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#1243 – 2013 Roland Garros Weekend Trip (Part II)

ENGLISH

Previously on 2013 Roland Garros Weekend Trip: Zilko went to Paris over a weekend to watch the second grandslam tournament of the year, the French Open (or also well-known as Roland Garros). Having spent the first day there, now he was ready to go back to the tournament for the second day where another fun and exciting experiences awaited.

***

Day 2 (Sunday, 2 June 2013)

The lined up matches for me today was very nice as well, as I got:
(i) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) vs Angelique Kerber (GER) [8]
(ii) Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Roberta Vinci (ITA) [15]
(iii) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [6] vs Viktor Troicki (SRB)
(iv) Gilles Simon (FRA) [15] vs Roger Federer [2]

So, I did pretty much the same things in the morning as I did the day before, except that I got up 15 minutes later because the day before I was arriving at the tournament grounds a little bit too early. I bought a brunch menu at McDonald’s for breakfast this time, a much more substantial meal than just a piece of burger I had the previous day, hahaha :lol: .

Anyway, long story short, I arrived at the gate at around 09:00. At that time, there were more people (more than just one :P ) that had already arrived there. But I was still one of the people in front of the line though so it was still okay. They opened the gate a little bit later than the day before this time, as they opened it at like 09:45, or like 10 minutes after they started the security check. Schedule-wise, it was still not a problem, except that I kinda had to pee, huahaha :lol: . So you know, the horrible feeling of having to hold it (because there was no, as far as I knew, toilet nearby and I couldn’t leave my spot in the queue) while there was nothing you could do but wait until they opened the gate, haha :lol: .

After they opened the gate, I entered the grounds (obviously) looking for a toilet. But along the way, I couldn’t resist the temptation of peeking which player was on Court No.2 (maybe a player was warming up there). And then I saw this:

Team (Serena) Williams preparing for a warming-up session

Team (Serena) Williams preparing for a warming-up session

Yes, it was SERENA WILLIAMS and her team (coach, mother, hitting partner, trainer, and physiotherapist) were about to start her preparation for the day!! You know, I am a fan of the Williams sisters so I simply could not miss this opportunity. On top of that, I was the first person there so I could pick any seat I wanted in the Court. I know I had to pee but whatever, I could go to the toilet later at any time I wanted but this kind of opportunity did not occur too often, right? ;) Huahaha :lol: .

So I stayed there in Court 2 for the whole time Serena was practising, which was approximately 30 minutes. Her practice session reminded me a little bit, quality-wise, of Rafael Nadal’s practice session I saw in Roland Garros last year though. Serena’s level on practice was already superb and amazing!! After that, I (finally) went to the toilet. On my way to Philippe Chatrier, I stopped by at Court no.4 and saw Cara Black, one of my favorite doubles players, and Marina Erakovic practising. It was so nice to see Cara Black back on the tour though after her maternity leave.

Anyway, so I got to my seat, the same seat as the previous day. At 11:00, the two players of the first match entered the court: the eight seed, Angelique Kerber, and the 2009 Roland Garros champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova. The match went to three sets, with Kuznetsova eventually won it 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. The following match was the highlight of the day for me. It was between the world number 1, Serena Williams, and a crafty Italian, Roberta Vinci. The world no.1 dominated the first set 6-1, before things went a little bit more complicated in the second set where Vinci, with her crafty play, could go toe to toe with Serena. But in the end, Serena was still able to handle Vinci’s game and took the second set, and thus the match, and won 6-1, 6-3.

The next match was between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a local favorite, and Viktor Troicki. Well, to be honest, I wasn’t as much eager for this match; so it was actually a good time to strecth my legs and have some lunch. I stayed there for the first a few games before leaving my seat to head to the restaurant. I decided to have a beef steak with mushroom sauce and potato (damn, maybe I should have tried the ratatouille instead of the potato) at the restaurant.

After lunch, I decided to go around again. I saw a few more players around the ground: Kimiko Date-Krumm, Francesca Schiavone, Samantha Stosur, Arantxa Parra-Santonja, Tommy Haas, and Jean-Julien Rojer. Then, I found out a machine where we could scan our ticket to be entered in a ballot for a free French Open ticket next year! Well, obviously I scanned my ticket there; and tried to scan my previous day’s ticket as well. But apparently I could not scan my older ticket. Damn! Had I known this one day earlier! :( After that, I decided to buy a box of macarons (I was in Paris so obviously I had to have some macarons! :cool: ).

I went back to my seat inside Philippe Chatrier afterwards, just in time before the end of Tsonga – Troicki match where the Frenchman won 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. The following (and last) match on Chatrier should be an exciting one: between a local favorite, Gilles Simon, and a tennis legend, Roger Federer. And this match made me realize that apparently I was sitting between many Federer fans, hahaha :lol: . Well, as for me, I am not really a fan of Roger Federer, even though I do (and must) admit he is such a great player :) .

Watching the first set, I (and I believe it was not only me) thought Federer would cruise through the match as he was in complete control and took the set 6-1. Things got a little more complicated starting in the second set. The two players went pretty much toe to toe. But at one point, Federer slipped (or stumbled, I can’t really recall) and somehow, from thereone he made a little bit of more mistakes. Simon capitalized on this and took the second set 6-4. He even took it much further by taking the third set 6-2 as well by, again, taking advantage of errors from Federer’s racket. Federer took a bathroom break after the third set and he came back strong. He played a much cleaner tennis match and won the fourth set 6-2. Now, it was Simon’s time to take the bathroom break. Here, in my opinion, Federer played a little bit of a mind game though by going to his side just when Simon was back from the toilet break; thus, maybe, rushing Simon a little bit, who would serve first in the final set. Federer, indeed, broke the first game and was in control for the rest of the match, winning the decisive set 6-3. Hence, the 2009 champion won 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3; thus making his straight 36 quarterfinal appearance of the last 36 grandslam tournaments (that is some record :shock: )!

It was such a very nice match. After Simon took the third set, those Federer fans were so silent. But then they started going crazy when Federer started to gain the momentum in the fourth and fifth set, hahaha :lol: .

After that, I went back to my hostel. It had been such a tiring, but very fun, day at Roland Garros instead. The weather was nice in the sense that there had been so many sun the past two days. As the result, my face turned red because of it! Hahaha :lol: .

Day 3 (Monday, 3 June 2013)

My Thalys train to go back to the Netherlands was scheduled to depart at 07:25 from Gare du Nord in Paris. So, I got up at 6:00 to shower and pack. I left my hostel at around 06:50 and went directly to the train station. I stopped by at a cafe and had a very French breakfast: a pair of croissants and a cup of coffee, huahaha :lol: . After finishing my croissants, I went to the platform to get on board the train. It was such a long train (because apparently they combined two Thalys trains together, one of which would be detached and stop in Brussels) and my seat was on Couch number 15. So it was quite a long walk to get there, hahaha :lol: .

Anyway, at 07:25 the train departed on time. About two and a half hours later, as I said here, it arrived at Rotterdam Centraal Station. I took a bus to get back home, and here my weekend trip to Roland Garros this year officially ended.

THE END.

Open the gate please! I needed to go to the toilet! Lol
Sascha Bajin, Serena Williams’ hitting partner, preparing the court.
Mama Oracene, the mother of the Williams sisters
Sascha Bajin, Serena Williams’ hitting partner
Serena warming up
Warming up the serve
I was sitting at the wrong side of the court.
Cara Black!! It is so nice to see her back on the tour!!
Back in Le Court Philippe Chatrier in Roland Garros.
Busy Roland Garros
Self-camming session at Philippe Chatrier, lol.
The eight-seeded, Angelique Kerber
The 2009 champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova
The unseeded Kuznetsova won this fourth round encounter
My personal most-anticipated match of the day!
The coin toss between Serena Williams [1] and Roberta Vinci [15].
Roberta Vinci serving
Serena Williams in returning position
Serena Williams hitting a return winner
The best serve of all time
Team Williams
Serena Williams hitting a forehand
Serena Williams hitting a drive volley winner, one of the most difficult shots!
The famous “Come On!!!”
Serena changing side after the first game.
The world number 1 victorious with a score of 6-1, 6-3.
Serena Williams won her fourth round match
Post-match interview, in FRENCH!!!
Viktor Troicki from Serbia
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga hitting a serve
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Viktor Troicki to reach the quarterfinals.
Tsonga’s celebration dance.
Kimiko Date-Krumm!!!
Steak for lunch
The finalists of the 2010 women’s singles teaming up for doubles: Francesca Schiavone and Samantha Stosur
Tommy Haas
The ballot machine
Macarons
Coin toss between Gilles Simon and Roger Federer
Roger Federer hitting a serve
Roger Federer warming up before his fourth round match.
Roger Federer’s backhand
Gilles Simon
The full Le Court Philippe Chatrier during the Simon – Federer match
Gilles Simon took the third set!!
But in the end Federer was too strong and won the match in five sets

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sebelumnya dalam 2013 Roland Garros Weekend Trip: Zilko pergi ke Paris di satu akhir pekan untuk pergi menonton turnamen grandslam kedua tahun ini, the French Open (atau dikenal juga sebagai Roland Garros). Setelah menghabiskan waktu satu hari sebelumnya, sekarang ia siap untuk menyongsong hari keduanya di turnamen ini dimana pengalaman yang mengasyikkan dan seru telah menunggunya.

***

Hari 2 (Minggu, 2 Juni 2013)

Pertandingan untukku hari juga menarik loh, karena aku mendapatkan pertandingan-pertandingan berikut:
(i) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) vs Angelique Kerber (GER) [8]
(ii) Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Roberta Vinci (ITA) [15]
(iii) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [6] vs Viktor Troicki (SRB)
(iv) Gilles Simon (FRA) [15] vs Roger Federer [2]

Aku memulai pagi ini kurang lebih sama seperti sehari sebelumnya, kecuali bahwa aku bangun 15 menit agak lebih siang karena toh sehari sebelumnya aku tiba di kompleks turnamennya agak terlalu awal. Aku membeli menu brunch di McDonald sebagai menu makan pagi kali ini, sebuah sarapan yang lebih berbobot daripada satu biji burger yang aku beli sebelumnya, hahaha :lol: .

Anyway, singkat cerita, aku tiba di gerbang sekitar jam 9 pagi. Waktu itu, sudah ada lebih banyak orang (lebih daripada satu :P ) yang telah tiba disana. Tapi aku masih termasuk salah satu yang berada di paling depan antrian sih jadi masig nggak masalah lah. Mereka membuka gerbang agak lebih siang hari ini daripada kemarin karena kali ini gerbang baru dibuka jam 09:45, sekitar 10 menit setelah pemeriksaan sekuriti dimulai. Secara jadwal sih ini nggak terlalu bermasalah memang ya, kecuali bahwa waktu itu aku sedang kebelet pipis, huahaha :lol: . Tahu dong perasaan menyebalkan itu ketika harus menahannya (apalagi, sejauh yang kutahu, tidak ada toilet di dekat sana dan aku nggak bisa meninggalkan posisiku di antrian) sementara tidak ada yang bisa dilakukan selain menunggu gerbangnya dibuka, haha :lol: .

Setelah gerbangnya dibuka, aku memasuki kompleks turnamennya dan (tentu saja) langsung mencari toilet. Tapi di jalan, aku nggak bisa menahan godaan untuk sekalian mengintip dulu siapa pemain yang lagi berada di Lapangan No.2 (kan siapa tahu ada yang sedang pemanasan disana). Dan yang aku lihat adalah ini:

Team (Serena) Williams preparing for a warming-up session

Tim (Serena) Williams sedang bersiap-siap untuk sesi pemanasan

Ya, disana ada SERENA WILLIAMS dan timnya dong (pelatih, ibu, hitting partner, pelatih fisik, dan fisioterapis) sedang bersiap-siap untuk sesi pemanasannya hari itu!! Tahu lah, aku adalah seorang fans-nya Williams bersaudari sehingga aku jelas tidak bisa melewatkan kesempatan ini dong ya. Ditambah lagi, waktu itu aku adalah orang pertama yang memasuki lapangan itu sehingga aku bisa duduk di kursi manapun di lapangan itu. Memang sih aku kebelet ke toilet, tapi pipis mah bisa kapan aja tetapi kesempatan seperti ini nggak sering muncul kan? ;) Huahaha :lol: .

