The beginning of a short beautiful road trip in Transylvania. Arrived in Bucharest and rented a car from the airport.

Arrived in Sinaia, a mountain resort. Visited the town and Sinaia Monastery. Spent the nght in Sinaia.

Took the cable car to the top of the mountain. 

From there hiked to a panoramic point on top of the mountain

Also visited the Sphinx, a rock with sphinx like features.

ended the day in Brasov, town in Transylvania. 

Visited the Black Church and Strada Sforii, a narrow passage street, iconic place in the city.

another beautiful city in Romania. A point where different cultural influneces met: Romanian, Hungarian, German. Picturesque streets. Spent the night in Sibiu.

one of the most beautiful roads in Europe, through the mountains with stunning views. There are many trails that you can follow if you want to hike.

4 days in Transylvania 

Lesbos is the third largest island of Greece. It has pretty much everything that tourists would seek, from historic sites, amazing coastline, beautiful towns and villages to mountain trails with wonderful landscapes. We arrived on the island by ferry.

We arrived in the beautiful island's capital of Mytilene. As we were approaching and set foot on the island, we were already in love with the place. Beautiful harbour surrounded by good looking houses, churches and cobbled streets filled with nice cafes and restaurants greeted us.

First of all we rented a car so we could properly explore the island. We visited Castle of Mytilene sitting up on a hill above the town and the harbour. The castle covers a large area and offers beautiful views over the island and across the sea to Turkey.

We settled in Petra village. It's a beautiful villages set around a sandy bay. The shoreline is filled with many cafes an nice tavernas. After we took a few steps on the streets of the village and along the bay, we spent the last part of the day at Petra Beach.

Today we checked some other spots of the island as well.

After a short drive from Petra, we arrived at Molyvos. We did not find many tourists while stolling on the streets of the village. There were only nice local people smiling and talking to us.

We reached Molivos Castle sitting beautifully on top of the village. It's a large impressive Byzantine Castle hiding within its walls an incredible amount of history. It was there during Venetian era, Catalan era, to the Genovese and the Ottoman period. There are magnificent views over the village and the sea from there.

After the hike to the castle and down, we went towards Eftalou hot springs. We bathed in the communal bath. The temperature of the water was pretty high, so we relaxed in the hot bath for a few munites before heading to the cold sea.

Back in Petra, we visited Panagia Glykofilousa Church, a remarcable church built on top of a rock

We spent the rest of the day at Paralia Tsichranta Beach. It's a quiet beach with clear waters and pebble beach. There are two lovely tavernas here as well. 

Leaving Petra, we checked a new spots on the island.

The name of the village comes from the words “safe” in Greek and Venetian and it reffers to the harbor that is very safe and can accommodate all sizes of vessels. In Sivri, we tried the food specialty horta, a type of spinach, boiled and served with salt and lemon. We really liked it.

The place is famous for the great sandy beach, where we relaxed for a while.

Skala Kallonis is a nice fishers’ place. We loved to watch the fishermen doing their business around the shore and the beautiful coloured boats there. We sat at a nice taverna and enjoyed the views and, of course, the food.

We arrived in Agiasos in the evening just to accommodate for our last night on the island.

Today we explored Agiasos, the town that lies on the slopes of Mount Olympus. We walked the tiny cobbled streets for a long time, enjoying the traditional architecture, tiled-roof houses, and smiling inhabitants. It's one of the most visited places on the island with many nice tavernas and cafes.

We returned to Mitilini, where we took the ferry from and left the beautiful island behind.

Lesbos

Venice is among the most visited places in the world and that happens all year round. However, the summer months are busier than others. We were in Venice for a few days at the end of September and followed the itinerary below. ;)

As we are in Venice, we started our holiday in the beautiful city with a boat ride. Boat rides are used in Venice both to entertain tourists or for moving from one place to another. The Grand Canal is the major waterway of the city that creosses the heart of the city.

Along the Grand Canal, there are many of the city’s most beautiful palaces and buildings. Also along Grand Canal, there's one of the popular spots of the city, Rialto Bridge, with its beautiful arched design and portico.

