Always travel in style - no matter what your budget is!
The golden sunflower fields in Spain. You can see the sunflower fields in Spain when you’re travelling on a train from Madrid to Bilbao. The five hour train ride somehow doesn’t seem so long when you see field after field of sunflowers outside your window.
Turin is a northern Italian city famous for hosting the winter Olympics. The city is surrounded by the Italian alps, lying quietly at the base of snow covered mountains with the river Po running through the city.
There wasn’t much snow on the streets of Turin when I visited after spending Christmas in Civate, however there are still many things to do on in Turin on a day trip. It’s very easy to walk around the main streets of Turin although there’s also a tram network that you can easily hop on and off. My top things to do in Turin in style on a budget are…
See Mole Antonelliana
Mole Antonelliana is a recognisable landmark of the city, standing 167 metres in height. It was built in 1888 as a synagogue and now houses the National Museum of Cinema, there are even photos of famous films and actors lining the street outside Mole Antonelliana.
Visit the Duomo di San Giovanni – Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist
Turin’s Catholic cathedral features the Holy Shroud of Jesus Christ. The shroud covered Christ’s body when he was buried in a tomb and bears the imprint of his face. The shroud was traced historically to the site of his burial. It’s only on display by papal decree however it’s free to enter the cathedral and see the Chapel of the Holy Shroud.
Stroll on Turin’s High Street – Via Garibaldi
One of the most stylish things to do in Turin on a day trip is to stroll down Via Garibaldi. Big Italian brand name shops lie on the main street of Turin so if you’re looking for quality Italian goods you can find anything your heart desires! Even if you’re only window shopping, people-watching on Via Garibaldi is lots of fun. The pedestrian only street is also a great place to find Italian patisseries for a café (coffee) and a sweet treat.
Palazzo Madama
The Palazzo Madama was used by the House of Savoy – the royal family which ruled Italy from 1861 until Italy became a republic after World War II. The palace was built on a site of an ancient Roman gate that was constructed in the first century. Interestingly Palazzo Madama bears two completely different architectural styles – the front of the palace is a Baroque style built in the 17th Century but was never fully completed, whilst the rear of the palace features a medieval style reminiscent of the 15th Century. Palazzo Madama now houses an art museum.
The Royal Palace of Turin or Palazzo Real
The Royal Palace of Turin was home to the Italian royal family or House of Savoy. It was modernised in the 17th Century ‘renovated’ with the baroque façade you see today. You can enter the palace to see its rooms for a small fee. Apparently one of the descendants of the House of Savoy, Prince Lorzenzo, is now a reality television star famous starring in American show like the Batchelor!
Do you have any other recommendations for things to do in Turin on a day trip?
For me, 2011 was a full year of travelling in style on a budget. I went glampacking in the UK and Europe and combined volunteering and travel for the very first time! Looking back on my year of glampacking adventures I’ve certainly done a lot in London and abroad…
January
I celebrated New Year’s Eve in New York City, partying in style in a top nightclub in Chelsea. New York City was recovering from a Boxing Day blizzard that forced me to retreat from shopping into the safety of my Midtown hotel.
January can be a gloomy month in London, when it’s cold and dreary the only thing to bring cheer is to escape the city. I visited the university city of Oxford. I was charmed by its gargoyles, history and picturesque campuses.
March
There comes a time in every Aussie Londoner’s lifetime that you miss being behind the wheel of a car and driving every day. On my very first UK roadtrip I drove from London to Wales and back again in 48 hours. On a girly road trip we drove to Stonehenge to peer at the pagan rock formation by the side of the road and visited my favourite English town of Bath. On a rainy drive to Wales we passed through Cardiff and onto Swansea where we partied with the locals who have a very TOWIE dress sense! For a more traditional Welsh experience, we finished the road trip by visiting a medieval castle in Caerphilly.
April
Buona pasqua! I experienced a very Italian Easter and went on a whirlwind day trip to Milan and the great Lake Como. I searched for George Clooney in Lake Como on a cruise to Bellagio and felt at peace in the small town of Lecco.
I also celebrated the Royal Wedding of the year by braving the crowds in Hyde Park and felt almost British during a very joyous occasion.
May
On a very jam-packed weekender, I visited Dublin on the eve of the Queen’s visit. Being a glampacker, I don’t often drink beer and had never finished a pint of Guinness in my life! All that changed when I visited the Guinness storehouse and was blown away by the panoramic views of Dublin in the Gravity Bar.
June
One of the highlights of living in London is being able to escape to Paris for the weekend. I went on my very first Eurostar weekend trip to be reunited with my best friend who had flown all the way from Australia. We celebrated her birthday at a Michelin starred restaurant and strolled through Luxemborg Gardens on a rainy summer day in Paris. I also took a day trip to the Palace of Versailles, skipping the queues and listening to the musical fountains.
