My Alternative Travel Bucket List (Part 1)

My last post about Slovenia where I mentioned Dracula reminded me about 'my list'. Most people have a list of beautiful or historical sites they want to scratch off during their lives. My list however, contains a couple of places that I want to see that have connections to legends and fairytales. That's normal, yeah? My dad would tell ghost stories to me when I was little and I have always been fascinated with visiting the physical places connected to the takes. All of the below are in Europe but I am more than sure I'll pick up a few on my travels through South East Asia in the coming months. Silly maybe, but it keeps me happy.

Triora, Italy

I just heard of this lately. It's a sleepy little village in Liguria, Italy close to the border of France. In a few words, it is the Salem of Italy. A group of women were accused of witchcraft in the 16th Century by the inquisition and the usual, were tortured and burned alive, etc. But the town has embraced it's dark history. The site of the burnings still stands and there are witch shops, sign posts, sculptures and various witch 'relics' all around the town. Not to mention the many 'witch' related events round the year and the amazing backdrop.

Pied Piper of Hameln, Germany

We should all know the story of the Pied Piper. The man who turned up and cleared a town of its rats using a magical flute only to clear it of all its children as soon as the town officials refused to pay him for his service. This story has a location and it's in Germany as most good fairytales are. Let's be honest here, it's doubtful there was a magic flute involved but whatever the reason, the story hooked me.


Giants Causeway, Ireland
The Giants Causeway reeled me in when I was tiny. I haven't actually had the opportunity of visiting it. I kind of feel like 'saving it up' to visit with my future kids in years to come. If I feel like having kids. It's a site full of rock columns standing up straight and in prefect formation. What's the plot? Two giants wanting to fight so badly they build a bridge over the sea, not being able to fit in a boat and all. I need to educate myself on the details but the opposing giant ends up rushing back across the bridge over the sea, destroying the bridge as he ran. The Causeway is also a Unesco World Heritage site and mentioned as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the UK (being Northern Ireland.)

Glastonbury Tor, England
Glastonbury Tor
As a child I remember watching the movie 'The Sword in the Stone' over and over and over... But it wasn't for years that I realised that the site of the legend is connected with the famed Glastonbury. I don't need to go over the whole King Arthur story for you but there is a certain charm about swords being pulled from rocks, wizards, knights of the round table and crusades for the Holy Grail (whatever the Holy Grail was supposed to be, I don't know).

But Glastonbury really has it all. Not only does it have Avalon as a legend, it's mythical connections reach far into the past. The Tor has been claimed as a magic mountain, a faeries glass hill, a spiral castle, the Land of the Dead, a magnetic power-point, a centre for Goddess fertility rituals, Druid place of worship and not to mention a converging point for UFO's. Safe to say it has a bit of something for everyone.

Bran Castle, Romania
I can't believe my parents let me watch Dracula when I was about 7 but I am glad they did. It probably sparked a life-long obsession not only with the story written by Bram Stoker but the real story of Vlad Tepes and how the legend evolved down through the ages. Both stories differ but both are full of horror and gruesome detail. I don't know which attracts me more, hellish demon vampires or a tyrant King with a sadistic leaning. For sure it's on my list and if I'm honest, the whole reason I'm making it.


This is it for for now. Absolutely more to follow.

Bring Me Back to Slovenia

Since I started writing here, I have wanted to post a little piece on Croatia. But before I can settle myself to do that I have to write about the beautiful country of Slovenia (and before I bore you to tears about my impending travels in September). The reason being that in 2011 I took an interrail pass and traveled down through Slovenia, into Croatia, and back up through Munich to Holland. There is just too much to write about that I need to break it into pieces.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

 So, myself and himself took an overnight train from Utrecht to Munich and then hopped on another train straight to Ljubljana, Slovenia. The trains were all clean and comfortable but I'm telling you that in future I will be booking a cabin with a bed. Well worth it. Actually a guy that was on the train, we spotted him on our first night in Ljubljana busking on the main bridge. A year ago I walked passed him performing on Leidseplein in Amsterdam. Funny.


Now, I can't remember any of the names of the buildings, streets, bridges or monuments. Nor am I going to Google them for you. What I will tell you is that Ljubljana was a treasure that I didn't expect to find. It's clean and beautiful and feels like it could be Italy's back garden. The city centre is tiny and easy to navigate. We managed to arrive in the middle of some basketball championships and I remember that there were teams playing anywhere and everywhere they could. Which was nice. Actually, Ljubljana is the first and only place I ever thought 'you know, I could get married here' which is special because I'm pretty sure I don't even want to get married.

A few days there is enough. We decided to take a little excursion out of the city and got a bus inland to Lake Bled. I'll be honest, my motivation was that I heard it was the actual real resting place of Count Dracula (Vlad Tepis). I've got a list of these kinds of places I want to visit which I should really post about. Anyway, Lake Bled is an idyllic little spot. It's a mecca for wedding day pictures and lazy boat rides. To the left of the lake there is a small adventure centre. We (of course) managed to find a toboggan ride through a field of sheep that just made my trip. And we also rented a boat for an hour or so. I think it cost ten euros but well worth it to spend some time on the calm water.

