Tag: Travel

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Arsenal vs Bolton Wonderers

So lucky to win a pair of tickets in the ballot!!

We knew, that the opportunity may not repeat, so there was not much to linger over. Even though this was an EFL– Carabao Cup, not a Premier league match. The only thing we cleared up was, that it’s just a match trip, with no other time to spent abroad.  

On Wednesday 25th of September we left Graz just before 7am. To Vienna we arrived slightly after 9am, on time to start a day in the office. Miska sat down in the lobby seeking to use the time wisely.

By 1:30 pm I finished in the office, as it was about time to move to airport. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed and we did not arrive to London as supposed.

Taking a train from Stansted to T******* Hale, then the tube to Finsbury Park we shortly checked in our hotel. We had time just for quick shower, dress up properly and were ready to go..

As we got off at the Arsenal tube station, we became a part of this great red-white mass filling the North London streets with excitement. Full of emotions we were marching towards the Emirates Stadium.

Of course, we took some pictures and as it took us time to find the right access point, we missed the first 5 minutes of the game. But we were there and the loss was gone in 6th minute already.

The view from family section, block 27, row 19 was very good, close to the pitch and all the action by the closer goal was at our reach. And there we score goals!! The final score is 5:1 to the Arsenal, for sure and we are through to the next run. For me, another dream has come true.

 After the match we had a small refreshment by the classy stand outside the stadium and went back to the hotel.

Day after, on 26th of September we had a flight at 9am, which meant we needed to check out just before 7am. This time the jet was on time and we landed safely in Vienna at around 12:20pm.

By 1:30pm we were already having lunch in the biggest Austrian’s canteen. Afterwards I finished my day in the office and Miska waited for me in the lobby. The way back to Graz took us approximately 2 hours, so by 8:30pm we were home from the match trip.

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Croatian summer, yet again

Departure from Graz was not an easy one. Mr. Heinz, one of our neighbours, has crashed to the garage door and disabled anyone from leaving. So, I had to pick a hammer, a piece of wood and straighten the gate a bit. Then, with another neighbour we finally managed to pull it up and sneeze with the car underneath.     

This time it was Miska’s choice purely, although I was looking for a windsurfing destination as well.

The usual issue with week cycles in Croatia means, that it’s almost impossible to book a place for whole 2 weeks, so we needed to find 2 places and be able to jump from one to another…

Olive Garden in Jadrija surprised us a lot from the very beginning… Lush vegetation, peaceful atmosphere, lot of flowers mixed in olive alley. It did not look very traditional. The reason behind is very prosaic tough. Mr. Vinko, the owner of the park has married a Thai wife, and brought a couple of Thai people to Croatia. Thai massage, esoteric music and scent everywhere.

Honestly the beach was not very special, but having a windsurfing school, the spot has proved to be good. As the wind came with some waves, it was a bit harder to practise or to improve on a new – much smaller board. But then, not much more we wanted. Peace, relax and calm.

The only trip we have done, was a short visit to Sibenik. Short, as the town and its historical centre was really crowded and somehow stinky too.

On Saturday we moved only some 30km to north west to reach the island Murter and our second destination, called Cigrada bay. Lovely bay on the west side of the island having 2 restaurants and “our” beautiful little Sunset Villa.

This was an extraordinary place, due to its numerous large terraces, stretching from the top of the coast to its waters. So many possibilities to relax on the offer. So many places to run and hide for Berry! The lovely pine trees, which separated our house from the bay – being busy during days – was great and the view on the Sunset truly magnificent!

We did not need to go and see any other places, which says it all… Actually the only exception was a short break in our kitchen, on which we visited a restaurant in Betina.

All the other days and nights we spent in Cigrada and our wonderful gardens. Ahh, yeah I managed to fix the guy’s camera.

The last day of our summer vacation, before we hit the highway for the return, we spent on the supposingly most beautiful beach of the whole Murter island – Plaza Podvrske.

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Denmark, Thy

I think it was still in Aalborg, we found out, the Thy national park is one the most beautiful in Denmark.

Stretching on the west coast of Jutland peninsula, the oldest Danish national park has a lot to offer. Particularly the raw coastal wilderness, where one can explore over 200km² of trails through some dramatic dunes and wide sandy beaches.

The ultimate goal was to see and enjoy Thy as much as possible.

Firstly, we visited the national park centre in Vorupor, to get some insights and all the needed information.

Then we spent a lot of time on the place called Cold Hawaii by Klitmoller, which is popular Danish watersports centre. The North Sea provides ideal conditions for kite surfers and surfers alike with powerful ocean streams creating some mighty waves.  

The next stop we made was in Stenbjerg Landingsplads, featuring only a few small fisherman’s houses and a typical dockside on a beach. Truly picturesque place.

Our last stop of the Thy expedition was a beach of Lobjerg sande, where we had a small picknick and some extended walks on the beautiful wild North Sea coast.

