Road trips, mountain walks and holidays

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...

Sun, flowers, and spring The next morning, after the usual grey April day in Riga, we were awakened by the rays of the sun – our break in Germany had begun exceptionally well! From the window we had a fantastic view towards vineyards and all kinds of flowering shrubs and trees; we felt like on a real spring holiday! We planned to visit Baden–Baden and at the end of our trip visit Mainau Island. To enjoy these fantastic changes, immediately after breakfast we went for a walk around the town and without realizing it, reached the next town. The Easter morning service had just ended, the clock was approaching noon, and the local Germans were slowly gathering for family lunches at local pubs. Great tradition – in most cases, at least three generations of people gathered around the tables. Before moving on to Mainau Island in Germany, after visiting the thermal pools and sauna complex in Baden-Baden, we walked around the city, which has both its unique charm and something special, such as th...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

These travel notes are related to our trip to southern Italy, eastern Sicily and Etna. The best travel time to these areas is summer, although it may be quite hot there. About Sicily This is a post about travel to Italy, specifically – Sicily; it's amazing to spend vacations there. Sicily is one of Italy’s regions and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Its territory is almost 26 thousand square kilometres (ten thousand square miles) and is similar to the size of such countries as North Macedonia and Albania. Almost five million people live in Sicily, which is about 8% of the Italian population. Unlike nowadays, Sicily has been a very rich and powerful region. During ancient times, Greeks had significant settlements in Sicily; many may know such names as Syracuse and Archimedes who lived there before was killed by Romans. Later on, Romans annexed Sicily and it was a Roman province for a while. After the Greeks and Romans, the island was ruled by many other great powers – B...

A real paradise on earth This was a very short and exciting trip in June 2010. The trip to Sardinia island, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean, lasted only 4 days. However, considering that the sun is shining all day long in Sardinia, the sea is beautiful, and nature pampers everybody with warm evenings – even two weeks may be too short to enjoy all this beauty. Sardinia could be a place to return to again and again. Arrival to Sardinia We arrived at Alghero Airport on a Ryanair flight from Frankfurt. At the airport, we immediately picked up a pre-booked car to continue our journey to the opposite part of Sardinia Island. This time we hired the car from myCarHire.co.uk, which offered good prices (for a 3-day rental we had to pay £84). This company has a large network of partners throughout mainland Europe and on many islands, so there is a lot to choose from. Costa Smeralda Late in the afternoon, we arrived at Al Saraceno Residence, located in the famous Costa Smeralda reso...

Sightseeing tour to the western part of Estonia This was a corporate trip by bus together with work colleagues to the Estonian islands. It was a short weekend sightseeing tour to western Estonia to relax, have some fun and look around. Our destination was Saaremaa island, with a short stop in the summer capital of Estonia – town Parnu. The border between Latvia and Estonia You may cross the border between Latvia and Estonia using main road E67. However, there is an interesting alternative – turn left just before the Estonian border to the small town Latvian town of Ainazi. Driving through the town you may be surprised that after a short period, you will see a road sign showing that you are passing the state border. Just before the border, there is a small parking place. If you stop there, you can go for a short walk to the old mole (located in Latvia just a few hundred metres from the Estonian border) and enjoy the beautiful landscape. Sea resort Parnu The next stop we made was in Parn...

One of our most loved destinations – Iceland So far, we have only been in Iceland during the winter. And we love all about it – snow, ice, glaciers, wind, lava fields, geysers and especially sunny days and Northern Lights, which we have been lucky enough to enjoy. Along with Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark, Iceland belongs to Europe’s Nordic region. Iceland is a volcanic island and lies on the border between Eurasian and North American Tectonic Plates; that makes Iceland a hotspot of many active volcanos. The total area of Iceland is 102,775 square kilometres (39,682 square miles) making it No. 106 on the list of world’s countries by territory. The population of Iceland is around 346 thousand people and it is 176th in the world with a very low density of population – only 3.5 people per square kilometre. Getting around If you travel to Iceland, you may recognise that many tourist attractions are located almost like bus stops on your route. Of course, getting ther...

Scotland and the amazing beauty of its islands While living in London, I had many conversations with Brits about Scottish islands, especially about Isle of Skye. Almost all of them knew about the Isle of Skye, although not many of them had visited this beautiful island located in the northwest of Scotland. Perhaps, because it is so far away from the UK – more than one thousand kilometres. However, the nature of the Isle of Skye is so unpredictable that you know either you may enjoy a nice holiday or weather conditions would challenge you all the way through while you are there. We accepted the challenge and went there for our early summer holidays. I must admit that we have chosen early June for going over to the Isle of Skye, knowing that there may be a chance to get some sunny days there during that time of the year. After being on the Isle of Skye already twice now, I can tell that it is one of the most beautiful places in Europe. Because of the people living there, because of natur...