Archive | Amazing RSS feed for this section
IMG_3089

Luxembourg

A short walk around the defence walls of the old town with a personal guided tour from someone who has grown up in the city and knows it’s history, buildings, customs and all hidden gems, we as tourists would never find, see or discover.  What a treat.   [hd] [hd]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_7435

Luxembourg with Friends

Luxembourg is amazing – we did not know what to expect but absolutely blew us away.  The architecture is very reminiscent of a bit ofParis with a touch of Switzerland and Germany.  Everything is obsessively clean and everything smell nice, the entire city smells like flowers.  We met up with our good friends from Germany […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
St. Joseph's Church

St. Joseph’s Church

The church was built between 1905 and 1909, and designed by Jan Sas Zubrzycki in the Gothic Revival style. It is the largest church in the area. The interior is shaped in the likeness of a Gothic cathedral in the so-called Gothic Vistula style. It is filled with numerous altars, benches and other items made […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_9258

Wieliczka Salt Mine

Wieliczka Salt Mine has been around for about 7 centuries but it was originally explored from Neolithic times . Wieliczka salt mine, excavated in the 13th century, produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world’s oldest operating salt mines and now a museum and a UNESCO site.  There are some 287 km […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_7108

National Museum in Gdansk

This museum is located in the old late-Gothic Franciscan monastery, which has been used to house exhibits since the end of the 19th century. The museum used to hold  a sizeable collection of historical works of art. In 1884. The core of the Museum’s collection constitutes the collection of Jacob Kabrun, which includes several thousand […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_6795

Oliwa Cathedral

The archcathedral in Oliwa is a three-nave basilica with a transept and a multisided closed presbytery, finished with an ambulatory. The façade is flanked by two slender towers, 46-metres tall each with sharply-edged helmets. It is enlivened by a Baroque portal from 1688, as well as three windows of different sizes and three cartouches. The […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_6729

Park in Oliwa

Today we are doing something more productive.  Right after we finished the morning coffee and other drinks we set off to Oliwa, a small suburb of Gdansk that’s  famous for its parks, gardens and the large cathedral with a huge organ.  Did I mention cakes, lots of amazing cakes to eat too.  

2 Comments Continue Reading →
IMG_6423

Nuremberg Cellars

Way back when, if you wanted to brew beer in Nuremberg you need to have a cellar, both for fermentation and storage.   The cellars consist of a system of narrow tunnels and caverns that run under Nuremberg’s old town. Dating back to 14th century there were about 40 breweries in the small city all of […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_1693

European Solidarity Centre

The European Solidarity Centre is a museum and library in Gdańsk, Poland, devoted to the history of Solidarity, the Polish trade union and civil resistance movement, and other opposition movements of Communist Eastern Europe.  It resembles a hull of the ship both inside and outside.  It is done exceptionally well with lot of amazing exhibits. […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_1646

Westerplatte

A place that is near and dear to every Polish soul.  A place where the WWII started, a place where the first resistance started and a place that gave every person a bit of hope.  We got off the boat that took us there and decided to go for a nice walk through the park […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC00043

Ostuni

No word of a lie it was 40°C so we spent most of the day either in the pool or around the pool.  In the evening when it got cooler, 31°C, we set of for Ostuni.  It is a small town with about 32K people in winter but during the summer months its populations swells […]

2 Comments Continue Reading →
DSC00102

Alberobello – Puglia

Alberobello is a small city of less than 11,000 people and it is famous for it’s trullos.  Trullos are scattered throughout this part of Puglia. The story behind trullo was to build a small home with only dry stone and no mortar so they could easily be reconfigured and taken down.  They were simply built […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC02827_8_9

Spadalunga – Puglia

We have done absolutely  nothing since we got here.  Haven’t been anywhere, haven’t seen anything yet, other than the inside of some restaurants for food of course.  We haven’t even been out for a gelato yet.  Lazy and relaxing is the name of the game and this is the perfect setting for it.

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC02423_4_5

Montisi

It appears that after Castelmunzio, Montisi is our next favourite place to over eat at dinner.  Montisi is a tiny and serene village, steeped in tradition but largely unspoiled by tourism.   It’s also a quiet retreat for a good number of celebrities who come here to hide from the crowds.    

