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My ten days Queenstown holiday

December 20, 2022 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Backpacking, Travel

Day 1

I landed at around 7:30 pm, so after checking in at my accommodation the only thing left to do for the day was dinner. I read everywhere that I must try the famous Fergburger so that’s exactly what I did. And it was just as amazing as everybody claimed it would be .

Day 2

I had an early start of the day, woke up around 7 am and went to the lake and admired its beauty.

After that I met up with a fellow traveler and we headed to Queenstown gardens, then hiked Queenstown Hill, two of the main attractions in the city. We saw beautiful sights and a few wild goats as well. The view is magnificent and the hike is not too hard.

For late lunch I decided to get another Fergburger and eat it by the lake, where the too friendly ducks surrounded me eager to get a bite from my burger.

On Saturdays there’s a market by the lake with local produce and hand made jewelry.

Day 3

On my third day I ventured out of the city and went to Wanaka, which is aprox 1 h drive from Queenstown and it’s a calm little town with friendly people and good vibes. The aim of the trip was hiking Roy’s Peak, a quite serious hike that took us 6 hours to complete. When we started it was a bit raining but once we reached the summit it all cleared up and we had the beautiful view that was worth it all the hard hike and the early wake up.

We saw many sheep along the way and a lot of hikers already returning because they went up for the sunrise which must have been amazing.

After the hike we spent some time by Lake Wanaka, saw the famous Wanaka tree and grabbed some lunch from one of the many cafes in town.

On the way back to Queenstown we made a short stop at the Wanaka Lavender Farm, where apart from the amazing lavender products you can purchase, there’s also lavender ice cream which tastes amazing.

Day 4

Day 4 was my birthday, so I decided to take a tour to Milford Sound, a must visit location if you’re in Queenstown. It’s however aprox 4 hours drive from Queenstown, but we made some stops along the way. The first stop was in the town called Te Anau, a cute little town with a lake and a few cafes, where I got myself a coffee and enjoyed it while walking along the lake.

The next stop we made was at Mirror Lakes, which I wasn’t very impressed by, but was still nice.

The following stop on the other hand was very nice, Monkey Creek, where you could see the mountains covered in snow.

At some point we even saw a kea bird, which is apparently a very clever bird, with the intelligence level of a 2 year old toddler.

Once we reached Milford Sound, we boarded the boat and cruised for aprox 2 hours. I let the pictures talk for themselves.

Even though it was cloudy, the views were spectacular. I really enjoyed the cruise and met some nice people.

The drive back to Queenstown seemed much longer but the day was not over yet.

Once we got back to Queenstown I was determined to have a nice dinner and a glass of wine for my birthday. A local recommended me the restaurant Public, just by the lake, so that’s where I went with my new friends. Had a lovely dinner and a glass of wine and happily ended the day with a big smile on my face.

Day 5

Another day, another hike. This time it was Ben Lomond hike, which included the Tiki Trail – this one you can skip if you take the gondola , but I’d recommend hiking it, it’s not very hard.

This hike took me 9 hours to complete but with long stops at the summit and shorter ones along the way. The weather was amazing and the views breathtaking. I really enjoyed this hike.

In the evening I went to one of the Ice Bars in town – there’s three of them in total – for a delicious cocktail served in -7 degrees. Needless to say that after that one cocktail I returned quickly to the warm and left the cold behind for good.

Day 6

My favorite breakfast place was Fergbaker, they make amazing coffee and it’s the perfect place to start your day.

On the agenda this day was a daytrip to Glenorchy. Glenorchy is aprox 45 min drive from Queenstown and it’s another cute little town with a lake and beautiful surroundings.

Not only Glenorchy, but also the whole way to there is beautiful, a really nice drive.

For dinner I’ve chosen Caribe Latin Kitchen, where I also found my favorite Brazilian soft drink: Guarana.

Their nachos were very delicious too.

Day 7

It was time to take it easy and just relax, so I went walking along the lake all the way to Sunshine Bay, which took me around 50 min walk. It was the perfect sunny weather for it, some people were even swimming in the lake, which I considered quite brave because the water was still very cold.

For lunch I went again for a fergburger and I promised myself it’s gonna be the last one. For dessert I had a giant ice cream from Patagonia, which is another must try place, their ice cream is fabulous, it costed me $10.