As the Sun went down, we said Good Bye to the Thy. Still to come was a 200km drive to Middelfart. It was very late, when we arrived to the Comewell hotel. Well, it could have been also later, would we not find a petrol station at only 6kms fuel capacity remaining. Yes we almost let our Toyota run dry!! But not to panic.

The day after, using a late check out, we moved back to Copenhagen with an only stop by Mosede Fort (World War Fortress with museum).

The shock, which we will hardly forget came very late, at the airport. We were denied boarding and force to fly to Vienna only next day in the morning. That was flight with a tiny little bird to Hamburg and then to Vienna. Of course, the small suitcase, we were forced to drop off, got lost in Hamburg.

What to say? The charming way to fly…  

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Denmark, Skagen

When we got up in Kompas hotel of Aalborg, we knew exactly where we are going to. During the breakfast, we also decided to come back and oversleep in the same room. So, we just jumped into the car and drove away, as the Danish north awaited us.

In some half an hour, we made a first stop by Voergaard Castle – an art venue, renaissance manor house from 1481, which is surrounded by a water dike, and lovely old trees.

Back on the road again, the next break was to see the Tilsandede Kirke. As its name says, it’s sand-covered church. And we confirm, it’s already partially buried by the sand of the dunes. Only it’s Tower is still visible above the sand nowadays. Unexpectedly active bees chase as back to the car.

In few minutes afterwards, we reached Skagen. The northernmost town in Denmark, laying on east coast of Jutland, has a significant flair. That’s the reason, we spent some time in there, enjoying the walks in the centre, by the harbour and a delicious late lunch in Fiskerestaurant.

From Skagen it’s still few additional minutes to reach a parking-site by Grenen. But finally, Grenen (the Branch in English) is the northernmost point of Denmark, a very popular spot for tourists, where the Baltic Sea meets the North Sea. Spectacular show by nature!!

A bit late, we were heading backwards by the west coast. Somewhere there we stopped for a picture with a typical Danish windmill.  

Really late – btw., you know the sun goes down later in the north – we reached the parking place by the legendary Rubjerg Knude. This is an old lighthouse, on a massive sand dune, which has already been moved by 70 meters from the coast to keep it standing for next years. One of the most picturesque scenery, in Denmark definitely!! No wonder a group of young Germans dressed in costumes produce some clips there.  

The last stop of this valuable and in interesting day was a night walk in Lokken and its beachside. The last picture was taken at 23:22 and we surely arrived to Aalborg after the midnight.

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Denmark, Aalborg

On the following day we wanted to move further and see more of the country.

First stop on our journey towards north-west was the 6th longest bridge in Europe, so called Storebealt bridge. Which btw costs you some 50 euros just to one time pass it and come back..

On the island of Fyn we then stopped for a short snack at Nyborg coast. Perhaps it was there on the beach where we decided on our destination for the day. Back in the car driving we crossed a small village called Jelling. Small but very important from historical point of view. Along the famous viking tomb – hill there is a stone raised by Harald Bluetooth, in memory of his parents, celebrating his conquest of Denmark, and his conversion of the Danes to Christianity.

It was quite late when we arrived to our hotel in Aalborg. Still not too late for a short walk in its historical centre and by the bank of Limfjord.   

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Denmark, Roskilde

On Friday morning the weather was not much different and still far from summer-like July.

The breakfast served by the host on the doorstep helped a lot. Our plan was to get ready and drive to Roskilde train station with a goal to park our Toyota there. It worked out well and soon we were sitting in a shuffle bus to the festival.

Our arrival was welcome by a storm, which cleaned the air, created some mud and several rainbows too. The act we saw is Kim Gordon performing her noise in one of the side stages. Afterwards we spent some time walking on the festival paths enjoying its food and drinks. Later, exactly one hour before the announced start, we were already holding positions in front of the main stage.

Foo Fighters came in good mood reminding their memories of a Nirvana gig from 1992, on the day Denmark was playing European football championship final. Most probably the gig, which made Roskilde festival quite popular, as far I am concerned.

The FF concert, which gave me this opportunity to fulfil my dream was exceptional! 2 hours and 10 minutes of great mixture of old songs alongside the newest ones, performing “Teacher” too…

It took us some time to leave the vibrant stage area and sit by a closed tent. There a lady told us her life story just to meet her secret man for the first time in coming minutes. That was it for us to leave the festival by midnight and drive back to Kirke Saby.  

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Denmark, Copenhagen

It was a late evening of 3rd July, when we landed on Copenhagen airport. There was not much energy left in us, as we worked during the day plus had to move from Graz to Vienna. With no hesitation we went straight to the Comewell hotel to get some rest.

The next day – on Thursday we woke up into rainy, windy day, not really a July day how we know it. But there was this great idea to visit the popular “Designmuseum of Danemark”. Having spent there couple of interesting hours, the rain moved away.  Walking across the Kastellet areal we soon arrived to the most famous Danish statute of the Little Mermaid. From there we jumped on e-bikes to see bit more from the city. Our next stops were Amelianborg and its square, monumental Frederiks Kirke and the famous Nyhavn area. Beautiful places and consequently also bit crowded, especially Nyhavn. We parked the bikes and entered the well-known district of Christiania, walking there up and down seeking the atmosphere of its glory years.

