Day 1 : Copenhagen

I arrived at Copenhagen Airport and was surprised that Immigration did not even asked if I was vaccinated or to show my vaccination cert. Even more surprising was that the moment I took the train from the airport into the city, no one was wearing mask both outdoors and indoors. Other than some signs to remind you not to enter if you show any minor symptoms of covid, and sanitisers placed in high density places, it's like Covid was never a thing here,  

After flying more than 13.5 hours to get far away from Singapore, alas the first thing I see when I got into the cental train station is this...

McDonald's Singapore Fried Chicken burger. What on earth is Singapore fried chicken? 😅

Anyway, as I arrived way too early, the room wasn't ready for me to check in, so I had to store my luggage. It's the 1st time I encounter having to pay to store luggage at the hostel I am staying at. The tricky situation was that the machine only accepts cash. Only just arrived in Copenhagen, I didn't have any local currency on me nor was I intending to get any as I read that everything can be paid with a card. The hostel staff subsequently told me that I could also store it at the central train station which is a little more expensive but at least they accepted cards, or get currency changed at the train station.

So off I went to the train station again, with luggage in tow, but unfortunately the money changers do not open so early on a Sunday morning. I made my way to the train luggage storage counter and in a blurry state I made an error with the conversion - what originally seemed decent in my mind, turned out to be 3 times the cost of what it would had been if I had stored it at the hostel with cash (DKK80 vs maximum of DKK30). Travel woes! But I was glad to be able to get started with exploring what Copenhagen had to offer.

After a drizzly and gloomy arrival, the weather nicely cleared out by 9.30am (by the time I stored my luggage), allowing me to cover much of Copenhagen has to offer in beautiful sunny weather. It was 9°C for most part of the day, but it didn't felt at all cold, except for later in the afternoon, when it started getting breezier.

In the 5 hours I had, I managed to cover probably about 70% of what I wanted to see in Copenhagen.

Tivoli - most popular amusement Park in the world. It's said Tivoli inspired the creation of Disney world. As a thrill seeker, I considered visiting, but after seeing the price, I gave up the thought. Besides having to pay for admission (which was easily S$80), rides are then individually charged. Way too expensive for a budget trip! 😅

City Hall Square

Stroget - longest pedestrian only street in Europe. Lots of beautiful low rise buildings located in this street with numerous shops, including the famous Danish brand Lego. One can easily roam around here and find pleasure in getting lost among the various side streets. 

Christmas markets were also just starting to be set up, though it's likely I won't already be in Copenhagen when it starts operating. 

Royal Danish Theatre - a beautiful building

Nyhavn - one of my favourite spot in Copenhagen, with the colourful buildings by the water.

Amalienborg - home of the Danish royal family. The guards are known as Den Kongelige Livgarde. Marching of the guards seemed less formal and rigid compared to other countries which has similar changing of guards.

Frederick's Church - one of the nicest Church in Copenhagen. Also known as the Marble Church for its rococo architecture. Lots of details in the building, including statues of prominent theologians and ecclesiastical figures encircles the grounds of the building. It has the largest church dome in Scandinavia with a span of 31m. The inspiration was probably St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Kastellet - is a citadel. It is one of the best preserved fortresses in Northern Europe. It is constructed in the form of a pentagon with bastions at its corners. A number of buildings are located within the grounds of Kastellet, including the Citadel Church as well as a windmill. 

The area houses various military activities but it mainly serves as a public park and a historic site.

The Little Mermaid - iconic statue of Denmark. Commissioned to be built by Danish brewer Carl Jacobsen, after he was extremely moved after watching the ballet of the same name. It was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale about a mermaid who gives up everything to be united with a young, handsome prince on land.

Every morning and evening she swims to the surface from the bottom of the sea and, perched on her rock in the water, she stares longingly towards the shore hoping to catch a glimpse of her beloved prince.

St. Albans Church - also known as The English Church, dedicated to the growing English congregation back in the 1880s. The church with the Gefion Fountain in the foreground.

Meals are on the expensive side in Copenhagen, which can easily cost at least DKK150 (S$30) but I found a pizza takeaway (Tony's Pizza) that had raved reviews and was just less than 10 mins walk away. 

I came back with an amazingly good Italian pizza topped with pepperoni and mushrooms for DKK61 (about S$12).