I also went to Kiwi Park, which in my opinion it was a bit disappointing and too expensive, $49. Although the ticket is valid for three days, I wasn’t going to return, so I just gifted it to a random person on the street. I saw some native birds and some kiwi birds too, but overall I wasn’t really impressed.

Day 8

My second tour was to Mount Cook, which is aprox 4 h drive from Queenstown. Absolutely beautiful stops along the way, such as a bungy jumping spot and Lake Pukaki. The tour was very intimate, just a minivan, so no large groups, we all ended up becoming friends and on the return to Queenstown went for dinner together to Pub on Wharf, where I had a delicious salmon with spinach and veggies. Really good!

Day 9

It was going to be another rest day, so I walked again to Sunshine bay, had a nice meal at Blue Kanu restaurant and went for some drinks at Habana Boutique Rum Bar, then even ended up going dancing at The Bunker. It was a fun day.

Day 10

I started the day at 9 am when I checked out of my accommodation and headed to the airport to fly back to Sydney.

Looking back at my trip, all I can say is that I really enjoyed it and I’d go back to Queenstown in a heartbeat anytime. It’s a fun place where I could easily meet people and there’s a good variety of restaurants and bars, so perfect for everyone.

Amsterdam and other pretty cities of The Netherlands

November 8, 2021 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Travel

My eight days long adventure in The Netherlands started with landing at 8 am in the capital city of Amsterdam, greeted by a beyond gorgeous sunrise that I witnessed from my window seat on the plane. It was worth it waking up at 4:20 am in Zurich to catch this early flight.

From Schipol airport I took a train to Amsterdam Central Station, the journey took me around 30 minutes and costed around 10 euros.

The building of the station is quite impressive and my accommodation was a 10 minutes walk from it, right in the city center, so I headed towards it, passing beautiful canal views and observing how the city comes to life.

Once I dropped my luggage I was headed to Dom Square, where my free walking tour started. I definitely recommend booking in advance a free walking tour of the city, the guide was extremely knowledgeable and I found out a lot about the history of the city and discovered sights that maybe otherwise I wouldn’t have discovered.

The tour took around two hours and a half. I made a new friend on the tour and we decided to spend the rest of the day exploring together. He made quite a good city explorer buddy. We walked along the beautiful canals, took pictures and even hang out in the red light distract, which is quite dead during the day.

One of the beautiful canals in Amsterdam

We discovered the impressive flower market and also some kinky places, such as a condomeria.

Amsterdam is the city of freedom, sexual diversity and acceptance. The city is very vibrant, full of bikers and very open minded and excellent English speaking, tall Dutch men and women.

With my new travel companion we walked around a lot on my first day, reaching also the museums quartier, where especially the famous Rijksmuseum stands out.

On this occasion we didn’t go into any of the museums, but on the other hand was stunned to discover that the I AmSterdam sign disappeared from the museum plaza. Nine years ago was still there, then apparently it has been removed due to some political dispute over it. I wanted to recreate my picture from nine years ago, but that couldn’t happen. Regardless, we had a nice time around there, many buildings are beautiful.

No trip to Amsterdam would be complete without mentioning the coffee shops, which here reffers to the shops that sell weed and other drugs that are legal in The Netherlands. There are plenty of them and basically any adult can try them either in form of a joint or brownie and probably in other forms as well, I wouldn’t know because I wasn’t interested in these stuff. What I do know though is that the best of them seems to be the Bulldog chain, that has a gift shop and museum too. I purchased myself some Bulldog thongs ( = flip flops ) as a memory from Amsterdam.

The most good looking Bulldog coffee shop

Apart from admiring the canals, passing by coffee shops and chilling in nice cafes, on another day I visited some museums too.

The most interesting I found to be the Moco Museum, where apart from Bansky’s art work, there’s a very beautiful and interactive light installation too.

I checked out also the Allard Pierson museum, where I learned about the Egyptian era.

In Amsterdam there’s a museum for every taste, from modern art to even the art and pleasure of sexual intercourses, hences there’s an erotic museum and also a museum of prostitution. I guess the name says it all, no need from my side to discuss what can you see in each of them.

Checking out some museums has been definitely fun and interesting, but probably even more interesting than that has been all the breakfast and brunch places that I got to eat from.