Nah, jadilah aku duduk di Lapangan nomor 2 itu di sepanjang waktu Serena berlatih, yang mana sekitar 30 menit. Sesi latihannya agak mengingatkanku, dalam hal kualitas, akan sesi latihannya Rafael Nadal yang aku tonton di Roland Garros tahun lalu. Level permainannya Serena di sesi latihan itu sudah amat tinggi dan menakjubkan lho!! Setelah itu, aku (akhirnya) bisa ke toilet deh. Di jalan menuju ke Philippe Chatrier, aku mampir dulu di Lapangan nomor 4 dan melihat ada Cara Black, salah satu pemain ganda putri favoritku, dan Marina Erakovic sedang berlatih. Senang juga rasanya melihat Cara Black kembali bermain setelah “cuti hamil dan melahirkan”.

Anyway, tibalah aku di kursiku, yang mana sama seperti sehari sebelumnya. Jam 11 siang, kedua pemain dari pertandingan pertama memasuki lapangan: si unggulan kedelapan, Angelique Kerber, dan juara Roland Garros tahun 2009, Svetlana Kuznetsova. Pertandingannya berlangsung tiga set, dengan akhirnya Kuznetsova memenanginya 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Pertandingan selanjutnya adalah pertandingan yang paling kutunggu hari ini. Pertandingan antara pemain peringkat 1 dunia, Serena Williams, dan pemain yang kreatif asal Italia, Roberta Vinci. Sang peringkat 1 dunia mendominasi set pertama 6-1 sebelum pertandingan menjadi sedikit lebih rumit di set kedua dimana Vinci, dengan permainan kreatifnya, bisa mengimbangi permainannya Serena. Tetapi pada akhirnya, Serena masih bisa mengatasi permainannya Vinci dan berhasil mengantongi set kedua, dan juga pertandingannya, dan menang dengan skor 6-1, 6-3.

Pertandingan berikutnya adalah antara Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, pemain tuan rumah, melawan Viktor Troicki. Ya, jujur sih, aku nggak terlalu tertarik dengan pertandingan ini; jadi ini adalah waktu yang tepat untuk meregangkan kaki dan makan siang kan. Aku tetap tinggal disana selama beberapa games pertama sebelum akhirnya meninggalkan kursiku dan pergi ke restoran. Aku memutuskan untuk makan steak sapi dengan saus jamur dan kentang (kalau dipikir-pikir lagi, seharusnya aku mencoba ratatouille ya daripada kentang biasa) di restoran itu.

Setelah makan siang, aku memutuskan untuk berkeliling lagi. Aku melihat lebih banyak pemain lagi di sekitaran turnamen: Kimiko Date-Krumm, Francesca Schiavone, Samantha Stosur, Arantxa Parra-Santonja, Tommy Haas, dan Jean-Julien Rojer. Lalu, aku baru tahu kalau ternyata ada mesin dimana kita bisa meng-scan tiket kita untuk ikut serta di undian untuk mendapatkan tiket French Open gratis tahun depan! Tentu saja aku ikutan dong ya dengan meng-scan tiketku; dan aku sekalian mencoba tiketku sehari sebelumnya. Namun ternyata aku nggak bisa meng-scan tiketku yang sebelumnya. Sial! Coba aku menyadari keberadaan mesin ini sehari lebih cepat ya! :( Setelah itu, aku memutuskan untuk membeli satu kotak macarons (aku lagi berada di Paris jadi pastinya aku harus makan macarons lah ya! :cool: ).

Aku kembali ke kursiku di dalam Philippe Chatrier setelahnya, tepat waktu sebelum akhir dari pertandingannya Tsonga dan Troicki dimana si pemain Prancis menang 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Pertandingan selanjutnya (dan terakhir) di Chatrier seharusnya akan menjadi pertandingan yang seru: antara seorang pemain tuan rumah, Gilles Simon, melawan sang legenda tenis, Roger Federer. Dan pertandingan membuatku menyadari bahwa aku ternyata duduk di tengah para pendukungnya Federer loh, hahaha :lol: . Ya, untuk aku sendiri ya, aku bukanlah seorang fansnya Roger Federer deh. Walaupun aku mengakui (dan memang harus mengakui) bahwa ia adalah seorang pemain yang hebat :) .

Menonton set pertama, aku (dan aku yakin nggak hanya aku saja) mengira Federer akan menang mudah karena ia memegang kendali penuh di set itu dan memenanginya 6-1. Pertandingan menjadi lebih rumit di set kedua. Kedua pemain bermain lebih seimbang. Tetapi di satu waktu, Federer terpeleset (atau jatuh, aku nggak terlalu ingat) dan entah kenapa, semenjak kejadian itu ia membuat sedikit lebih banyak kesalahan sendiri. Simon memanfaatkan kesempatan ini dan memenangi set kedua 6-4. Ia bahkan membawa momentum ini lebih jauh dan mengantongi set ketiga juga dengan skor 6-2. Federer kemudian mengambil waktu istirahat untuk ke toilet di akhir set ketiga dan ia kembali dengan kuat. Ia bermain jauh lebih bersih dan mengambil set keempat 6-2. Sekarang adalah gilirannya Simon yang mengambil waktu istirahat untuk ke toilet. Nah, disini, menurutku ya, Federer memainkan sebuah taktik mental/pikiran dimana ia langsung berjalan ke sisi lapangannya dan bersiap-siap bermain ketika Simon baru saja berjalan memasuki lapangan kembali dari toilet; sehingga, mungkin, membuat Simon sedikit terburu-buru padahal ia harus melakukan servis duluan di set penentuan ini. Dan memang, Federer langsung mematahkan servis Simon di game pertama dan mengambil kontrol sisa pertandingan, dan memenangi set kelima 6-3. Sehingga, juara tahun 2009 ini menang 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3; dan artinya ia masuk ke perempat-final ke-36 berturutan dari 36 turnamen grandslam terakhir (rekor yang gila deh :shock: )!

Pertandingannya memang seru lho. Setelah Simon memenangi set ketiga, para fansnya Federer jadi diam aja gitu deh, muhahaha :twisted: . Tapi kemudian mereka menjadi gila setelah Federer mulai merebut momentum di set keempat dan kelima, hahaha :lol: .

Setelah itu, aku pulang ke hostel deh. Benar-benar telah menjadi sebuah hari yang melelahkan, tetapi seru, di Roland Garros. Cuacanya juga oke banget karena matahari terus bersinar sepanjang dua hari itu. Sebagai akibatnya, mukaku jadi merah-merah deh karenanya! Hahaha :lol: .

Hari 3 (Senin, 3 Juni 2013)

Kereta Thalys-ku untuk kembali Belanda dijadwalkan berangkat jam 07:25 dari Gare du Nord di Paris. Jadilah aku bangun jam 06:00 untuk mandi dan mengepak barang. Aku meninggalkan hostelku sekitar jam 06:50 dan langsung berjalan menuju stasiun kereta. Aku mampir sebentar di sebuah kafe untuk makan pagi yang Prancis banget: satu pasang croissant dan satu cangkir kopi, huahaha :lol: . Setelah menghabiskan crossiant-ku, aku berjalan ke peron kereta dan menaiki keretaku. Keretanya panjang banget loh (karena ternyata dua kereta Thalys dirangkai jadi satu, yang mana salah satunya akan dilepas di Brussels) dan kursiku ada di gerbong nomor 15 gitu deh. Jadi aku harus berjalan lumayan jauh untuk mencapai gerbongku itu, hahaha :lol: .

Anyway, jam 07:25, keretanya berangkat tepat waktu. Sekitar dua setengah jam kemudian, seperti yang kuceritakan disini, keretanya tiba di Stasiun Rotterdam Centraal. Aku naik bus untuk pulang, dan disinilah perjalanan akhir pekanku ke Roland Garros tahun ini resmi berakhir.

SELESAI.

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by zilko on June 16, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in EuroTrip, My Interest, Tennis, Vacation, Weekend Trip
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Posted by zilko on June 16, 2013

http://zilko.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/1243-2013-roland-garros-weekend-trip-part-ii/

#1237 – 2013 Roland Garros Weekend Trip (Part I)

ENGLISH

Day 0 (Friday, 31 May 2013)

After having dinner and posting this post, I went to the bus stop near my apartment to catch a bus to Rotterdam Centraal Station. Long story short, the bus arrived there at around 19:05. At 19:58, the last Thalys train of the day to Paris departed from Rotterdam Centraal Station and here my weekend trip began. There was nothing special happening along the way though. The train arrived at Gare du Nord in Paris at around 22:45 (around 10 minutes late). I checked-in at my hostel that was not so far away from the station, changed, and went to bed.

Day 1 (Saturday, 1 June 2013)

I was very excited for the day because I found out that my Philippe Chatrier ticket gave me access for these matches today:
(i) Alizé Cornet (FRA) [31] vs Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [3]
(ii) Zheng Jie (CHN) vs Maria Sharapova (RUS) [2]
(iii) Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3] vs Fabio Fognini (ITA) [26]
(iv) Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [27]

I mean, WOW!! Four consecutive matches involving Azarenka, then Sharapova, then Nadal, then Djokovic!! :shock: Wow, that is some line-up!! :shock: But then I realized something: “Then when would it be possible for me to eat some lunch and toilet break?” Huahaha :lol: . I mean, between the matches, probably there was only 10 – 15 minutes break. But whatever…

Anyway, I got up at 7:00. After showering, I went to Gare du Nord to take a Metro to Roland Garros. I grabbed a burger at McDonald’s for my breakfast along the way. At 8:45, I arrived at the line and I was early because I was the second person to have arrived there. The goods news, I wouldn’t have to wait for too long when the gate was opened. They opened the gate at 9:30. After the security check and everything, I finally stepped inside the ground.

The matches would start just at 11:00 but I was still excited to have arrived early because many players, usually, used this time period to warm themselves up for their matches. The bottomline: even though the matches had not been started yet, I could see a lot of players already around the ground :) . First, I took a quick look at Court No.2 and I spotted Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova there. Then I became quite excited because I knew she has been working with a former great player of the WTA: Martina Hingis! And yes, Martina Hingis was there working with Pavlyuchenkova!! She was warming herself up with her doubles partner, Lucie Šafářová, for their upcoming doubles match on the day.

Then, I went around the ground to see the other courts. I did not see as many players as I did last year, but it was reasonable because I was going there in the weekend where the tournament had been running for over a week. So, a lot of players had lost their matches and left Paris (probably). But I did see Bob and Mike Bryan, Daniel Nestor, Kristina Mladenovic, Jean-Julien Rojer, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Andrea Hlaváčková, Lucie Hradecká, Michael Llodra, and the highlight: Maria Sharapova practising.

It was still around 10:30 and figuring out I still had time, I decided to buy a sub sandwich for brunch. After finishing it, I entered Le Court Philippe Chatrier to get on my seat and be ready for the first match. At 11:00, the two players entered the court: Alizé Cornet followed by Vika Azarenka. It turned out to be quite a high-quality match as Cornet could keep herself up with Azarenka. In fact, she managed to take the first set 6-4! She literally stumbled early in the second set, and from thereon Azarenka seized the momentum. The world number 3 eventually won the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-1  in over two hours.

I stayed there for the next match. About fifteen minutes after the Cornet-Azarenka match, Zheng Jie and Maria Sharapova entered the court. It was pretty much a one-way traffic in the first set, with Sharapova taking it 6-1. Zheng fought harder in the second set though, and helped with unforced errors from Sharapova, she even led 4-1 with a double break. Sharapova, however, fought back and found her way in the second set and took it 7-5. Thus, she also reached the fourth round with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over the Chinese player in about two hours.

The next match was another nice one: the seven time French Open champion who had a tremendous 98.11% winning percentage at the tournament prior to this year’s edition of the tournament, Rafael Nadal, versus Fabio Fognini from Italy. However, apparently sitting there watching matches for already over, literally, five hours was so exhausting. My legs begged me to stretch them. So after a few games, I decided to walk around the ground and get some snacks, hahaha :lol: .

