When I think back to my trip to Brussels, the one thing that sticks out in my memories is the waffles. Oh my they’re amazing!
We did try to eat as many as we could Continue reading
europe
Paris is calling
What do you do with less than 24 hours in Paris? How do you prioritise must do’s and sees against the not so quite important things? I’m currently searching for the answer.
With my upcoming American road trip I don’t exactly have a vast amount of money to spare when it comes to taking trips and travelling at the moment. Hence the less than 24 hours in Paris part. I’ve managed so scrape the money together to get a bus from Glasgow to Paris. The way I see it is more of a birthday present to myself, (I’m 23 the day before I go).
I’ve searched the depths of the Internet (sometimes ending up in the deep, dark part of it), all to try and find the must see and do things while I’m in Paris. With less than a full day in the city I want to spend my time wisely to see as much as I can but without rushing it either.
I will obviously be a bit of a typical tourist visiting the eiffel tower, the Louvre etc but I also want to see the parts of Paris that the Parisians for the most part have kept so well to themselves. I want to discover secret, hidden away places that most people wouldn’t dare to take a second glance at and delve into to discover the wonders of. I have a few ideas of where to head to but would absolutely love to hear from you all on where I must go or what I must see.
Paris is somewhere I’ve been meaning to go back to visit for such a long time now. My last time there was 2009 on a school trip that didn’t end quite so well for me but that’s a story for another time.
Where are your favourite places to go in Paris?
Whether it be a park, a café or even a book shop. Leave me a comment and maybe I’ll be able to see the places that steal your heart in Paris.
Yasmin x
I found this beautiful picture through instagram. Credit to @marinaanicole.
Cities in a hat!
Each year my friends and I pick a different city to visit for the weekend. So far we’ve found ourselves in:
- Dublin (twice).
- Newcastle.
- Amsterdam.
The question of course, was where do we go next? We decided to make it a little more fun and each picked a different place we wanted to visit.
So, Monday night sat in a pub in a pretty much drunken state for us all, we decided this was the perfect time and place (obviously) for us to make our final decisions and pick where we would be going.
The 6 of us (well 5, as one of my friends didn’t make it). Needless to say she got a mail like, “where are you picking, we’re choosing now?!” So with her option chosen, it was down to the 5 of us to whittle down where we want to go. After much debating, we all chose:
- Stockholm, Sweden.
- Oslo, Norway.
- Prague, Czech Republic.
- Dubrovnik, Croatia.
- Budapest, Hungary.
- Kraków, Poland.
It’s pretty much since we got back from Amsterdam in November we’ve been discussing doing this. Although anywhere I picked my friends didn’t seem to want to go, so as a last minute decision I picked Kraków, Poland.
Now it was down to someone picking where we went, the obvious choice was ask the bar staff to choose. And guess whose choice got picked.. mine.
Kraków here we come.
It won’t be until nearer the end of the year but even still, it’s exciting just planning these things.
Have you been to Kraków before? Or maybe you’ve been to one of the other places we were choosing between? Leave me a comment and let me know.
Yasmin x
Travel Goals
When it comes to new year I’m not really a fan of resolutions, mainly because half way through the year I find I’ve given up. This year I’m not making resolutions as such, I’ve decided on a few goals which don’t necessarily last the year. Of these goals a few are travel related and that’s why I’m sharing them with you all.
Goals:
- Go on at least one weekend away myself.
I’ve decided I will find the money and time. Just to take five minutes rest from my life and the hassle of everything and go on an adventure. Nothing is set in stone but I’m hoping to at least try and visit Barcelona and Paris (mainly because they’re super close to the UK and I know there would be loads for me to do).
- Go on a trip with my friends.
So obviously not including my American road trip with my friends, as that’s completely set in stone and 100% happening (plus not all my friends are going). I’m hoping we all have another weekend away together somewhere else in Europe, last year we had Amsterdam I wonder where we will find ourselves this year?