Eating places in Amsterdam are amazing and my favorite of all probably has been Mr Stacks, where you can eat the most delicious pancake stacks, which look like a tower of pancakes and are filled with fresh and delicious fruits and of course lots of chocolate. I licked all my ten fingers after eating there.

Another amazing breakfast place I’ve discovered it’s called Jacob’s Juice , where I tried the delicious avocado toast and drank a very healthy ginger,lemon,spinach,fennel juice. It’s located a short 10 min walk from Rinksmuseum. It’s small and cozy and everything on the menu sounded amazing, so the choice was quite hard.

A more central brekky place, by Dom Square, is Corner House, where the salmon bagel is absolutely delicious and the hot chocolate equally amazing.

Too many amazing eating places in Amsterdam for sure and the list of great restaurants is just about to start.

The best dinner I had in Amsterdam was certainly at Sea Palace restaurant, which is located just by central station, it’s a massive building right on the water, impossible to miss.

It’s a Chinese restaurant, where we were lucky to get a table without booking in advance. The food is amazing and deserts are wonderful too. If I ever visit again, I’ll make sure I’ll check it out again.

T’Stuiverte has good food in a stylish ambiance, you have the feeling that you are in art gallery. Amazing food, very delicious desert.

The Yeti – for finger licking Nepalese and Indian cuisine, go with confidence to this little restaurant, located in the red light district, it’s wonderful and service is very good too.

There have been a few other restaurants that I checked out, but I didn’t find them so amazing to mention them.

On the other hand, there’s a few bars with a view that I’d mention.

Skylounge

Luckily we got there right in time for the sunset.

A’dam lookout bar

This one is great for the views, especially after swinging above Amsterdam.

Apart from swinging above the city, I can proudly say that I also biked around Amsterdam, with a local, like a local and the only incident that happened was that I nearly took off the mirror of a truck that drove too close to me. It was a fun, but little stressful experience , however I don’t regret any second of it.

Although Amsterdam is a wonderful city, I also traveled a bit further and checked out some other places in The Netherlands.

Bergen Aan Zee

For a daytrip I ventured out to the see and to my amazement I witnessed a gorgeous sunset, walked four kilometers on the beach to catch a bus and ate a delicious onion soup and drank a refreshing smoothie while listening to the waves. It was a fun day!

Oh, and also saw very cute and friendly cats along the way.

Rotterdam

Just around 30 min by train from Amsterdam, there’s the modern, also vibrant city of Rotterdam, where I spent threee days, out of which two were rainy and gloomy, but still enjoyable.

Rotterdam is beautiful, very different from Amsterdam. We took a canal tour that took us around the port and could see huge ships there.

Checked out also the Maritime Museum, where we could learn about ships, boats and the importance of Rotterdam port.

A trip to Rotterdam would g be complete without visiting the iconic cube houses, that look like they would be out of a fairytale. Apparently people also live in them and one of them can even be rented out on Airbnb.

Due to the rain we kept most of our exploring indoors, which was just fine when it came to eating .

Markthalle, the food court of Rotterdam was just a short tram ride from the accommodation and was the perfect place to start the day. A massive location full of all kind of specialities. My favorite of course was the waffle and the Brazilian juice.

At Markthalle apart from food, one can buy different spices, cheese and so on.

Also in Rotterdam I’ve discovered some good restaurants, one of them is Ayla, an afghani restaurant where the oysters and frog legs where absolutely delicious, but also the cocktails are remarkable.

Speaking of cocktails, there’s one bar in Rotterdam that I liked in particular, it’s called Spikizi, it’s cozy, little and the cocktails were very good.

I love views, hences I dragged my friend, Jay, who joined me for the Rotterdam part of my Netherlands trip, to Euromast and we ,also him, were impressed of the views. Rotterdam is truly magnificent at night. I let the pictures speak for themselves.

The Hague

Another place that I dragged my friend , Jay was The Hague, which I heard about a lot, everybody saying how beautiful it is. Well, it’s quite nice, true, but on a rainy day it was just so and so.

We checked out the Peace Palace, but with the Covid restrictions in place, we were not allowed to visit the actual palace, just did an audio tour in a separate building and saw the palace from distance.

Although it was raining, we still went to the beach and saw even people bungee jumping there.

