Lauterbrunnen, London, Lucerne, Monaco, Munich, Netherlands, Paris, Rome, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Venice, Vienna

The Top 5 Reasons to Travel with Contiki Tours (Review + Tips!)

August 29, 2013 zaagitravel@gmail.com 9 Comments

I arrived in London at the Royal International Hotel not knowing what to expect. Contiki’s “European Escapade” tour was set to take a group of us to Paris, Beaujolais, Barcelona, Arles, Antibes, Nice, Monaco, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Vatican City, Venice, Vienna, Munich, the Austrian Tyrol, Liechtenstein, Lucerne, Lauterbrunnen, Heidelberg, St. Goar, and Amsterdam over the course of three and a half weeks.

To be honest, it hadn’t been my idea to book a Contiki tour. I’m generally anti tours because I think I can usually have a better experience planning it all on my own, but this trip was selected by my aunt and it was Europe so I thought, why not. As it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised when it ended up being one of my favorite travel experiences.

Overall, I would recommend Contiki to young (the company only accommodates people ages 18-35), friendly, down-to-earth people who are looking to make friends from around the world and create fun memories in a beautiful and exciting setting.

Here are my top 5 reasons to travel with Contiki.

1. Make friends with great people from all over the world.

Many of my tour mates turned into friends that I will stay in touch with for a lifetime. Actually, writing this blog made me realize just how much I miss them.

While a majority of our group was from Australia we also had awesome people from the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, China, and South Africa (as well as our tour manager and bus driver, both from England).

We came from diverse backgrounds, had different interests, and yet, by the end of the tour, we were as close as family. Meeting these incredible individuals was the absolute highlight of my summer.

2. Stay in incredible exclusive-to-Contiki properties.

Our entire group’s favorite place that we stayed during the Contiki tour was a place called Chateau de Cruix. It is a 400+ year old chateau in a wine region of central France known as Beaujolais (which was recently highlighted in the August issue of National Geographic Traveler).

The chateau produces it’s own wine, has a beautiful pool, overlooks miles of vineyards, and has a bar in the underground cellar known as the Cave.

The atmosphere here was one of the best anywhere. The girls would lay out on the lounge chairs by the pool while the guys played rugby on the lawn in the evening. Multiple tour groups are often staying at the Chateau at the same time creating a fun and social environment.

My tips for staying at the Chateau de Cruix:

There’s no elevator in this property so be prepared to carry your luggage up the stairs to your room. Take advantage of the strong attractive foreign dudes.

To thank said strong attractive foreign dude that carried your bag up the stairs, buy a round of Ice Tropez. It’s a French peach-colored drink in a glass bottle that the Chateau sells and it’s probably one of the most delicious alcoholic beverages I’ve ever tasted.

The chateau packs picnic baskets (wine, breads, cheeses, fruit, chocolates, etc.) for groups to take on a hike up to a nearby lookout spot. On your way, if you spot a cemetery, you’ve gone too far. Turn around. You missed one of the landmarks on the map.

Other exclusive properties we stayed at were: a “chalet” in Switzerland surrounded by waterfalls, a “gasthof” in Austria where we helped serve dinner after paragliding from the local mountains, and many more.

3. Travel to multiple destinations without the added stress.

Traveling alone or with just a few people can be wonderful. But it can also be seriously awful. Like the time it took 5 hours to go what should have been 20 minutes on the tube in London with 85 pounds of luggage. It’s 1000x worse than it sounds. Trust me, you don’t want to do that.

Or the time I received unwanted attention from a man in Belgium at 6 in the morning while I was alone on my way to the airport. No one wants to star in their own personal version of Taken 3.

On Contiki, your driver (or the hot Australian dude on tour) puts your bag on the coach for you. You can kick back on an air-conditioned bus and watch the sunflowers fields of southern France or the turquoise lakes of Switzerland outside the window. No back injury, no sore arms, no fatigue, no creepy random men, no anxiety, no worries.

4. Experience your destinations with a knowledgeable guide.

: Tour manager Lisa and driver Jamie

Our tour manager, Lisa, worked day and night to create the best possible European experience for us. She went through intensive training to prepare for her position and it shows. She knew exactly how to handle all situations, was full of interesting and impressive knowledge about every place we visited, and made all of the days entertaining and memorable.

For example, while we staying in the south of France Lisa suggested we go to AntibesLand, an amusement park on the Cote d’Azur.

The bravest of our group rode hundreds of feet in the air and saw the gorgeous Mediterranean coastline all around us before free-falling back to Earth. We went on fast, spinning rides again and again and recovered by stuffing our faces with nutella crepes and warm, cheesy pizza.

5. If you’re a young and inexperienced traveler, being apart of a group will satisfy your parent’s requirement for safety.

To be honest, I never would have thought to join a Contiki tour. I had already traveled extensively and always preferred traveling with 2 or 3 other people, not a group of 40-50. My aunt chose Contiki for the safety that comes with being apart of a group. It’s a convincing factor for anyone who has a worried family.

The downsides to traveling with Contiki (because there are downsides to every type of travel)….

There is limited time in each location. Only 2 days somewhere isn’t enough to see and do everything. If you want to get a taste of each place to help decide where to come back to and spend more time at someday, then it’s great.

Traveling by coach means early mornings and long bus rides. If you’re like me and find it difficult to sleep sitting up be prepared to be tired many of the evenings.

