island – Ashatta

Wildlife safaris on Svalbard

05/08/2020 03/10/2020

When the topic of safaris comes up, Svalbard and Arctic in general are never among the first entries on the list, and that is utterly and desperately wrong!

The waters of this Northern archipelago are a favorite haven for many species of whales and seals, steep cliffs that surround the fjords are home to gargantuan bird colonies, and barren rocky mountains, desolate at first sight, nevertheless provide life and food for wild reindeer. Want to see all of this? Read on!

Longyearbyen – the world’s northernmost city

01/08/2020 03/10/2020

Any travel to the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard almost inevitably starts and ends in the biggest city on the islands – Longyearbyen, or “Longyear City”.

Founded just a hundred years ago and having lived through the transformation from a bunch of miners’ barracks to a center of Arctic research and tourism, it has always been a refuge for explorers, rebels, and dreamers, the city of cold weather and warm hearts.

Taormina: sea, ancient ruins, and volcanic dust

19/03/2020 07/06/2020

It is so unbelievably sad that Italy is living through really dark times at the moment. For a traveler like myself it is double-fold devastating: only few countries can boast amazing landscapes, rich culture, and delicious cuisine compared to that of Italy. In these dire times, I would like to think about all the beautiful things that Italy is home to and celebrate its potential for cultural visits which we all can hopefully soon enjoy again.

This story is of a little town of Taormina which finds itself perched upon a tall rock on the Western shore of Sicily. Taormina is a tiny city and is probably not the first one that you think of when someone mentions Sicily. Most of the travelers use the town as the base for conquering Etna, one of the world’s most famous volcanoes, and, to be honest, so did we, but this little Mediterranean town certainly has a charm of its own!

Hiroshima and Miyajima island

20/06/2019 07/06/2020

A visit to Miyajima island near Hiroshima was recommended to me by a friend. Without that we would probably not even consider and totally miss this place which turned out to be a decent match even to Mt Fuji. So now I am fulfilling my duty of passing the recommendation on =)

We did Miyajima (and Hiroshima) as a day trip during your stay in Kyoto. Travel took away a big chunk of the day so we had to skip some interesting things =( If I knew more about Miyajima beforehand I would make sure we have a less restrictive travel plan…

Three reasons to visit the coastal city of Kamakura

26/05/2019 31/05/2020

Kamakura is a small, rural town. It is not crazy touristic which is surprising considering the quality and diversity of its attractions coupled with easy access from Tokyo: a direct JR train connects the Tokyo station to Kamakura with just an hour of train ride.

Let’s see what this town is capable of and why you might want to go there.

Dominican Republic: getting to know the Caribbean

09/12/2018 31/05/2020

For our first trip to a tropical island we chose Dominican Republic. One of the biggest and the richest (= the least poor) countries in the Caribbean will offer anything you would possibly want from such a trip: white sand beaches, palm trees, sun, as well as a lot of opportunities to discover the nature of tropical rainforests: there are many national parks and reserves here for such a small country. Those interested in history will also find something here: Santo Domingo, the capital of DR, is the place of the first Columbus’s disembarkation and the oldest European settlement in the Western Hemisphere. Ten days of our trip only gave as enough time to see the most popular sights of the country. The rest of them has to wait when we decide to come here again. This will happen most definitely because DR is such a wonderful tropical destination!