We wondered around the city a bit and eventually ended up at another drinks with a view place.

Skybar – beautiful views of The Hague at night and delicious mocktailes in a romantic ambiance.

Our day in The Hague could have been nicer if there was sun and no Covid restrictions, but I guess nowadays that’s the new normal…

After spending those few days in Rotterdam, by I said goodbye to Jay and continued my trip solo to another beautiful town.

Utrecht

Utrecht has been recommended to me by many Dutch people I met and I was excited to check it out. Everybody was saying that it’s the smaller version of Amsterdam, but maybe slightly more pretty. I must say I found it in a way even nicer and definitely more calm than Amsterdam. I was also very lucky with a sunny day in Utrecht. I walked around the canals, visited some parks and admired the beautiful autumn colors.

Also in Utrecht, of course I went to eat yummy food and ended up at this cozy, little cafe in the center and had my pancake fix.

Sadly, I can’t remember the name of the cafe, but in case I’ll ever visit Utrecht again I know where I need to go.

On the other hand with the restaurant I dined at I have more memory, it was called Springhaver and it’s right next to the cinema with the same name.

I had so many waffles, pancakes and desserts every day of my trip that now, as a conclusion I can say The Netherlands is awesome for anyone who has a sweet tooth.

But, it’s not only food and desserts that made me enjoy it so much, it’s also the diversity and the kindness of people.

In Utrecht I had a Turkish – German fellow travelled that joined me in exploring. We walked around the town the whole day, doing also a little shopping along the way, but mainly just checking out various landmarks, a beautiful church and a little bar too.

For my last day I returned to Amsterdam and with the same travel companion that I had in Utrecht we went to Upside down Amsterdam, a fun place, where you can’t be upset or side. This place for sure will cheer you up.

Determined to find waffle places back home, I left the country satisfied and happy with how I spent the last 8 days. Dutch people and their country impressed me and left me with great memories that I’ll carry around for long. I might even bike more often from now on…

Barcelona time

October 13, 2021 by editaroundtheworld, posted in City break, Travel

A few years ago, when I was in Barcelona for the first time I really liked it and said I’ll come back again one day. That day has arrived and because a travel friend that I met in Thailand and then again in Australia, said to me that she’ll host me, I had no excuse not to go . Alisa, my friend welcomed me with the biggest hug ever at the train station and our adventure was about to begin.

I had a few things in my mind that I wanted to do and one of them was to get a haircut. Maybe it’s unusual when you go there just for three days, but I had a good feeling about the salon and I got a cheap and good haircut a la Barcelona.

After the haircut we went to check out Park Güell, the iconic photo spot and the whole park itself.

The good part was just about to begin. We went for dinner to a seafood restaurant recommended by a local, called Lluritu in the neighborhood called Gracia.

It’s hard to describe in words how delicious the food has been. We ordered a few things, such as tuna leaves, sardines, calamari and clams. We licked all our ten fingers after each of them. 100% the best seafood that I’ve eaten in a very long time.

Very quickly the first day was ending, but not before a night stroll to the iconic Sagrada Familia, which now is even bigger than the last time I visited.

And when we said we’d go home now, we end up eating a massive pancake for dessert at like 10 pm. No regrets about it tho! And the nonalcoholic cocktail called Chill out was as delicious and the pancake.

Friday went by quickly but we did a lot and we went to bed satisfied with the day and reminiscing about our memories from Sydney.

How awesome is to meet your travel friends in different locations on this planet!

Saturday we woke up later, almost 10 am, and took it easy. Although the weather was a bit tricky, a bit of sun then lots of clouds and later a bit of sun again, I insisted on going to the beach cause that was going to be my only opportunity this year to go sunbathing. So even though we were the only people sunbathing, bare in mind there was no sun at that point , we still had a beach day. Well, one hour at the beach to be precise. Anyway, it was good and yes, I had a beach day !

It was lunch time and after being so impressed of the food the previous night, I was looking forward to eat some delicacies again. This time we’ve chosen a Lebanese restaurant called L’Autentic . No one recommended us this place, we just went with our gut feelings and it was a good choice once again. The food was great, the service great too.

After filling in our stomachs our next stop was Westfield, the shopping mall. You can’t go to Barcelona and not get tempted to do some shopping, especially if you’re with a girlfriend. We laughed our heads off while buying new outfits.

