My favourite thing I did in…

My favourite thing I did in Munich

Without a doubt, my favourite thing in Munich was Neuschwanstein Castle. Although it’s technically not in Munich, Munich is the closest city. As I’ve said before, seeing the castle was the reason I wanted to go to Munich and it certainly didn’t disappoint. It really is a fairy tale castle and is just as impressive in person as it is on Pinterest! It made me squeal with excitement when I first saw it. We did it as an organised day trip. You can visit it independently, but it gets very busy! I’d definitely recommend this to anyone.

 

My favourite thing I did in Copenhagen

I love it when I have unexpectedly brilliant experience. The street food hall on Paper Island in Copenhagen was one of those experiences. We read a brief sentence about it when we arrived and then found it on one of our wanders around the city. It was fab! I’ve spoke about it before but in case you missed it, it has loads of street food stalls inside from every corner of the globe! Thai, Indian, Middle Eastern, South American, Australian, British… literally all cuisines are catered for here. Definitely worth a visit if you love food.

 

My favourite thing I did in Sydney

To be fair, we didn’ really do much in Sydney besides wander the city and see the Blue Mountains (which are impressive and beautiful!) but my favourite thing I did was just to see the iconic bridge and opera house. I got loads of photos of them from all angles, including very blurry first glimpse shots, but the view from Mrs Macquairies chair is my favourite.

My favourite thing I did in Rome

 

I’ve got to cheat here and have 2 favourite things because I just can’t choose! I equally love The Colosseum and the view from the top of St Peter’s basilica. I love both for different reasons and both are very different attractions. The Colosseum is an amazing feat of engineering and architecture, especially when you consider that it’s over 2000 years old. It’s truly incredible. Whereas, the climb to the top of St Peters basilica is tiring and claustrophobic, but it’s certainly worth the pain. I love views and the view from the top is arguably one of the best views I’ve ever witnessed.

 

My favourite thing I did in Florence

Another view! This time it was the view from Piazzale Michaelangelo, which gives the most incredible view over the city and even includes the Tuscan countryside. Another good thing about this is that is free! The walk up is steep but it’s not too bad. To go one better, you could climb up to Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte where the views are even more stunning. It certainly gives you a perspective of how big the duomo and church are!

 

My favourite thing I did in Edinburgh

This was a surprise to me, as visiting Royal Yacht Britannia wasn’t on my agenda for Edinburgh. It was actually the mothers choice of activity but I loved it! I found it fascinating and was really excited to see the Queen’s bedroom! As I said, it wasn’t something that I was particularly bothered about but when I think about my trip to Edinburgh, this stands out. I was impressed with how they had literally everything you could ever need in life on board, from dentist and doctors to laundry and post office. It was incredible. Definitely worth a visit.

 

My favourite thing I did in Melbourne

I have been a huge Neighbours fan since I was born pretty much. When I found out you could do a Neighbours tour it went onto my life’s ambitions list where it has stayed until I finally did it a few years ago. In fact, it was a huge factor in deciding to visit Melbourne and was without a doubt my favourite thing. You probably have to be a Neighbours fan to appreciate this, but if you are then you should definitely get yourself on this tour! I even met Sonya!!

 

My favourite thing I did in Budapest

I love Budapest and think it is now one of my favourite places! The whole city is lovely and there is loads to do and its mega cheap. It’s hard to choose because I liked so much, such as the views from Fisherman’s Bastion and catching the funicular, but I think my favourite was having cake at Gerbeaud. I love dobosz torta, which is a traditional Hungarian cake so it was a real treat to go to the posh patisserie and indulge!

 

My favourite thing I did in Milan

I really liked Milan as it was cool and stylish without trying too hard. It doesn’t have as many big attractions as other Italian cities and it may not be as pretty but it’s still worth a visit. In my opinion, it’s quite liveable. My favourite thing was spinning on the bulls balls in the Galleria! Such a fun touristy thing to do! You put your heel in the groove and spin 3x for good luck!

 

My favourite thing I did in The Lake District

My favourite thing about the Lake District is how stunningly beautiful it is. Seriously! The whole area is just gorgeous. The photo above was taken at Lake Coniston and has not been edited or filtered in any way. It’s just that beautiful. The area we stayed was around Ambleside and Coniston, and it was simply gorgeous. My dad and I went on an early morning walk, which was when I took this photo, and I think that was when I fell in love with the place.