From Christiania it’s a few minutes’ walk to one of the best European restaurant, Noma. From its garden one can gaze at the building of Amager Bakke – Copenhill, which we needed to explore. Arriving there just 10 minutes before the closing time, we literary run up the hill, enjoyed all views and roll back down.

Before leaving the city in the evening, we went to the airport and got a new Toyota Yaris hybrid 4-wheel companion. Once the suitcases were loaded, we drove to Kirke Saby.  

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From Caorle to Milan

Based on the previous very positive experience of an early Italian summer escape, we visited another Venetian coastal resort.

On 30th of May we arrived to Caorle, the oldest villages on the coast near by Venezia. Hotel Excelsior with a sea-view room, directly on the promenade was a decent choice for a reasonable price. The resort itself features old cathedral, Church of the Angel on the sea and the Casoni houses – favourite spot of Ernest Hemingway among the attractions. And of course, avoiding the omission, there is a beautiful several km long sandy beach too 😉

However, lying on a sunbed by the sea was not our ultimate goal for the Italian visit. Instead, we did a little bit of road trip and travelled across north Italy to Milan on 2nd of June.

The Royal Garden hotel situated on the outskirt of the city was convenient thanks to its secured parking and an underground station within a short walk. In Milan we visited some of the famous landmarks including the Duomo, La Scala, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Sforzesco Castle, Brera Art Galery, Santa Maria delle Grazie church and many more. Cherry on the pie was the awaited concert of Lana Del Rey at Hippodrome San Siro on 4th of June. Being the headliner of the whole I-Days festival, with the attendance of more than 70.000 a new high was clearly set. Even though the organisation was a bit problematic, firstly the entrance was hard to find, then the unnecessary queuing, we were still happy we made it and on time.

Last day, Wednesday 5th of June was a travel day with a long journey from Milan back to Graz a head of us. Unfortunately we did not manage all the planned stops, but that gives us a good reason for a next trip 😉

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Silvester in Dachstein West

Very sad days separated Christmas and the New Year’s Eve of the year 2023. With all the sorrow it was hard to decide whether to go anywhere or not.

We decided for a journey very late.

Warmly welcomed by our friends at a lovely chalet in Dachstein West – Chalet Dorf, we felt instantly better. And how good was the decision to join them, turned out in the following days. The place was really cosy, just a stone throw from a slope and the surrounding of rocky mountains is truly magnificent.

We went skiing, snowboarding in the morning, then relaxed in our private finish sauna and spent the evenings playing games and having various interesting chats together. Balsamic effect for a sore soul.

 With our honey, little Berry and Diego the cat in the house, we had a lot of fun too. Dear friends thank you for another great experience, wonderful New Year’s Eve party (with unforgettable photo shooting) and lovely days spent with you.  

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Eine kurze Reise

Was für eine Reise!? Ja, ich weiß was ich brauche… no, I won’t continue in that, not yet at least 😊

The most important part in the planning of a trip as usual is the destination. And the pick I’ve made, turned out to be a good one.

As of a preparation I even managed to change the tyres, so on Wednesday evening, 17th of May we were heading to Italy full of expectations. Btw. it was approximately 1000 km, I’ve driven in 3 days from Monday to Wednesday. But we arrived to Jesolo – or as Miška correctly noticed – Lido di Jesolo well and still within a reasonable timing. (Not to forget the tunnels that were closed in Graz 😁

The welcoming in Mariver hotel couldn’t be any better! Well, yes originally Miška thought it could, but no, not really. We definitely got the best room in there! Remember, its room nr.: 409

So on Thursday tough, when I had to work, at least you could already relax 😉 Renting out the bikes later in the afternoon was a great idea. We easily get to know the area.

The long walks on the beach were those I desired. And when it came to run, something very special has happened. The priest blessed me directly on the beach! I want to remember and keep that forever. Pretty high in memories shall also be the Michelin restaurant, Michalka has chosen -> then I chose the meals based on their numbers (but that’s a different story)… And then yes, another thing to remember.. its called Iper (iper tosano), the greatest groceries we’ve ever seen.

So after all, Ich weiß was ich brauche… eine kurze Pause, das ist was ich brauche… paar Tage am Meer.

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Easter in Klosterle

There are still so many places we haven’t visited yet in Austria. One of the most unknown places for us is the region Carinthia.

Looking for a place to stay, we found this small house in Klosterle a remote part of Arriach. The very comfortable, one bedroom cottage lies in the Klosterle monastery area, but more importantly also just a stone throw from the ski lift. Great, quite couple accommodation, ideal for skiing days.

The first day upon our arrival, we were so much amazed of the place, that we managed just a short Rundwanderweg in nearby Verditz.

