The sea is quite calm today so we all got out for a swim to the huge floaties that are set up off the pier and the beach for all hotel guests to play. The beach is private so only people from the resort can go there and for those lazy enough to walk the […]
Antalya, after Paris and London, is the third most visited city in the world by international arrivals. When you are out and about or even at our hotel you can hear just about every language being spoken. There are people here from everywhere, each corner of the world seems to be well represented. Antalya which is located […]
Old Antalya called Kaleiçi: the historical center of the city is the equivalent of the old town in a European city. There is a number of very old and famous landmarks that we got to see other than the Mosques. Some of the old monuments include the ancient City Walls, Hıdırlık Tower, Hadrian’s Gate (also […]
No visit to Antalya would be complete without a visit to a traditional bazar which is where a lot of people come to shop for everything from fruits and vegetables and spices to clothing, purses, glasses, dishes and just about everything else you can imagine. There is a lot of yelling and haggling. Just about everything you […]
There are a lot of Mosques in Antalya. The ones in the Old Antalya, Kaleiçi, are old and quite famous. There are mosques and churches which date back to 2 A.D. One of them is the Kesik Minare (Broken Minaret) standing in the streets of Kaleiçi. Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque) with a 38 meter minaret, originally decorated […]
First stop on our tour of Antalya’s old city is the Hadrian’s Gate. The gate was built in the name of the Roman emperor Hadrian, who visited Antalya in the year 130. It has three arched gates and used to be a two story structure. According to the legend, Sultan Belkis, the Queen of Sheba, is said […]
After a rather disappointing dinner at the Ottoman restaurant, mainly because of bad service, we set off once again for a bit of a stroll across the beach. Not only to take in the great views but also to enjoy a bit of the summer breeze coming off the Mediterranean, perfect for cooling off after a […]
Another part of the complex where we are staying in Antalya is a huge beach with 2000 loungers, beds, and cabanas. The best part of the beach though is the pier. The pier itself is on two levels with lots of loungers and a bar that serves refreshments from dusk to dawn. It is always […]
Today for dinner, instead of doing the usual buffet, we are going to the seafood restaurant on the beach. There are two restaurants there which we have access to, one is a seafood place and the other one is an Ottoman Restaurant with a traditional Turkish food, which we are set to try tomorrow. There […]
There appears to be about one thousand ways to get into the pool and the kids are determined to try them all. From jumping and diving to aerial acrobatics to slides and splashes. We get up and get out to eat, we sit by the pool, we get out to eat, we sit by the […]
We spent the entire day doing nothing. Other than eating way too much and lazying around the pool. Essentially the kids spent 8 hours in the pool almost without breaks. We did not manage to get up for breakfast which ended at 10:30 so we had lunch at 1:30 instead. After dinner we went across […]
The only downside of coming early is the waiting to check it. After sitting around and looking at the world go by for what seemed like forever we have finally checked in. The room is exactly as expected if not better. We have a great 2 bedroom suite with a large living room and a […]
No trip of ours is without its little adventures. We arrived in Antalya just around 7 am as scheduled. With nothing to declare we walked out of the airport in no time into sweltering heat of 28C. We were informed that our shuttle will take us to the hotel as per our reservation. We boarded […]
We have boarded and waiting to take off and get there. Flying out in the middle if the night maximizes vacation time.
We are setting off to Antalya for a week long holiday. After a long year in school we are off to seek a bit of sunshine in an all inclusive resort where we plan on doing absolutely nothing at all, other than eating, drinking, sleeping and lazying by the pool.
For a small city, Wurzburg like a lot of other small cities in Europe we have visited, has a lot of offer. It is a vibrant city with great history, amazing sites and friendly and hospitable people. We spent two great days here and if we could we would be back again in a heartbeat.
