Bali Backpacking

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I went away, far away. Destination Bali.
In following post I want to tell you about the best experiences I made, I’ll show you how absolutely beautiful this country and its culture is and I will give you some recommendations if you ever consider traveling to Indonesia.

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Here a little map of our trip. After a 14 hours flight we – my best friend and I – arrived in Denpasar. Before that we had to change planes in Singapore – here my first piece of advice for you. Always make sure you have more time than 1 hour to change planes, otherwise you’ll run (like really really run) and you won’t have time for dutyfree shopping!

However, we arrived and got to our Hostel in Ubud, the so called cultural centre of Bali.
It is a very busy city with lots of traffic but many cute little shops and many things to see.

The place is quite touristic, however as I would find out during this trip, Bali itself has become a complete tourist-magnet and the people who live there rather open a little restaurant or a shop instead of making their money with traditional fishing or agriculture. Most Balinese people which are now 20 to 35 years old have studied tourism. However the culture and religion is still of big importance to the local people.

In Ubud there are great restaurants and places to go out, you can see celebrations in temples or visit the monkey forest.

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Recommendation for Ubud: 

Hostel: Pandok Permata (15 minutes walk from centre, best banana pancakes in the world, very friendly staff, warm water in the shower, pretty rooms/ cost: about 8 Euros each à night)

Restaurant: The Bali Yoga Restaurant (Jl. Kajeng No. 11) (very cheap but local and yummy food)

Culture: Ubud Palace (picture above) and rice fields in the western part of the city (if you find time, walk them all the way up and get a ride back down, cause most tourists only walk trough the fields for a little while, so if you wander further you’ll be all by yourself and you’ll find the cutest restaurants (make sure you go around sunset, you won’t have a better view of it anywhere else in Ubud)

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Brighton Adventures

King – “Years & YearsBildschirmfoto 2015-07-18 um 14.17.52

 

At my stay we also went to Brighton. This has been the third time at the city and I love it!
I love the sea, the people, the lanes, the houses. It’s a place you must visit when you’re already in Great Britain.
There are loads of young people there – which also means you have great restaurants and bars to go out.

Of course you have to go to the Brighton Peer.
Nothing to say about it, just go and enjoy.
Sit down at the beach – and be aware that the seagulls will steal your food if you don’t pay attention.
It’s often quite windy down there so make sure your clothes keep you warm.

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For shopping there are the Lanes with its little shops. It’s quite vintage and always busy.
Sometimes you also have buskers there.
It all gives the area a great atmosphere.

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Now I get to the most important part – food and drinks.

When my friends and I go to Brighton there always two places we have to go to.
I have to mention that we love good, savory food. When I’m out in Great Britain I really don’t try to get a hand on the healthy stuff…no, no, no.

There’s The Cricketers on 15 Black Lion Street
cricketersbrighton.co.uk

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It’s a very cosy pub where you can sit inside or outside.
The inside is held in red colors – it reminded me of, well, a cabaret, but anyways…

I had a Crabbies Ginger Beer and a Halloumi Burger.
Seriously, I’ve never had such a yummy Burger before!


Then there is the JBs American Diner at 31 King’s Road
jbsdiner.co.uk

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Ooh, it makes me hungry if I look at those pictures.
This place is made in an American Style – there are so many details! Tom and Cherry was on telly
and on the ceiling there was a picture of gorgeous James Dean. (Only to mention some of it)

I had a Pop Eye’s Salad with avocado, spinach, chicken and cheese as well as some cheesy-fries and an Oreo Milk Shake.
Honestly – it’s impossible to eat and drink it all. Especially the Milk Shake is huge.
But I swear, what you get at this restaurant, is really really yummy stuff.

Don’t miss out on it.
It’s also situated quite close to the Brighton Peer and just at the promenade.


Now there is another place we discovered. I’ve never been there before:
It is the No 32 at 32 Duke Street
no32dukestreet.com

I want to warn you straight way – this place is pricy!

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But since I like a little bit of luxury…
Don’t judge me!

This restaurant/bar/club/whatever is fancy and modern.
What we drank was prosecco with elderly flower sirup and lime.
It’s a drink we call in Switzerland “Hugo” and it’s very In at the moment, especially in summer,
cause it’s refreshing.
I don’t wanna go too much into detail about it, since I plan to make a “Swiss drinks/Favourite drinks” post at some point.

However for those two glasses we payed quite a lot.
I dunno if it was because of what we chose …

But if you look for a place which is stylish and fancy – you’ll be right at the No 32.

And that’s it for today!

xx jana

Historical Pub crawl in london

Mark Foster – “Au Revoir” 

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Let’s have a break form all that brokenhearted relationship talk.

I went to London, one of my favourite cities in the world, to meet my English friend Carla and to spend some time away from home. I really needed to get some distance from my ex and from everyday life.

The big isle in the north means a lot to me.
I spent 10 Months in England, in a place called Orpington (south of London, Kent), when I was 16 years old.
It was an “exchange year”, which means I basically went to school there with all the English kids and I even did AS-Level exams.

I try to go back ever year to see my best friend and to visit my host family.
This time we went into some old pubs – it was wonderful and I had a great time!
So I thought I should share those three places with you.

All of them are situated near the St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Let’s start off with the Ye Olde London , 42 Ludge Hill.

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You can see the entrance of it on the very top picture.
It’s a pub with a nice little garden. You have to walk downstairs through the whole pub to find it.

To be fair, since I work at a pub in Switzerland I usually feel very comfy in Pubs in general, because I know
what kind of people go there and I know how the system works and so on.

So for tourists or just to refresh your mind – You go and order at the bar and you pay directly. If you buy drinks you wait for them to be made and you take them with you and sit down wherever you want. If you want food you also order and pay for it directly at the bar. The staff will bring you the food to your place, once it’s done.
Very simple.

If you are a fan of beers, Pubs are perfect for you. But also if you’re like me – I’m not a fan of beers – there are some very very nice drinks you can have. A part from “the hard stuff” I would recommend you ciders.
The apple one’s are more sour, so if you are a sweet person like me, choose strawberry or passion fruit ciders.
You’ll love them.

What I have been obsessed with this time has been the Crabbie’s Ginger beer.
If you like ginger flavored drinks, you cannot go wrong with this.

And – drink the ginger beer and the ciders with ice! Trust me.

On the website you can find out more about the place:
Ye Olde London


Next one’s the Punch Tavern on Fleet Street

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It’s a quite romantic little pub with all its fairy-lights.

The guys there were really into gin. They have loads and loads of different ones.
I wish I did remember what we drank – there was definitely gin in it.
The one with lime – and I think it was mixed with bitter lemon or something – was very nice.

Just ask the bartenders, they will mix something for your taste. And the prices are super-decent!

Find out more about them on:
www.punchtavern.com


And the last one I’d like to share with you is Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street.

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Okay I seriously wished I took more pictures of this place – it’s genuinely amazing!
Inside it is a maze of little rooms which seem to be actually part of a huge cellar.
I really cannot describe it differently, go and check it out yourself.
It’s just all connected with little stairs and it’s all underground.

To be honest, I wasn’t amazed by the beverage menu but I am positive you’ll find something for your taste.
I guess it really depends on how picky you are.
We tried the apricot beer – it wasn’t too bad.

Apparently Charles Dickens has been known to visit the pub frequently.
When you’re there you can easily imagine him sitting there.

I suppose this place really scores with its venue.
There is no official website for it but I hope this will help you:
Visit London – Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

Have fun exploring and trying out those pubs!
xx jana