Well folks I hope you have not lost any sleep awaiting my next blog post as it has been too many months.  While I do enjoy providing blog posts to my dedicated readers this past year has been a transition at 1girlwhotravels.  I have focused on getting my travel photography skills refined and activating sales of travel photography items at craft market sales events and my own Etsy shop.   

Best natural site – Sunrise – Ocean City MD: I absolutely love the natural beauty that greets us daily in sunrise and sunset; some days are certainly more spectacular than others.  Luck and natural beauty was on our side the morning we decided to get up for a 5:14am sunrise in Ocean City Maryland. I had seen a few images in local boutique shops of sunrises and could not imagine the prints were real.  We were not disappointed with our very early wake up call which provided one of the most amazing sunrises I have ever seen.  The colors were spectacular especially with the water and crashing waves.  I was fortunate enough to share this magical memory with my sister which I will treasure forever.  

Best cultural site – Tatev Monastery – Armenia: There were many amazing historical and cultural sites that I visited during my travels this year.  However Tatev Monastery takes the prize!  It is nearly a 5 hour drive from Yerevan in the far south of Armenia  near Goris in Syunik Province.  You can arrive two different directions; drive up to the back side of the monastery or enjoy the Wings of Tatev.  I highly recommend the Wings of Tatev to enjoy the breathtaking views as you arrive to Tatev.  In addition, the Wings of Tatev is the longest funicular in the world at 3.2 miles distance!  Tatev Monastery began in the 11th century with over 1000 monks with many valuable manuscripts, artwork and home to Tatev University starting in 1390.  Unfortunately the monastery has been hit by earthquakes, fires and looting numerous times so many of the original items have disappeared.  One thing that definitely remains is the architectural beauty which was pure delight!  

Seek your adventure!

You can have the perfect European vacation without the long flight or expensive plane ticket right here in North America.  It is true!  Quebec City, Canada has a multitude of alluring options to entice all of your senses yet leave you wanting more.

See: Historic District of Old Quebec City was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985.  The architecture is stunning and you will be instantly charmed by it’s beauty.

Touch: The “pitter patter” feeling while walking the old cobbled streets will have you reminiscing of any European vacation taken or future wish list.

Hear: Parlez-vous français? You can practice your French!  Or at least be immersed in a world where French is the primary spoken language.  Nobody panic…everyone is bilingual in French and English.

Taste: There are many restaurants where French influenced food is available.  The most common is the classic French crepes with a little side of Canadian maple syrup to remind you that you are  not in Paris.

Smell:  There are several cafes and bakeries in Old Quebec City so the scent of fresh bread and baked goods seems to waft through the air in every direction.  Pair that with a nice cafe au lait and you have yourself a true delight.

Quebec City is so quaint and charming that you simply want to embrace it!

Seek your adventure!

In last week’s post I shared with you highlights from my amazing recent vacation to Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria.   Well friends,  I saved the best for last or at least the most unique.

Raise your hand if you have ever heard of the Transnistria or  Trans-Dniester.   Anyone?  I had never heard of it until I was preparing for my trip to Moldova.  So this is 1 of only 4 breakaway territories stuck in post-Soviet “frozen conflict” zones.   It is officially defined as Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR)  also known as Pridnestyrovie.  While this territory has their own military, currency, and government; it is not recognized as a country by the United Nations.

We travelled from Moldova with a private guide who was very comfortable with the procedures of entering this territory.  We approached the passport control and my fellow American traveller got his passport approved in seconds. However my passport seemed to cause some problems as they appeared to be having a hard time translating my name into Cyrillic.  Thankfully our private guide spoke Russian and could translate their questions as they wanted to know my father’s full name and city of birth.  Given it is not a recognized country there is no passport stamp but an immigration card that you must return when you leave the territory.  Finally after 10-15 minutes we were in.  Well not so fast actually.  Next came the full car inspection to ensure we were not transporting anything illegal.  While the inspection lasted only a few minutes our guide was brought into the office for paperwork and allegedly required insurance fees.  So after nearly an hour at the border and additional alleged taxes we were off to see Trans-Dniester.

Interesting facts about Trans-Dniester:

• Population is about 30% Russian, 30% Moldovan, and 30% Ukranian
• Only electric tram in the world which crosses 2 cities Bender & Tiraspol
• Only territory to display hammer and sickle which is a traditional communist symbol on their flag
• This territory was previously part of Moldavian ASSR from 1924 – 1940 which was an autonomous republic of the Ukraine
• The Transnistrian ruble coins  are made of plastic and huge collectors item on eBay

Hands down the strangest place I have ever been and I have been around many blocks in many countries.  We spent a few hours touring around the city of Bender and eventually on to the capital Tiraspol.  We were grateful to have the wisdom of our private guide Chip from hellobucovina.com who travelled with us for several days.  He was able to provide guidance on the importance of not taking any photographs of military, police or major infrastructure.

The capital is Tiraspol with a population of 150,000 yet we saw only a few people on the streets that day.  You could clearly see all of the CCTV cameras that were recording your every move which might explain why all of the locals walked briskly looking down at the ground.   It was a completely surreal experience.  It seemed as though we had been transported into a movie set and I was waiting for the director to shout out “Hey you in the white shirt…yes you…can you move a little to the left please?”.  It instantly reminded me of the The Truman Show movie where the character portrayed by Jim Carrey had his whole life staged.  Imagine it for a moment.

