Travel

Independent travel notes from roads, cities and everyday logistics across the places I visit, with an eye for practical detail and local context.

Travel archive

18 Jul 2017

Postcards from Chania

At the start of June, 2017 we traveled for a 3 week leisure trip to the island of Crete, Greece, and our first stop was lovely coastal town Chania. We spent a lovely night…

14 Jul 2017

Athens International Airport

Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos", commonly initialized as "AIA", began operation on 28 March 2001 and is the primary international airport that serves the city of Athens and the region of Attica.It is Greece's busiest airport and it serves as the…

13 Jul 2017

Chania International Airport (Greece)

Chania International Airport, "Daskalogiannis"  is an international airport located near Souda Bay on the Akrotiri Peninsula of the Greek island of Crete, serving the city of Chania, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) away.Moreover, it is a gateway to western Crete for…

12 Jul 2017

Postcards from Athens

Just like in the case of postcards from Istanbul, we had just a few hours to spend in Athens, Greece, between layover flight to Chania (Crete). Equipped with camera and adventurous spirit we dive in…

11 Jul 2017

Ancient Agora of Athens

The Ancient Agora of Classical Athens is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as…

9 Jul 2017

Phidias Lounge Bar in Athens

Phidias lounge bar in Athens was mine second cafe / restaurant in Greece, as just early in the morning we arrived from Tbilisi to Athens and had a few hours before our connecting flight…

29 Jun 2017

Postcards from Istanbul

Istanbul has been on my travel radar since 2009, when I first visited it during a layover flight to Telaviv, Israel. Since then I've traveled countless times to and back from Istanbul. So did happened…

28 Jun 2017

Istanbul Atatürk Airport

Istanbul Atatürk Airport is the main international airport serving Istanbul, and the biggest airport in Turkey by total number of passengers, destinations served and aircraft movements. Opened in 1924 in Yeşilköy, on the European side of the city, it is located…

27 Jun 2017

Dosso Dossi Istanbul Old City Hotel

We booked this 4-star hotel in Sultanahmet district, Istanbul for a one night stay during a layover flight Riga - Istanbul - Tbilisi at the end of May 2017. We paid about EUR 50 for…

26 Jun 2017

Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. In 2014, it was listed No.1 among world's most-visited…

25 Jun 2017

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque  is a historic mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. A popular tourist site, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque continues to function as a mosque today; men still kneel in prayer on the mosque's lush red carpet after the…

23 Jun 2017

Abava Rumba Waterfall

Abava Rumba is the second widest waterfall in Latvia (after Venta Rumba) ,up to 1 m high and 35 m wide.I had a chance to visit it and spend some hour in lovely photography…

20 Jun 2017

Postcards from Germany

Welcome to another Piece of Life postcards from series. In today's article - Germany. We traveled to Germany for about 3 days at the end of May 2017. I was not at all in photography…

18 Jun 2017

Hotel Monopol in Gelsenkirchen, Germany

This 3-star hotel offers comfortable accommodation in Gelsenkirchen's northern Buer district. It is 3 km from the Veltins Arena and 1 km from Gelsenkirchen-Buer Nord train station. Hotel Monopol was our last accommodations while in…

17 Jun 2017

Haus Daniela Superior Apartment in Cochem, Germany

I now have pretty ambivalent feelings regarding booking apartments instead of hotel rooms. Despite my feelings, Haus Daniela was a really nice stay in Cochem. For this spacious apartment we paid about EUR 200…

15 Jun 2017

Cochem Imperial castle

The contours of the neo-gothic building rise more than about 330 ft above the river Moselle on an outstanding hill. The silhouette of the towering hill seems to continue in the building which is…

14 Jun 2017

Eltz Castle

Eltz Castle (German: Burg Eltz) is a medieval castle nestled in the hills above the Moselle River between Koblenz and Trier, Germany. It is still owned by a branch of the same family (the Eltz family) that lived there in the 12th century, 33 generations ago. Bürresheim…

13 Jun 2017

Monastery of Maria Engelport

The monastery of Maria Engelport (Kloster Maria Engelport) is located on the edge of the Hunsrück in the Flaumbach Valley near Treis-Karden, Germany. We made here a briefly stop while traveling by car around these parts of Germany, it was overcast day,…

11 Jun 2017

Porta Nigra in Trier

The Porta Nigra (Latin for black gate) is a large Roman city gate in Trier, Germany. It is today the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps. It is designated as part of the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our…