Oh the places I've been: Europe

The whole of Europe (or at least the bits I've been to) obviously offers a lot more scope than my list of French highlights, so inevitably I'm probably going to miss out all kinds of cool places I've visited. But here's a few of, if not la crème de la crème, at least the most memorable right now (in no particular order):

Rodina Mat, Kiev, Ukraine

How often do you get the opportunity to climb 91 metres up a giant Ukrainian woman and pop out a porthole, your legs straddling a void beneath you, with only a tiny safety harness clipped on to a wire around your waist? And then get rewarded with uninterrupted 360° views of a major city? Well, that's what you get at the Rodina Mat (which can be translated as "Mother Homeland) in Kiev, where I was in August 2011. 

I haven't been following the current events in Kiev especially closely, but of course I'm saddened at the violence and hopeful that there will soon be positive results for the country. I remember when planning my trip (I spent almost two weeks there alone, including 4 overnight train trips), my guidebook was full of doom and gloom about how "intrepid" it was to go there as an independent traveller, let alone as a woman travelling alone. Luckily I wasn't put off, and I really never felt unsafe there (as I recounted in the linked post, even the tramps were polite when I accidentally wandered into their hut looking for water). While Kiev wasn't quite the ancient Slavic wonderland I'd enthusiastically imagined, I enjoyed my time in Ukraine and one day I'd love to go back to see places like the Crimea, Chernihiv (which I tried and failed to get to from Kiev) and maybe even Chernobyl. I hope things settle down & Kiev is open to tourists again soon.

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

The Sagrada Familia, the unfinished Gaudi cathedral in Barcelona, is one of those places that actually does live up to all the hype. From the façades covered with a mind-boggling array of symbolic carvings, to the inside, which is like a fantastical stone enchanted forest, it's like nothing I've ever seen anywhere else. 

Sedlec Ossuary, Kutna Hora, Czech Republic

I'll admit to a slight fascination for the macabre: I love a good cemetery, so a good ossuary? Even better. The Sedlec Ossuary, in Kutna Hora, not far from Prague, is decorated with the bones of around 40,000 medieval plague victims, arranged in intricate designs such as the coat of arms above and even a chandelier. I spent two and a half months living in Prague in 2006, so I got to know the city very well. Highlights included the Spanish Synagogue, St. Nicholas' Church and the terraced gardens below Prague Castle, but the ossuary has got to take the biscuit for the sheer unusualness of it all. 

Kunsthistorischesmuseum, Vienna, Austria

I visited Vienna as a side trip from Prague in October 2006, and generally really loved the way the formal, monumental beauty of the imperial capital contrasted with Prague's crooked, understated charm. I had a great time at the Schoenbrunn Palace, but as I'm a museum-lover, I'll nominate the Kunsthistorischesmusum as my Vienna must-see. I managed to spend 5 hours in there soaking up a great collection of Old Masters. I think I had more stamina for museums back in the day!

Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia

From Prague, I moved to Moscow, where I lived for 2 months. I saw lots of great things in Russia, from the Kremlin, Lenin's tomb, the Tretyakov in Moscow to Tsarskoe Selo in St. Petersburg. Regrets: not going inside St. Basil's (stupid) and not going to the Russian Museum in St. P or Peterhof Palace (the "Russian Versailles") near St. Petersburg, although that was more of a calculated decision, as I wanted to see it in summer with the fountains going, and I was there in mid-winter. 

I can't say I approve of the current climate in Russia - when I lived there, it was during Putin's first stint as President, and even then we were duly warned about racism, xenophobia and homophobia, and I'm sure it's only got worse. I would still like to go back and see more of Russia one day, though. I studied Russian for two years at university and always wish I could brush up my woeful command of the language, and I've studied quite a bit of the history and culture. It really is fascinating, and while one can - and should - absolutely oppose a lot of the current policies and attitudes, even a cursory knowledge of the country's turbulent past goes a long way to explaining some of why Russia is like it is. 

Anyway, as I said, I love a museum, and the Hermitage, which I visited in January 2007, is one of the best, in one of, if not *the* most beautiful city I've ever been to. It's bloody massive, and overwhelming, and would still be gorgeous and amazing even if it were empty, but it is of course packed with priceless works of art. Definitely one for the bucket list.

Chora Church, Istanbul, Turkey

This is probably one of my all-time favourite places, and somewhere I enthusiastically recommend anytime anyone mentions Turkey in my presence. It's a beautiful 11th C church filled with spectacular 14th C mosaics and frescoes, and because it's a bit off the beaten track, if you're lucky you won't have to share it with too many other visitors, especially if you go in winter, as I did back in 2008). My photos don't do it the justice it deserves, just wonderful.

