Category: Overseas

Eye catch - travel cost 2023

How Did Zooks Manage Travel Costs in 2023!?

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

This year, I published blog articles about my trips to Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden, but as announced on Facebook, I had taken a break till now, and didn’t publish any further articles on other trips I made this year. (This was because I thought the articles on my trips might not be so interesting to read, and I got busy. Though I will write articles about trips if you would like to know something specific in terms of travelling!) However, in fact, I travelled to 10 countries in total this year. This time, I will clarify and answer a question which only two people have asked me so far thought many people might actually wonder about as it’s about finance:

How did I finance my travel expenses?

Don’t worry, it was completely from my legal income.

I managed the travel expenses only with an income as an employee in an Estonian company.

Luckily, I had a generous CEO and a benevolent COO, who raised our salaries by 25%, starting from the work done in January 2023 (i.e. from the salary I received in February 2023). As it was said to be 24% inflation rate in Estonia, the CEO and the COO made such an employee-friendly decision. Therefore, I was wealthy enough. This is the first fact to have managed the travel expenses well.

Secondly, I should reveal where exactly I travelled. Here’s the list of my travel destinations and the period for each trip.

  • Ireland + the UK (Northern Ireland) – 1 week
  • The Netherlands (Rotterdam + Amsterdam) – 3 days
  • Sweden (Gothenburg + Lund) – 5 days
  • Italy (Venice) – 4 days
  • Austria (Vienna) – 2 days
  • Latvia (Riga) + Lithuania (Siauliai) – 2 days
  • Georgia (Tbilisi and its suburbs) – 3 days
  • The Czech Republic (Prague) – 1 day

That’s all!

Yes, a lot!!

I believe I travelled a lot this year because I was no longer poor, the COVID time (more or less) ended, and my favourite musicians resumed their tours.

Anyway, if you look at the list above, you notice that I had only one long trip for one week, and the other trips are short. Since the number of stays was small, I believe you realise that I didn’t go on trips that are generally assumed/imagined from the word “trip”.

In addition, my monthly basic expense is roughly 900 – 1,000 EUR. In other words, the amount which came from the income after deducting the basic expense is for saving.

Then, from this part, let’s talk about how I handled that saving.

Firstly, before a new year, I usually roughly decide where and when I want to travel in a coming year. In accordance with that rough plan, I consider how much I can save till the month I will travel. (Of course, I bear in mind saving for some urgent expenses beside the travel budget.)

I always check the website called Budget Your Trip to build a budget for a specific trip, and estimate a bit more than the provided information there. Then, I determine the monthly saving amount for that trip by dividing one overall travel budget based on the number of days of that trip by the number of months till that trip to save separately.

For instance, if I want to save 1,200 EUR by June to visit Ireland, starting from January, I save 200 EUR per month.

The point is that as I travelled almost every month in 2023, I did this every month.

In more detail, in addition to a trip to Ireland in June (the above example), given that I want to travel to Sweden a bit in August, and I need to save 800 EUR in total, [the entire saving amount – (minus) the fixed saving amount (for urgent expenses) – 200 EUR for the Ireland trip = the monthly amount that I can save for the Sweden trip]. (E.g. 600 (as the entire saving amount) – 200 (for urgent expenses) – 200 (Ireland trip) = 200 EUR for the Sweden trip.) Therefore, if ideal destinations are all expensive countries, I can’t save enough budget by the travel month, so I needed to think about a bigger picture as well.

The cost of living always comes first, so if the net income is not so big, there is less money for travelling.

Fortunately, I experienced both getting higher positions and increased salaries, I travelled a lot in 2023. However, in 2021 and 2022, I didn’t do it as often as in 2023. In 2024, I will try to stay in Estonia more (as I enjoyed myself too enough.)

As a side note, I often saved budgets even during the trips since I just needed a shower and a bed by choosing hostels. (At some points, I travelled just to achieve my purposes, so I didn’t even think about “chilling in a hotel”. Though I believe hotels are surely better when a trip has a longer itinerary to rest well.)

In other words, not all my trips in 2023 had hotel stays nor luxurious vacations.

By the way, the total travel expense in 2023 was around 4,700 EUR. Except for the last three trips, they were all expensive countries in general so maybe it makes sense?

But really, I have enjoyed gigs and concerts as well as travelling in Europe overall since I was 21, so from next year I will reduce the frequency to travel for this good reason. It’s like focusing on quality as I’m done with quantities.

I won’t stop this favourite activity as long as I am alive, and next year’s main goal is definitely to visit Japan!

Aitäh! 🙂

Budget for Sweden Trip 2023

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

Here’s my expenses on the trip to Sweden for 4 nights and 5 days!

The budget was 1000 EUR, within which 350 EUR from “the Others” was converted to Swedish Kronor (SEK). Plus, I had some Swedish Kronor in cash so I added it too, and the total budget in Swedish Kronor is around 400 EUR.

Since I prepared the budget in Swedish Kronor, the expenses in Sweden were in Swedish Kronor.