The day was far away from being over, going up to Montjuic for the sunset being the next to do activity. Sadly there was no sun, therefore no visible sunset either, but ride up there in the cable car still offered stunning views over the city and the castle was quite pretty too.

After we checked out everything on Montjuic we were headed to Salts Terassa Bar, another of the recommendations, for dinner. The view is nice from this place and the patatas bravas really delicious. We even got spoiled with a rainbow.

Delicious patatas bravas at Salts Terassa Bar

It was around 8 pm when we decided to go to a new Irish pub that’s called the Old Irish Pub, ready to dance the night away. And that’s exactly what we did! After almost two years of not dancing in my case, COVIDs fault, it felt like normal life again that I could dance and behave normally in a pub. It was like the good old times, when quarantine, isolation and all the other Covid related things didn’t exist. It was heaps of fun and a night that I’ll not forget any soon !

Dancing the night away, someone gave me an Oktoberfest hat

Saturday night we got home after midnight, happy and pleased with how great the whole day was.

Sunday was going to be another awesome day because we were going to Montserrat, a beautiful spiritual place, where Helen, a friend I met in Sydney was going to meet us. I haven’t seen Helen for three years, so this was exciting.

We took the train and in aprox one hour we reached Montserrat.

It looked impressive even from the cable car station and was going to be even more impressive when we reached the top.

A short cable car ride and we reached the attraction. It was quite full of people, but we were not bothered. We went on a short hike to reach silence and just admire nature’s beauty.

A few hours easily passed in good company. We talked about our nice memories and decided on making new ones in the future.

Our fun group

After this beautiful adventure, we had to say goodbye to Helen and Alisa and me returned to Barcelona and went to a dance class and then go dinner to Santa Gula in Gracia, another amazing restaurant. I tried for the first time ever octopus and I’ll certainly eat again in the future cause it was delicious.

My amazing Barcelona trip ended that night with this finger licking dinner at Santa Gula, the next morning rushing early to the airport and returning to normal life in Zurich. Can’t wait to go again to Barcelona and try other good restaurants. Hasta luego, Barcelona!

Paris – a layover that changed my view about the city

October 13, 2021 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Travel

I’ve been to Paris a couple of times and was living with the impression that it’s overrated and nothing too special. Then I went there un August for just a few hours. And guess what? Paris was beautiful, people friendly and the vibe just great!

I’m not sure if it was just me, super excited about finally traveling again, or Paris is really a cool city?! In any case the few hours that I spent there were amazing and serendipity did its job.

First I headed to the Jardín de Luxembourg to admire its beauty. I was walking around and just enjoying the sights. It was beautiful, even though the sky looked like it might rain any minute. It didn’t in the end. So I spent probably an hour or two just enjoying the beautiful garden and buildings.

Then I ended up hanging out the rest of the time with a fellow traveler, that approached me initially to take a photo of her but then we talked and talked about traveling and without realizing we were making plans of going to the Eiffel Tower together. And that’s what we did.

We hang out around the icon of France and talked about various topics as if we knew each other for ages.

Those few hours in Paris went by quickly but the fun memories will stay for good. And I also spotted a little reminder of my favorite places of all: Sydney. Such layovers I’m happy to have another time too.

Skydiving in Algarve – Portugal

November 22, 2015November 22, 2015 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Backpacking, Portugal, Travel, Uncategorized

With the time and with gathering more and more travels under your belt, you discover not just the world, but also yourself and your wishes, desires. You find out that the location becomes less important, but the way you feel there, the people you meet and most of all: the memories you make, those are that you will always attach to the spot.

My whole Portugal trip was based on the idea of going with the flow: booked my accomodation last minute, decided where to go the day before, did what I felt when I did feel it. I had one single plan: to do skydiving in Algarve. I booked it quite in advance and I knew that is going to be the highlight of my trip. I was enjoying and making the most of every single day spent in this wonderful country and I didn’t focus much on my only plan, but when that Saturday was approaching I felt the excitement more and more intensely. So intensely that I didn’t even realize that on that specific morning outside was raining so badly that there was no chance of jumping out of a plane if you are sane. Obviously you can’t be completely sane, however, to do such a thing in the perfect weather conditions either, but in rain no chance. Weather is one thing you definitely can’t control, you have no choice than to accept and live with it. Still the positive me calls the people from Skydive Algarve, who are extremely friendly by the way, and we postpone the big event for the next day. Sunday: I start the day with the usual jog on the seaside, some me time on the shore while waiting for the sunrise and the best breakfast at the nearby cafe. The day looks promising if we ignore the strong wind, which we can’t put aside since it has a vital role today: if it’s calm enough I can go ahead with my plan, if he continues showing his power I got all the chances to be literally blown away. At this stage he, the wind, is messing with me and my hair, proving that he’s the boss and might not be a good idea trying to confront him.