Cinque Terre, Italy

Okay, everyone raves about the Cinque Terre, which I visited in September 2009, but with good reason. These five towns on the Ligurian coast are linked by walking trails which range from very easy to moderately strenuous (and also by train and boat, if you get tired). It's a real treat to walk for a couple of hours and then stop for a foccacia or a gelato and a bit of a sunbathe or a wander around a charming little Italian town. What could be better than that?

Brancacci Chapel, Florence, Italy

I studied Art History in my last year of high school, and amongst other things, we covered Masaccio's Life of Saint Peter fresco cycle in the Brancacci Chapel and Piero della Francesca's Legend of the True Cross in Arezzo (known to me respectively for exam purposes as Marlon Brando - Masaccio Brancacci - and PA system - Piero Arezzo). I haven't been to see PA system yet, but Marlon Brando was definitely on my list when I visited Florence. You only get 15 minutes inside the chapel to see it, but it's well worth it if you ever get the chance.

San Clemente Church, Rome, Italy

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I found it a bit hard to get online while travelling around Italy on my way to Nice in September 2009, so some of my blog posts are rather rushed and I don't seem to have put any photos up of San Clemente, unfortunately. Still, while I saw a lot of fabulous sights in Rome, such as the Vatican, San Clemente has always stood out for me. It's a 12th century church on top of a 4th century church on top of an ancient Temple of Mithras and a Roman villa. Descending through the layers, you really feel the weight of history, which is increased by the dark and silent, mysterious atmosphere of the lower levels, permeated by the sound of running water echoing through the darkness.

Saint Mark's Basilica, Venice, Italy

I posted like a million billion photos of St. Mark's after my trip there in October 2010, because it is amazing. Do make sure you go when they turn the lights on (between 11.30 and 12.30, at least when I went), it makes such a difference to all the glimmering gold mosaics. It bears a lot of similarities to the Byzantine churches I saw in Istanbul, unsurprisingly since it was a Byzantine territory and retained strong trading links to that part of the world. It's worth paying to check out the treasury and to go upstairs as well. 

York, England

As a Lancashire lass (by descent), I feel bad nominating York as one of my favourite UK places, but it is really pretty and just stuffed with history. I've been twice, once around Christmas 2004 I think, and once in January 2012. Highlights include the Shambles, a narrow medieval street with original buildings, the city walls, the ruined St. Mary's Abbey, the Minster and the museum. 

Driving in Norway

Impossible to name just one place - Norway is amazing, and I'd love to go back and see more of the fjords and Bergen. The absolute highlight was our drive between Sunndalsora and Trollstigen, in August 2012. It's so beautiful that I took most of those amazing photos out the window of a moving car, including the one above. Sure, there's luck and a ton jettisoned due to inconvenient trees getting in the way, but it's so stunning you basically just can't fail to capture some gorgeous images.

Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy

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As with the Brancacci, you only get a short amount of time inside to savour the beautiful frescoes (this time, courtesy of Giotto). I was lucky enough to get a double stint and to briefly have the place to myself, thanks to winter travelling. The frescoes may look a little crude in the photos - it's worth remembering that Giotto (and Masaccio) are rather early Renaissance figures (Giotto died almost a century before Masaccio, but Masaccio died about a century before Raphael and about 135 years before Michaelangelo), so you can't really expect that same sort of smooth photo-realism of Raphael, or the exaggerated mannerism of Michaelangelo. Anyway, they are a real treat to behold. 

Capri, Italy

I'm not really sure if I would say Capri was my favourite place I visited in the Sorrento area, but it sticks in my mind as the most beautiful, thus earning it its place on the list. The view of the Faraglioni rocks from the Krupp path and the gardens above was just breathtaking. Well worth a sweaty walk back up in high-20s weather! And I must say, the lemon granita my Dad had waiting for me at the top was all the tastier because I earned it! By the way, it definitely seems I could have a post just on the delights of Italy.

So, looking back, I've definitely been to some awesome places, and there's soooo many more still to visit! What are your favourites?

