Santorini

Finally, after 3 years without a proper week of vacation somewere, this year I´ve been in Santorini, a Greek island. I spent 1 week there, with my boyfriend and nothing more than 1 cell phone to send some sms to our parents. No tv, no internet, no modern things! Almost everything on Santorini looks like the inhabitants are still living in the ´50ies, and for me that´s what gives the island a cozy atmosphere. It is worthed to drive around, and it doesn´t take so long because Santorini is a tiny tiny island!  You have to watch out, because the roads are old, narrow, many times on the edge of a cliff. The signs are not clear and there are not so many, and they drive like crazy!

The nature on Santorini is wild. Starting from the shape, a sort of crescent moon, and with the fact that  it is  a vulcanic formation,  the island offers some amazing landscapes and views. The two biggest cities, Fira and Ia, are built on the high cliffs that face the volcan Nea Kamini. The view from these cliffs is amazing, and seing the  white cities perched on the clifftop it´s fantastic.

The city of Ia from the boat

You can see the different geological eras:)

Beautiful flowers

Santorini – with Thira, Thirasia and Aspronisi – is a group of islands. It is what was left over from the last major volcanic eruption 3,600 years ago, when the island was inhabited by a prosperous civilisation similar to that on Minoan Crete. You can visit the archeological sites of Old This and Akrotiri to see the remains of this ancient civilisation. Unluckily, while we were in Santorini, Akrotiri was under mantainance, so we couldn´t visit it. The last volcanic eruption was in 1950, and the vulcan remains dormant. But don´t worry! The volcan is continously monitored by the Institute for the Study and Monitorning of the Santorini Volcano. Nowadays the only witnesses to the existence of the magma at a depth of a few kilometers under the island are the hot springs and the hot gasses that are emitteded at various part of the island. We went for a boat tour, and we had the chance to walk all the way up to the top of the little island Nea Kamini and enjoy the view of the zone. Then we jumped in the sea to swim into the hot springs. Here the water reaches 33 degrees, and they say that the sulfur is good for the skin. Remember to remove all you jewels when you swim in the hot springs, because they are going to get ruined.

The little harbor of Nea Kamini

View from the top of Nea Kamini

Hot springs:)

Another place I liked it´s The Red Beach. We drove there in a sunny day, and it has been very nice to walk the path that leads to the small beach, and then jump in the fresh limpid water to cool down a bit! You can also visit the White beach taking a taxi-boat. We didn´t do it, because we preferred to drive around alittle bit more.

And you abssolutely have to visit Ia! It´s a beautiful city on the edge ot the cliff, from where you can enjoy a fantastic view, and they say also the best sunsets! Ia is filled with small carateristic shops and places, and you can also find loads of dogs that sleep everywhere. In Ia we went to drink something in a bar that had an amazing view! We could have stayed there for ages! Let´s say, we didn´t buy an apartment only because you have to go up and down with your legs carrying bags and stuff!

The Red Beach

View from the bar

A cozy bar

Of course you can find also sweet cats in Ia!

Ia

Me and my boyfriend:) Nice view behind us!=)

Built on the edge of the cliff. Up and down all day long!

It was coudy, but still a hot day!

Now let´s speak about food! I´m Italian, so I have to! I ate really well in Santorini. I tried the real moussaka (sort of lasagne with aubergine, minced meat and cheese), and it tasted really good! Of course I ate feta nearly every day! Olives paté, grilled mean, fresh fish, tsatsiki and other sauces, and lamb cooked in many different ways! Thanks to the sun, the veggies and fruit have a really good taste. On the island you can also find different kind of wine, and you can go visit the wineyards and do some tasting. The restaurants are usually rustics and stuffed with things, and this helps to create a very cozy atmosphere. Useless to say that I ate so much, that now I have to focus on loosing some kilos!

Little restaurant on the way back from The Red Beach (I don´t know precisely where). The view was amazing, the food was good and tasty, and the atmosphere cozy!

Some grilled chicken with red onions, potatoes, tomatoes, tsatsiki and pita bread

Restaurant Alexander in Kamari. One of my favourites! Food is amazing, they are funny and sweet, and it doesn´t cost so much!

Links:

• Kamari Tour, situated in Kamari where we stayed.
• Taverna Andreas, another fantastic reastaurant in Kamari. Remember also Alexander (they don´t have a website).
• The Thera Foundation, a little bit of history.
• Thira airport, the airport of Santorini.
• Santorini.info, for some general information.
• The good old Wikipedia!

Bergamo

Bergamo - View from the upper city on one of the hills of Bergamo

I didn´t know what to pick after London and Scotland, but I thought that was time to write something on my hometown in Italy: Bergamo.

