Tag: Travel

  • A Journey Through Austria’s Enchanting Christmas Markets

    A Journey Through Austria’s Enchanting Christmas Markets

    This December I was lucky enough to visit two Christmas markets and one Advent Trail (Adventweg) in Austria. They really know how to put the spirit in these places.

    The first one I visited in Mauterndorf, which was situated in the Burg Mauterndorf. It was on for very limited time and it was tiny, but it was cute. There were only a few huts with gluhwein, gluhmost, maroni and wurst of course. Inside the castle there were artisans placed all over, selling their crafts and products.

    Mauterndorf
    Taurach creek
    Taurach creek
    Burg Mauterndorf

    Besides visiting Christmas market, I also did some skiing in the area – Grosseck-Speiereck, Obertauern and Aineck.

    The other Christmas market I visited was in Graz with my friend. There were many smaller ones, some nicer than others, but very enjoyable. Although they all had many crafts and products, drinks, there was not much food choice unfortunately. My friend and I rather found some Austrian restaurants to have proper meals.

    Schweinsbraten at Glöckl Bräu
    Wiener Schnitzel at Gösser Bräu
    Apfelstrudel at Gösser Bräu
    Gluhwein at one of the markets
    Breakfast at Weitzer

    Another Austrian highlight in December is also Katschberger Adventweg. It is an advent trail, where you pay the ticket and receive a thermos cup. On the way you get free tea refills, as much as you want. I visited it on the last day, on Christmas. It was magical, crispy cold and snowy. If you walk the whole way, you make 12 km there and back. There are beautiful lanterns along the way. There are also shuttle buses and horse carriages for some part of the way.

    You hike between rustic hay barns and huts, enjoy contemplative stories, music and warm tea at various stations. 

    Musicians playing alpine horns, creating festive atmosphere.

    The rest of December I got to ski some more and explore Mauterndorf. It is a cute little town, where it actually snowed so now and then, giving a very wintery feeling.

    Spent our New Year’s basically up on the mountain. Seeing all those fireworks going off at once was really magical. Let’s hope this good magic continues in 2026! ✨

  • First Time Hiking in France: A Short Van Trip Adventure

    First Time Hiking in France: A Short Van Trip Adventure

    We went with our MinionVan for a short but sweet trip to the border of France. It was actually a boys’ trip, but I decided to come along as well. And I’m glad I did!

    Our first lunch stop in France already had beautiful views of larches changing the color of their needles.

    But before we went to France, we had another stop in Pontida, Italy. We went for a short bike ride, where we stumbled upon a funny barbecue in front of the church.

    Anyway, the biking was a bit too cross country for me, but fun enough. The trails we did are called Uccellaia 2 and Guendalina Basso.

    Let’s return to France. It was still raining the first day. We checked out some waterfalls in the area of La Grave. We also visited my favorite French shop, E.Leclerc in Briançon.

    The second day the boys did some canyoning, I hiked up to Lac Lauvitel. Lac means lake in French. Beautiful, easy hike – 10 km, 2 hours up, less than 1.5 hours down, 750 m height difference. This was my first proper hiking in France.

    On the way to the lake:

    The views of the lake:

    The next day we were exploring a different part of Le Parc national des Écrins. I went for a nice walk to Cascade de la Pisse, along the Le Veneon river. I did this while waiting for the boys to return.

    The next day, Rick and I went to Les Deux Alpes, Venosc. Since it was a school holiday in France, we were lucky that the trails and chairlifts were open. Also the ticket was super cheap. There was snow on the top and wet further down. Still worth it!

    The views were magical!

    I was in love with this part of the trail! Photo by Rick.

    For the last day I had my morning coffee with the nicest views.

    After that I went for a stroll around La Grave. It was out of season, the town was very quite. All the locals were looking at me funny. The town is quaint though.

    This was it for our short, but magical French adventure!

  • Exploring El Hierro: A Diver’s Paradise in Europe

    Exploring El Hierro: A Diver’s Paradise in Europe

    A first proper diving holiday in Europe! El Hierro is the southernmost and westernmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Getting to El Hierro is quite the trip. It involves a plane, a ferry and a long drive to the most southern point of Spain – La Restinga.