The details are below:

Item EUR SEK
Budget €1000 4,355.76 SEK
Transport Flight €181.83
Public transport €40.25 490.00 SEK
Accommodation €14.97 893.00 SEK
Food €9.37 1,604.46 SEK
Leisure Sightseeing €0 515.00 SEK
Ohters €0 159.00 SEK
Souvenirs For myself €0 85.90 SEK
Souvenirs For others €0 178.95 SEK
Travel insurance €14.70 0 SEK
Others €355.60 8.83 SEK
Sum €616.72 3,935 SEK
Remainder €383.28 420.62 SEK

★Attention!

  • Since I stayed in a hostel, if you stay in a hotel, it will be more expensive.
  • As I wanted to have some Asian cuisines and in fact ate ramen, Thai food and Nepalese food, if you have Swedish cuisine (such as Swedish meatballs or seafood), it will cost more.
  • Due to the fact that I visited Lund as well, I call the trip “Sweden trip”, but you shouldn’t compare it with Stockholm in my opinion.

Aitäh! 🙂

Day Trip to Lund (Swedish Small Town)

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

In 2023, like the year 2022, I went to Gothenburg again, and I had a day trip to Lund – a small town in Sweden – where I could go by train from Gothenburg.

Table of Contents

     1. About Lund, a Small Town in Sweden
          1.1 Historical Background of Lund
          1.2 Location and Climate in Lund
     2. How to Get to Lund
          2.1 The Best Season in Lund
          2.2 From Gothenburg to Lund
     3. Explore in Lund
          3.1 Lund University
          3.2 Lund Botanical Garden
     4. Food in Lund
          4.1 Café Botan
          4.2 Ramklints Konditori
     5. Important Notes Before Going to Lund
          5.1 Payment Methods in Lund
          5.2 Securities in Lund
     ★Summary of the Lund Trip

1. About Lund, a Small Town in Sweden

Stockholm in Sweden is very well-known but few people go west in Sweden. Some people may feel better to live in smaller cities in the west of Sweden, but when it comes to travelling, the number of visitors should be much less than in Stockholm. In fact, Gothenburg has few options for accommodation either.

If Gothenburg is like that, how is Lund – a more unfamiliar town for most people – like?

1.1 Historical Background of Lund

The history of Lund begins with Viking time. Archaeologically, there have already been residents since the 10th century.

In 1103, the Lund Cathedral which is the centre of Christianity in Scandinavia started to be built. The Lund Cathedral is the icon of Lund nowadays.

In the Middle Ages, Lund became an important place as a centre of religion and education. Then, Lund University was established in 1688, and it gained a position as the hub of wisdom and culture.

Unique trees in front of the Lund station

Also, since Lund is near Denmark, during Swedish governance, it has been influenced by Danish culture. However, due to the Treaty of Roskilde, the Skåne county including Lund has ceded to Sweden.

In the 19 to 20th century, Lund developed in a modern way. Lund became a bigger town, new industries were introduced, and Lund advanced in terms of physics and astronomy.

This is how Lund has experienced their history.

1.2 Location and Climate in Lund

Lund is located in the south of Sweden more precisely and close to Malmö.

Map of Sweden with Lund's location
Reference

I went to Lund in May in 2023. Looking at this graph, it appears to be cool weather until the middle of June…but at that time the weather was really sunny, and I felt the strength of the sun.

Climate in Lund
Reference

When I went to Malmö in March, 2022, it was not too cold either, so I felt that Sweden might be a bit warmer than Estonia.

Although I have no idea about winter in Sweden.

2. How to Get to Lund

2.1 The Best Season in Lund

I do not personally recommend summer in Northern Europe a lot (unless you do love heat). Though the summer is pretty short, there are some days when it is extremely hot! I prefer travelling in Northern Europe during March till May as it’s more comfortable, and yet events frequently take place between June and August, so ultimately it’s up to you. I said “it’s extremely hot”, but the temperature is a bit more than 30 degrees, so it’s not as hot as Japan or other hot countries.

2.2 From Gothenburg to Lund

You can go to Lund from Gothenburg by train. It seems there are buses too, but the trains are easier, and SJ (railways in Sweden) is decently comfortable. You can charge your phone too.

I think it took around 1.5 hours from Gothenburg to Lund by train. You can buy tickets both on SJ’s website and Omio. (In case you can’t find any tickets owing to construction or whatever, check those websites from time to time such as one month or two weeks prior to the trip. Sometimes at such timing they may announce the train schedules.)

3. Explore in Lund

Honestly, Lund doesn’t have big sightseeing places as Lund is a small countryside university town. If you want to go to Lund, half a day should be enough (subjectively speaking). In Lund, I went to only Lund University, Lund Botanical Garden and a cinema. (I went to the cinema to see the newly released “The Little Mermaid” because I was too bored in Lund.) 😂

3.1 Lund University

Lund University is surrounded by nature. There was a fountain, lots of trees, and I thought that would be the best environment to study. (Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and Tallinn University are in the city, facing the streets and roads, so they didn’t have much nature. In Dublin City University where I studied as an exchange student, we had lots of green though.)

Fountain in the Lund University campus

The purpose of visiting Lund University was to buy Lund University’s T-shirt! When my friend who went to the same high school and the same university in Japan as mine visited Tallinn in 2018, she bought a T-shirt of Tallinn University, and works at a restaurant called “Tsukumo” in Shirahama, Japan, wearing that T-shirt. Since then, me, myself and I decided to give her a T-shirt from a university in Europe as a souvenir.

