On my last weekend in Brussels I finally managed to go to Luxembourg, and now, after moving back to Palermo, I want to share some thoughts on what really impressed me about this amazing country :)
So click to watch (and please remember to like, share and subscribe, as it really helps me to move the channel forward!)
I spent this weekend in Amsterdam and it was the second part of my this year's birthday gift - to me from me.
I've been travelling quite a lot in these past 4,5 years (raise your hand if you remember me writing that crazy post "Hey, guys! I have a big news - I kinda moved to Thailand!") and have been to many cool places, had many amazing experiences and met an impressive number of great people.
And I cannot believe that I'm saying it, but I think this trip to Amsterdam was in the top 3 of those trips. I wasn't actually expecting much - I was going by myself, only for a few days and my only plan was titled "museums, walking, going to bed early".
*Sidenote - I rented an AirBnb in Almere, which is 30 minutes by train from Amsterdam Centraal. I stayed in a place called Home by Anita - I recommend it to everyone as it was great value for the price. The owners are very friendly and welcoming, the place is very pretty and tidy, they provide a lovely breakfast and the atmosphere is really great.
Also if you are about to travel with AirBnB for the first time, you can get 25 euro of credit by registering with my link. I will also receive a small credit when you are going to complete your first trip, so everyone wins! :)
And in the retrospect, it was the best thing to do. Because in the end, my experience with Amsterdam was not touristic, but eye-opening and almost spiritual. Sometimes you are searching for a moment to reflect upon things and sometimes a moment is searching for you. So a quiet weekend in a beautiful city is what you actually need.
This past weekend I went to Paris. This was one of the experience gifts I made for myself for my birthday this year, and I cannot be happier about it!
(stay tuned for the second part of the gift - coming to you next Monday!)
So... It was my first time in Paris. And I never had a dream about going there. And I'm not one of those people who think that it's the epitome of romance, beauty and elegance.
And... I absolutely loved it, even despite the fact that I find calling Paris "the city of love" is a super cringe-worthy cliche.
I went there by myself for many reasons but had a great trip and can safely say that the first part of my present was very well received by the birthday girl (ME!).
As you can see in the video, I've taken two different walking tours, and I loved both of them for different reasons. It's actually one of the things I love to do in any new city (especially those ones, where I have only a few days), and I cannot recommend this type of tours enough - it's perfect to have a quick view of the city, meet your fellow travellers and see some of the places even locals might not know about. One and a half years ago I published a post about the similar tour I took in Copenhagen, and five years ago - about the tour around Lviv, Ukraine.
So this time, as I didn't have much time, I register for two tours with two different companies:
- Discover Walks that showed me around Montmartre - the tour was very nice and friendly, our tour guide showed us Montmartre with love and care of a person that calls it his home. Also, I really liked that fact that, even though I registered for the tour online, it wasn't obligatory, any person can just come to the meeting point and join the walk (this is the way it's supposed to be).
The only criticism about this tour - I really don't like the fact that the company posts the amount they expect you to tip your tour guide. Don't get me wrong, I know that Paris is an expensive city. That's why I always opt for local tours and not for those that are organised by international conglomerates. But the fact that they published the expected tip, and that the guide also voiced it on a few occasions (and this time it was 3 euro more) - I don't really like it. I might be old-fashioned, but tips are tips. If you are not happy with the amount people are leaving you, set a price for your services.
- Sandemans New Europe with the Free Paris Tour - this one was the "city centre" tour that took us around the most famous sights of Paris (Notre Dame, Louvre, Tuileries garden etc). I loved that the tips were not set as a fixed amount, but this time I had to register and print my ticket out to be able to take the tour.
Apart from this super touristic activities, my stay in Paris consisted of a lovely brunch with my friend, lovely walks, some shopping and, I admit, eating baguette with red wine under the Eiffel tower (yes, I am a walking cliche sometimes, no matter how much I would love to avoid it).
BTW, I also took an espresso at "Shakespeare and Co" - it was the worst espresso I had in my life, worse than any Nescafe or other instant coffee brand. But it was something I wanted to do for years, so I call it a life lesson.
