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Moutains!

Chasing the sun, Sun, 26 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a Lake, Mountain in Europe, Slovenia

We woke up at 5.45 am this morning, as the carpark we were staying in stopped being free at 6 am. We jumped in the car with the plan to drive to Lake Bo.. and have breakfast there, but when …

Swamp love

Chasing the sun, Sat, 25 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a Castle, City, Temple in Europe, Slovenia

The day of two caves!

Chasing the sun, Fri, 24 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a Cave, Temple, UNESCO site in Europe, Slovenia

Yesterday we drove up to Hrastovlje, a small village where Jemma found a medieval walled church with a famous Dance of Death frescos. It was closed as we arrived late, so we went to the village inn where we had …

Salty waters

Chasing the sun, Thu, 23 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a City, Sea in Europe, Slovenia

Hard to find parking. Short visit to Piran, a swim in a holiday / kids camp spot with lots of fortunately harmless jellyfish. Nice walks around the pier. Then visit to the Secovlje salt panes.

Trieste

Chasing the sun, Wed, 22 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a Castle, City, Ruins/Excavation, Temple in Europe, Italy

We woke up to amazing views of the Gulf of Trieste. Park4night is an awesome map and has helped us find so many great parking spots. This spot was just outside Prosecco, on the slope down to Trieste. Our first …

Valdobadubandabienne

Chasing the sun, Tue, 21 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a Castle, City, Temple, UNESCO site in Europe, Italy

Wine land. Arrived in he evening, drove up a very steep road to a parking spot. Walked down for some Prosecco, started raining, walked back up in the rain, soaked. Next day watched sunrise from the hill we were parked …

Walled twice over

Chasing the sun, Mon, 20 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a Castle, City, Temple, UNESCO site in Europe, Italy

Waiting overnight to walk around the walls was totally worth it. Fantastic views of town, the mountains around, seeing the town change from every angle… Great stuff. Annoyingly, all the information plates that tell you about the town and the …

Palladian

Chasing the sun, Sun, 19 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a City, Museum, Temple, UNESCO site in Europe, Italy

It was too much. More and more people were showing up and a couple cars were blasting music pretty loud, so around 11pm we bailed and found a lovely spot by the road a bit down the hill. In the …

Chill

Chasing the sun, Sat, 18 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a Mountain, Temple, UNESCO site in Europe, Italy

We started today slow. We didn’t get it of bed until 11, spending the time on sorting photos and just chilling. A much needed break from our typical chase after the next attraction! Throughout the morning, more and more cyclists …

Things not aligning so well

Chasing the sun, Fri, 17 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a City, Temple in Europe, Italy

Our plan for today was to go to a few other Veneto islands – Murano, Burano, Torcello. But alas – Italian public transport is on strike today and vaporettos just aren’t running! As in, they might be running a bit, …

Venice

Chasing the sun, Mon, 13 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon with Ania, Michał at a City, Museum, Temple, UNESCO site in Europe, Italy

Day 1 First day in Venice! We left the van at a carpark on the mainland and took the bus to Venice – this seemed to be the best option for us, as parking is really limited and expensibe on …

Life-changing gelato

Chasing the sun, Sun, 12 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a Castle, City, Museum, Temple in Europe, Italy

We woke up to more incredible views – I’ve been very pleased with the parking spots we’ve found so far on this trip! Mountains with the small city of Trento in between them. We decided to leave the van where …

First pizza x3

Chasing the sun, Sat, 11 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a Castle, City, Museum in Europe, Italy

Last night we applied a tested method of finding a good spot to park: find a small town church, they usually have nice views and small quiet car parks. This one didn’t have a car park of its own, but …

The Innsbred Castle

Chasing the sun, Fri, 10 Sep 21
Jemma and Simon at a Castle, City in Austria, Europe

Our road through the Alps led us via Innsbruck and Jemma suggested that we stopped there for a visit. We arrived at 2pm, so had time for only one attraction. We chose the Ambras Castle, and it was a great …

Anniversary seaside trip

Short German trips, Sat, 22 May 21
Jemma and Simon at a City, Sea in Europe, Germany

It’s our anniversary and we need to be at sea!