- See more of Scotland.
I love my country so much and I love exploring it, going to places I’ve never been before but it’s something I feel I don’t do enough of. Hopefully this year that changes. Whether I jump on a bus (driving is out the window as I share a car with my mum and we’ve had a bit of a falling out unfortunately) and even just explore a part of Glasgow I’ve never seen before. Or get the train through to Edinburgh for a bit of exploring in our capital, or venturing further out to places which are unknown to me, any will make me happy.
Anyway, those are my travel plans for 2016 so far. Do you have any plans? Let me know.
Yasmin x
Why I love to travel
I don’t need to question why I love to travel at all, because I know.
When I was younger, starting from the age of five my gran and granda took me on holiday with them. Every summer for 8 years we’d go to Spain (they still go), but that isn’t where my passion for travel started. Go back a year previous, so little old me at the age of four went with them up to the highlands and my Granda taught me to ski. For the next four or five years that’s where I spent my time skiing but when I was that little bit older, that’s when I began to see more of the world. Thanks to my wonderful grandparents, I started to ski across the world.
Going to countries within Europe such as; France, Italy, Andorra, Bulgaria etc. It was something else. My first views of them all was travelling via bus up the sides of mountains, getting higher and higher and seeing these completely scenic views.
Mountains covered in snow on one side yet you look at the other, down the side of the mountain and it’s a view of green.
This is definitely where my love of travel began.
It’s those memories that I love and it’s those memories that make me want to see more of the world. The people I met throughout the years and the places that I’ve seen so far have been incredible.
I have to thank my gran and granda, if it wasn’t for them taking me to so many beautiful countries as I grew up.. I don’t know if I’d have as much of a passion for travelling as I do.
And well, that’s where my love for travel began.
What about you? Where did your love to travel start from? Come share your story with me.
Yasmin x
50 cities
This is a little list of more than a few cities that I want to travel in this beautiful world. Some I have already been to but this list was made a while ago and it just wouldn’t feel right taking them out.
So, in no particular order:
- Prague, Czech Republic.
- Los Angeles, USA.
- Dubrovnik, Croatia.
- Marrakech, Morocco.
- San Francisco, USA.
- Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Innsbruck, Austria.
- Baku, Azerbaijan.
- Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Perth, Australia.
- Las Vegas, USA.
- Kraków, Poland.
- New Orleans, USA.
- Hong Kong, China.
- Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Oslo, Norway.
- Phuket, Thailand.
- Dubai, UAE.
- Suva, Fiji.
- Seoul, South Korea.
- Ljubljana, Slovenia.
- Stockholm, Sweden.
- Sana’a, Yemen.
- Reykjavik, Iceland.
- Bergen, Norway.
- Toamasina, Madagascar.
- Bruges, Belgium.
- Singapore, Singapore.
- Budapest, Hungary.
- Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
- Kyoto, Japan.
- Bangkok, Thailand.
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Berlin, Germany.
- Yangon, Myanmar.
- Cape Town, South Africa.
- Brussels, Belgium.
- Lima, Peru.
- Philadelphia, USA.
- Albuquerque, USA.
- Tokyo, Japan.
- Vienna, Austria.
- Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Manila, Philippines.
- Beirut, Lebanon.
- Montevideo, Uruguay.
- Barcelona, Spain.
- New York City, USA.
- Venice, Italy.
Well that’s my 50, I can’t say it’s my top 50 because I’ve got a list which has many more than 50 places so honestly, I just picked these at random. There’s far too many in which I wish to visit, far too many for me to go picking tops as well!
Maybe at a later date you’ll find another post of mine with a definitive list that are all my must visit places and I’ll take out all the ones that I’ve maybe randomly put in.. But honestly, I want to see every part of this world so you might just continuously see posts of the places I wish to go until I’ve named every possible place on earth.
