Road trips, mountain walks and holidays

I have already written quite a lot about traveling to Croatia , but here I will summarize how to get there by car from Latvia. Even though we have been flying everywhere for the last decade, we have mostly driven by our car to Croatia. We have also seen other cars with Baltic and Polish license plates in Croatia, so we are by no means the only ones and this information may be useful to someone else. The usual route is as follows: Riga – Warsaw (Poland) – Bratislava (Slovakia) – Graz (Austria) – Maribor (Slovenia) – Zagreb (Croatia). This is also the option offered by Google Maps. What happens after arrival to Zagreb is entirely up to you, depending on where else you have decided to go. There are people who prefer to drive through the Czech Republic, but staying overnight in the Czech Republic (not to mention Austria) can be quite expensive. If you are going to relax by the sea, then you should take into account that it is practically impossible to visit all the regions of Croatia at on

This time I will start with a short summary. We were planning to go to Cornwall for at least seven years. It didn’t happen because it was quite far from Scotland – travel costs also played serious role. While living in the south of England we couldn’t do it in the beginning because there were many other places to go. We decided to go to Cornwall after listening to stories from others about how unique and beautiful it is. After the trip there, I can say one thing – the idea of visiting Cornwall could have been not the highest priority. Mainly because of associated costs. The cost of the trip was essentially at least the same as nice comfortable weekend in Rome . To be honest, the feeling and impressions after returning home from Rome were also better at the end. The value you get for the money you spend plays significant role here and for me it would be in favour of Italy. Roughly speaking, everything in Cornwall was about half as expensive as it should be based on my travel experience

This is about the second day in Cornwall. After the first day we went to the nearby local pub The Shire Inn for dinner before going to bed. It is about a 15-minute walk from the guest house we used for staying at night. The atmosphere and service were good, the food and the local Cornish beer were also delicious – just like in a gastropub. The bill surprised me a bit though – they know how to use supposedly normal prices in such a way that at the end you get a bill what is at least ten pounds more than expected. Minak Theatre In the morning, right after breakfast, we went to an interesting place – an amphitheatre built in the rocks, where real performances are held often. This place was a real surprise we got in Cornwall. The author and creator of the theatre idea was a local woman, Rowena Cade. The name Minak (meynek in the local language) means rocky place. The woman started creating theatre in the thirties of the last century. Minack Theatre is located in the very south of the pe

If we talk about national dishes, Lithuanian cepelinai and sakotis are obvious representatives of Lithuanian cuisine. I wrote about the Lithuanian dessert sakotis before, so in this post more about their main dish – Lithuanian dumplings cepelinai. Every time I have a chance to stay in Lithuania for a few days, I try to include Lithuanian dumplings cepelinai in one of my meals at least once. So what are Lithuanian dumplings cepelinai? They are large-sized dumplings made from potato dough, which have a shape similar to an airship or zeppelin. The honour of the inventor of the airship goes to the inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. Zeppelins (cepelinai) as a food were already known before the invention of the airship, and before that they were called didžkukuliai (something like grand dumplings) in Lithuanian. It is said that this dish originated in Germany, but was originally made without filling. Potato dough is made by mixing fresh grated potatoes with mashed boiled potatoes. The

After a a few years, we returned to Morocco again and this time our destination was Marrakesh again. Flight to Morocco Marrakech’s location in central Morocco is quite ideal for visiting other places outside the city, but of course staying in the city itself and visiting its market is always exciting. I mentioned the Marrakesh market because we are very keen on using Moroccan spices and take every opportunity to renew our stock with fresh ones. Although this time we flew from London Gatwick Airport and not from Glasgow as previously, we flew with EasyJet again. The reason is quite practical –  the flight times offered by EasyJet are much more convenient than those offered by Ryanair. If you search hard enough and find the best offers, the price differences between airlines are minimal. Another interesting observation – London Gatwick airport costs are lower, so even when flying from Riga to England, we first look to see if AirBaltic offers competitive prices. Unfortunately EasyJet do

Weekend in Rome Another title of this blog post might be ‘Back to Rome’ as we were there quite a few years ago. However, the last time we only spent part of our trip in Rome and enjoyed some time traveling outside the city. We also visited Grotte di Frasassi and Vesuvius volcano . This time, it was a trip with an aim to spend the whole weekend in Rome – we wanted to walk around the historic centre of the city and enjoy Roman food. We arrived at Termini station just before midday and the first thing to do was to have a late breakfast. There is another blog about our gastronomical experiences during this weekend. Eating was very important part of our trip and added significant value to our trip. Baths of Diocletian Just after the meal, we went to the Baths of Diocletian (Termas de Diocleciano) museum, which is a part of the larger Museo Nacional Romano . The Baths of Diocletian are a huge complex and were constructed three hundred years AD, they are located just in front of Rome Termin

It’s so cool to wake up in the morning in the heart of Rome after a night’s sleep, when the delicious breakfast, which is included in the price of the accommodation, is already waiting in the restaurant on the rooftop terrace. Amazing feeling! All you have to do is get out of the huge bed and get dressed so that you can show up on the terrace. Colosseum On the first day in Rome, we visited a museum, so on the second day we wanted to enjoy the sunny day and fresh October day in Rome. The first thing we did right after breakfast was going to the Colosseum – after all, what would be Rome without the Colosseum? We had even been inside before, but to take a selfie in the background of the coliseum was a must. What made thing seven easier was that the Coliseum is located less than a ten-minute walk from  Monti Palace Hotel . We had a plan of going from the Coliseum subway station to our next activity – walking through the park on the other side of the city centre. However, we had to go