When visiting Japan in 2019, I could spend some time in Warsaw for one day during a transit, so I gave her a T-shirt from Warsaw University. However, as I visited Japan in 2022, I had no opportunity to buy a university T-shirt beforehand. Therefore, using the opportunity to drop by a store in Lund university, I shipped Lund University’s T-shirt to Japan from Estonia.

My friend with a nice smile, wearing a Lund University T-shirt

She seemed to love it a lot. What is happier, she immediately started wearing that T-shirt at Tsukumo. Everyone was interested in which place that T-shirt came from. She also told me that just one day it took her to get a smell of coffee in the T-shirt. I would be more than happy if she wears it until it completely gets damaged. 😂

3.2 Lund Botanical Garden

Let’s talk about Lund Botanical Garden. Compared to Gothenburg Botanical Garden, the size of Lund Botanical Garden is much smaller, but you can spend some good time for a walk. It was more fun to walk in Lund Botanical Garden than in Kadriorg park in Tallinn as it was quieter.

Also, this is pretty common in summer in Europe; we, the Japanese, tend to think “sunbathing is an activity on a beach” whilst in Europe as long as there is the sun, they sunbathe on the grass, wearing bikinis. In other words, in Europe whether it is on the beach or in a park, they do sunbathing if there’s the sun. Hence, in Lund Botanical Garden, some people were sunbathing. (Men also did with swimming pants.)

I tried to cut out the sunlight with sunglasses as hard as possible, and was walking, looking for shades.

This is the experience at the end of May.

4. Food in Lund

Since this was my first visit in Lund and this chapter is not even a recommendation, and yet I went to two cafes in Lund, I’m going to report how they were.

4.1 Café Botan

“Botan” means “paeonia × suffruticosa” (a group of flower trees) in Japanese, so I wondered if it was named like that because the cafe is located in the centre of Lund Botanical Garden, and yet I don’t know the truth at all.

In front of the cafe, there is a building like a visitor centre and a lake. The cafe’s tables are set around the lake, and you can enjoy their refreshing lunch in summer there. (The cafe has some inside tables too.)

The cafe basically has only sandwiches, salads and some types of cakes, but since the salad is pretty big, you can get full. Their salad has a few types, and I chose a salmon salad.

The salad contained asparagus which is hard or expensive to get in Estonia, so I was really excited inside of myself. The salad had a sauce like homemade mayonnaise, and it matched quite well the potatoes in the salad.

As no one comes to your table to take your empty plates away, you need to return the used plates and cutleries by yourself. Otherwise, crows and other birds come to the table and eat and scatter the leftover food on the table, messing it up too.

4.2 Ramklints Konditori

After walking a lot under the strong sun, I went to a cafe called Ramklints Konditori. I was also looking for some place to charge my phone. If I had gone to a chain cafe, almost for sure they would have had some charging tables and seats, but I found this cafe on the way to a chian cafe. I roughly looked around in the cafe, and found just one table near the socket.

I just ordered a cup of coffee, and browsed on social media. (Since my stomach was not empty after lunch yet, I didn’t want anything sweet.)

However, after a while, I had a special version of a Swedish cake called “Princess cake”. (They had both pieces of a whole regular Princess cake and a small solo version of Princess cake with a strawberry for some reason.) Besides that, they had some other cakes, baked sweets and sandwiches.

In this cafe, you need a code to go to a loo. You can ask the clerk for the code. However, in my case, a kind Swedish elderly lady helped me.

After that, I was doing something on my phone for a while, and suddenly I got my head up and was surprised;








More than 90% of the customers there were elderly people.

😂

I guessed Lund is a town for students and elderly people.

5. Important Notes Before Going to Lund

Northern Europe is known as a relatively safe area in Europe, and yet you should still remember to be cautious.

5.1 Payment Methods in Lund

Firstly, in Lund, you can pay by card basically. If you want to consume your Swedish cash, you can ask. Or sometimes they have a note of “Only cash” at a checkout, so pay attention to such small information.

Lund has buses but since I didn’t take it, I have no idea what kind of payment system they have.

5.2 Securities in Lund

As I have no experience of the night in Lund, so I don’t know too many things, but in summer the night is so bright, which makes us a bit secure even at night. (However, the majority still sleeps, hence there wouldn’t be a lot less people in the town.)

During the daytime, you see a number of students or young people or elderly residents in lund. Since I explored in Lund on a weekday, there were not so many people anyway, and yet I didn’t feel it was dangerous. (It was also because the small town has much less population.)

I didn’t see a lot of immigrants in Lund either, but if you are used to natural safety and security like Japan or Estonia, you could become a criminal’s target. Lund is not a dangerous town but still keep in mind there might be pickpockets as it’s still in Europe. (Additionally, Malmö which is close to Lund is said to be more dangerous.)

★Summary of the Lund Trip

So this is all about my Lund trip. I arrived in Lund at around 10.30 am, and took a train at 7 pm to Gothenburg, however, you may not need such a lot of time. 😂 Lund has some museums and other stuff, and yet the heat took my energy to walk much enough, so I couldn’t keep walking.

I went to Lund as a day trip on my birthday, which was much better than spending my own birthday in Estonia. (I don’t want any birthday party for myself anymore. It exhausts me. I want to celebrate myself quietly or thought a birthday trip might be the best.)

