Not far from Porto, in Portugal, there's the famous Douro Valley, known for its wine production. We took a day trip from Porto to this beautiful area where much of Portugal’s wine is produced.

We rented a car from Porto and headed to Pinhao, the main town on Douro Valley. The ride offers scenic views over Douro River and Valley. The valley is surrounded by rolling hilly landscapes full of vines. 

Quinta Do Bomfim is one of the largest and most popular wineries in the region. We sat at the terrace there and admired a beautiful view of the Douro Valley from there.

We then moved to Croft Port, not far from Quinta do Bomfim. It's one of the oldest wineries in Pinhão. From here, there'a another beautiful view over vines hills.

We stopped to eat at Veladouro, in Pinhão. We had some delicious juicy pork steak to eat there.

We then went to Quinta Do Seixo, up the hill, offering amazing views of the valley. Quinta do Seixo is home of Sandeman’s, one of the popular wine brands of Port.

Then stopped at Quinta De Popa, which offers one of the very best views from the whole valley. We stayed on their terrace, tasting wine and admiring the peaceful landscapes.

Douro Valley Day Trip from Porto

Symi is a small beautiful Greek island close to Turkey. It's part of the Dodecanese islands and it is easily reachable from the island of Rhodes by ferry in about one hour. We spent two days on the lovely island. A cute fact about is is that it's in top 5 places in the world in terms of longevity. The residents often reach the age of 90 and are still active climbing stairs and doing daily business.

The main harbour on the island is Yialos, where we arrived. It's a beautiful scape with nice colourful houses layering down the hillside. 

We stopped to eat at Pantelis, by the water. The food was very good and the views amazing. We had some seafood perfectly cooked.

We walked up and down the beautiful streets streets of The Old Markets and the harbour, by the water with great views over the island, the town and the sea.

We walked up till we reached Castle ruins of Knights of St. John. It was quite a climb to there, but there are amazing views from there. It's not much left of the castle, but we definitely enjoyed the views. 

We got down to Symi Harbour, enjoyed the views with the fishing boats and the colours there and made our way towards the beach for the last part of the day.

We went to Sarah Beach to relax, one km away from the harbour. It's a a small quite beach, a perfect place to relax.

For dinner we stopped at Tholos. The food was great and the view super nice. 

Today we decided to take a a boat trip around the island. We could have rented a car and explored the island from the land, but we decided to do it from the boat. 

The boat ride we took lasted for several hours and included the lunch. We admired the beautiful island of Symi from the water and it was quite a pleasant experience.

Returned on the land, we went to Chorio for lunch, a town situated at the top of the Kali Strata in Symi. Cholrio is more local, with an authentic vibe. We had a bit of a climb to get there, but we made several stops and enjoyed the views.

We had authentic Greek dinner at There’s Georgio & Maria Restaurant. It was a great experience with delicious food. 

Two Days in Symi

We arrived in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia somewhere in the afternoon. As we planned to spend our first night in the capital, we checked in and then went to take a few steps in the city. We visited the capital's main square, Macedonia Square, the famous Old Baazar and walked the streets of the bohemian neighbourhood of Debar Maalo.

Of course we got hungry after the walk, so we stopped at this place, Kosmos Kebabchilnica, and tried some local food, cevapcici, delicious grilled minced meat. We then had some good baklava from a blaklava shop nearby.

The next day, after breakfast we headed to the bus stop to get to our main destination of the trip.

We had a bus ride from Skopje to Ohrid that lasted about three hours. The ride is really nice and the landscapes on the way are very beautiful. The town Ohrid is situated on Lake Ohrid shore. The beautiful Lake Ohrid is shared with Albania and it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We stayed at Villa Ohrid, which offered a spectacular view over the town and the lake from our balcony. After we checked in and rested on the balcony a bit, we went outside to take a few steps. 

We got lost on the town's streets for a bit and ended up at Beach Potpesh on Lake Ohrid. It's a nice pebble shoreline, with a small dock and beautiful views.

