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Showing posts with the label South Europe

Dalmatia – food and drinks

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As usually in all our trips, Dalmatia was no exception. Enjoying local food and drinks was an essential part of the trip. We did this both ways by preparing at home products we bought on the market, sea urchins caught by ourselves in the sea, and also by visiting restaurants, cafes and vineyards. Testament drink producers It sounds strange – to go to Croatia to visit a business run by Scandinavians. But as it turned out later, the drink we had bought there ended up being the best on the trip. Testament winery is located about 3 kilometres from the main road of the region D8, the nearest town is Zaboric. The basic idea of the winery is to combine technology with the knowhow of the best winemakers to create rich and complex drink from the Dalmatian region. We had written down their address before travelling, just in case, but we did not plan to visit it; the tasting of three drinks costs more than 13 euros, which is not that little money at all. However, it happened to be the only chanc

Zagreb

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This is most likely be one of the last blogs about Croatia in the 2022 series. There is also something else to write about. I have written this year about such wonderful places in Dalmatia as Split, Omis, Grebastica, Sevid, Rogiznica and Primosten. Some time ago I also wrote about Dubrovnik and Dalmatia . We were in Zagreb quite a long time ago, but it is the place where our great interest in Croatia began, when we drove there with our car from Riga. So this is very good reason to end where it all began. In addition, the city has many places for tourists to see and exciting entertainment opportunities can also be found. Zagreb is the capital of Croatia with a population of less than 800 thousand people. Zagreb is the largest city in Croatia. City’s surroundings have been inhabited since the time of the Romans, but the city was founded in 1242, when the Tatars arrived in the region. The king took refuge in the city from the invaders and in gratitude allowed it to maintain its judicial

Istria and Krk island

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Istrian Peninsula The Istrian peninsula is one of Croatia’s many peninsulas, but it differs from many others because it is located in the north of the country. It borders Slovenia and Italy. In general, the territory of the peninsula is shared by these three countries, but the majority (almost 90%) belongs to Croatia. Italians call the peninsula Istria. The Istrian peninsula is the largest peninsula on the Adriatic Sea. In order to understand more about its dimensions, I will just mention the distance from Pula to the Slovenian border is around 60 kilometres, and to the Italian border 80 kilometres in a straight line (it will definitely be much more when driving on the road). Istria is also known for the fact that truffles grow there – mushrooms that are used as an addition to food, especially pasta dishes. The largest city in the Croatian part is Pula, located in the very south of the peninsula, but the Slovenian city of Koper and the Italian city of Trieste are even larger. Pula has

From Riga to Croatia by car

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I have already written quite a lot about traveling to Croatia , but here I will summarize how to get there by car from Latvia. Even though we have been flying everywhere for the last decade, we have mostly driven by our car to Croatia. We have also seen other cars with Baltic and Polish license plates in Croatia, so we are by no means the only ones and this information may be useful to someone else. The usual route is as follows: Riga – Warsaw (Poland) – Bratislava (Slovakia) – Graz (Austria) – Maribor (Slovenia) – Zagreb (Croatia). This is also the option offered by Google Maps. What happens after arrival to Zagreb is entirely up to you, depending on where else you have decided to go. There are people who prefer to drive through the Czech Republic, but staying overnight in the Czech Republic (not to mention Austria) can be quite expensive. If you are going to relax by the sea, then you should take into account that it is practically impossible to visit all the regions of Croatia at on

Historic centre of Rome – day one

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Weekend in Rome Another title of this blog post might be ‘Back to Rome’ as we were there quite a few years ago. However, the last time we only spent part of our trip in Rome and enjoyed some time traveling outside the city. We also visited Grotte di Frasassi and Vesuvius volcano . This time, it was a trip with an aim to spend the whole weekend in Rome – we wanted to walk around the historic centre of the city and enjoy Roman food. We arrived at Termini station just before midday and the first thing to do was to have a late breakfast. There is another blog about our gastronomical experiences during this weekend. Eating was very important part of our trip and added significant value to our trip. Baths of Diocletian Just after the meal, we went to the Baths of Diocletian (Termas de Diocleciano) museum, which is a part of the larger Museo Nacional Romano . The Baths of Diocletian are a huge complex and were constructed three hundred years AD, they are located just in front of Rome Termin

Historic centre of Rome – day two

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It’s so cool to wake up in the morning in the heart of Rome after a night’s sleep, when the delicious breakfast, which is included in the price of the accommodation, is already waiting in the restaurant on the rooftop terrace. Amazing feeling! All you have to do is get out of the huge bed and get dressed so that you can show up on the terrace. Colosseum On the first day in Rome, we visited a museum, so on the second day we wanted to enjoy the sunny day and fresh October day in Rome. The first thing we did right after breakfast was going to the Colosseum – after all, what would be Rome without the Colosseum? We had even been inside before, but to take a selfie in the background of the coliseum was a must. What made thing seven easier was that the Coliseum is located less than a ten-minute walk from  Monti Palace Hotel . We had a plan of going from the Coliseum subway station to our next activity – walking through the park on the other side of the city centre. However, we had to go