 

My favourite thing I did in Croatia

This was a lazy, relatively relaxing holiday so there isn’t too much to talk about besides sunbathing and reading, however, in Split, we took a walking tour of Diocletians Palace. This was really interesting and I learnt loads of facts. I always enjoy taking a walking tour and learning about places this way.

 

My favourite thing I did in Venice

The colourful island of Burano is well worth a visit. This island is often featured on places to visit lists and its easy to see why. Famous for lace making, there isn’t a great deal to do except wander and admire the pretty colours! As with Venice itself, Burano is very photogenic so make sure you have plenty of battery on your camera!

 

 

My favourite thing I did in Thailand

Thailand was my first experience of backpacking and using hostels, and I absolutely loved it! I had such a fun few weeks there that it’s hard to choose a favourite thing. Mainly because all I did was sunbathe and drink! Of all the places we visited,  I had the most fun on Phi Phi, but I thought Ko Pha Ngan was the most beautiful. We stayed well away from Haad Rin but did venture in for Full Moon. This was the fastest night of my life and I’m still entirely sure what happened! My favourite thing about Thailand is a toss up between the food (watermelon shakes, Thai curries & spring rolls come at me!) and the gorgeous beach we lazed around on all day at Ko Pha Ngan. Tough call!

 

My favourite thing I did in Naples

As you may have gathered, Naples wasn’t my favourite place. We made lots of effort to see attractions around the area such as Capri and Mt Vesuvius, but my favourite was Pompeii. In fact, Pompeii was the reason I wanted to go to Naples. I’m a bit of a history geek and have always wanted to go since I first heard about Pompeii at primary school. It was so interesting but I still feel there’s loads I need to see there! I didn’t realise how big it is!

 

What’s your favourite thing or place you’ve ever visited?

 

Travel regrets

I don’t like to have regrets, in any aspect of my life. I live by the motto that whatever you choose to do will be the right decision at the time. This is often true when it comes to new jobs, cars, love life etc, but sometimes you do regret the things you didn’t do rather than the things you did. This is certainly more true with my travel regrets. As I said, I don’t like to regret things so I carefully plan trips to try and maximise opportunities and avoid regretting anything. Sometimes, this doesn’t work out and I have ended up with a few things that I wish I’d done differently.

 

Sydney Bridge Climb

This is something that I ummed and ahhed over for a while, but at over $100, it was a big expense when I was tight on funds. Also, after hearing a description of the bridge climb, I worried that I would struggle due to the problem I have with my hand. With hindsight I should have thought ‘fuck it’ and done it anyway! You only live once and it would have been an amazing experience. I think the fact that Australia is so far away and such a big trip adds to the regret as who knows if I’ll ever head back there. I’d love to!! If I do, the first thing I’m doing is climbing that bridge!

 

Plitvice National Park

Source

On our Croatia trip, we looked at doing a day trip and one of the places we considered was Plitvice. I’ve seen it in many lists, blogs, books, websites and they all talk about how stunningly beautiful it is. I can’t remember why we didn’t go (maybe we just couldn’t be arsed to get up early!) but I now wish we had. Seeing as Croatia isn’t too far away, I will hopefully rectify this in the future.

 

Not appreciating Naples more

Source

I’ve mentioned before how I didn’t really enjoy Naples and that out of all the places I’ve been to, Naples is the one place I really have no desire to return to. I must have read too many horror stories before I went as I just didn’t want to walk around there. I was convinced that we would get mugged! We were there for 3 nights and spent our days visiting places nearby, such as Pompeii and Capri. By the third day I relaxed a little and realised it’s actually not that bad. Yes it’s rough around the edges and you need to take some precautions, but it’s nowhere near as bad as I thought it would it be. I regret not appreciating the city at the time and seeing more of it without walking around in fear. I still have no plans to ever revisit so I am a bit cross with myself for wasting time sat inside as I was too nervous to venture outdoors!