Again I talk with the skydive staff, considering that it’s my last day in the Algarve, we discuss the details of the refund, but before hanging up the phone I say: ” You know what? Let’s not do the refund just yet…Tomorrow I need to leave to Lisbon since the day after, early morning I’m flying home from there, but if by any chance the weather miraculously changes I could still squeeze in a little skydiving before I leave.” We agreed on that, but on one side I though: well, it’s just not meant to happen this time in this spot, on the other hand: tomorrow is the last try – anything can happen. That being said, my day went on great and in the morning I woke up as usual, before the sunrise, ’cause that I watched from the shore, of course. The jog, the sunrise watching, the breakfast at the cafe – all of them were happening for the last time… I was expecting a sad day with hard moments because I had to go and say goodbye to all the wonderful people I met in Lagos, people that made me feel truly at home and people that I shared beautiful conversations with at dinners, at drinks or just while passing by next each on the corridors of the hostels.

While watching the sunrise I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was the most mesmerizing sunrise I experienced in Lagos, like a last gift from the universe for me.

It filled my heart with so much happiness that I smile now when I remember how I felt back then. It was simply beautiful. Just after I realized how calm it is: no wind, not even a single raindrop… My hopes were realistic than ever and in that moment I received the email from Skydive Algarve confirming me that the jumping is likely and I should get to the aerodrome Portimao as soon as possible, the weather can change any moment unexpectedly. I call them, we are all happy, I quickly say goodbye to everyone, even have a short hairdresser session and off I go.

As I mentioned you earlier, the staff from Skydive Algarve is very friendly, absolutely amazing. As I get there I am welcomed by honest smiles and joy, they express their positive emotions as if we were all friends there. It feels good and I believe it’s quite important also in building up the trust level. Luckily that happens instantly, my instructor, Bruno is funny but in the same time transmits seriousity and jumping out of the plane attached to him doesn’t seem as crazy as it is actually. What did I just say? Hahaha! It is absolutely insane what I’m doing but I totally enjoy it!

We do the preparations on the ground, I try to understand all the instructions Bruno explains me, they all sound like pervert scenarios from another story, but you need to know the right position if you expect a positive experience. I look like I’m dressed up for an amateur trip to the Mars, to my outfit being attached also a very not good looking cap, which has a benefic role though. At least for the health of my ears, can’t guarantee for my companions because since my ears are basically plugged I talk much louder than usually and they don’t have a cap on.

If you believe ( I believed at that point too) that I’m prepared, just have a look later. You are actually never completely prepared and that’s the whole magic. You need to feel the fear, the excitement, the adrenalin, the trust and all of them in the same time at a very high level. As confusing as it may seem, it’s the greatest feeling ever and it touches the highest peak at the moment when you are just about to jump out.

That’s when you realize what you are doing but there’s no way back even if you wanted to, you just go ahead and enjoy the ride. You smile but it’s not your real smile and it’s frozen on your face, but somehow it did freeze because the extreme feelings you experience are in a way positive even if we deal with fear as well. I mean, come on!, of course you are freaked out, you are just about to jump out of a plane! Bizarre, no? At that point there was no time to think so much though, in a second I just felt that I’m flying, the wind is strongly hitting my face but I love it and all my fear is transformed into pure joy experienced on a very intense level.


It’s happening very fast, it will make you feel the both extremes of fear and joy, you will land and get back to your normal rhythm, but you will never forget your first skydive experience!

