Well, it’s been a while since I last updated THE JOURNEY with what I was up to. Although, in my defense it doesn’t seem that long to me. When I look back though, I was in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and wrote about Turkey in Winter. Since then I have been constantly on the move, and been to 5 more countries! With so many highlights, I must say that the one that stands out to me is the Northern Italian Lakes.
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Why? Because they are simply beautiful. Even after being at Lake Bled in Slovenia, which is widely agreed upon as being one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, the Northern Italian Lakes for me were amazing. I love the way the Alps make such a dramatic backdrop, and the way they march right to the very edge of the lakes and then just dive straight down into their depths. It’s incredible, and something that I just wouldn’t see at home in my country.
Which is one of the reasons that we travel, isn’t it? To see and experience something new. It’s no good going to another country that is exactly like what you have at home. What is the fun in that? What are you learning? You might as well save your money and stay local.
Which is one of the reasons that Australians love Bali. I wrote an entire article on it, but to have such a different culture right on the doorstep, and offering such cheap holidays, why wouldn’t they?
Leaving Bulgaria
So we have to dial it right back to Bulgaria I guess. I spent an entire month in Plovdiv, and really loved it there. The town has some really great history, and so much to see and do. The Roman Ruins are incredible, and have really spoilt me now. I see similar places in other countries and they just have nothing on Plovdiv!
I moved on to Sofia when my time in Plovdiv was done. At this stage I really had no idea where I was going or what I was doing, and just making it up as I went, based on where the cheapest bus was traveling on the day that I was planning to leave. So really, the northern Italian lakes were not even on my radar as yet.
Sofia was nice. So much bigger than Plovdiv, but then I guess it IS the capital city. I took the Free Walking Tour, as I like to do everywhere I go, and it really showed me a lot about the city. The next day I followed the same route and took a lot of photos and videos. It was so cold though, and even though I really liked the city, I was pretty glad to move on!
At this stage I was planning to go to North Macedonia (where is South Macedonia?) and then into Kosovo and Serbia. But there was a bit of unrest between the two, so instead I jumped on a flight to Croatia, who had only just entered Schengen as its newest member a couple weeks before. I was on the way to Zagreb!
Croatia
Zagreb was a really nice city. I had two totally different days there, as when I arrived it was heavy rain and bitterly cold. The next day wasn’t much better, and it rained on my walking tour.
The free walking tour was great though, and I really recommend this one if you are in Zagreb. The guide was funny, and not only told us some funny local stories, but even some local gossip, which really made us feel like we were getting the full local experience!
I loved Zagreb. It was a beautiful city, with lots of greenery and colors. So clean and the people were so nice. On my second day there I wandered the city once again, and went back to a couple of places on the tour that I wanted to see again. It was snowing, so that gave me a totally different experience too. If you are ever going to Croatia, don’t bypass Zagreb. I know most tourists will want to visit places like Split, Dubrovnik and Plitvice Lakes, but do yourself a favor and check out Zagreb as well.
From Zagreb I moved into Hungary by bus to visit Budapest. I was really looking forward to this visit, as Budapest had been on my radar for quite some time. I was conflicted in my planning though, as I was so close to Lake Bled (another place I wanted to visit) and then the Northern Italian Lakes came into the mix. But I also wanted to go to Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna. So that direction won out.
Crossing the border into Hungary was interesting. The border patrol had shut down only a couple weeks before, and the crossing gates and customs booths are all still there, but the place was a ghost town. Quite eerie actually.
Budapest, Hungary
I arrived in Budapest to confusion – of sorts. It is a big city, and you can choose between two major bus stations to be dropped. My Air BNB was central to both, so it really didn’t matter. I looked at all the major metro lines etc, and decided on one and how I would get there. I was prepared for anything.
Until I got there.
You can know the stations and the lines, but when it comes to buying tickets and no one speaks English, or is willing to help as they don’t speak English, it becomes hard. I must have done 30 laps of the Metro station ticket office area, looking at maps and talking to people (trying to talk to people) with no luck. Eventually I walked right to the very end of the subway area and found a customer service area. They spoke English and within minutes I was on my way.
The important part of this story is the mental change in me during this period of only about 30 minutes as I tried to work things out. I had no Wi-Fi, no local sim. I had to fall back on old school, and work it out from what little information was available to me in the form of maps on walls in Hungarian. After a while, I decided to treat it as a puzzle. Like that old computer game – Myst. There was a solution – it was there, somewhere. I just had to find it.
Once I decided on that, it became fun. There was no stress anymore, and ever since then, whenever I have moved from one place to another, I have come to enjoy what I call “puzzle day”. It’s a weird way to look at it, but traveling solo has become a lot more fun and stress free ever since I adopted that mindset.
So – Budapest. I stayed there for a week in a tiny shoebox room in an Air BNB with a Chinese family. They were so nice, spoke good English, and gave me a home cooked Breakfast every day. It was great!
The city itself was amazing. It snowed the first day, and was bone chillingly cold the next. A far cry from what I would get in the northern Italian Lakes in only a weeks time!
If you are in Budapest, I recommend you to do a few things. First, of course, the Free walking tour. It is longer than most, and as the city is large, it can’t take you everywhere. Not like Zagreb for instance. But worth it all the same. Second – head up Andrassy Avenue to the Heroes Square and the park beyond. It’s a great part of the city to see, and really off the radar unless you look in that direction or do your research.