I decided to have a quick lunch: a tomato and mozarella salad (what a healthy lunch :lol: ). Then I walked around the ground and I saw some more players, like Varvara Lepchenko, Zheng Saisai, Magdaléna Rybáriková, Irina Begu, and Monica Niculescu. Btw, at one of the courts, I also saw: Redfoo. Yeah, Redfoo, a member of the group LMFAO, huahaha :lol: . So random?? Well, not really since he is now dating Victoria Azarenka, hahaha :lol: . He was practising his serve at that time. And it was actually pretty good in my opinion.

Then, as I walked back towards Philippe Chatrier, I decided to stop by at Court number 4 as some people seemed to be attracted to whomever playing there. And guess what? I saw: Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova playing tennis on Court 4!! :shock: I mean, wow, was today such a day where I met so many women’s tennis legends?? Hahaha :lol: . Both players hit the balls really well though. Well, I guess, once you reach that level (higher echelon of professional tennis), you will always have the “touch”. Anyway, then, I went to the Roland Garros museum (where the entrance was free :D ) because I didn’t last year.

After that, I went back to my seat at Philippe Chatrier court, just in time before the Nadal – Fognini match ended. Rafael Nadal won the match 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4 to reach the fourth round. Not that surprising in my opinion. Then, the next match followed: the world number 1, Novak Djokovic, versus a young-promising player nicknamed “Baby Federer”, Grigor Dimitrov. It should be an intriguing match because just a few weeks ago, Dimitrov beat Djokovic in the second round of the Madrid Masters. Btw, yeah, the nickname “Baby Federer” suits Dimitrov so well because his game-style is very very similar to Roger Federer’s! Hahaha :lol: . I mean, watching him playing tennis, he would remind you of Roger Federer. Seriously!

Feeling tired, I decided to leave the court after the first set where Djokovic won 6-2. I stopped by at a KFC for dinner, then I went back to my hostel. I checked the result and in the end Djokovic won the match 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. Not that surprising from the world number 1 actually. Then, I went to bed at around 23:00.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next on 2013 Roland Garros Weekend Trip:
1. Day 2 at Roland Garros
2. Watching Serena Williams’ singles match :D
3. Epic Gilles Simon vs Roger Federer match
4. More tennis

The Thalys train that I took to Paris
Martina Hingis and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Bob Bryan warming up
The ballboys and ballgirls relaxing
Maria Sharapova warming up
My Philippe Chatrier ticket
The coin toss between Vika Azarenka and Alizé Cornet
Vika Azarenka hitting a forehand
Alizé Cornet stumbling
Victoria Azarenka won her third round match
Coin toss between Maria Sharapova and Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie hitting a serve
Maria Sharapova chasing down a ball
Maria Sharapova between points on her serve.
Maria Sharapova preparing a serve
Maria Sharapova’s reaction after winning a point
Redfoo hitting a serve
Winner of three grandslam titles, Lindsay Davenport
One of women’s tennis legends: Martina Navratilova.
The coin toss between Rafael Nadal and Fabio Fognini
Rafael Nadal’s forehand
Rafael Nadal, lol
Fabio Fognini charging the net
The umpire checking the mark
Rafael Nadal won another match at Roland Garros
Jeu, Set et Match.
Rafael Nadal won his third round match.
The coin toss between Djokovic and Dimitrov
Novak Djokovic hitting a backhand
Grigor Dimitrov serving
Novak Djokovic sliding
Grigor “Baby Federer” Dimitrov
Baby Federer’s backhand
Novak Djokovic serving
Novak Djokovic hitting a forehand.
Meal at KFC, hahaha

BAHASA INDONESIA

Hari 0 (Jumat, 31 Mei 2013)

Setelah makan malam dan mem-posting posting-an ini, aku pergi ke halte bus di dekat apartemenku untuk naik bus tujuan Stasiun Rotterdam Centraal. Singkat cerita, tibalah aku di stasiunnya sekitar jam 19:05. Jam 19:58, kereta Thalys terakhir hari itu tujuan Paris berangkat dari Stasiun Rotterdam Centraal dan disinilah perjalanan akhir pekanku dimulai. Nggak ada yang terlalu spesial sih sepanjang perjalanan. Keretanya tiba di Gare du Nord di Paris sekitar jam 22:45 (terlambat sekitar 10 menit). Aku kemudian check-in di hostel yang lokasinya tidak jauh dari stasiun, ganti baju, kemudian tidur.

Hari 1 (Sabtu, 1 Juni 2013)

Aku amat bersemangat untuk memulai hari ini setelah mengetahui bahwa tiket Philippe Chatrier-ku memberiku akses untuk menonton pertandingan-pertandingan berikut ini:
(i) Alizé Cornet (FRA) [31] vs Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [3]
(ii) Zheng Jie (CHN) vs Maria Sharapova (RUS) [2]
(iii) Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3] vs Fabio Fognini (ITA) [26]
(iv) Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [27]

Maksudku, WOW banget gitu kan!! Empat pertandingan tenis berturutan yang melibatkan Azarenka, lalu Sharapova, lalu Nadal, lalu Djokovic!! :shock: Wow, beneran sebuah jadwal yang super banget!! :shock: Tapi kemudian aku menyadari sesuatu: “Lah terus kapan dong aku bisa makan siang atau pergi ke toilet??” Huahaha :lol: . Maksudku, di antara pertandingan-pertandingan itu kan palingan cuma ada jeda waktu 10-15 menitan aja. Ah, tapi sudahlah…

Anyway, aku bangun jam 7 pagi. Setelah mandi, aku pergi ke Gare du Nord untuk naik Metro menuju Roland Garros. Aku mampir sebentar di McDonald untuk membeli sebuah burger sebagai menu makan pagi di jalan. Jam 8:45, aku tiba di antrian masuknya dan ternyata aku tiba lumayan awal karena aku adalah orang kedua yang baru tiba disana. Berita baiknya, artinya aku nggak perlu menunggu lama untuk masuk ketika gerbangnya dibuka. Gerbang dibuka jam 9:30. Setelah pemeriksaan sekuriti dan lain-lain, akhirnya masuklah aku di kompleks turnamennya.

Pertandingannya sendiri baru akan dimulai jam 11 tetapi aku sudah amat bersemangat dong karena datang awal karena biasanya, para pemain memanfaatkan waktu ini untuk berlatih dan pemanasan untuk persiapan pertandingan mereka. Intinya: walaupun pertandingan belum dimulai, aku bisa melihat banyak pemain di sekitar kompleks turnamen :) . Pertama-tama, aku mengintip Lapangan No.2 dan aku melihat ada Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova disana. Lalu, aku jadi tertarik mampir karena aku tahu akhir-akhir ini ia bekerja sama dengan salah satu mantan pemain hebatnya WTA: Martina Hingis! Dan ya, Martina Hingis juga berada disana sedang melatih Pavlyuchenkova!! Saat itu ia sedang pemanasan dengan partner gandanya, Lucie Šafářová, untuk persiapan pertandingan ganda mereka siang nanti.

Lalu, aku berkeliling kompleks turnamennya untuk melihat lapangan-lapangan lain. Aku tidak melihat sebanyak pemain seperti tahun lalu sih, yang mana sebenarnya wajar karena kini aku perginya kan pas weekend dimana turnamennya sudah berjalan seminggu lebih. Artinya sudah banyak pemain yang kalah dan pergi dari Paris (mungkin). Tapi aku masih sempat melihat Bob dan Mike Bryan, Daniel Nestor, Kristina Mladenovic, Jean-Julien Rojer, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Andrea Hlaváčková, Lucie Hradecká, Michael Llodra, dan yang paling terkenal: Maria Sharapova berlatih kok.

Waktu itu masih sekitar jam 10:30 dan karena masih ada waktu, aku memutuskan untuk membeli sandwich sub untuk brunch. Setelah itu, aku masuk ke Le Court Philippe Chatrier untuk menuju kursiku dan bersiap-siap untuk pertandingan pertama. Jam 11:00, dua pemain memasuki lapangan: Alizé Cornet diikuti oleh Vika Azarenka. Ternyata pertandingan mereka lumayan tinggi lho kualitasnya karena Cornet bisa mengimbangi permainan Azarenka. Malah, ia berhasil memenangi set pertama 6-4! Ia, dalam artian sebenarnya, jatuh di awal set kedua, dan mulai saat itu Azarenka memegang kendali pertandingan. Si pemain peringkat 3 dunia ini akhirnya menang 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 dalam waktu lebih dari dua jam.

Aku tetap duduk disana untuk pertandingan selanjutnya. Sekitar lima belas menit setelah pertandingannya Cornet dan Azarenka, Zheng Jie dan Maria Sharapova memasuki lapangan. Set pertama pertandingan ini kurang lebih berlangsung satu arah dimana Sharapova memenanginya dengan mudah 6-1. Zheng berjuang lebih gigih di set kedua sih, bahkan sempat memimpin 4-1 dengan dua break. Namun, Sharapova kembali berjuang dan berhasil menemukan jawabannya di set kedua dan memenanginya 7-5. Sehingga, ia juga mencapai babak keempat dengan kemenangan 6-1, 7-5 dari pemain China itu dalam waktu sekitar dua jam.

Pertandingan selanjutnya adalah pertandingan yang oke: juara French Open tujuh kali dengan persentasi kemenangan 98,11% di turnamen ini sebelum edisi tahun ini dimulai, Rafael Nadal, melawan Fabio Fognini dari Italia. Namun, ternyata duduk doang selama lima jam lebih, dalam artian sebenarnya, itu melelahkan juga ya. Kakiku meminta untuk diregangkan. Dan jadilah setelah beberapa games, aku memutuskan untuk berkeliling kompleks turnamennya saja dan sekalian beli snacks, hahaha :lol: .

Aku memutuskan untuk makan siang kilat: salad tomat dan keju mozarella (sungguh makan siang yang menyehatkan :lol: ). Lalu, aku berkeliling kompleksnya dan melihat beberapa pemain lagi, seperti Varvara Lepchenko, Zheng Saisai, Magdaléna Rybáriková, Irina Begu, dan Monica Niculescu. Btw, di salah satu lapangannya, aku juga melihat: Redfoo loh. Iya, Redfoo, personil grup LMFAO itu, huahaha :lol: . Sungguh random banget?? Ya, enggak juga sih ya soalnya dia kan pacaran sama Victoria Azarenka gitu, hahaha :lol:  Waktu itu dia sedang berlatih servis. Servisnya lumayan oke juga lho menurutku.

Lalu, ketika aku berjalan kembali ke arah Philippe Chatrier, aku memutuskan untuk mampir di Lapangan nomor 4 karena beberapa orang nampak tertarik untuk menonton siapapun yang sedang berlatih disana. Dan siapakah yang ada disana? Aku melihat: Lindsay Davenport dan Martina Navratilova dong sedang bermain tenis di Lapangan nomor 4!! :shock: . Maksudku, wow, apa hari ini itu hari yang spesial banget ya kok bisa-bisanya aku melihat banyak legenda tenis putri?? Hahaha :lol: . Keduanya memukul bola dengan bagus lho btw. Ya, menurutku sih, sekalinya kita mencapai level itu (level teratas dari tenis profesional), kita tetap akan memiliki “sentuhan”-nya ya. Anyway, lalu aku pergi ke museum Roland Garros (yang mana masuknya gratis loh :D ) karena kan aku nggak mampir tahun lalu.