We had dinner at Kaj Kanevche, a nice reastaurant by the lake with traditional good food. We watched a beautiful sunset from there, as well.

And headed to our accommodation in the evening.

We explored the charming old town of Ohrid, filled with beautiful Ottoman buildings, restaurants, wine bars and shops.

We visited the Antique Theater in Ohrid. Built in 200 BC, the thatre is the only Hellenistic type theatre in the country.

We then visited the fortress on top of the town offering great panoramic views of the whole area. It was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire during the rule of Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria in the 11th century.

From the fortress, we walked to Labino Vista Point, a beautiful viewpoint with the coast and the lake in sight.

From the viewpoint, it's a nice walk to Church of Saint John the Theologian, the most famous and most picturesque church in Ohrid. It'a a beautiful Orthodox church perched on a hill overlooking the lake.

We spent the rest of the day on the beach, relaxing in than great landscape.

The next morning we went to Terazza Aquarius, by the lake, overlooking the old town.

After the breakfast, we took a boat ride to Bay Of The Bones. It's a reconstructed village of stilt houses displaying ancient items recovered from Lake Ohrid. It was a really beautiful visit.

Back to Ohrid by boat and spent the afternoon on the beach lake again.

We had breakfast in the old town, walked its streets for a bit before leaving the place.

We returned to Skopje by bus and went home from here.

Lake Ohrid, North Macedonia

Arrived in Thessaloniki, rented a carr and headed east.

Explored Kavala. Spent a few hours walking around the old town, visiting Castle of Kavala, The Aquaduct.

Rented a car and took a ferry to Thassos Island.

Arrived on the Island of Thassos. The island is known for its mountains covered in pine forests that descend directly into the Aegean Sea, for sandy beaches and olive plantations. Stayed in Thassos Town. Explored it a bit.

Giola Lagoon, very beautiful spot on the coast - small pool inside rocky seaside cliffs.

Pekfari Beach. Did snorkeling, super experience.

Thasos

We spent a weekend on the Isle of Skye in North of Scotland. It is a dreamland with amazing nature and sights.

We arrived in the north west of the Isle of Skye, in Uig town, a place popular for going puffin spotting. We took a short boat ride not far from Uig and had the chance to spot a few of those beautiful coloured birds.

From Uig we took a hike to The Fairy Glen. It's a beautiful mountainscape where part of the Game of Thrones was filmed. With its lush green grass and hills, it seems a land out of this world.

We next visited Skye Museum of Island Life which offerend a beautiful insight of how life on this part of the world was.

We were starving so we stopped at Flodigarry Hotel for lunch. It's a cosy place where we ate and also tried a bit of local whiskey.

We took a hike on another fantastic and out of this world spot. We could not get enought of those green mountains with beautiful rock formations and wild landscapes.

On our way back to Portree we admired the beautiful coastline. We stopped from spot to spot to admire some more absolutely amazing landscapes. Apart from Kilt Rock, we also stopped at Mealt Falls, Brothers Point, Rigg Point Lealt Falls.

The next day, we got back in the car and visited some other awesome spots. The Old Man of Storr rock formation is one of the symbols of the Isle of Skype. Another beautiful hike in the mountains here. Just a short one.

We paid a visit to Dunvegan Castle and explored both the castle and the gardens of the 13th century built castle. 

Beautiful stone Sligachan Bridge was build in 1810. It'a great view with the stone bridge and Cuillans Mountain in the background.

We had a walk along the stream that took us to Fairy Pools. Beautiful crystal clear pools of water

Before we left this amazing land, we bought some local whiskey from Talisker Distillery.

Isle of Skye Road Trip

Arrived in Christchurch, on the south island of New Zealand. Rented a car - they say it's the best way of exploring New Zealand.

Did an easy hike today, to Sugarloaf Scenic Reserve.

Road trip to Lake Tekapo - amazing turquoise water of the lake. 

Drive to Aoraki Mount Cook National Park.

