Author: The practical explorer

ONLY WHEN I’M ON HOLIDAY: Are we different when we travel?

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In my first night in Bangladesh last year I ordered a Sprite at the restaurant. Nothing unusual with that, except that I don’t think I’d had Sprite in absolutely ages. Somehow that’s all I drank in every restaurant we went to on this trip.

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Thai massages are THE best. I never thought of booking one in London. But when I stay in a very posh (and ridiculously cheap) Movenpick resort in Turkey later this year, I will definitely need to book a massage.

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Why is it that we are different when we travel? Why do we create habits which are switched on as soon as we clear airport security?

Travelling is all about doing new things and exploring new places, but I guess we need to create a sense of stability no matter where we are. And travelling allows us to be a bit different from who we normally are – so no one will question your sudden love of crime novels (Jo Nesbo is the best company for long airport waits) if you’re just about to go on a holiday.

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What are your little travel habits?

TRAVEL READING: A Tale of Two Cities

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I’ve started reading A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, many times before. Somehow I never finished it!

In London, he had expected neither to walk

This time around I was committed to sticking with it, and it is (as any Dickens novels) really great. The book is set partly in London and partly in Paris – so it’s an ideal read to take with you on a trip across the channel!

RELAXING IN KRAKOW: Narrow streets and cool bars

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Krakow is perfect for a relaxing break. The city centre is relatively small, so you can see loads just by wandering around.

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DAY 1

We started our first day in Krakow visiting the Barbican and the city walls, located at the entrance of the Old Town.

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It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for walking around. The Old Town of Krakow has a great Market Square (the largest medieval market square of Europe), with lots of shops and cafes.

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We stopped for lunch at Green Day – yes, they have a veggie restaurant called Green Day!! A meal for two and drink cost £5.50.

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We continued along the narrow streets all the way to Wawel Castle – but we saved that for the next day.

Not far from the Old Town we stumbled upon Frania Cafe, a bar which is also a launderette and it was pretty cool.

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Heading back to the Old Town we found a few more nice bars, so we stopped for a beer at the Beer Gallery, a Belgian bar near the market square.

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DAY 2

One of the best things in Krakow is that there is a park which goes all around the city walls. This is a great place for a walk, so on our second day in the city we made our way through the park to get to Castle Hill.

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This is a great place to visit – you can see the many areas of Wawel Castle, visit the Cathedral and you also get great views over the river.

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After leaving the castle, we went to the Jewish Quarter, an amazing neighbourhood full of history which is now home to lots of cool shops are cafes.

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Wolnica Square is the perfect place for a little break, so we stopped for lunch at Cafe Mlynek.

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We found lots of cool independent shops in Jozefa Street. The Jewish Quarter is also great for drinks, so we stopped at Bill Hickman (amazing décor), Propaganda (perfect soundtrack) and Strefa Piwa (they have the best beer map painted on the wall) – all really great places.

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This was the end of our Poland adventure! Check out this post for tips on how to organise your trip.

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A SUNNY DAY IN WARSAW: Cold beer and vegan food

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Warsaw was great – I didn’t really know what to expect, but it’s a beautiful city with a relaxed atmosphere and lots of cool places for eating and drinking. What else do you need?

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We started our day in Warsaw at the Science and Culture Palace, which hosts lots of museums and other cultural hubs. You can go up this impressive building to get nice views over the city (tickets at 20 zloti per person).

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After taking in the view, we started walking towards the Old Town. We stopped for a quick drink at Aioli, a nice place for a cocktail on a sunny day (drinks looked amazing but were a bit watery). We then made our way to Novy Swiat (the Royal Way), a busy thoroughfare full of bars and restaurants.

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For lunch we stopped at Vege Bistro, a little vegan cafe that served delicious pirogi (traditional Polish dumplings). A meal for two cost 53 zloti (around £9).

The Royal Way leads to the Old Town, which was completely rebuilt after the second World War – about 85% of Warsaw was destroyed then. This is a beautiful area to wander around for a few hours, stopping to lounge in the sun at one of the many cafes.

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We found a great Belgian bar just off the Old Town. The Elephant Pub has a great selection of Belgian beers and is very nicely decorated. Perfect to recharge for a little bit.

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Our last stop of the day was Poznanska Street, which is full of cool bars and restaurants. We had pizzas at Vegan Pizza before heading back to the hotel.

What a nice day!

