Overshadowed by its big sister Split just 10km away, Trogir is often just a simple day tour for tour groups arriving by bus for a quick 1 hour guided walk. But for me Trogir is much more than this, somewhat of a secret destination of mine and this year I decided to go directly to Trogir after flying into the country, preferring it to Split for its charming UNESCO recognized medieval old town. A Tiny Island that has a lot to offer Trogir is just a tiny island that can be walked around in less than 30 minutes. But doing so would ruin the experience that I adore in Trogir, which is to immerse myself in this small ancient town to feel Trogir, walk the curvy narrow streets at night, hearing the old churches ring their bells in the morning and absorb the feeling of being taken back a thousand years ago. Trogir is also a yachties paradise with its massive marinas as well as […]
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Visiting Warsaw, Newly Rebuilt Capital of Poland
If there is one thing to admire about Warsaw, it is its tenacity to rebuild again and again after 98% of the city was destroyed during World War 2. The Germans had made it an objective to clean the whole city to the ground and not leave a single wall standing, piling the debris in a pyramid of ruins in the middle of the house to humiliate and punish the Varsovians for their uprising. And even under the Soviet rule and against communist philosophy, locals insisted to rebuild the old town exactly how it was historically, a massive project that is still ongoing over 80 years after the end of the war. Very inspiring to me… Rebuilding a Capital after 98% was destroyed post WW2 The majority of the construction has been concentrate on restoring the main part of the old town, which is pretty small compared to other polish cities, but still charming. The rest of the city has been left out of the historical […]
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Dedicating a Few Days to Lodz in Poland
Not the typical city that will appear on travelers radar, Lodz is still worth a visit on an itinerary as its central location makes it logistically easy to include while traveling from Wroclaw to Warsaw or on the way north towards Gdansk. It doesn’t pack a lot to see compared to other polish cities, but I can expect its popularity will continue growing in the next few years. The “One Street” City of Poland As local people like to joke about it, if you get even one street away from Piotrkowska Street you are out of bounds. That is actually very close to the truth as Piotrkowska is definitely the highlight of Lodz and where most of the interesting sightseeing areas are located. If I ever come back to Lodz, I would try to find a hotel or apartment straight off the street and try not to go further, exception made for the Manufaktura complex area just a few streets away. If you stick to Piotrkowska, you will love Lodz. It seems […]
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Visiting Liepaja: a Wannabe Beach Resort Stuck Between Soviet and Western Times
Having been one of the most important military ports in the world where Soviets had stationed a massive fleet 3 times the size the what nowadays Fleet in Brittan, Liepaja is trying to detach itself from its military past and embrace a more baltic beach resort style such as Palanga, Parnu or Jurmala. But somehow, its struggling to get there. There is a definite feel of industrial military vibe all over which, to be honest, is not the most appealing… A Beach in the middle of a Soviet Past Coming from Palanga where I had spent a few amazing days, Liepaja had a hard task of impressing me after such a nice time on the Lithuanian coast. And as soon as I arrived I knew it wouldn’t quite be the same experience. First, Latvia has a much more Russian population, counting for about 39% of the country. But It definitely feels like there are more in Liepaja, where I barely heard any Latvian being spoken in my 4 […]
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Crashing on the Lithuanian Coast in Palanga
Where else to spend a few days in the region during the peak tourist season of mid-July on the Baltic Sea? Palanga is known around the Baltic Countries to be one of the most festive and energetic Beach Resort of the three. And I had a few days to explore it thoroughly under the northern european sun! The Go-To Holiday destination for all Lithuanians After being in Klaipeda for a few days (and loving it), I was looking forward to see why everybody was telling me that nobody stays in town in the summer and go straight to Palanga. Even the Avis Car Rental had “reduced hours” to serve more time in Palanga. As soon as I arrived I understood. It was jammed packed of people enjoying its lively atmosphere and it looked much better than I expected. I imagined just another baltic coast resort, something quiet like in between Jurmala in Latvia or Parnu in Estonia (which are respectively their liveliest beach resorts). But having […]
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Visiting the Mouth of the Curonian Spit in Klaipeda, Lithuania