Bled Island

Word of warning, only swim within the markings on the lake or you could be fined a couple hundred euros!

If I go back there, and I will, I would visit the underground caves that everyone was raving about and also the teeny bit of coast the country has in-between Italy and Croatia.

So this is the truth

I think it's safe to say I haven't been completely truthful with how much the travel bug has been eating away at me. I've got the notice handed in to work, the flights booked and the vaccination appointment made. Eeeek! It's becoming real.

So what's my plan? My plan is to leave Amsterdam on the 1st September, spend two weeks in Ireland and then jet off to South East Asia for a couple of months. It'll be the usual route of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. However, in Cambodia I'll be staying two months to volunteer in a school there. More info to come on that.

After volunteering I have two months to fill with whatever takes my fancy.

This is going to be epic.

Sunshine in Amsterdam

After posting about our little mini-break in Belgium I have to go ahead and talk about Amsterdam in the sun. Amsterdam would be the perfect city in the world if only the weather stayed warm and sunny. It's glorious in the sun. It's made for having dinner in the park with friends or taking a boat on the canals for the evening. Everyone is hoping that this year will be the year the weather turns around. Here's hoping.

Erasmus Park, Amsterdam

So what did I do that made the most of the weather? Not much. And it was fabulous. Myself and the bestie motored to Erasmus park around the corner from my house for about mid-day (might as well not interrupt the usual Saturday morning lie-in just because it's sunny), threw on some sun cream and stayed put until dinner time.

The next day I went back to claim my spot beside the canal, this time boyfriend in tow with a couple of baby sized badminton rackets to keep him busy. We ended our Sunday evening with a must-have selection of BBQ meats courtesy of Mr. Albert Heijn cooked on a foil disposable BBQ. Now, that's the life.

Rebooting in Belgium (and Maastricht)

It's been a week since we got back from Belgium but the holiday feeling hasn't left me yet. The Belgian Ardennes area is beautiful. I'm afraid none of my pictures or words can do it justice. Myself and himself had intended a little breakaway for ourselves considering that he's off to Munich for 7 months September onwards and God only knows what I'll be up to then.

Durbuy, Belgium.

I'll give you our personal highlights first:

• seeing a man pour out a bottle of suspicious looking apple-juice like liquid at a lay-by,
• watching another man in a mobility scooter let three children stroke his pet ferret, 
• not knowing whether to speak French, Flemish, Dutch or English to people (not that I can) and ending up spouting out a couple of Italian words instead (not that I can speak that either).
• having a waiter tell me that 'you're my hostage now' after himself had to go find an ATM for some cash to pay for a cappuccino.

Kayaking in Durbuy.

We picked the right spot for a night away. We didn't really have a clue where we were going but someone said Durbuy was beautiful so we pointed ourselves in that direction.

And Durbuy was very beautiful. Our first activity was kayaking 8km down a river. It was so peaceful and calm and with the combination of fresh air it felt like I was on cloud nine getting out of the boat. After that we took a little walk into the village and had a look at the castle and beautiful buildings, stopping here and there for Belgian fries and beer. Perfect combo.

Hotel Au Romain, Heyd, Belgium.

Our hotel was an old farmhouse/restaurant in the absolute middle of nowhere, Heyd, Belgium. The room was tiny, the floor was uneven and the window wouldn't close. It was perfect.

On the Sunday, we decided to get a tour of some underground caves in Remouchamps but not before driving through winding roads and forest. The countryside is so beautiful there that being in the car is a sightseeing tour. The caves are spectacular and boast the longest underground boat ride in all of Europe. Apart from the screaming children we were lucky enough to have on our tour this was a great way to spend an hour.

Underground caves,
Remouchamps, Belgium

Maastricht

We moved on to Maastricht for the afternoon. Neither of us had been there before and it was on our way home. Maastricht is beautiful. For the few short hours we spent there it seems to have it all, history, architecture, shopping, atmosphere and more. We wore ourselves out walking around and craning our necks to look up at centuries old plaques above the doors. We parked ourselves at the river front for a drink and a three course dinner for 17EUR each and to watch an impromptu salsa session take place at a bar across the road.

All in all, one of the best mini-trips I've had the opportunity to take. 

Belgian Breakaway

The travel bug has bitten me and it seems there is no cure. To resist the urge to book some long haul flights myself and himself booked a cheeky weekend in the Belgian Ardennes. I'm expecting rolling countryside dotted with medieval villages and farmhouses. Yay to last minute impulse bookings!

The itch

Traveling has always been on the cards. My whole life has been more or less been circling around it. The more I get to see, the more I want to see. The biggest itch so far came when visiting Croatia this summer with a friend. We only planned a week, thinking it was enough to re-motivate us for work and 'normal' life - whatever that is.

It did the opposite. 

Hmmm...time to start planning?

Onofrio's Fountain, Dubrovnik