After all that walking and an extremely long day, I was extremely exhausted that I fell dead asleep by 8.30pm! 

Day 154 : Flying Business Class on Singapore Airlines

This is my first time flying Business Class on Singapore Airlines and I was tremendously looking forward to the flight. 

Travelling in style had been my way of travel on the return leg of the long haul flights of my 5 month travel, following my Business Class experience on Lufthansa 1+ month earlier.

It was fairly empty in the Business Class section of Singapore Airlines from Barcelona to Singapore. 

I recalled that it used to be a direct flight when I took the same route 5 years back, but now there is a stopover in Malpensa, Italy Airport.  At least I am on Business Class this time round, so the additional 1+ hour didn’t really bother me.

My experience on the flight – definitely better than Economy Class, though I had expected a lot more than what I had experienced during my flight on Business Class.

Day 146 – 148 : Calanque, Cassis, Nimes, Montpellier, Carcassonne, Toulouse, Foix

The southern part of France is not easily accessible by public transport. 

Wanting to explore the area better and still targeting to reach Barcelona in 5 days, I decided to rent a car from Marseille. 

With just 3 days of car rental, I must say I did very well with the routes, covering a total of almost 770km – from Marseille to the Calanques and Cassis, to Nimes and Montpellier, Toulouse, Foix and finally ending in Perpignan.  All on just 35 Litres of Diesel!

Details of the routes are summarised below, which is somewhat on the rush side.  I could certainly had spread them out for a 5 day instead of a 3 day trip, to better experience and explore a few more sights. 

The below post will outline how much time is recommended to spend in each town.

For tips about renting a car and driving around France, visit my other post here.

• Driving Day 1 Route : Marseille – Calanque Sormiou – Cassis – Arles – Nimes (200km)
• Driving Day 2 Route : Nimes – Montpellier – Carcassone (230km)
• Driving Day 3 Route : Carcassone – Toulouse – Foix – Perpignan (321km)

Day 130 & 131 : Antwerp

According to the legend, the giant Druoon Antigoon was asking taxes to sail on the river.  The people didn’t like having to pay taxes, so the local hero Brabo cuts off Antigoon’s hand and throws it away.  Throwing away a hand = ‘hand werpen’ in Dutch.  And that was how it was said the city “Antwerp” was named! 

How fun!

Arriving into Antwerp, it felt more gritty than Netherlands, and the cloudy weather that I had when I arrived in the city didn’t help with the grittiness. 

There are a few exceptionally interesting buildings and sections, but in my opinion, lesser than what I saw in Netherlands. 

Here’s my personal recommendation of must do and see in Antwerp :

1. Grote Markt and the Stadhuis

The statue in front of the Stadhuis is the infamous Brabo, still deciding where to throw the hand of the giant Antigoon!

Day 101 : New Year’s Eve in Guadalajara

It's New Year's Eve, and what better way to celebrate New Year’s by drinking the Mexican national drink, tequila from 12 noon? 

No, I am not an alcoholic, but I am in the district of Jalisco, which is also where the town of Tequila is located and where all the world's Tequila is made. 

I had signed up for a Tequila tour on my last full day in Guadalajara. Departing at 9.30am, we were whisked off to Tequila factory Tres Hermanos, where they produced 100% organic tequila.  Apparently some of the other tequila producers add chemicals during the production. 

 

Day 98 : Pacuare River Rafting – Pura Vida!

It's an early morning start as I had signed up for a white water rafting trip with Rios Tropicales, and was picked up from my hostel at 6am.

The white water rafting trip takes place along the Pacuare River, which is located about 2 hours outside of San Jose, and graded with Class 3 & 4 rapids. The highest grading for rafting is a Class 6. 

Before getting to the river, we were given a very hearty breakfast at the Rios Tropicales Operations Centre, comprising of Gallo pinto (rice mixed with frijoles or black beans), plantains, scrambled eggs, bread and fresh fruits.

The drive from the Operations Center to the river was an additional 30mins, where we were driven to the river in a bull dozer pulled wagon.

Day 97 : San Jose

Taking a 4 hour bus journey from La Fortuna via the town of San Ramon, I reached San Jose in the early afternoon, leaving me enough time to explore the city of San Jose after checking into Hostel Urbano Yoses. 

