A holiday within the holiday

 I have not been updating much as there has not been much to report. Currently on the south coast of Cambodia, on a beach called Otres just outside the town of Sihanoukville.

We have not been doing much at all. We planned to go to some islands, some villages... but the truth is that we hardly left the beach. We have been staying at a nice hostel, with our own little bungalow just off the beach. We met some new friends and the beach has got a very relaxed vibe which kind of sucks you in.

Our days have been filled with pizzas (there is an authentic Italian place our here where we have been celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this week) and buying fresh mangoes and seafood from the ladies that are walk up and down the beach. They also offered massages and how could you say no to a cheap massage on the beach?

Moved onto Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia today. We already have a visa for Vietnam and we are going to be get a bus from her straight to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) on the 8th.

Last few weeks of this adventure!

The butterfly island

With just 14 sq miles, the island of Favignana is the biggest one in the Aegadian Islands off the Sicilian city of Trapani. It is also known as the butterly island as it has the shape of a butterfly with some mountains right in the middle of it.

The Phoenicians used this island on their Mediterranean trading routes, until in 241 BC when the Romans defeated them in one of the Punic wars. One of the beaches on the island is actually called "Cala Rossa" in remembrance of the red blood spilled during these wars - the redness actually comes from a kind of clay in the sea.

Until the 80's, fishing and packing tuna was one of the main occupations on the island but now it has become a touristic paradise, with amazing seafood and views on the beaches... and the local seagull who's always near one of the fishmonger's on the main street, accustomed to the locals feeding him for entertaining purposes!

We eat and lounged on the beach, went for a boat tour, the water was 12 degrees as it's only the beginning of the season but still went for a (quick) dip and sun-bathed... the English way!! 

Let's not get too tanned!

We also celebrate a little bit of romantic time as it was our mini moon after the wedding in Italy! 

Back on the planning wagon!

And we are back! 

Doing a bit of research on health requirements for travelling, all while finishing up work, getting ready to move out, putting our stuff in storage and, why not, finishing up the last bits of our Italian wedding+holidays!

This is how my notepad looks like:

This is how I imagine what my first few days will look like:

Not long at all now, 38 days and counting!! 

The Paris of the East

A long week end in Budapest was a nice mid-winter break (not to mention a brief honeymoon!) 

Budapest is a city over the Danube river - its unification goes back to November 1873. Buda is on the west bank of the river and Pest is on the east bank.

We could taste a lot of nice hearty and food at the Christmas Markets on Vörösmarty square - I think this is a pork skewer with some cabbage!

This is the Hungarian Parliament Building (I took a picture while "cruising" on the Danube) - it is the largest building in all of Hungary and the tallest in Budapest. 

 My favourite part was absolutely the Széchenyi Thermal Baths - only a few minutes outside the city centre... the water comes from 2 different thermal springs. The outside pool is 38°C and the outside temperature was about 4°C - you can get massages, go into the Finnish sauna and run ice on yourself before you go back to the the hot pool!

 

Night view from the Danube River

Bologna love

Just spent a few days in my hometown, Bologna. 

Sometimes I forget how pretty it is... and then I remind myself there must be a reason why I am getting married here next year!

This is the Basilica of Saint Petronius - the first stone was laid in 1390 and it is an impressive landmark in Bologna city centre. The front of the church has been undergoing massive restoration works and it has been hidden for the last 3years. It looks stunning now!

Another thing that keeps me coming back here is my amazing friends and family... 

Always there for me, no matter what the distance and all you need is a pizza order to get together and act like this! I love them.

Flying back to the UK this afternoon - with a suitcase full of cheese and heartful of love! 

Tudo muito bom

Spent just under a week in Portugal. 

Lisboa is a really nice city, lovely and sunny walks along the sea front. 

Not to mention the coffee - they really know how to rock it in continental Europe (soz UK!) 

The city has still got some of his medieval flavour - the Alfama quarter constituted the whole Portuguese city during the times of the Moorish domination.

And you can hop on the bright Tram 28 - it goes up very narrow street, with very sharp corners so hold on tight!

And this is Rua Augusta Arch, to commemorate the city reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake.

She was a day-tripper!

Summer is pretty much finished - weather hasn't been great for the last week or so, already caught my first cold of the season... But I had time to do some day trips here and there while the sun was still shining on the British Islands. 

Me and my dad went for a day out in New Brighton - just across the river from Liverpool. The wind was really strong but we had a nice day out on English beach, with all that involves: fish&chips, lots of sand blown everywhere by the wind and a pint in the beer garden!

The lighthouse at New Brighton beach ... the water was cooooold!

