Medieval and Natural Gems

Are you up for a walk? To see palaces, beech tree forests, waterfalls, medieval terraced walkways, limestone caves and ponds turned into lakes?

My latest travel article is up over at Milliver’s Travels. It’s about a place and country I haven’t written about before, filled with so much beauty and history.

Go check out Some Medieval and Natural Gems of Lillafüred, Hungary. And… will you also leave it some love while you’re there?

 

PS: I’ve closed the comment section here to make things less confusing.

Attractions that attracted me in Paris

First off, I’d like to officially share with you my exciting news of becoming a staff writer at Milliver’s Travels. At any time, you’ll be able to browse through all my articles right here.
It’s wonderful to be able to share on a regular basis some of the places I visited/will visit and fell in love with – and I feel privileged to be in such awe-inspiring company. Go check out everyone’s articles, they’re all lovely!

And now for the second part of today’s news

After I wrote and sent in my first article on Paris to Milli Thornton, we quickly noticed that I had way too much to say. We divided the article into two parts, which then grew up to become a three part series.

So go ahead, click through if you’re wondering which ones are “My Three Most Favorite Attractions in Paris”.

Walking is fun everywhere

I love traveling. In any amount!

To places I’ve seen before and of course even more so to places I dreamed of visiting all my life. This year, I’ve been the luckiest to have the opportunity of spending a short weekend Paris.

If you’re curious as to why this city (also) has captured my attention and took over a part of my heart – head on over to Milliver’s Travels and read all about it in my guest post, “Walking Through Paris” 

I still dream of Sicily

Just one of the many conclusions from my trip to Sicily last year is this: You can fall in love with Taormina in less than a day!

Have I made you curious as to why this town captured my attention and took over a part of my heart? Head on over to Milliver’s Travels and read all about it in my guest post

My trip to Paris, France

Let me start this post by stating that before I left, I had some preconceived notions on what Paris and the trip overall would be like. I was wrong.

It was far better that anything I could’ve ever imagined!
Somehow, I still can’t believe I wasn’t dreaming and that I have actually visited the city I’ve dreamed of visiting ever since, as a child, I could pronounce the name “Eiffel Tower”.

Walking in Paris is amazing, and I spent almost the whole time doing so during the two and a half days spent there.
The city is swarming with tourists, the food is great, the sights are all worth waiting in (the long) lines for, there are in fact streets so small they appear on no map.

Noticing the little things – some of the pedestrian signs cracked me up as never in my life have I seen a man on a pedestrian sign wait with his hands on his hips.
The city is so stylish that their McDonalds “M” on Champs-Élysées is white instead of yellow (apparently the yellow sign was considered tacky so even McDonalds plays dress up in Paris).
While you may state my mind is in the gutter I’ll just go ahead and say it anyway – some of the statues seem pretty inappropriate for public display from specific angles.
And you know how you sometimes wish you could just pull over at the corner? Well people here actually do it, so you need to watch out for cars when crossing the road because you might not see the oncoming traffic on account of the awkwardly parked cars on street corners.

And as opposed to everything I’ve heard about their resentment towards tourists all the locals I spoke to were very sweet and willing to help.
One lady even confused me for a local (within 2 hours of my arrival) when I asked about a street (apparently I pronounced the name oh-so-correctly in French) until she realized the confused stare came from my not understanding a word she’d just said (plus she talked sooo fast).

To sum it all up: I’ve had the time of my life, many new firsts (there may be a list in an upcoming blog post) and I don’t regret one second of… any of it!

Plus, I had the best company I could’ve hoped for

 

Cloudscapes

 

View from the hotel

 

Jardin des Tuileries, Champs-Élysées

 

Obélisque de Louxor

 

   Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile

 

Basilique Mazarin, Louis XIV, Hotel les Invalides, Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Assemblée Nationale

  Musée du Louvre

 

Basilique Ste-Clotilde, Flamme de la Liberté, Le Mur pour la Paix, Hotel de Ville, École Militaire

 

Tour Eiffel

 

View from Tour Eiffel

 

Paris at night 

  Notre Dame

View from Centre Pompidou

In search of a point

Ever wondered why it is we have such an amazing time as tourists on vacation, visiting an interesting place, exploring a city we’ve never seen before? Why it is we notice the architectural details of the buildings, walk down with confidence on the unknown streets while keeping an eye on the massive landmark we want to get to and never fear getting lost in the process?
Why it is we almost never do that in the city we live in?

When we’re on a vacation we’ve usually got all the time in the world to visit anything and everything we want to, work doesn’t follow us around (if we’re lucky) and all our problems are tucked away nicely in the back of our mind until we get home.
We are far more likely to do something out of the ordinary, out of character (just think of the proverbial college spring breaks), anything goes.

Anything goes, as opposed to getting back to the city we’ve lived our entire hectic lives in, where on the streets we’re likely to run into people we don’t care for at the worst possible moments, where we’re determined to block out the sound of traffic and busy shopping centers. Where we’re almost always in far more of a hurry than to stop even for a few minutes to look around and really see what’s surrounding us while being careful not to make a wrong turn.

What’s my point with all this, you might ask?
Actually, I’m not sure myself.

It might be that I wish I had the courage every day to act like a tourist in the city I live in.
It might be that I’m finding I shouldn’t feel like walking down that street I’ve never set foot on before will be the end of the world. It might be that I need to have the confidence that there’s a familiar street at the corner; or even if there isn’t – there will be one at the next corner.
It might be that as I started writing these thoughts thinking this post will shape into something completely different – I’ve realized I need to slow down, let things take their natural course, take out my camera, look around snapping pictures and memories, take it all in and presently enjoy everything around me.

So, my point might be among the ones above.

Or… it might be all of them at once.

My trip to Sicily, Italy

I know everyone’s busy with pre-holiday preparations (as am I) so I’ll keep today’s post short, sweet and visual

Last week I’ve posted about my Multiple firsts in less than a week and now, finally, here they are, fresh out of my editing program: vacation photos of my wonderful week in Sicily, Italy.

I’ve said it before, but I have to say it again: I fell in love so many times during this trip my heart feels it could explode any second now! Just look at the amazing scenery

Flight from Rome

 

Cloudscapes

 

Sicily

 

Catania

 

Ragalna

 

Taormina

 

Greek Amphitheatre in Taormina

 

Messina

 

Petralia Soprana

 

Cefalu

 

Monreale

 

Belpasso

 

Siracusa – city

 

  Siracusa – rocky beach

 

Lovely things collage