Tuesday, April 30, 2013

INTERIOR DESIGN

Lately I have been obsessing over interior design and I find myself glued to the screen whenever browsing through the Pinterest 'Home Design' section.
So, this is a fun, non-travel related post! Enjoy and have a lovely morning browsing (at school when you are bored or at work when you are drinking your first cup of coffee).

 














I love doing these types of posts, so I think I will make this a weekly thing- plus it's a nice break from all the travel posts. Also, I want to do a little 'What I am loving this week' at the end of a post sometime in the week. Starting this week sometime I will begin to do that.

Have a fabulous Tuesday and travel on wanderlusters!

P.S. It's the last day of April (on my side of the world)--where does time go!? I have two weekends of work left, three weeks of classes + exams left, I am moving into the new flat in the next few weeks, in 21 days my best friend comes to Prague and then we are off for our mini Euro-trip!!

Monday, April 29, 2013

EXPLOSION IN PRAGUE

For those of you who have not yet turned into the morning news, there was an explosion here in Prague this morning (about 10:00 AM our time). I was just leaving the gym around 9:45-9:50 and began walking towards the tram that would've taken me to the exact spot where the explosion went off at about 9:58-10:00- meaning I would've been in the blast. However, last minute, I had a strong gut feeling to turn around and take the metro. I was fighting with myself for about 30 seconds because I really wanted to take the tram so I could grab some fresh fruit on the way to my second class of the day at uni. I, luckily, followed my gut and decided to turn around and take the metro to school.

I got to my library building at about 9:54-9:56 and sat down. When I sat down, I suddenly felt the whole building and floor shake beneath me. What followed after was like out of a movie- an incredibly loud booming noise that shook the city, people running and screaming, trams screeching to a stop, sirens in all directions, helicopters and utter chaos. I was extremely alarmed thinking the city was being attacked when my Facebook blew up with worried friends and family asking if I was okay- I was so confused as to what just happened and then I found out that an explosion just in eyesight's view went off...in the exact spot I would've been either the exact moment the explosion went off or just minutes after. The city was in panic-mode as sirens continued to go off and people frantically running around everywhere trying to call friends and family who might of been there but were cut off by the overloaded phone lines. A lot of phones in the city actually lost service (mine did after calling my friends and family). We were not sure whether it was a bombing attack or a gas explosion for the first 20 or so minutes which was absolutely terrifying. I had the urge to go home and stay home for the rest of the day but my friends assured me it was all going to be okay and that it was just a gas explosion. Indeed, it was just a gas explosion- the buildings here in Prague are hundreds of years old so it is common that gas explosions occur from time to time, but it had not happened in the central area of Prague before- that injured about 40-50 people; leaving people trapped and blinded by the dust.



The city has calmed down but that first hour sounded straight out of a movie- an experience I will never forget. People are rushing to the other end of Prague though, in fear that there will be another explosion...I think we are okay though, but knock on wood. My roommate actually got interviewed by a reporter for a newspaper- cool stuff!

So, I guess the lesson of the day is: Always, ALWAYS follow your gut feeling/instinct....Had I not, I could have been spending my afternoon in the hospital with bandages wrapped around me.


For those of you who were affected or knew someone affected by the explosion here in Prague this morning, my thoughts are with you and I wish you a speedy recovery.

Travel on wanderlusters!

ITALY: THE SOUTH

It's time to go down to the dirty south, a.k.a: Rome, Naples, Capri, Campobasso, Bari, Catanzaro then Sicily. Let's get this thing started!


At the end of January until the first week of February, I visited Rome (my first trip to Italy actually) and fell in love. Such a beautiful city full of beautiful people and amazing history, food, things to do, places to see. If I lived there, I would never get bored. I will post some pictures from the web but also some of the pictures I took (again) so you can oogle over how fabulous that city is. I miss it dearly and the people I met/stayed with there...hoping to go back to Roma before the end of 2013! 



In Italy's capital, Rome
1. Turn your back to the Trevi Fountain for just one second so you can make a wish. 
2. Drop your jaw at the Colosseum. 
3. Wander around Travestere; grab a snack, snap some beautiful pictures and feel like an Italian.  
4. Grab an authentic slice of Italian pizza or a calzone in one of the many shops around Rome. 
5. Take a step back in time at the Roman Forum and the Pantheon. 
6. Go shopping in the beautiful Zara...it's mind-blowing.
7. Have a snack on the Spanish Steps.
8. Visit the extravagant St. Peter's Basilica. 
9. Spend the rare rainy afternoon in the Vatican Museums. 
10. Strain your neck by staring up at the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. 
11. Smell the spring flowers in the Villa Borghese Gardens then go to the Borghese Gallery.
12. Stare the eye candy with an espresso and cannoli in hand at Piazza Navona.
13. Enjoy "the best gelato in Rome" at I Caruso...I personally enjoyed a caramel gelato at a small shop next to the Trevi Fountain but hey, I'll try this place next time I am in Rome.
14. Walk over to Piazza del Popolo or the Quirinal Palace.
15. Party the night away at Shari Vari, La Maison, AKAB, Gilda or Babel. 






