Where are all your ‘I must go here’ places to visit? How about commenting and giving me your top 5? Whether you’ve been and it’s somewhere you loved or whether it’s just somewhere on your ‘one day I’ll visit here’ list. I’d love to hear where we all want to go and see if anyone has any in common!
Yasmin x
Unusual city breaks
After our weekend in Amsterdam my friends and I have decided we need to be going somewhere for a city break at least once a year.
The thing is, a few of us don’t want to do the usual city breaks. We’ve done Amsterdam but we want to be going to more unusual places. Some of us are throwing ideas about and it includes places such as:
- Copenhagen
- Stockholm
- Kraków
Although I would love to visit these places and think they would be amazing, theyre just not unusual enough for me. I want random places that most people won’t even have heard of!
This is where you all come in.. I was hoping you all would be able to give me ideas of places?
Is there anywhere you have visited? Somewhere you’ve heard of?
I keep searching, trying to find really unusual places and I’ve found a few such as:
- Olomouc
- Valletta
- Sibiu
- Wroclaw
We don’t have any specifics at all, as to where, what there is to do, weather etc.
Please guys, any advice on where to go would be much appreciated. Leave a comment and let me know! Thanks.
Girls weekend in Amsterdam – Day 2
I’m definitely glad we decided to visit Amsterdam at this time of year. The weathers actually been really great, not to mention Amsterdam just looks beautiful in the Autumn.
Day 2 (Saturday):
Our second day started off rather early, we were up at about 7am and quickly headed down to have our breakfast in our hostel. It was lovely, consisted of things such as: breads, rice cakes, cheese, meats, fruit, cereal etc. we filled ourselves up on that before starting our day!
Our first stop for the day was the Anne Frank Huis. We arrived there about twenty to 9 (it opens at 9am) and the queue was twisted around the side of the building. After it opened at 9, we found it actually moved rather quickly and at 10am we found ourselves entering.
What a place. I don’t quite know what I was expecting it to be like but it definitely wasn’t what I imagined it to be. The annex was a lot bigger than I imagined it to be for a start (the whole place was), but then I guess if there was 8 people living there 24 hours a day it wouldn’t feel so big! I guess I just imagined something completely different. Although I’ve read about Anne’s journey before going here definitely opened my eyes more to it, learning more about Anne and her family and everyone else that spent time in the Annex hiding. It is a must see when visiting Amsterdam, I would definitely recommend getting up that bit earlier to head along.
Our next stop was the Amsterdam Dungeons. I have to admit I wasn’t too fussed about going here, having been to both Edinburgh and Berlin dungeons I wasn’t that mad about going. But, I ended up going with my friends. If I could have navigated the trams myself I would have went to the Van Gogh Museum instead as that’s where I really wanted to go, I have to admit though the Amsterdam Dungeons were pretty good. I got picked to go up on the court and try to convince them I wasn’t a ‘witch’ it was a laugh to say the least.
Two of my friends then went to Madame Tussaud’s, and the rest of us went shopping for both souvineers and clothes. After which we met up and it was back to the hostel for a much needed nap!
We decided to find a nice place to have dinner as it was our last night, and we found ourselves in a nice little place where most of us ended up with lovely pasta dishes. If I could remember the name of the place I would say where but I can’t.
We decided we could not leave Amsterdam without having been to the red light district. So of course that’s where we found ourselves next. I have to admit, once again.. It wasn’t anything like I expected.
For a start, every single girl was drop dead gorgeous we were walking past just thinking “Why do I not look like that?!” It wasn’t as sleazy as I imagined it to be either, yes you have windows full of practically naked girls trying to entice people in but it wasn’t as crude as we all thought. We’re definitely glad we went a walk along, just to see what it was all about.
Well that was our weekend in Amsterdam. Have you been before? Is there anything we didn’t do that you think we should have? Tell me all. We’ll definitely find ourselves back there one day.
Bedankt en tot ziens!
