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      <title>In search of adventure: my travel guide 2 by karine kaley</title>
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      <language>en-us</language>
      <pubDate>2024-05-06 14:25:11 UTC</pubDate>
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         <title>Paris</title>
         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
         <link>https://padlet.com/karinaelenaserbanica/4gux310qbjrntp8b/wish/2981742178</link>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>Oh... when it comes to Paris, I instantly get emotional. I truly love this city, I love everything about it... I love the romance it exudes on every street, boulevard, boulangerie... What can I say... I'm a romantic person!! I'm in love with Paris, and for this reason, I filled my backpack, which I used as carry-on luggage, only with dresses that would match its architecture and luxury. I really enjoy picking out the most suitable outfits before each trip. I believe that the more fitting an outfit is, the more enjoyable the experience will be!</p><p>Now, let me begin by talking about the things you can do there as a tourist! First and foremost, I want to mention the most important aspect: museums are FREE for European citizens under 26 years old. Yes, you heard that right, you can visit the Louvre, Versailles... for free, you just need to make a reservation on the official website of each museum. I didn't know this before, but I did know that I wanted to see as much as possible in the 5 days I was planning to visit.</p><p>After researching online about each place, I made a schedule with everything related to museums, tourist attractions, meals, coffee with croissants, etc. I love to thoroughly research the place before going on vacation: to know how the people are, to know a few words (the French love their language very much and some simply don't accept to speak in English), the most loved places by tourists, where to eat well...</p><p>One super essential thing you must do is to allocate an hour each day to have coffee with a croissant at the enchanting terraces of Paris. Their boulangeries are amazing, you simply can't decide from the thousands of delicacies they offer.</p><p>I enjoyed walking on the streets of Paris so much, every day I walked at least 25,000 steps :) My feet were so tired, but I didn't even pay attention to them.</p><p>I don't think I need to mention that the Eiffel Tower is a must-see. It's most beautiful in the evening, with its lights and the sparkle that lights up every hour for 5 minutes. If you don't have a fear of heights and if you believe you can climb to 300 meters without throwing up everything you've eaten, then you absolutely must reserve a visit to the Eiffel Tower. Don't forget to do this well in advance of your trip!! If you want to pamper yourself even more, then make a reservation at Madame Brasserie restaurant on the 2nd floor!</p><p><strong>It was so romantic to see Paris from 300 meters high, I felt like I was in a movie!</strong></p><p><br/></p>]]></description>
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         <pubDate>2024-05-06 14:29:46 UTC</pubDate>
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         <title>Singapore</title>
         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
         <link>https://padlet.com/karinaelenaserbanica/4gux310qbjrntp8b/wish/2981743848</link>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>Singapore... one of the most developed countries in the world. How can such a small country be so "big"? Well, after a quick search on Google, I found the explanation: One of the key factors contributing to Singapore's economic miracle was its strategic location, which made it an ideal hub for international trade and commerce. The country's main exports include electronics, chemicals, and services. Singapore is the regional hub for wealth management.</p><p>Although it's a democratic republic, this small yet powerful country has its own rules that differ from other nations. For example, it's illegal to chew gum here; if caught doing so, you'll be fined:) Strange, isn't it? How can you not chew gum?! I chew gum every day, it seems impossible otherwise. And with another quick search on Google, I found the explanation for this too: The chewing gum ban was implemented to eradicate problems created by chewing gum litter in public places like cinemas, parks, and common areas of housing estates such as lifts, staircases, and corridors, as well as the high costs involved in cleaning up the litter. In conclusion, it doesn't sound bad at all:))</p><p>I've been dreaming of coming here for a long time. I kept seeing reels on Instagram with this place. It seemed brilliant to me: such a developed country positioned in such an exotic location. The coolest combination! Normally, the opposite happens. Exotic places are usually in quite poor countries that live solely on tourism.</p><p>As a brief description, Singapore is a very cheerful country, the people are so friendly, I felt very comfortable communicating with them. They were always there if you needed help, if you were lost... They simply dropped everything they were doing just to help you. Besides that, Singapore is the perfect place to go with friends. It's full of great bars and clubs, you can hear music all over the city. It's exactly the kind of city I go to feel alive. So, before you plan a trip here, make sure you go with people who love having music in their ears all night long:))</p><p>What I found very interesting is that it resembles Europe a lot, specifically London. This is because it was a British colony from 1946 to 1958.</p><p>Why did the British colonize Singapore? The short answer is that it's all about money and it started with the spice trade... Interesting, isn't it?