Aitäh! 🙂

Expenses on Trip to Netherlands in 2023

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

Here’s the expense summary for the trip to the Netherlands.

Since the currency in the Netherlands is EUR, it was easy to calculate.

I didn’t mean to be stingy or extravagant, but the total expense for two nights was 450 EUR, so it’s fairly expensive. I feel I spent more money than the trip to (Northern) Ireland.

2023

26/03/2023 to 28/03/2023

3 days

Destination

Amsterdam

Budget (total)

560

Transport

Flight

156.98

Public

68.90

Accomodation

74.65

Food

€73.11

Leisure

Sightseeing

€43

Souvenirs

For myself

€5.95

For others

€21.73

Insurance

€10.00

Sum

€454.32

As for the travel insurance, as mentioned in the article on the expense for the trip to (Northern) Ireland, I just divided a travel insurance policy for a fortnight into two just for my own calculation, thus I paid 30 EUR for Globe Traveller in total.

Aitäh! 🙂

2 Museum and 3 Restaurant Recommendations in Amsterdam

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

I personally consider Amsterdam as a city where you can enjoy yourself as long as you have sufficient money.

In addition to the fact that Amsterdam is an expensive city, museums in Amsterdam basically charge you. In my opinion, it is hard to enjoy Amsterdam with little budgets.

But!

That was because I was a student when I visited Amsterdam twice!

Now I have a job with a good salary! Besides, I save money for a trip, so I had enough funds to enjoy myself in Amsterdam. Since I spent only two days in the Netherlands, and did some sightseeing in Amsterdam for only one day, I went to two museums and three restaurants in Amsterdam this time (2023).

Table of Contents

     1. Museums
          a. Nxt museum
          b. Torture museum
     2. Restaurants
          a. Anne&Max
          b. Pancakes Amsterdam
          c. Vlaams
     ★Summary

1. Museums

First of all, let’s talk about the museums that I went to in Amsterdam.

In Amsterdam there are a number of museums such as Madam Tassau and Van Gough museum, but this time I chose Nxt museum and the torture museum.

a. Nxt museum

Nxt museum is located in the north of Amsterdam (more north than the Amsterdam Central station), and you can go there by ferry. Once you arrive at the opposite side by ferry, it only takes 15 minutes by walk to the Nxt museum. When I went to the Next museum, although there was construction on the road, it was not difficult to get to Next museum as the route was not complicated.

I bought a ticket for the Nxt museum in advance. Depending on the entry time, the prices differ so keep in mind that. If I had been a student, I would have definitely not come because the ticket price was more than 20 EUR for one adult. So expensive. I’m not sure if it was because it’s in Amsterdam or because the Nxt museum is so special or both….

It seems the exhibition’s theme varies from time to time. When I went to the Nxt museum, it was the world of video games and something like Takashi Murakami’s art. I like contemporary art, so it was worth paying 20 EUR to the Nxt museum.

//www.instagram.com/embed.js

Some artworks are visitor-engaging, and it was extraordinarily interesting.

It appears to take more time than an old-fashioned museum, and yet it took me only one hour or 1.5 hours to spend time in the Nxt museum.

b. Torture museum

If you have read my article on the Belfast trip, you may know that I like visiting a creepy museum. Therefore I went to one interesting but creepy museum in Amsterdam…. It is the “Torture museum”.

It’s a small museum in Amsterdam, where you can see torturing items that were used in the middle ages. The ticket price was 10 EUR per adult.

When showing my ticket to the torture museum, the old guy who checked cheerily said

“Enjoy yourself!”

and immediately I thought









“This museum’s atmosphere is definitely not “to enjoy”…





The way to display all those torturing items was creepy, and the door and stairs clattered…

It’s not good for a person who is chicken!

But I got relieved as I heard other visitors’ fun voices later so I had fun there. 😂

Partially there was really a creepy object, and I couldn’t spend time there. Every torturing item has an explanation which was interesting.

The last was very good. The last should be like that!

The ticket only specifies the date, so you can go to the torture museum at any time during the day.

2. Restaurants

As I like eating, I want to enjoy food as much as possible during a trip because in my daily life in Estonia, I save money and eat something very healthy.

It does not mean that I will be extravagant for food on a trip, but it means that I want to eat what I want to eat during a trip.

Since my stay in Amsterdam was very short, I visited only four restaurants in Amsterdam, three of which I will introduce here.

a. Anne&Max

Anne&Max is a chain cafe in the Netherlands. Depending on where Anne&Max is, the opening hours differ. There was Anne&Max in 15 minutes by walk from the accommodation in Amsterdam, which opens at 8.30 in the morning, I decided to have breakfast in that Anne&Max cafe.

I ordered only a scone (with clotted cream and lemon curd) and a cup of coffee.

I wondered if I should eat a bit more, but






I couldn’t give up a scone…!!

It was probably because I went to Amsterdam right after travelling to Northern Ireland. Plus, I love lemon curd! I sometimes bought a jar of lemon curd when I lived in Ireland in 2015.

Scone with clotted cream and lemon curd and coffee

Although it didn’t meet my stomach, it did meet my mind.

Besides them, there are other breakfast menus and lunch menus at Anne&Max, if you can find anything interesting on Anne&Max’s website, try and go there.

b. Pancakes Amsterdam

I found Pancakes Amsterdam on Twitter.