On Friday, the weather was beautiful, fully sunny and so we went to try out the Gerlitzen Alpen slopes. Starting on our side we managed to ride through the resort and recorded 33 piste km. As that was a really lovely day we went for an additional 6 km hiking later that afternoon.

On Saturday the weather changed completely, therefore we opted for hiking. Miska chose the so called Mirnock Kneip Rundwanderweg, a thematic route above the Milstatter See, some 14 km long.

As Sunday was again full of clouds and even foggy, we did another hiking trip. The middle point of Carinthea can be reached from Arriach centre. Afterwards there are more options to take, also using the famous Adria – Alpe route. Our statistics showed over 14 km and almost 800 uphil meters.   

The sun showed up on Monday, so we were up for a ride again, the last one in the season. And yet   

another 30 km of fun on the slopes.   Unfortunately, we needed to leave the lovely part of Carinthia on Tuesday, but we did not left it before visiting the banks of Ossiacher See.

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Brixen im Thale skiing vacation

For this year’s skiing vacation we did not manage to convince any of our friends, therefore we had to enjoy it on our own.

Still within a plenty of untasted resorts in Austria we decided to go for Tirol and a place called Brixen im Thale. The “SkiWelt” resort there, accessible from few other villages as well (Söll, Westendorf, Ellmanu, Scheffau), offers total of 270 piste km. With the mountains reaching “only” up to 1829m, the slopes are pretty wide, still passing by forests and in majority blue to red. So, all in all… just great, at least for a backcountry snowboarder 😃

Yes, with the accommodation, we were pretty lucky, I would say. A tiny little wooden “Hauschen” with 2 bedrooms and a modern kitchen, was more we than could have hoped for.  And Miska had an interesting Farm excursion by the owner too! 😊 Maybe as a result, she then ordered us a daily fresh milk delivery, which was very tasty in deed.

During those lovely Tirolian days, when sun was shining and weather was mild we recorded an average of 27 piste km a day in 5 consecutive sessions. More than enough to be pretty wasted!

To get some well-deserved treatment, we headed to the near by “Panorama Badewelt” located in St. Johan in Tirol.

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Zillertal

As we are both keen on slopes, we started to elaborate a plan, to go for snow trip together.

Agreement on a destination was an easy one and as the timeslot suddenly appeared, we were ready to go. Krzysztof arrived to Vienna midday of Friday, 2nd of December. In a half an hour, we were already heading to Finkenberg (Tirol) in Zillertal.

Opening the winter season on Saturday, we enjoyed perfect weather and well prepared slopes of Zillertal3000 among few other lucky ones.  

On Sunday we wanted to conquer the Hintertux iceberg, however a bit stronger wind disallowed our ambitions. Despite that, we found some great tracks also in lower part of the iceberg.

On the 3rd day we opted to return into Zillertal3000 (Mayerhofen) instead of originally planned Hochfügen. It turned out to be a lucky pick as we met one of the best woman skier in the world!!😀 Oh, yes, we saw Mikaela Schiffrin preparing for training  at Unterbergalm station. 🥳 We won’t also forget the way down in the foggy afternoon, with visibility of less than 10 meters!

After that exciting day we still needed to get into Radstatd, which enables us to get to slopes and have shorter way back to Vienna on Tuesday. Although Krzysztof advised to take longer / more comfortable way through the Deutsche Ecke, I insisted to cross the Gerlos pass (1628 m). It was another memorable act for sure. Luckily, we get to Radstatd at the end.

On Tuesday we could accomplish our trip in great conditions on Schladming slopes, before returning to Vienna.  

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Wals nearby Salzburg

15th of October 2022, our 11th Anniversary! first one after the wedding! Here it comes… 🤪

This time we combined the “activities” and did it very well! 😊First of all, it was another MKG conference held in Salzburg, which Miska wanted to attend, and I needed a break to reinforce before those final mapping handovers. Secondly, more importantly, we keep the tradition and spend our weekend relaxing and enjoying ourselves one for another. In Wals we booked a family hotel, called Gabi, which was full by no surprise. All those beautiful natural places in the area are attracting tourists basically the whole year round … and not forget the landmarks of Salzburg. Those natural treasures are the reason why we like the area a lot. We managed to explore one of them on the way back. The Berchtesgaden is a German National Park (Bavaria) featuring a wonderful Konigsee. The recommended way to enjoy it, is to take a boat trip and then walk around Obersee. Beautiful autumn times guaranteed 😊

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Vacation in Opatija

Vacation in Opatija

Although our first vacation as a married couple was not meant to be a honeymoon, we realize, there is no reason to call it so special as it’s a sweet joy anyway 😊

And what else could have been our destination, other than the beloved seaside of Croatia?

This time we headed as close as the famous town of Opatija. We stayed in fabulous hotel of Amadria Park, offering stunning views from its rooms. Especially from Villa Royal, which was offered to us upon our stay prolongation.

