Chalkidiki is not far from Thessaloniki, which I posted about earlier! It's a beautiful region with lots of ancient history (and places in Greek mythology!) and it's famous for its olives and olive oil, but my main recommendation is the restaurant above, called Vosporos Grill ;P
Took a daytrip from Greece to Albania and spent most of it at this random castle we found as we were looking for a place to eat. Did not see much of the country but planning to go back in the future (:
Nice city, lots of old buildings (big fan!!) and interesting history, enjoyed just walking around the old city centre more than the standard tourist sight seeing things. Be aware it rains there about 360 days per years (sliiiightly exaggerated) so summer time is the best for visiting if you want to leave your raincoat at home!
In the category "countries most people have never even heard of" I present you: Malta! It's an island below Sicily (Italy), has been inhabited for over 8000 (!!!) years already. It is gorgeous, has a rich history, not expensive, great food, great weather, great people, would absolutely recommend!
Fancied some ice cream short after arriving in Thessaloniki and got this monstrosity the size of my head :D
Did not find better ice cream during my trip there but also never managed to find the truck again hahah, it was around the White Tower somewhere
Beautiful country, lots of interesting things to do and see, great food (do not ask them who invented baklava though ;P), lotsss of cute cats and friendly people!
Beautiful place with a very long and rich history, but do yourself a favor and do not go in August unless you like the canned sardine experience ;P
But even in the high season there are calm places to find in Venice, can not remember where this picture was taken as all the streets look too much like the next :')
i was a bit confused at first as it is soo much different straight from a coconut vs what you buy in the supermarket but it's actually really good! this was at playa de la bajadilla iirc in mallorca spain, but I imagine they taste similar elsewhere :P
happy i speak the transnational cat language of pspspssp :P
Overlay flights
Pick the long overlay, better to be bored than stressed (or missing your flight), I speak from experience as Frankfurt airport became a maze when I had 30 minutes to catch my next flight
Airport lounge
If you arrived early or have a layover, check your creditcard company! Many creditcards come with added benefits such as access to airport lounges
Flight attendants
Be friendly to the flight attendants, when boarding the plane and during the flight. They have enough to do and enough grumpy passengers already, and if you ever need something they'll be more happy to help!
Sleeping
Most people think of a travel pillow but forget the thing that helps you fall asleep: warm hands and feet! With all the AC in a plane your feet can need a bit of help to become and stay warm, bring warm (compression) socks!
Booking online
Websites that sell planetickets are known for keeping track of your online behavior and increase the prices depending on that. Use incognito mode for booking tickets and do not go back to the same page several times, they will notice and smack on another 100.
Hydration
BRING WATER BRING MORE WATER AND BUY MORE WATER!! Flights will dehydrate you, make sure you drink enough water. If you have a long flight or are dehydrated easily, you can bring rehydration supplements/ORS/elektrolytes!
Easy access carry-on
Organize your carry-on in a way that all the things you need before and during your flight are easily reachable. I take an empty toiletry bag and add my charger, books, mp3, headphones and whatever else I might need during the flight so that you don't have to dig through your socks and pants in the middle of the airplaine aisle to find what you need!
These things make my travels a lot easier, feel free to add your tips below!
For different pictures than the daytime pictures when standing directly in front of the Eiffel Tower (which are nice!!) you can also cross the Seine over the pont d'Iéna bridge unto Port Debilly (where the boats are) and take great pictures in the evening / night when the lights of the Eiffel Tower are on! If you're lucky you will catch it sparkling. Also less other people in the background, if that is something you prefer! (:
On the topic of France & Paris, one of my favorite bakeries / patisseries: Emma Duvéré Pâtisserie at 41 Rue Sedaine!
The one I'm holding in the picture here is the Cherry Danish, would eat 12 of them in one sitting 10/10 would recommend! Also not too busy and not $$$ at all (it can get wild with prices in Paris lol, this is not one of those)
Last year I did a trip to the region of Omaha Beach, the place where the allies came ashore during WW2. It was very impressive, emotional at times, if you think about all the men that came there to fight and free Europe, not knowing if they would ever come home.
If you ever want to do a proper WW2 history trip in France, these are the places I really recommend:
Omaha Beach
Impressive place, a big memorial and still bunkers (Widerstandsnest) that you can see and enter. Just a few hundred meters away there is a large American cemetery, for the buried and missing soldiers.
A few km westward from Omaha Beach (car is useful, bike is possible), you find La Pointe du Hoc, a large cliff climbed by many Americans during D-Day. The craters of bombs and artillery are still clearly visible.
Another 10km or so westward you can find Utah Beach, another entry point. There is a museum with real bomber airplanes.
Bayeux and it's Musée Mémorial Bataille de Normandie, large museum with a chronological display of D-Day, in Bayeux you can also find the British Memorial Cemetry. It's very close to Omaha Beach.
On the other side of Bayeux you can find Juno Beach, where the Canadians arrived. Here too you can find bunkers and memorials.
In Caen you can find the Mémorial de Caen, a museum built directly on top of a German command bunker (which you can visit as well! it even has old German paint on the walls warning to be quite because the enemies are listening). The museum also has an exhibition of the Cold War if that's up your alley.
All in all I'd recommend to go to Bayeux and rent a car there (unless you came with your own car ofc), if you have 2-3 days you have the time to see, experience and ponder everything. Best season is April - end of September ish, France can be very cold and rainy. And although it adds to the atmosphere (I myself got caught in a rainstorm there), it is more comfortable with decent weather. On the other side with good weather sometimes people will swim on Juno Beach, which can be a bit unsettling if you're in a war memorial mood. If you come on or just after D-Day, the headstones on the cemetries will be rubbed with sand, but it is more busy. Up to your own preferences!
I am probably biased but there are manyyyyy cool things to do in see in the city of love, Paris! I'm a bit of a history nerd and if you are not you might want to skip the churches and museums other than the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe haha.
museums:
pretty buildings & churches:
pretty parks:
misc:
weird but cool category:
visit the city underneath the city:
things you can skip unless you reaaaally want to:
Going up the Eiffel tower, you'll be waiting 3 hours
The instagram restaurants and cafés, often overpriced, heavily crowded and the food is not that more amazing or blatantly worse than a local spot
Also remember Paris can be quite cold and rainy so come in the summer months if you want the smallest chance of bad weather!
Located in Arasta Çarşısı shopping mall :)
During the summer the lights of the Trevi Fountain are on all night and as most tourists are asleep it is not busy at all and makes for a great photoshoot moment. There are people living right around the Trevi Fountain though so keep that in mind regarding making noise!
Went on a whim, the weather was still pretty good and wayyy less tourists than when I went in July earlier. Still one of my favorite cities, endless sightseeing, friendly people and not to forget amazing food!
If you know where you want to go, book early! The other option is booking last minute as places often have discounts to fill their seats & rooms, but you will have less options.
Research what you want to do, where you want to eat and where supermarkets are beforehand, so you don't overspend impulsively!
Eat where the locals eat, skip the places filled with tourists. Especially around the Mediterranean sea there are lots of places that function solely on tourists and they charge more than a local would ever pay. Ask a worker in the hotel or a local on the street where they like to go for authentic local food with local prices :)
What I was talking about in yesterdays post, finally found the picture haha. It was a bit cloudy but still great for taking pictures!