Two months now, and just a couple of hours ago I realized that the “holiday” feeling has faded away. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not something bad at all: it’s just me finally being able to notice that this is not something that is likely to be over in a couple of days. And so, as that sensation has come to an end, another one was born: the exciting experience of chasing cities, embracing new cultures and broadening the mind.
And that’s when I thought, “hey, what have I done in this entire month? What has May left me with?”… So, let me share with you the highlights of this past month!
I have been wandering for a bit more in Italy:
- Bari, and nearby places such as Alberobello and Polignano a Mare
- Misano Adriatico, in which I joined a yoga retreat and got to share an amazing time with
!!
- San Marino
- Venice and other nearby islands, Murano and Burano
- Verona
- Bologna
And then, visited for the first time Eastern Europe:
- Praga, where I got to see one of my favourite bands live for the first time!
- Bratislava
- Vienna
- Budapest
- Zagreb, capital city of a country I was dying to visit.
Let me share with you the things I loved the most about each city.
Bari, Italy
Some people say that the Puglia is one of the best regions in Italy, it has some really breathtaking landscapes that will leave you gagging. I stayed for a week in Bari, which was plenty of time to fall in love with it’s old and new town, their super tasty focaccias and enjoy my first sight of the Adriatic sea.
Amazing cathedrals and beautiful architecture everywhere… and the special feature about this city: it’s old town is all surrounded by a huge fortress that still remains from last century.
As Bari is the capital of the Puglia region, there are lots of small villages that you can visit for the day. I have visited Polignano a Mare, with it’s huge huge huge cliffs and really dramatic sights. I still can’t believe my eyes when I see these pictures, this is truly a place that’s really worth visiting. But if you don’t believe me, I’ll show you proof hahah
And another place I visited was Alberobello. It’s simply impossible not to fall in love with those terribly cute houses. I think it has been, by now, one of the places I enjoyed the most!
Venice, Italy
Venice has always been one of the top places to go to visit in Italy… and well, as I was expecting, although the peak season had not began, everything was incredibly crowded. But up to a certain point in which you couldn’t enjoy the attractions, due to huge groups of tourists pushing you and being somehow disrespectful. Believe me that none of us want to fall into the water…
I understand the magic and mystery of a city surrounded by water and the gondolieri and… stuff. But it hasn’t amazed me, I even feel it’s a bit more overrated than I was expecting. Still, it was a nice experience and great place to visit.
Nearby, and after living the “vaporetto” experience, I could also visit Murano and Burano, two very small islands that I got to enjoy a lot more than Venice. Those two villages are best known for their craftsmanship: Murano for their art in glass and Burano for their high quality fabrics. Both are really stunning places!
Verona and Bologna, Italy
These were day trips! I just hopped on the train for two hours and voilá! Two great experiences ahead.
Verona has left me speechless. It’s stunning architecture and mysterious streets got me amazed. The place is best known for being the city in which Shakespeare got inspired for writing Romeo & Juliet… you can even visit Juliet’s allegedly balcony. But truth is that there’s no evidence of Shakespeare ever visiting Italy, so myth or fact?!
Aside from that, it’s a wonderful place to go!
As well as that, Bologna is another great place to visit if you’re interested in architecture. This city is famous for it’s huge porticoes… there’s 38km of connected porticoes for you to wander through the city. Amazing.
It’s reddish, yellowish and brownish shades make it extra special, it’s quite a delight to walk there just gazing at the rooftops!
Misano Adriatico, Italy
I believe this place was never in my plans, but never. In fact, I had never of it before… so, how did I get there?
My good friend
At first, yoga was somehow hard for me, and specially tiring. But then, hey, I even was amazed of how fast my body adapted to it! I even learnt some cool asanas 😎.
Besides that, I had so much fun sharing that week with
Prague, Czech Republic
This was another last minute plan, I found just by chance tickets to see one of my favourite bands live… and cancelled every single thing that I had booked to get there. Don’t get me wrong, I really wanted to visit Prague, but there was this additional event that made it even better!
The city’s simply stunning. From the very first moment I stepped a foot on it, I felt as if I were in a fairytale. Beautiful buildings everywhere you go, magic sparkling from every single corner. In fact, I even wish I had given myself a bit more time to get to know it a lot better.
The concert made the Prague experience even better. To be honest, I was going to a metal concert on my own in a place I didn’t know… I was a bit scared at first. But people were incredibly nice and the event was really calm. Loved it!!
Bratislava, Slovakia
This place came out of the blue for me, I found it on Google and then I was like “hey! Let’s go to Bratislava” 😂
It’s probably the quietest city I’ve been in so far. It’s really nice to visit, but you should also bare in mind that it’s quite small. So just one day will be great to get to know it perfectly.
What amazed me the most about this place is the huge difference of scenarios. Of course, it’s Slovakia, with an incredibly green land that seems as if it never ended, huge castles everywhere that are really charming… and then, the remainings of the past.
Once you get past the bridge that divides the city, you feel the extreme diversity. From one side, it all looks bright and amazing; from the other, the soviet-like buildings bring you down between it’s appaling greyness and identical streets. That was quite interesting to see and to step aside a bit from all the touristic attractions.
Vienna, Austria
This was another day trip from Bratislava, as they are almost an hour away from each other. Yet, I wish I had spent there at least a day!
I fell in love with this city, everything was so imponent and so… imperial. Every single corner, building and park was a delight to my eyes. So pure and bright, those white masterpieces were stunning.
Yet, what I loved the most about this city was Volksgarten. An incredible park with a huge amount of flowers. But they were not just regular flowers: they were donated by the people who wanted to gift a special one, to memoir a lost one or just to celebrate something in particular. So you get to enjoy beautiful roses, and share the story of another person.
I believe this detail made it incredibly special and unique. I had never seen anything like that, and yet it was really heart touching for me.
Budapest, Hungary
Where to start, with hilly Buda or stunning Pest?!
This city has one of the things I like the most: contrasts. In the old side, Buda, you get to see and hike through a huge mount. Lots of statues, memoires, parks and monuments to be seen and enjoyed.
But once you get past the bridge that joins them, you meet Pest, with it’s very cosmopolitan mixture of influences and beautiful buildings to observe.
From my point of view, a lovely combination that I enjoyed to the fullest. Locals were incredibly nice too and there were a lot of moments in which I felt as if I was at home.
Zagreb, Croatia
The first stop in the country I was dying to visit. And it didn’t let me down, my expectations were incredibly high and yet, Zagreb outgrew them all!
I loved this city up to the point in which I saw myself living there. Local people were the best, the city is lovely and there was a very warm atmosphere that made me fall in love with it.
The city’s got a bunch of really heavy story, specially after trying so hard to be free from communism and the Yugoslavian territory, that locals now appreciate their freedom with an increibly pride and happiness. That’s another thing that has made me realize how beautiful their culture is!
So… that was May for me!
Hope you liked this post, it’s a pleasure for me to share my travel stories here… as I though I would never have a space as Hive to share them!
I’m incredibly sorry if the edit of this post is not perfect as I’d like. I’m editing from my phone while travelling to Dubrovnik, hopefully
Thank you so much for reading! <3