A twitterer said that you could have fluffy pancakes in Amsterdam!

However, when looking at Pancakes Amsterdam’s menu before going there, I changed my mind…

Pancake menu






“I want to eat this banana chilli pancake!!”

It does sound like a pancake with disgusting combinations (plus bacon)m and yet I tried.






It was actually good…




It was sweet and salty or chilli’s spiciness that matched the banana’s sweetness… I don’t know how to explain because I’m so bad at reporting how good the food is and I don’t have much vocabulary, but anyway it was surprisingly tasty…

Banana chilli pancake

Also, I thought Dutch pancakes were small takoyaki-like pancakes. However, the Dutch pancake Pancakes Amsterdam served was a thinner pancake than a crepe.

Dutch mini pancakes

What is more, I found “Dutch coffee”!

Researching “Dutch coffee”, it’s coffee with eggnog. I had this coffee too.

Dutch coffee

They served me a cup of Dutch coffee with a stroopwafel.

It wasn’t as bitter like normal coffee. Since it had eggnog and cream on it, it was more like a dessert coffee.

I didn’t know about Dutch coffee until then! I learnt one more thing on this trip.

Pancakes Amsterdam doesn’t have only odd pancakes. (Or rather this banana-chilli pancake is the only unique one, I would say.) Pancakes Amsterdam have both sweet pancakes and savoury pancakes. You can customise your own pancakes as well.

I happened to go to Pancakes Amsterdam Negen Straatjes at 12.00 pm on Monday, and I had to wait for 40 minutes. I was glad that it was already the end of March… Imagine, if it had been February … as I needed to wait outside. Since it was so busy even on Monday, I assume the weekends and holidays there may be a longer queue Pancakes Amsterdam.

Pancakes Amsterdam accepted only the card payment.

c. Vlaams

When you go to Amsterdam, you should definitely go to Vlaams!

You can eat Belgian chips!

(You may have thought why it was not Dutch chips, but honestly I think there is no big difference. Tell me if you know the differences.)

It’s actually a chips stand, and they have a lot of kinds of sauces in Vlaams!

When I went to Vlaams in 2018, I chose the hottest sauce, and I was killing my mouth. It was tasty though.

This time I chose green pepper, which is just a mayonnaise sauce with green pepper, and it was not so spicy, so even people who can’t handle spiciness should be able to have it.

Vlaam's chips

But if you wonder which sauce you should choose, order “satay sauce” (with peanuts)!

(To be honest, I’m not 100% sure if they have this in Vlaams, but they should because in the Netherlands food cultures from some Asian countries such as Indonesia are there.)

The Dutch people like this satay sauce. I know it’s good, but I want to challenge myself.

This is why I choose something odd.

The sauce costs extra, so if you simply want to have chips with salt, you don’t need to pay for the sauce.

★Summary

Earlier I wrote I went to four restaurants, and the fourth place that I didn’t include in this article was a Vietnamese restaurant. Since I went there for my own self-satisfaction, I believed there was no point to describe it.

I spent only one day in Amsterdam whilst it was very satisfactory, and I enjoyed myself in a different way than when I was a student.

You can’t buy happiness with money?

That’s a lie, you can indeed buy happiness.

Aitäh! 🙂

Public Transport in Amsterdam (ver. 2023)

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

Although I walk a lot during a trip so that I can eat as much tasty food as I want, on this trip to Amsterdam I suddenly decided to buy an Amsterdam public transport ticket.

It’s not anything big but it might be helpful to read this article about public transport in Amsterdam.

Table of Contents

     1. Public transport in Amsterdam
     2. Amsterdam public transport tickets
     3. How to get on a tram in Amsterdam
     ★Summary

1. Public transport in Amsterdam

The whole Netherlands rather than Amsterdam are the country of bicycles! Therefore there are a number of bicycle riders, naturally there are bicycle lanes on the roads as well as you can see how huge the number of bicycles in the bicycle parking areas are.

However, I personally think that other normal (?) public transport is safer and easier for travellers to avoid accidents unless they are a huge fan of bicycles or they definitely want to explore Amsterdam by bicycle.

While I had been to Amsterdam twice before this trip in 2023, it was my first time to use Amsterdam public transport as otherwise I walked.

This is because Amsterdam is a walkable distanced city.

なぜなら歩ける距離だから。

However, after exploring Rotterdam for half a day, and participating in a walking tour in Rotterdam, I had no physical energy to walk 25 minutes to walk to the accommodation in Amsterdam.

Originally I planned to walk to the accommodation so I had no research on the public transport in Amsterdam, but it was not a big problem that I decided to buy an Amsterdam transport ticket.

Also, the public transport in Amsterdam is called GVB.

2. msterdam public transport tickets

Since I tiredly arrived at Amsterdam Central station from Rotterdam, I took a tram in Amsterdam. I didn’t have to buy a public transport ticket beforehand. They have a ticketing counter in the Amsterdam tram. However keep in mind that the payment option is only by card.

As far as I remember, a one hour ticket for Amsterdam public transport was something like 3.40 EUR or 3.90 EUR. I was surprised as it was more expensive than Dublin. Even in Dublin, you don’t need to pay more than 3 EUR for a sightseeing distance. (By the way, the prices in Dublin depend on the areas in Dublin and the price in Amsterdam is dependent on the time.)

