837. Munich Part 1 | Around Old Town & COVID Tests

We are currently in Tallinn as I make this post. A lot has happened these past weeks that I still need to update about. After we left Spain (about 2 weeks ago), we took a whirlwind trip through Munich, Strasbourg and Luxembourg. We only stayed 2 nights at each place which seemed super rushed to me (after this year of "slow" travel where we would stay at least a month per city). I now wish we had at least 3 days in each place. We chose these destinations due to a few reasons. Main reason being..we had to reach Luxembourg since I wanted to visit a friend of mine who lives there. I also needed to stop in France for the vaccine.

From Spain, the best airport to fly out of was Madrid. Due to COVID there are less flight routes so many routes required layovers. Madrid to Munich was a convenient flight as it was short and didn't include any layovers. From Munich it was also convenient to get to Luxembourg. So we decided to go there, and I also had to do a stop in France as I wanted to finally get my COVID vaccine. Out of a countless number of countries I've checked with, France is currently the only country that allows non-residents to take the vaccine. I was only a tourist for 2 days yet I was allowed to register and receive it free of charge. Next month I would have to go back to somewhere in France for the 2nd dose though (I'm thinking Paris!!)

Strasbourg was the most convenient city located in France with proximity to Munich and Luxembourg so that's why we chose it. Also, it's a beautiful place and I've always wanted to visit! Travelling during this time has been a really exciting and interesting experience, because we've been choosing our next destinations as we go along. We never have anything planned more than a few weeks ahead as we always need to follow COVID entry requirements and priorities of the time (for example the vaccine in France, and also our stay in Croatia a couple months ago was because I needed to stay in a non-Schengen country for awhile). So it makes us visit places we otherwise would probably not have.

Anyways, we are now in Tallinn for at least a month. We are really enjoying it so far. I would have never thought to visit Estonia before. Let's see if I'm able to catch up on my blog a bit during these weeks. I've organized my photos and everything now and I am at least 27 blog posts behind (!!!)...I still have posts from Thailand, Croatia, Bosnia, etc to post lol. Plus the ones from this recent trip and then the Tallinn posts. I'm likely going to still be doing travel posts well after we are back in Toronto..

I've visited Munich once back in 2012 so this was my second time visiting the city. Munich feels like a quintessential German town to me. I really love it there, especially the food and style of buildings.

The reality of travelling during COVID. Every country we've been to since Spain (Germany, France, Luxembourg and Estonia) have the requirement of presenting a COVID document in order to enter restaurants, cafes or public events. This can be proof of vaccination, recovery from COVID or a negative COVID test. For me it would be the negative test as I don't have either of the first two yet. If I was not travelling, I wouldn't mind this requirement but since we are travelling..going out to places is a big part of the experience. In Munich they had a LOT of testing stations and it was all free of charge.

I got one done here in Munich, in Strasbourg (that cost me 25 euros though), and in Luxembourg (that was also free). Each test is only valid for 48 hours. I've honestly lost count of how many times I did it since we first embarked on this big trip...however I think it's close to 20 times now lol. I've done it twice so far in Tallinn. On the first day to enter a restaurant, I didn't even think of this requirement. So I had to buy a self test from a pharmacy and do it outside the restaurant, then show them the result. I don't really mind these rules as it is a trade off for travelling during the pandemic and all.

I am not strongly for or against the vaccine. But it would make travelling a lot easier. In about a month I will have my 2nd dose.

My favourite type of restaurants. It was so cozy and the food was delicious. Our server was super friendly as well. I ordered a spaetzle which is one of my favourite German dishes.

I also LOVE pretzels!



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822. Chiang Mai Part 3 | Snapshots

So now we are down to our last few days in Chiang Mai. We will leave later this week and have a roadtrip planned with our driver to visit Chiang Rai (just in time as COVID restrictions have recently been lifted), Lampang, Sukhothai, Ayutthaya then back to Bangkok where we will stay for about a month again. I'm most excited for Sukhothai and Ayutthaya..I love UNESCO historical places.

Here are some more random photos taken around Chiang Mai.

A beautiful cafe named Fern Forest Cafe. We sat in the garden outside but they also have a beautiful interior:

There was also a pond with the largest koi fish I've ever seen! They had some fish food there so we could feed the fish as well (fish feeding is a very popular activity around Thailand I noticed)

We first learned this (the hard way) in Koh Samui that ants are literally everywhere in Thailand and if you leave something out for even half an hour, this happens (look closely)! In Koh Samui, I would buy dog treats to give to street dogs. We stayed in a house and one night I left a bag open..the following morning the bag was FULL of ants with a huge line of them coming and going. It was so disgusting.

I think this is a popular night market here in Chiang Mai. Unfortunately now it looks like this (thanks to COVID). We have not been able to experience any night markets here yet which is a shame as I think Chiang Mai usually has a lot.

The view from our building's rooftop

A mall's motorbike parking lot

Origins by Lewis Dartnell. It's super interesting and I'm enjoying it a lot so far. I would recommend if you like Sapiens/Homo Deus as well. It talks about how the physical earth shaped our history and how we live; how humans evolved and society came to be the way it is today.

My new outfits! Love Pantone.

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809. Bangkok Part 14 | Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

If you've been following on my social media accounts, you will know that we've left Bangkok now and have been in Koh Samui for a few days already! I have maybe 6-7 Bangkok posts left still so on the blog here the Koh Samui posts will be a bit delayed (as usual lol). Follow me on Instagram to get live posts!

On the same day we visited Maeklong Railway Market, we visited Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. The two markets are not too far away from each other (about 45min) and if you are doing a day trip from Bangkok like we did, it's best to visit both in the same day. I heard that this particular floating market we went is the most popular as it's the oldest one however it isn't known to be the "best" now as it's touristy. I personally really loved it and didn't feel it was touristy at all (maybe since we were the only tourists visiting lol) apart from some souvenir shops. I can't remember if I've ever been to a floating market like this before..but I really enjoyed the experience. The market is a large series of intertwining canals, with lots of residencial homes and vendors rowing around selling fruits, vegetables and cooked food. I do wish that we could've had the full experience though. Since the tourism industry is quite dead in Thailand now, the market was nowhere near as busy and chaotic as it usually is. There were very few boats and most shops were closed. The main area is usually filled with boats that it creates a traffic jam. Our guide said in the past sometimes they were stuck in there for an hour.

Here we are with our guide. We just arrived and got in one of the boats (in normals times there is usually a line up for one).

First we sailed through some residential canals before reaching the main floating market area. It was pretty cool to observe the homes along the way. It reminded me of the time visiting the Amazon rainforest - we mainly travelled around by boat as well there and saw similar homes. Of course in the Amazon it was more wild and primitive; the homes were much more basic but there are still certain similarities between homes in the jungle.

One of the vendor boats

Got a box of pomelo! I love them here.

One of the many closed shops. So sad to see..

We got off the boat and walked around a bit, then sat at the main area for some mango sticky rice! It was soooo good (the best I've had in Thailand so far). I really love the colourful rice. & the mango was super fresh.

This old woman was incredibly fascinated by my foreign boyfriend (I am a foreigner as well but they all think I am local lol). We aren't really sure what she said. Our guide translated one part that she was asking his name. I don't know if she's never seen a foreigner before or it was the first time in a long time that she saw one.



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