We got off the boat and started exploring the city on foot. We arrived at this marveloous sight, Scala Contarini del Bovolo, a restored 15th century palace with its fantasctic brick and marble spiral staircase in the exterior of the palace. There's also a great view from the top of the palace.

Piazza San Marco is the central square of Venice and the most famous one. Many of Venice’s most famous sights are located around St Mark’s Square. The large beautiful square is lined with many restaurants and cafes where people sit to admire the beauty of the city. The square opens up to Grand Canal and the waterway. It's actually one major place where you cand take the boat from.

Saint Mark’s Basilica is the city cathedral since 1807. It's a marvelous cathedral built in 11th century with a Byzantine style architecture. The interiors are covered in gold and mosaics.

St. Mark’s Campanile is the bell tower of Saint Mark's Basilica. As it is visible rom most parts of the city, Campanile functioned both as a lighthouse and belltower for Venice.

Built on the remains of old fortifications, the Doge’s Palace is a fantastic palace in Gothic and Renaissance architecture dating from the 14th and 15th century. The palace was used as a prinson for a period.

The last sight visited for the day was the amazing Bridge of Sighs situated behind Doge’s Palace. The covered bridge carved from limestone was actually used to connect the prison (the Doge’s Palace) with cells in the palace, it was used to move prisoners around.

Having visited most of the major attactions in the city center, now we decided to explore some other parts of Venice. San Giorgio Maggiore is a small island with the large Church of San Giorgio Maggiore that dominats the island. We visited the church and also checked the lighthouse on the island.

We moved to the large island of Giudecca, near San Maggiore. It used to be an industrial area full of factories, warehouses and shipyards. Now it's pleasant neighbourhood with homes, parks, churches, neo-gothic architecture, plus restaurants and hotels.

Dorsoduro neighbourhood issituated on the other side of the Grand Canal, opposite the city center. It's is considered a quieter and more authentic part of Venice. There are plenty of beautiful sights to see there, like Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute and the Punta della Dogana art museum and many others.

Castello district starts from Piazza San Marco towards the estern end of Venice. The neighbourhood is known for being a  center of art thanks to the Venice Biennale. Held every two years, you can explore exhibits of the Art Biennale Festival at the Giardini Della Biennale and Arsenal.

On the third day in Venice we moved even further from the city center. The first spot visited wad Burano, the colourful fishing island. The lines with  bright colourful hoses are the ones attracting visitors here.

Next was Murano, a beautiful archipelago with beautiful colorful traditional waterfront houses. We took a stroll on the main island in Murano and also visited Murano Lighthouse and Basilica dei Santi Maria e Donato. 

Aaaand, in the afternoon we moved to Lido, especially for the beach. It's the island where Venice Film Festival is taking place. We spent most of the afternoon on the beach, relaxing, swimming and sunbathing. 

Three Days in Venice

It's quite easy to reach Genoa from different parts of Europe. It has its own airport and it's well conected to major Italian cities. Probably most common way to arrive in Genoa is from Milan. It's a beautiful city on the coast of Ligurian Sea and it's often visited together with famous region of Cinque Terre, not very far from the city. We had a day to explore Genoa and we enjoyed it a lot.

Piazza Raffaele de Ferrari is the main square in the city, a beautiful place with a large arch gallery and a big fountain. It's the entrance to the city's old town.

Palazzo Reale Genova is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It dates back to 1600s and it's impressive. We were amazed by the second floor "Room of the Mirrors" and by its fantastic gardens. It also has a beautiful terrace with views over the harbour.

Via Garibaldi is also a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the main streets in Genoa. On this street there are lined most of the impressive palaces dating from 1500s, when Genoa was an important power and rich families built their palaces there.

We moved towards Port of Genoa, had a walk along the water watching the cityscape and breathing salty air.

Genova Aquarium is a famous spot of the city. It's nice to go visit. It houses many marine and freshwater species.

Cathedral of San Lorenzo is the most important church in Genoa, sitting right in the city’s center. It has has beautiful frescoes interior and from the tower of the cathedral, there are amazing views.