Since I had a plan to use the ferry at least twice the next day, and I thought I would additionally use Amsterdam public transport the next day too, so I bought a 24-hour ticket. I remember that it’s a better option if you take Amsterdam public transport more than three times.

Amsterdam transport card (24 hours)

A 24-hour ticket cost 9 EUR, which I bought at the ticketing counter in the Amsterdam tram.

As GVB has a mobile app, you can buy this ticket in the app, too.

3. How to get on a tram in Amsterdam

Amsterdam trams are unique in my opinion. There are both entrance only and exit only doors. I didn’t know these, and once I tried to get on the tram from the exit door. 😂 As I was pressing the button to try to open the door, I found a sign saying “no entry”. 😂

You should remember this if you plan to use Amsterdam trams.

★Summary

Amsterdam is a compact city so you can basically walk around unless you have plans to move from the edge of the city to another edge of Amsterdam.

As for ferries, there should be ticket checking machines or something but I couldn’t find anything or anyone to check my ticket so I used the ferry twice without verifying the ticket. No one noticed me or said anything to me.

Aitäh! 🙂

Sightseeing in Rotterdam ver. 2023

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

On the trip to the Netherlands, which was the third time in my life, I went to Rotterdam for the first time!

Since “the Cube House” was the only purpose to go to Rotterdam, I attended a walking tour in Rotterdam like in the one in Belfast.

I was glad to have participated in the walking tour as Rotterdam was fairly small.

Table of Contents

     1. The Cube House
     2. Markthal and the walking tour
          a. Architecture in Rotterdam
          b. Everything is “Erasmus”
          c. New centre and old centre in Rotterdam
          d. Weed in the Netherlands
     ★Summary

1. The Cube House

“The Cube House” was something I had wanted to see in Rotterdam.

The cube house

The house literally looked like a chain of dice, and partially it’s a museum.

You can buy Rotterdam souvenirs (like magnets) at a souvenir store in the Cube House.

2. Markthal and the walking tour

The Rotterdam walking tour started at Markthal (market hall).

Markthal has lots of food stands and shops, where you can eat Dutch krokets and chips in addition to other international foods, which I will explain in another article.

Though the meeting point for the walking tour was outside of Markthal.

a. Architecture in Rotterdam

There is lots of architecture in front of Markthal. According to the walking tour guide, people in Rotterdam tend to be fond of naming uniquely. For instance, the architecture in front of Markthal is “pencil”. (You can find this easily as it literally looks like a pencil.)

And Markthal is “pencil sharpener”.

I understood, but Markthal didn’t seem to be as unique as the others in my opinion.

In Rotterdam, there is Rotterdam Laurence church. During WWII, almost the whole city of Rotterdam was burnt, but Rotterdam Laurence church survived. The walking tour guide showed us a picture at that time, and literally Rotterdam Laurence church was left alone.

b. Everything is “Erasmus”

Erasmus is a humanist from the current Netherlands, and at that time people had the name of the birthplace in their name. Therefore, his Latin name is “Erasmus of Rotterdam”.

For this reason, in Rotterdam, everywhere such as a bridge or university has the name of “Erasmus”.







Oi, that’s so random…

c. New centre and old centre in Rotterdam

In the area of Rotterdam, where the above architectures can be seen, is a part of a new centre of Rotterdam, and there is an old centre of Rotterdam.

Since I just passed by the border during the walking tour, I didn’t check the map, and I can’t tell you where it was exactly, but in short, the centre of Rotterdam is different now from then.

The tram line was the border according to the walking tour guide.

d. Weed in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, weed is legal, which is why non-Japanese people think I go to the Netherlands for weed when I tell them I will go to the Netherlands. Based on my own judgement and prejudice, travellers who purely want to enjoy sightseeing in the Netherlands are often Japanese. The Europeans go to the Netherlands for weed. (Of course some non-Japanese whose purpose is not weed go to the Netherlands for mushrooms!)

However, it appears to be prohibited to produce weed as only the use of weed is legal in the Netherlands.

Also, it snows in winter in the Netherlands despite the amount not as heavy as Estonia.

Based on this information, the walking tour guide showed us one picture: There were houses, and one of the houses didn’t have snow on the roof partially.

Even if you don’t know a lot about weed, you can guess what it means.

Since weed grows in a warm place, the house got warm, and the snow melted partially on the roof in winter.






So stupid. 😂




★Summary

Are you interested in Rotterdam now?

I was glad to go to Rotterdam, and happily gave the walking tour guide 10 EUR due to my experience in Belfast.

I feel a walking tour can be a new enjoyment on my trips! (However, they don’t conduct walking tours everyday, so the fact that I will go on a trip does not necessarily mean that I will take part in a walking tour.)

Aitäh! 🙂

Let’s take a train in the Netherlands!

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

It was the third visit to the Netherlands in my life. Accordingly, it was the third time taking trains in the Netherlands. I had visited the Netherlands in 2015 and 2018, and each time I stayed at my friend’s parents’ place in the south of the Netherlands as well as I went to Amsterdam from there by train.

This time was the first time since 2018, namely the first time in 5 years to have visited the Netherlands, therefore my memory on how to take a train in the Netherlands was subtle.