Setelah itu, aku kembali ke kursiku di Philippe Chatrier, waktunya pas banget sebelum pertandingannya Nadal – Fognini selesai. Rafael Nadal memenangi pertandingan itu 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4 untuk mencapai babak keempat. Nggak mengejutkan sih menuruktu. Lalu, pertandingan selanjutnya dimulai: pemain peringkat 1 dunia, Novak Djokovic, melawan pemain muda yang menjanjikan yang dijuluki “Baby Federer”, Grigor Dimitrov. Ini adalah pertandingan yang seharusnya menarik karena baru saja beberapa minggu yang lalu, Dimitrov mengalahkan Djokovic di babak kedua turnamen Madrid Masters loh. Btw, ya, julukan “Baby Federer” itu memang cocok sekali karena gaya permainannya sungguh mirip dengan Roger Federer! Hahaha :lol: . Maksudku, melihat dia bermain tenis bakal mengingatkan kita akan Roger Federer. Beneran deh! A

Merasa lelah, aku memutuskan untuk pulang setelah set pertama dimana Djokovic memenanginya 6-2. Aku mampir di KFC untuk makan malam lalu kembali ke hostelku. Aku mengecek hasilnya dan akhirnya Djokovic memenangi pertandingannya 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. Nggak terlalu mengejutkan sih untuk pemain peringkat 1 dunia ya. Lalu, aku tidur jam 23:00.

BERSAMBUNG…

Selanjutnya dalam 2013 Roland Garros Weekend Trip:
1. Hari 2 di Roland Garros
2. Menonton pertandingan tunggalnya Serena Williams :D
3. Pertandingan Gilles Simon vs Roger Federer yang seru
4. Lebih banyak tentang tenis

7 Comments
by zilko on June 5, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in EuroTrip, My Interest, Tennis, Vacation, Weekend Trip
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Posted by zilko on June 5, 2013

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#1236 – Back from Paris

ENGLISH

So I am back from my weekend trip to Paris! :) I caught a morning Thalys train which departed at 07:25 from Gare du Nord in Paris to go back to the Netherlands. At 09:55, we arrived at Rotterdam Centraal Station (early by seven minutes); and then I took a bus to get back home.

Anyway, so how was it? Well, it was indeed very fun!! And apparently it was much more physically tiring for me, more than expected actually, since somehow at the moment I feel so tired. I am not sure if it was because of the relatively lack of sleep or my packed schedule in the weekend, or the combination of both (the last would be the most likely though in my opinion). So I will keep the story for just a little bit later. But it was indeed very fun!

As you know, my main (or only) agenda to go to Paris was to go to Roland Garros to watch the second grandslam tournament of the year. As a tennis fan, it was my heaven, hahaha :lol: . Three months ago when I bought the tickets, I got myself a Philippe Chatrier Weekend-Pass. So, whose match did I get? Well, I got these players’: Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer!! :shock: (and I also got two other matches as well: Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Angelique Kerber and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Viktor Troicki). For me, it was so worth the price that I became a little disappointed that I did not get category 1 seat because it provided better and closer view to the court (but also €60 more expensive).

So, here is a very short teaser of the trip:

Back in Le Court Philippe Chatrier in Roland Garros.
Maria Sharapova between points on her serve.
Rafael Nadal won his third round match.
Novak Djokovic hitting a forehand.
Roger Federer warming up before his fourth round match.
Serena Williams won her fourth round match

p.s: I just got the stuffs I ordered online last week delivered. And luckily, all of them were just like my expectations! So, no problem there is. Yay! :)

BAHASA INDONESIA

Jadi, aku baru saja kembali dari perjalanan akhir pekanku ke Paris! :) Tadi pagi aku naik kereta Thalys yang berangkat jam 07:25 dari Gare du Nord di Paris untuk kembali ke Belanda. Jam 09:55, keretanya tiba di Stasiun Rotterdam Centraal (lebih awal tujuh menit); dan kemudian aku naik bus untuk kembali ke rumah.

Lalu, bagaimanakah perjalanannya? Yah, beneran mengasyikkan sekali lho!! Dan ternyata lebih melelahkan secara fisik bagiku, lebih melelahkan daripada jangkaanku sebenarnya, karena entah kenapa sekarang ini rasanya capek banget. Nggak tahu sih ini karena lama tidur yang relatif kurang atau karena jadwalku yang super padat sepanjang akhir pekan, atau kombinasi keduanya (kombinasi keduanya ini sepertinya adalah penyebab paling mungkin sih menurutku). Jadilah aku akan menulis cerita perjalanannya agak nanti ya. Tapi memang perjalanannya seru banget lho!

Tahu kan, agenda utamaku (atau satu-satunya) dalam pergi ke Paris ini adalah untuk pergi ke Roland Garros untuk menonton turnamen grandslam kedua tahun ini. Sebagai fans-nya tenis, ini adalah surgaku deh, hahaha :lol: . Tiga bulan yang lalu ketika aku membeli tiketnya, aku mendapatkan tiket Weekend-Pass Philippe Chatrier. Nah, pertandingannya siapa yang aku dapatkan? Jawabannya adalah aku mendapatkan pertandingannya para pemain ini: Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, dan Roger Federer!! :shock: (dan aku mendapatkan dua pertandingan lain juga: Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Angelique Kerber dan Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Viktor Troicki). Untukku, harga tiketnya worth it banget deh dan sampai-sampai aku agak kecewa karena aku tidak mendapatkan tiket kategori 1 yang mana kursinya memberikan pandangan yang lebih baik dan lebih dekat ke lapangannya (tapi juga harganya €60 lebih mahal).

Nah, di atas aku berikan sedikit teaser dari perjalanan kali ini.

p.s: Barang-barang yang aku pesan online minggu lalu baru saja tiba loh. Dan untungnya, semuanya persis seperti bayanganku! Jadi nggak ada masalah deh. Yay! :)

11 Comments
by zilko on June 3, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in EuroTrip, Vacation, Weekend Trip
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Posted by zilko on June 3, 2013

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#1235 – Busy Friday, But Fun

ENGLISH

I am excited now because in a few hours I am going to catch a Thalys train to Paris for a weekend trip. Yay! :) Okay, it is a weekend trip to Paris but actually I am going to use like all of my time there for Roland Garros. You know, to watch the second grandslam tournament of the year: the French Open. Yay! :) So exciting!

Btw, why do I take such a late train ride to Paris (my train is scheduled to arrive at around 22:40 in Paris)? Well, the reason is because today is such a crazy day because there are so many things to do on this one day! First of all, obviously I had to work. And I could not leave early today because my project monthly meeting was already scheduled for this afternoon since before I bought the French Open tickets, as I said here. So I had to choose one of the latest departing Thalys train from Rotterdam, hahaha :lol: . And btw, it is impossible to take an earlier train tomorrow morning because the first train is scheduled to arrive at 09:35 in Paris while I want to already enter the tournament’s complex by 09:00.

It turns out to be a good decision though to choose the last train because now I have some little spare time to do some preparations and to have dinner first before going, hahaha :lol: . (Like right now I am preparing this post while cooking my dinner, haha :lol: ).

Anyway, I guess, this is it for now. Rendez-vous dans quelques jours!

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sekarang aku sedang bersemangat sekali nih karena dalam beberapa jam lagi aku akan naik kereta Thalys menuju Paris untuk sebuah perjalanan akhir pekan (weekend trip maksudnya). Yay! :) Oke, walaupun ini adalah perjalanan akhir pekan ke Paris, sebenarnya aku akan menggunakan semua waktuku disana untuk Roland Garros nih. Tahu dong, untuk menonton turnamen grandslam kedua tahun ini: French Open. Yay! :) Seru banget!

Btw, mengapa aku memilih untuk mengambil kereta yang malam banget untuk pergi ke Parisnya (keretaku dijadwalkan tiba di Paris nanti malam sekitar jam 22:40)? Ya, alasannya adalah karena hari ini adalah hari gila dimana ada banyak banget yang harus diurus! Pertama-tama, tentu aku harus bekerja dong ya. Dan aku nggak bisa pulang cepat karena meeting bulanan proyekku sudah dijadwalkan untuk diadakan siang ini semenjak sebelum aku membeli tiket French Open-nya, seperti yang kusebutkan disini. Jadi aku memang harus memilih salah satu keberangkatan Thalys yang terakhir dari Rotterdam, hahaha :lol: . Dan btw, nggak mungkin berangkat besok pagi karena kereta Thalys pertama baru tiba jam 09:35 di Paris sementara aku maunya sudah masuk kompleks turnamennya semenjak jam 09:00.

Ternyata keputusan untuk memilih keberangkatan yang terakhir itu keputusan yang baik lho karena sekarang aku ada sedikit waktu luang yang bisa kumanfaatkan untuk bersiap-siap dan sekalian makan malam dulu sebelum berangkat, hahaha :lol: . (Kayak sekarang ini aku mempersiapkan posting ini sambil memasak makan malamku, haha :lol: ).

Anyway, sepertinya itu aja deh untuk saat ini. Rendez-vous dans quelques jours!

10 Comments
by zilko on May 31, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in EuroTrip, Vacation, Weekend Trip
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Posted by zilko on May 31, 2013

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#1182 – 2012 Year-End Trip (Part VI)

ENGLISH

Previously on 2012 Year-End Trip: Zilko and his brother went on a 12-day trip to four countries in Europe. Now they were already in the last city stop before Zilko had to go back to the Netherlands: Barcelona.

***

Day 11 (Saturday, 5 January 2013)

I decided to try a Spanish breakfast today. And so I had a Spanish omelette. It was very nice btw, and it was not like any other omelette I had ever tried. Very unique!!

Anyway, our first destination of the day was the landmark of Barcelona: Sagrada Familia. We took Metro to get there. Along the way, my brother realized that he just had lost his three-day public transport pass (so the day before we decided to buy three-day pass as we would stay in Barcelona for around three days). And so he had to buy another one, but obviously a two-day pass this time.

We arrived at Sagrada Familia and then joined the queue to get inside the church. The queue didn’t take that long; I think it was around 30 minutes or so until we finally got into the church area.

Sagrada Familia was, indeed, very majestic. It was really beautiful! Well, it still could not compete with the grandeur-ness and luxury of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, obviously. But putting St. Peter’s Basilica aside, Sagrada Familia was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been to. The design was so unique. Well, the designer of the church was the same guy as the one who designed Parc Güell; so that explained the resemblance of the two, design-wise.

After spending about one hour in Sagrada Familia, we left the church and headed to Camp Nou. My brother already bought a ticket to watch a Barca game (Barca vs Espana) the next day; and he needed to exchange the proof of purchase with the ticket. As for me, well, I found the €130 ticket price a bit too steep for myself who was not a fans of football (I don’t remember exactly the price, but it was somewhere around this number I believe), lol :lol: . So I did not buy one. The money would be better spent on a grandslam tournament for me, lol :lol: . Anyway, long story short, we arrived in Camp Nou, my brother got his ticket, and then we took a rest in Starbucks, hahaha :lol: .

Our next destination was the area of Montjuïc, a hill in Barcelona. I was particulary excited to go to this area because I still remembered vividly six years prior watching one episode of The Amazing Race season 10 which leg took place in Barcelona and the pitstop was in the Palau Nacional de Montjuïc. It was the elimination leg of the top four (so the penultimate leg of the season); and Lyn & Karlyn made a history that day to become the first all-female team to make it to the last three. Dustin & Kandice got eliminated here.

I still remember that I found Palau Nacional de Montjuïc so beautiful when watching the episode; and hoped that one day I would get the chance to be there. And there I was, a little bit over six years later, I was there! Yeah, it was kinda surreal…

Anyway, after going around Montjuïc, we decided to go back downtown (literally) with a funicular which was free because we had the public transportation pass. We got back to the city center and walked to the old town of Barcelona which was so Gothic. We could not enter the cathedral because it was already closed btw. We took some random buses as all in our itinerary for the day had been done; and to rest our legs after all the walking we did today.

After awhile, we got back in Plaza de Catalunya at around 19:00. We walked along the Passeig de Garcia to go to Casa Mila to take a picture of Casa Mila, hahaha :lol: . Btw, it was so crowded this evening. Apparently it was the last day of the King’s festival or something like that (we asked but noone seemed to be able to explain it clearly) so people celebrated it. We had dinner at a nice restaurant which waitress was so hot near Plaza de Catalunya before going back to our hotel.

Day 12 (Sunday, 6 January 2013)

It was a little bit difficult to find a place for breakfast this morning, somehow, I don’t know why. But finally we found one nice cafetaria near Plaza de Catalunya where we could have breakfast.