    Walk around La Restinga

    Our walk to the Restinga volcano

    Sunset walk across the lava fields

    In our 16 dives, we explored 14 different dive sites. These included El Coral, Baja Fria, Baja Bocarones, El Rincon, and Roque Bermejo. Other sites were Punta Restinga, Cueva de la Arena, El Bajon, El Salto, and Barco Chino. We also visited Punta las Canas, El Rio, La Herradura, and Punta de Tacoron. Thanks to Tagoro Dive!

    We have seen many trumpet fish, lobsters, white-eyed morays, eagle rays, filefish, lots of plankton, I have never seen before. Also schools of barracudas, leopard eels, giant pufferfish, huge groupers, garden eels, turtles and even a torpedo ray! And a fangtoothed moray, which was also the first time I ever saw it.

    Here are some photos from the ocean floor. It is all volcanic – very unique!

    Ocean life

    I enjoyed this diving and thanks to Tagoro Dive we really had some beautiful dives!

  • Exploring Cappadocia: Sunrise, Sunset and Stunning Views

    Exploring Cappadocia: Sunrise, Sunset and Stunning Views

    My mother’s wish was to see Cappadocia. After 5 years or so her wish has finally come true. This was our trip. I was very happy to see it too. The formations there are out of this world. We stayed in a hotel in the center of Göreme. Our first sunrise there was magical.

    Photo by mom

    That morning I did so many photos, but still not one photo could describe the real beauty of it.

    Here is another video from when the balloons were still warming up.

    This video was made a bit later, when most of the balloons were in the air. There were probably more than 150 balloons up there.

    It was magical. We were also lucky, because the next 2 mornings the balloons were not going due to the strong wind.

    The rest of the day we took it easy around Göreme.

    Because later I had my sunset MTB tour around Rose Valley. Although the trails were not the greatest, the landscape and the views made up for it. Well, the Red Bull part of it was fun. Another magical moment! We started around four or five and it was still very hot to pedal.

    Photo by tour guide
    Photo by tour guide
    Photo by tour guide
    Photo by tour guide
    Photo by tour guide
    Photo by tour guide

    Of course I had a rental bike, I did not want to pack up my bike for only 1 ride. It was alright, but I sure missed my Switchy. The tour was nice, I’ve seen a lot and the guide stopped in some interesting historical spots as well.

    Photo by tour guide
    Photo by tour guide
    Photo by tour guide
    Photo by tour guide

    After a long day, I really wanted to try Turkish Ravioli. Where better to try them than at Turkish Ravioli Restaurant? Besides ravioli we ordered peravu and bulghurball. When ordering ravioli, be mindful that they do not serve it hot, but medium temperature. Bulghurball is made of bulghur wheat and filled with meat and walnut, great as hot appetizer.

    The next day we went on the “Green Tour”. It stops at Kaymakli Underground City, Selime Monastery, Ihlara Valley and Pigeon Valley. Unfortunately it does not avoid the crowds, but if you have only a few days there, it is practical.

    The next day we went on the “Red Tour.” We visited Zelve Open Air Museum, Pasabag (Monks Valley) and Uchisar Castle. These were the better stops. We also saw Devrent Valley (Imagination Valley), Avanos (pottery) and Love Valley.

    Besides the amazing landscape, we also enjoyed some nice Turkish food these days. Besides the kebab & Turkish ravioli the first night, I had them again at a different restaurant.

    Çokertme kebab
    Chef’s greeting
    Kofte
    Testi kebab
    Aside (dessert)
    Ambience at Topdeck Cave Restaurant
    Turkish ravioli at Kilim Cave restaurant
    Kayisi tatlisi kaymakli (apricots poached in syrup with walnuts and cream)

    Lovely experience I got to share with my mom.

  • A Short Paris Getaway: Concert, Sights and Cuisine

    A Short Paris Getaway: Concert, Sights and Cuisine

    Paris was not on my bucket list, at least not anytime soon, honestly. I got an email with concert dates from Beyoncé for her Cowboy Carter Tour. Going to Paris made the most sense for me to actually make it. After that my mom and I decided to make a short trip out of it. It was fun, hot and the concert was out of this world. Also very tiring for me, but worth it.

    We stayed in a cute b’n’b in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine. It had good metro connections to the famous sights and to the concert location. We had a bakery with delicious treats just around the corner.