Wandern mit Bier

Short German trips, Fri, 09 Apr 21
Jemma and Simon at a Mountain in Europe, Germany

After two days of intense hiking and climbing, we decided to take it easy and do more gentle walking today. The car park we stayed at last night was close to the village of Rathen, so we left the Baron …

Conquering fears

Short German trips, Sat, 03 Apr 21
Jemma and Simon at a Mountain in Europe, Germany

This morning we drove back through Bad Schandau to get to Lichtenhainer Wasserfall. It was pouring with rain, as it had been the night before, so we were unsure if we’d be able to carry out our hiking plans today. …

Back in Sächsische Schweiz

Short German trips, Fri, 02 Apr 21
Jemma and Simon at a Mountain in Europe, Germany

It’s Easter weekend and we have four whole days off work… perfect time to hit the road again and continue exploring Germany. We decided to head back to Saxony, as it is reasonably close to Berlin and convenient for a …

Spring is coming!

Short German trips, Sun, 07 Mar 21
Jemma and Simon at a City, Forest, Lake, Ruins/Excavation, Temple, UNESCO site in Europe, Germany

Welterbe Bauhaus Denkmal Bundesschule BernauWalls of BernauAskanierturmBridge by the AskanierturmSilkebucheCold cold March watersJoachimsthal KaiserbahnhofAd for the Großziethen Geopark by the Dorfkirche Golzow This has been a long, long winter. We were pretty well prepared – living on the outskirts of …

Oranienburg in the cold

Short German trips, Sun, 07 Feb 21
Jemma and Simon at a City in Europe, Germany

It was -15 or so and write windy, so our ears were falling off. But we were voted and nothing refreshes you like a quick trip!

Soviet castle

Short German trips, Sun, 24 Jan 21
Jemma and Simon at a Castle, Ruins/Excavation in Europe, Germany

This is what happens when the Soviets occupy a neo-Baroque castle and get free reign to build concrete blocks on its grounds, so that the Stasi can use it all as a training and recreation center.

Nostalgic journey

Short Polish trips, Sat, 17 Oct 20
Jemma and Simon at a City, Sea, Temple in Europe, Poland

In the morning we packed up to leave the apartment, and drove off East. First stop: Pustkowo. Where as a young kid I spent every summer with my grandparents. I called them to check on the specific location we stayed …

Wolin Slavs

Short Polish trips, Wed, 14 Oct 20
Jemma and Simon at a Museum, Temple in Europe, Poland

Światowid between multisDancing like the EmperorOrgan in Kamień PomorskiSTORM!!! The weather did not stay nice as long as the forecast promised. The wailing of the wind at night woke us up a lot, and in the morning we woke up …

Żubr at sea

Short Polish trips, Tue, 13 Oct 20
Jemma and Simon at a Lake, Museum, Sea in Europe, Poland

GosańGosańSmoked fish in MiędzyzdrojeMiędzyzdroje beachView from Zielonka HillSpaceship treeVery accomplished on ZielonkaTurquoise Lake Bored with hanging out in Poznań and not wanting to stay in Zieleniec all the time, we decided to go on a spontaneous trip. Also, Simon has …

On the way back

Short Spanish trips, Tue, 25 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a City, Temple in Europe, Spain

On the way back to Barca, we popped in to two towns: the tiny Ripoll and the bigger Vic. Ripoll has another Romanesque monastery in it, but we arrived there at a wrong time – closed for siesta. We thought …

Volcanic

Short Spanish trips, Tue, 25 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a Mountain in Europe, Spain

Today started with something different – a volcanic park. The volcanos are naturally crazy old, so now it’s really just a piece of very fertile and densely overgrown land with an interesting topography and lots of nature walks. On the …