HOW TO DO IT:

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  • Go: We flew Wizzair, as they tend to have the cheapest options for Eastern Europe. The flight takes around 2h so it’s easy to go after work.
  • Money: Poland is really cheap. A beer costs less than £2, and you get a meal for about £5. Things are really good quality, so it’s the perfect place to indulge.
  • Stay: We stay at Mercure Grand Warsawa which was by far the best Mercure I’ve ever stayed at. We only paid £35 per night – bargain!
  • Food: Polish food is not traditionally veggie, but there are lots of veggie places around. We took recommendations from Happy Cow and were really spoilt for choice.
  • Train to Krakow: We took the express train to Krakow, which takes about 2h30. Tickets cots £7, and that even includes a free beverage! (shame on you, National Rail!) The train was great and the trip very enjoyable. You can spend the time gazing at the countryside outside or having a cold beer at the bar.

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IN PICTURES: Street art and sunny days in Berlin

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Berlin was great – as always.

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I visited on a sunny weekend in August, a beautiful time to go.

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For the first time I managed to visit the Reichstag (it’s free to go but you must book in advance).

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The cool cupola by British architect Norman Foster is definitely worth a visit.

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And it’s a great place to take weird self-portraits.

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The street art around the East Side Gallery was a bit more damaged than I remembered.

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But it’s still quite impressive.

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And there are lots of other great street art all around the city.

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This was also the first time I visited the impressive Berlin Cathedral.

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From the top you get great views over the city.

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And inside there are many amazing details too.

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Sundays in Berlin are always great for brunch.

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After eating at the lovely Napol Jonska in Prenzlauer Berg, we walked around Mauer Park.

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This is a great area to see remains of the Berlin Wall in a less touristic area.

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But we also stopped at some of the highlights – like the Brandenburg Gate and the memorial next to it.

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Berlin never disappoints!

WHERE HAVE ALL THE YELLOW PONCHOS GONE? Day trip to Niagara falls

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Niagara Falls is only 80 miles from Toronto, so we made sure to visit during our Canadian adventure. There are lots of coach trips available, so we got on a bus early in the morning to see what it was all about – alas it was less yellow ponchos and more tacky casinos.

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The falls themselves are really impressive, a massive and powerful waterfall right across the pavement – really unlike anything you’d see. Usually you can take a boat trip to see it even closer (the ‘Maid on the Mist’), but we were unlucky with the weather and that wasn’t available when we were there.

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The downside is the massive tacky-fest right across the road: like a cheap, old-fashioned version of Las Vegas, so not really what you’d expect from such a natural wonder. But the coach trip also went up the river where we got great views without the intrusion of modern architecture.

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We also visited Niagara-on-the-Lake, a colonial town full of cute little shops which was nice if a bit fake – great gelato though!

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We hopped back on the bus for a final stop at a local vineyard before making our way back to Toronto at 5pm. All in all this was a nice little day trip – it not at all what I was expecting!

HOW TO DO IT:

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There are lots of day trips from Toronto, and they all looked quite similar (can you imagine all of them stop at a floral clock?). I chose Queen Tours through Tripadvisor, which cost $75 per person. It was easy to book and the guide was good, so it was a good option.

What a weird and wonderful place!

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BEER HOPPING IN TORONTO: Finding the best of the Canadian beers

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Our trip to Canada included a lot of time for trying local beers. There are lots of options that I never heard about, so it was really good to be adventurous and choose a pint by its name (my first choice was Moosehead – is there anything more Canadian?)

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A great place to taste the local brew is the Old Distillery District – there are lots of nice bars around, and it’s a nice pedestrianised area to just walk around and chill. In Kensington we stopped for a beer at The Embassy, a great bar with a very impressive selection of local and international beers.

Helpfully, they always indicate in the menu whether a beer is local or imported, which is great if you’re looking to try the local fare.

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But the beer highlight of our trip was the Steamwhistle brewery tour. You get to see how they make their beers, taste some hops (not great) and you also get a very generous amount of free samples. The brewery is conveniently located by the CN Tower so it’s quite easy to get there.

You pay $10 for the tour plus a souvenir glass, $15 for the tour and a six pack (we chose that) or $26 for the tour plus a twelve pack. Great value for money! Our tour guide was really enthusiastic and really loved her job – it was really fun!

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ON TRAVEL: I’m going away to Pasargadae

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I never read Road Dahl in school. Every so often someone tells me ‘you don’t know what you’re missing out’. But then again I didn’t grow up in an English-speaking country.

Well, I grew up with Monteiro Lobato and many other great writers that many people have never even heard of. So who is missing out after all?