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC02359_60_61

Cortona

Perched 600m up on a hillside Cortona is a medical town with narrow and steep streets and architecture.  The city overlooks Chiana Valley and  Lake Trasimeno, scene of Hannibal’s ambush of the Roman army in 217 BC.  Legend has it that Cortona was built some 273 years after the Great Flood.  After Arezzo it is the […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC00656_7_8

High Line

The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail. It was created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan. The High Line is a public park maintained and operated by the Friends of the High Line, in partnership with the New York City Department of […]

1 Comment Continue Reading →
DSC00547_8_9

Bryant Park

Bryant Park is a beloved, year-round New York City destination. Known as Manhattan’s Town Square, the park is famous for its lush seasonal gardens, free activities and al fresco dining. Located adjacent to the New York Public Library and surrounded by iconic skyscrapers, Bryant Park is visited by more than 12 million people each year and […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC00493_4_5

Flatiron Building

The distinctive triangular shape of the Flatiron Building, designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and built in 1902, allowed it to fill the wedge-shaped property located at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway. The building was intended to serve as offices for the George A. Fuller Company, a major Chicago contracting firm. At 22 […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC09836

Pizza Class

There are a few things that are easier to make than pizza.  Apparently, things which appear simple are quite complex if you break them down.  Long story short – I have been doing every aspect of the pizza making, right down to holding the dough all wrong, absolutely every single part, all wrong.  This was […]

3 Comments Continue Reading →
DSC09630_1_2

Tuscan Splendour

On the way back to Sant’Anna in Camprena from Montalcino we stopped a few times to take in the magnificent vistas and enjoy the serenity of this spectacular landscape. This truly is a wonderful place and the pictures simply don’t do its justice.

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC09447_8_9

Montalcino for Lunch

There appears to be about a thousand wine shops in this village.  There are places where you can sample over 100 wines in a single wine store.  It’s bonkers!  However, our search is for some food, because it has been at least 3 hours since our last meal, and to find another gelato place, because […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC09444_5_6

Paggio Dell’Aquila

Promptly after breakfast today we drove out to a small family run winery nestled just below the quaint town of Montalcino.  This place produces only 18,000 bottles of wine one Rosso and one Brunello, (read no cheap and pricey)  The local oenologist, Maria, who is Spanish, gave us a great tour and a great wine […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC09276_7_8

San Gimignano and Gelato

San Gimignano is synonymous with the very finest of gelato, some great artisan shops and phenomenal galleries.  There is no shortage of the run of the mill tourists traps like the Museum of Torture and other junk stores but for a refined gelato junkie this place is a paradise.  True to form, we parked the […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC09217_8_9

Sunrise Hunting

The idea was great, the plan brilliant, the execution none of the above.  We did not find the right hill to see the sunrise, I guess you have to be in the know to be in the right spot at the right time.  We will do better next however as we have acquired a map […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC09175_6_7

Back to Siena

We are back to Siena.  Unlike our last time here, this time it is all about sitting around and taking in the sights.  We did go and visit a couple of places, but mostly we just ate, sat around and admired the views – including the Piazza del Campo and Siena Cathedral.  

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC09039_40_41

Tuscany – The Scenic Route

We are taking it easy today – in the plans is the short trip to Sienna. Instead of the regular Autostrada we are taking the SR2 which is essentially a local secondary road that winds through the Tuscan country side.  Slow and enjoyable, lazy morning drive, it’s perfection.

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC08980_1_2

Sunset in Pienza

About 10 min drive from Sant’ Anna is Pienza.  A small town that came to prosperity and prominence under one of the Popes.  But we did not came here for religion, we came to experience something much more spectacular, something much greater than god – a stunning Tuscan sunset.  We also scoped out some places we would […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC08917_8_9

Orvieto

Today we are travelling to Sant’ Anna in Camprena. We stayed here last year in the spring and loved it so much we thought we would come back and bring some friends with us to enjoy.  However, because the drive from Rome to Camprena is not long we are taking some detours.  First on the […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →