Hikes of Berlin: Wannsee to Potsdam
I had such a great idea. Let’s go hiking on the hottest day of the week! I think the thermometer got to about 36 degrees and yet it felt perfect when I started my walk in the morning at the Wannsee S-bahn station. I’d picked a 15 km walk with…
The elegance of Elafonisi on Crete
During my time in Chania on Crete I did a few day trips to the famous beaches in the West of the island. Elafonisi was on my list, but my roommate at the hostel had told me he wasn’t that impressed. He also said he went as part of a…
Unwinding at Balos beach
Balos beach, the most beautiful beach in Greece? I’d seen many photos of Balos Beach online while I did my research for my holiday to Crete. This beach is considered one of the top beaches in the world. I knew a day trip out to Balos and Gramvousa would be…
The Arkadi monastery on Crete
Taking the bus to the Arkadi monastery Not far from Rethymno stands the beautiful Arkadi monastery. It’s a popular destination for tourists staying in the Rethymno area. If you have a car you can make a great trip visiting the monastery and some other attractions in the area, like the…
The big day to the Samaria Gorge on Crete
Getting ready for Crete’s Samaria Gorge “The mules are not taxis, they’re ambulances” our guide explains on the way to the Samaria Gorge. It’s a tough audience at seven in the morning. I got up at 5.30AM to see one of Crete’s main attractions: the Samaria Gorge. It was still…
Persepolis still manages to impress
Around 550BC Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Empire. He first defeated the Medes and from there the empire grew conquest by conquest. It became larger than any empire had been before. Cyrus himself built a palace at Pasargadae. His successors preferred other locations. Darius I founded a new capital…
To the roots of religion
Zoroastrianism is a religion I had never heard of until I went to Iran. And yet it influenced many of the worlds main religions, like Islam, Judaism and Christianity. It is one of the oldest religions still practised and the oldest one believing in one god: Ahura Mazda. It became…
Teufelsberg: where history turned into art
After the second world war Berlin was a mess. There was rubble everywhere and the people, a lot of them women, started to clean up the streets. This resulted in some rubble hills, that are now the highest points in the city and are often surrounded by park. The 120…
Banja Luka’s best
Banja Luka is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second biggest city. It’s located in the North of the country, close to the border with Croatia. I had never thought to go to Banja Luka and it’s certainly not on the tourist radar where I am from, but I wanted to explore a…
A little gem called Lukomir
It was August. It was hot. It may not have been the best time to go hiking. But I’d heard about this day hike. I’d seen photos of this day hike. I’d been looking forward to this day hike. I was going to do this day hike! So I set…