I proposed to go to Tibidabo today. To get there, we had to take a bus to the departure place of the tram to get to the departure place of the funicular which would bring us to the top of Tibidabo. So we got to the tram departure place. However, two officers told us that the tram did not operate that day (apparently it had something to do with the King’s festival or something like that); but there was a public bus which could also take us to the departure place of the funicular. However, today, the funicular also did not operate so to get to Tibidabo we had to literally walk .

Well, of course we did not want to walk; and there was no other option than skipping Tibidabo. Our plan was to go back to Barceloneta. So we took a bus which should take us there. However, we took the wrong bus and went to the opposite direction instead, lol :lol: . We rode the bus until its end destination and waited until the bus returned to the opposite direction, which would be the right direction for us, lol :lol: . Ironically, our destination, Barceloneta, would be the other end of the bus line. So we literally went along the complete route of the bus! Hahaha :lol: But it was okay though, as we could use it to kill time anyway.

We arrived at Barceloneta and walked around the beach again. It was sunny but the temperature was so nice (18ºC) today so it was not too blazing hot. But still, overall, kinda weird for a winter day, no? Hahaha :lol: . After walking around the area, we decided to have lunch at a Doner. The doner was really delicious btw. Then, we went back to our hotel.

I chose to take a rest while my brother went to Camp Nou to watch his football match. But about thirty minutes after he left, he texted me that he forgot to bring his camera!! Hahaha :lol: . So he went all the way back to the hotel to take the camera. As for me, I decided to go somewhere randomly in the evening. I took the tram to the Diagonal street and went to a shopping mall which atmosphere was kinda dead because there were just very few visitors. I went back to Plaza de Catalunya afterwards and had dinner at a KFC there. Btw, the KFC tasted a little bit differently though, hmmm. I found it a little bit less crunchy and so less delicious, somehow.

Day 13 (Monday, 7 January 2013)

Today, I was going back to the Netherlands while my brother continued his trip to Vienna, Austria. We took the train (after finding out the day before that, again, train was a cheaper option to go to the airport than shuttle bus, hahaha :lol: ) to the airport. We arrived at Terminal 2 and took the shuttle bus to go to Terminal 1 where my brother’s flight to Vienna would depart from (his flight was scheduled to depart two hours earlier than mine).

After he checked-in, we had breakfast at a cafetaria in Terminal 1. Then, at 11:00 we parted away as my brother went through the security check to go to his gate and I went back to Terminal 2 to check in for my flight.

In my booking confirmation, it was said the check-in desk in Barcelona would be opened since 2 hour 40 minutes prior to departure. Well, my flight was scheduled to depart at 14:15 so I thought it should be open by 11:35. But then, the desks were opened just at 12:15 :( . But well, because I was the first one queuing for it, I was also among the first to get the boarding pass, hahaha.

As I said, my flight was delayed for about an hour. Apparently the cause of this was airplane rotation where the previous flight to Barcelona had to wait for about an hour to get a plane ready, or something like that. But in the end, I boarded my plane back to the Netherlands: A Transavia’s Boeing 737-8K2 reg code PH-HSB flight number HV 6062 at around 14:50.

Transavia's HV 6062 route map from Barcelona to Rotterdam

Transavia’s HV 6062 route map from Barcelona to Rotterdam

Anyway, so, my flight took off from runway 07R of Barcelona El-Prat Airport. About two hours later, it landed at runway 24 of Rotterdam The Hague Airport. After taking my luggage, I took the bus to the city center where I transited to take another bus to get back to my apartment in Delft.

And here, my 2012 year-end trip officially ended.

THE END.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sebelumnya dalam 2012 Year-End Trip: Zilko dan adiknya bepergian selama 12 hari ke empat negara di Eropa. Kini mereka telah berada di kota perhentian terakhir sebelum Zilko harus kembali ke Belanda: Barcelona.

***

Hari 11 (Sabtu, 5 Januari 2013)

Aku memutuskan untuk mencoba sarapan ala Spanyol hari ini. Dan jadilah aku mencoba omelet ala Spanyol. Enak loh btw, dan rasanya tidak seperti omelet-omelet lain yang pernah aku makan sebelumnya. Sungguh unik!!

Anyway, tujuan pertama kami hari ini adalah landmark dari Barcelona: Sagrada Familia. Kami naik Metro untuk pergi kesana. Di jalan, adikku baru menyadari bahwa pass transportasi umum tiga harinya hilang (jadi sehari sebelumnya kami memutuskan untuk membeli pass tiga hari karena toh kami akan tinggal di Barcelona selama sekitar tiga hari). Jadilah ia harus beli yang baru deh, tentu saja kami memilih yang dua hari ya kali ini.

Kami tiba di Sagrada Familia dan kemudian bergabung di antrian untuk masuk gerejanya. Ngantrinya nggak terlalu lama kok; kalau nggak salah sih hanya sekitar 30an menit saja sampai kami akhirnya masuk ke area gerejanya.

Sagrada Familia tuh ternyata memang beneran keren banget loh. Indah banget! Yah, tentu saja masih tidak bisa dibandingkan dengan keagungan dan kemewahannya Basilika Santo Petrus di Kota Vatikan ya. Tapi kalau kita tidak memperhitungkan Basilika Santo Petrus, Sagrada Familia jelas merupakan salah satu gereja terindah yang pernah kumasuki. Disainnya unik sekali. Yah, perancang gerejanya sama seperti perancangnya Parc Güell sih; makanya kita bisa melihat kemiripan dari keduanya, dalam hal disain.

Setelah menghabiskan waktu sekitar satu jam di Sagrada Familia, kami meninggalkan gerejanya dan menuju Camp Nou. Jadi ceritanya adikku sudah membeli tiket nonton pertandingannya Barca (Barca vs Espana) untuk keesokan harinya; dan ia harus menukarkan bukti pembayaran dengan tiketnya. Untuk aku sih, tiket seharga €130 itu jelas kemahalan lah ya bagi aku yang nggak nge-fans sama sepakbola (Aku nggak ingat harga persisnya berapa sih, cuma ya harganya sekitar seginian deh), hahaha :lol: . Jadilah aku nggak beli. Sayang duitnya dong, mending ditabung buat nonton turnamen grandslam dah kalau aku, huahaha :lol: . Anyway, singkat cerita, tibalah kami di Camp Nou, adikku mendapatkan tiketnya, dan kemudian kami istirahat deh di Starbucks, hahaha :lol: .

Tujuan kami selanjutnya adalah area Montjuïc, sebuah bukit di Barcelona. Aku ingin banget pergi ke tempat ini karena aku masih ingat dengan jelas enam tahun yang lalu aku menonton satu episodenya The Amazing Race musim 10 yang mana leg-nya diadakan di Barcelona dan pitstop-nya berada di Palau Nacional de Montjuïc. Ini adalah babak eliminasi dari empat besar (jadi leg kedua sebelum terakhir); dan Lyn & Karlyn membuat sejarah dengan menjadi tim semua wanita pertama yang masuk ke tiga besar. Dustin  Kandice tereliminasi disini.

Aku masih ingat bahwa waktu menonton itu, aku merasa Palau Nacional de Montjuïc itu sangatlah indah; dan berharap suatu hari aku akan berkesempatan pergi kesana. Dan disanalah aku, enam tahun lebih sedikit kemudian, aku beneran berada disana! Ya, ini adalah sebuah perasaan yang sureal…

Anyway, setelah berkeliling Montjuïc, kami memutuskan untuk turun dengan naik funicular yang gratis karena kami memiliki pass transportasi umum itu. Kami kembali ke pusat kota dan berjalan ke kota tuanya Barcelona yang nuansanya sangatlah Gotik. Kami tidak bisa masuk katedralnya sayangnya karena sudah tutup. Jadilah kami naik bus secara acak soalnya semua tujuan di itinerary kami sudah dikunjungi; dan sekalian buat mengistirahatkan kaki setelah banyak berjalan.

Setelah beberapa waktu, kami kembali ke Plaza de Catalunya sekitar jam 19:00. Kami berjalan sepanjang Passeig de Garcia untuk pergi ke Casa Mila untuk foto-foto disana, hahaha :lol: . Btw, malam ini suasananya rame banget. Ternyata ini adalah hari terakhir festival raja atau apa gitu (kami sudah iseng bertanya tetapi kok tidak ada orang yang bisa menjelaskannya secara jelas ya) jadi dirayain gitu. Kami makan malam di sebuah restoran yang oke yang mana pelayannya cantik banget loh di dekat Plaza de Catalunya sebelum kembali ke hotel.

Hari 12 (Minggu, 6 Januari 2013)

Agak sulit untuk mencari tempat buat sarapan pagi ini, entah kenapa. Tapi untungnya akhirnya kami menemukan sebuah kafe yang oke di dekat Plaza de Catalunya untuk sarapan.

Aku mengusulkan untuk pergi ke Tibidabo hari ini. Untuk kesana, kami harus naik bus untuk pergi ke tempat keberangkatan tram yang akan membawa kami ke tempat keberangkatannya funicular untuk naik ke Tibidabo. Nah, singkat cerita tibalah kami di tempat keberangkatannya tram itu. Disana, ada dua petugas yang memberi-tahu kami bahwa tramnya nggak beroperasi hari itu karena festival raja atau apaan lah itu; tetapi ada layanan bus umum yang bisa membawa kami ke tempat keberangkatannya funicular. Hanya saja, hari ini, funicularnya juga nggak beroperasi jadi untuk ke Tibidabo ya kami harus berjalan kaki deh .

Ya tentu saja kami ogah dong jalan kaki sehingga kami harus mencoret Tibidabo. Rencananya, kami akan kembali ke area Barceloneta aja. Kami naik bus yang seharusnya membawa kami kesana. Namun, kami naik bus yang salah dan kami jadi malah pergi ke arah yang sebaliknya, huahaha :lol: . Kami naik bus ini sampai tujuan terakhirnya dan menunggu sampai busnya berputar balik ke arah sebaliknya, yang mana merupakan arah yang benar bagi kami, hahaha :lol: . Lucunya, Barceloneta adalah tujuan terakhir dari arah sebaliknya ini. Nah, jadilah kami menaiki bus ini di sepanjang rutenya! Hahaha :lol: . Tapi ya nggak apa-apa sih, karena toh kami ada banyak waktu dan ini buat sekalian membuang waktu kan.

Kami tiba di Barceloneta dan berjalan berkeliling pantainya lagi. Cuaca hari ini cerah tetapi temperaturnya oke banget (18ºC) jadi kan nggak panas menyengat gitu. Tapi tetep aja sih rasanya aneh soalnya kan sekarang ini lagi di tengah-tengah musim dingin ya. Hahaha :lol: . Setelah berkeliling areanya, kami memutuskan untuk makan siang di sebuah Doner disana. Donernya enak banget lho btw. Lalu, kembalilah kami ke hotel.

Aku memilih untuk beristirahat sementara adikku pergi ke Camp Nou untuk menonton pertandingan bolanya. Tapi sekitar tiga puluh menit kemudian, ia sms aku dan bilang bahwa ia kelupaan kameranya!! Hahaha :lol: . Jadilah ia kembali ke hotel untuk mengambil kameranya. Aku sih malamnya memutuskan untuk berkeliling acak aja. Aku naik tram ke arah jalan Diagonal dan pergi ke sebuah mall yang suasananya sepi banget karena nggak ada pengunjungnya. Aku kembali ke Plaza de Catalunya setelahnya dan makan malam di KFC disana. Btw, rasa KFC-nya agak berbeda lho, hmmm. Rasanya kurang kriuk dan kalah enak dibandingkan KFC yang lain gitu, entah kenapa.

Hari 13 (Senin, 7 Januari 2013)

Hari ini, aku kembali ke Belanda sementara adikku melanjutkan perjalanannya ke Vienna, Austria. Kami naik kereta ke bandara (Ya, lagi-lagi kami mendapatkan informasi bahwa kereta itu lebih murah daripada shuttle bus, hahaha :lol: ). Kami tiba di Terminal 2 dan kemudian menaiki shuttle bus ke Terminal 1 dimana penerbangannya adikku ke Vienna akan berangkat (penerbangannya dijadwalkan berangkat dua jam sebelum penerbanganku).