Barcelona

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The first thought that comes to mind when you hear the word Barcelona – it’s something special! It is one of Europe’s must-see cities. Like Prague, Paris, London and Rome. Straight away, I can’t even say many more similar cities in terms of the added value of the trip. The list can then be continued with Venice, Florence, Vienna, Amsterdam, Budapest and so on. This is, of course, my list and it may be different for everyone, but one thing is clear: Barcelona is a must-see place. About the city Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, with a population of just over one and a half million people and, together with the surrounding areas (almost 5 million people), it is the second largest populated area in Spain. And of course – Barcelona is a seaside city on the Mediterranean coast. Catalonia is an autonomous region of Spain and differs from central Spain in many ways. Catalonia even has two official languages, Catalan and Spanish. The origins of Barcelona can be traced back to the beginnin

Good food in Rome

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Good food in Rome – it is just the title of this blog. In fact, this blog is about excellent and even fantastic food in Rome you may get there. Rome is a very busy tourist city and you may often get average-quality food for a high price. We were lucky to find quite a few excellent places; this is an experience I write about here. Earlier we had a trip to Rome which included Italian cooking classes in Rome; this time it was only about consuming food not preparing. All this was experienced during our trip to Rome in the autumn of 2021. This was a short stay in Italy’s capital during mid-October weekend; the main aim of the trip was to visit Rome’s historic centre once again, although to experience of eating nice food in Rome was an important component of the whole trip. So, this blog is entirely about where to find good places to eat in Rome. A place for a good breakfast Close to Termini station, we found a nice breakfast place – restaurant NOI Roma located on the corner of Via Gaeta an

Tenerife in February

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Sunny beaches in February It’s a fantastic feeling – after the darkest winter months, in February to enjoy the sun and ocean waves! In the second half of February, we went with friends to one of the islands of the Canary Archipelago – Tenerife. Tenerife – this holiday destination is chosen by more than 5 million tourists every year, so our choice was not accidental. Although the hot season in Tenerife does not start in February, it has its positive side – the island is not crowded with tourists. Although, some attractions, such as tastings and visiting banana fields are not open to visitors that early. The good news is that the Canary Islands are the European Union because they belong to Spain. Another benefit – in Tenerife, due to its mild climate, a lot of Brits spend winter months and you may be able to freely communicate in English, which makes holidays even more enjoyable. Arrival to Tenerife Just before we arrived in Tenerife, several Atlantic cyclones had blustered in northern T

Around Tenerife

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When we were planning our trip to Tenerife, we already knew that around this time there was an annual Tenerife Carnival, which is the second largest in the world after the Rio de Janeiro Carnival. After visiting Loro Park, we went to the centre of Puerto de la Cruz to see what was going on there. And it was really impressive! The city streets were full of people in carnival costumes; fun, joy and music were all around. So, we also joined the crowd and enjoyed this fantastic atmosphere until midnight when we had to go back to the hotel. Sightseeing The next day, we went to the northwest of the island. When we found out that the attractions we were planning to visit were not open for tourists, we went to La Laguna (full name: San Cristobal de La Laguna); the historic centre of this city has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999 and we decided it should be worth to visit it. La Laguna has long been the capital of the Canary Islands, but today it has merged with the recent capital o

Mount Etna in Sicily

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Visiting the Etna volcano was a part of our trip to southern Italy and Sicily. Location and basic facts Mount Etna is an active volcano located in the eastern part of the largest Italian island Sicily, near Catania city. Like many other active volcanos, it is located in the area between two large geological plates, the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate in this case. Etna is active almost all the time. The height of Mount Etna is 3350 metres (10,900 ft) above sea level, it covers an area of around 1190 square kilometres and is the biggest active volcano in Italy. Etna is a stratovolcano, which means it is a typical conical volcano with a caldera built up by many layers of hardened lava. Another Italian volcano, Vesuvius, is also a stratovolcano, although it is not as active as Etna and is only half of the size of Etna. Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanos in the world, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2013. The last most serious eruption of Etna followed by

East of Sicily

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Visiting east of Sicily was a part of our trip to southern Italy and Etna. Arrival to Sicily We arrived in the Sicilian town Messina on a ferry from Villa San Giovanni Imbrachi late in the evening. Messina is the third biggest city in Sicily. The crossing was pretty quick as there were only about ten kilometres between these towns by the sea. We might be very lucky as immediately after arrival at the ferry port we got tickets and boarded the ferry straight away. The price for a person travelling by car is about 20 euros. After exiting the ferry in Messina, we immediately continued our way to Acireale, direction of Taormina/Catania, where we had booked a guesthouse for a few nights before going to the western part of the island. Acireale Acireale is a small gorgeous coastal town in the east of Sicily, not far from Catania, which is the second biggest city in Sicily after Palermo. When we arrived, it was very close to midnight. It took a while to find the exact location of our guesthouse