    We only had 2 full days, so we were on the roll. The first day we made around 15.000 steps. We’ve seen all the major sights. We explored Avenue des Champs-Élysées and everything it has to offer. We visited Arc de Triomphe and Place de la Concorde. We saw Musée du Louvre from outside only. On the way we had some lunch and macarones from Pierre Hermé.

    After that we slowly made our way to Montmartre. On the way we stopped at the rooftop of Galeries Lafayette, where the view is amazing. After we finally came to Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre. We had some coffee and continued to lose our way around Montmartre.

    Galeries Lafayette
    Galeries Lafayette
    Galeries Lafayette
    Galeries Lafayette
    Galeries Lafayette
    Galeries Lafayette
    Montmartre
    Montmartre
    Vigne du Clos Montmartre
    Montmartre
    Montmartre
    Montmartre
    Escalier du Mont-Cenis
    Montmartre
    Basilique du Sacré-Cœur
    Basilique du Sacré-Cœur

    That night we have booked Moulin Rouge. It was my mom’s wish to have a dinner with a show. Honestly, I was excited to go too. So, after a long day out it was nice to sit down in the most famous French cabaret. Obviously, you are not allowed to take photos of the show. But here is the setting and delicious dinner.

    The next day we visited Tour Eiffel and went on a cute boat ride on la Seine. I only had a sweater because I got sunburn the day before. It was very hot.

    Breakfast at our bakery
    Escargots at De La Tour
    Duck breasts at De La Tour

    Finally, the time has come for Beyoncé. I was excited. But again, it was very hot. Luckily, my seat was in the shade. The daylight was also extremely long. At 22.00 was still not completely dark. The concert was amazing! Here are some photos and a few shorts. Enjoy!

    Paris was the only location where Miley Cyrus joined, you can imagine my excitement.
    Blue Ivy killing it.

    Wouldn’t mind going back to Paris for her concert again.

  • Discovering Diving: Our Liveaboard Adventure in the Red Sea

    Discovering Diving: Our Liveaboard Adventure in the Red Sea

    I have not been diving a lot so far. I know I love it. I want to do more of it. That is why Rick and I decided to try a liveaboard. This one was great. As their motto goes DIVE EAT SLEEP REPEAT. We traveled to Marsa Alam airport (Egypt), stayed the night in Port Ghalib and next day we board our boat. 6 full days of diving, 7 nights of sleeping. When we got off, we were still rocking.

    Here are some Port Ghalib photos at night. There is a very chill camel on the beach of our hotel. Also, see our boat and cabin on the upper deck.

    We did altogether 19 dives and here is some statistics of what we saw. It was beautiful!

    • Countless turtles
    • Busy, protective and adorable anemones (nemos)
    • Countless blue spotted rays
    • 1 hammerhead
    • 3 giant pufferfish
    • A shoal of many squids
    • A few triggerfish, bluefin trevallies & many other fish
    • Many morays
    • 1 barracuda & 1 crocodilefish
    • 1 sank safari boat
    Many adorable nemos
    Hammerhead in the deep blue
    Protective nemos

    Beautiful reefs, pinnacles, swim-through and other features that Red Sea offers.

    Plenty of beautiful marine life.

    Sunken safari boat.

    A shoal of squids

    On the photo you can see all the dive sites. We have met the nicest people, that we ganged up with. Thank you for your company.

  • A Luxurious Journey through Dubai and Abu Dhabi Highlights

    A Luxurious Journey through Dubai and Abu Dhabi Highlights

    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 guide
    Photo 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 Observatory
    Early 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 Deira
    Restaurant at Wyndham Dubai Deira
    Dynamite Bites at Jumeirah Beach
    SALT CAMP
    SALT CAMP
    SALT CAMP
    The original Dubai chocolate
    Time 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.

  • A Short Trip to Malta: Your European Getaway

    A Short Trip to Malta: Your European Getaway

    My friend and I wished to travel somewhere for “potato” holiday as we call it in Slovenian. We both wanted to go somewhere warm, not too far and somewhere different. In the same breath we decided for Malta.

