SHIRAZ : Andalus 2020

Given the time and effort, the whole journey would be much more meaningful and to our likings, since we are the ones who set the schedules and all, but.. There's always going to be travelling challenges right? But that's the exact why, up to this date, I always love the idea of travelling without the help of travel agent.

As much as I wanted to share about my travelling experience, I still can't get this Covid-19 thingy out of my mind (just for a while). It's not impossible, though I have to admit that it's hard, but sometimes you just have to find a way to relax your mind and body, just so you wouldn't wake up each day with such a mess in your head. Anyhow, in such tough times, we've been doing great, going through this. And like any other seasons of uneasiness, this too shall pass, insyaAllah.

And now, here I am, repeating the same mistakes over and over again, of not writing the post just right after each trips/events though I always know that I'm forgetful. With that being said (written literally), I welcome you to the journey of 4 travelmate in the discovery of Spain, Portugal and Morocco in early January this year.

Bismillah, assalamualaikum :)

Barcelona (27/1/2020)

Fyi, we had plan the trip, with time allocated for each place is only one day. So, for example, if we are going for a stroll in Barcelona city on Tuesday, we have to stay the night before in Barca, and the very same day spent in Barca ended in the evening, since we have to move to the next city on the same evening. You get me?

My #1 tip would be : Always plan your trip with a break in between, before the trip feels like a forced one haha. Because based on this trip, we have to sleep quite late at night (we usually sleep at 2/3 a.m.) and we had to wake up early to stay on schedule. Exhausting weyh!

Places we visit : La Boqueira, Palacio de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Cathedral of Barcelona, Poble Espanyol, Castelle de Montjuic, La Sagrada Familia

transit kat Egypt, yay, I sampai dah tempat belajar you yana huhu

cuba eja McDonald dlm bahsa Arab. Hah amik kau.

model saya stress pula

pakcik power buat performance berpusing dlm gelung

tengok husna guys

bts

bidadari dunia, saya jual

(saya tak kena paksa tulis hahah)

biasalah nak luar biasa

Budak pling geram tgok oren bersepah

tengah discuss boleh makan ke tak oren2 ni

nostrils pun nak tunjuk aduhh

Sorry for the haphazard photo arrangements. I am still trying to make it less obvious (what more with my current haphazard daily schedule, huwaaa)

Lisbon (28/1/2020) (pronounced as Lisboa)

Next in schedule is Lisbon, the city centre of Portugal. As a very determined group of young women, we wanted the trip to be 'unique', or in simpler words, we wanted to be different (lah sangat). When we searched for the places to visit in Lisbon, we've listed a few, like in Barcelona. But, since I was the leader for this city, I cut it short haha. From 5-6 places to only 1. Duh! That's the only doable option, and absolutely not because of my inefficiency (haha). Please do not question my credibility haha.

I remembered a man, who helped us to go to Sintra, we were very conscious to our surroundings since Lisbon is popular with pickpockets. thank you to the guy who had been honest and helpful, though we had some suspicions at first, sorry but we can't help it, though :)

My #2 tip : Always trust the judgement of your trip leader, even when she looks like she's lost. Offer help when needed, and follow his/her lead with trust. That's the least you can do in times of difficulty (ada ke trip yang takde masalah aduh). I believe everyone did their best, being appointed as the leader for different cities, because our interests are of the same magnitude (?) (for example, our financial status, our time, our experience, etc)

Places we visit : Palacio de Pena, Sintra National Park

warna castle ni mcm dalam lukisan

poning juga nak focus kat trip, nak focus kat beg hmm

nak join makeup, penat bawa sebundle haha,

tapi takleh pakai sbb muka tak sihat sobsob

takpe I setia bawa ke hulu ke hilir demi sue saying ahaks

diri kat tanggo ni lamo2, ingek sonang ko haha

ni sorang lagi bidadari uii,

hafizah lak tu, saya jual juga

(still tak kena paksa tulis)

mek ni suka baca sejarah, kalau nak tahu pasal sejarah

sila baca ig posts mek ni, saya tak minat sejarah sekian

Seville (29/1/2020)

As someone who loves the details of the places I visit, this was definitely wrong. What I meant to say is that, we overestimated our plan. If I am to plan this trip all over again, I'd rather spend more time in a few cities than only one day each for 8 big cities! I can't even appreciate our stay in each city! What more when we definitely spent most of our times searching for the best Airbnb stay in terms of facilities provided, distance from our places of interest and price of course! I still can't get over the regrets sobsob.

Not to mention, with our limited mobile data, SIMcard and connectivity with one another whenever we're out strolling around the cities, one of the most unexpected things happened. We were separated, in group of 2. (Lawak ke?) Since we were so intelligent, that we didn't have the telephone number of the only activated sim (in Husna's phone), we were lost for words. Long story cut short, alhamdulillah we were reunited after ~45 minutes of waiting (with lots of duas and hope). Very remarkable trip indeed! Haha.

My #3 tip : Do not overestimate yourselves. Eventhough, we've planned according to other's itinerary, there were some changes made based on our gut feelings. It turns out to be, well, honestly speaking, tiring haha. It will be much more meaningful the other way round, I think so :) And, do travel with >1 SIMcard if you're travelling in group, wouldn't risk my heart for another 'sesat' events, with so much things to be considered.

Places we visit : Royal Alcazar, Plaza de Espana