I remember watching Eat, Pray, Love and they took a trip to Naples for a big ole slice of pizza:
1. Famous pizza? Okay! Go to Da Michele for a slice of melt-in-your-mouth pizza.
2. This place about to bloooow, bloooow (Ke$ha reference, sorry) at Mount Vesuvius...aka the 'stratovolcano' in this region.
3. Dive into the piles of garbage...just kidding, please don't.
4. Go to an opera at the beautiful Teatro di San Carlo...it was built back in the 1700's!
5. Spend a few hours at the Naples National Archaeological Museum (my brother would love this!) or Villa Pignatelli. Ladies, go to the Coral Jewellery Museum, it's apparently one of Naples' most beautiful places.
6. Wander over the Royal Palace of Naples.
7. Feel like you are in Game of Thrones are Castel Nuovo, Castel Saint Elmo or Castel dell'Ovo.
8. Forgive your sins at San Gregorio Armeno, Santa Chiara, Naples Cathedral, Saint Domenico Maggiore, San Lorenzo Maggiore or Pio Monte della Misericodia.
9. Take a walk through Villa Comunale, Villa Floridiana or Parco Virgiliano.
10. Visit the beautiful Certosa di San Martino (monastery).
11. Be a vampire (sorry, too much True Blood) underground in the Catacombs of San Gennaro.
12. Get sexual...okay not literally, but visit a sexually explicit/erotic museum called the Secret Museum...maybe it's Naples best kept secret?
13. Okay, there tons of churches, aside from the ones listed above, so go visit them you like historic churches with beautiful architecture.
14. Party the night away (after eating tons of pizza and gelato) at Piazza di Spagna, Madison Street or Riot.
15. Take a walk, with gelato in hand, along Spaccanapoli.











When you visit Capri, please do not wear capris:
1. Snap some pics for Instagram at the photogenic Faraglioni.
2. Walk along the Via Krupp.
3. Go to the beach...I would hope this would be the first thing that comes to mind.
4. Smell the flowers in the Garden of Augustus.
5. Visit the Villa Jovis ruins.
6. Bring your water-safe camera to Blue Grotto, Red Grotto or White Grotto (caves).
7. Eat a caprese salad in Piazza Umberto I.
8. Go medieval at Castiglione.













Okay, so when I listed various Italian cities/towns to visit, I thought that Campobasso would be interesting but to be honest, there is hardly anything to do/write about there. The only thing that struck my attention was that there are good picture opportunities in the smaller towns or villages surrounding Campobasso.

In Bari...be sure to hit up the bars?
1. Visit Italy's 4th largest theatre, Teatro Petruzzelli.
2. Visit the beautiful Basilica di San Nicola and the Bari Cathedral.
3. Be artsy fartsy at the Pinacoteca Proviniciale di Bari.
4. Spend a gloomy day the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
5. Drink up at Divinae Follie, Club Cafe Del Mar or Caffe Mozart.








Catanzaro, oh the things to do...
1.  Visit the beach and relaaaax.
2. Historic site: Parco Archeologico di Scolacium and the Angoli.
3. Grab dinner an Italian dinner at Circo or Antonio Abbruzzino.
4. Satisfy your sweet tooth at Bar Centrale.
5. Meet some other tourists on the My Bella Vita Travel day tour.






Sicily...this place is too beautiful for my eyes:
1. Climb to the top..or try...of Mount Etna.
2. Snap some Instagram photos at Agrigento, Valley of Temples or Segesta Temple.
3. Get clean during a thermal bath at Vulcano.
4. Take a dip in San Vito lo Capo or sunbathe at Mondello Lido.
5. Get holy at the Palermo Cathedral or Monreale Duomo.
6. Prepare your ears for some opera at the Teatro Massimo.
7. Recover from sunburn at Stanze al Genio, Palermo.
8. Grab a bite to eat in Syracuse at Trattoria La Foglia or Osteria da Mariano. In Palermo, at Sant'Andrea or Cucina Papoff.
9. Smell the Italian flowers in Palermo at Orto Botanico.
10. Enjoy walking up the Caltagirone...seriously though, the steps are ceramic and so beautiful!
11. Walk through the fish market in the morning...bring some nose plugs?
12. Visit Erice, a hilltop village with lovely views.














The next post will be on: Ecuador!

Travel on wanderlusters!

P.S. exciting stuff: I am taking a family trip this summer to either Barbados, Jamaica or the Dominican Republic- I have never been there (or even to the Caribbean) so I am really excited!