For other details about my trip, including the details on where I stayed, what I wore and what I did - click on the video, and remember to subscribe to my channel, because you can expect lots of cool content coming your way.
Yesterday I finally went to Ghent - one of my must-see destinations in Belgium (yes, I do have a list, and I'm basically flying through it!).
Ghent is a beautiful city quite close to Brussels (I don't think that it took me more than 40 minutes to get there from Brussels Midi station) and it always was one of my priorities for this three months in Belgium.
So... I kinda both liked and disliked it. Let me explain:
It's an absolutely beautiful city and I wish I could spend a few days (rather than a few hours) there. But it was one of those weird trips when way too many things went wrong - the weather was weird (it was sunny, gloomy, rainy, warm and ridiculously cold at the same time, I took the wrong tram from the station and had to wait for the right one in some unidentifiable place in cold wind, everything (and I mean everything - every shop, supermarket and bar, apart from those in the city centre) was closed, so I couldn't even hide from the rain until I arrived in the centre.
But... It was still worth it. Because Ghent is absolutely beautiful and charming, and I really need to visit it again, but in better weather and day of the week (I should've been used to the fact that almost everything in Belgium is closed on Sunday, but I still can't).
Anyways, check out my video and please don't mind my weathered looks - it was way too windy and cold to look nice.
I was just uploading my new video for tomorrow morning and realised that I've never actually shared this video with you.
So prepare to see one of the most fairy-tale'ish cities you will ever find! Let's go to Bruges!
And don't forget to tune in tomorrow for a short, but warm video about my one-week long trip back to Palermo, full of sun, street performances and talented people drawing portraits!
Hello, amazing people! Today I want to share my recent trip with you.
A few weeks ago I was in a bit of a funny mood. You know, one of those times that make you reflect on things and also feel quite lonely, especially if you are living in a new country and don't have a whole lot of friends there.
So instead of sitting at home the whole Sunday and feeling sorry for myself, I picked myself up, went to the train station and bought a ticket to Antwerp.
And it was a great decision!
As you can see in the video, it's a very pretty and lively city, and I was very lucky to see a super cute fair on the main square, listen to street musicians and do some people watching while enjoying a great cappuccino with soy milk in one of the coffee shops.
So Antwerp gets my recommendations as a very nice weekend getaway, especially if you are new to Brussels (or Belgium) and tend to feel lonely sometimes.
Today I'm cheating a bit - instead of travel or minimalism/volunteering/mindfulness videos I have a tag. I know it's not the same, but I really wanted to film a sit-down video before I go back to Palermo for a bit, so this was the number one tag in my idea bank.
Please forgive me for the weirdest camera angle, I'm working on it.
And click on to see me rambling about some of the funny travel experiences I had in Europe and Asia over the last 4.5 years.
Since I was a very, very little girl I always dreamt about travelling. I don't remember ever wanting to marry a prince that badly, but I do remember imagining myself in various places around the world (mostly in Karnak or Acropolis) all the time, as I was reading every adventure novel I could find. Mind that in those times travelling, especially with a Ukrainian passport, wasn't all that easy.
So now, as my dreams started to come true 4 years ago, I already saw three places I was absolutely obsessed with - Angkor wat in Cambodia, Acropolis in Greece (only from afar, but I will go back there) and now the Atomium here, in Belgium.
I saw it for the first time when I was about 5 years old - my grandfather was working in Syria in the beginning of the 60s and he brought back many cool things with him, including a small device with a few boxes of slides from around the world. And I was spending hours looking at the pyramids of Giza, Greek temples, Damascus and its beautiful buildings covered in mosaics. And the Atomium, that was a very new thing at that time - it was constructed for the World Expo of 1958.
I instantly became obsessed with it - to the same extent, as some people who are mesmerized by Eiffel tower. It looked so cool and futuristic and modern, and just like something that I really wanted to see.
But as I was growing up I was adding more and more must-see destinations to my bucket list and the Atomium wasn't a number one anymore... Until July 2017, when I realised that - holy cow, I'm going to live in Brussels!
So yes, on my first weekend here I went straight ahead to the Atomium and had an amazing day dorking out at how weird, futuristic and old-school sci-fi it looks. I have a feeling I will go there a few more times till the end of November, because... just because!
