Bratislava, Slovakia 🇸🇰

Caught the early train (around 8am) from Vienna train station to Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. It was 13C that morning. About an hour train ride, so we tapaued some pastries at the train station to eat as breakfast in the train.

Our first time in Slovakia.

We walked around at the Old Town of Bratislava. We were whisked back to a few centuries as we walked through cobbled streets, admiring the Baroque architecture buildings... sis memang suka ya tenguk buildings lama ni 😍 I found this old town quite charming, really!

Just like we usually do when visiting a new city, we would find 'free walking tour' service at the city and yes, they do have it here in Bratislava.

Meet Domanica aka Dom, our walking tour guide for 2 hours. Very pretty and friendly young lady 😃

Dom brifing the walking tour participants on the walking tour plan.

This walking tour basically bring us to visit the old town of Bratislava (while Dom telling the history behind each building - errr don't ask me to tell you details as I have really forgotten all lol!) and lastly to the Bratislava Castle.

The walk of course started at the Bratislava Old Town. The old town in Bratislava may not be big but it has very cozy streets with lots of cafes and beautiful old buildings.

Bratislaa Old Town Hall. 

We walked through historic neighbourhood filled with charming narrow lanes... it was really nice to walk around!

This is Slovak Philharmonic

There are 2 famous sculptures here in Bratislava... 

Meet Schoner Naci, once a famous beloved happy-go-lucky homeless local of Bratislava.

This famous sculpture stands in tribute to Schoner Naci, who was inspired to make people happy by walking around the old town. He used to walk around the old town in top hat and tails, greeting and entertaining people. 

And this is Cumil..

This little guy sneaking out of a sewer on the ground is one fo the most photographed statues of Bratislava. The Slovak word Cumil actually means 'watcher'. Cumil potrays a worker who has been working hard and takes a break by taking a look at people passing. 

Touch his head to have a wish granted! - that what the legend says lah... haha!

We definitely had to walk a lot ya... 

Jenuh naik turun tangga.... (sis kena gantung kaki malam tu haha!)

Our last stop is Bartislava Castle.

You will not miss this castle in Bratislava! The castle sits perched on a hill overlooking the old town and the Danube River. We had to walk up a steep path to get here... somput la jugak haha! 

From up the hill of this castle you can see a glance of Hungary and Austria... that's how close those country are with Slovakia! 

*** to be continued ***

Grande Mosquée de Paris

On our last day in Paris, we decided to visit the grand mosque of Paris. I've been to Paris a few times but I've never been to the mosque. So, we took the opportunity to visit the mosque :)

The Mosquée de Paris is a beautiful 20th-century mosque that closely resembles those of Marrakesh. You can visit our post on Marrakesh to verify this :D

The minaret is so like the one in Marrakesh! 

The central courtyard in the mosque

Look at those wall.... really remind me of Morocco! Very, very nice!

Made of reinforced concrete, the mosque was decorated with mosaics, wood carvings and wrought iron brought from Morocco. It's really beautiful!

 Moorish garden in the mosque... very, very peaceful.

There's a hall near the garden... probably for events and gathering.

Dek leka appreciating the beautiful mosque, we were late to catch our flight! Like seriously! We walked like mad with heavy bags to the train station. Not only that.. the ticket vending machine chose not to accept cash on that day... making us more kelam kabut.. huhu! Not only that... the escalator that we used also chose not to operate on that day.... sheesh! Really, really frustrating.... seriously we were so panicking... takut tertinggal fligt! We ended up reaching the airport counter just 1 hour before our flight scheduled. Luckily we were allowed to check in and we ran frantically to the gate which was quite far - Paris airport is really huge!! :P

But hey, we were not the only late passengers... haha! I guess this is normal in Paris eh? :D

It was a full flight. TV broken (no wonder our tickets were so cheap... lol!). Did not manage to book halal food but alhamdulillah there were shrimp noodles for dinner and omelette for breakfast. Alhamdulillah, thank you Allah for making this journey an easy one... :)

Bonjour à nouveau Paris

We are in Paris again! :) This time around we stayed in Ibis Style at Château Landon. Big room with 4 beds... just nice for the 4 of us.

Once settled down at the hotel, we ate lunch at Bodrum Restaurant - a halal restaurant which is located right in front of our hotel. So convenient! Ate pizza, burgers and fries but forget to snap pics.... lapar sangat la tu... lol!

Later, we decided to cuci2 mata at Lafayette - the grand shopping mall! 

Moi has been to Paris a few times... but this is my first time in Lafayette :D

The Galeries Lafayette offers all the latest fashions... all the expensive branded items! A flagship of the brand in Paris... you name it - LV, Prada, bla bla.... all those expensive brand are sold here! 

So what did I buy? Errr... nothing... hehe! Blame it on the high exchange rate!! Rasa tak sampai hati nak keluar duit bila convert the currency to Malaysian Ringgit :D

After wandering around in Lafayette, macam tak ada arah tujuan... so we decided to visit another place that we've never been before - the Luxembourg Garden, or Jardin du Luxembourg.

The Jardin du Luxembourg is the biggest park in Paris, covering a massive 22.5 hectares, but it’s not just a pretty public park. It also happens to be attached to a beautiful 17th-century palace - The Luxembourg Palace. The Luxembourg Palace, or Palais du Luxembourg, was built in the early 1600s for Marie de Medicis, King Louis XIII’s mother. Although virtually nothing of the original interior remains intact today, the exterior is largely as it was when it was first built. The palace actually served as the precursor to the Louvre Museum in the mid-18th century before being used for a short time during the French Revolution as a prison. Napoleon later called it home, and it was during this time that the Luxembourg Palace first became the place where the French Senate met.

When it was getting darker, we left that place and went here instead... 

Not a nice place to bring the kids :D But we did not actually enter this place :D

To those who do not know Moulin Rouge is actually a cabaret. The spiritual birthplace of the modern form of the can-can dance... not a good place for us moslem to go definitely. Ni saja la ambil gambar dari luar... huhu. There was a demonstration or something  going on in front of this building. Demonstration on 'saving the Palestine' I believe. I saw lots of Muslims sisters and brothers doing the demonstration. Police are around to ensure the safety of the area... so yeah, all were good ;)

Next, shopping time! A few souvy shops at his area... 

As usual, saya tidak membeli belah pun... En Suami and anakanda izzaty jer yang mencari souvies... 

** to be continued **