Setelah ia check-in, kami sarapan di sebuah kafe di Terminal 1. Lalu, jam 11:00 kami berpisah dengan ia masuk ke area keberangkatan dan aku kembali ke Terminal 2 untuk penerbanganku.

Di konfirmasi pemesananku, disebutkan bahwa konter check-in dibuka 2 jam 40 menit sebelum jadwal keberangkatan. Karena penerbanganku dijadwalkan berangkat jam 14:15, artinya konternya mulai dibuka jam 11:35 kan. Namun, ternyata konternya baru dibuka jam 12:15 dong :( . Yah, tapi karena aku adalah orang pertama yang ngantri, aku jadi yang pertama mendapatkan boarding pass juga sih, hahaha.

Seperti yang kubilang, penerbanganku terlambat satu jam. Ternyata penyebabnya adalah rotasi pesawat dimana penerbangan sebelumnya yang ke Barcelona harus menunggu selama satu jam untuk sebuah pesawat gitu, atau apa lah semacam itu. Dan akhirnya, aku menaiki pesawatku untuk kembali ke Belanda: Sebuah Boeing 737-8K2nya Transavia dengan kode registrasi PH-HSB dengan nomor penerbangan HV 6062 sekitar jam 14:50.

Transavia's HV 6062 route map from Barcelona to Rotterdam

Rute penerbangan Transavia HV 6062 dari Barcelona ke Rotterdam

Anyway, penerbanganku lepas landas dari landasan pacu 07R Bandara Barcelona El-Prat. Sekitar dua jam kemudian, aku mendarat di landasan pacu 24 Bandara Rotterdam The Hague. Setelah mengambil bagasiku, aku menaiki bus ke pusat kota untuk transit menaiki bus lain untuk kembali ke apartemenku di Delft.

Dan disinilah perjalanan akhir tahun 2012-ku secara resmi berakhir.

SELESAI.

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by zilko on February 6, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by zilko on February 6, 2013

http://zilko.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/1182-2012-year-end-trip-part-vi/

#1181 – 2012 Year-End Trip (Part V)

ENGLISH

Previously on 2012 Year-End Trip: Zilko and his brother went on a 12-day trip to four countries in Europe. Now they were already spending two days in the capital city of Spain, Madrid. They had one more full day before going to Barcelona.

***

Day 9 (Thursday, 3 January 2013)

Our main destination of the day was Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Yes, the stadium that is owned by Real Madrid. Okay, I was (and am) not really a fan of football, but my brother was. So I decided to accompany him visiting the stadium as I thought it would be interesting to see anyway.

We took the Metro from Puerta del Sol (with one transit) to get to the stadium after having another “Combination” brunch nearby. The trip wasn’t that long. It took us probably around 15 minutes to get there. We got out the Metro station and Estadio Santiago Bernabéu stood before us. It was indeed a very big football stadium. It didn’t look as fancy as I thought btw, but it was huge.

We circled the stadium once from outside before going to the ticket booth to buy admission to the stadium. Apparently we had to pay €19 per person just to enter the stadium. It was kinda steep for me, in my opinion, given that I was not really a big fan of football. If I weren’t with my brother (I was alone), I wouldn’t have bought the ticket, hahaha :lol: .

We entered the stadium through one of its four towers at its corners. We were directed to the highest place first, and then the tour literally went downward circling the stadium from thereon. Overall, it was a very nice tour. If you are a fan of football, especially Real Madrid, it is a must go!

So, we started with having a panoramic look of the stadium at one of its higher sections. Then, we visited the trophy room, where all trophy that Real Madrid had won were on display. Then, we entered another room where the details (history, players, managers, achievements, etc) of Real Madrid were explained. After that, we arrived at the mid-section of the stadium which, in my opinion, was the best spot to watch a football match. It was not too high (far) and not too low (close) to the football field. Then we went to the other side of the stadium where the VVIP seats were located. And of course we could sit on those VVIP seats! Huahaha :lol: . You know, a little bit of luxury taste. :)

Then, the tour went even more super awesome from hereon. After the VVIP seating, we got access to the players’ dressing room!! :shock: Yes, it was the dressing room where players showered, changed, and basically prepared themselves during the moments before the match. We also got access to the alley where players walked from the dressing room to the field. Yes, that alley! So cool!! Yes, it also meant that we got access to the field! Well, of course we could not run on the field though, because they were, obviously, preserving the grass. But the cool thing was that we got access to the field-side seating where the coach and substitutes players seating were. It was so cool! After that, our last stop was at the conference room.

But there was also another highlight of this visit. I ‘met’ Cristiano Ronaldo. What, you don’t believe me? Well, here is the proof: a picture of me and Cristiano Ronaldo, huahaha :lol:

With Cristiano Ronaldo

With Cristiano Ronaldo

Okay, here is the truth. So I did not really ‘meet’ Cristiano Ronaldo. So, during the tour, there was a spot where we could take picture in front of a green screen where we could take one picture with any Real Madrid players we wanted. Yes, it was like the green screen they used in making some animation movies. So I chose Cristiano Ronaldo. But after I took the picture, upon realizing that Iker Casillas was also playing for Real Madrid (I honestly didn’t remember that), I was thinking I should have chosen Casillas instead, hahaha :lol: .

We left the stadium after about three hours of touring inside. It was not bad. Even the experience was enjoyable for me as a non-fan.

After that, we walked to a shopping centre nearby where we had lunch. The restaurant was so full of local people, so it was a good choice because the price was indeed not expensive, huahaha :P . The waiters and waitresses did not speak English at all btw, so it was quite an interesting experience, haha. My brother ordered a paella while I ordered cod soup with potatoes or something like that.

To wrap up the day, we went back to the city center later on that day. We had dinner at a fast Chinese food restaurant, which was nice; and just spent the evening at the area around our hotel. We did not stay up late because the next morning we would have to get up early to catch a morning flight to Barcelona.

Day 10 (Friday, 4 January 2013)

We got up at 5:15 today because we had to catch our flight to Barcelona at 10:20 from Madrid-Barajas Airport. So, after checking out (read: just leaving our room key in a mailbox near the exit door), we walked to Sol station to take the airport train (with one transit) to Madrid-Barajas Airport. Apparently, train was much cheaper than the shuttle bus!! We paid €5 for shuttle bus to the city center while we only needed to pay a little over €3 for train, hmm. And the train was also a great option for us because the station was in Terminal 4, and our flight would depart from Terminal 4 as well.

We arrived at Madrid-Barajas Airport at around 7:00. The check-in counter for our flight would be opened just at 8:20 so we decided to have breakfast at McDonald’s first. Long story short, we finished our breakfast, checked-in, and got to our departure gate. At 9:45, we boarded our plane: a Vueling’s Airbus A320-214 reg code EC-KKT with flight number VY 1035. Yes, it would be my second ever domestic flight in Europe, after the easyJet’s flight from Toulouse to Nice I took during my trip to southern France and Austria last October!

Vueling's VY 1035 route map from Madrid to Barcelona

Vueling’s VY 1035 route map from Madrid to Barcelona

The flight departed on time. It took off from runway 36R and about fifty minutes later, it landed at runway 25R of Barcelona El Prat Airport in Barcelona. We took our luggage and then walked to the bus stop to take a shuttle bus to the city center. The bus was full but at least it was not overloaded like the shuttle bus in Madrid. So it was good.

We got off at Plaza de Catalunya. We took a Metro from there to Barceloneta, where our hotel was. Btw, it was so HOT today in Barcelona! It was so unexpected as it was in the middle of winter so we thought it would be much cooler than that! Hahaha :lol: . Anyway, so we checked-in and after putting our luggage in our room, we left the hotel.

But first, we had lunch first at a restaurant near our hotel which offered an attractive (in term of price) package menu. I chose the tomato spaghetti – beef with rice – coconut mousse combo. The beef and coconut mousse were okay, but the spaghetti was so horrible. I think my spaghetti is even much more delicious than that! Hahaha :lol: .

Anyway, our first destination in Barcelona for the day was Parc Güell. To get there, we would take bus no.24 from Plaza de Calatunya, as our hotel’s reception suggested. At first, we got to the wrong bus stop at Plaza de Catalunya as the bus 24 which departed from there was heading for the opposite direction. The driver was kind enough to ask us where we were going and told us we should take the other bus. So we got off and had to find the other bus stop, which location could be anywhere in the plaza. Long story short, we finally found it and managed to get the correct bus 24.

On the way to Parc Güell, a twist happened. So, our bus hit a car!! :shock: The rear window of the car was completely shattered, both the bus and the car were dented, but at least none was injured. Because of this, all of the passengers had to get off the bus and waited for the next bus 24, which was just like 5 – 10 minutes behind this one. Wow, what an experience!!

Anyway, so we finally arrived at Parc Güell. Parc Güell was indeed very interesting. The design was so unique and it provided quite a nice view of Barcelona. The best part, however, was that it was free for admission! Yay!  After Parc Güell, we took bus 24 to get back to Plaza de Catalunya. Then, we decided to take another bus to get to the beach part of the city.

We arrived at the beach at around 17:00, so it was already dusk. We walked alongside the beach until we reached the famous Las Ramblas. We had dinner at Las Ramblas where I ordered Arros Negro: a black paella. Btw, it was black because they used squid ink to make it black :D . It was interesting. After dinner, we continued walking in Las Ramblas; and then we got back to our hotel.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next on 2012 Year-End Trip:
- Sagrada Familia
- Montjuïc
- More of Barcelona

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sebelumnya dalam 2012 Year-End Trip: Zilko dan adiknya berjalan-jalan selama 12 hari ke empat negara di Eropa. Kini mereka telah menghabiskan dua malam di ibukotanya Spanyol, Madrid. Mereka masih memiliki satu hari lagi disana sebelum melanjutkan perjalanan ke Barcelona.

***

Hari 9 (Kamis, 3 Januari 2013)

Tujuan utama kami hari ini adalah Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Ya, stadion miliknya klub Real Madrid. Oke, aku bukanlah fans sepakbola ya, tapi adikku nge-fans. Jadilah aku menemaninya mengunjungi stadion ini karena toh kayaknya bakal menarik juga kan.

Kami naik Metro dari Puerta del Sol (dengan satu transit) untuk menuju ke stadionnya setelah makan “Combination” lagi di dekat hotel. Perjalanannya nggak lama ternyata. Kami hanya membutuhkan waktu paling 15an menit untuk kesana. Kami keluar dari stasion Metro-nya dan Estadio Santiago Bernabéu berdiri megah di depan kami. Stadionnya ternyata memang beneran besar banget lho. Penampakannya nggak se-wah bayanganku sih, tapi memang ukurannya raksasa banget.

Kami mengelilingi stadionnya dari luar satu kali dahulu sebelum mengantri di loket tiket untuk masuk ke stadionnya. Ternyata kami harus membayar €19 per orang hanya untuk masuk stadionnya loh. Mahal banget ya, menurutku sih, soalnya aku kan nggak nge-fans amat sama sepakbola gitu. Kalau aku nggak sama adikku (maksudnya kalau lagi sendirian), ogah dah beli tiket segitu buat masuk, hahaha :lol: .

Kami memasuki stadionnya melalui salah satu dari empat menara di keempat ujungnya. Kami langsung di arahkan ke tempat tertinggi dulu, dan dari sana turnya turun, dalam artian sebenarnya, mengelilingi stadion. Secara keseluruhan, turnya asyik juga lho. Jadi kalau pada nge-fans sama sepakbola, apalagi Real Madrid, wajib dikunjungi deh!

