I’m surprised to find out that Semarang has that vintage
side. I mean, I didn’t expect that Kota Lama (Old Town) is historically
thriving!
I thought the capital of Central Java is just packed with
urban dwellers and malls and well, let’s just go to the exciting part, shall
we?
We arrived at Stasiun Tawang, Semarang and the sense of
colonial atmosphere can quickly be felt. The train station itself is the oldest
and biggest one in the city.
We crossed the street and found Polder Tawang that
protects Semarang against flooding. It’s not the best scene but it’s worth to
note :P
Passing by the Polder, there’s old cigarette factory that’s
still operating.
You will be able to see the dome of Gereja Blenduk from
here.
The weather was dreadfully hot during our visit and our heavy backpacks got the temperature two times higher; but the old
town excited us more that we didn’t really care how we smelled HAHAHAHA!
We would’ve entered the church if there hadn’t been any
choir rehearsal but yeah, we can only admire the off-white church from the
outside.
The whole area is Oldies by its nature. You can see historical
landmarks such as Marba, Outdetrap and even Ikan Bakar Cianjur Resto has that
old colonial-style architecture!
This is one of my favorite – Spiegel
Bistro. The building was established in 1895,that means 122 years ago.
Fiuhh!
We walked again for about 5 km and went to look for Loenpia
Gang Lombok. I’m sorry to ruin your mouth-watering fantasy but I didn’t find the Loenpia appealing to my tongue. It tasted marginal with a price of Rp.
15,000,- each (Lombok and the Spring Onion are all-you-can-eat-if-you-can)
Moving on to another spot, still in the old town, we found
abandoned buildings that were used as office administrations and houses like
this Roode Driehook (Red Triangle). There’s not much information on the
internet to dig about this place.
I love the arch entrance!
This is another secluded spot that I’m not sure if I’ll be
able to find this place again :P
In a nutshell, every building in the old town is within walking distance but I wish the streets were friendlier to pedestrians. It's annoying to walk without a car or motorcycle honking at you while you admire the view. :P
Up next in the blog - our hilarious trip to Semarang Art Gallery, Lawang Sewu, Sam Poo Kong
