Valentinas Travels

  Over the last few years, I became very talented in optimizing my time while travelling. Means: I found ways to see the most important things in a very short time and coming home as relaxed as I would be after one or two weeks of holidays. This week, I had the oportunity to practice once again as I had won tickets for the "Moon & Stars" - festival in Locarno (Switzerland) (--> Link) . A great reason to do a little short trip to a city that is really worth to visit!  Even if Locarno is a city in Switzerland (approx. 2.5 h away from Zurich by train), it always seemed so far away and I admit I hadn't known it very well before. So I started my trip direction south - and the more south I drove, the more holiday feelings I got! Once arrived in Locarno, I really had the feeling I was in another country: The warm, almost mediterranean temperatures, the palm trees, the Italian language (yes, I know, it’s one of our 4 national languages in Switzerland, but believe me,

OVER the easter days I visited Italy with a good friend of mine. We started the trip in Torino , a city with about 890'000 inhabitans in the northwest of Italy. Although I prefer other Italian cities (Florence, Venice,…), Torino has its charm. We enjoyed walking up and down the lively streets, sit down for a caffè or a limoncello and climbed up the Cappucini-hill for a nice view over Torino. Unfortunately the weather was not good enough to see the mountains in the background. The next day we rented a car and drove out of Torino – which is quite a challenge if you’re not used to the Italian way of driving!  The surroundings became greener every mile we approached the Piemonte region. We checked in in a wonderful agriturismo (=??) called «La locanda del Nocciolo» . The view over the green vineyards with the mountains behind was absolutely stunning. Wouldn’t this be the perfect place to stay for some weeks and enjoying life with long walks, drinking wine. E

I admit: When I come home from a trip, I immediately want to book the next one. To go abroad as soon as possible again. And I sometimes forget that the nice things are sometimes just in front of my nose! Latest example: A hike with my Family in the Bernese Oberland . It was a birthday surprise for my dad and it was really a perfect day. First surprise of the day: Me and my sister welcomed my parents with some coffee and Croissants to go which we enjoyed in the train direction Lauterbrunnen . There, we squeezed ourselfs in a small bus full of other tourists who also wanted to enjoy the perfect weather. The bus dropped us off in Isenflug, a small village with a great view already. There we bought our tickets for the funicular which then  brought us all the way up to Sulwald . In the gondola, we got in touch with other people of which one told us that we absolutely have to try the toilet at the Lobhornhütte (Lobhorn cottage). First I thought it was a joke – since when do you reco