On exiting the country, sorry got that wrong….territory, there was some additional trouble with my passport.  My passport is due to expire in December 2017 and I had additional pages inserted a few years ago; yet regardless it is pretty full with immigration stamps along with several visas for India and Brazil.   This apparently raised some concerns at the border control.  Once again my guide with his Russian translation came to the rescue to explain that I was not a secret agent spy but simply one girl who travels.

Seek your adventure!

When I tell people I have just returned from vacation in Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria most people  get that funny look on their face.  For any of you hard core travelers out there you know this look.  I have seen this look before and I can usually guess what comes next.  Their question is always the same “Why in the world would you want to go there?”.   My response is pretty standard “I had never been there before and it sounded interesting!”.

Let’s start with the big reasons visit…

• There are 17 UNESCO sites within these three countries which is pretty amazing!   Even more incredible trying to put this in perspective all three countries total square miles combined is smaller than California yet there are only 23 UNESCO sites in all of the United States.  Apologies to my dedicated readers but this needs another shout out;  although not all UNESCO sites interest me however those that I do find interesting never disappoint me!  Bottom line:  You can see a lot of amazing places that are relatively close together!
• Enjoying simple living and wholesome local food.  While our hotels were in urban areas we would drive through the countryside during the day filled with many farms.  It was commonplace to see a horse and buggy as a mode of transport between farms into the villages.
• The language barrier is minimal as majority of locals speak English.  We visited a few open air markets where communication were a little challenging however with basic hand gestures we managed to sort it out.  We learned only the basic phrases that while our pronunciation may have been terrible most locals were touched that we had made the effort.
• It is very inexpensive.  The exchange rate is extremely favorable to the US Dollar, Euro or British pound.  We had very nice 2 course dinners for $15-$30 for 2 adults not including alcohol.

Best thing I ate and drank in each country…

In Romania:  A lovely bean soup in a bread bowl and raspberry lemonade.         

In Moldova: A cheese plăcintă which is similar to a pot pie or pasty and a glass of Negru du Pucari wine.

In Bulgaria:  A stuffed pepper with tomatoes, onions, beans, topped with feta and a perfect cappuccino.

While we visited so many places along the way I have summarized them with photos in a video for your viewing pleasure.  Grab some popcorn, sit back and watch the brief movie.

In order of appearance and all UNESCO sites denoted with *:

Romania

• Palace of the Parliament
• Bucharest random street view
• Peleș Castle,
• Bran Castle (Dracula’s castle
• witnessed the  annual spring Ploughman Festival
• Râșnov Fortress
• Viscri fortified church *
• Sighişoara *
• Painted Monasteries of Bucovina *

Moldova

• Orheiul Vechi
• Circa cellars
• the streets and people of Chișinău
• Mănăstirea Noul Neamț
• Pucari vineyards

Bulgaria

• Boyana Church *
• Rila Monastery *
• St Alexandar Nevsky Cathedral
• Sofia Synagogue
• Sofia Central Bath houses
• Sofia random street views

Seek your adventure!

This past weekend I had my first visit to South Carolina in the lovely historic city of Charleston.  While James Taylor wrote the song “Carolina In My Mind” dreaming of his years growing up in North Carolina this week I find myself singing the tune in my head.

Charleston provides the quintessential historic city in the South.   In 1860 Charleston had the 4th busiest port in the country,  some of wealthiest people in the US and host to the Democratic Convention.  The gorgeous Georgian houses including the largest cluster in the country with Rainbow Row.  One of the oldest plantations Magnolia Plantation established in 1676 with single family ownership.   In addition Magnolia Plantation is proudly the oldest public gardens in the country.

Admire the scenery of the historic architecture with sweeping live oak trees yet be mindful to:

• Appreciate a simpler time with slower pace of life

• Enjoy a walk down the old stone cobbled streets.

• Taste the delicious southern dishes in many of the gourmet restaurants.

• Breathe in the fresh air and listen to the peaceful melody from the morning birds.

• Savor the charm of southern hospitality.

• Take a moment to stop and smell the magnolias.

• Cherish the memories.

For anyone who has been to Charleston this may remind of your visit and may suddenly get the urge to sing the tune along with me. “Can’t you see the sunshine?….”

Seek your adventure!

This Chicago winter has been very kind to us so far,  yet my desire to run for the sun was still there.  I just returned from Puerto Vallarta Mexico for my annual “flip flop” trip  which is simply defined as  anywhere location I can wear flip flops.   Ideally I would like to visit a city I have never been to however I am not picky as the goal is to wear flip flops.  The one year I skipped my annual “flip flop” trip it was -46F with the windchill factor for several days.   Trust me when I say I won’t make that mistake again!

What makes a good “flip flop” trip?

Sunshine – Enjoying some beautiful weather and replenish your Vitamin D by soaking in some sunshine.  Of course the weather is something we cannot control; however there are so many websites where you can check the historical temperature of that location to get solid information.   I like weatherspark.com because it gives you the weather, humidity, daylight hours, and precipitation.

Al Fresco –  I want to have morning coffee on the balcony, breakfast on the patio overlooking the gardens, lunch at the pool and dinner on the beach.  The locations are negotiable but I want to be outdoors enjoying the open air.

“Unplugging” – I cherish these few days when I can power off the digital world for 99% of the day!  I don’t check personal or work email.  I will rarely turn on the TV.  There are so many benefits to an unplugged vacation.  If you need to stay connected to work while on vacation; please be warned don’t sit next to me or I might accidentally toss your laptop into the pool.   Uh Oh!  Just enjoy the outdoors and read a good paperback book or magazine.  I try to imagine what life would have been like in 1965!

Seek your adventure!