It is summer! No matter where we go there is a bachelor or bachelorette party. Evelina got to participate in one when we were in Wurzburg today. The premise of these parties is as follows. The bride or groom to be is the object of constant ridicule in public as his entourage is getting drunk. He […]
No visit to an old European city would be complete without an obligatory visit to a church or two. We visited a lot of churches on our last excursion here but there are some which we did not get to. Particularly the church at the Merienberg Fortress, the Cathedral Cloisters which were closed last time […]
We are back at the Wurzburg Residence for a stroll around the gardens. When we were here last time a lot of flowers were being planed or just coming out of the ground. Today all flowers are in full bloom as are trees and shrubs and just about everything else that grows. There were a […]
We are back to Wurzburg. There are a few things we did not get to see on our first visit here and since the city is so beautiful, the weather is great and we have time before our holidays we drove out for a second look. Marienberg Fortress is a prominent landmark on the Main […]
Today is our last day at Ai Casoni and in Italy on this trip. We started off with a lovely breakfast at the agriturismo and on the way out we got a case of Prosecco to enjoy at home then off we went to a shopping outlet just outside Treviso. After a bit of shopping a nice […]
After an exhausting day in Venice we are back at Ai Casoni Agriturismo. Today we are going to try and eat like the locals do – a proper 3 course Italian dinner. Right at the start we passed on the small antipasti as we had it before and know full well that it is anything […]
As tourists, we are usually very conscious of our surroundings. There are places in Europe where you see the pick pocket warnings – mostly in larger cities around the main tourists sites. Getting robbed is not something anyone wants to experience, getting robbed willingly is a different story all together. This brings me up to Caffe […]
Our arrival in Venice took a bit of time this morning but our departure was a lot more organized. We had a great time here and we are so glad that we came here for a second look. After the Basilica and the Bell Tower we slowly started heading back to the car, visiting 100 […]
Another item on our agenda today was the bell tower of St. Mark’s Basilica which is one of Venice’s most recognizable landmarks. The current tower is an early 20th century reconstruction of the original tower which completely collapsed in 1902. The tower took 10 years to rebuilt and it is an exact replica of the […]
One of the things we did not get to do last time we were here was to see the inside of St. Mark’s Basilica. The Basilica is famous for it’s 8000 m2 of gold tiled ceilings. This time around the lineups were very short so we went for it, it only took about 15 min for us […]
We are back at Ai Casoni Agriturusmo in Italy for the weekend. We are going to sit back and relax and do a bit of shopping. We enjoyed our last stay here so we thought we would go for round two!
We are going to Ai Casoni which is the same Agriturismo we stayed at when Anna’s parents were here. It is a lovely little place with amazing food, hosts and atmosphere. Last time we were here we came from Ljubljana- today we drove right from Nuremberg. As we planned our way down, part of the […]
After an exhausting weekend we are going home. It is a beautiful Sunday with some sun and a lot of big fluffy clouds in the sky which makes this a perfect drive. This was a busy weekend and we are glad to have come out here to see Metz. This is a great city to […]
The Centre Pompidou-Metz is a museum of modern and contemporary arts in Metz. It is a branch of Pompidou arts centre of Paris, and features semi-permanent and temporary exhibitions from the large collection of the French National Museum of Modern Art, the largest European collection of 20th and 21st century arts. The museum is the […]
We stumbled upon this little place in the morning as we were exploring the area around our hotel. It looked good, the menu looked enticing and it was just secluded enough and suficciently away from the main street to be worth a consideration for dinner. This is not an easy thing to do because Metz is not a […]
It is now 7:30 pm and this concludes our exploration of Metz for today. We have seen most of the historic city, we have been shopping twice, we have been to the hotel to relax twice and we sat down for a small coffee break, some crapes and a drink. Metz is very small, about […]
The Arsenal Concert Hall is a cultural venue dedicated specially to Classical and Erudite musics and located near the Esplanade garden in Metz. The Arsenal is home to the French National Orchestra of Lorraine and almost 200 events are spread over the season period between September and June. The Arsenal has gained wide recognition as […]
It is believed the Temple Chapel in Metz, rare in Lorraine for it octagonal design, was built about 1180 with additional reconstruction work in 1220, and the surrounding Templar structures destroyed following the dissolution of the order following the Friday 13th arrest of Templars by the agents of King Phillip IV in 1307. The small […]