Also took a day trip to York - only got to spend a few hours there but loved it. Old pubs, old cobbled street and the York Minster, the old Cathedral dates back to 1220 and it reminded me of the churches on the continent....  

The last trip of all was a week end in Edinburgh, in occasion of the Fringe Festival. It's the largest art festival in the world, with more than 300 venues and show going on until late at night ... the comedian of the one we saw at 00:45 am started  the show asking "how dirty do you want this to get?" The city is beautiful but it gets even more lively, busy and intense over the month of August when the festival is on. Managed to see 12 show in 3 days, we really packed it but I had a really nice time and I cannot wait to go back for the third round next year! 

The Edinburgh Castle, built on a volcanic rock

Suitcases

On a whim, my uncle and his family - who were in London on holidays, came to see me in Liverpool. A long bus tour from the capital but the city presented them with some sun (!!) and I was very happy to see them.

I have been away from Italy for over six years and, the way things are now, chances are I am not going to go back. Your family goes on without you and you learn to live without them - but the love and the feeling that you have that something you are always going to share with them knows no boundaries.

It was so lovely to have a chat with them and talk about memories and people with all know. We also went to the Beatles Museum, had fish&chips, visited Chinatown and went for a walk on Albert Dock :)

And this is us: sitting on John King's 1998 sculpture, A Case History - in Hope Street, Liverpool. It's a group of various suitcase and luggage, all in concrete and scattered on the side of the road. They belong to known people linked with Liverpool - but to me it's more like an analogy with my life. Away from home but trying to make a home and feeling at home.  

Day out in Venice, "the Queen of the Adriatic"

On a flying visit from the UK to Bologna, we took a day out to go to Venezia, Venice, Venedig... The city built on 118 different little islands, famous for the canals and the gondolas.

The view from the bridge just outside the station of S. Lucia

I had been there before and I clearly remember the feeling of walking out from the station, right onto the canals and to think that this city was something special. We only had a few hours to explore, we went to the most famous Piazza San Marco and had a look at the Palazzo Ducale.

We walked around until we reached the "Ponte dei Sospiri" - the Italian for Bridge of Sighs. The bridge name, given by Lord Byron in the 19th century, comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.

Il Ponte dei Sospiri

On the Ponte di Rialto

I am Robin Hood

Was meeting with a friend halfway through the UK:
me: Liverpool - she: London - us: Nottingham, for the week end.


We were busying ourselves with: 

visiting the castle, having a drink in the oldest pub in England (the "Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn" established in 1189AD), having a nice Thai dinner (not so old), having another drink in a studentish pub , visiting the Old Gaol (really nice interactive museum, were the guides tell you stories and you are pretending to be a convict! if only they really did send me off to Australiaaaaa), having a drink in a magnificent church that has been turned into a bar!

An auld door at the Castle

The Church-bar 

Happy New Year (of the horse)!

Yes, I know... December is long gone but the Chinese come round in their own time.

Went down to celebrate Chinese New Year in Liverpool - which is allegedly the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Saw the dragon, smelled the fireworks (I am really short), ate some siu mei (well, I think...) and browsed around the Asian supermarkets in city centre.  

Now I fancy some seaweed pringles. 

the Chinese arch in Liverpool 

and the dragon!

Sunshine in Dublin

Just nipped over to Dublin over the week end: flight is so short you don't even get to read you magazine but it was nice to be back and enjoy some summertime, the Irish way.

Surprisingly enough - I did not even feel like I was in Ireland. We went to this very secluded stoney beach in Co. Wicklow ... I felt like I was somewhere like Sardinia! Blue sea (freezing... but nevermind!), scorching sun and lovely company!

Went back to Dun Laoghaire... just in time for a spin on the fair - and yes, feeling like a teenager again! I was actually holding on to the rail as I was scared... well... not too much!

And, after saying good bye to everyone and having a bit of bacon&cabbage (Irish people will know!), went to get my lovely flight... at 11pm on a Sunday night! I was not much company the next day in work but I had an amazing week end nonetheless!

The Great British Summer

It has been surprisingly hot in the last few days in the UK... they call it a heatwave! Temperatures have gone all the way up to the late 20s and British people never fail to complain about the weather... rain or shine!

But it has been really enjoyable... and I got to do British-in-the-summer time things that do not involved umbrellas and cups of tea!

I felt like a true German on holidays,  lying on the towel before 10am at a beach near Formby, in the UK... they also have these "Iron Men" statues that look like people swimming when the tide is in!  - to this my mother said it was an example of British humour, but I am not sure she knows what she is talking about!

Once I got the tan out of the way (who knew English sun could burn!!), I proceeded with another passtime of mine: food! Barbeque at the ready - well... a little small one from the pound shop but sure! We still managed to burn the buns while the cider was warming up in the sun!