First paragliding experience in Flüelen – Switzerland

September 21, 2015September 21, 2015 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Switzerland,hiking,mountains,nature, Travel

I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky … – and if you don’t believe probably you shouldn’t sign up from the very beginning for such an adventure. Paragliding – as exciting as it seems, I’m sure it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s an adventure sport and either you want to make it a once in a lifetime event or practice it on a professional level – it sure requires some guts to do it. Considering that it’s been for ages on my to do list and theoretically I could have done it anytime in the past, I would say that you will just feel when you are really ready to do it. Really ready it’s relative though, before take off your pilot will ask you: ” are you ready” and of course you will be completely lost and won’t have any idea wether you are ready or not, but about that a bit later on.

As a person who likes to share strong emotions and experiences with someone who is on the same page with me, in a rather unusual setting I met the right person. She’s Kaola, the girl I called a couple of times koala – I’m pretty sure you can understand why, don’t you? – and after a few emails and phone calls with our paragliding professional, Marcel, we were all set up for our first ever paragliding event.

The excitement before the flight was as big as during and after. Exchanging a few lines with Marcel the previous day was totally helpful, he is easy to talk to, funny and positive, so I was sure to fly with him, feeling somehow a specific trust level. Kaola was going to fly with Phillip, who is the other half of our paragliding team. The preparation takes around 10 minutes, during this time we joke around and take pictures, put the harness on and check a couple of times if we are well tied to our pilots.

Marcel explains the easy steps the passenger must follow and from there on we rely on the force of nature, in this case the wind. Lucky us, cause Mr Wind starts to blow gently so when I hear: “Run!”, the good listener I am, I do exactly that. From then on it’s: Wow! In a few seconds we are up in the air, above the trees, the streets,the lake, the people, above the world. You don’t even have time to be scared, you are too busy enjoying the view and experiencing this unique feeling. To be honest, actually you really don’t have any reason to fear. The seat is comfy and the flight smooth, the view absolutely breathtaking and such a relaxing silence that I wish I could float for hours up there.

I took the chance of interviewing Marcel up in the air while he was flying me around and found out that besides the hobby of flying, it’s also his full time job, taking aprox 5-6 flights/day. The whole equipment weights aprox 25 kg and during the way more than 10 years experience he has, he just suffered minor injuries, managing to bring all his passengers to the ground in one piece and fully satisfied.

Me: How did you discover your passion for flying?

Marcel: Exactly like you ( laughing ). Took a tandem flight and loved it, so I continued and now it’s my living.

Me: Which was your most memorable flight?

Marcel: I did many great flights in various locations around Switzerland and not only. The first flight for sure it’s memorable, but not necessarily the best one. I did a flight once in Brazil that lasted 12 hours. I covered a few hundred km. That was amazing!

Me: Wow! ( completely overwhelmed) How did you manage with the basic needs for so long? And I assume it must be tiring too…

Marcel: Eating and drinking is not an issue, I can carry the products and eat, drink without any problems up in the air. Toilet can be an issue though… At the end of the day I am tired, yes.

Me: I read online that there’s no age limit for the passengers. Is that so? Did you have any extremes?

Marcel: Just a week ago I flew with a 5 years old kid and my oldest passenger was 81.

Me: Could you imagine yourself doing something else for a living? What could determine you to give up flying?

Marcel: I could never give up flying! ( very, very firm) I could imagine working something else, of course, and I sometimes think that yes, I do this now but what will happen let’s say when I’m 50 and maybe can’t do it anymore, what’s next? But I definitely wouldn’t want to give up flying!

During the discussion I was looking down at the mesmerizing landscape and under me the everyday life was having it’s own rhytm, the cars where going on the streets and it looked like the pieces of a moving puzzle which I could almost touch and rearrange the way I wanted. The wind was blowing us, we took turns, we were gliding and I was even managing the direction at some point, which for sure wouldn’t be a smart idea for more than 2 minutes. The landing is a whole adventure itself. A roller coaster kind of sensation with turns one after the other with a great speed in a spiral down until you nearly reach the ground. After a little more run and that’s what I call landed succesfully!

Belgium in 6 days

April 27, 2015 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Travel

Belgian beer and chocolate attract for sure many tourists from all around the world. Most of them land in the capital and unfortunately many don’t make their way out of it to the less well know towns. Belgium is not just about Brussels! Just a 20 minutes train ride from the airport and we are in:

Leuven
This cute university town is my first stop in my Belgian backpacking trip. On a Sunday it’s very quiet and relaxed,but I don’t mind as the weather is nice and I can soak up the sun in the Botanical Garden of Leuven next to a Belgian beer.