 

This summer

I wish now that I’d bit the bullet and booked a solo trip of some sort for the summer just gone. It was so depressing sat at home the entire time, especially when timehop kept reminding me about previous years. I don’t know which trip I wish I’d done, whether that be Thailand or Vietnam & Cambodia or Europe, but I definitely wish I’d done SOMETHING! On the plus side, I watched practically all the Olympics!! I plan on definitely doing something this summer, I just don’t know what yet.

 

Working holiday visa

Why did I decide to grow up and become an adult? Why did I buy a house and get a full time job? I could have gone travelling and had a year in Australia! I really do love that country! To be fair, this dream only really started in 2013 after I visited. I’d just accepted a permanent job and bought a house, so I couldn’t just up and leave. I turned 30 last year and am about to have my 31st birthday so I literally have days if I want to apply. I was planning on applying this summer, then I got a promotion so that went out the window. I have recently read though that the age limit has extended to 35 so my dream may not be over just yet! I think this would definitely be a death bed regret if I don’t spend more time down under.

 

 

Hvar

To be honest, I don’t really have a lot to say about Hvar. I’d heard good things about this popular Croatian island, and many people told me I’d love it. But, in all honestly, I didn’t. I certainly have no interest in going back there.

It could probably be something to do with the frame of mind I was in at the time. I was exhausted and needed to unwind. I just wanted a week in the sunshine to sunbathe and read. I was not looking to go out every night and get wasted. God I’m getting old!

Hvar is definitely a party place. I thought of it as the Croatian version of Magaluf, but maybe slightly nicer. During the day it was lovely. Very hot and busy, lots of teen/ twenty something groups, but also lots of couples and families. We enjoyed sunbathing every day, and generally just having a relaxing time. We spent every day at the beach, walking right around Hvar Town to find a suitable sunlounger and ice cream!

However, at night it became a completely different place. If I had children, I would definitely have them home by 10! There were loads of people out drinking and clubbing. Don’t get me wrong, I love going out and drinking, and I’ve partied with the best of them, but Hvar Town became sleazy in my opinion. As I said, it could have been my frame of mind at the time.

One night, we went to this club just as a couple of lads were being kicked out for fighting (which is a regular occurrence in my home town). A man who worked at the club, not sure what his job was, asked us if we were coming in, told us we’d get free drinks etc. We agreed and he escorted us inside. The place was rammed! There was literally no free space. He took us to what I assume was a VIP area, a gazebo that was cordoned off, and spoke to the middle aged blokes that were sat in there in another language. I have no idea what they were saying, but the guy who’d brought us in sort of beckoned towards us as if to say “I’ve found you some girls, do what you want”. The guys were easily in their 40s or 50s and I genuinely felt like we were being pimped out. They didn’t speak English, I don’t even know what language they spoke and all three of us felt uncomfortable so we left. There was no way we’d ever get to the bar with how busy it was so leaving was the best option.

We then went to another bar, which was much more low key. It was busy and full of young European kids, but it played music I liked. It was a bit of a dirty bar, not somewhere you need to dress up for, which is much more my scene. I began to relax and started busting some shapes. The problem was, as it was so busy, we were constantly being nudged by people coming in and out. I can deal with that, it’s what happens when places are busy, but I didn’t appreciate being groped several times. Quite a few lads thought they could cop a feel as they ‘brushed’ past me. I don’t mind this as a one off, but when it happens many times, it gets on my nerves. Who gives them the right to feel me up?? So my bad mood came back.

We ended up going home as it was about 3 in the morning by this time. I definitely did not enjoy my experience of Hvar’s nightlife, which is a shame because it is a beautiful island.

Maybe I’m getting old?? A few years ago I would definitely have loved Hvar’s nightlife. Maybe it was my frame of mind? Who knows?

 

My 10 best travel Instagram photos of 2015

This year, I visited Budapest, Edinburgh and Croatia and took a gazillion photos! Some ended up on social media, some didn’t.

Instagram has become my favourite social media platform. I spend far more time on it and post more frequently than any other. I love pictures and spend hours trawling through various accounts. It’s amazing how quickly time can pass on Instagram!

I thought it’d be fun to take a look back at the best (most liked) travel pictures on Instagram from this year.

