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Holiday Dreaming

Saturday 22 November 2014

It seems like an awfully long time since I've been on holiday. Outside the UK anyway. Inside it, I'm good! Quite well travelled in fact, due to the awesome family Easter holidays I go on each year with my mum, aunt and sometimes my cousin. These usually feature heavy amounts of historical exploration, charity shops and reading - all my favourite things!

Next April we're off to Orkney for a week of yomping around Neolithic villages and stone circles and I cannot wait.

As I've never been much of a one for beach breaks, it's unsurprising that my holidays that involve getting on a plane tend to be short city breaks. Recent jaunts include:

Dublin


Belfast



Estoril/Lisbon/Sintra/Evora



Dubrovnik




And, in the years before blogging (so I can't find any of the photos off-hand), Bruges, Florence & Pisa and Barcelona. Ahhh, lovely memories.

Funds are tight at the moment, what with the house purchase and all, so I haven't had an city break this year. I'm currently plotting hard for next year though! Plans are free, after all, and there's nothing nicer to do on a chilly winter evening than dream of sunshine and exploration. Do I want to go somewhere historically fascinating like Carcassone? Although Dubrovnik was truly wonderful so perhaps back to Eastern Europe. I've always had a hankering to visit Riga. Maybe even Prague. Actually, the more I hear about that place, the more I want to go. Someone at work has just come back from a jaunt there and had an amazing time. It's very tempting!

I miss the pre-holiday sense of excitement a lot. Furiously browsing airline websites for the cheapest slots, sorting out travel insurance, picking out a lovely hotel room. Admittedly I usually loathe the latter - so much choice it boggles my brain - but with the aid of a good booking site like venere.com to find that perfect Prague hotel I reckon I'll be stress-free and full of holiday joy. The fun stuff like researching what to do once I've landed can then start!




The actual booking part will have to wait till next year but I'm enjoying a lot of idle browsing in the meantime.

*wistful holiday sighs*

Perhaps there's somewhere excellent you can recommend? I'm up for any and all European locations so if you've had a good (or bad) holiday there, let me know! Or hit me up with any links to blog posts you've done about your travels. I'd love to read them.

10 comments:

  1. I loved when I went to Pisa and Florence a few years ago. I went to Venice this Easter and I LOVED it - it was so beautiful and with so much history; you should definitely try and head there soon.

    Lizzie's Daily Blog

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  2. I went to Prague in 1996 and I've always been curious to see how much it must have changed. I scanned my old film pics and put them on Flickr 5yrs ago https://www.flickr.com/photos/mondoagogo/sets/72157622861254800/ -- the toy museum is still there and still good from what I hear! The castle was good and the cemetery with the lovely mosaics and murals (pics in that Flickr set), and lots of lovely Jugenstil architecture of course.

    I've always wanted to go to Budapest, can you go there so I can visit vicariously? :)

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  3. I loved Dubrovnik!!! Geneva is a great place to go!!

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  4. You're very welcome in Ljubljana :) It's very charming small town, you can pretty much walk anywhere (if you like walking), there is lots of cute coffee shops, restaurants and shops but also a lot of culture.

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  5. I still need to visit Prague! I have wonderful memories of Florence and Barcelona :) x

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  6. Prague will always hold lovely memories for me. I visited with a friend, it was cold, so very, very cold, but this just added to the atmosphere ( and meant a good number of mulled wine was purchased from street stalls). It's utterly beautiful and you must visit the Mucha museum. Although try not to fall asleep watching the introductory film because, ahem, I've heard that can happen.

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  7. I want to go on a proper holiday. It's been 9years according to my passport since I last left the UK.

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  8. Amsterdam was fab when we went quite a long time ago. We had a fantastic time and keep meaning to go back. lots to see and do.
    Carcassonne is also interesting. This hotel/restaurant (http://www.chateau-de-cavanac.fr/) while not cheap, is lovely. The menu has gone up in price quite a lot since we were there, mind you!! The free flying eagle show is great too. If you have a car the Cathar castles are interesting.
    Lyon is a brilliant city to visit too. We live quite near so I can give lots of advice if required. Direct flights from Manchester.

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  9. Eastern Europe is great and really cheap. Bosnia and Herzegovina has so much history and lots of it recent and Belgrade, Serbia was definitely somewhere I loved exploring and felt I could spend more time.

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  10. If you haven't been already, Iceland, definitely Iceland. I've been twice and I love it, the geography, the atmosphere, the people and the stunning natural landscape. Plus the outdoor swimming pools and Blue Lagoon are pretty amazing too. I would seriously live there if I could. :-) xx

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