Back to Middle Ages

Short Spanish trips, Mon, 24 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a City in Europe, Spain

From Girona, we drove back North to Besalú – a beautiful town with a fully preserved Medieval centre and an amazing bridge leading to it. It’s really small, but extremely cute. We strolled about for a couple hours, taking in …

Girona

Short Spanish trips, Mon, 24 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a City in Europe, Spain

We arrived to Girona from the sexy sculpture park. We found a nice bar where I could take a work call, had some tapas, and moved on with the sightseeing. The cathedral was closed, unfortunately, but w saw really nice …

Sexy sculptures

Short Spanish trips, Mon, 24 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a Park in Europe, Spain

The sculpture park turned out to be more than we expected. We didn’t wake up in the best moods, but the park certainly helped. Past the automated gate, the first sculptures seemed pretty wacky – heads in the grass, prehistoric-style …

Paid lake

Short Spanish trips, Sun, 23 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a Lake in Europe, Spain

There is green in Spain! And real forests! We were quite shocked, to be honest. Actual verdant green trees and grass – didn’t think that was a thing here. But near Banyoles it is. This smallish lake is the largest …

Lighthouse at the end of the country

Short Spanish trips, Sun, 23 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a Sea in Europe, Spain

Cadaqués is not far from the end of the Cap de Creus, ande at the end there is a lighthouse. Because of course there is. The drive was super picturesque, but it seems that more people had the same idea …

Pretty but pricey

Short Spanish trips, Sun, 23 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a Sea in Europe, Spain

Our first stop to the day is Cadaqués, a beautiful seaside village that is quite touristy, but very charming. Very unlike Empuriabrava – it’s all hills and little streets, a cute small harbour, a few small beaches. We failed to …

Bedroom with a view

Short Spanish trips, Sun, 23 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a Mountain in Europe, Spain

Last night we thought we’ll drive up all the way to Cadaques to spend the night, but got distracted by what looked like an observatory on the hills on the way. We turned to drive up there, but it turned …

Nuvorish Paradise

Short Spanish trips, Sat, 22 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a Sea in Europe, Spain

After Figures, we wanted to had to the beach, but decided to visit a seaside town that looked really interesting in the map. Empuriabrava just like like a ribcage of canals. Turns out, it’s a town made up of interchangeable …

Figueres

Short Spanish trips, Sat, 22 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a City, Museum in Europe, Spain

We set of from Barca on Friday evening, and slept at a parking lot in a village outside Figueres so we can go to town early next day. The night was hard – it was super hot and stuffy, and …

Working high up

Short Spanish trips, Wed, 19 Aug 20
Simon at a Castle in Europe, Spain

I set of four a couple days of work from the van. I didn’t set out until early afternoon, as I had a couple important calls in the morning. I headed South of Barcelona, but my intended destination, Coca Vermella, …

Tarraco

Short Spanish trips, Sun, 16 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a City, Ruins/Excavation, Temple, UNESCO site in Europe, Spain

Cenral MarketForumForumTheatreCircusCircusAmphitheatre The Baron is just small enough to fit into the underground car parks, but sometimes it is really ‘just’. This time, poor Baron got his back scratched a little, and was not happy. Parked, we moved to town …

Random sea view

Short Spanish trips, Sat, 15 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a Mountain in Europe, Spain

Random finds are the best. We were on the road to Tarragona, looking for a place to park for the night. We drove off the road towards the hills, climbing up a windy road and considering various spots, when a …

Walled in the middle ages

Short Spanish trips, Sat, 15 Aug 20
Jemma and Simon at a City in Europe, Spain

On our way from the Poblet Monastery to Tarragona we popped in to Montblanc, a picturesque town with largely intact medieval walls. Naturally, grown way beyond those walls since, but didn’t demolish them – they’re either free standing, or made …