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Eurotrip
  • Vera and Tom
  • Vera and Tom

Eurotrip

Jumping around Europe for 4 months leading up to our wedding and honeymoon. Leggi altro
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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom

    Paradise Valley

    10 maggio 2019, Marocco ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We'd read about this place before we decided to come to Taghazout and luckily in the morning, after a little bit of calling around other hostels, Yasim from our hostel managed to sort out a tour for us.
    We jumped in his car and quickly picked up a German couple to complete our group and headed off towards the mountains.
    First, we stopped off for a look around an argan oil producer. The place is entirely staffed by women and acts as an opportunity for them to have some financial indepence while producing a speciality product of this part of Morocco. The argan tree has a little fruit like a cross between an olive and an almond which they use to make the oil. The oil is then used for food and making cosmetics.
    Next we drove to the end of the valley and started a bit of a hike along the river, stopping at a little cafe shack to order our lunch for later.
    Eventually, after climbing over some slippery rocks we arrived at paradise. It's a pool created by water running down from the mountains surrounded by palm trees in the middle of the dry landscape all around. We swam in the surprisingly cold water, sunbathed and watched braver people than us jump off the rocks.
    The route is circular so to come back we had to climb around the side of the pool, which was pretty terrifying but we managed to swear our way through it. After stopping back at the cafe to eat our tagine and drink mint tea we got back in the car and drove around the mountain to a hot spring. It wasn't quite as beautiful as the paradise valley but it was interesting to see local people enyoing the hot water. As it was rather full we decided to enjoy it only from distance.
    We had our dinner by the ocean in a romantic little local restaurant with an amazing view.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
    11

    Taghazout

    11 maggio 2019, Marocco ⋅ 🌫 20 °C

    Taghazout is a small fishing village which develops a lot year by year to keep up with the surf tourism (there wasn't even sewage system 5 years ago). The panoramic beach is a top surf spot in Morocco so we also couldn't miss out on renting a board and discovering how much we remembered from our one and only surf lesson 4 years ago in Ecuador. Well as it seems not a lot :D but we decided to blame it on the waves. The beach was windy but the sun was extremely strong so we both got painfully sunburnt. After a little siesta we went out to grab some food and mint tea by the ocean before sunset. Some places don't serve food from 7:25pm to 8pm as they break their fast, some others do so we try to remember not to order close to sunset because it's a little bit uncomfortable if the call comes from the mosque and everyone can start eating but some poor guy is stuck serving us.
    We had a lovely, relaxing time in Taghazout, ready to leave for Agadir tomorrow.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
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    Agadir

    12 maggio 2019, Marocco ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    A heatwave has reached us with up to 38° so we were really looking forward to our bargain deal 3 star hotel in Agadir with swimming pool.
    In the morning we got on the local bus and an hour later we were in our "private pool", as the hotel was pretty much empty. No sunbathing tho, we are in big pain from yesterday!
    The most important task was to buy our bus ticket for the next day so once we cooled down we headed off and also to see a bit of Agadir. At the main market we got a bit ripped off by paying a lot for some unwanted tea and henna but we knew it was coming at one point.
    We had a look at the beach and surrounding hotel complexes and restaurants but it's all kind of fake and plastic and completely separated from the rest of the city.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
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    Ouarzazate

    14 maggio 2019, Marocco ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    6 hours of bus journey through mountains and rocky desert brought us to Ouarzazate, a small city famous for being the filming location for dozens of Hollywood movies, including Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and Game of Thrones. It also gets referred to as the gateway to the Sahara which we certainly felt by the temperature, up to 40°c at some times. The area is also famous as an old caravan trading route which brought wealth and led to the building of lots of Kasbahs (a bit like the Moroccan version of a manor house or private palace). After a little walk we checked out the Taourirt Kasbah which is right in the centre of town. It has lots of little rooms with tiny doors and windows to explore and get lost in.
    In the evening we ended up in a funny little roadside cafe for some drinks and moroccan cakes.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
    1

    Aït Ben Haddou

    15 maggio 2019, Marocco ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    After a few attempts we managed to negotiate with one of the many many taxi drivers outside the bus station in Ouarzazate to take us to Ait Ben Haddou where he would wait for an hour before bringing us back.
    We'd heard a lot about this place, an 11th century stopover for caravans along the trade route. It is included on pretty much every tour which goes through or close to the region so we thought we'd better check it out.
    It is hard to tell how much is original after Unesco and hollywood have each done restorations but the place is suprisingly undeveloped with little tourist information and only the usual few souvenir stalls in the alleys, not necessarily a bad thing. It is a maze of mud brick buildings which has been used in the filming of a long list of movies.
    After this short visit we headed south towards the Sahara, just short of the Algerian border.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
    11