</p><p><br>Marina Bay is a symbol known worldwide as being in Singapore. The wonderful hotel that looks like a ship. (If you're interested, a night there costs around 2738 SGD - Singaporean dollars). Just now when I was checking the prices, I noticed that during the monsoon season, the price drops to 790 SGD. Wow:)) Such a huge difference. Would you like to experience staying at Marina Bay during the monsoon? I'm still considering it, although the idea of staying at Marina Bay is pretty cool:))</p><p>Oh, and you've probably heard of the splendid gardens associated with Marina Bay: Gardens by the Bay. They are special, I haven't seen and probably won't see anything like it anywhere else!! It's a huge park with exotic plants. I felt fantastic there, I walked around and took pictures non-stop.</p><p>I must mention that this country is quite expensive and you should budget accordingly before you leave.</p><p>Also, to enter this country, you don't need a VISA, just an arrival card. Here are more details: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.ica.gov.sg/enter-transit-depart/entering-singapore/sg-arrival-card">https://www.ica.gov.sg/enter-transit-depart/entering-singapore/sg-arrival-card</a>. This card is mandatory to enter the country, but you don't have to stress about it. Many people fill it out right when they arrive there. I did it 3 days before because I wanted to make sure everything was okay. Oh, and you should know that this card is valid for 3 days from the date you fill it out!</p>]]></description>
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         <pubDate>2024-05-06 14:30:54 UTC</pubDate>
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         <title>Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur</title>
         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
         <link>https://padlet.com/karinaelenaserbanica/4gux310qbjrntp8b/wish/2981744985</link>
         <description><![CDATA[<p><br>I've been to 4 Asian capitals so far, and Kuala Lumpur is definitely my favorite. Oh, what a city!! It has some extremely tall skyscrapers, I had never seen anything like it before.</p><p>The coolest thing was that I stayed in a skyscraper hotel. Actually, let me correct that, the coolest thing was that I was accommodated on the 50th floor, the second to last. It may sound ridiculous, but hardly could I fall asleep on the first night:) I just felt like the whole building was swaying with me. But eventually, I got used to the idea, it took me one sleepless night:))</p><p>On the 51st floor, there was also an outdoor pool with a direct view of the tallest buildings in Kuala Lumpur, as well as the Petronas Towers. The Petronas Towers, twin towers that at one point, from 1998 to 2004, were the tallest in the world. The plan for each tower is identical: an eight-lobed circular structure that contains 88 stories of occupiable space and a pyramid-shaped pinnacle surmounted by a slender steel spire. Both rise to a height of 1,483 feet (451.9 meters), which includes 242 feet (73.6 meters) for the pinnacle and spire.</p><p>What is so special about the Petronas Towers? Well, here’s your answer: The towers feature a double-decker sky bridge connecting the two towers on the 41st and 42nd floors, holding the record for the highest 2-story bridge in the world. The skybridge also functions as a crucial design feature facilitating movement between the two towers during high winds.</p><p>As an internationally recognized landmark, the PETRONAS Twin Towers symbolize the courage, ingenuity, initiative, determination, energy, confidence, optimism, advancement, and zest of a nation.</p><p> <strong>During the evening, you will get to witness the light and fountain show. The show starts at 7:00 PM and goes on till 9:00 PM.</strong></p><p><br/></p><p><br/></p>]]></description>
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         <pubDate>2024-05-06 14:31:44 UTC</pubDate>
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         <title>Budapest</title>
         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
         <link>https://padlet.com/karinaelenaserbanica/4gux310qbjrntp8b/wish/2981748622</link>
         <description><![CDATA[<p><br>One really cool thing about Budapest is that it's very close to Cluj. It took us 6 hours by car to get there. We stayed for a whole weekend, and I think it was enough; there isn't really a lot to see, but it's a very charming and clean city.</p><p>I really liked the animal café; it's called ZOO CAFÉ BUDAPEST. It's full of all kinds of animals: from giant cats and rabbits to snakes, turtles, and chameleons. All you have to do is sit at the table, order something, and wait for the waiter to bring you a little animal. You'll have a different animal every 5 minutes:) If you want to touch them all, you should plan to stay for a while. In the picture from this article, it's me with a very friendly chameleon. It didn't do anything, it just wanted to walk from one hand to another; I had to be very careful.</p><p><br>You should know that to visit this café, you need to make a reservation a few days in advance. I hadn't made one, but I was lucky because someone had canceled their reservation right when I arrived, so I managed to take their spot.</p><p>As you know, the Parliament is probably the most important building that any tourist wants to see. As a tip, go and visit it in the evening. It's much more spectacular due to the lights that turn on around sunset (8 pm in the summer) and stay on until midnight or later.