Located on a quaint street of Yoses district, the owners had converted the house into a very modern hostel, with a beautiful courtyard and a great view.  Strongly recommend anyone travelling into San Jose to stay here.

Hostel Urbano Yoses is located about a 20 mins walk into downtown.  Upon reaching the city centre, I bumped into Liam and Sue and we explored the town together.

Many had said it isn't worth staying in San Jose for more than a day.  For that reason I was expecting the city to look rather crappy and run down.  But I was pleasantly surprised.

Monteverde Night Walking Tour

Jake had been in Monteverde a few days before me, and had strongly recommended the night walking tour, with good sightings of nocturnal animals including sloth. 

Here's Jake's sighting of a sloth which he had sent to me by Whatsapp. I cracked up laughing when he sent it over. 

Sloths were something I really wanted see in Costa Rica, particularly after having watched Zootopia! 

And I was lucky! 

Barely 5 minutes into my tour, just located close to the entrance, our guide spotted a sloth.

It was rather active too, and moved a lot faster than I expected. The guide told us that it was a 2-toe sloth.

There are 2 different breeds of 2-toe sloth and 4 different breeds of 3-toe sloths in the world.

They are often found on trees, and they only come on ground about once a week to do their business ie. Poop! 

They don't do business up in the trees, because they are often hanging upside down and it wouldn't be pleasant having poop fall on itself while upside down. 

They don't come down too often because they could easily be hunted by their predators. 

 
Here's a better closeup of sloth, taken from a postcard which I had bought in Monteverde!



While recording the video of the sloth, I noticed something crawling on my arm and towards my phone.  I freaked out and tried to shake it off me.

Turns out, it was a stick insect and had probably been attracted to the light on my phone. 

We continued walking through the forest with a guide.  I was constantly amazed at how the guide managed to spot various birds, viper snakes, bugs and frogs in the dark.


We even saw a tarantula, and a glowing scorpion.  I was in awe at how it glowed, and even more rare seeing it with a prey in its mouth.  



It had been a very productive tour, seeing so many different animals within an hour.

Definitely a highlight in Monteverde!

Finca Mystica

Finca Mystica is located between Merida and San Ramon. 

It is called Finca, as it is a farm located on 25 acres of forest.  From time to time, you could hear the cries of the howler monkeys on the property, and see fireflies glowing in the night.

They also grow many different herbs, plants and fruit trees on the property, many of which are used to prepare the delicious meals served in their kitchen.  .

Dinner menu is changed daily, and served at 7pm, allowing the opportunity for all guests on property to get together and interact. 

Scooting around Ometepe

Getting around Ometepe isn’t easy without own transport, and thus I was very interested in renting a scooter to explore the rest of the island. 

There was the possibility of renting a bike around Finca Mystica, but I wasn’t keen on renting it from that side of the island – There is only a small section of road that is nicely paved, and the area around Merida unfortunately isn’t one of them (read : dirt roads with uneven gravel ground). 

Below map shows the sections with good paved road (orange highlighted route).

Greek Restaurant Thalassa

The 40mins walk from Finca Mystica to Caballitos' Mar, the starting point of our kayaking trip, brought us past a small quaint Greek restaurant (Thalassa) midway, where we decided to grab lunch.

Decorated in blue and white, the Greek flag colours, we were the only guests at Thalassa and ordered a Chicken gyros pita each with juice. 

Food was good, served with fresh cut potato chips.

We were told that the chef had stayed in Greece for 17 years and cooks all meals from scratch, and that they had just recently opened the restaurant.

The place was interestingly decorated with hand made hanging lights, and even a sailing boat made out from stones, logs, recycled clothing and decorative lights.

The staff were so friendly and good natured, and before we left, handed us name cards that were personally hand written.

I would strongly recommend anyone who is on the way to the San Ramon Waterfalls or planning on going kayaking to visit them for a meal. 

Rum Tour at Flor de Cana

I am a big fan of rum, but had never visited a rum factory before. When I heard that Flor de Cana has the best rum in Central America and runs a tour daily (with the exception of Monday), it made it to my list of "to do" in Leon. 

There are tours that run to the factory, but they are super overpriced at USD40/head, of which half of that amount is used to cover transportation. 

Latina Hostel suggested that I can make my way on my own, costing just a couple USD for a return bus trip.  This was the instruction sheet I received from them. Super basic!