Travel

  • Romania,  Travel

    Sala Omnia

    Due to the COVID pandemic travelling has been quite hard. After almost no trips abroad it was finally time to hit the road again. Late September a 14-day roadtrip through Romania was the new adventure. We had several stops along the way and lots of places to check. Halfway during the trip we stayed in the capital for a few days because high on our list of places that we wanted to visit was the Omnia Hall. A brutalist building which once housed the Romanian Senate and the National Opera Theater.  A little bit of History The building was designed by the architect Cezar Lăzărescu (1923-1986), in 1967, as an…

  • Italy

    Cimitero Monumentale di Staglieno

    I have always been fascinated by old cemeteries. During trips with my mother to Malta, Ireland and Scotland we would stop at the oldest cemetery that we could find. Just to roam around and look at the old graves. So when I read about the big cemetery in Genua and saw photos of the awesome sculptures, I just knew that I had to visit this one during our ‘Giro d’Italia’ in 2016. A little bit of History The Staglieno Cemetery is the largest burial site in Genova and is one of the most important monumental cemeteries in Europe. The design task had been entrusted as early as 1835 to the civic…

  • Travel,  Vietnam

    Vietnam – Part 1

    November 2019 – time for another trip. This time Vietnam was up. Our plan was to fly in at Hanoi airport and depart from Ho Chi Minh / Saigon. The trip was a real challenge, not being allowed to rent a car meant travelling by public transport and exploring by motorbike. Officially I was not allowed to ride those either since those are often 150cc and you need a motor drivers licence. Fortunately nothing bad happened.  Travelling by night train and bus was a real adventure. Although it will take a while before we choose another country where we can’t drive our own car, the trip was still another good…

  • Travel,  Vietnam

    Vietnam – Part 2

    Halong Bay – 2 day trip We were picked up at our hotel early in the morning by a bus to be taken to Halong. There we were ferried to a small ship that would take us on a two day tour through Halong Bay. The bus ride was a boring 4 hour long drive with one stop at a local (work)shop. Where all other busses also stopped and prices for food and drinks were sky high…tourist trap! We decided to walk around for a bit and found a small shop just around the corner with normal priced for drinks & snacks!  Our ship was a faily small one which…

  • Travel,  Vietnam

    Vietnam – Part 3

    Hue – Day 1 – Abandoned Waterpark From the trainstation we took a taxi to our hotel for the next two nights: the Nice Hue Hotel. Eventhough we arrived before the official check in time, the manager had made sure that our room was ready when we got there. I was really happy about that because I really could use a shower after the night on the train. If you are ever in Hue, consider staying at the place! The staff is really friendly and helpfull, the room was very nice and there are plenty of restaurants within walking distance.After a shower we hopped on the motorbikes that the manager had…