Even though we did not need to go for any trip out of Opatija, on the only occasion and a visit to Moscanicka Draga, our little Husky got slapped ☹ Luckily it was not that serious and we could somehow finish our vacation and return safely home.

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Camping at Bohinj lake

Slovenia, Triglav national park, beautiful lake of Bohinj. Camping in a stunning scenery? Yes of course, but not only… A well organised birthday part as well 😊

Fourteen of us came to the camping party, which took place between 3rd to 7th of June at the Bohinj lake. And the Friday’s party was hard and loud for sure 🤟

The day after, some managed to go up and visit Vogel peak, but the others were recovering in their beds. As the weather was nice, the cold lake water was just right refreshing.

Afterwards, we decided to see the popular Slavica waterfall, reaching it in approx. 1 hour walk from the camp.

For the last day of the camping adventure, the challenge was to paddle SUP across the lake and back (some 8km). It wasn’t that bad and I could record a total of 15km paddling in 2 days.

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Home office in Padua

What a lovely business trip this was! Definitely some of the best working days so far!! But it was Miska who need to be in Padova between 19th and 22nd of May. She attended her first profession course (dedicated to special surgery accesses) held in the University with some of the oldest anatomic premises in the world.

For our stay we picked up the Metropole hotel in nearby Abano Terme boasting with 5 swimming pools and a wellness area. So just imagine me on a sun bed, under the palm trees, in between those pools… working hard 😊 We did enjoy the town of Padova too. Historical centre, with beautiful architectonical landmarks, biggest square in western Europe = il Prato, has it’s grace.

And on Saturday afternoon getting some coffee and ice cream by the swimming pool, we just decided to go to Venice. It turned out to be a perfect timing.  Venice is stunning, unique, for sure. Our cherry on the pie 😋

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Saalbach – Hinterglemm

It’s been long 3 years which broke our favourite winter tradition of spending the skiing vacation with friends. As the pandemic situation ease a bit we could finally find a way to renew the habits.

Five of us; Tomas, Lenka, Senko, Andrej and me landed in Viehoffen on Sunday afternoon 6th of February. The chalet we booked, was just great for us! It had its own sauna plus a hot tube as a valuable bonus. After some heavy snowfalls on Monday, day and night, we were out for the action on Tuesday. Exploring the slopes, we soon understood how large the resort is. On Wednesday afternoon Miska joined us, driving all the way from Graz. The dream team was complete😊

Watching the winter Olympics in the evening we got eager to take on some of circus circuits. The conditions were great, slopes perfect and so some of us managed to ride for more than 120 downhill kms.

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Bad Reichenhall

Summer was fading away and Miska knew, she has her career starting soon. Those years when she studied 2 universities weren’t easy. One can hardly imagine. She succeeded and could start to think about the job. “Basisausbildung” gave her some routine skills and also confirmed the direction. Soon after it was completed, she already received an offer for “Assistance Ärztin on MKG Chirurgie.”

Yes, and that’s the reason we had to go to Germany. The planning and decision engine worked smoothly and soon on 23rd of September, we were heading to Bad Reichenhall. A place just a stone throw from Salzburg but still somehow different, little bit more germanish.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have that much time for exploring the beauty of the surrounding nature or visiting the landmarks. Hopefully next time, as this part of Bavaria seems to be worth of it. Our aim was to conduct business and we stuck to it. Midday on 24th of September we were already driving home, with Husky 😊

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Korcula with friends

Maybe because we had so much time and there was still a plenty of accommodation to choose from due to the restrictions… from 30th of August to 9th of September we chose a place at Picena bay 😊 A place from which we had to run away in kind of emergency, on the very first night.

Afterwards, Miska found a remote house in Crnja Luka (Blato), which turned out to be our destination. Having our own house with direct access to sea and some nice terraces with great sea views, hot water and the gas- operating kitchen didn’t bother. With Tomas and Lenka willing to get on a boat we made two one day trips round the coast. Firstly, taking a boat from Vela Luka we explored western area and the island of Proizd. Latter we rented a boat in Prizba and cruised along the south coast.  Looking for paddle boarding and windsurfing eventually, we also made some car trips. Our favourite place turned out to be Pupnatska Luka.

For the way back, we decided to split the long route and stop by in Zadar. Zadar has a nice historical town centre with many fancy bars, unfortunately not open at night during the restrictions. The very last day, when Kiss family was already reaching home, we still went for some swimming and sunbathing at Kraljicina beach, by Nin. Croatia rules! 😊

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Vacation in Cala d’Or, Mallorca

Lately we were very satisfied with our choices of Mallorca. This year, in between 18th and 26th of August we decided for Cala d’Or and a hotel carrying on the same name. While the place was interesting, with its deep bays (Cala) it offers nice walks and has a variety of restaurant concentrated in the centre, for the hotel we better skip the comments.

Having get used to Cala d’Or and the popular biting fishes of it, we borrowed a great Seat Ateca to visit some neighbouring places.