    Malta is an interesting mixture of European and African, which I have not encountered anywhere before. We did not rent a car, but rather used public transportation and it is totally doable. We decided to stay close to Valetta, in St. Julian’s area. We chose it because of variety of restaurants, bistros and bars. Our first night we started off with a dinner in a One Star Michelin restaurant – Rosami. The building itself is grandiose when you arrive. The simple, elegant but cozy ambiance on the inside makes you feel comfortable. And the food was just superb.

    St Julian’s at night
    St. Julian’s at night

    The next day we went on a free walking tour of Valetta. I believe this is the best thing to do in capitals or cities. You see and learn much more than on your own. Maybe also see some secrets you wouldn’t have otherwise.

    After the tour we continued to walk around by ourselves. Filigree is a Maltese craft, where artisans weave silver wires into stunning patterns, making all kinds of jewellery. I bought myself a pair of earrings.

    Filigree
    Lots of movies filmed in Malta
    Triton’s fountain at sunset

    The following day we went on a boat trip. We visited Comino and Gozo. It was a lovely day with some swimming and exploring.

    On the way to Comino.

    Comino.

    Our boat

    After we visited Gozo, where we had time to explore around.

    They drove us to the main sights on Gozo with a shuttle bus. Have to say there was enough time to see and even eat some traditional pastries – very yummy.

    Pastizz
    Imqaret

    On our boat ride back we had some more beautiful views of the island.

    In the evening we returned to St. Julian’s and went to Gululu, because I wished to try Fenek Imtektek – traditional Maltese rabbit stew. We also tasted Fwied tal- fenek moqli, which is rabbit liver with gravy.

    Fwied tal- fenek moqli
    Fenek Imtektek

    Our last day we went to see Marsaxxlok – Malta’s little fishing village. Very quaint. We had some fishy lunch there of course.

    Our next and last stop was Mdina. We saw the Game-of-Thrones famous Mdina Gate. We also visited St. Paul’s Catacombs – which are a must to visit.

    Mdina Gate
    Mdina Gate
    Basilica of St. Paul
    St. Paul’s Cathedral

    Malta is definitely worth a visit with lots to see and explore. One day I can go back and also do some diving. It was short and sweet, with many delicious foods.

  • Exploring Puglia: Highlights of Our Short Italian Getaway

    Exploring Puglia: Highlights of Our Short Italian Getaway

    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 Borbonico
    Photo 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 stranger
    Photo by mom
    The 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!

  • My First Diving Experience in Picturesque Raja Ampat

    My First Diving Experience in Picturesque Raja Ampat

    I have wanted to try diving for a very long time now. Then Rick finally said ok, let’s do this. So we went straight to Raja Ampat, Indonesia, one of the top diving locations. Many people said we will be spoilt from now on.

    We stayed in a homestay for about 10 days. No wifi, no alcohol, no choice of food. We ate fish, rice and veggies every day for 3 times a day – my tummy loved it! Once in a while we had something different, like dadar gulung – pancakes made of coconut & pandan. We had this whole beach, like from a screensaver, just for ourselves. It was picture perfect.

    The island was very small, we would walk all around it in about 45 minutes. There was a school and the local men were fishing every day.

    On our arrival, we had some problems finding our homestay. The boat left us at the main jetty. We found out later that ours was broken. The locals don’t really speak English. After some time using gestures and attempting to pronounce the name of our homestay, we made it.

    We started our OWD at the resort of the dive center. After we passed it, we of course joined their other dives. They picked us up every day at the jetty. Every dive was special, since we were experiencing something new really. At the time, I was not taking photos yet underwater. However, our guides were so kind to take them for us. They sent us all the photos from all the dives we did.

    Between the 2 dives we always had a surface interval on one of the islands. On one of them we got a chance to see fruit bats.

    On another one we went to see the view of Piaynemo. It was beautiful to see it.

    We had some friends trailing us around the island all the way to our homestay.

    Our hosts were very kind. One day we had a privilege to get fresh coconut, straight from the palm. Our host climbed up so easily, cut it off and made it ready for us to eat. He even made a little spoon out of the peel. Amazing. Another day he came home on his narrow boat with the biggest swordfish ever. He was very proud of his catch. I forgot to put the case off of my phone, so I’m not really proud of these photos. Still, you get the picture.

    Local fishing at sunset

    We fell in love with diving! There will be more!