Set on a small stretch of coast on the Lithuanian Baltic coast, Klaipeda is truely set in an amazing location. The city is set directly on the Curonian spit which is a UNESCO protected area for its unique natural wonders. With a nice German flavor, this once important Prussian city is now Lithuania’s third largest city, yet keeping a distinctive town summer holiday feel. Its fame is only starting as cruise large cruise ships have included the Klaipeda onto their Northern Europe route along with Tallinn, Helsinki and Stocklholm. Visiting Klaipeda Klaipeda was actually called Memel in German times before it was renamed Klaipeda by the Lithuanians. The city was a nice surprise for me, as I didn’t expect such a beautiful little town since I hadn’t heard much from it in the past. It was peak summer season when I visited, but nevertheless, I was told that Lithuanians do not consider it exclusively a summer holiday destination as its beaches are a couple kilometers […]
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Sochi: The New Pearl of the Black Sea
Sochi is the Biggest resort City in Russia. In fact, it has grown so quickly and well in the past few years that it is a great city in itself and in my opinion only second to St-Petersburg for the most beautiful city in Russia. Sochi was settled by Stalin where he had his private summer house (dacha). But Thanks to the constant efforts by Putin to host big events in the city like the Olympics Games of 2014, the Formula 1 Grand Prix and the FIFA world cup, it is easy to see how the city is important in the eyes of Russians. And you can definitely expect to hear more and more about Sochi as it transforms towards an international holiday destination. The Miami of Russia Sochi is blessed with a subtropical climate which provides mild winters and hot summers! It is a bit like a hub for all the beaches stretching from Krasnodar to Adler, where the Olympic infrastructures are located. This […]
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3 Days in North Ossetia – Visiting Vladikavkaz
I knew very little about Ossetia and Ossetians before coming here, except for what international media has been talking about in the past 15 years, which can be summarized as conflicts and unrest. But it turns out they have a very interesting past and history around the Caucasus. This time around my journey brought me from Georgia through the Caucasus mountains to reach North Ossetia, the big brother of South Ossetia which received a lot of media attention in the past years. The Difficult Past of Ossetia The past few years haven’t been easy for their cousins in the south Ossetian part of Georgia, which resulted in a bloody war that Russia supported and resulted in a unilateral declaration of independence of the South Ossetian Republic that only a handful of countries around the world recognize. The events are still very fresh and coming in the area was kind of delicate, as very few tourists make the stop in the Ossetian Capital. Ossetian is actually the […]
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How to Choose Your Ideal Travel Destinations
You might have a travel list completely full of travel destinations and places to go, or you might be overwhelmed by the abundance of choice and struggle to make up your mind. In any case, there is a simple process I have developed over my 10+ years on the road to chose my next destinations. Some people frankly don’t plan enough and let themselves go with the flow, which is perfectly fine sometimes. But in my case, I spend a lot of time planning reading and I cannot recommend enough researching on candidate destinations and synchronizing with the best times to go to every part of the world. Doing your homework beforehand you will definitely thank yourself later by enjoying being at the right place at the right time! How Much Time do you Have first you should calculate how much time you have available. If you only have a week, you won’t be going too far around the globe on those 24+ hour flights, […]
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Top Things To Do in Syros – a 2 to 3 days Itinerary in a Greek Paradise
This year in Greece I wanted to try something different, a bit off the beaten track so I chose an island in the Cyclades which was not the usual stop for most travelers. Usually, tourists chose the usual 5 to 10 islands such as Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Crete, or Ios for example. That was risky, because being there in springtime, it could end up being very quiet and most things shut down. But I happen to arrive on Labor day weekend, so I arrived in Syros with all the Athenians leaving the Capital to reach one of their favorite islands. Syros is in fact one of the smallest of the Cyclades, but has the biggest population of all, making it the capital of the Cyclades. I haven’t found much information online about Syros but the little I found stated a little paradise which is unspoiled by international tourists, mostly frequented by Greeks. And what a surprise. This place is stunning! The Capital, Ermoupoli is a […]
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