First trip we made, was to Platja de Cala Agulla – nice natural beach near by Es Pelats (Capdepera), where we got some tasty pizza and continued further to Cala Torta. That’s quite remote beautiful beach with lovely views. For the evening walk, we stopped by in old town called Arta.

The next day we completely devoted to Parc Mondrago a beautiful natural park. On the 3rd day, we went for Calo del Moro, but unfortunately didn’t get any swimming there, as the queue waiting for it was considerably long. Instead, we end up on very long white sandy beach called Platja des Trenc.

Additionally, we manged to visit Platja S’Armarador, Parc Mondrago again and the town of Santanyi (+ Cala Santanyi) before leaving the island.

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Salzburg from Anif

It was a dedicated trip to Salzburg for Miska and a special business trip for me. In between 11th and 13th of August we found ourselves in the premises of wonderful Friesacher hotel. Luckily asking for a quite room for work, we got one of the very few best rooms with its own sauna by the balcony. It was definitely one of the best, if not ultimately the best hotel room we ever got in Austria!

Having great choice breakfast, doing the usual office work, and then heading to pool in the garden…

Besides that, one have to say this small Anif town is a gorgeous place. Featuring medieval castle, river spot for surfers, Salzburg Zoo, Hellbrunn Castle and many other highlights, it certainly has many sparkling stars.

Although Michalka’s meeting in Salzburg hospital was not so successful, we did not regret it. Walking down the city’s streets the last day, we realized, that it’s far away from a place to stay on a longer basis.

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Sorrento, Italy

In between of 23rd and 30th of May, this was finally some attractive home-office week!! As it was so much well-earned Miska’s vacation, she took care of all the planning. At the end she’s the one to take rest and relax, I only changed the premisses 😉

Upon the arrival to Roma CIA Airport, we picked up our Lancia Ypsilon and decided to drive it off the highway towards south. Slowly approaching Napoli, streets got more ruined, narrow and dirtier. The hell of a road connecting Sorrento peninsula with Napoli was remarkable. I lost my half year old beard completely! Next morning, we changed the noisy hotel for a remote appartement near Nerano, hopping to get more peace. Unfortunately, the nearby houses were under reconstructions. Considering the ultimate sea views and stone throw beach, it was still a fair deal. Better than any ordinary office.  

From here we explored beautiful, picturesque places like Positano, Amalfi and Ravello. Then, for the last 2 days we moved to Oasi Olimpia Relais villa. This wonderful 5 star hilltop place, made our trip bit more special. Well known island Capri was the last delicacy on our tasty Italian menu.

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Vacation in Potocnica, Croatia

Honestly speaking, we were very lucky to get our desired sea vacation in 2020. Pandemic spreading wave after wave across the world and all the necessary restrictions, made it quite hard to travel overall. From the beginning we knew, the smaller and quieter the place, the less risk we take.

Potocnica is a tiny little village with no shop no church and just a few houses. But for sure the coast with rocky terraces and small pebble / sandy beaches as well – it is beautiful. On the first day, we prolonged our stay to make it 2 weeks (at least ..:)  We deeply wish to realize a small “gradevinsko zemlijste” in there!  Btw for windsurfing, the best spot for us turned to be “Sveti Duh” beach, only 12km away. But, be careful when passing by the small bay house 😉

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Vacation in Santa Ponsa, Mallorca

After those sporty days and adventure in Premantura, we simply deserved few more days, just to lay down and relax in peace. And the town of Santa Ponsa has such a place, which meets these requirements pretty well.

In between 11th and 18th of August we were guests to the wonderful Punta Del Mar hotel. The personnel took care of us, so we took care very little, almost not at all. After having a full range of tasty breakfast and some glass of champagne, we needed to take a rest before approaching the pool facilities. By playing some games of domino and having few more drinks, we relaxed changing between the sea and pool water throughout the day.

Few times we did even go to the great public beach. And not to forget, we did also manage to walk down the Santa Ponsa streets on few occasions. But mainly, we did focus on pure relax and delightful joy.

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Premantura, Istria

As a yearly tradition of our summer holidays, we went to Croatian coast again. Looking for a good windsurfing spot in a convenient distance from home, the selection fall on Istrian treasure Kamenjak. For our 10 nights stay ( from 29.7th until 8.8th) we found an apartment in Premantura, which is a gate to nature park Kamenjak, at the very south piece = the end of Istrian Peninsula.

The nature park offers variety of beaches in small bays different west to east. While the east side has wider, shallower beaches (e.g. our windsurfing spot Uvala Skokovica 🙂 the opposite coast is rocky with hush pine-tree vegetation, featuring beautiful sea sunsets places like Uvala Toreta and Uvala Radovica. Being there, we could not miss the great Safari Bar with its hidden corners and fun attractions.