Jadi, kami memulai dengan mendapatkan pemandangan panorama stadionya dari sudut yang tinggi (di kursi-kursi atas gitu). Lalu, kami mengunjungi ruangan piala, dimana semua piala yang pernah dimenangi Real Madrid dipamerkan. Lalu, kami memasuki ruangan lain dimana detail-detail (sejarah, daftar pemain, manajer, prestasi, dll)-nya Real Madrid dijelaskan. Lalu, kami tiba di bagian tengah stadion yang, menurutku sih, merupakan tempat paling strategis buat nonton bola. Lokasinya nggak terlalu tinggi (jauh) atau terlalu rendah (dekat) ke lapangan bolanya. Lalu, kami berjalan ke sisi lainnya stadion dimana kursi-kursi VVIP berada. Dan tentu saja kita boleh duduk-duduk di kursi-kursi VVIP-nya itu loh. Jadi ngerasain gimana rasanya duduk di lokasi mewah. :)

Lalu, turnya menjadi semakin keren banget loh dari sini. Setelah dari kursi-kursi VVIP itu, kami mendapatkan akses untuk masuk ke ruang ganti pemainnya!! :shock: Iya, ruangan dimana para pemain mandi, ganti baju, dan pada dasarnya mempersiapkan diri di waktu-waktu sebelum pertandingannya. Kami juga lalu berjalan di lorong dimana para pemain berjalan dari ruang ganti ke lapangannya. Ya, lorong itu! Keren dah!! Ini juga berarti kami mendapatkan akses ke lapangannya! Ya, tentu saja kami nggak bisa lari-larian di lapangannya ya, kan ceritanya rumputnya lagi dijaga dan dirawat dengan baik. Tapi yang keren adalah, kami juga mendapatkan akses ke kursi di samping lapangan dimana pelatih dan pemain cadangan duduk. Keren banget dah! Setelah itu, kami mengunjungi ruang konferensi pers-nya.

Tapi ada highlight lain loh dari kunjungan ini. Aku ‘bertemu’ Cristiano Ronaldo loh. Eh, kaga percaya? Kok gitu amat sih? Ya ini deh buktinya: fotoku dengan Cristiano Ronaldo, huahaha :lol:

With Cristiano Ronaldo

Dengan Cristiano Ronaldo

Oke deh, ini cerita sebenarnya. Jadi ya aku nggak beneran ‘bertemu’ Cristiano Ronaldo-nya sih. Jadi, di turnya itu, ada tempat dimana kita difoto di depan layar hijau dimana kita bisa mengambil satu foto bersama pemain Real Madrid yang mana pun. Iya, layar hijau yang sering dipakai di film-film animasi itu. Nah, aku memilih Cristiano Ronaldo. Tapi setelah foto, aku baru sadar dong bahwa Iker Casillas kan pemain Real Madrid ya (aku beneran nggak ingat dah sebelumnya) *tepok jidat*, dan jadilah aku berpikir bahwa seharusnya aku minta foto bareng Casillas aja ya, hahaha :lol: .

Kami meninggalkan stadion setelah kira-kira tiga jam berjalan-jalan di dalamnya. Lumayan banget lah. Bahkan pengalamannya asyik juga lho untuk aku yang bukanlah fans.

Setelah itu, kami berjalan ke pusat perbelanjaan di dekat sana dan makan siang deh. Restorannya penuh dengan orang lokal, jadi ini pilihan yang baik dong soalnya harganya kan nggak mahal, huahaha :P . Dan pelayan-pelayannya disana pada nggak bisa bahasa Inggris loh, jadi ya menarik juga pengalaman makan disana, haha. Adikku memesan paella dan aku memesan sup ikan kod dengan kentang.

Lalu, kami kembali ke pusat kota. Sisa hari kami habiskan disana. Kami makan malam di fast food restoran Chinese food, yang mana enak juga loh; dan berkeliling di sekitar hotel saja. Kami tidur agak cepat malam ini karena keesokan paginya kami harus bangun pagi untuk naik penerbangan pagi ke Barcelona.

Hari 10 (Jumat, 4 Januari 2013)

Kami bangun jam 5:15 pagi ini karena kami harus mengejar pesawat kami ke Barcelona yang berangkat jam 10:20 dari Bandara Madrid-Barajas. Jadi, setelah check-out (baca: meninggalkan kunci kamar di kotak surat di dekat pintu keluar hotel), kami berjalan ke stasiun Sol dan dari sana naik kereta (dengan satu transit) ke Bandara Madrid-Barajas. Ternyata naik kereta lebih murah daripada naik shuttle bus loh!! Kami membayar €5 untuk shuttle bus ke pusat kota sementara dengan kereta harga tiketnya hanya €3 lebih sedikit, hmm. Dan bagi kami, kereta jugalah pilihan yang oke karena stasiun keretanya berada di Terminal 4, dan penerbangan kami kan berangkat dari Terminal 4 juga.

Kami tiba di Bandara Madrid-Barajas sekitar jam 7:00. Konter check-in kami baru akan dibuka jam 8:20 sehingga jadilah kami memutuskan untuk sarapan dulu di McDonald’s. Singkat cerita, kami selesai sarapan, check-in, dan sampai di gerbang keberangkatan kami. Jam 9:45, kami menaiki pesawat kami: sebuah Airbus A320-214 milik Vueling dengan kode registrasi EC-KKT dengan nomor penerbangan VY 1035. Ya, ini akan menjadi penerbangan domestikku yang kedua di Eropa, setelah penerbangan dengan easyJet dari Toulouse ke Nice yang aku naiki di perjalananku ke Prancis selatan dan Austria Oktober lalu!

Vueling's VY 1035 route map from Madrid to Barcelona

Rute penerbangan pesawat Vueling VY 1035 dari Madrid ke Barcelona

Penerbangannya berangkat tepat waktu. Penerbangannya lepas landas dari landasan pacu 36R dan sekitar lima puluh menit kemudian, mendarat di landasan pacu 25R Bandara Barcelona El Prat di Barcelona. Kami mengambil bagasi kami dan kemudian berjalan ke halte bus untuk naik shuttle bus ke pusat kota. Busnya penuh, tapi setidaknya nggak sampai overloaded seperti di Madrid. Jadi ya masih oke lah.

Kami turun di Plaza de Catalunya (iya, Plaza Catalunya yang sama kayak yang di lagu ‘Barcelona’-nya Fariz RM itu :D ). Dari sana, kami naik Metro menuju Barceloneta, lokasi dimana hotel kami berada. Btw, hari ini tuh PANAS banget dong di Barcelona! Benar-benar nggak disangka soalnya kan lagi di tengah-tengah musim dingin dan jadi bayangan kami ya lebih dingin daripada itu lah! Hahaha :lol: . Anyway, kami check-in di hotel dan setelah menaruh barang-barang di kamar, kami berangkat dari hotel.

Tapi pertama-tama, kami makan siang dulu di sebuah restoran di dekat hotel yang mana menu paketnya menarik banget (dalam hal harga). Aku memesan kombo spaghetti tomat – nasi dengan daging – dan mousse kelapa. Daging dan mousse kelapanya enak sih, tapi spaghetti-nya nggak enak banget. Spaghetti masakanku aja jauh lebih enak daripada itu loh! Hahaha :lol: .

Anyway, tujuan pertama kami di Barcelona hari ini adalah Parc Güell. Untuk kesana, kami akan naik bus no.24 dari Plaza de Catalunya, seperti yang disarankan resepsionis hotel kami. Awalnya, kami naik tiba di halte bus yang salah loh soalnya bus 24 yang berangkat dari sana tuh mengarah ke arah sebaliknya. Sopirnya baik banget loh dengan bertanya ke kami mengenai tujuan kami; dan ia memberi-tahu bahwa kami harus menaiki bus dengan arah sebaliknya. Jadilah kami langsung turun dan harus mencari halte bus satunya, yang mana lokasinya bisa dimana pun di plaza-nya kan. Singkat cerita, haltenya ketemu dan kami menaiki bus no.24 yang benar.

Dalam perjalanan ke Parc Güell, ada sesuatu yang terjadi. Bus kami menabrak mobil dong!! :shock: Kaca belakang mobilnya pecah semua, bus dan mobilnya sama-sama penyok, tetapi setidaknya tidak ada yang terluka. Karena ini, semua penumpang busnya harus turun dan menunggu bus no.24 yang selanjutnya, yang mana berada sekitar 5 – 10 menit di belakang bus yang ini. Wow, pengalaman yang unik ya!!

Anyway, akhirnya tibalah kami di Parc Güell. Parc Güell memang menarik banget lho. Disainnya menarik banget dan dari sana kita mendapatkan pemandangan kota Barcelona yang indah. Yang paling keren sih, menurutku, adalah bahwa masuknya gratis loh! Yay!  *pecinta gratisan*. Setelah dari Parc Güell, kami naik bus 24 untuk kembali ke Plaza de Catalunya. Lalu, kami memutuskan untuk naik bus lain untuk pergi ke bagian pantai dari kotanya.

Kami tiba di pantainya sekitar jam 17:00, jadi sudah senja gitu. Kami berjalan di tepian pantai sampai kami tiba di jalan Las Ramblas yang terkenal itu (kayak Malioboronya Jogja). Kami makan malam di Las Ramblas dimana aku memesan Arros Negro: paella hitam. Btw, warnanya hitam soalnya mereka memakai tinta cumi gitu deh untuk membuatnya menjadi hitam :D . Menarik juga. Setelah makan malam, kami meneruskan berjalan-jalan di Las Ramblas; dan lalu kembali ke hotel kami.

BERSAMBUNG…

Selanjutnya dalam 2012 Year-End Trip:
- Sagrada Familia
- Montjuïc
- Lebih banyak lagi tentang Barcelona

12 Comments
by zilko on February 4, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in EuroTrip, Two-Week Trip, Vacation
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by zilko on February 4, 2013

http://zilko.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/1181-2012-year-end-trip-part-v/

#1179 – 2012 Year-End Trip (Part IV)

ENGLISH

Previously on 2012 Year-End Trip: Zilko and his brother went on a 12-day trip to four countries in Europe. They already spent six days in Paris and Rome. Now it was time for them to continue to their next destination: Spain.

***

Day 7 (Tuesday, 1 January 2013)

We checked out from our hotel at around 9:50 and walked directly to the train station where we planned to take a bus to the airport. A bus was already ready there but unfortunately all seats had been taken so we had to wait for the next departure, which was at 10:35. It was still 10:00 so we decided to have breakfast at a cafetaria just across the street. I had a nice breakfast that morning. I don’t remember the name but it was lamb.

Long story short, we took our bus, arrived at the airport, checked-in, and walked to the departure gate. There was, however, an unannounced change of gate. So our departure gate was moved from the original gate to another one. Well, okay, there might be an announcement but it was only in Italian so we did not understand anything. So how did we find out? Well, I found it quite weird that it was already around 50 minutes before departure but our original gate was still occupied with the departure of a TAP flight to Lisbon. So I decided to check the screen and there I found the change of gate! :shock: Wow, lucky I did so otherwise we wouldn’t know!!

At around 13:00, we boarded our flight: A Vueling’s Airbus A320-214 reg code EC-JSY flight number VY 6135. Ah, I have not mentioned our destination yet. This VY 6135 flight would take us to the capital city of Spain: Madrid. So in a way I felt like a top professional tennis player for flying from Rome to Madrid; because usually in April – May they have to travel from Rome to Madrid (or the other way around, depending on the tournaments’ schedule) for two consecutive Masters (men’s tour) or Premier 5 – Premier Mandatory (women’s tour) level tournaments, huahaha :lol: :cool: .

Anyway, our flight departed on time, at around 13:15. It took off from runway 25 of Rome-Fiumicino International Airport. This leg of the trip was the longest one, as it took about 2 hours 15 minutes to get to Madrid. So, two hours and 15 minutes later, we landed at runway 33L of Madrid-Barajas International Airport.

Flight VY 6135 route map from Rome to Madrid

After taking our luggage, we walked to the bus stop to catch the shuttle bus to the city center. According to the timetable, there should be a service that day at 16:20. So there we waited for it. But then, even until 16:40, no single bus was coming. Okay, there were some buses but those were the shuttle buses to go to the other terminals of the airport (we were at Terminal 4); but there was no sign about our shuttle bus to Madrid. We were sure it was the correct waiting place because there were also some other people (around 12, I guess) waiting for the bus as well. Finally, at 16:45, the bus came!!

The good thing about the bus was that its service started from Terminal 4. So we boarded an empty bus which was equivalent with guarantee to get seats, hahaha :lol: . The bus stopped at Terminal 1 first before continuing to the city center. The journey from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1 was so long though, around 20 minutes with bus! :shock: Anyway, when we departed from Terminal 1, the bus was so overloaded. It was crazy!