    Mhamid

    16 maggio 2019, Marocco ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    After hours of research for a desert tour we decided to stay at an airbnb in Mhamid where the host, Mohamed, helps you to see the desert at a more reasonable price than big tour offices. This small desert village is mostly lived in by nomad families who have decided to settle down by the edge of the Saharah. Mohamed's family was one of them and he told us a lot about nomadic lifestyle and interesting facts like even if there is a hard border between Morocco and Algeria it is not impossible to cross it, those who want to come over just need to wait for a sandstorm which makes it impossible for the soldiers to see from their towers or CCTV. On the other hand you need to watch out for your camels and make sure they don't cross the border as you'll then just have to hope that someone sends them back!
    Sand and the wind made it rather difficult for us to dry our laundry which all ended up in the sand so we'll be bringing some desert home in our bags.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
    211

    Erg Chigaga - Sahara desert

    17 maggio 2019, Marocco ⋅ ☀️ 39 °C

    The only way to approach the campsite in the desert was by 4 by 4. Our host/guide, the cook, the driver and the two of us got in the car at 4pm when the sun wasn't that strong anymore (well the temperature was still 40+). 2 hours later we arrived at our campsite which could have held many more people in some big tents and mud houses but as it turns out May is already out of season in the desert so it was just the two of us, fantastic and romantic! While our dinner was cooked we walked around the dunes, watched the sunset, had some tea and nuts and watched some youtube videos of video clips which were shot at the dunes with one of the guy's phone, well it was a bit random but funny. After some lovely tajin (suprise, suprise) we watched the stars and the moon which gave so much light that we could see our shadows. The sand cooled down on the surface but if you dig with your fingers a bit further down you can still feel how hot it was.
    The next morning we woke up at 6:15 as we were advised that the sunset is at 6:40 well as it turns out it was probably around 1,5hours earlier but the the colours and shadows were still beautiful on the sand. On the way back we checked out a tiny school built for nomadic families in the middle of the desert to educate their children. As only a couple of families still follow this lifestyle the school doesn't operate anymore. Another stop later was at an oasis with camels and donkies, Tom started to feel a bit sick which carried on all day not sure if it was some food or the heat, luckily we didn't plan anything further so we just stayed at Mhamid to relax.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
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    Tangier

    20 maggio 2019, Marocco ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After what felt like an eternity on buses and trains over two days, we finally arrived in the far north at Tangier, on the mediterranean coast.
    Tangier felt like a whole different world to the small desert village we'd left a couple of days previously, we left the train station to find shiny tower blocks, busy roads, a much needed cooler climate and a European style.
    Later we went exploring in the old medina, ever present in all the cities we've visited, which was more moroccan again but still with a lot of similarities to the old towns we saw in Portugal and Spain.
    Tangier is undergoing a lot of redevelopment and an effort to make it more attractive to tourists, there is a sparkly new port for cruise ships to dock and the police have cracked down on crime. It seems to be working, we spent a really nice afternoon poking around the streets, shops and cafes with a minimum of hassle, by Moroccan standards. Also bought a nice red dress.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom

    Chefchaouen

    22 maggio 2019, Marocco ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    The most beautiful medina award goes to Chefchaouen - the blue city!
    Also far more relaxed than most, probably something to do with the lingering smell of 'kif' or hash everywhere. The surrounding Rif moutains provide the most cannabis in the word.
    Lots of wandering around in the medina and relaxing. Also walked up to a closed Mosque on the top of the hill which was built by the Spanish, it is a really great look out point to the city.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
    11

    Fes

    25 maggio 2019, Marocco ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We have found a nice, traditional riad to stay at and with an upgrade we slept in a fourposter princess bed.
    The medina in Fes the biggest urban area where cars cannot be used. We only had a couple of hours to explore as we had to make sure not to get lost and miss the flight.
    A final haggling on our overweight bags and here we are on our way to England after 3 weeks in Morocco, many many mint teas and tajins.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom

    Skopje

    1 giugno 2019, Macedonia del Nord ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    The third stage of the trip, the Balkan tour, started in Skopje, Macedonia.
    We spent only one night but we managed to explore the old town and the riverside areas. The old town isn't a million miles away from a Moroccan medina with it's mosques and the old bazaar. Further into town there are giant statues and fountains in every spare space between the grand buildings. At night the river is beautiful with a few pretty bridges all lit up and a line of bars and restaurants along the bank full of Skopjans chilling out and enjoying the evening.
    All in all a strange city of weird archicture and a confusing mix of styles and culture but we liked it a lot.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
    21

