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?

 

Aint no mountain high enough…

I totally climbed a mountain! Well, actually an active volcano! Check me out being a daredevil!

Ok, so it wasn’t a full on rock climbing expedition with ropes and crampons (whatever they are) and tents and base camps etc but it was still hard bloody work!

During my Italian adventure, we decided to exploit Naples’ surrounding areas attractions (and avoid spending too much time in the city) by climbing Mt Vesuvius. As it is called MOUNT Vesuvius, it counts as having climbed a mountain I’ve decided.

The mountain climb was part of our tour around Pompeii. The morning was spent at Pompeii and the afternoon was climbing the mountain with a pizza lunch in between. It was one of my favourite days of the trip! Loved it!

Whilst eating lunch, we befriended an American couple who were really friendly and both ridiculously good looking and they were really good at spurring me on. I wish I’d taken a photo of them now! I’m definitely not the fittest of people and generally avoid exercise wherever possible so hiking up this massive rock was a huge challenge for me.

First of all, the drive up the mountain is an experience in itself, all winding roads and buses having to take each corner VERY slowly! But the views are AMAZING! Obviously, these improve further and further up the mountain. One thing that I noticed was that people actually live on Mt V (as I’m now going to refer to it!). I kept thinking ‘what happens if it erupts?’ but apparently some clever scientist people have sensors that monitor it so they know about a month in advance if its going to erupt. That calmed my nerves slightly about climbing an active volcano!

We finally reached the car park which is quite near the top. The walk to the crater is about 1.4km but it feels soooo much longer. As we embarked on our epic trek, I glanced up and saw the path was zig zagged across several times. Obviously this is to provide the quickest and easiest route but it was a bit disheartening as it meant I was counting the zig zags! Also, the path is gravel so it was a bit like 1 step forwards, 2 steps back. Sensible footwear is definitely required! I saw some girls attempting the walk in flip flops! Seriously! It made me feel proud of my choice of cheap Converse esque pumps!

I’m not going to lie, the walk was hard work for me but I was expecting that! I needed to stop every few feet! But the amazing view made it ok. The view just got more and more amazing and I love a good view!

Views part way up

more stunning views

Once we reached the top, the path flattened out. The crater was pretty impressive although I was slightly concerned that I could see smoke! The sense of personal achievement was awesome. Yes it was only 1.4km walk, which is easy, but it was at a 45 degree incline on a slippy gravel path!

The crater

I was here!

Just look at the view though. We could see all over Naples, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. Truly impressive!

Sorrento end of the view from the top

Naples end of the view

I was very greatful for the souvenir shop at the top selling ice cold drinks! Definitely needed!

Once we’d enjoyed the view, and appreciated how much cooler it is at the top, we walked back down. The walk down was a piece of piss! Seriously, I was down in about 5 minutes! No messing! As we passed people just starting the walk, I was secretly relieved that I’d been there, done it and was now on the easy leg!

I love to get souvenirs so whilst we were walking down, I picked up a piece of rock from Mt V. Free and a genuine souvenir! Perfect! In my defence, our tour guide recommended that we take a small piece of rock with us! It now has pride of place on my fireplace next to my Irish Wishing Stone!

Have you been to Mt Vesuvius?

My travel bucketlist

Everyone’s got a travel bucket list right? As I’ve said before, I love a list and a challenge so I thought I’d finally get round to writing my own travel bucket list. The beauty of this list is there’s no deadline (haha pun intended!). My list will probably evolve as I discover more places and get older but here’s my list as it stands at the moment:

Please click on the item to read about my experience.

Me on the Neighbours tour – August 2013

1. Visit 40 countries before I’m 40
2. Visit every continent
3. Stand on the equator
4. Visit New York
5. Skydive
6. Have a night to remember at a Full Moon Party
7. Macchu Picchu
8. Eat macaroons in Paris
9. Go up the Eiffel Tower
10. Go on a cruise
11. Climb a mountain
12. Gamble in Vegas
13. Eat pizza in Naples
14. Visit New Zealand
15. Visit Pompeii 
16. Party in Ibiza
17. Walk the Brooklyn Bridge
18. Cuddle a koala
19. Do the Neighbours tour
20. Visit Home & Away set
21. See the Taj Mahal
22. Walk the Great Wall of China
23. Visit the pyramids
24. Visit the colosseum
25. Live abroad
26. Speak another language fluently
27. Honeymoon in the Maldives
28. Go to Croatia
29. Bathe in the Blue Lagoon
30. See the Northern Lights
31. See the Big 5 on safari in Africa
32. Meet a celebrity 

Pompeii – August 2014

Meeting McLovin in Thaliand – July 2012

What’s on your bucket list?

Walking on history

I have quite literally walked on history, and it was one of the highlights of my trip!