Girls weekend in Amsterdam – Day 1
6 best friends + a weekend in Amsterdam = Most chilled out weekend ever.
Considering we were only there for a short amount of time (Friday to Sunday) I wasn’t really expecting to do that much if I’m honest. But the days seemed super long and we seemed to cram loads into them!
Day 1 (Friday): We had a 6am flight from Glasgow so we arrived in Amsterdam about half past 8. We headed straight to the train and towards where we were staying Stayokay Amsterdam Zeeburg. As our room wasn’t ready we left our bags and headed straight back out to explore some of this beautiful city. Dam, being our first stop. Food was on the agenda which was quickly followed by dropping into our first Coffee Shop, we decided to take it away and took in some sights while having a puff or a brownie.
Having decided all the things we planned to do over the weekend our first tourist spot was to the Heineken Experience. We got our tickets there for €18 each, which I would say was definitely worth it. You learn about the history, how the beer is made etc not to mention a few glasses of beer to enjoy! You get one small glass about half way through and about 3 questions are asked which whoever the first are to answer correct get another glass of beer (I answered correct).
There’s things to do along the way too, game type things, it was definitely enjoyable and at the end a few of us poured our own glass of beer to enjoy, which we got a certificate for. It was a great experience and I would definitly suggest for people to go experience it!
We headed back to our hostel to get sorted into our room and have a much needed power nap.
We got ready and headed back out again, we grabbed a quick slice of pizza on our way to the Sex Museum I don’t know what we were expecting but it was an experience to say the least!
We got on a tram towards Rembrantplien, and found ourselves in another Coffee Shop. Unfortunately for us it was absolute mobbed and after purchasing our brownies, muffins and pre-rolled joints we went outside and found a pub not too far away where we could sit outside and enjoy ourselves.
Needless to say it was the most chilled out, relaxing vibe ever and I don’t think that was all just to do with the weed! Amsterdam itself just has this laid back vibe and considering prostitution and certain drugs are legal you would think the atmosphere to be completely different. I can completely see why this is one of the safest cities in the world.
Amsterdam is a must! Day 2 coming in my next post!
Bedankt en tot ziens.
Berlin: Banter and Fines…
What a time I had in the fine city of Berlin.
It really is an extremely beautiful and cultural city and I am so glad I went and experienced it with some friends. Everything started off quite well for us, we went on a lovely walking tour of Berlin and learned a little more about the city and it’s history. Seeing things like the Reichstag, the Berlin Wall and finding out where Hitlers bunker was which of course caused some controversy amongst the group of tourists we were with. Some believing there should be some sort of museum almost, displaying the bunker/how it would have looked, things that would have been in it etc. while others, such as myself believed everything was the way it should be. The bunker having been filled and now the only sign of it is someone telling you this is where it was as now it’s a car park beside some buildings. This isn’t exactly a part of their history that should be celebrated, and to me that’s what museums are for, celebrating and admiring things. They definitely don’t shy away from that part of their history which is great to see, it’s something that will never be forgotten after all.
There actually was a particular reason we were over in Berlin, which I have to say is definitely nowhere near as cultural as it could have been. We actually went over to see Noel Gallagher and boy was he amazing. I do have to admit, we were slightly disappointed with the German crowd but that’s possibly just because we’re used to the wildness of our Scottish home crowds. Met many lovely Germans and actually loads of fellow Scots too.
Being completely honest though, we were pretty bad tourists. We all got fines, this bloody underground over there. No-one explained anything to us and obviously back home you can buy tickets on the train.. You’d have thought the hostel could tell you simple things like, ‘You MUST buy a ticket before you get on the train, as if you don’t you are apparently cheating the system’ it also doesn’t help that the fine is in German.. Some of us aren’t fluent in your language so an English translation would be great, Thanks. Apart from that, we had a great time. It’s a beautiful city and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Until next time Germany..
Yasmin Travels 