There are very few places that before you even arrive at your hostel you have decided to extend your stay. Siena was one of these special places. The vibe, something in the air, call it what you want, but by the time we got to our hostel we were already asking the owner if we … Continue reading
Upon first sight, Genoa looks a bit dull, grey and boring. Nothing to really get excited about, especially after cities like Rome, Florence and Naples. However I started to realise that Genoa wants you to think this. Genoa doesn’t want you to see her beautiful little side streets. Genoa doesn’t want you to spend time … Continue reading
Living in Rome is a nice middle ground in Italy (yes, literally and figuratively). However the common biases I learnt there inspired me to get to know the other parts better, to prove them wrong. Yes, I saw that the South is poor and more dangerous than Rome, but it is also incredibly beautiful and … Continue reading
First of all, I wanted to tell you that you should go and check out my guest post, 10 Things I Didn’t Know About Korea, on my wonderful friend Carly’s blog, Mirami and Mog. While you’re there, spend some time perusing her posts and lapping up stories of her life in Spain. She’s busy teaching … Continue reading
Arriving on a misty grey day can really give you a bad impression of a city, especially if you’re only visiting for a short time. So after arriving to this: It was nice to be bid farewell by this. Our first stop in Pisa (like most other visitors) was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Now … Continue reading
While living in Rome, Pompeii periodically came up in the news, due to a wall collapsing or there not being enough funds to maintain it, despite its UNESCO World Heritage site status. On a suitably grey and dreary day we went to visit this city both destroyed and preserved by the mighty Mount Vesuvius. The monster who destroyed … Continue reading
I arrived in Naples, full of fear and apprehension. I’d seen the movie Gomorra and I’d heard stories of the Mafia’s notoriously bad influence there. I’d read the newspapers, I knew there would be rubbish everywhere. And I’d also been warned by Italian friends not to visit large parts of the city, “unless you want to … Continue reading
Living in Rome sounds romantic but can be exhausting. Apart from the never-ending chaos, beeping horns and cars trying to run you over when you cross on a green pedestrian light, the yelling, arguing and chatting (sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference with Italians!), there are so many thousands of tourists every day that it … Continue reading
The Cinque Terre are five famous villages that cling to the rugged cliffs of the Ligurian coast. The villages are accessible by railway, but most tourists choose to take the Sentiero Azzurro, the hiking trails that link these picturesque little villages. We paid our €5 and started our walk along the Via dell’Amore (the first section of … Continue reading
With five villages to choose from in the Cinque Terre, not to mention all the other villages nearby which were competing for our tourist dollar, we had our work cut out for us trying to decide where to stay. Arriving to a view like this, we suspected it was a good decision to spend two … Continue reading
Tali Goes Travelling 