Whilst in Naples, we did a day trip to Pompeii which I was incredibly excited about! I’d wanted to visit the famous archaeological site since I’d first learned about it in primary school over 20 years ago. I must admit, the reality was slightly different from the version I had in my 7 year old head! The first thing that hit me was just how big Pompeii is. I didn’t realise it was a large city. Rather naively, I was expecting a small village! I also didn’t know about Herculaneum. I wish we’d have visited there as well but unfortunately time didn’t allow.

The city of Pompeii was devastated by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD. It killed all the city’s inhabitants and the site was buried under ash, lava and rubble until it was rediscovered hundred of years later.

It now attracts thousands of visitors every week. I visited as a part of a group tour that I found on Viator. I would recommend that you go on a guided tour as Pompeii is massive and it was fascinating to hear all the history behind it! We visited the theatre, the main square, a brothel, a spa, a temple and the gladiator training ring and I would’ve loved to have seen more! It also helped that our guide was very funny and entertaining!

Who knew that the Romans had pizzerias? Or that they spent several hours a day in a spa? I loved that the price list for the brothel was in glasses of wine and the ‘menu’ was a selection of pictures so the men just pointed to what they wanted. The prostitutes were usually Greek or African so couldn’t speak Italian hence pictures being used. The Romans fascinate me as they were so efficient and organised with how they did things, from the layout of Pompeii to the fact they had sliding doors! Way ahead of their time!

Pompeii was definitely worth visiting, in fact, the reason I wanted to visit Naples at all was so I could go to Pompeii and it certainly didn’t disappoint!

Gladiator training area

A street

A pizzeria

A street crossing – to avoid the waste that would flow down the street and designed so carts could pass over it!

Inside the spa

A street sign with a cock pointing you in the direction of the brothel

One of the fountains which you can still drink water from

The main square in the centre of Pompeii with Mt Vesuvius in the background

A temple and sacrifical altar

My Italian ‘to do’ list

It’s now less than 36 hours until I embark on Bella Italia 2014! That is the official title of my trip! I’m starting to freak out slightly as I haven’t got any Euros or insurance yet. I also need to do all my washing and ironing, clean my house, finish packing and finalise my lift to the airport! This is my first trip where I am leaving my own house (as opposed to my parents) so I need to remove any food from the fridge and make sure I empty all my bins and turn plugs off! (Just not the freezer!)

Anyway… I’m very excited and have read numerous blog posts and travel guides for inspiration. I have several things that I MUST do but I also enjoy just wandering around and exploring. I like to have a balance between planned days and ‘free’ days!

Here’s the list of things I intend to do on my Italian adventure!

Milan

• See The Last Supper at Santa Maria della Grazie
• Climb the Dumo
• Shop!
• Visit Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II
• Stalk George Clooney at Lake Como
• Eat lots of ice cream

Venice

• Go in a gondola
• Visit Piazza San Marco & St Mark’s basilica, Doge palace etc
• Visit Murano and/or Burano
• Go up the campanile
• Visit the Peggy Guggenheim collection
• Eat lots of pizza

Florence

• Go up the duomo
• Shop!
• Visit other Tuscan cities (Siena/Pisa/Lucca)
• Pitti Palace
• Get lots of nice photos of Florence, the rooftops, the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio
• Eat lots of pasta

Naples

• Eat pizza!
• Visit Piazza Bellini
• Visit Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius
• Visit Amalfi coast (if time)

Rome

• Villa Borghese
• Piazza Navona
• Eat lots of pizza, pasta and ice cream

In fact, I’m open to suggestions for Rome. I visited just over a year ago and did all the tourist things such as Colosseum and the Vatican etc. I’m looking for more obscure attractions that may not be so popular this time of year!

Also, if you have any suggestions for any other of the cities I’m visiting, I’d love to know! Please leave a comment!

10 days, 8 hours, 55 minutes and 15 seconds…

Until Bella Italia 2014!

I am unbelievably excited! I cannot wait to return to one of my favourite countries. I’ve been brushing up on my Italian, learning all the very important phrases such as:

Would you like a drink (prendi qualcosa da bere?)

Can I take you home? (posso accompagnarti a casa?)

Leave me alone (lasciami im pace)

Kiss me (baciami)

Cheers (salute)

I’m pissed (Ho la ciucca)

I think I’ve learnt all the important things here!

Here is my route:

I’m spending 3 nights in Milan, 3 nights in Venice, 4 nights in Florence, 3 nights in Naples and 3 nights in Rome. I’ve been to Italy several times before, this will be my fifth trip, making it my most visited country! Unfortunately, I won’t be adding to my 40 before 40 list, however, I will be adding to the UNESCO world heritage sites that I have visited list! Yay! I’m also excited because it’s my first time in Milan, Venice and Naples.

If anyone has any recommendations for any of these cities, please leave me a comment! Anything for first timers or more off the beaten track sights!