For some more footage and photos check out my video and instagram, and subscribe if you like what you see :)
Today I have a quick, but important life update for you, so here we go (remember to like and subscribe if you are as excited about the future content of my blog and channel as I am):
I know, it's been a very long time, but extreme temperatures are my strongest creative kryptonites, and we've been experiencing some pretty hot days here lately. If you also add a lot of stress from organising something very cool (I will have a life update very soon) and Sicily's general tendency to play dead every August... It was very difficult to get concentrated on anything other than ice water.
Last year I had a post about Castelammare del Golfo, but as I like to go there as much as possible, this summer I decided to reinforce my recommendations also by making a short video about it.
Please, remember to like, share and subscribe, and you will never miss a new video!
Editing this video was a real struggle - I've made it, it disappeared, I started making it again, then noticed that some footage disappeared... But! In the heart of any problem lies an opportunity, so I decided to use all this situation to teach myself some lessons.
I hope you will like the video! Enjoy and see you around!
Today I want to suggest one more cool destinations you can visit in one day if you ever find yourself in Sicily and in need of some paintings, photographs, vintage movie posters and killer tiles. Seriously, #tilesgoals.
Coat - Sisley | Sweater - H&M | Jeans - Zara | Boots - Bata | Bag - Pieces via Asos
So yes, if you are in Sicily, you have a free day and want all of those things, you need to visit the museum at villa Cattolica in Bagheria.
But first, chack out my video on YouTube (and remember to subscribe) and read till the end of the post to know some of my suggestions and tips.
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that a few weeks ago I travelled to the North of Italy to conduct some interviews for my research. I've already visited Turin once (check out my blog posts about that trip here and here) and also been to Milan multiple times (I love to write about my complicated relationships with this city so you can check my previous posts here), but have never been to Bergamo.
And even though I was mostly working and didn't have much time to just enjoy my trip, I still manage to squeeze in some fun activities - a cup of cappuccino at the cat cafe, a few nice walks and the visit to the Museum of Cinema (last time we did only the elevator to the top of Mole to enjoy the view).
So let's go!
I came to Turin on the warmest, sunniest and loveliest day and, walking through the city centre with my suitcase, thought how lucky I am to find such a lovely weather up in the North of Italy.
Check out my travel vlog over at my YouTube channel (and remember to subscribe and switch on notifications not to miss any future videos)
Three years ago, after a lot of thought, the revolutionary winter and one of many Lufthansa strikes, I finally managed to land in Palermo.
It was Sunday, April 6. I remember wearing a denim shirt with leather collar, searching for my suitcase for ages, missing the bus to the city and waiting for half an hour in the rays of the warmest Sicilian sun. Oddly enough I didn't have any specific expectations or worries.
It was the beginning of a new adventure, but not more than that.
I had quite specific plans for when I will come back to Kyiv, that included photography, politics, and going back to Thailand for a few months to work on my book. Sicily was one of the great steps on the way to mindful and enjoyable life, but I never planned to stay here more than for 9 months of my EVS project.
Merry Christmas, Orthodox and Greek Catholic people! Happy old New Year!
I was planning to make a few separate posts on all of those topics but then realised that I will not manage to do it for many reasons. So let's mix it a bit!
It took me a long time to understand what are my New Year's Resolutions, or should I rather say - New Year's Goals. But now I really want to put them in writing to have something to measure this year by later. Some of this goals you might have seen in my birthday post, but that's the plan.
One of my favourite New Year morning traditions (besides eating leftover salads with a spoon while watching old movies) is to look back at the past year. Yes, I usually don’t do it before midnight (maybe I just want to make sure that the old year actually retired and will not get offended?).
So, here we go. Many things had happened in 2016, good and bad, it was quite kind to me personally. I got to travel much more than I ever did, I got great opportunities, I worked hard and I’m quite happy with myself. I also got very aware of some of my limitations and started my own personal self-education – mostly on the topics of self-love, self-respect, not putting myself down and not letting anyone else do it.
I’ve met many wonderful people and sadly parted ways with some others. So let’s look into it month by month.
