“Let’s fly to Amsterdam,” we decided. “It’s so quick.” Spoiler: It wasn’t. For maximal pleasure of reading, dear reader, I have divided my entry into Day 1 and Day 2. Usually I aim for more pictures and less text but this one, dear reader, IS PRIME MATERIAL AS TEXT. Mark my words. For anyone unfamiliar […]
Bunkers are bonkers and other tidbits of Albanian history
Please note, we are now doing part 3 out of 5 on our trip to Albania in February. Comme d’hab, better late than never innit. <3 Albania is a land of fascinating history. What did I know in advance? Once upon a time there was a dodgy Communist dictator. That’s about it. So, after day […]
Dajti Ekspres, yet another cable car
Excerpt from my Albanian travel journal notebook: Mon 20/2 klo 13.25 Cold so won’t write for long, but just to share magical moments w/ you. Sat alone @ top of Mount Something, maybe begins with a Q (pronounced “ch”), maybe not. I LOVE THIS. Views are PHENOMENAL. Just had a nutritious lunch of yesterday’s peanut […]
Albania, land of…
I went to Albania roughly due to the same reasons I went to Kazakhstan – why not? Voldemort chose it as his random country to hide in, what more random place to choose? What I knew about Albania before going: So, I spent seven nights in Albania. I went alone, which I think is arguably […]
Cable Cars of the Dolomites
Disclaimer again: This is blog entry 3/3 from our Dolomites trip in June 2022. Better late than never tho innit! I love cable cars. Nikki doesn’t. Or at least didn’t. She has quite a fear of heights and really did not promise to join me in any cable car escapades during our trip to the […]
An Italian turquoise mountain lake
On our first full day at the Italian Dolomites we decided to head off to a hike to a mountain lake. We drove quite a while through the majestic scenery, stopping at the first shop we saw (shops are few and far between, as we learnt at our accommodation town) to buy savoury snacks and […]
Hello to the Dolomites, feat. Venice
What is Italy famous for? Well, many things, but one thing is its mountains. So, in true better-later-than-never-fashion (I don’t feel too bad though, as this was the month that the postcards from this trip finally arrived at their destinations), the next three entries will be dedicated to my early June trip to my most […]
A walk with a view and a view with a see-through floor
Pretty viewpoint with a glass floor? Say no more. The look-out point of Cabo Girao, mentioned on multiple websites as well as from the mouth of the extremely friendly 7m car rental place employee Bruno, was not too far from our hotel, so when J suggested we walk it, I accepted happily. Okay, “not too […]
Curral das Freiras – second to nun
One thing that seemed both intriguing and feasible without a car was a trip to the famous Curral das Freiras, Nun’s Valley. What was it? A village in a valley, basically, where once upon time a group of nuns fled to escape pirates (in 1566 to be precise). Today, it is nunless but nonetheless meant […]
Mad 4 Eira
Maybe the title is a bit misleading since Eira is a part of Helsinki. The place I’m writing about today is not in Finland, even though rumours say this place too had been visited by the Vikings. A little island in the Atlantic ocean, 520km west of Morocco, first inhabited by Portuguese settlers in the […]
Admiring the skies of Sandefjord
Four months ago I published my first entry on Norway and now I decided to publish the second entry, encouraged by the fact there are new, more recent adventures to come. The previous entry was on Oslo, and now we’ll focus on the area of Sandefjord, where my friend Hannele was then living. So, continuing […]
A seagull-eye view from Oslo opera roof
Now since travel abroad is more possible, I finally made it to visit my friend Hannele in Norway a few weeks back! (True fans will remember her from entries like the Scenic routes of Phu Quoc and the Motorbike accident in Vietnam.) Here is part 1 of this brief little trip, with the magnificent city […]
Szimply the B(udap)est – 5 things to do
I just came back from the epicest four days with my favourite Scottish human, the lovely Nicola who fans may remember as my beloved travel companion in Cesky Krumlov last year. This year twas time to brave the Buda and the Pest, so without further ado, here goes, five things we did which I would […]
Charyn Canyon, the little sibling of the Grand
What should you go see in Kazakhstan? Yeah, I had no idea a few weeks ago either. But I’ll tell you. As mentioned in my previous entry, there were certain places I wanted to visit: the Charyn Canyon and surreal Lake Kaindy topping the list. Visiting both of these would require a private and expensive […]
Karelia: 74 years after
Relatives are a fun bunch to travel with. I was reminded of this in Lapland; and it was reconfirmed in Karelia earlier this month. My relatives and I had the chance to revisit family history by going on a kind of package trip with a busful of other Finns to go and visit old family history […]
FINLAND 100 EDITION: Rovaniemi, Lapland
HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY FINLAND!!! In honour of this historic day, today we shall go back a year to the last trip of 2016, when I spent a blissful three days in Rovaniemi, Lapland with my parents and aunt and uncles. Not necessarily your obvious first choice for travel company, but my family are suitably eccentric […]
Cafes of Vienna, 3+1
Vienna is known for its good coffee, lavish cakes and buzzing café culture. During our stay we managed to visit one or two, so here we have Viennese cafes, 3+1! (Flashback to my 2016 Central Europe trip, so obviously things may have changed since then…) Café Diglas Cafe Diglas, according to efficient Hayzybobz’s efficient […]
The Clash of Beaches
What do you think of if I ask you to imagine a Beach? Translucent turquoise waters lapping the warm silky sand of the pristine coastline, with a few perfectly placed palm trees bordering the natural greenery of this secluded beach where it just happens to be just you? Or a packed shore full of stressed, […]
I went up the Burj Khalifa and lived happily ever after
The title sort of rhymes, doesn’t it, depending on your English accent and Arabic pronunciation, eh? I contemplated titles like ‘Burj Khalifa: Where dreams come true‘ or ‘Burj Khalifa: Proof that dreams come true‘ but they would be too cheesy, right? And I am fully aware it is only my personal opinion, and that many […]
My trip to the North Korean border (the DMZ-tour)
Extract from paper stuck into travel journal: DMZ thoughts. IN BUS 8.34am. Didn’t bring my journal in case the NKoreans confiscate it… Of course I knew that there would be no legit reason for the North Koreans to confiscate my travel journal, or even any legit reason for me to be meeting any North Koreans, […]
The high lights of Hong Kong
Hong Kong is my new favourite city. Which is kind of surprising since the reviews I’ve heard about it haven’t been wholly positive. And yes, I guess living there would be pretty hectic, but from my four days in Hong Kong I have concluded that Hong Kong has everything: awe-inspiring crazy high skyscrapers (including the […]
What I think while motorbiking in Vietnam
So, an entry I’ve been looking forward to doing for ages: Back to my beloved Vietnamese motorbike, and thoughts I have whilst dodging all my fellow traffic on the streets of Bien Hoa, the insane streets of Saigon and a few scenic countryside roads too. Firstly, a nice photo of my exploration north of Bien Hoa, where […]
Day 15: Rome in a day
One of the days I was most looking forward to! And an excellent day. First of all, as I mentioned in the previous entry: ROMA PASS is worth it. 34 euros, okay in the end I doubt we actually “saved” money by getting it, but it is SO WORTH IT because for the first two […]