July
Summer in London means picnics in parks like the lusciously green Hampstead Heath. Being Australian I require three things in summer – sun, surf and sand! Since it’s hard to get all three in London I went glampacking in Spain. In Spain I spent a lot of time eating paella in Valencia, pretending to be a billionare in Palma, driving on the right side of the road on the island of Menorca and sampling pintxos in San Sebastian.
I reached an amazing milestone of being away from home for one whole year! I’ve learnt a lot in 12 months on a UK working holiday and feeling more like a ‘worldly glampacker’ and less afraid of the unknown!
September
Back in March I won a trip at the Travel Blogger’s Unite conference in Manchester. I jetted off to Romania where I spent a week volunteering with Oyster Worldwide at a bear sanctuary. I came face to face with brown bears and was incredibly moved by their stories of rescue and survival. During this time I lived like a local in the town of Brasov, searched for Dracula at Bran Castle and experienced a late autumn festival by eating barbecued meat and polenta.
October
Travelling with my mother is a very different type of glampacking! Mother-daughter travel has a slower pace and lets you see things from another perspective. We shopped in Paris, perused local artisan markets and had afternoon tea with the locals. In Italy, we posed in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and saw the unmissable sights of Florence.
November-December
When the cold sets in London, homesickness can often follow so the best thing to do is embrace winter! I went to Madrid for a weekender, eating churros for breakfast and visited the great Spanish food market – Mercado de San Miguel.
For my 26th birthday I dined at Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant and drank mulled wine at the Christmas Markets in Lille and ate a lot of chocolate in Bruges.
Soon I’ll be celebrating Christmas in Italy…Buon natale to all my fellow glampackers! Safe travels and happy holidays!
What will I go in 2012?
Bruges is a chocolate city. So Bruges might not have chocolate streets and buildings but it does seem to have an endless amount of chocolatiers. Walking down the main streets of Bruges, you’re overwhelmed by chocolate. There’s also sweets and waffles if chocolate isn’t your cup of tea.
Christmas in Bruges is celebrated with chocolate and Christmas markets. Apparently if anything can be covered in chocolate, it’s definitely done in Bruges. Chocolate is not just for eating…it’s an artform!
For me, the allure of travelling on a budget on a coach weekend trip to Bruges was mainly for its Christmas markets. Having just visited Lille and charmed by its quaint French markets, I was keen to check out the Christmas markets in Bruges.
In the main square of Bruges, wooden market stalls frame an ice skating rink which is towered over by the clock tower – the belfry of Bruges. The clock tower is well recognised by the Colin Farrell movie In Bruges. If you’re under 26 years of age it’s only 4 Euro to climb the 366 steps for city views and an inside peek into the inner workings of the clock tower.
Bruges Christmas markets weren’t as large as I expected but there were still lots of sweet treats on offer, mulled wine and flavoured hot toddies aka hot chocolate with liqueurs!
Bruges is a very romantic city. Canals weave in and around the city, the streets are cobblestoned and horse and carriage rides are extremely popular! Just watch out for the speeding horses!
Before leaving the chocolate city of Bruges, there was only one thing left to do: eat mussels with frites and down a Belgian waffle.
In Florence, art is everywhere. It’s visible on the streets, the galleries and museums, in the patisseries and cafes and even in the fashion boutiques. Florence is all about style. This is a city where designer brands like Salvatore Ferragamo have museums alongside their flagship stores. It’s a city where patisserie shop windows are piled high with spectacular sweet creations.
The best way to experience the city is by doing your own walking tour to experience the unmissable sights of Florence. The historic centre of the city is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Duomo, Baptistery and Giotto’s Campanile
Standing tall in the middle of Piazza Del Duomo is the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore or simply, the Duomo. Finished in 1436 it’s the only dome in the world constructed solely of bricks and mortar. The Baptistery and Giotto’s Campanile or bell tower was all designed by Giotto di Bondone.
Uffizi Gallery
The long lines at Uffizi are notorious but don’t let put you off. It’s best to visit in the morning when the line is more manageable, and if you have a few Euro spare you may even wish to skip the line! Uffizi Gallery is comprised of the collection of the Medici Family and impressive Renaissance and classical sculptures. Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus is infamous but pieces I admired were Caravaggio’s Medusa for it’s startling head of snakes and Titan’s Venus of Urbino which for me depicts how real women look!
Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio is held up by stilts however it’s still a very stable bridge even if it’s centuries old. There are many jewellers and art merchants on the bridge, although butchers originally inhabited all the stalls in the 14th Century!