We arrived at Spianata Castelletto and could not have missed the amazing view in all the directions over Genoa city and Genoa port. There's an elevator that takes you right at the balcony.

On our way towards the station, we wandered the narrow streets of Genoa old town and we even managed to get lost at some point, but the streets are very beautiful and we rather enjoyed it. 

We arrived at the station. It's a beautiful place atually with its high white ceilings.

One Day in Genoa

To be honest, I have't heard of Folegandros Island till recently. We were actually looking for a place to go on a small relaxing holiday, but beautiful enough to joy our hearts when we saw some photos of this island, part of the Cyclades, in Greece. We arrived there by ferry in the evening.

The small island has just around 700 inhabitants and is mostly unknown to tourists, so if you, like us, are looking for a fine island where you can mingle with locals and enjoy the beauty of a Greek island, this is the place.

We started our first full day in Folegrandos with explroing Chora, the main town. We walked the cobble streets of Pounta Square with beautiful views and into the heart of Chora where there are fine taverns, shops, and other smaller squares.

We stopped to eat at Araxe, we had some absolutely delicious pasta, then walked towards a nice ice cream shop, The Uncle.

We zig zagged the town till we arrived at the Church of Panagia, on top of the town.

In the evening we had dinner at this fine restaurant, Piatsa.

Today is for some more exploration of the island. We rented an ATV to do that.

We started with breakfast at Pounda. It has a superb back courtyard and small tables, just for for two in the front of taverna, just fine for watch passers by. 

Finally we arrived at the beach. There's a hike down to the the beach through a forest. Towards the end of the hikethe path is a bit eroded, but it should be fine  for anyone. It's a beautiful beach surrounded by cliffs.

We then visited the town of Ano Meria. It has a nice local feel. We walked on its street and then went downwards, towards a gorgeous beach, Ambeli Beach. It's

Ambeli Beach is a at the end of a narrow channel of water that comes in with caves to explore if the water is calm.

Back to Chora, we had dinner at O Kritikos, situated in a beautiful square. in Chora.

On the last day on the island, we spent perfect time at this beach away from the town, Katergo Beach.

We then headed back to the city and prepared for leaving.

The Hidden Gem of Greece

San Sebastian is a beautiful city located on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, in the Basque region of Spain. It used to be  Spain’s royalty favourite summer destination. Now, it's still one of the most famous spots of Spain with belle époque architecture, vibrant culture and great beaches.

We explored the popular area of old town in San Sebastian, located at the bottom of Mount Urgull walking on the beautiful streets and gazing all around us.

We mingled with locals in Mercado La Bretxa. It's an old iconic market dating back to 1870 with food stalls offering local products. We tried the famous Idiazabal cheese.

We passed by Victoria Eugenia Theater, the venue that hosts the annual San Sebastian film festival.

We had a coffee at this beautiful place by the river. 

We crossed the beautiful Maria Cristina Bridge over Urumea River and enjoyed the nice views over the city from there.

We arrived in Constitution Square, a historc square that used to serve as a bullring

We spent the last part of the day on the Beach of Concha, the large beautiful sandy beach in the shape of a shell, where we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset.

We spent the night in the old town of San Sebastian.

We started the second day with a trip to Mount Urgull, the tree covered mountain near the old town of the city. From the top of the mountain we had the best views of the city and the sea. 

We came down of the mountain and arrived in the beautiful Bay of La Concha. We had a stroll along the promenade and enjoy the views of the cityscape.

We continued our walk until the western tip of the bay. This is the place where the famous sculptures of Basque artists Eduardo Chillida "El Peine del Viento" are located.

On the way back we stopped to eat at this lovely terrace by the sea.

Weekend in San Sebastian

Once a small fishing village, Dusseldorf is now a big modern city, a cultural and political center of Germany. It's a beautiful city, known for its art scene and beautiful sights. I was in Dusseldorf for one day and I would reccommend everyone to pay a visit to this nice city situated on the River Rhine.