As you already know, in the middle of October I went to Milan for 4 days - for work (mostly meeting people for my research) and pleasure (seeing friends). But interestingly, those days, full of rain, cold, sun, blue skies, endless coffees and walks, meetings with my darling friends, broken umbrellas, aperitivos at Naviglie and panzerotti by Colonne di San Lorenzo, cozy mornings at the loveliest under-roof apartment and many other cool things, managed to surprise me in the best possible way.
You might remember that I had to take quite a weird route to get there. Normally the trip from Palermo to Milan takes about 2 hours (even less, I guess) and doesn't cost that much (at the first glance, because later Ryanair makes you pay for it with your nerve cells by constantly trying to sell you sandwiches, lottery tickets, perfumes and handmade bracelets). But this time the tickets were kind of pricey and I had no choice but to buy a ticket to Paris (well, not Paris - Beauvais), wait there for 8,5 hours and then head to Milan.
You might tell me that it's ridiculous - to travel from an Italian city to another Italian city by going to France and coming back, and I will agree with you. But who wants to pay 70 euro more? It's the price of 24 aperitivo's in Palermo (or 10 sandwiches in Copenhagen).
So on a lovely October morning, me and my #horriblypinksuitcase (check my Instagram to have an idea, but I must warn you - it is horribly pink) went on an adventure.
Few weeks ago the weirdest combination of study and life related stress, insomnia, not being able to wait till October 17 on my own and desire to both create connections for my research and to see friends lead me to a very spontaneous decision. I've checked all possible plane ticket aggregator, spoke to everyone I know in Milan, wrote to many professionals in my field and ended up buying the ticket to Bergamo and back.
* trivia - by this point when it comes to finding cheap lowcost tickets I'm almost a professional. If I have a cup of of good tea and a few episodes of Friends, I'm able to find quite nice deals. But! Sometimes you need to really choose between money and time.
This time I chose to pay less and spend more time travelling. So on October 13 I'm going from Palermo to Paris (Beauvais), where I will wait for 8 hours, and then from Beauvais to Milan. Which sounds like quite an adventure!
I will only stay in Milan for 4 days, but I really hope I will manage to do everything I want for work and also to enjoy meeting some friends. I have a few previous posts on Milan, so I believe I already mentioned - I've been to Milan three times and never managed to stay there for even 24 hours. So this time I will definitely break this curse!
Also - I cannot believe I've managed to finish all 45 days of blogging! Yes, technically the last day is tomorrow, but it will just be the reflection on this experience. So yay, I did it!
It's not going to be a long post, just because I don't even have any descent pictures - I took my camera, but had a problem with the memory card, so had to rely only on my phone. But I loved that day so much, I really want to dedicate this blog post to it, even if I only have a few words to say.
On one of the days in Ljubljana, when we already finished with out photo stories and had some free time, one of the training team members (Sara, you are the BEST!) gave us the keys to her car to go and see Bled lake.
*words of wisdom - if someone will ever say to you: "Do you want to go see Bled, but only for a very short time?", always say yes, even if it will mean that you will see it just for 5 minutes. I almost missed the chance and now I know I would've never forgive myself if I actually did.
I knew that I will love Slovenia, I knew that the lake was beautiful, and still I was surprised by how beautiful it actually was. No wonder - it's located in Julian Alps, about one hour away from Ljubljana.
After the crazy, but nice day in Venice it was the time to continue my adventure and go to Ljubljana.
For me it was my first time in Balkans, so I was very excited to see one more country and learn useful things along the way.
Logistics
The tricky part about traveling to Ljubljana and Slovenia in general is that airplane tickets are quite expensive. The cheapest way to get there from, for example, Italy is to go to Venice or Trieste and take a bus from there (for example with GoOpti).
As I've mentioned before, this year I'm quite lucky with projects and travels (knock on wood!) and I really hope it to stay this way for many-many years to come.
One of the projects I've participated in was a training course on digital storytelling for professionals that work with vulnerable groups. As I'm one of those people and I also love and do photography since I was very little, I felt like it was a perfect match for me. Also it was hold in Ljubljana, and I've never been to Slovenia (and Balkans in general) before. So yeah, of course I took the opportunity, that came with a side bonus - visiting Venice for a day.
