Tag: City

Manila Vanilla

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We just liked saying Manila Vanilla, unfortunately there’s no vanilla in Manila. 

Almost every traveller we talked to recommended skipping Manila, or staying for as little time as possible. Given that Dan and I enjoy cities more than most, we thought we would give Manila a chance and stay for two nights. As it turns out, the city is filthy, crowded and the traffic is absolutely horrendous. And there’s really not much to see other than doing a day trip to a volcano which we hadn’t planned on. So, in retrospect, I would probably have to agree with everyone and not recommend Manila as a must-see city, or even one to bother with at all (especially if you are short for time, which we weren’t). Continue reading →

Malaysia

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From Thailand, our goal was to get to Singapore – in the most scenic way possible. I mean, why take a direct train through Malaysia when you can island hop from Thailand?? So of course that’s what we did. The ferries between islands cost a significant bit more than the buses on the mainland but we decided it was worth it to see the Malaysian islands of Langkawi and Penang before finally landing on peninsular Malaysia and busing to Kuala Lumpur.

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Dubai: The World’s Biggest Everything

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A stopover in Dubai en-route to India was an obvious choice for us as almost all flights from Europe to Asia go through Dubai. Most flights arrive late in the evening/early morning and the connecting flights leave hours later. We thought it would be much better to spend a couple days gawking at the engineering marvels in Dubai. Since the early 2000’s Dubai has been dumping money into infrastructure and luxury accommodation to attract tourists and has become a city of the world’s biggest/best everything. As an example of how far the country will go to attract tourists you just have to look at the Palm Islands: because the beautiful pristine coastline wasn’t long enough for the amount of tourists, Dubai built the Palm Islands with the first (Palm Jumeirah) adding 78 kilometers of beach to the city and another two islands are in the works. Continue reading →

Budapest: My New Favourite European City

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Budapest has it all. Seriously, within a few hours of being there I had settled on the fact that it was my favourite city so far in Europe. And that’s not an easy feat, we’ve covered most of the ‘must-see’ European cities: Reykjavik, London, Brussels, Paris, Zurich, Rome, Florence, Milan, Venice, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Athens, Munich, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, Vienna, and Bratislava. Yes, I admit we’ve missed a few, but you get the point. I thought Budapest would be cool, but I didn’t expect that much – and it blew my expectations away. The city just has so much to offer from modern vegan and raw food eateries to wine bars and hip cafes to a huge influx of craft beer and brewed-in-house bars to organic food markets and Christmas markets all mixed with traditional markets and delis selling Hungarian sausage and around the corner from a crumbling church hundreds of years old is a crumbling building turned into a Ruin Bar. I mean, every European city is a complex mix of hundreds (usually thousands) of years of history and modernization (which in many ways is synonymous to Westernization) but Budapest seemed to pull off the mix of new and old best. It has managed to keep it’s complex and lengthy history alive while showcasing how far the economy and people have come in the past decade. Continue reading →

A Day of Food in Ljubljana

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I have always wanted to do a food tour. I’ve heard so much about them from friends and fellow travellers expressing what a great way they are to experience a new city/country. We looked into it in Venice but it was insanely expensive. So, the next day we scheduled a food tour through old town Ljubljana with “ljubljananjam.” The company is a one-woman show; Iva was enthusiastic and energetic, she clearly loves her job as much as she loved food. Continue reading →

Our Fav’s

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Favourite Tropical Vacation Spot: Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

Favourite Ruins: Machu Picchu, Peru – As ridiculously expensive as this place is, it is worth every penny.

Favourite Waterfall: Iguazu Falls, Argentina/Brazil – Make sure to visit the falls from both countries, the different viewpoints are worth it.

Favourite City to Visit: It’s almost impossible to chose one, so here’s our top three:

  1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (especially during Carnival)
  2. Medellin, Colombia
  3. Miraflores, Lima, Peru (oddly Peru has three mentions on this list but as a country as a whole, we disliked it)

HONORARY  MENTION: Chiang Mai, Thailand – We spent a couple days here on a previous trip and absolutely loved it, which is why we are going to spend a whole month in the city in the Winter of 2016. Stayed tuned for a detailed post.

Favourite Wine Region: Maipu, Argentina

–> Italy is filled with wine as well, but the entire experience in Argentina was something else. Much more so than we found anywhere in Europe. In Croatia we visited a winery advertising “wine tasting” and when we showed up the response was “what do you want?”; you had to pay per glass and when we asked our options, they were bluntly put “red, white, or rose” with not details about the grapes.

Favourite Glacier: Perito Moreno, Patagonia, Argentina

–> Another perspective that is equally beautiful but very different: Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, Iceland

Favourite Sunset: Máncora, Peru – This town deserves a mention on this list not only for it’s sunsets but its laid back vibe and our awesome beach bungalow

Most Picturesque Beach: Varadero, Cuba

Most Fun Beach: Montanita, Ecuador – it had everything from the best surf to the best parties, beautiful sand and endless beach, along with international food, bars and shops

Favourite (most unique) Landscapes: Iceland – Iceland has an incredibly diverse landscape in a very small area and you will find something new and stunning around every corner (highly recommend renting a car here!)

–> A close second is Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Favourite Foodie Spots:

A top list is necessary in this case:

  1. Miraflores, Lima, Peru (La Mar – you have to go there)
  2. Juayua Food Festival, El Salvador (something completely different, tasty and unique)
  3. Playa del Carmen, Mexico (There’s much more quality to offer here than in resort-covered Cancun: Ceviche Tacos are my first choice, with guac, tacos, burritos and fajitas not far behind)
  4. Modena, Italy (It’s amazing how many specialties and delicacies originated here, and everyone proudly shows it off)

Cheapest Country: Nicaragua

–> El Salvador might have been cheaper but we didn’t spend long enough there to judge and it has less to offer (it’s REALLY small)

Let us know what else you’d like to here our favourites on in the comments below and we’ll update the list!

Milan: 2015 Formula 1 Grand Prix & International World Expo

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We had one main reason to go to Milan: the Formula 1 Grand Prix. We booked tickets before we even left for Europe and scheduled our whole route through Italy (which doubled back through Milan) so we could be there on the day of the race. Tickets were 85 EUR each for general admission, and of course, not within our daily budget, but there are some things worth splurging for and we deemed this as one. Continue reading →