Quattro Terre 2

Made it to 4 of the 5 again today - Riomaggiore, Manarola and Vernazza again and Monterosso for the first time. Awful night - woman above me got into bed at a bout 2.15, don't know where she was, supposedly there's a midnight "curfew", woke me up, and then snored solidly so I couldn't get back to sleep, THEN her alarm goes off at FIVE FORTY-FIVE, she gets up, loudly, turns the light on... so that was my 5 hours' or so sleep. Anyway, I got up and walked to Riomaggiore along the Via dell'Amore again, then caught the boat from there to the furthest town on the other side, Monterosso, where I had this delicious sort of spinach quiche-like thing, but on a pizza-type base. Yum! The views from the boat were lovely, as you can imagine.

Then I set out to hike the Monterosso-Vernazza stretch, which, as I said, is supposed to be the hardest. It certainly was at first - basically a flight of steps all the way up the mountain, ooof! It was not pleasant, but the views were great and once you were up the top (more or less) then it was a nice walk along the ridge and eventually, naturally, what comes up must go down. With the exception of Corniglia - town of the 368 steps, you will recall, you start out at sea level everywhere, so you constantly have to go up and down, there's no sneaky direction you can take to avoid hiking up. Please to be remembering this when you see my photos - every time I'm up high, it's cos I walked there from sea level! Okay, it's not Everest, but it's an achievement for me!

At Vernazza, I headed back to the beach and sunbathed with Mr. Henry James and then had a bit of a swim, dried off al fresco (after the fiasco with the microfibre towel picking up pretty much every leaf off the forest floor in Monza, I elected not to try it out at the beach...), then took the train back to Monterosso, where I had lunch and a bit of a wander around the town. I was perplexed at first why it looked so different from the morning, but figured it was my hopeless sense of direction, before eventually finding out that the town's actually bifurcated by a rocky spur, and I had been on the other side coming in on the boat from where I ended up from the train. Anyway, eventually found my way back to the boat which I took back to Riomaggiore, then walked to Manarola again.

All in all, highly recommend the Cinque Terre - stunning, relaxing, good exercise etc. My kind of hiking - you only have to go a couple of hours at most before the next place where you can get some food and a glass of wine or an ice cream! Much better than trogging through the bush with only the hope of a soggy weetbix as your reward! Kudos goes to Tiana for telling me to come here, would not have even known it existed otherwise!

Tomorrow I head to Genoa for 2 nights - no idea what I'm going to do there, it doesn't seem to figure very highly on the tourist trail, which isn't a bad thing. And then Nice! I can't believe my time in Italy has gone so quickly, I still feel like I just got here. Of course, horribly apprehensive about the flat hunt and teaching and all the rest of it, but it will be nice to (eventually) be settled and be an expat, not a tourist. Ciao!

Quattro Terre

Arrived yesterday in the Cinque Terre - Manarola to be precise, one of the 5 towns strung out along the coast here. Ended up going out to dinner last night with 2 kiwis from my room... not that I come all this way to hang out with kiwis, but they were good value, from Nelson, in their 40s... we managed to get an Italian guy to buy us a bottle of wine too, score!

Anyway, today I hiked the trail, which for most of the way goes right along the coast. It's absolutely gorgeous, not sure if that will come through in the photos, since most of the time you're literally on the side of a cliff with just the ocean in front of you - from time to time, obviously, you get to one of the 5 towns which are perched on the hillsides and all done out in pastel colours which are probably mandated by the town council or something...

I was up early and went on the Via dell Amore (Lover's Way) to the next town, Riomaggiore, which is the first on the left so to speak. This is the easiest track - 1 km, 20 minutes, all flat and paved. A good start to the day. I had breakfast there and then walked back to Manarola, picked up my togs, and set off on the serious hikes. The next trail, to Corniglia, was steeper - still only a km, but the estimated time was 1 hr 10 to do it, think I took about an hour. The pinnacle was the 368 (?) steps to get up to Corniglia itself, which zigzag up the hillside. Sweaty and berry after that I tell ya! Then it was on to Vernazza, 4 km away and an estimated 1h30 - knocked it off in about 1h15 I think, what a legend! This was also pretty steep and quite a slog since it was getting towards lunchtime and it was sunny and hottish, although not too bad.

I had planned to take the train to the last town, Monterosso, cos I couldn't face the 2 hr hike that everyone says is the most difficult, but I found the beach at Vernazza and just stayed put for the rest of the afternoon - even had a bit of a swim! Had dinner there and then caught the train back to Manarola. Great day - who woulda thought Gwan would enjoy hiking and beach so much?

Tomorrow I think I'll take the boat to Monterosso, lie on the beach there for a while and then tackle that 2 hour hike down to Vernazza...

PS Happy birthday Mum! xx