I started my day in the heart of Dusseldorf. Medienhafen is the area on the docks on Rhine River. I admired the modern beautiful buildings and the futuristic area. It feels like you're tranported to the future while there. :)

I climbed Rhine Tower, which is the tallest building in Dusseldorf, also in Medienhafen district. It's an observation and communications tower with a bar at the top and, of course, some great views from there.

I took a walk on Rheinuferpromenade, the famous promenade on the bank of the Rhine. It's a place where people use to come for a stroll and for the nice views over the river, the city and the harbour.

I slowly walked towards Altstadt, the old town of Dusseldorf. Totally different from the futuristic Medienhafen, Altstadt is a charming old town with narrow streets and cute buildings. It's the place where you can admire the old city hall and other historic buildings.

Konigsallee is a posh boulevard along the canal in Dusseldorf. It's home to luxury shops, but it's also one of the most beautiful areas in the city as it is lined with with big green trees and it's pretty long, around one kilometer.

Carlsplatz Markt is an outdoor food market, where you can buy fresh products, but also enjoy some delicious food on the lovely terrace in front.

I visted he Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen. The North Rhine Westphalia is an art museum, better known as K20 and K21. The museum is famous for its cool art instalations, but it contains artworks of big names such as Andy Warhol, Picasso or Braque.

I ended my day with a dinner at Munstermann Kontor, which offers some nice traditional German dishes.

Dusseldorf in One Day

We visited the beautiful city of Split on the Dalmatian coast, Croatia for three days. In th first day, we explored the city and its main attractions and we took the other two days to explore some beautiful islands with their wild lanscapes.

We had to start the holiday in Split with visiting the large and beautiful palace of Diocletian’s Palace, right in the center of Split. Built in 4th century AD, the palace served as residence for Roman emperor and the military garrison.

After visiting the impressive Diocletian's Palace, we stopped for a while in the main square of the palace, Peristil. It's a nice place to stop get some rest in the beautiful historic courtyard with ancient colonnades. There's also a cafe right there in the square.

We visited another important landmark of Split, Saint Domnius Cathedral. The cathedral was build in 4th century AD and has one of the oldest structures of a Christian church in the world. After visiting the church, we climbed the Saint Domnius Bell Tower. There are magnificent views from up there.

We had a walk on Split's promenade and stopped for a coffee while admiring the beautiful sea view.

We then took the long starcase which took us up the hill to the beautiful green park of Marjan Hill. The best thing about the place is the viewpoint that overlooks the city, the sea and the mountains in the background.

In the evening we went to enjoy a bit of sun at the beach. We relaxed at the end of the day by the sea. We spent the night in Split.

The second day, after breakfast, we decided to explore some of its wonderful surroundings. We booked a tour of the islands near split.

Our first stop was in Biševo and its awesome Blue Cave. The Bleu cave is a cave flooded by sea water giving the area blue colour. It's a marvelouse experience to enter it with small boats.

We then stopped on Vis Island. We admired the little fishing village of Komiža there with its stone buildings and Mediterranean architecture. After this stop we checked another absolutely fabluous place on the island, Stiniva Cove, a fantastioc remote small beach on a rocky landscape.

Not far from that awseome cove, we stopped on the tiny island of Ravnik and visited Green Cave. This cave has an opening in the ceiling. The light illuminates the cave and the algae on the walls and gives the place a green colour.

We then visited the Blue Laboog on Budikovac Island.

On the last day in Croatia, we wanted to visit some of its famous waterfalls. 

We rented a car and headed to Krka National Park. Home to seven magnificent waterfalls that flow over small cliffs, Krka is a must sea while in Croatia. There are also hiking trails in the national park and you can take also boat tours or just swim  in the freshwater pools.

We got back to Split at the end of the day and back home from here.

Split Itinerary

Lanzarote is a mesmerising island in the Canarys, off the coast of Morocco. It's known for its year round warm weather, beaches and volcanic landscape. We arrived on the airport late afternoon. We rented a car and drove to our base on the island.

We settled in Puerto del Carmen, in Lanzarote. After we checked in, we went to spend what remained of the day on the beach.