    Ohrid

    3 giugno 2019, Macedonia del Nord ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Lake Ohrid is 3 hours away from Skopje by mini bus and our home for the next three days.
    The town is bigger than we thought and surprisingly busy considering that the summer season hasnt really started yet. Not too crowded, just right to create a nice atmosphere. The town itself doesn't really have a beach, you need to go a little further out for that but as the weather is rainy and not that hot anyway we decided to go for a big walk instead. We saw the old town, ancient theatre, fortress, churches and boardwalk. A little nap was needed before we hit the pub for quite a few drinks, including the local speciality; rakia. Macedonians were still celebrating their handball European Championship victory from the previous day.Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
    1

    Sveti Naum

    4 giugno 2019, Macedonia del Nord ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We took a long boat trip all the way across the lake. First we stopped off at a place called the Bay of Bones, where there is a recreation of an ancient village built on stilts in the lake. After a half hour stop there we continued on to Sveti Naum on the southern shore of the lake, almost at the border with Albania. There we had a look around the little shops and had some moussaka and Balkan baked beans for lunch. We also saw the springs which feed the lake and an old monastery full of very noisy peacocks. The rain has stopped and we had a beautiful sunny day with fantastic sceneries.Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom

    Tirana

    6 giugno 2019, Albania ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Albania was closed off for years due to its dictatorship, however, the country, especially the capital, has been opening up since the end of Enver Hoxha's regime.
    After a smooth border crossing we arrived in Tirana. We walked around in the centre, saw Tirana's pyramid which was built by Hoxha's daughter for his respect but not used for anything and what to do with it is still under debate. Bunkers have been left all over the the country and some of the bigger ones were turned into culture centres and museums. The main square is great for people watching and bars and cafes cover the whole city. The Art Museum is full of communist paintings, certainly unusual and nothing like we have seen before, a few old communist statues were dropped at the back as well. Really exciting and interesting city with its past and present.Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
    41

    Shkodra

    7 giugno 2019, Albania ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Headed up north to Shkodra which was to be our base for leaving our big bags and going off hiking in the mountains. The city has a cool, chilled out vibe and the walking street is great for a few drinks. The guy in the hostel suggested us to try out the lemon and egg soup - we thought it sounded horrible but we tried it anway, it was actually really weird but nice.
    In the evening we were lucky enough to find out that the 15th Shkodra motorbike festival is on with a live band and super cheap sausages (around £1,5 - 550ft for two portions). A few days later we bumped into another big motorbike event, so maybe we've accidently become groupies of the Albanian bikers.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom

    Hiking from Theth to Valbone

    9 giugno 2019, Albania ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We arrived in Theth in the brilliantly named 'Accursed Mountains' where we would start a hike to Valbone which was highly recommended as a must see in Albania.
    A few hiccups on arrival, including not being able to find our guesthouse and then needing to go into town to look for food and water meant that we accidently walked at least 10km as a warm up for the following day's main hike. Oops.
    Nevertheless, we woke up early in the morning to get a good start on the uphill section of the hike before the weather got too hot. That worked out well for the first hour of steep climb but as the ascent dragged on into a fourth and fifth hour we were seriously starting to wonder if we would ever make it to the top, let alone down the other side and on to Valbone. At this point our little blue dot on Google maps seemed to have only moved about 10% of the total distance we needed to cover and it felt like every other hiker in the Balkans had overtaken us at some point.
    Thankfully we did eventually bump into a couple going in the opposite direction who told us that we were only minutes from the summit and sure enough we were soon standing on the peak with the most amazing views all around. We took a couple of hundred photos and the long climb finally felt well worth it, as we'd been promised. We gratefully started down the opposite side of the mountain on the downhill slope we'd been dreaming of for the last few hours. The landscape was quite different here, much drier with narrow dusty paths next to sheer drops, in contrast to the muddy forest we'd walked up through. We also found patches of snow still clinging on which reminded us how high we were, although a quick look down to the valley below was enough for that. New aches and pains from walking downhill added to the jelly-legs but eventually we reached the bottom and had the relative pleasure of a last stretch on flat dry riverbed into the town.
    All in all we walked well over 20km, including 1km altitude up and down, far more than we've ever done before and completely exhausting but definitely a highlight of our trip so far. It was certainly harder than we bargained for but even more impressive and beautiful than we expected.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
    11

    Komani Lake

    10 giugno 2019, Albania ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We woke up sore and still aching but to a lovely breakfast served in the garden of the guesthouse by our friendly host who was very talkative despite her lack of English and our complete ignorance of Albanian.
    The second part of our trip through the Accursed Mountains involved thankfully much less walking but more great views. This time mostly from the comfort of a ferry along the long, thin Komani lake. The ferry ride takes about 3 hours along the lake which really is a river with a hydroelectric dam at either end.
    The amazingly blue water and steep mountains on either side are beautiful and a brilliantly relaxing way to see the mostly untouched landscape, with the exception of an occasional boat house and a few of Albania's ever-present bunkers dotted around.
    At the end of the lake our bus was waiting to take us back to Shkoder to pick up our bags before heading off to Montenegro.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
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    Durmitor Nationalpark

