Alicante, Spain

My very good friend and chileanΒ housemate fromΒ Spain was getting marry in her hometown of Calpe, close to Alicante. It was a great opportunity to reunite us all met once in Chile, living la vida loca of 2010. The region is called Costa Blanca and the city of Alicante is nearby Valencia. Alicante is one of Spain’s most beautiful cities and a hotspot destination for city … Continue reading Alicante, Spain

Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Plovdiv is the 6th oldest living city in the world and it is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia dating back to neotlithic settlements 6000 BCE. WhenΒ Philip II of Macedon, (after which the city was named Philippoppolis) father of Alexander Great conquered it in the 4th century BC, and later came numbers of civilisations likeΒ Persians, Greeks, Celts, Romans, Goths, Huns, Bulgarians, Slav-Vikings, Crusaders and … Continue reading Plovdiv, Bulgaria

ThΡsαlonikki, PΡllα αnd Chαlkidonα, GrΡΡcΡ

Thessaloniki is Greece’s Hippest City!Β It has some of the most beautiful beaches and has some of the finest hotels and best restaurants in northern Greece.Β  The region is called Central Macedonia, claiming the right to posess the FYR of MacedoniaΒ (calling it just the Northern Macedonian region) as it use to be entire ly greek region and not recognizing it today as a state. Following this, … Continue reading ThΞ΅sΞ±lonikki, PΞ΅llΞ± Ξ±nd ChΞ±lkidonΞ±, GrΡΡcΞ΅

Wallonia: Liege, Mons, Namur, Dinant – down the Meuse river valley

What I am mostly surprised of this region of Belgium, is its nature. The heavily forested Ardennes massif occupies the southeast of the Walloon region. Mostly cliffs, forests, river Meuse and many streams. The legend said Hitler will never manage to break through the Ardennes and take over Belgium and later Netherlands. Happens to be the guy invented tenks. Anyhow, this topographic peculiarity gave the … Continue reading Wallonia: Liege, Mons, Namur, Dinant – down the Meuse river valley

Maastricht, Netherlands

Upon my arrival to this small city in the southeast of Netherlands, located on both sides of the Meuse river, I could have not notice so many bikes parked along the the train station building. πŸ™‚ Afer all, it is a Dutch city! There is some debate as to whether Maastricht is the oldest city in the Netherlands. However, Maastricht has become known, by way of the Maastricht … Continue reading Maastricht, Netherlands

Flanders: Brugge, Gent, Antwerpen, Leuven, Oostende

Upon my arrival to Brussels, I started to explore Belgium by visiting other cities. Everyone’s recommendation is always the Flanders and the most popular tourist place Brugge. Although, later I will discover the south of Belgium, Valonie. πŸ™‚ Flanders is a Dutch speaking part of Belgium, at the north of the country with important place in European history. During the late Middle Ages, cities such as … Continue reading Flanders: Brugge, Gent, Antwerpen, Leuven, Oostende

Les Traboules de Lyon, France

RSecrets are always fun, aren’t they? Well, I found the second biggest french city very mysterious.Β Between courtyards and through buildings, there are many secret alleyways and staircases once provided safe and efficient passage for silk workers to get their wares to and from market unmarred. Now partially open to the public, many of the traboules worm through several buildings forming a secret continuous covered passageway … Continue reading Les Traboules de Lyon, France

Trieste, Italy

Trieste has been called the ultimate nowhere-place: officially part of several successive countries and empires through the ages, yet spiritually bound to none of them. Many of the 200,000 Triestine, I came to learn, do not see themselves as truly Italian. They belong to Trieste, and Trieste alone. In fact, a small but committed independence movement is seeking the recognition of Trieste as a free … Continue reading Trieste, Italy

TrakoΕ‘Δ‡an castle, Croatia

Being placed atop a small hill in northern Croatia,Β TrakoΕ‘Δ‡an Castle looks like a fairytale castle, proudly peeking its spires. It dates back to the 13 century as pat ofΒ fortification system and small observation fortress for monitoring the road from Ptuj, Slovenia. According to a legend, TrakoΕ‘Δ‡an was named after another fortification (arx Thacorum) that was built atΒ the same spot back in antiquity. Another source claims … Continue reading TrakoΕ‘Δ‡an castle, Croatia