In this article I will talk about my learning in terms of taking trains in the Netherlands.

Table of Contents

     1. Buying train tickets in the Netherlands
     2. Types of train tickets in the Netherlands
     3. What will happen if one buys wrong train tickets in the Netherlands?
     ★Summary

1. Buying train tickets in the Netherlands

It is fairly easy to buy train tickets in the Netherlands. The trains in the Netherlands are called “NS”, whose main colour is yellow. I bought a train ticket at the Schiphol airport to go to Rotterdam.

You can also buy train tickets on Omio, and yet the prices are not so different, and should a flight be delayed, your ticket might become invalid. For this reason, in my case I bought the train ticket at Schiphol airport to Rotterdam.

At train ticketing machines, you can select in English, so it shouldn’t be so difficult to buy the tickets.

2. Types of train tickets in the Netherlands

There are a couple of types of trains in the Netherlands: Intercity, Intercity direct and Sprinter.

Honestly I have no idea how exactly they are different, but be careful when buying train tickets because if your train tickets are wrong, you might be required to pay more money.

Plus, the railway staff at Schiphol airport are not trustworthy.

3. What will happen if one buys wrong train tickets in the Netherlands?

As I wrote “the railway staff at Schiphol airport are not trustworthy” above, I will explain the reason.

The train ticket I bought at Schiphol airport to go to Rotterdam was a train that takes a detour. I bought that train ticket because I had enough time and was not in a hurry.

The ticket for the slow NS train (sample)
Slow NS trains require only one train ticket.

However, when I went to the train platform in Schiphol airport, I was confused with which train was for my ticket. I asked a railway staff member there, and told him I wanted to go to Rotterdam. Then he told me to take “Intercity direct”.

I suspected, but I took the Intercity direct train. Then just before arriving in Rotterdam, a staff member in the train asked me to show my ticket and said “Where is the other ticket?”

“Sorry? I don’t know that…” I said, and he said “Your ticket is for the slower train. This train is faster, and you need to pay 10 EUR.”






The guy in the airport deceived me.




I was so pissed in my mind, and left the train station in Rotterdam.

After all, I spent more money than buying the faster train tickets. I wished I could have screamed at the staff at the Schiphol airport:






Give me money back.




So be careful.

Tickets when taking an intercity direct train (sample)
Intercity direct trains require these two tickets.

★Summary

When going to Amsterdam from Rotterdam, I bought the train tickets for Intercity direct, and took the Intercity direct train.

By the way, I felt the train tickets in the Netherlands are so expensive as it cost 20 EUR for a 30-minute distance (from Rotterdam to Amsterdam). It takes around one hour from Kyoto to Osaka, and it costs only 400 JPY (less than 3 EUR) (if you use Hankyu).

Aitäh! 🙂

Let’s Check Expenses on (Norhtern) Ireland Trip 2023!

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

In March, 2023, I went to Ireland again! It was my third time going there with my current passport, and the fourth time in my life!

I actually wanted to go there in June, but owing to the changed tax in the Tallinn airport, Ryanair, a European LCC, cancelled all the flights and has stopped the operations to seven cities from Tallinn as of the end of March, 2023. Hence, I had to change my flight schedules.

This time I had travelled there for eight days – spending the first day and the last three days in Dublin and four days in Northern Ireland based in Belfast –. Northern Ireland is in the Irish island whilst the currency is British Sterling Pounds (GBP) as it’s a part of the UK. I wanted to use GBP in cash so I withdrew 100 GBP in cash, and used my Estonian bank card (EUR) simultaneously.

The budget of this whole trip was surprisingly 1,800 EUR. This was because I wanted to drive a car in Ireland, and yet since I changed my trip plan, I couldn’t get an Estonian driving licence by then. The 100 GBP withdrawn is part of this budget.

Let’s see the total expenses.

Destination

Dublin/NI

Budget (total)

1800

Transport

Flight

€97.05

Public

€41.04

Accommodation

€631.65

Food

€129.57

Leisure

Sightseeing

€61.72

Souvenirs

For myself

€54.20

Souvenirs

For others

€32.00

Insurance

€20.00

Others

€125.39

Sum

€1,192.62

As you can see above, I eventually used two-thirds of the entire budget… I travelled there by myself this time, and I could save some money because I could book flights, accommodations and museums anytime. Probably therefore, I could save some money even though I changed the travel plan in February, happening in March so suddenly.

Also, both in Belfast and Dublin, I didn’t use the public transport that much, and I walked a lot, due to which the average number of steps per day was 14,000 or something. What is more, in Belfast, tickets for doubledeckers called Metro were valid for 45 minutes, so (I don’t know if it’s really allowed but) I used one ticket to change the Metro.

As for the withdrawn 100 GBP, the details are below.

Transport

Public

3.9

Food

62.78

Leisure

Sightseeing

2

Souvenirs

For others

3

Others

10

Sum

£81.68

Around 20 GBP were left here as well. I don’t know when I will go to Northern Ireland or the UK per se, but I want to go to Northern Ireland and Scotland which I have visited before again, and want to visit Wales too, so it wouldn’t be too bad to hold some GBP.

