Carnivale di Venezia!

Fabulous, Mysterious, Vivid, Marvelous, and Over the Top Fun – you cannot get enough adjectives to describe this millennia-long tradition that survived all the miseries of the Continent history and still going unabated. Continue reading “Carnivale di Venezia!”

Bosnia from Mostar to Sarajevo

Summer afternoon in Sarajevo

Is it a thing – historical geography? When a place is associated with so many events in history, it transforms from just a location on a map to a symbol. The word Sarajevo mainly invokes World War I and its epical consequences that affect global politics till these days, but it also reminds that a tragic history may repeat if its lessons are left forgotten and replaced by ignorance, indifference, and prejudice. Continue reading “Bosnia from Mostar to Sarajevo”

A Quick Getaway to Arenal Volcano Area, Costa Rica

If you like thermal springs and hiking, then this spa getaway is for you! My husband, some friends and I planned a short trip to the Arenal Volcano area for 5 days. Here are some tips and details about our trip! Continue reading “A Quick Getaway to Arenal Volcano Area, Costa Rica”

Aspen, CO

I do not know if the city of Aspen, CO has a slogan indeed, I would give them “Aspen – a place to get a high fashion, or just to get high… and yes you can ski here too!” Polina (my daughter) was there on an extended work assignment, had a large apartment all for herself, so I decided to use an opportunity, take few days and visit this exclusive resort. Continue reading “Aspen, CO”

Spiga and Spaghetti – Rome, Milan and the New Year Italiano

In my opinion, the most exciting part of travel is observing local customs and ways of life and comparing it to what we have at home. Nowadays we live in a global village with day to day routines become more and more similar across the spaces but where the uniqueness still can be found is how people celebrate their holidays. To spend a New Year in Italy – that idea was always tempting, the curiosity persisting. True or false – do Italians throwaway goods, furniture, calendars to the point you have to watch out for the object flying from the windows on the New Year night? Turned out to be false – we did not see anything like that at least in the area we’d been. True or false – the prominent dish of Italian New Year dinner is lentil? Turned out to be a truth! The Italians believe it brings the luck and prosperity. On the New Year, a restaurant treated us with a complimentary lentil dish. Myths or reality – Italy is always bellissimo, especially during the holidays, our trip was intense but exciting and here is the report. Continue…