Leuven is a university town and you can notice this while walking around and seeing at every corner the bars and restaurants advertising their special student menus at low,student prices. Though no student on a Sunday! “The city is empty of students during weekend” – locals say – ” here,in Belgium students still like to go home for the weekend and spend time with their parents.” Nice of them I would say… I have to just imagine how crowded it gets during the week and the now almost empty Oude Markt probably is murmuring.

I can still notice some movement around the city hall: a huge group of elderly tourists posing with the beautiful landmark. Conclusion: Edit come back on a weekday if you want to see the other face of Leuven!

Brugge

Before going to Brugge I watched the movie In Brugge and the town is so small that I didn’t need any direction to find the places presented in the movie. It’s loaded with tourists facing their cameras in every direction, because in every direction there is something pretty. Brugge, although is very touristy, was my second favorite town in Belgium. With it’s canals and those eye catching medieval architecture, Brugge steals your heart in an instant.

Walking around Brugge is more than relaxing, it’s a real cuddle to the soul and also a perfect ambiance to endulge in the delicious variety of Belgian chocolates. You can find any shape and flavor you desire, just at a hand stretch towards the chocolate and of course your wallet.

Ghent

From the second favorite I made my way to the first favorite. Ghent has the perfect vibe, the friendliest Belgians, the funniest Monday night out and I bet that many other – est-s. I didn’t expect so much from this town, I’m sure that also the company made a difference, but man,I really liked this place! You actually have the impression that you are wandering around a big city ’cause it’s active and full of energy. If you ask me to describe Ghent in one word, I’ll just say: alive. Let me add also: divers. It has chill riverside, busy shopping street, medieval castle, artistic grafitti and my super awesome friend, Cindy.

+ 10 for Ghent!

Antwerp

Biking in Belgium is a pretty popular way of getting around and Antwerp is a good place to do so. It’s a rather small town but with fairly enough to offer and a gorgeous train station.

You would think that the pics above are from a cathedral,right? Well, that’s the main station in Antwerp. It’s ranked as the worlds most beautiful train station and no doubts about that.

Not only the train station is beautiful in Antwerp. The city hall and various buildings in the central area worth checking out too.

We are in the country of beer, so let’s pay a bit of attention to this detail and find out that Belgium has more than 375 types of beer. Basically you can treat yourself for a whole year every day with a different kind of beer and that still leaves you for New Year’s Eve with at least another 10 different flavores to try out. Cool, no?

Brussels

Arriving to the capital might sound exciting, but in fact it isn’t. For me Brussels was rather disappointing and from far not the prettiest place in Belgium. Such a pity that many tourists visit Brussels only and miss so much by not checking out the others.

However, Brussels is a city as any other capital, with it’s multicultural mix and the best waffles in the world.

Grand Place is not as grande ( = big) , but not too bad for hanging out , there are many shops, restaurants, bars and waffle vendors closeby.

Mmmm, did I tell you that in Brussels you have the best waffles in the world? Right, I did, but it’s hard to focus when you remember that taste. Don’t – and I mean DON’T – skip that! Waffles are a must!

Ok,getting back to Grand Place – which is still not as exciting as waffles – it’s nice to walk around and make your way to the famous Mannekin Pis.

Of course, Atomium is nice to see, there’s also a cute park next to it with lots of rabbits jumping around freely in the grass.

And you can admire the beautiful flowers all over, but after that rush out of Brussels and discover the real beauty of Belgium. In less than an hour train ride you reach:

Liège

Laidback, small town, perfect for a daytrip from Brussels. Besides the center there’s not much to see or do, but it’s great for a day when the motto is : “take it easy “.

For church lovers there are a few to check out, as I had enough time I walked in a few and were quite nice, all just a few steps from each other.

The Liège Guillemins train station is another masterpiece Belgians are proud of, being also in the top 12 most beautiful train stations in the world.

In order to put an original print on the whole trip I ended it in a Romanian restaurant in Liège. No matter where I am, for me the best food still comes from home, so I’m sorry Belgium, you might have the best beer and waffles and fries, but my yummi ciorba de perisoare doesn’t have any comparison grade. Though it’s not much appreciated by locals, says the restaurant owner.

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