Located in Upper Austria, surrounded by mountains and a crystal clear lake, the charming village of Hallstatt has not only attracted thousands and thousands of visitors from all parts of the world but the Chinese also needed one right away so they came, saw, measured and copied the whole damn thing. And the result?
When you just know you have to take that next step. When life starts to kick your ass and have to take the challenge knocking harder and harder on your door. When you know you can’t fiddle around in one place anymore and life anyway will sort the rest out.
Museo della Tortura – San Gimignano, Italy
Short and sweet or long and tedious, plane journeys can be equally dull and frustrating when no activity is found up there to keep the hyperactive traveler’s mind on a constant spinning-mode. Preparing for a 10-hour flight or even a short hour disconnection from the ground freaks you out? No need to stress much, rather take advantage of every single minute while above the clouds.
Bangalore, India
Returning home from a journey is always another journey. Here are 5 reasons behind the secretly awaited moment:
La Triennale di Milano (January 2014)
Overdosing pasta and Carpaccio Italian style – part IV.
… and the usual-unusual touring in Tuscany did not end here but rather turned into a desperate gem-hunting spree to avoid the guide-book’s top ten and get lost off-road.
Il Guerrino – a hidden gem in Montefioralle
OverdosingPastaAndCarpaccioItalianStylePartIII.
TenAm. WeOverSlept. CoffeeQuickly. WhatDayIsIt? ThankGodSaturday. WhatDidWePlan? NothingExtra. AreWeCrazy? InItaly? WhereShouldWeGo? NoIdea. FirstThingFirst. Let’sHaveBreakfast. What’sInTheFridge? JustAYogurt. WellWhatToDo. WhatTimeIsIt? It’sEleven. HalfDayIsGone.
Unexpected visitor – Marsaxlokk fish market, Malta
Overdosing pasta and Carpaccio Italian style– part II.
What’s common in vintage cars, pristine landscape, Harley-Davidson and crystal clear water? I also didn’t know but pretty much seems to be it’s Lake Garda, coz all these can be easily spotted on the way from south to north, from east to west. Driving around the biggest Italian lake is feast for the eyes and food for the soul.
Italy and design walk hand in hand to shape a dream.
Room – La Triennale di Milano
Overdosing pasta and Carpaccio Italian style– part I.
A city pervaded by a great architect’s designs. A city amongst the wealthiest in the Northern part of the boot. With Verona to the west and Padova to the east Vicenza is often overlooked by the mass tourism, so luckily it managed to preserve its old charm. The winding cobblestone streets without the maddening crowds of visitors, gothic and renaissance arcades, hidden villas, elegant cafés, tiny shops coupled with the unparalleled architecture definitely put the city on the “must-see in Italy” list for all off the beaten track travelers. Among lots of small and medium size museums, graceful villas and churches I managed to find those hidden treasures I was looking for.
Traveling the world and hopping from one country to the other is something that certainly everyone would be up to try. Whether trekking the globe is happening bit by bit or in one go you finally get to tick that bucket list jotted down ages ago.
Currently I am on another 12-day trip in Italy to immerse myself in the beauty, culture and cuisine of the country as summer kicks-off. On my list are exploring Milan’s tranquility and side street cafes, marveling the enthralling architecture in Palladio’s Vicenza, driving around Italy’s biggest freshwater, Lake Garda, walking the roads of the ancient university town of Padova, getting lost in the center of Shakespeare’s love story, Verona and hopping from train to train, bus to bus to see anything I can squeeze into my travel schedule developing on the go. So bring on the sunshine, bring on Italia!
Henna artist – Bangalore, India
So many things can be considered as art. Just pop into a contemporary gallery in New York, London or Milan and you will be jaw-droppingly wondering how on earth the artist visualized that piece of art standing in front of you made out of toilet rolls. I could do that! – you think and wanna shout it out loud. Yeah, sure but you did not… The most unsettling exhibitions I’ve seen so far were in some of the contemporary galleries of Nürnberg where I came across all kinds of components used from a girl’s hair to tampons and to a bulimia Barbie doll boxed in along with a plastic toilet. Well, they created something original for sure.
Some of us go to Egypt to fulfill a long-term dream by seeing its monumental symbol, the Pyramids and visiting the remains of the ancient building complex, the Luxor temples on the bank of the Nile. Some others opt for the country for its abundant sunshine and blatantly affordable 5-star luxury to worry about nothing else during the holiday but to avoid overeating at the all-inclusive buffet. But is there anything else you can do beyond the comfort of the hotel walls and the air-co seats of the tour bus? Sure, there is.
Traveling without your camera is traveling without shoes. You are physically able to do it but you constantly feel something is missing.
Luckily even in my early years of traveling I thought the same and even though the photos are a far cry from being professional they are good enough to recall the moments of my wanderings in this astonishing South Indian state.
Fishermen at work – Chinese fishing nets in Cochin
Khao Sok, Thailand
Prejudice is all around, walking hand-in-hand with us. For some it’s stronger, for some it’s less. Our exaggerated generalizations get a lot more intense when we travel abroad. We haven’t even visited the country but ‘we know’ many about its people. We heard that the French not for all the tea in China speak English, the Swiss will never be your best dudes, India is all a sizeable slum, the Africans are hungry and wild and fill in the blank.
Storefront sign – Birzebbuga, Malta
We are all waiting for something. Always, ever. We are waiting to be 18 and we are waiting to finish high school. We are waiting to get to university but soon after waiting to graduate. We are waiting to get a job and we are waiting for a promotion. We are waiting for the perfect relationship and we are waiting to get married. We are waiting to set up a family and we are waiting to buy our first home. That’s how we stroll through life. Waiting can be exciting but might also turn frustrating. Sometimes we have to wait only for an hour or two, e.g. when at the airport, but it can be longer when we missed our connections. This is the frustrating kind of waiting. Life goes on out there and what we do is just sit and wait, because
“what else can we do”?
Too much waiting in life is like a slow killing poison. It gets into our home, our workplace, our everydays, drags us down and slowly takes control of our life. When waiting too long the moments of present are missed. Slowly we get completely disconnected from the reality since all we do is sitting idle. Either literally or at the back of our mind. When an unplanned event happens, that turns our life suddenly upside down, people tend to say
“time will sort things out”.
But how much time? How long we have to stand still for time to sort our things and let us live our life again? Shouldn’t we just be more flexible and take things as they come? Not that we should take everything easy but just a little more flexibility? Shouldn’t we just let us go with the flow sometimes and cherish every little moment of our precious life? Why do we want to turn 18? Isn’t it better to have a carefree life? What’s the problem with high school? It’s so much fun! Uni is a cool place, so many interesting folks you get connected with. When waiting to get our first job or just lost our job the lots of free time can be used to live for something we always enjoyed doing or always wanted to do. And the list goes on. Working towards our goals is important but instead of the void waiting game you are better up living, breathing, exploring and enjoying.
journeyfiles musings & tidbits on travel:
The highest sailing boat…
Hotel Daniel, Vienna
This is the place where modern meets traditional and Gothic meets Art Deco. The fascinating architecture of Paris makes the city one of a kind in Europe and throughout the world. Be it Renaissance or contemporary, stone or metal structure looking at the details will make you adore the city more than ever before.
Paris from bird’s eye view
The streets of India are always alive…
A little nature in the middle of the bustling fashion capital, Milan.
Parco Sempione, Milano
It was a warm day. We traveled an hour in the car to reach there. We had to look it up on the map. I’ve never heard about it before. That’s my bad. We were searching for a house. Not like a house to live in but rather a place to retreat. The village was silent. The roads were empty.
Father’s musings
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