Bergamo is a small city in Lombardy, north of Milan, with more or less 115.000 inhabitants. In my opinion is in a very good position, because not so far away there is the biggest Italian biggest city (Milan, as I said) and many more, there are lakes (Garda, Maggiore, Como, Sarnico for example), and of course the mountains with loads of valleys and nice places to walk and eat well.

Cloudy Day

Bergamo is divided in two parts: the lower city, that is the modern city, and the upper city, the old medieval part. Bergamo was founded by the Celtics, but it became an important town with the Romans, thanks to its strategic position in the middle of the north of Italy. The upper city has 2 main streets that come from the Romans time, but after the town has developed thru the different dominations (Lombard duchies; Venetian Republic, from which the city took the symbol of the lion; Austrian Empire). In 1859 Bergamo entered the Kingdom of Italy, after Garbaldi freed it during the Second Italian War of Independence.

Main old square

The old city is my favorite part, because I like the medieval period, but also because it more silent and greener compared to the modern Bergamo. The upper city lays on a hill and it´s still surrounded by big defensive walls from the 17^th century. As tourist you can enjoy many historical houses, the medieval atmosphere, the main old square with a part of the university and behind which there are the three main churches: the cathedral of Bergamo (with frescoes of Tiepolo and the grave of Gaetano Donizzetti, of which you can also visit a museum), Santa Maria Major and Colleoni Chapel. There is also the Rocca, that is the old Castle, from which you can enjoy a fantastic view of the upper city, lower city, the mountains and the valley. There is also another church, San Michele al Pozzo Bianco, built in the 12^th century, where people can find paintings from Lorenzo Lotto(if you are interested in Lorenzo Lotto, I think you would like the Cuardis chapel in Trescore Balneario). I suggest to take a long walk along the defensive walls: it´s relaxing and you can enjoy many things that are not visible from a bus. With regard to the food, you can find so many places in the old city where you can enjoy the typical food from Bergamo (I suggest to try a special kind of ravioli called Scapinocc of Parre or the Casoncelli, or the Brasato with polenta) or good Italian food, also a simple pizza!

In Bergamo you can find a good art museum called Accademia Carrara, and a gallery of modern art called GAMEC. There is also a science museum, an historical museum on Bergamo, a Botanical Garden.

But I remember that it´s not so difficult to reach many beautiful places in Lombardy, because Bergamo lies in the centre of the region. I suggest Como, Lake Garda, Milan, Pavia, and I cannot pick where to go in the mountains, because there are so many places! In the evenings there is not so much to do, but you can enjoy a nice dinner and a walk in the centre of the lower city. Or you can drive to one of the lakes or up in the mountains. My city is not so big, but it deserves a visit!

Lower City and Upper City in the back (not the best weather for the view:P)

Links:

• Bergamo Tourism: some information on Bergamo, the weather, what can you do and see, and some other links.
• Accademia Carrara and GAMEC
• Botanical Garden (site only in Italian)
• Science Museum and Donizzetti´s museum
• For the hotels use Expedia and remember! Ryanair flies directly to Bergamo!

Scotland

It has been long time since I wrote something on this blog. Many new things happened in real life, and I had to re-organize my time. But I don’t want to leave this blog behind, so I picked my next place: Scotland!

Scotland Landscape

I went to Scotland in 2006. I drove from London to Edinburgh, and from there I visited 2 other places: St. Andrews and Stirling. I only spent 4 days there, but I’ll come back there in my life, that’s for sure. Scotland landscapes are amazing: this hills seem to touch the sky and the clouds that run so fast, the green fields full of sheep and cows, the tranquillity of the little city outside Edinburgh… wonderful! And Scottish people seemed to be funny and they welcomed you in a warm way! You can feel and see their pride for the old Scottish traditions, even if today tourism made things a bit more commercial.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland since 1437, and in 1995 UNESCO listed the Old Town and the New Town as a UNESCO world heritage site. I liked the old town because it has a medieval aspect, and it’s melancholic as London is, or even more than the English capital. You can enjoy the view of the city and the surroundings from Arthur’s Seat or many other places, because the terrain varies a lot: it’s all an up and down. My B&B was near the Arthur’s Seat, but I didn’t climb the hill, but from the bottom you could see people talking a walk. Now I regret not being there, because from the pictures I see on the net the view is amazing!

Arthur's Seat

In the city you can find many historical places to visit and museums, places where you can eat good food, places where you can buy real kilts (they are so beautiful) and a bagpipe, places where you can try or buy the Scotch Whiskey (there is also the museum near the castle, in the centre of the city), the zoo and the aquarium, nightclubs and many other things. If you want to visit the surrounds of Edinburgh, I think you will be able to find many many many interesting things to see. Personally I visited St. Andrews and Stirling.  I went to visit St. Andrew because some years ago a friend of mine went there, and from her description of the place I decided I would have gone there soon or later. Saint Andrews is a little city on the coast north of Edinburgh. There you can find the oldest Scottish University (University of St. Andrews), but it’s also known to be the “home of golf”. As a matter of fact there is a large golf camp near the sea and the shore, but I think there are many more. Saint Andrews is also the patron of Scotland, celebrated on the 30th of November.