It’s easy to get sick while traveling on a coach with nearly 50 other people. It’s close quarters, it’s little sleep, and it’s a cold waiting to happen. The “Contiki Cough” as we called it was pretty terrible. I remember skipping through the cobble-stoned streets of Florence early one morning with my Aussie friend Dane. We were celebrating finally getting our hands on some antibiotics. My suggestions: bring (and TAKE) daily vitamins, bring over-the-counter cold medication, stay hydrated, sleep whenever you can. Just do whatever it takes to avoid getting sick or to recuperate if you do get sick.

If you have any questions about my experience with Contiki or would like a further review on the European Escapade, comment below and I’ll be happy to talk more about it.

Europe, Latvia, Riga

Honey, Kvass & Tea: The Central Market & Apsara Tea Room in Riga, Latvia

August 18, 2013 zaagitravel@gmail.com 2 Comments

As we descended from the fifth deck of the MV Explorer I had no expectations. I did not know much about Latvia. All I really knew was that it had relatively recently found independence after being occupied by both Nazi Germany as well as the former Soviet Union.

I suppose I expected a place still obviously recovering from such a harsh and painful history. Instead, Latvia blew my mind and stole my heart.

It was a surprisingly quiet sun-filled Saturday morning in June when we finally found the massive Central Market in Riga, the capital of Latvia. The popular marketplace is housed inside of five old German Zeppelin airplane hangers from WWI.

Before entering I stopped at a wagon with a bright blue awning reading KVASS. I smiled at the female vendor that looked about my age; she smiled back lowering her eyes as if apologizing for not knowing any English. I hadn’t had time to brush up on my Latvian either (not serious) so I bit my lip and lightly laughed while holding out Latvian change and she picked up the appropriate coins from my palm. We smiled at each other again. In that moment I wished I could have offered her more than an english “thank you” as she handed me my cold, chestnut brown drink. We waved goodbye.

I had heard about this strange but supposedly delicious drink from friends and could not resist trying it. Kvass, a common eastern European non-alcoholic drink, is made from fermented rye bread. It’s actually quite good — or at least I think so, as you can see here.

I bought another cup as we exited and was given even more kvass by my friends who did not admire it as much as I did. It kind of tastes like the little brother to beer. Slightly sweet and earthy, a bit tangy and tart… I’m beginning to realize how difficult it is to describe. But I do recommend trying it if you get the opportunity!

A couple booths away we stopped to buy a giant basket of deep crimson cherries. We used a water bottle to wash them, letting the water fall into the street at our feet.

We walked through all of the hangers — I don’t have many pictures inside due to my double-fisting of the kvass. However, we encountered entire buildings filled with honey, nuts, meat products, seafood, fruits, vegetables, handmade knit goods.

Outside the hangers were numerous booths selling inexpensive clothes, shoes, and souvenirs. All of us bought miniature bottles of local honey, a Latvian speciality. I kept mine in my luggage for over a month, planning to bring it home for my parents to try. Sadly, the cranky man at Heathrow Airport took mine away (after he searched my entire carry-on which nearly made me late for my flight). Thanks, dude.

Alright rant over, back to the loveliness of Latvia. It really was. Lovely is the perfect word to describe it.

Lovely. Like the local, wrinkled old women buying and selling items around the market as they peered at us curiously from behind the tied scarves around their faces. I wish I’d had the nerve to ask them for a photo. That’s something I need to get better at — learning how to take pictures of people, especially ones I don’t know. I haven’t mastered that science. It’s difficult to break the ice especially with a language barrier.

Us girls decided to venture on and discover another part of Riga. Without an idea of where we were going or what we would find around the next corner we crossed the street using the underground pedestrian walkway.

Down the road a little and to the left on Raina bulvaris we stumbled across an odd shaped building perched along a river that calmly coursed through a deep green park, shaded by soaring trees. Apsara Tea Room, a Latvian chain of tea houses, was circular and small, but with large windows allowing for plenty of natural light brightening the vibrant wooden interior.

On the inside, a rustic blue and white staircase twirled upward to a second level where striped multi-colored plush pillows lined the floor in a circular shape. A giant black metal chandelier hung in the center of the second floor, eye level with those sitting facing the windows.

The view, which oversaw lush green lawns and the Pilsetas Canals lined with waddling ducks, created a feeling of serenity and peacefulness. As we entered we were greeted by a bubbly blonde woman behind the counter. Her voice was high-pitched, but in an endearing way, like a Disney cartoon character I would have loved to sing along with as a child.

The counter held glass jars full of sweet treats like Sokolades Cepums (heart-shaped chocolate chip cookies), Mandeli Cepums (square almond shortbread cookies), and Riekstu Cepums (horse-shoe shaped sugar slazed cookies) for only $.25 Lats each.

The walls contained endless assortments of exotic teas, and various tall slices of cake with layered fillings showcased in a glass refrigerator to the left of the cookie jars.

Two large black chalkboards were hung overhead and displayed the teas and their prices ($1.20 – 3.50 Lats) in handwritten white chalk. Iced teas came in two varieties, red and green, both were amply sweetened as well as absolutely delicious.

A version of “Someone Like You”, sung by a male voice, played in the background. The six of us girls sat down on the striped cushions upstairs and faced the windows. We barely spoke for ten minutes. I relished in how good it felt here. The Tea House. Riga. Latvia. Europe.

It felt homey, in both a comfortable and brand new way. I was with good friends in a very beautiful place. A place that felt exclusive, secret and undiscovered. It’s easy to run around and hit all the typical, tourist hot spots.

But this. This was special. This was the feeling I chase. The reason I fly, sail, and ride around the world. Latvia, I can’t wait to return to you.

There’s a quote by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. It’s meant to describe people but it now reminds me of Latvia.

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

Look for the Part II posting of my time in Latvia coming soon!

Zaagi Travel