We took Hooker Valley Track (10 km hike) from White Horse Hill Campground.

a fjord that is New Zealand’s most famous travel destination

Trip in New Zealand

Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, has become a cool place to visit in Europe tempting tourists with its large and beautiful medieval old town, its architectural heritage and urban cool spots.

We arrived in the Cathedral Square, that stands for the city's core at the intersection of two major streets of the capital. It's where Vilnius Cathedral, the main Roman Catholic Cathedral of Lithuania, stands as well.

Built in the 15th century for the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the future Kings of Poland, the imposing palace was recently reconstructed and now houses a museum displaying art and history exhibits.

Not far from the Palace, situated on a hilltop, Gediminas Tower is what left of the 15th century Upper Castle of Vilnius. There's a nice windink path that goes to the tower. From the tower, there are nice views both over the old town and new city over the river. Inside there's a small history museum.

We took a really nice walk on Neris Riverfront up to the point where the two rivers in the cities meet, Vilnia River and Neris River. Neris is the more important and central one from the two.

We made our way to Hill of Three Crosses, the highest point of the city with nice views over Vilnius. It's a peaceful green area with tree crosses standing at the top of the hill.

We ended our first day exploration with a visit in Republic of Užupis neighbourhood, actually the neighbourhood that self declared its independency from Vilnius in 1997. It's a colourful bohemian area situated over the Vilnia River. The funniest thing I saw here is the "constitution" written on city signs. I remember one of the funny articles there that said:  “Everyone has the right to celebrate or not celebrate their birthday”.

We started our second day in the city with a visit to Presidential Palace in the Old Town. The 14th century palace is the official residence of Lithuania’s President.

In Southern part of the town, the blue Dawn Gate is what is left of the city walls today. It hosts a Catholic shrine and it's am important religious site.

Not far from the Gate, there's Hales Market, the oldest market of Vilnius where local people sell goods and local products. Within the market, there are also places where you can order food dishes. From the market towards the train station, there there are cool graffiti and street art.

We got back to the city center and visited the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights. The museum, housed in the former KGB headquarters, details the Soviet Union ocupation era.

Weekend in Vilnius

Ile de Ré is a small tranquille French island on the Atlantic coast. It's a beautiful corner of this world with dunes and pine forest, nice villages and paths. It's easy to get on the island as it's connected to the mainland by road. 

Once on the island, the best way to explore it is by bike. There's a  100 km network of excellent cycle paths and the land is quite flat. 

For the first day, well, what was left of it after we arrived, after we got accommodated and went to rent bikes, we made our way to Plage de la Conche des Baleines. The beach a long strip of sandy beach backed by dunes and pine forests

We stayed in Ars-en-Ré so we made our way here in the evening.

In the morning we explored the village of Ars-en-Ré. It's officially one of the most beautiful villages in France. The village is known for the black and white bell tower of its church which used to ben as a point of reference for ships. There are pretty streets in the viollage filled with fantastic little bars and restaurants.

In the afternoon we headed to Plage de Gros Joncs Beach. It'a a wide fantastic beach.

We returned to our beautiful village in the evening.

Saint-Martin-de-Ré is the main town on the island. We explored the beautiful town with its UNESCO heritage  fortifications, beautiful waterfront and great views from the church tower.

Ile de Ré

Florence is one of the most charming cities in Italy. The city has so much to offer in terms of history, architecture and art that it's impossible not to like it. It's also a starting point for visiting the beautiful Tuscany region.

Piazza del Duomo is the central square of Florence and home of the imposing Florence’s cathedral. It was our starting point in visiting the city. We didn't visit the famous Duomo, as it was a long queue waiting to do that, we just admired it from the outside.

Instead, we visited Campanile or Giotto's Bell Tower there in Piazza del Duomo. We climbed the 414 steps to the top of the tower to see the spectacular views over the city from there. It's worth the effort.

We also visited the Baptistery, the beautiful octagonal basilica with marble facade, bronze doors and mosaic ceiling.

