Travel Adventures- Amalfi Coast, Italy

As usual, sorry I haven't posted much recently! I want to try and finish off these travel posts from my summer holiday so that I can more onto other content, and especially some more Christmassy bits and pieces. 

So our next stop on the cruise was Napels, and we decided to rather drive all along down the Amalfi coast, which was absolutely stunning and one of my favourite places on this trip! Driving along the coast through narrow windy roads that are super high-up on the mountains, just a barrier away from the deep cliff down to the sea is just so beautiful and picturesque. The sea was so beautifully blue and endless, and you can see for miles ahead all the upcoming little fishing villages and towns. If you're looking for stunning views, this is definitely the place to be. 

The first place we stopped at was this really sweet little Italian town called Positano. The whole town is situated on a steep mountain side (as most of the towns in this area are), and so to get down to the beach, you walk down the one main road that winds and weaves its way all the way down to the pebbled beach. The bottom half of this road is mainly for pedestrians only, so you park right up near the top and walk down. All along the sides of the road there are cute little shops, restaurants and gelato stops and other touristy places. It was so lovely to just take our time walking down and explore some of these places. The region is also known for their lemons, so make sure to try so delicious lemon granita or limoncello! As for the beach itself, the shore is made of black pebbles, which despite being super pretty, isn't ideal in terms of comfort, and does get really hot on a hot day, but the water was absolutely beautiful! Its so cool to swim in the sea right there and look up the mountainside that this whole town is built on, looming above you. We didn't have too long in Positano, but I absolutey loved it, and it seemed like a really relaxing place to spend a while, and there looked like there were some lovely places to stay. 

We continued to drive further along the coast to our next stop, Sorento. Sorento is actually quite different from Positano but the coast is equally as wonderful! I really enjoyed wandering through the town here, and we also had some of the most delicious pizza, as only Italy can do! There is also one really long street (I seem to have forgotten the name of it) that is known to be packed with loads of shops and retail stores, some touristy, some a bit more authentic. The road is colourful and loud and really lovely to have a wander down. It's packed with shops of all types- clothing, leather, touristy trinkets, lemon products of all kinds and lots more, so thats also a lovely thing to do while there. 

Another thing that's quite cool to do if you're anywhere near Napels of the Amalfi Coast is to visit Pompeii, as it isn't too far away and is just so interesting. Pompeii's ancient ruins of a city that once was, is just so fascinating and really not like anything I'd experienced before. I think the best way to see and understand the place and its history is actually to get a tour guide or pamphlet of sorts, as without it we were a bit lost as to what to do first, and what meant what, but despite this, it was really so fascinating and a cool, interesting thing to do. 

The Amalfi coast just had this wonderful charm to it and really captured my heart. Italy is filled with vibrance and vitality, and I just really loved experiencing this part of it and these sweet little towns. 

Pompeii

Travel Adventures: Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, Spain was the starting city of our cruise and was a place I was really excited to visit because I had heard amazing things about this city and had never been to Spain. Barcelona is a fury of colour, beauty and activity. I think the thing that initially caught my attention the most is that it is very green and filled with nature despite being such a built-up metropolis. Everywhere you go, there are beautiful pavements and promenades lined with stunning green trees, flower beds around every corner, and parks and greenery everywhere you look, making the city absolutely stunning! As we only had one day in Barcelona, we hired a personal tour guide to drive us around to see as much of the city as possible and get a real feel for it. 

One of my favourite places we visited was Park Güell, which is this big park system type thing composed of beautiful gardens, stunning architecture, sculptures and designs. The architectural aspects of the park were designed by a famous architect of the time called Antoni Gaudí. The buildings and spaces are all strange and bizarre and a whole new, different approach to architecture, especially for that time. It was honestly one of the most interesting and beautiful attractions I've been to. I would highly recommend visiting this place, it is just so different and so beautiful, filled with the most amazing colourful mosaics, different designs and arches, and lovely views over the rest of the city. When you walk in there are buildings that look like gingerbread houses dipped in a white frosting of mosaics, and in between the attractions, the park itself is beautiful and filled with blooming flowers. One of my favourite parts was this huge open courtyard/gravel area right at the top, which looks out over Barcelona, and all around the edge/railings of the space is this a mosaic wall/bench that you can sit on, filled with the most beautiful and colourful mosaics all around the huge perimeter. 