We simply relaxed at Playa Chica Beach before the day ended.

The next day, we took the car and started to tour the island.

We drove from Puerto del Carmen, where we stayed to Le Jardin de Cactus. The garden has some  4500 species of cactus. We walked the paths with beautiful cactus flowers.

After the garden of cactus flowers, we went to see a fantastic spot. Jameos Del Agua is a volcanic site with tunnel and caverns and an underground concert hall, plus a restaurant and salt lake.

Cueva de los Verdes are caves created from the eruption of the Volcan de la Corona.

Our last visit for the day was at Caldera de Los Cuervos, the volcano crater that has a trail around it. We walked the trail and admired the surresl scenery.

We returned to Puerto del Carmen for the night.

As the previous day was a busy one, we decided to take this one slowly.

We went for some wine tasting at Bodegas Vega de Yuco.

Then moved to a fantasting beach where we spent most of the day. Famara Beach is a gorgeous beach with dunes and the gorgeous mountains behind. You can also take surf lessons there if you're into this.

Today we were anxious to discover some of the main sites of Lanzarote.

Today we went to visit Timanfaya National Park, one of the main attractions in Lanzarote. It's a Mars-like landscape there, made up of pure volcanic soil. The park is part of the Lanzarote Biosphere Reserve.

Then we explored the coastline near the Timanfaya National Park, starting with El Golfo and its green lagoon.

At Los Hervideros, the ocean is so blue, it's a beautiful contrast against the orange landscape. We witnessed a gorgeous sunset from there.

It was our last day in Lanzarote so we hurried to explore some other beautiful spots on the island.

We drove through Valley of a Thousand Palm Trees located in the mountains. The valley with a carpet of palms was created in 17th centuryand is one of the few green areas. We stopped in the village of Haria for a coffee.

It's a viewpoint that looks over the edge of Lanzarote to a small island, La Graciosa.

Awesome Lanzarote

Alicante is a Spanish town located on the Mediterranean Sea, on Costa Blanca. You can easily spend an entire day or more in the beautiful town with fine beaches. This is my day tour of the city.

First thing, I paid a morning visit to Alicante Mercado Central, where local people use to sell and buy fresh fruit and vegetables. It's also a place where you can have sothing to eat.

I started my day tour of the city with a visit at Santa Barbara Castle, the 9th century Muslim castle that sits on top of a hill overlooking the city, with spectacular views from there.

Fron the castle I headed back downhill an walked along the hillside and into the simply beautiful old town of Alicante, with its narrow streets and beautiful buildings.

In the old town of Alicante, there's this beautiful art museum, MACA, or Contemporary Art Museum of Alicante. It's a large museum with modern deco offering exhibitions of contemporary art.

For lunch I stopped at La Taberna de Luceros, which is a small and lovely restaurant where they serve delicious traditional Spanish dishes.

After lunch, I made my way to Explanada de España, which is a pedestrian streets lined with palm trees and with a floor made from mosaic marble tiles. It's also one of the city’s emblems.

I paid a visit to Basilica of Santa María, the oldest and prettiest church in the city built over a former mosque.

And finally I spent the last part of the day at the beach, on beautiful Playa del Postiguet, relaxing after a full day.

One Day in Alicante, Spain

Zagreb, Croatia's capital, is a beautiful city known for its Austro-Hungarian architecture. It's pretty easy to visit it and even one day could be enough to explore its main attractions.

We started our day in Zagreb with Trg bana Josipa Jelacica, the main square of the city. 

While in the square, we climbed up the Observation Deck "Zagreb Eye" and enjoyed a great panoramic view. Up there, there's also a bar where you can enjoy a coffee with a view.

Ilica is the main shopping street in Zagrem. It's a long streets filled with shops, restaurants and bars. We had a walk on a short distance of it.

In Britanac Square, on Ilica Street, it's a nice Antiques and Flea Market, open on weekends, where you can buy some antique souvenirs, if you like the old stuff.

