Travel does the heart good
My little jubilee, the 50th country visited was Liechtenstein. And boy what a ceremony happened. The Principality of Liechtenstein and the Swiss Confederation were celebrating the 100 years of their common Dounae contract. We were about to cross the bridge that was built over the river Rhine, but we were stopped as the celebration was just…
Krapina is my hometown. Zagorje runs through veins. Kajkavian dialect is spoken out loud by my core. So please, allow me to show you a portion of heaven given to us people from Zagorje to enjoy, nourish, and remain proud. Krapina Krapina was first mentioned in 1193. It has always been a favorite site for…
This is a post of a lovely, walkable city that will charm all wine, gastronomy and history lovers. From Markets to Mustard! This capital of Burgundie is calling you to get all its tastes. And you will not know all of these existed! The province was home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until…
Avignon is a city on the RhĂ´ne river in the south of France. It is surrounded by walls of Avignon (French: Les Remparts d’Avignon) – a series of defensive stone walls that were originally built in the 14th century during the Avignon papacy and have been continually rebuilt and repaired throughout their subsequent history. We entered through Porte Saint-Michel. The…
This historical province of southeastern France, extends from the left bank of the lower RhĂ´ne to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-CĂ´te d’Azur . The largest city of the region and its modern-day capital is Marseille. Known for its diverse landscapes, miles of…
This is going to be a short post. Sanremo is a city on the west coast of Italy, in the province of Liguria. It is the capital of the Riviera dei Fiori or Riviera of Flowers. Its casino also makes it a sort of Italian version of Monte Carlo. This large building in Art Nouveau…
Vivid green pesto, great wine and fabulous walks … Genoa is a city of indulgence. Driving in the city, noticing it’s fabulous big secession buildings it reminded me of the importance of Italy: banks, trades, imports of goods and businesses… Genoa was a medieval rival to Venice. It’s not been primped for tourists like Venice, though.…
Rapallo was never on my list. I never thought there could actually be something about this city. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, just between Cinque Terre and Genoa. As a girl from Croatia, I know it from the history books as the Treaty of Rapallo was signed there, in Villa Pagana, formerly known as Villa Spinola. A treaty…
The five Cinque Terre villages are situated in northern Italy on the Mediterranean Sea, just 3 hours by train from Milan, Pisa and Florence. I have arrived by car and totally enjoyed the national park that spreads across the five villages. La Spezia My journey started in La Spezia. This was the very first stop as I…
Tintine was slowly climbing up the hills of San Marino. Not much pressure should have been put on this car as she had enough of the shocks in the last year or two. The hills around us were rising and soon we found ourselves surrounded by an amazing view. It was San Marino surrounded by…
My Life in Sicily finished after a year spent on this island. It was time to turn on my Tintine (a beautiful red car), hop on a ferry and say goodbye. I was nostalgic as a was driving through Reggio Calabria. But soon I was in Puglia – the region with the best Italian cheeses.…
Ardennes are super fun to visit. They are cold but there is loads of trails to discover. Hence, after so many locations, Rochefort was on the route as well. Its ancient position at the crossroads where the route to Saint-Hubert crossed that from Liège to Bouillon required fortifying: the ruins of the old castle, which gave the place its name and…
Michel de Notre-Dame, as we all know as Nostradamus, was an apothecary by profession, and published in the year 1555 a book called Les ProphĂ©ties (The Prophecies). In his collection of 942 poetic quatrains, he predicted […]
The Lady of the Rivers is a historical novel by Philippa Gregory, part of her series The Cousins’ War. The story is narrated by Jacquetta of Luxembourg, mother of Elizabeth Woodville, and covers the reign of […]
by Judith Merkle Riley In 1556 France, Queen Catherine de Medici spies on her husband, King Henri II, and his lover, Diane de Poitiers. Driven nearly mad by jealousy, the […]
At the beginning a bit borring but then you get into the secrets of the Vatican and catholic church. As the most spectacular murder in Los Angeles happens, the detectives […]
For generations, the Bradford family is the synonym for the best world wide bourbon. The spirit that comes from Kentucky, USA and made of corn. The sustained wealth of the […]
The magnificent Sahara and the Berber tribes that belongs to it are wonderfully described in this book: Izzy discovers that her amulet is a Tuareg artefact containing an inscription in […]
by Hannah Kent Even though this book is a fiction, it is based on true events. Agnes MagnĂşsdĂłttir is the last person executed on Iceland, accused of participating in the murder of […]
Morocco, 1677. The tyrannical King Ismail resides over the palace of Meknes. Through the sweltering heat of the palace streets, Nus Nus is his slave. He is  circumsized, of course, […]
Russian Concubine and the Secret of a Concubine are 2 beautiful novels that start in St Petersburg right after the First Russian Revolution and the aristocracy is killed to give […]
This story is from biblical times and as such follows The Bible and the  Genesis 34,  but it is different in many important ways. It is explaining how women in time […]
The story of Princess Sultan is true. The words are the authors’, but the story is princesses’. The shocking human tragedies described in this book are factual. In a country […]
This is an epic story about Genghis Khan – a founder of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He came to power by uniting many of […]
The monks gave him the name John Savage. He as a savage for them, living with them in some abbey in the Northern England, raping him and beating. After this […]
Cleopatra’s Alexandria (nowaday’s Egypt) is tragically fallen after Caesar‘s assassination in 1 century BCE, and her allieanation with Mark Antony (the following Roman Emperor). Cleopatra kills herself with letting the royal cobra snake […]
The author is Simon Sebag Montefiore –Â one of my favourite writers. The story follows the prohibited love affair of two which came to light in 1945. While Russia celebrates victory […]
Philippa Gregory is one of the best historical novel writers nowadays. Her most famous iteration of books is The Cousin’s Wars describing through her novels the War of Roses for control of […]
RED RIDING HOOD 