Another canyoning trip to Italy. Italy truly is a paradise for canyoning.
The first day of the trip – Val Tovanella (V4A3V).
Photo by RickPhoto by Rick
Beautiful, quite slippery here & there and the water level was quite high. In some places too high for my liking. So we did some practice and built a zipline or two.
The next day we did Val Fogare inferiore (V4A4IV). It is a very very beautiful canyon, very diverse. Unfortunately, not really permitted. There are some negotiations about it apparently.
Some photos of me made by Rick.
The next day our friend joined us and so did the rain. We had to change our plans. So we did 2 short canyons – Torrente Cunaz and Torrente Chiavola. They were both shorter than 3 hours altogether, from car to car.
Torrente Chiavola (V4A2II) is a cute canyon, with a dinosaur footprint at the end. Normally it is done, when the surrounding canyons have too much water. So it was a perfect choice.
Torrente Cunaz (V3A2III) – it was nothing crazy special, but nice. In some spots there should be anchors added.
Rio Macile or also known as Brussile (V4A4IV). Very popular canyon, with “proper” anchors and even SOS signs at each anchor. We did it in 3 hours, from car to car.
It is beautiful, but quite cold. The last rappel is 60 m and it is quite magnificent. Unfortunately, I do not have a great photo of it. I only have pictures from the top and straight up from the bottom (the bottom 3 photos).
Photo by RickPhoto by RickPhoto by RickPhoto by RickPhoto by Rick
Rio Pissanda (V4A2III) is 4.5 hour canyon (car to car) in Italy. It is a nice, continuing canyon. Meaning, not much walking in between, but rappel after rappel. The highest rappels are 25 m, 35 m and 40 m. It is quite slippery and the water is not the cleanest.
Photo by RickPhoto by RickPhoto by RickPhoto by Rick
Rappelling was fun and not too technical. I enjoyed that it was not much walking.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi were not on my list, honestly. It is not really a destination I would choose. But my mother has wanted to visit for a very long time. Due to her cancer, corona and me mentally preparing for it we were deciding for it a very long time. Finally, in January of 2025 we were both ready for it. 😊
Just when we were leaving, I found a spot on my skin. It looked like the start of Lyme disease. So I had to start taking antibiotics. And I was sick with a cough for the third week in a row. So, I had to say bye bye to diving, which I was really looking forward to. Nonetheless, we still went on a snorkeling trip in Fujairah. Life rewarded me with at least 6 turtles in one spot and 2 black tips swimming right by me.
Fujairah was a nice one day trip. So was Abu Dhabi. The highlight of the trip was Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. We visited several other stops. We were not really impressed by Ferrari World Yas Island (outside only). The Abu Dhabi Dates Market was nothing special, as were Marina Mall, Miraj Museum, The Corniche, and Emirates Heritage Village. Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental was the most interesting of these ones.
Photo by tour guidePhoto by tour guide
In Dubai we visited the Old Town, where we joined a short tour. So we saw Dubai Spice Souk, Grand Souk, Souk Al Seef and Dubai Gold Souk. We even took an abra ride along Dubai Creek (a traditional boat ride). At the beginning of the tour they offered us some Arab tea and at the end camel milk with saffron.
Another day we visited Jumeirah beach and Dubai Marina, which is already much more luxurious than Old Town. On the way we spotted the Dubai Frame.
But of course nothing says “luxurious” more than the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa. There is nothing money can’t buy here. You just have to have it. We didn’t spend lots of euros to go up Burj Khalifa. Instead, we went up Sky Views Observatory and Museum of the Future. In both I was actually impressed.
The view from Sky Views ObservatoryEarly morning selfie, no crowds
What impressed me the most and freaked me out as well was Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo. I decided to do a Shark Walker Cage, since I couldn’t dive. Otherwise I would dive in an aquarium for sure. Just because you can. That is the whole idea of Dubai basically.
Dubai has everything. The same with food. You can have whatever you want and your money can buy. But you need money.
Restaurant at Wyndham Dubai DeiraRestaurant at Wyndham Dubai DeiraDynamite Bites at Jumeirah BeachSALT CAMPSALT CAMPSALT CAMPThe original Dubai chocolateTime Out Market Dubai
We loved this Japanese restaurant Miyako at Hyatt Regency Dubai. We went there twice, since it was also close to our hotel.
Dubai was an experience like no other. For once in your life I recommend to see it. A place like no other. Also it is very clean everywhere. OCD approved.
It was a beautiful, sunny, winter Saturday in December. My best friend, her partner and I agreed to hike up to Vošca (Woschza). It is a 1737 m high mountain in the Karavanke mountains. It was snow everywhere, making it very magical, but also harder to walk of course.
We took less than 2.5 hours up and a bit more than 1.5 hours down, around 8 km and 800 m height difference.
Almost at the topPhoto by SimoPhoto by Simo
Very nice and easy walk, even in Winter. I would say it is also a good tour skiing spot, but I’m no expert.
After that we went for the best pancakes around – 76 Surf food in Kranjska Gora.
This was actually our second diving holidays with Rick. In the South Ari Atoll, Maldives. Unfortunately, the case of my GoPro was scratched and my underwater videos/photos are pretty bad quality. But the diving was still incredible. Here is a list of what we have seen:
1 whale shark (while snorkeling actually)
1 very big stingray
1 shipwreck
3 eagle rays
5 turtles
8 manta rays
More than 10 sharkies
Countless fishies
Mantas’ cleaning station
A whole dive of just watching mantas
Spotting a whale shark when snorkeling
The island’s name we were on is Dhigurah. The sunsets were just indescribable. One end of the island was very long and narrow, where also a sandbank formed. Influencers loved that place.