Museum of Illusions is nice place to visit. It has several rooms where space seems different than it is. We enjoyed our visit there.

You can either walk or take the funicular to the Upper Town. It's the oldest part of the city with narrow streets nice buildings.

Another cool place in the city is the Museum of Broken Relationships. It unfolds the memory and stories behind failed relationships. It's funny and a bit dramatic.

We visited Tkalciceva street, a nice streets with many restaurants and pubs where you can sit. We tried a traditional dish called štrukli and we really liked it.

We ended our day in Zagreb with a relaxing walk in Zrinjevac Park, in the city center.

One Day in Zagreb

The Italian town of Pisa is famous for the Leaning Tower of Pisa. That's pretty much everthnig most of the tourists know about Pisa and the reason they travel there. But Pisa is much more than that so you can consider spending one day in the city.

What a beautiful name for a square: Piazza dei Miracoli, meaning the Square of Miracles. It got its name after an Italian poet described the place as “meadow of miracles”, beacause the square has a large green space. It's also a UNESCO world heritage site.

Pisa Cathedral is situated in Piazza del Duomo, along with  Pisa Baptistery and the Camposanto Monumentale. The three structures are considered sacred by the Catholic Church, symbolizing the three main stages of human life: birth (the baptistery), life (the cathedral), and death (the cemetery). The complex of three is considered one of the most exceptional architectural complexes in the world. If you visit the cathedral, consider climbing to the top for a spectacular view of the city.

The iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa is part of Pisa Cathedral. It's a spectacular bell tower build over two centuries starting with 1173. Its inclination is due to the soft subsoil that was not taken into consideration at the time. In recent years, efforts were made for the tower to stop moving, the corrections made seem to have stopped further leaning of the tower. It's possible to climb in the tower, there are great views from above.

After spending much time in Piazza del Duomo, it was time to move further, to Piazza Dei Cavalieri, the Knights’ Square. It's the second main square of the city, surrounded by old palaces with beautiful façades.

We took a walk ion Via S. Frediano, a nice narrow street till we reached a nice place to eat.

Osteria dei Cavalieri is a wonderful little tavern with delicious food and nice atmosphere.

We then visited L’Orto Botanico dell’Università di Pisa, the Botanical Garden of Pisa, which is the oldest university botanical garden in Europe.

Borgo Stretto is the city’s main pedestrian street with filled with shops, most of them expensive.

Palazzo Blu is a restored 14th century house, now home to Museum of Art and Culture.

Pisa is crossed by Arno River. From the bridges over the river, there are nice view of the cute buildings along the river.

In Pisa, there's a nice mural, Tuttomondo, meaning Allworld. It was created by by American artist Keith Haring as one of his latest works before his death of AIDS. It  represents universal peace.

Pisa

While in Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital, we had one day to explore some of its surroundings as we heard it has some beautiful lakes and landscapes not far from the capital.

So we jumped in the car and headed to famous Lake Bled. Lake Bled is indeed one splendid view. It'a a large lake with a tine island in the middle of it. We enjoyed our walk along the like till we found out we could actually visit the tine island.

So we took a boat ride that took us on the beautiful small island in the middle of the lake. We walked around it and visited the church there. 

We got back on the lakeside. When we had enough of the beautiful landscape there, we jumped in the car and headed to another famous lake, not far away. 

We arrived at Lake Bohinj, where mountains of Julian Alps mirror in the lake water. We took a walk arount the lake and admired the landcape. If you have more time, there are a lot of activities you can do here, from water activities to hiking in the mountains.

One Day Trip from Ljubljana

Bergamo is a popular destination, many times for short stays, as it has an important airport with flights from many cities in Europe and not only. It is also very close to Milan, so it is easily accesible. And it's a really beautiful town, it's worth spending a day there.

The most touristic part of Bergamo is Citta Alta, which means The Upper City. It's the old city situated up on a hill. You can get there either by bus, by funicular of on foot. It might be a bit exhausting if you walk there, but the views are really nice on your way up the hill.