Palazzo Vecchio
The town hall or ‘old palace’ of Florence still functions as the city’s town hall and continues to host civic weddings. It once housed the Parliament and Foreign Ministry when Florence was briefly the capital of Italy in 1861-75. If you visit Uffizi Gallery you can get a closer view of the tower from the second floor.
The sharp contrast of Ponte Vecchio by day and by night in the captivating city of Florence.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is famous for obvious reasons. Tourists flock there to capture photos of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. However no one tells you that it can be quite difficult to get a photo of the tower actually leaning! As you can see in my photo below it appears to be rather straight!
How to take a photo of the Leaning Tower of Pisa:
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is often just a whirlwind pitstop on an Italian itinerary. On my mother-daughter Europe holiday we made it more than just a tick on the list of sights to see. We walked from Pisa train station to the Piazza dei Miracoli, through the main streets of Pisa.
Pisa is a small, rustic but energetic town with charming cafes and restaurants. We paused at a cafe/patisserie/restaurant to have a big Italian lunch with courgette and prawn pasta, salad and a takeaway bag of dolce or dessert to eat on our train ride to Florence.
Peles Castle up close
Visiting Peles Castle, Sinaia, Romania makes you feel like you’ve been transported to the 17th Century where king and queens rule the world. Built in the late 1800s, the castle was the residence of several monarchs including King Carol I.
Peles Castle is not like ‘Dracula’s Castle’ or Bran Castle. Inside it’s incredibly ornate as the castle is regarded as one of the most beautiful in Europe! To me it was like visiting the Versailles of Romania! You’re not allowed to take photos inside unless you have a pre-bought photo pass. Visitors receive a guided tour in English if desired. Rooms are inspired by French, German, Italian renaissance and even Moroccan styled interiors and furnishings.
Peles Castle has a connection to the bear sanctuary which I volunteered at with Oyster Worldwide. Max, a blind bear, used to be kept as a tourist attraction at the base of the road leading towards the castle. Now Max leads a peaceful, happy life in his enclosure in the safety of the bear sanctuary.
Peles Castle up front
Peles Castle from afar
A Romanian barbecue in Sinaia
Romanians love eating good hearty food. This is something I experienced first hand whilst volunteering at bear sanctuary with Oyster Worldwide. Whilst visiting the town of Sinaia, we stumbled upon an autumn festival with lots of local foods. There were endless stall selling pots of steaming stews, sizzling steaks and bowls of polenta!
I called the autumn festival in Sinaia, Romania, the ‘Pink Tie’ Festival. Stall holders were wearing pink ties as they served up plates loaded up with all kinds of meat. There were also traditional sweets being sold including gingerbread – softer and chewier than Western style cookies, pretzels and ultra sugary nougat. Delicious!
Romanian Vegetarian Stew
Romanian Sweets
The Pink Tie Festival in Sinaia, Romania
Brasov Probably the Best City in the World
Whilst staying in Brasov during my week of volunteering with Oyster Worldwide at a brown bear sanctuary, I discovered restaurants with local charm, bars great for cocktails and learnt a bit of history as well.
My top 5 things to do in Brasov, Romania were:
Goulash with polenta at Transylvania
A family-owned restaurant, Transylvania serves up traditional Romanian cuisine and a great house red wine to wash it down. I enjoyed the tender beef goulash with just a hint of chilli with a side of polenta, which is very popular and best eaten drowned in gravy!
The Black Church Tower
The Black Church is ‘black’ due to a great fire in 1689 and was originally built by the German community in the 15th century. The imposing gothic structure was formerly a Catholic church and stands tall in the centre of Brasov’s old town. With the city formerly known as Kronstadt, there’s still lots of Saxon-styled buildings in the old town. The main action of Brasov town happens in the city’s square, Piata Sfatului. It’s a great place to sit back with a coffee and café, often for less than 4 Euro, and watch the locals.
View of Brasov Town
Sign at the top of Tampa Mountain
A 2 minute, seven lei ride to the top of Tempah Mountain gives you unparalleled views of Brasov. It’s an easy walk up or down the mountain too…sometimes brown bears can be seen…!
Festival 39
This art deco style restaurant and bar serves up great cocktails. The strange thing is that in Romania, it’s still acceptable to smoke inside restaurants. Maybe the smoke adds to the feeling that you’re in the Roaring 20s…or maybe it’s the effect of the cocktails!
View Brasov Town from White Tower
The city walls of Brasov were created as fortifications in the 15th century by Saxons. Climbing up the White and Black towers will give you great views over the city from the point of view of a Saxon soldier.