This building was originally built in 380 AD as a gymnasium for a Roman spa complex. In the 7th century, the structure was converted into a church, becoming the chapel of a Benedictine nunnery. A new nave was constructed in the 11th century with further interior renovations. In the 16th century, the building became a […]
The Esplanade is a giant park in the heart of Metz. It is bordered by the courthouse, the Arsenal, the Templar chapel and the Basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains and it overlooks the valley of the Mosellle. This garden mainly consists of linden and chestnut trees with a large fountain in the centre and a lot of flowers. The World […]
The Germans’ Gate from the 13th century is one of the last medieval bridge castles found in France. As a historic Garrison town, Metz has been heavily influenced by military architecture throughout its history. From ancient history to the present, the city has been successively fortified and modified to accommodate the troops stationed there. Defensive walls from classical antiquity […]
The Church of St. Eucaire, was built in the fifth century, it was extensively damaged during the French Revolution. It is dedicated to the Bishop of Trier Eucharius. The church is currently undergoing a massive renovation. Its claim to fame are the relics of St. Blaise who at one point saved a boy who was […]
A short walk from the Cathedral at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers is the New Protestant Temple. After German annexation, Metz became a showcase city of Wilhelmine empire. The architectural eclecticism is reflected by the appearance of many buildings in the Romanesque Revival style, Central Post Office, the New Temple or a […]
There are a lot of churches here, some old, some newer, some very large and some small. All great in their own right, all steeped in history. Metz Cathedral is no different. Saint-Étienne de Metz (French for “Saint-Stephen of Metz”), also known as Metz Cathedral, is a historic Roman Catholic cathedral in Metz, capital of Lorraine, […]
The Church of St. Martin is one of the oldest Catholic parish church of Metz. The church has been rebuilt and remodelled a number of times over the course of the history. Its construction dates from the late twelfth century or early thirteenth century. The massive pillars, and the overall arrangement of them is reminiscent of […]
A few steps away from the hotel on a quiet little street behind some government buildings is Le Dauphine. A small bistro where we had dinner. Long story short, if you are in Metz looking for a single portion of steak tartar that is well spiced and large enough to feed a small village this […]
We have arrived – in fabulous Metz. Metz has a rich 3,000-year-history, having variously been a Celtic oppidum, an important Gallo-Roman city, the Merovingian capital of the Austrasia kingdom, the birthplace of the Carolingian dynasty, a cradle of the Gregorian chant, and one of the oldest republics of the common era in Europe. The city has […]
We are going to call this an Italian adventure in Germany on the way to France. We set off to Metz about 2 hours later than we though but we got going at a really good pace, at least initially so we were not worried. We knew that there would be some traffic just outside Hockenheim because […]
We are setting off to Metz, France for the weekend. Metz is a very old and beautiful city with a lot of history. This time we are staying right in the centre of the old town – should be a lot of fun.
We have been on this adventure now for 421 days or 1 year, 1 month and 25 days. It has to be said that we love being here and if it was possible we would stay here for good. Europe is quite grand with its 1000 year old cathedrals and glorious piazzas amazing parks historical artifacts and […]
While in Rome, our busy schedule did not allow us to meet with Papa Francesco! However, not long after the visit to the Vatican we noticed that one of our blog posts was checked out and favoured by – Cardinal Giuseppe, the right hand man of Papa Francesco himself! Turns out Cardinal Giuseppe is quite […]
Updated travel map. We have added a few new wonderful places mainly in Italy and of course Berlin, but there is still a lot more to see – a lot more and we can’t wait to explore it. Google Maps
It is hard to capture the beauty of this road from a moving car. The views are simply breathtaking and spectacular, and I think for this reason alone we prefer to drive to these destinations. Tuscany is gorgeous, with its golden hills and winding roads, cypresses and vineyards and villas and towns perched on the top of […]
We are actually not stopping here to extend our holiday. We simply stopped here on the way home because we wanted to get back to one of our favourite restaurants – Quertze. We were too late for lunch and too early for dinner so we had a lunch by the lake, a little stroll by […]
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