</p><p>It's really beautiful to take a boat ride in the evening and see the Parliament and the other tourist attractions. Most people who come to Budapest do this and prefer to book the boat that offers unlimited prosecco:)</p><p>On the last day, which was Sunday, we decided to visit the famous Lake Balaton, which was about an hour away from Budapest. It's truly beautiful and large, with very clear water. There are turtles everywhere around the lake, so I ended up getting one too:) As we were heading back to the car, we saw something very tiny moving among some rocks; it was an incredibly small turtle. After a few seconds of thinking, I decided to take it home and buy it an aquarium, food, a UVB light bulb, and whatever else it needed. And that's what happened; I took it and bought everything necessary. Now it's on my desk:)</p><p>If you're wondering how I got through customs with it, well, I put it in a jar of chewing gum to avoid looking suspicious…:)) I was worried that the customs officers might want to take it away from me, or who knows, maybe they wouldn't agree with me trafficking turtles:))</p><p>And if you were wondering how I transported the turtle on the road, I carried it in a casserole where I had put pancakes on the first day.</p><p>One thing that really bothered me is that in Hungary, you're not allowed to have drinks on buses… well, I didn't know that… I had two leftover sips of coffee from McDonald's, and I thought I'd take them with me on the way to Vajdahunyad Vara (a castle that is similar to Corvin Castle in Hunedoara). As I got on the bus and laughed with my friends about various things, an inspector came to me, asked for my ticket, and then started pointing at my cup with two leftover coffees in it (let's not forget that the cup was closed, and even the mouth you drink from had its own lid). He saw that I didn't understand, so he decided to translate it into English using Google Translate. Well, the fact that I had that cup with me meant a fine of 12,000 Forints, equivalent to 30 euros, and that, in turn, meant I had to pay it right away. All the inspector knew to say was: cash or card, cash or card. Ignoring the fact that the idea that you're not allowed to have drinks on the bus was written somewhere very small, this small announcement was covered by the pile of people there…it was impossible for me to read past the masses of heads covering it. I want to point out that one of the women who were on the bus also had a drink, but guess what, she wasn't asked to pay the fine…she was Hungarian.</p><p>P.S.: Now that we both know, let's do better research about the country we're traveling to, who knows what fines we might get elsewhere:))</p>]]></description>
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         <pubDate>2024-05-06 14:34:12 UTC</pubDate>
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         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
         <link>https://padlet.com/karinaelenaserbanica/4gux310qbjrntp8b/wish/2983291205</link>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>I've been to Paris twice, and not even the second time did I manage to visit Versailles... I'm very upset!! The first time I went with my parents, and I really wanted to go to Disneyland, so on the third day, the last one, we spent it in this theme park that every child wants to visit. It was really beautiful!! I started crying the moment we arrived there! What was really annoying was that some of the roller coasters were under renovation... and the crowds for the others were an hour long... I managed to go on a few rides, but the child in me appreciated every second spent there!</p><p>And now that I had started talking about Versailles, I was supposed to go there now, the second time when I visited Paris. It was all planned, from tickets reserved on the official website at a certain time, to the train that would take us there. But the plan changed just the night before: the day we were supposed to visit Versailles was the last one before we left, so the thought of leaving Paris and spending an hour and a half going to Versailles and another hour and a half coming back was dreadful! How could we waste our last day on the roads?! So ultimately, we decided that it would be best to walk through the center of Paris and fully enjoy the sunny weather that covered my favorite city with a smiling face. One of my favorite activities of that day was eating the best raspberry tart at a bakery on Saint-Germain-Des-pres.</p><p><br/></p><p>Oh, let's not forget about the Louvre!! Of course, my main thought was to definitely see the Mona Lisa painting, which I spent half an hour to get in front of it in such a way that I could see it for a few seconds and take some selfies and pictures with it :) Everyone was crowding to see Leonardo da Vinci's marvelous painting! I had been dreaming for a long time to see it, and I was super happy and fulfilled when I checked off one of the things I want to do in this life... I can only say that there are still plenty more:) I'm a dreamer who will never stop dreaming about the coolest experiences to have in this life!!</p><p>Oh, and the gardens... magnificent. I sat on the grass, and admired the Louvre. I love to sit on the grass when I travel the world.</p><p>I thought it was brilliant that in absolutely every park in Paris there were chairs everywhere so you could relax in nature and read or admire the colorful flowers. There were literally a lot of people sitting on chairs and doing anything, from writing/reading/studying to crocheting or sewing :)) What a shame that this doesn't happen much in Romania, it's pretty much forbidden to step on the grass here...</p><p>Now let's talk about the dirtiness in this European capital...</p><p>I admit... it's a bit dirty, well, maybe a bit more than that :) And besides that, I encountered a lot of people who seemed quite dangerous, so, in short, I didn't feel quite safe there, I was checking my bag every 5 minutes :)</p><p>It's a city full of immigrants, and this aspect naturally influences its beauty. People from all over the world come here: from Nepal, India, China, many countries in Africa, as well as a lot of people from Romania:) I heard from locals that the most dangerous neighborhood is Saint-Denis because it's full of immigrants who simply have their own way of living together:)</p><p>I would really like it if the French started to be more concerned about the cleanliness of this city...</p><p>Oh, and let's not forget!! The Chinese even made their own Paris in China:)) They simply made an exact copy of the Eiffel Tower and the Champ de Mars. What do you think, is it a good idea?</p><p>P.S.: If you're a person with a long list of places and experiences you want to check off, message me right away and let's plan some trips together!</p>]]></description>