    12 giugno 2019, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Early start of the day to leave Albania for Montenegro. Our bus was "only" 50 minutes late so we got to Podgorica just on time to catch our second bus which drove us up to the Durmitor National park. The accomodation was in Zabljak, a lovely little town mostly a skiing center in the winter.
    On our first day we decided to check out the biggest mountain lake in the national park which is called the Black Eye. Fantastic forest walk around the lake.
    On the other day we went a bit further to see the Tara Canyon which is the second longest canyon in the word and only 200 metres less deep than the Grand Canyon, it was pretty scary but amazing views from the top.
    We also discovered that carrot is called sargarepa in Montenegrovian which is the same in Hungarian and they have a beer called lav.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
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    Kotor

    14 giugno 2019, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    A nice lazy few days soaking up the sun in Kotor. We had a cool studio apartment with a kitchen to do some cooking at home and a balcony overlooking the pool, very luxurious!
    The little old town is really pretty for a wander around, especially in the evening when it cooled down a bit, also when the enormous cruise ships in the bay had left for the day and the streets emptied out a little.Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom

    Perast

    16 giugno 2019, Montenegro ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Half an hour from Kotor is Perast, a small town built along one road right on the edge of the sea. Once upon a time it was home to the super-rich of Montenegro and the sea-front is lined with their old palaces, now mostly hotels or fancy restaurants.
    We took a boat out from there to Our Lady of the Rocks Island, a tiny little island poking out of the bay. There is a legend of sailors who saw an image of the Maddona and baby on a rock, sailors over centuries left more rocks at the sight for good luck and eventually the man made island was formed.
    There is also a second island next to it, but this is home to a monastery and is closed to tourists.    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom

    Dubrovnik

    18 giugno 2019, Croazia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Left Montenegro for one day in Dubrovnik before we head off to Bosnia, many border crossing within just a few days!
    Dubrovnik is really picturesque and extremely touristy. We spent most of our time in the old town which is hillier and bigger than we thought with great massive walls around. Unfortunately everything was extremily expensive (especially after a few weeks in some real cheap countries) and our budget got a bit of a shock here.Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
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    Mostar

    20 giugno 2019, Bosnia Erzegovina ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Our short visit in Bosnia starts in Mostar which we have been dreaming to visit for a long time. It is famous of its Stari Most (Old Bridge) which was painted by Csontvary (isn't that right Mom? ;) - Vera). We wandered around in the old town which is a bit crowded with full of souvenir shops, cobbled streets and the beautiful old bridge. Men in tiny swimming pants were waiting for enough people to gather before one of them jumps off the bridge. Well the teasing took so long that we didn't wait for it but took some great photos of the bridge from different angles. For lunch we had the most amazing balkan food so far, plenty and really tasty! Later we went to the Museum of War and Genocide Victims 92-95 which was extremely shocking but a fantastic exhibition. We also saw a few old 'skeleton' buildings which are still in ruins since the war, bullet holes in walls are still easy to spot all over town.
    The next day we left for a half day excursion to Blagaj which is famous for its Dervish Islamic monastery and the source of a beautiful river which comes out of a cave right under the monastery. Now we are off to Sarajevo to meet the Muhi Clan!    Leggi altro

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  • Vera and TomEurotripVera and Tom
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    Sarajevo

    22 giugno 2019, Bosnia Erzegovina ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Arrived in the morning to Sarajevo where we walked around the old town, checked out the Yellow Fort for some great views of the city and saw the Latin bridge where Franz Ferdinand was killed. Later Vera visited the Gallery 11/07/95 (of Sarajevo Siege and Srebrenica where the biggest massacre happened in Europe since the II. WW) and Tom wandered around to take some pictures.Leggi altro

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    Bobsleigh and Kravica waterfalls

    23 giugno 2019, Bosnia Erzegovina ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    The Muhi Clan has arrived to Sarajevo so we met them in the morning for some welcome drinks and quickly headed off to the top of the closeby mountain. The easiest way to get up is by the cable car (loved every minute :p) which took around 15 minutes. Close to the top is the abandoned bobsleigh and luge track built for the '84 winter olympics and later in the first half of the 90s used by Serbs as a shield when Sarajevo was under attack by them.
    In the afternoon we enjoyed some more booze and chevapi.
    The next morning we left for Croatia by the Muhi minibus but made a short stop at the Kravica waterfalls still in Bosnia.    Leggi altro

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