Piazza Vecchia, meaning The Old Square, is the main square of the old town. It's a beautiful pedestrian squares that opens to different nice narrow streets of the old town

Situatted in Piazza Vecchia, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore is a large stunning Romanesque church.

La Marianna Cafe in Citta Alta is popular place in Bergamo. People stop there to have a good coffee and one of the best gelatos in Bergamo. It's the place where Stracciatella gelato was invented.

After we walked the beautiful narrow streets of the old town, we climbed even further to San Vigilio, on top of Citta Alta. There are great views from there over the city. On clear days you can see as far as to the Alps peaks. You can either walk there or take the funicular.

We visited the remains of an ancient stone castle, Torre Castello San Vigilio, up on the hill at San Vigilio. The castle has some nice hidded underground tunnels and a lovely park with beautiful views over the town and the surroundings.

After we visited the castle, we stopped for a coffee with a view at San Vigilio cafe. 

There's also a nice small church just in the main little square of San Vigilio. 

After we visited Citta Alta, we walke along the beautiful walls of the old city towards the new city below. It was a really beautiful walk with views of the city along the way.

One Day in Bergamo

It's the country's second largest city, but somehow, people don't necesarilly think of Graz when talking about Austria. The thing is that it's a beautiful city, with a unique feel and many fine attractions.

Schlossberg is a wonderful city space. It's a hill in the city that once was the site of a fortress that protected the city. There are still some ruins of the fortress there, the rest of the hill being covered with forests, parks and entertainment areas. The great thing about the space are the wonderful view over the city from there. NIce zig-zag stairs climb to the top of the hill.

While on the hill of Schloßberg, we paid a visit to the iconic Clock Tower. It's a medieval clock tower with large wooden balconies, a beautiful garden and, of course, wonderful panoramic views from there.

The Old Town of Graz is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's a beautiful area with historical buildings, narrow streets and small cute squares. We admired the medieval and Renaissance architecture while walking on the streets of the old town.

Hauptplatz is the city’s main square and a place for activities in the city, like festivals, markets and other events. The square is surrounded by buildings housing Rathaus or Town Hall and residential buildings.

We also paid a visit Graz Cathedral, the beautiful Gothic Roman cathedral built in 15th century. 

The city of Graz is crossed by Mur River. Murinsel is a modern "island", a beautiful man-made structure of steel and glass floating on the river and housing a theater and a cafe. 

We also visited another modern landmark. Graz Art Museum is based in a futuristic building with a shapeless roof and holds exhibits of co contemporary art.

We started our second day with Kaiser-Josef-Platz Market, the most popular market in the city. The salls are full of local products, most of them organic. It's a nice colourful area where local people sell fresh fruit, vegetables, bread and not only.

We then took a walk in the nice Graz Park. It's a peaceful place where people come to picnic, relax, do some sport activities.

We then went to see the famous double spiral stairs inside the Burg, this beautiful 15th century castle.

We left the city center for a bit and went to visit impressive Eggenberg Palace with its Baroque architecture, gardens and ponds. There's also a cafe there. 

We came back in the center and checked Landeszeughaus, the museum of armory. The museum includes thousands of pieces of weaponry from the 15th to 19th centuries and artifacts used in wars.

We ended our visit in Graz with a visit to Landhaus Courtyard, where we admired the elegant Renaissance palace with arched windows and this beautiful courtyard of arcades.

Weekend in Graz, Austria

The island of Kythnos is one of the lesser known islands of Greece, part of the Cyclades. However the island is very beautiful and it's not extremely far from Athens. The ferry gets here in 3 hours.

We arrived in Merichas Harbour by ferry. As we set foot on the island, we had a coffe at one of the waterside cafe right in the harbour.

After we relaxed in the harbour enjoying the views and the atmosphere, we rented a car and drove to Dryopida village. It's a very picturesque village built in a valley in the middle of the island. We took a walk along the village's beautiful streets with whitewashed houses

In the middle on the village we visited an unexpected site, the Katafiki cave that used to serve as a hideout from pirates. The name of the cave comes from the Greek word that meand refuge. It's a beautiful place to visit.

30 Results