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         <pubDate>2024-05-07 12:06:30 UTC</pubDate>
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         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
         <link>https://padlet.com/karinaelenaserbanica/4gux310qbjrntp8b/wish/2996710553</link>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>As seen in the picture of this article, I was face to face with these towers. They are truly impressive. Swimming there on the 51st floor and looking at all these gigantic buildings where I could see people living and working everywhere, I felt somehow in another world: a world 51 levels above:)) It was a completely different world. I wonder what it's like to work so high up, to sit at your desk and if you look a little higher than your laptop, you have a superb view of this Asian capital. I would go every day out of sheer joy.</p><p>You probably know that Asian food is very spicy. Well, IT IS. I love to spice up my food with hot stuff, but nothing compares to the spices these Malaysians have. There wasn't a day when my face didn't turn red, and my eyes and nose didn't run from the food:))</p><p>I was thrilled to learn that Kuala Lumpur is surrounded by jungle. And as a nature lover, I visited their botanical gardens. They were enchanting and beautifully arranged. I even came across an Asian water monitor. The Asian water monitor (Varanus salvator) is a large varanis lizard native to South and Southeast Asia. In short, it's a lizard as big as a crocodile.</p><p>One of the most spectacular tourist attractions that you absolutely must see is the Batu Caves: a magnificent temple inside a cave in a huge rock. There, you're not allowed to enter with shorts, so we had to buy a shawl at the entrance to use it as a skirt.</p><p>I really love Buddhist and Hindu temples. Batu Caves is a Hindu temple, very colorful and full of monkeys. There were monkeys everywhere, all wanting food. They're not very friendly; they don't like to be petted. If you have food in your hands, they'll climb on you and steal all of it. I took a lot of pictures and videos of them; they seem very cute, although they show their teeth at you if you even try to touch them with your little finger:))</p><p>In short, a city break in Kuala Lumpur is a very hot one, where you'll sweat a lot and feel like you need a break to relax in air conditioning every 15 minutes.</p><p><br>And don't forget! Just like in Singapore, you don't need a visa for this country, but you need an arrival card that you can fill out in just a few minutes. Here are more details: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.traveloka.com/en-id/explore/tips/malaysia-digital-arrival-card/302172">https://www.traveloka.com/en-id/explore/tips/malaysia-digital-arrival-card/302172</a>.</p><p>A small detail to note: this arrival card is based on your country of origin. For example, people from certain countries require a visa to visit this country, so make sure to check accordingly!</p><p>P.S.: Don't forget to drink as much water as possible!</p>]]></description>
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         <pubDate>2024-05-17 01:07:58 UTC</pubDate>
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         <title>Indonesia, Bali</title>
         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
         <link>https://padlet.com/karinaelenaserbanica/4gux310qbjrntp8b/wish/2996722514</link>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>Stay tuned for my upcoming trip to Indonesia, Bali!!</p>]]></description>
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         <pubDate>2024-05-17 01:14:56 UTC</pubDate>
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         <title>Rome</title>
         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
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         <pubDate>2024-12-01 14:03:32 UTC</pubDate>
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         <title>Kefalonia</title>
         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
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         <pubDate>2024-12-01 14:03:47 UTC</pubDate>
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         <title>Zakynthos</title>
         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
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         <pubDate>2024-12-01 14:04:56 UTC</pubDate>
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         <title>Vienna</title>
         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
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         <pubDate>2024-12-01 14:05:47 UTC</pubDate>
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         <title>Bratislava</title>
         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
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         <pubDate>2024-12-01 14:06:24 UTC</pubDate>
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         <title>London</title>
         <author>karinaelenaserbanica</author>
         <link>https://padlet.com/karinaelenaserbanica/4gux310qbjrntp8b/wish/3392594142</link>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>So, let's talk about my trip to London.</p><p>First of all I want to say that this city is one of my favorites. I love its culture, its arhitecture, their people (due to the fact</p>]]></description>
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         <pubDate>2025-04-02 10:53:55 UTC</pubDate>
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