St. Andrews

In this little city you can also visit the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral, the castle, St. Rules Tower and walk around the place, that is really nice, relaxing and cold if you go in the winter! It’s one of that places in which you can seat somewhere and just enjoy to spend some time looking at the landscape. It looks like the time is slower compared to the big cities, and you can actually take some times for yourself and close the toughs about work and less funny things in a little closet.

The mirror

St. Andrews Cathedral

The other place I went to see it’s Stirling, of course because of William Wallace. Wallace was a Scottish patriot that was leading the resistance during the Wars of Scottish Independence, and he defeated the English army at Stirling; he has been hiding for years, but then he was found and handed in to Edward I of England, who had him executed for treason. In this city you can find a monument dedicated to him and his original sword (that is taller than me!), the Stirling castle, the Stirling Bridge where a famous battle has taken place and an amazing view of the zone.

Wallace

Stirling Castle

Stirling

Wallace Monument

Here you can find a list of useful links that will help you to plan a little trip to Scotland:

• Edinburgh: Edinburgh and Explore Edinburgh, if you want to see what kind of attractions there are, find an accommodation, etc.
• Edinburgh history: Wikipedia!
• St. Andrews history: Wikipedia again!
• Stirling history: the city and Wallace
• Museum of Scotch Whiskey: The Scotch Whiskey Experience
• If yo want to see Nessie: Loch ness

London

As I have written in my “short history”, I have been living in London for 6 months, and, even if I hadn’t the chance to go visit what there is outside the city, I tried to go at least once per month to the centre to see something new.

London is a beautiful city, in which you can breath history but at the same time find everything that is modern, technological, up-to-date. It offers loads of places to visit (monuments, museums, expositions…), many events (plays, dramas, musicals, movies, concerts…), good shopping, all the kind of food you desire (not always good unluckily), and many other things.

It’s true that the weather can change really fast, but don’t trust people who say that it’s always raining an foggy. You can find sunny days in the summer, as you can see from the picture above. Just make sure you bring an umbrella or a raincoat. And yes: also temperatures can change really fast. So get prepared to get wet, but you cannot appreciate London if you don’t accept the moody weather typical of the city.

However, either if the sun shines or the rain and the fog are annoying you, London has a melancholic essence that comes from Its past, and it’s persisting in the present and it will the future. I think that this “city mood” is peculiar of London: alive but with an eye on its history that helped to make this city what is today. Could be the following words will help you understanding the feeling you get when you walk around London:

This melancholy London — I sometimes imagine that the souls of the lost are compelled to walk through its streets perpetually. One feels them passing like a whiff of air.

W. B. Yeats

Personally, I am still missing many many things to visit, but I have my favourite part of the city, that is the South Bank Thames walk. I was used to come from Kingston Upon Thames to Waterloo station, so basically i walked from there until the Tower Bridge: a long stroll along the river Thames, during which you can enjoy, only to list few things: The House of Parliament, the London Eye, the Blackfriars Bridge, the Millenium bridge (and on the other side St. Paul’s Catherdral), The Tate Gallery and the Globe Theater and, in the end, the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

When you arrive at the Tower Bridge you can eat something there and walk back to Westminster after your feet are rested, or take the Tube of course. I suggest you to go eat at Strada: you have a fantastic view of the river Thames and the Tower Bridge, the food is good and the prices are good.

I think I cannot list all the things you can visit or do in London: mission impossible! Just go and visit it for few days, even a weekend is enough, so you can understand if you like it or not. And if you will, be sure you will come back for more soon or later!

Here you go some links:

• Visit London or London Town: for all the information you are looking for.
• London Districts
• London Transports: all you need to know about busses, trains, coaches, travel cards, oystercard and much more.
• Two famous markets: Camden Town and Covent Garden.
• 4 famous museums and some fun for kids: National Gallery, Tate Modern, British Museum, Natural History Museum, London Zoo and London Aquarium.

Welcome

Hello and welcome!:) 

This blog has born to contain pics and comments about the places I visited, and I’ll visit, in my life. 

In these last 2 years and a half I didn’t travel so much as tourist, but I’ve been living in 3 different countries, so I’m happy anyway and my “thirst for traveling” is satisfied at the moment  

I hope you will enjoy the posts, as I hope you will share your impressions and travels with me.

Have a nice journey, 

Paola