We next had a look in the beautiful courtyard of Strozzi Palace. We did not get inside the palace, we just admired this fine example of Renaissance architecture. The palace hosts permanent and temporary art exhibitions.

Galleria dell’Accademia is one of the many art museums in Florence. It houses one of the most famous workarts, such as Michelangelo's sculpture David.

We arrived at the heart of the city, in charming Piazza della Signoria with many historical building and monuments around it, the most impresing one being Palazzo Vecchio.

We paid a visit to Palazzo Vecchio, the fortified 13th century palace. We admired the famous Hall of Five Hundred, the immense hall with big frescoes of battles on the walls. 

And we ended the day with a walk on the famous and fantastic Ponte Vecchio, the old covered bridge of Florence. We would return here the next day as well.

We started the second day where we ended the previous one to admire it in the morning light as well. The medieval arched bridge over River Arno is probably the most photographed place in Florence. We took a walk along the river to view it from different angles.

Uffizi Gallery is one of the most important art galleries in the world housing an impressive collection of Renaissance artwork from great artists like Leonardo, Raffaello, Michelangelo or Caravaggio. You have to book way in advance to visit.

Once home to the Medici family and later Italian royalty, the  Renaissance palace of Palazzo Pitti now houses important art collection. In front of the palace, there's a nice area where people use stop to sit and rest.

We ended our weekend in Florence with a visit in Piazzale Michelangelo. From the terrace of the square there's the best view of the city. We stayed for a while admiring the view.

Beautiful Florence

We were in Dublin with some things to do, but we managed to free one full day and decided to explore some of the country's wild coastal areas. We rented a car and headed west.

Our first stop for the day was at Kilmacduagh Monastery, a very interesting place with a ruined abbey dating back to 7th century AD. The monastery contains a tall round tower, now leaning half a metre from the vertical.

Next we arrived at Cliffs of Moher, the heighlight of the day. We spent about two hours exploring the extremely beautiful and dramatic cliffs on the area. There's a pretty long hike along the coast, but it's not that difficult to take. The views from there are stunning.

We moved on along Galway Bay and the Wild Atlantic Way, where we admired some more dramatic landscapes. We stopped in Burren, known for its limestone rock and cliffs overlooking the ocean. Pay attention to the uneven surfaces and cracks between the rocks, there were many people injured on the site!

We stopped in Galway town, situated where the River Corrib meets the Atlantic Ocean. It's one of the most picturesque towns in Ireland. We visited the center of the town, with nice cobblestone streets and colourful Irish bars.

One Day Trip from Dublin

Arrived in Munich. Visited the city center on foot, had a beer and a wurst, yum.

Took the train to Augsburg, visited the small city, with its cute The Fuggerei, which is the world's oldest social housing complex still in use, but can also be visited. 

Took the train to Innsbruck, in Austria. It only takes around 2 hours. Visited the city center with its cute colourful houses by the river. Spent the night there.

Took the train to Innsbruck, in Austria. It only takes around 2 hours. Visited the city center with its cute colourful houses by the river.

Took the bus to Stubai Ski Resort. Got accommodation in the area. Spent the next few days skiing on this beautiful slopes.

Spent the day skiing on this beautiful slopes.

Winter in the Alps

Flew to Milan. Went to Piazza del Duomo, in the center of the city, admired The Gothic Duomo di Milano cathedral and simply watched people passing by.

Flew to Milan. Went to Piazza del Duomo, in the center of the city, admired 

Spent the whole day in Verona, walking the streets and visiting most important objectives in the city, including, of course, Juliet Balcony. <3

Spent the whole day in Verona, walking the streets and visiting most important objectives in the city, including, of course, 

Walked the beautiful city streets and canals up to Piazza San Marco, in the heart of Venice. The place is filled with people and restaurants and full of life. You can also take a gondola ride from there. Spent the night here.

Walked the beautiful city streets and canals up to Piazza San Marco, in the heart of Venice. The place is filled with people and restaurants and live. You can also take a gondola ride from there.

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