Long story short, we got off at Cibeles and walked to our hotel in the city center of Madrid. The location of our hotel was really nice though, as it was so close to Plaza St. Anna and the famous Puerta del Sol. After checking in and resting for a little bit, we got out to look for dinner. That evening we just walked around Puerta del Sol and the Sol-Salamanca district. We had dinner at a family-run restaurant; and of course I decided to eat: paella!! :D We just walked around randomly after dinner, before deciding to go back to the hotel.

Day 8 (Wednesday, 2 January 2013)

After having a “Combination” brunch at a random cafetaria in one of the streets, we started our adventure of the day. By the way, all the destinations we visited today were reached on foot. Based on rough approximation with Google Maps, we walked around 13 km this day, hmmm.

Anyway, so, the first in our agenda was walking back to Cibeles to take more pictures of the place. Then, we went to Plaza Independencia before going to the large Parque del Retiro. Parque del Retiro is a huge city park in the center of Madrid. Well, it was not as huge as the Versailles Garden though, but still, I found it huge for a city park.

Parque del Retiro was actually a very nice park. Well, there was nothing really special, in my opinion, that worth the effort to go all the way to Madrid though. But if you are a citizen of Madrid, then this park is a really good place for refreshment and all kinds of other activities. We went to several parts of the park; and then leaving the park to walk towards the Royal Palace of Madrid which was in the other side of the city center. So of course we did not rush to get there. We passed Museo del Prado and Plaza Mayor along the way.

The Royal Palace of Madrid was full of people. There was a long line of tourists about to get into the Palace’s area. Not feeling like queuing, we decided not to join the line and just took some photos from the outside, huahaha :lol: . After awhile, we continued our adventure of the city towards the famous Gran Via. We stopped by at Plaza de España because there was a fair, sort of, going on there. Nothing was particularly interesting for us so we did not stay at the fair for too long.

Gran Via was okay. It was a busy modern street with a lot of different stores along the way. Walking there kinda felt like walking on one of New York’s busy street though (Well, not that I have been to New York. But I imagine it would be something like that, hahaha :lol: :P ). We took a rest for a while at a cafetaria there before going back to our hotel.

Later on that evening, we had dinner at a restaurant nearby Puerta del Sol. We chose a Menu en Mesa for €10.50. With that, we got a chorizo (spicy sausage) as an appetizer, 1/2 portion of short ribs with roasted potato, an ice cream or coffee for dessert, and beer or soft drink or wine as the drink. The dinner was, overall, very very good! It definitely worth the price! But the main winner was, for us, the chimichurri sauce which accompanied our meal! It was the first time ever we tried this sauce and it was so good and unique (and more importantly for me, not spicy, huahaha :lol: ). We even asked for an extra one because one small bowl of the sauce was not enough, hahaha :lol: .

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next on 2012 Year-End Trip:
- Estadio Santiago Bernabéu
- With Cristiano Ronaldo (huahaha :lol: )
- Off to Barcelona

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sebelumnya dalam 2012 Year-End Trip: Zilko dan adiknya pergi jalan-jalan selama 12 hari ke empat negara di Eropa. Mereka telah menghabiskan enam hari di Paris dan Roma. Kini adalah saatnya bagi mereka untuk melanjutkan perjalanan ke tujuan selanjutnya: Spanyol.

***

Hari 7 (Selasa, 1 Januari 2013)

Kami check out dari hotel sekitar jam 9:50 dan berjalan menuju stasiun kereta darimana kami berencana untuk naik bus menuju bandara. Sebenarnya satu bus sudah siap disana tetapi sayangnya semua kursi sudah terbeli sehingga kami harus menunggu keberangkatan berikutnya, yang mana jam 10:35. Masih jam 10:00 sih dan jadilah kami memutuskan untuk sekalian sarapan dulu di sebuah cafetaria di seberang jalan. Makan pagiku lumayan keren lho pagi itu. Aku nggak ingat namanya sih tapi yang jelas dari daging domba gitu.

Singkat cerita, kami menaiki busnya, tiba di bandara, check-in, dan berjalan ke gate keberangkatan. Namun, kemudian ada pemindahan gate keberangkatan yang nggak diberitahukan. Eh, oke deh, mungkin ada pengumuman sih tetapi hanya dalam bahasa Italia jadi kami kan nggak ngerti. Nah, trus bagaimana kami bisa tahu? Ya, aku merasa aneh bahwa sudah tinggal 50 menit sebelum keberangkatan tapi gate kami masih sibuk dengan penerbangannya TAP ke Lisbon. Jadilah aku mengecek layar monitornya dan disanalah aku menyadari bahwa gate-nya dipindah! :shock: Wow, untung deh ya aku mengecek karena kalau enggak kan kami nggak tahu!!

Sekitar jam 13:00, kami menaiki pesawat kami: Sebuah Airbus A320-214 milik Vueling dengan kode registrasi EC-JSY dengan nomor penerbangan VY 6135. Ah, aku belum menyebutkan tujuan kami ya. Nah, penerbangan VY 6135 ini akan membawa kami ke ibukota dari Spanyol: Madrid. Nah, sedikit banyak aku jadi merasa kayak pemain tenis profesional top gitu deh karena terbang dari Roma menuju Madrid; karena biasanya di bulan April – Mei mereka harus bepergian dari Roma ke Madrid (atau sebaliknya, tergantung jadwal turnamennya) untuk dua turnamen level Masters (tur putra) atau Premier 5 – Premier Mandatory (tur putri), huahaha :lol: :cool: .

Anyway, penerbangan kami tepat waktu dan berangkat sekitar jam 13:15. Penerbangannya lepas landas dari landasan pacu 25 Bandara Internasional Roma-Fiumicino. Nah, bagian ini dari perjalanan kami adalah yang paling jauh karena dengan pesawat pun membutuhkan waktu 2 jam 15 menit untuk tiba di Madrid. Dua jam 15 menit kemudian, kami mendarat di landasan pacu 33L Bandara Internasional Madrid-Barajas.

Peta rute penerbangan VY 6135 dari Roma menuju Madrid

Setelah mengambil bagasi, kami berjalan ke halte bus untuk naik shuttle bus ke pusat kota. Menurut jadwalnya, seharusnya ada bus hari itu jam 16:20. Jadilah kami menunggunya. Tapi kemudian, bahkan sampai jam 16:40, nggak ada satu bus pun yang nongol loh. Eh, ada sih beberapa bus tetapi bus-bus itu adalah shuttle bus untuk pergi ke terminal lain di bandara itu (kami berada di Terminal 4); tapi nggak ada tanda-tanda shuttle bus kami menuju Madrid itu. Kami yakin kami menunggu di tempat yang benar karena ada beberapa orang lain (sekitar 12 orang, sepertinya) yang juga sedang menunggu bus itu. Akhirnya, busnya datang jam 16:45!!

Hal yang menyenangkan dari bus ini adalah layanannya dimulai dari Terminal 4. Kami menaiki bus yang masih kosong sehingga artinya kami pasti kebagian kursi, hahaha :lol: . Busnya berhenti di Terminal 1 sebelum melanjutkan perjalanan ke pusat kota. Btw, perjalanan dari Terminal 4 ke Terminal 1 itu jauh banget loh, sekitar 20an menit dengan bus! :shock: Anyway, ketika kami berangkat dari Terminal 1, busnya sampai overloaded deh. Gila memang!

Singkat cerita, kami turun di Cibeles dan berjalan menuju pusat kota Madrid. Lokasi dari hotel kami enak loh, dekat banget dengan Plaza St. Anna dan Puerta del Sol yang terkenal sekali itu. Setelah check-in dan istirahat sebentar, kami keluar untuk mencari makan malam. Kami memutuskan untuk berjalan di sekitarnya Puerta del Sol dan distrik Sol-Salamanca. Kami makan malam di sebuah restoran yang dijalankan sekeluarga; dan tentu saja aku memutuskan untuk makan: paella!! :D Setelahnya, kami berkeliling di sekitar situ saja sih sebelum kembali lagi ke hotel.

Hari 8 (Rabu, 2 Januari 2013)

Setelah makan sebuah “Combination” untuk brunch di sebuah cafe di salah satu jalanan di Madrid, kami memulai petualangan kami hari ini. Ngomong-ngomong, semua destinasi yang kami kunjungi hari ini kami lakoni dengan berjalan kaki lho. Menurut aproksimasi kasar dengan Google Maps sih, kami berjalan sejauh sekitar 13 km hari ini, hmmm.

Anyway, jadi, yang pertama dalam agenda kami adalah berjalan balik ke Cibeles untuk foto-foto di depan istananya. Lalu, kami berjalan ke Plaza Independencia sebelum akhirnya pergi ke Parque del Retiro yang besar itu. Parque del Retiro adalah taman kota raksasa di pusat kota Madrid. Yaa, masih nggak sebesar Taman Versailles lah, tapi masih aja lah ya, besar banget untuk ukuran taman kota.

Parque del Retiro adalah taman yang oke lho sebenarnya. Hanya saja, nggak ada yang terlalu spesial sampai-sampai, menurutku pribadi, layak untuk dikunjungi sehingga harus jauh-jauh ke Madrid sih. Tapi kalau kita adalah penduduknya Madrid, maka taman ini adalah tempat yang baik untuk refreshing dan aktivitas-aktivitas lainnya. Kami berjalan ke beberapa bagian tamannya; dan kemudian meninggalkannya untuk menuju ke Royal Palace-nya Madrid yang berada di sisi lain pusat kota. Tentu saja kami tidak merasa perlu buru-buru untuk kesana. Kami melewati Museo del Prado dan Plaza Mayor di sepanjang jalan.

Royal Palace-nya Madrid penuh orang siang itu. Ada satu antrian panjang untuk masuk ke dalam Istananya. Karena lagi malas mengantri, kami memutuskan untuk tidak bergabung dan foto-foto dari luar aja deh, huahaha :lol: . Setelah beberapa waktu, kami melanjutkan petualangan kami di kota ini menuju ke Gran Via. Kami mampir sebentar di Plaza de España karena ada semacam pameran yang sedang berlangsung disana. Nggak ada yang terlalu menarik sih disana sehingga kami juga tidak berlama-lama disana.

Gran Via oke juga. Model-modelnya adalah seperti jalan modern yang sibuk dengan banyak toko-toko di sepanjang jalan. Berjalan disana rasanya seperti sedang berjalan di salah satu jalan yang sibuk di New York gitu deh (Eh, aku belum pernah ke New York sih. Tapi aku bayangkan ya kayaknya mirip-mirip gitu deh ya, hahaha :lol: :P *sotoy* ). Kami beristirahat sebentar di sebuah kafe disana sebelum kembali ke hotel.

Malamnya, kami makan malam di sebuah restoran di dekatnya Puerta del Sol. Kami memilih paket Menu en Mesa seharga €10,50. Dengan harga itu, kami mendapat chorizo (sosis ‘pedas’ (nggak pedas-pedas amat sih soalnya aku masih bisa makan, huahaha :lol: )) sebagai masakan pembuka, 1/2 porsi short ribs dengan kentang panggang, es krim atau kopi untuk masakan penutup, dan bir atau minuman bersoda atau anggur sebagai minumannya. Makan malamnya, keseluruhan, oke buanget lho! Benar-benar worth it deh harga segitu! Tapi pemenangnya, bagi kami, adalah saus chimichurri yang disajikan menemani makanan kami! Ini adalah kali pertama kami mencoba saus ini dan ternyata uenaak banget dan amat unik (dan yang penting untukku, nggak pedas, huahaha :lol: ). Kami bahkan sampai nambah loh soalnya satu mangkok kecil itu kurang, hahaha :lol: .

BERSAMBUNG…

Selanjutnya dalam 2012 Year-End Trip:
- Estadio Santiago Bernabéu
- Bersama Cristiano Ronaldo (huahaha :lol: )
- Ke Barcelona

14 Comments
by zilko on January 30, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in EuroTrip, Two-Week Trip, Vacation
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by zilko on January 30, 2013

http://zilko.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/1179-2012-year-end-trip-part-iv/

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