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Stockholm

Originally we did this trip to Stockholm between 28.6 and 30.6 because we wanted to secure at least one festival experience for the summer. Lollapalooza took our attention with a playlist including 2 of the best music performers. Arriving to the Swedish capital, we were very pleased by a perfect choice of our hotel. The Birger Jarl hotel (named after the town founder) was a wonderful selection. Heading out for the festival we were very surprised to see the “unique” swede, that we met the other week in our hometown 😁 Obviously he was surprised even more. 😂 The whole Friday we dedicated then to festival. It was a very nice experience, calm, clean just little bit expensive.

For Saturday and Sunday we had a kind of tour plan ready and tried to see as much of the city as possible. Places like Gamla Stan, Djurgarden (museum island), artist’s district Götgatan and Fotografiska we liked a lot. In addition we did a small tour within the town hall tower, from where there is beautiful view over the nearby islands. The atmosphere of the city, its infrastructure and proximity to sea have had some positive impacts on our memories.

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Endinburgh, Scotland

This was a trip desired by my good friend Wolfgang. He wanted to visit Scotland for some time and as this period of year suited me too, we didn’t hesitate. Reaching the capital Edinburgh on Thursday afternoon, was not a big surprise. Cold and rainy day presented the picture of this old medieval city very well. At least the royal mile (road connecting the Castle and Holyroodhouse Palace) was almost empty, allowing us to study all those medieval buildings precisely. Btw, some of the houses are the first tall buildings in the world, reaching up to 9 stores in the 16th century. For the next day we rented a small car, to see a piece of the country. Heading towards Glasgow we soon arrived to Balloch a gate to Loch Lomond and its national park. Lovely place, where easily several days can be spent. Next we stop by a town called Stirling, disposing a fortress on top of the hill. Later on we approached the North Sea by Kirkcaldy, but decided to go further north and see the famous Ellie Ness Lighthouse. From here returning back to capital, we visited two more places; Standing Stones of Lundin and Pettycur beach. The last check point of that day was Forth Bridge, one of the most iconic Scottish structures. Our final day we dedicated to Edinburgh entirely. Seeing Holyroodhouse Palace from inside, outside + above, Royal Observatory, Elephant house and the Calton monument hill completely satisfied our visit.

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Ireland, day 5 on Wild Atlantic Way

Only the Rally of Lakes could disturb and wake us up in the room of this fine Killarney hotel. Nevermind, it was the last day and we had to finalise the Irish adventure. Straight from the breakfast we visited the famous Muckross house. This place basically gave the origins to the Killarney National Park known as of today. After taking a small tour on the Muckross garden, we moved just few steps further, to see the Muckross Abbey with its big yew tree in the middle of the yard. From here we continued in our landmark tour to the Ross Castle. This medieval castle is surrounded by Lough Leane, from where O’Donoghue, the former owner, still arises. According to the legend.

The last route of our great Irish expedition brought us to the place where it all began, Dublin airport. 5 overloaded days, more than 1700 road kms and a huge portion of unique memories. Thank you Ireland, we’ll be back.

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Ireland, day 4 of Wild Atlantic

Ballybunion has a very lovely beach, divided by a castle in two; Ladies and Men’s beach. It also features cliffs on a side with a cave to be explored. The opposite side of the beach is then fully dedicated to a great golf club, which btw we also managed to visit 😉 From Ballybunion our steps led further towards south and the next planned stop was a place called Banna. Banna Strand is a fabulous 10 kms long and also quite wide beach featuring up to 12 meters high dunes. Wonderful! Pure joy. The hills visible behind the south side of beach stand on a Dingle peninsula, our target destination. Approaching the peninsula we visited Blennerville Windmill, before reaching Castelgregory, a popular spot for surfers and windsurfers. Just at the end of its beaches, we sat down to table in super tasty Spillane Bar and Restaurant. Here we decided to go for another challenge, to see the other side of peninsula, where the town of Dingle lies. To get there we used Conor Pass and were pleased by extended views from top of the peninsula hills. Charming little Dingle town has definitely a lot to offer.  Therefore we left it just after the sunset. Heading to our last accommodation we made a final stop to see another great beach called Inch Strand. This one can be even enjoyed directly from your car.

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Ireland, day 3 on the Way

From the town of Ennis, where we overslept the last night, we hit the road again. To start as we finished, we went to Kilkee and discovered its great beach as well as the Kilkee Cliffs. These differently shaped cliffs allowed us to go lower and feel the waves hitting the rocks roughly. From Kilkee we continued towards the Loop Head lighthouse at the end of the peninsula carrying the same name. This lighthouse awarded by many prices stands on its place from 1854 and fully functioning is visible up to 42 kms away. On the way back the Long Dock Pub restaurant in Carrigaholt invited us to its tasty cuisine. Afterwards we took a ferry in order to cross the opening Mouth of Shannon and landed in Tarbert. Lately, upon visiting a place called Glin, we headed towards our next accommodation in Ballybunion.