Enjoying my last lunch on the island and the flight back to Male.
It is an alpine valley, stretching between Bohinj & Trenta. The number of lakes is debatable. Some disappear and some look more like puddles. Still, it has been agreed to be 7. Vesna and I started our hike from Planina Blato. It started off very foggy or actually cloudy. We were right in the clouds.
We were getting worried, but soon after we were rewarded. Not only that the sun came out, but also the clouds started to clear out. And we saw the most gorgeous view of the Double Lake.
To the Triglav Lakes Lodge we needed around 3 hours. We had a short stop, had a sandwich, some sugar and took some more photos.
Then onto the next one – Lake Ledvica, i.e. Lake Kidney. It is obvious where the name is from. It is apparently the biggest and the deepest.
Panoramic view of the Lake Kidney.
Before we reached Central Sava Lodge at Prehodavci, we saw the Green Lake and the Brown Lake. These are honestly more like puddles, but they are still beautiful.
The view from the Lodge was just incredible. Just before we got to it, an Alpine chamois kept us company for a while.
We arrived to our goal, but the day was not over yet. We still had to get back to the car.
When we were descending we were gifted with the most beautiful sunset and views of the valley below.
It was the most beautiful day with 29 km hiked, around 1500 m elevation done and 10 hours elapsed. After that, we went for a well-deserved dinner at Hiša Pr’ Pristavc. We had delicious food. The kindest person made us the yummiest bread to go with our dishes. They also surprised us with the sweetest treat. Thank you, sir, for making our day even better. Great day with a great ending. Thank you, Vesna, for your company and a great vibe.
Honestly, I rarely hike in summer. My favorite time of the year to hike is autumn. Also spring and winter. But autumn wins with all its colors and special, mystical forest vibe.
Vesna, Jana and I decided to go up to Čisti vrh. It is a 1875 m high mountain in Julian Alps. Very important – not overcrowded with beautiful, easy trail. We took less than 3 hours to climb up. It took us 2 hours to come down. The total distance was almost 14 km with a bit more than 900 m height difference.
On the way up we still have some clouds keeping us company.
But they slowly started dispersing.
We waited a bit longer on the top and the skies completely cleared up.
Photo by VesnaPhoto by another happy hiker
Going down we enjoyed some more sun and colorful forest.
Photo by JanaPhoto by Jana
After that we enjoyed some local treats from Bovec kitch’n at the comfort of our home. 😉
Photo by Jana
Thanks, Vesna & Jana for a beautiful day in the mountains.
Another short girls’ trip with my mom. I’ve been seeing all these photos of trullis on Instagram, people visiting and I fell in love with it. My mom also had it on her bucket list for a while. At first the plan was to go with the car from home and do a road trip. But then due to good connecting flights, we made it a short trip. We spent a couple of days in September when I didn’t have to work.
The trip started rather funny. I booked a rent-a-car at Felirent. Without a rental it is impossible to get around Puglia. It was one of the rare agencies, where you didn’t need a credit card. No, I don’t have one. And I think rental agencies should really change their game. Anyway, the place was filled with Fiat Pandas and really sketchy looking. It took us probably more than one hour to get a car. Of course, they charged us something extra, just because they can. Luckily, everything was good, also upon returning the car.
Anyway, let’s start the trip. We arrived early, so our first stop of the day was Polignano a Mare. We have prebooked a boat tour of the caves. We were more interested in seeing the place from the sea than from land. They took us to see many different caves – grotta.
Ponte BorbonicoPhoto by our guide
After the boat ride we continued our journey. We had a short stop in a quaint town – Locorotondo. We had a snack stop at Il Re dei Panini – the King of Sandwiches. It was so big, the two of us only ate half.
In late afternoon we finally arrived to our home away from home – B&B Salita Delle Pere. The cutest place with the nicest lady host and delicious breakfast. You actually stay in a trulli, if you book so. For an affordable price and with a great location.
Breakfast at B&B Salita Delle Pere with many different home-baked pastries.
The next day was the most exciting one – we visited Alberobello. We were just wandering the whole day around, getting lost among all the trullis. My one thing to do beside visiting Alberobello, was to try orecchiette in Coppino. I would go back just to eat that again!
Photo by strangerPhoto by momThe most delicious orecchiette.
I really enjoyed Alberobello. But since we still had some time in the day, we decided to check out Ostuni.
Finishing off the day with a proper Italian dinner.
Our last day we saved for Matera. It is around one hour drive from Alberobello, but a must to visit. Matera is a UNESCO World Heritage site with its rich history and interesting architecture. In modern times, it was used as a filming location. It served as a backdrop for films such as The Passion of the Christ, Wonder Woman, and many others. We joined one of the walking tours to find out more about its history. On our own it would be very difficult to actually find the Sassi cave dwellings.
Air vent – functional and decorative
After many steps we treated ourselves to a panini at L’Antica Credenza – La Paninoteca.
After refueling we decided to visit Palombaro lungo – the largest public cistern in the city. It was brought to life during the construction of Piazza Vittorio Veneto in 1991. Being roughly fourteen meters deep and fifty meters long, it had a capacity of over five million liters of water.
We finished our visit to Matera with a view point spot.
Found some more orecchiettes and called it a day. The next day we returned the car, they took us to the airport and said ciao, bella!
This canyon is divided in 4 parts. We have done the third and the fourth. The fourth is apparently the most technically demanding of all the parts. Altogether it took us almost 8 hours.
Lovely rock formations.
Beautiful pools.Some cold swimming.Seeing the bridge, knowing we are at the end. Well deserved Italian pizza.
Anjability 