10. Hvar, Croatia

This was the view from our balcony of our Airbnb apartment in Hvar. It had just threw it down for about 10 minutes before I took the photo! Nice to have sea views!

9. Split, Croatia

Love these pretty flowers growing alongside buildings in Diocletian’s Palace in Split.

8. Split, Croatia

This was taken on our final day in Split of the Riva. It was sooooo hot!

7. Budapest, Hungary

This is one of my favourite photos I took. I was determined to get my own picture of the iconic river and this is it! Love love love Budapest!

6. Budapest, Hungary

I saw this bench in City Park in Budapest, right outside Szechenyi Baths. I totally share it’s sentiments!

5. Edinburgh, Scotland

Another one of my favourite photos. This was taken from the roof of Camera Obscura. As you may know, I love a good view and this view of Edinburgh’s rooftops doesn’t disappoint.

4. Florence, Italy

I feel like this one is cheating as the photo was taken in 2014, but I posted it on Instagram this year. It was taken part way up Giotto’s Bell Tower and, obviously, gives a fab view of the duomo.

3. Shoes on the Danube, Budapest

In a city filled with statues and monuments, The Shoes on the Danube is probably the most poignant. It acts as a reminder of a terrible time in history. I like the simplicity of black and white on this photo.

2. Split, Croatia

The only selfie that made the list! This was taken from a look out point in the Marjan area of the city.

1. Split, Croatia

I’m actually quite surprised that this is my most popular travel instagram picture. It’s not a bad picture, I just prefer others! This was also taken in the Marjan area of a tiny church. I just wish I’d taken a photo of the front of it, rather than the back!

Which is your favourite? Where have you travelled to this year?

Split in photos

Split, in Croatia, is very pretty. The centre of the city contains the well preserved Diocletian’s Palace and is like a city within a city. Just walking around you can see the many influences on Split’s architecture; Venetian, Austrian, Renaissance, Egyptian, Gothic. There’s also many statues and relics, along with the lungs of the city, Marjan.

Here’s a few snaps to give you a taste of the city.

Have you been to Split? 

Initial thoughts on Croatia

I am unsure what to make of Croatia. It’s definitely beautiful. It’s definitely a bit rough around the edges. It’s definitely ‘on the up’. It feels like a country that is yet to find it’s own identity and is full of contradictions. There are influences of Italian, Greek, Austrian and the old Yugoslavia. An interesting mixture. Walking around Split, you can see the different influences in the architecture; Venetian, Renaissance, Gothic, Austrian…. But what is Croatian?

I have mixed feelings about Croatia. I only spent a week there. Of that week I spent 4 nights on the island of Hvar and the remaining 3 in Split. I enjoyed it but I have no desire to return. At least not to that area. I’d maybe spend a weekend in Dubrovnik or possibly Zadar, which I’ve heard good things about, but I’ve seen enough of Split. I admit that I didn’t get to see the whole country (I didn’t realise how big it is!) so my opinion may not be representative of what Croatia is like, but I just found it to be lacking something.

Split, Croatia’s second largest city after Dubrovnik, has obviously benefited from the rise in tourism over the last few years. Since joining the EU in 2013, Croatia has been considered an ‘up and coming’ travel destination. Coincidentally, my parents honeymooned in Split and Hvar 31 years ago, when it was still Yugoslavia and a communist country. Nobody went to Yugoslavia for a holiday in the 80s! It has definitely changed since then. My mum told me that there were hardly any proper roads and public transport wasn’t what it is now. Also, shops used to have hardly any stock in them, so it has definitely improved!

The Riva, on the waterfront in the centre of Split is really nice. It appears clean and modern, a wide, pedestrianised street lined with cafes overlooking the water. Fantastic for people watching! However, just slightly outside the centre, the buildings appear as literally concrete blocks. This was evident around the airport and on Hvar. From the outside they appear ugly and are a reminder of the country’s past. There’s also the labyrinthine Diocletian’s Palace in the city centre, which has been wonderfully restored. This mini city within a city represents a variety of architecture and influences on the city.

Overall, I enjoyed my trip. I got to relax, chill out, sunbathe, sightsee and explore a new (to me) country but I’m just not sure that I love Croatia.