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The first time I moved to a new city was when I went to uni. It was unusual where I grew up to move to another city because we had a very good university there. But by then I was already way over it, so when the opportunity came, I hopped on a plane (or an overnight coach) and never looked back.

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There is a poem by Brazilian modernist Manuel Bandeira, loosely translated as ‘I will go away to Pasargadae’, about the need to escape to a new and exciting place, the place where you belong, a place which is not only better than here, but a place where you are a better person too. There aren’t many good English translations, but it starts:

I will go away to Pasargadae
There I am a friend of the king
There I will have the woman I want
In the bed I will choose

Full version in Portuguese here.

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This poem has followed me ever since I left my hometown for uni (12 years ago – ouch!).

It’s about finding yourself in a new place, where you live your life in your own terms. Sounds good to me!

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In the poem, Pasargadae is a representation of an idyllic place. In real life, it’s an ancient Greek city in Iran.

What’s the place where you’re at your best?

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(all photos from my trip to Lisbon, shot with this great Lomo redscale film).

ONE WEEK IN TORONTO: A relaxing break with stunning views

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When your friend tells you she is wearing a very simple saree to her henna party, you really shouldn’t believe her.

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My good friend Smriti was getting married in Toronto, so off we went for another trip. I didn’t do much research in advance, so I didn’t really know what to expect. What I learned is that local knowledge is key: you may well miss lots of cool places if you’re not looking for them, so ask around to make the most of your visit.

Downtown, Old Town and Distillery District

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We started off our first day in Toronto by getting the subway to Dundas. There you will find the Eaton Center, a shopping centre which looks like they all do. But we managed to find a vegan fast food place there, called Urban Herbivore, which offered lots of great salads and hot dishes.

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We then walked down Yonge St, which is one of the main thoroughfares in Toronto, then reaching the Financial District. I was starting to think Toronto didn’t have much to offer, but I was wrong! They key there is knowing where to go.

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We reached the Old Town to find nice cafes and bars, as well as the amazing St Lawrence Market. This indoor food market is really great: lots of fresh produce and also free samples!

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We continued onto the Distillery District, a quirky, pedestrianised area which is a great area for bars and beer tasting. By the end of our first day in the city we had covered lots of ground and also discovered some cool places.

Chinatown and Kensington

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Knowing that the key to enjoying Toronto lies in finding the right neighbourhoods to visit, we headed to Chinatown on our second day in the city. We didn’t eat there, but I heard the dumplings are really good.

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After walking around for a while, we walked up Spadina Avenue to reach Kensington (the Hoxton of Toronto). This is a nice area full of cool bars, shops and cafes. We ended this sunny day at the terrace of the hilariously-named Bovine Sex Club, a great place for drinks.

CN Tower

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The CN tower is Toronto’s most famous highlight, and visiting when it was sunny definitely made it better. You get great views across the city and over lake Ontario, with areas full of skyscrapers contrasting with the little houses outside downtown.

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It really is amazingly high, and you get a chance to look right down through a glass floor – an experience which makes everyone quite uneasy. Tickets are a bit expensive at $49 (including the Skypod, the highest level you can visit), but it’s a good thing to do if you’re in Toronto.

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The Islands

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Many people recommended that we visited the Islands, so on our last day in the city we hopped on a ferry and off we went (return tickets cost $7.50).

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This is a great place to visit on a sunny day: only 20 minutes off the city centre there are beaches and parks in a relaxed setting.

We stopped for a beer in a beach hut that looked straight off 90s films, Spin Doctors soundtrack and slush puppies included. The waitress helpfully overheard our conversation and suggested other good spots for drinks.

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This is also where you get one of the best views of the Toronto skyline, with the CN Tower high above everything else.

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The rest of our time we spent attending the many beautiful wedding celebrations, a wonderful Nepalese-Canadian-French affair.

HOW TO DO IT:

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  • Go: We booked Air Transat flights which were relatively cheap at £500. The flight takes about 7h and flying during the day is definitely the way to do it (our return flight was overnight and we really didn’t sleep much).
  • Stay: We stayed at this nice Airbnb place which was located in a quiet neighbourhood and felt like a real home. Toronto is really big, so stay around downtown or anywhere close to the Subway.
  • Transportation: Public transportation is pretty good in downtown Toronto, but further afield it’s likely that you will need to rely on (very expensive) taxis. Traffic can be a real nightmare, so ask locals how long it takes to get to your destination.
  • Money: Canada is not very cheap. Although prices look okay at first sight, like in America taxes are added to any bill and tips are expected and high.

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