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Ireland, day 2 on Wild Atlantic

The second day on our way we started walking by the already quoted Galway places. From there the next goal was set to be Fanore. Driving the narrow road, we took a break in an old settlement to see the Dunguaire Castle. After that cultural break, we were about to discover something else. Fossils embedded into rocks at Flaggy Shore! …And yes, we also made sure, the fossils are pretty visible in there. Later in the afternoon, we finally arrived to Fanore. Its beach is a place, we could easily enjoy for the rest of the day… But the highlight was just about to follow. The magnificent Cliffs of Moher were exposed to us in all their beauty. As the clouds were moving fast and the Sun illuminated the cliffs in various angles, the Mother Nature composed a spectacular show, one would hardly ever forgot.

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Ireland, day 1 of Wild Atlantic Way

Walk out the house, jump on the bus, fly up – land down …and there you are!! So easily and quickly we found ourselves in the country of Ireland. Ready to start our trip towards the wild Atlantic, first we handled a proper car (3rd attempt was a successful one 🙂 On our way to Galway we stopped by a town called Tullamore. Yes the famous Irish whiskey producer, yes for an obvious reason. After a short break we finally reached the ocean by Galway. The 3rd biggest city has a plenty to offer in the city centre plus a nice places just next door. The Salthill Promenade and especially lovely beach called Silver Strand we liked a lot.

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Sölden

As a nice tradition within our group of friends, we go year by year for a winter skiing vacation. At the very first years, several times in row, we enjoyed Slovakian Jasná. Later on, not only due to climate changes, we moved a bit higher and visited Austrian resorts like Kitzbühel, Kaprun and Schladming. Suddenly there was this idea. Why not to go to Sölden? Yes, Tirol, yes faaar away… But, what could follow all those wonderful places?! Sölden. The truth is, it is somehow special. Not just because of Spectre and agent Bond, but surely because of those slopes. Amazing! To be there, one feels privileged. Thank you Sölden!

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Barcelona

Down there to Spain again! It’s been a third time this year to none in the past. And why? Well, always for a different reason of course. Lately, between 14th and 18th of November, originally just to make a nice trip, but then also to celebrate Senko’s birthday.

Although we had quite a fair plan prepared, Barcelona turned out to be a bit too big and too interesting to manage all the scheduled highlights. Well, at least we picked up those like La Pedrera, Casa Batlo, Park Guell plus outer views of Familia Sagrada – all the great works of the greatest Antonio Gaudi. Not to forgot, we also enjoyed the Aquarium and Maritime museum and beautiful views from Monjuic and its castle. For the end of our trip, we couldn’t go any better than to Jazzsí club and experience a real flamenco fever.

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Stuttgart – Luzern – Innsbruck

There was a long awaited need for a business trip to Stuttgart. It has already been planned for 26th of October (Austrian National Day). Luckily the trip could also happen and was prolonged a bit at the end. Arriving to Stuttgart was a kind of blow due to the massive constrictions in the middle of the city and a noticeable smog coming not only from the works. Despite this small disruption we could do and accomplish the business.

The way back we took a byway through Switzerland and stopped by the town of Luzern. This is a nice old town with many landmarks and of course streets full of quality watches, jewellery and more. Also a nice place called Jazzkantine.

The next day we drove towards home and overslept in Innsbruck. Also, for the first time in here, we had to see all its beauty. And it definitely is worth of it. To explore the city – Central Hotel was a very convenient choice.

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Windsurfing in Croatia

Not to miss our favourite summer destination, we went to Croatia also this year. This time on a special mission we stayed on Krk in Krk (the main town holds the island’s name 🙂 from 17th till 25th of August. Krk town lies just next to Punat and in between there is one of the well-known Windsurfing destinations. Of course, you should be a member of a Golf club, to get in there. Luckily we managed and could finally practise the lovely wind-salty sport endless.

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Sziget Festival, Budapest

Summer and festivals somehow come together. This year we wanted to refresh some of the old memories and therefor went to Budapest. Sziget Festival on Island of Freedom, 9th and 10th of August. 2 Days of great music experience and more. With our friends Senko, Tomas & Julka and Wolfgang we enjoyed the performances of Lana Del Rey, Gorillaz, Parov Stelar, Bonobo and definitely also those others.

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Vacation in Paguera, Mallorca

And the long awaited days are finally here. From 31.7. to 7.8. we decided to go for a vacation on Mallorca. Of course, these days everyone goes there, why shouldn’t we? But that was certainly not the reason. On the other hand with so many tourists heading there, we paid special attention to pick up the right place. And we found it! Small town of Paguera without the rush of Palma suburbs, gave us all long restful days full of happiness and joy. In a combination with excellent services of the hotel Coronada, we couldn’t dream more!

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Ibiza, Ibiza

Once there was a Stag party. Some may remember well, others maybe less but it has been accomplished. Early in the morning on 19th of May a group of 8 (so called “Kiss Army”) successfully boarded on a plane heading to Ibiza. Exciting 4 days of adventure were fulfilled at lunch on 23rd of May back at the same Airport. Such a huge mass of energy, passed by so quickly. Luckily no one’s got injured, nothing was harmed. We all enjoyed it and survived.