Third – Spend a day across the river. (Unless you actually STAY on that side) Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion are worth seeing, but for mine, take a hike up to the Citadel. It was closed when I was there, but the viewpoints weren’t, and they are the best views in the entire city!
Ljubljana and Lake Bled
You may have guessed it by the heading here, but my plans changed again. I was going to Bratislava, but my Air BNB that I was booking there didn’t respond. So I needed alternate plans.
It was at that time that I had some success with something else I had been looking into. Trusted Housesitters!
I really needed to save some money on accommodation, and someone suggested Trusted Housesitters to me a while ago. I love spending time in Air BNB’s where the owners have dogs or cats, and this sounded pretty good to me. So I signed up.
After doing a good profile up (I did this in Zagreb actually) I had a first sit booked in to house sit for two adorable black cats (Sooty and Sweep) in a little village near Manchester, England. As a result, I needed to find a decent priced flight to Manchester for the 9th February 2023, and I found that flight from Milan! Therefore, I changed direction, and began planning the next two weeks through Slovenia, Italy, and yes, the northern Italian lakes.
So I found myself back on the bus to Ljubljana. I had been interested in visiting the capital of Slovenia for some time, and now I had the chance. And guess what? I loved it!
Ljubljana is a small city, for a capital, in a small country. But the country is beautiful, as is the city itself. I did the free walking tour once again, and wandered for hours around the little city, taking photos and videos. The castle right above the city has some amazing views, and gave me my first glimpses of the Austrian Alps.
Whilst in Ljubljana, I also took a daytrip to Lake Bled. It was so easy to do, just by catching the local bus. I wrote an entire article on how to do it, and you can check it out at THIS link. If you are around the area, it really is worth visiting. Lake Bled is so beautiful, and I plan to write an entire guide about it shortly.
The Northern Italian Lakes
From Ljubljana, I headed by bus once again, across the border into Italy. Italy is such a beautiful country, and even though I had been there before, many years ago, I had forgotten how wonderful Italian towns and cities are. I had booked my first Air BNB in Padua, and didn’t have any idea how great it was actually going to be.
This has to be the best Air BNB that I have ever stayed in. They had no Wi-Fi, but that was the only downside of my stay. I got around that by just getting a local SIM card, something I was going to do anyway. The host, Althea, was incredible. She was so proactive, giving me tips and advice. If not for her I don’t think I would have gotten half the things done that I did. She made my stay so easy and enjoyable. Plus, her condo is beautiful, clean, and comfortable.
I spent a couple of days exploring Padua, which is a great city and so wonderful to wander around. What really topped off my time there though was two day trips to Venice. I always loved Venice, having also been there many years ago. Now I have been there 3 times, and still look forward to going back again someday!
From Padua, I took the train to Verona, and onto my next Air BNB on the northern Italian Lakes. The little town I was heading for was Desenzano Del Garda, the “capital” of the incredible northern Italian lake of Lake Garda.
The place I was staying in was about halfway between Desenzano Del Garda and Sirmione, which is one of the most famous places in the entire northern Italian Lakes. In particular on Lake Garda. I was really looking forward to seeing it, but wasn’t prepared for how much I would also like Desenzano Del Garda.
I wrote an entire guide on this town only yesterday. You can find it HERE. I loved the town, and walking along the beautiful lakefront walk each day, watching the swans and ducks. The town is very colorful, and has a castle, roman ruins, and some great places to eat. It is a real favorite getaway for locals from Verona and Milan, and when you visit, you can really see why.
Sirmione, on the other hand, I knew would be incredible. I was still surprised though. It is such a unique place, with the castle guarding the little peninsula of land it sits on. You enter the town over the castle drawbridge, and what is beyond is so different from anywhere I have every visited. For such a small place (only 8000 residents) there was so much to do. Granted, you can do it all in half a day, but still, I was surprised. I will be writing another guide to Sirmione in the coming days.
The Northern Italian Lakes are an area that I hope to get back to soon, and I think I will have my chance in the coming weeks. I couldn’t see much more after Sirmione though, as I had a date with two cats in Manchester. So it was off to Milan airport.
House sitting in England
So as I write this, I am sitting in England, looking out the window on a cold and cloudy day at the English Moors. I am in Holmfirth, not too far from Huddersfield and Sheffield, and just a bit further away from Manchester and Leeds. I never saw myself coming to a place like this, but am so glad I did.
I am loving the experience of house sitting, and will write about it in the future. Holmfirth is actually quite famous around England, as there was once a very successful and long running sitcom filmed here. So I will be doing some exploring, and writing about it as well in the future.
From here, I move across to another house sit south of Manchester, then onto a third one near Lyon in France, and then a fourth on the shores of Lake Zurich, Switzerland. So I will have a lot of exploring to do, and plenty to write about!
On a side note, I have been writing some Fantasy fiction novels as well, and putting them on Wattpad. If you are interested, please feel free to check them out! HERE is a link to follow.
Thanks for reading once again, and I will catch you all in THE JOURNEY #19.
J
Last June, we had a day on our own between an ocean cruise that ended in Venice and a pre-cruise at Lake Como for a river cruise that started in Basel. We rented a car and spent the night in Sirmione. Our hotel was past the main part of the town and had parking, so we got a pass and I drove through the castle and the town to and from our hotel amongst the tourists. THAT was an experience! We’re going back in a few months and planning to stay at Limone Sul Garda.
Oh wow. I’m so jealous! Some of those hotels look great, and are in such a beautiful spot. I only got to walk through that street, and can imagine that driving through would be amazing.