Gaudí actually has a lot of other stunning architecture in Barcelona, and that's what we headed to go see next. Sagrada Família is this enormous beautiful church in the middle of Barcelona. Gaudí died in the midst of its consturction and so it is actually still incomplete. But despite this, it is honestly one of the most breath-taking buildings I have ever seen. It's actually quite overwhelming and spans the whole stretch of one block. Gaudí's whole philosophy on architecture was to do stuff differently and introduce shapes and curves into his work, opposing the traditional box-like architecture of most buildings. The basilica is huge and mostly monochrome with occasional bits of colour and shapes. It really isn't very easy to describe, but is undoubtedly worth seeing if you ever get the chance! 

We then drove up past La Vila Olímpica del Poblenou, which is in the Sant Martídistrict of the city. This is the olympic village built for the Summer Olympic Games held there in 1992. Up near this region, we stopped at the most beautiful park and view point, which looked out over the whole city, across the sea, and down at the port. This is also the point of where the cable car system running above Barcelona peaks, and even though we unfortunately didn't get to catch a cable care, I can only imagine how incredible the views would be, and is definitely a must on my list for next time!

Another thing I loved doing in Barcelona was just wondering through the streets, especially La Ramba which is a touristy pedestrian street close to the promenade. The street was bustling with activity, festive music and loads of cute, quirky little shops. All the streets surrounding this area are dotted with touristy shops, galleries and museums, and of course tons of places to grab some cheeky churros whilst wandering around. The Pablo Picasso museum is also quite close to La Ramba, and an enjoyable walk. The promenade was so beautiful and quite modern. It was filled with abstract art sculptures and constructions, and was a lovely place to walk along and get a real feel for central Barcelona. 

Sagrada Familía

I really was so taken by this city, and really hope I can one day return to fully get to know the ins and outs and more about the culture. It feels very young, fun and lively, and was a really wonderful place to begin our adventure. 

Travel Adventures: Santorini, Greece

So as I've mentioned before, i went on a trip to several countries in Europe in June/July vac, and am finally getting round to sharing some of my pictures and accounts from my time there. 

I thought I'd start with Santorini, Greece, as it was the first place we went and I really loved it!

 Santorini is actually a fairly big island, and there is lots to see, and in our case, not much time. So if you're ever there and want to try see as much as possible, I thoroughly recommend hiring a quad bike for the day, they are super reasonably priced and besides the fact that you can get everywhere without relying on the bus system, they are also so much fun! These shots above were all taken on our way to Black beach, looking back at the town of Fira. If you find yourself in Santorini, another thing you must do is go down to the old port, walking down the hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of stairs among loads of donkeys lifting people up and down or resting in the shade.

  

Another thing really worth doing is going to see the volcano. It is on a separate island, still technically part of Santorini and is a 20 minute boat ride from the port. It is relatively expensive, but did include a tour of the volcano island and also a dip in hot baths, warmed by the volcanic activity below the waters. 

These pictures were taken at Oia, a little town right at the top of Santorini. This is honestly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life, and whilst it was super touristy, it's beauty makes that understandable, and you definitely can't go to Santorini and miss this. It was about a 25 minute quad bike ride from the central town, Fira. Beautiful white buildings with blue grooves, and churches and the most stunning views over the sea and other Greek islands in the distance, it was really quite something. 

The first picture shows Black beach, which as you could probably guess, get's its name from the black sand. Swimming here was so fantastic, we could have spent the whole day tanning on the beach (although be sure to bring a towel because lying on black rocks on a hot day is most likely a painful experience) and intermittently dipping into the cool calm sea. 

Red beach is the other beach really worth seeing just because where else do you get to see something like this, a beautiful beach with a bright red rock outcrop background, it's also pretty close to Black beach, so worth doing them both. 

We had an absolutely amazing time! I tried the best Frozen yogurt I have ever eaten, loved catching a cable-car up from the port to the main city, strolling the cobbled streets and eating loads of Gyros at Lucky's (literally one of the most delicious things ever). 

Next up was Milos, Greece...