Concerning the travel insurance, I bought a policy on ACS called Globe Traveller, which includes European countries including the UK for 15 days that include both trips to Ireland/the UK and the Netherlands because in Estonia we have to take at least one more than 14-day holiday per (calendar) year. Therefore, I divided the whole policy price into two: 20 EUR for the Ireland trip and 10 EUR for the Netherlands trip just for myself (my calculation). That’s why you can see 20 EUR there.

Also, as of March 2023, I didn’t make the whole holiday plan yet, I could use the leftover of 600 EUR for unplanned trips.

I didn’t mean to save money, but I didn’t buy that many souvenirs, and sometimes I cooked at the accommodations, buying foods at supermarkets for breakfast or dinner. However, if you eat out more often and purchase more souvenirs or more expensive souvenirs, then you might need more than what I spent.

Lastly, I felt the price in Belfast was cheaper than Dublin.

Aitäh! 🙂

5 Foods You Can Eat in Northern Ireland

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

“Northern Ireland is a part of the UK, Northern Ireland is part of Republic Ireland, so there are not many differences.”

Have you ever thought like this?

Then, have you searched about food culture in Northern Ireland before? It is indeed variant.

Surely, there are no big differences, but even slight differences are still differences, and its trivialness makes it unique in the culture.

This time I will talk about Northern Irish cuisine which is not so well-known.

Table of Contents

     1. Fifteens
     2. Champ
     3. Soda bread
     4. Potato farl
     5. Ulster fry
     ★Summary

1. Fifteens

First of all, let’s talk about “fifteens”! This is a kind of sweet in Northern Ireland.

It’s called “fifteens” because almost each ingredient needs 15 stuff.

How simple. 😂

“almost each ingredient needs 15 stuff” means that it requires 15 marshmallows, 15 glacé cherries in addition to 15 digestive biscuits. Additionally, you need a bit more extra ingredients to make fifteens. You can find fifteens’ recipes online very easily like BBC’s webpage.

I want to try to make fifteens some day, so once I make them, I will upload a picture of them on my social media channels and this blog. (I’m not sure if I can obtain cherry stuff in Estonia…)

2. Champ

Secondly “champ” is Northern Irish mashed potatoes.

It’s different from ordinary mashed potatoes because champ contains green onions.

It is good (although I’m usually not a big fan of mashed potato because I don’t have to chew a lot).

It’s not actually clearly visible because of gravy sauce.

On the day tour in Northern Ireland by Viator which I participated in, you will have an opportunity to have some lunch in a town called Ballintoy, where you can have champ. The restaurant’s name is “The Fullerton Arms”.

3. Soda bread

Soda bread can be an implication of Ireland. In fact people in the Republic of Ireland also eat soda bread.

The recipe is fairly easy, and the ingredients are simple too, but often the recipes require buttermilk.

Is it butter or milk.

That’s what I often want to say. (I know it is a product called “buttermilk”.)

In Estonia, it is hard to find unflavoured buttermilk. It is called “hapendatud piimatood” or “petipiim” in Estonian. Luckily, recently I found Lidl discounted unflavoured buttermilk, so I will try to make soda bread.

Also, usually bread making needs yeast, and yet soda bread needs baking soda instead of yeast. No egg is necessary either. (Some recipes still require eggs though.)

It’s quite dry bread, but I personally like its simplicity. It matches butter well.

4. Potato farl

Farl is a flat bread. I saw not only potato farl but also soda farl (which seems to be a bit different from soda bread) at a supermarket in Belfast. I bought soda farls and tried them, and it actually tasted good.

Technically, potato farls per se aren’t Northern Irish particular food, but it is often served in Ulster fry in Northern Ireland.

5. Ulster fry

When going to the UK, many of you might have English breakfast.

But English breakfast isn’t everything!

Both Irish breakfast in the Republic of Ireland and Scottish breakfast in Scotland are slightly different. As they are different, the breakfast in Northern Ireland called “Ulster fry” is also different.

Then, how different are they?

The basic components in each type of breakfast is often

  • bacons
  • sausages
  • fried eggs
  • mushrooms
  • tomatoes
  • tomato-flavoured beans

(The portion and some other details can be changed, depending on the restaurant or who serves it to you.)

I made a table to compare each type of breakfast except for English breakfast.

Irish breakfast

Scottish breakfast

Ulster fry

  • Black puddingWhite pudding
  • Only black pudding
  • Only black pudding
  • Sometimes hash browns
  • Square sausagesSometimes haggis
  • Regular toasts are common
  • Scottish breakfast rolls
  • Soda breadPotato farl

Now you see the differences, don’t you!?

I had ulster fry at a restaurant called Bright’s Restaurant in Belfast.

In the picture, the one under the fried egg is a potato farl, and the one under the bacon is soda.

It is tasty, and it makes you full, but it’s still greasy, so if you can’t handle oil well, you might want to choose a small size.

When it comes to the regions in the UK, I haven’t been to Wales yet, so I’m curious about their food culture. I wonder if they have “Welsh breakfast”.

★Summary

There are not many, but you might have thought surprisingly there were, yeah?

Actually, there are a bit more, but since I didn’t get them, I didn’t include them in this article.

The potato farl was pretty good, so I want to eat it again.

If you have any plans to visit Northern Ireland, try Ulster fry!

By the way, it might be hard to get to Northern Ireland from Estonia nowadays due to no flight operation to Dublin by Ryanair anymore.

Aitäh! 🙂