Whenever we stay in Bergamo, in Lombardy, we like to discover new places to stay. In December, we met up with friends from Manchester who had flown over, and so rather than a hotel room for two, or...
Travel…
We love to travel. And while we’ve been travelling, because we tend to veer off the tourist trails, we realised that we were discovering so many hidden gems, having amazing experiences and picking up tips and avoiding near-disasters, that we thought it would be a nice idea to have somewhere, where this could be shared. In March 2017 we finally realised our dream to relocate to the sunshine and are now living in Istria, in northern Croatia, enabling us to explore Europe much more easily. And especially now that Croatia is part of the Schengen Zone. Of course, we remain very linked to the UK – our families are there, our We Are Life Design clients are there, and our friends are there, so we continue to keep our close links to the areas in UK in which we have lived. And we still return to on a regular basis.
What we blog about is a good mix of wherever we go. So whether that’s somewhere not too far from where we live in Istria, a UK destination or a bit further afield, it’ll be here. If you love quirky places and things maybe a bit different from the norm, hopefully you’ll like what you find here. You can also pop over to Twitter, for the brief version!
And, we’re not being paid to mention hotels etc, & none of the blogs are sponsored – although, if one day, I could make a living out of travelling to gorgeous places…
recent travel blogs
one night in verona
Because of where we now live - northern Istria, near the Slovenian and Italian borders - we get to travel a lot more than we ever used to. We rarely fly now, as our location means many places,...
piran : slovenia
Until very recently, we hadn't actually realised that our closest beach/seaside town, was actually in Slovenia, not Istria. Not by many kilometres, but enough to be our closest. In just over half an...
Mövenpick Hotel Zagreb
Hotel Mövenpick, Zagreb, is located in a business area nestled near the Museum of Contemporary Art, Bundek Park, the city centre and the international airport, Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport. It's in...
il circolino : citta alta : bergamo : lombardy : italy
On trips to Bergamo, we’ve regularly meant to eat at Il Circolino, just off Via Colleoni, up in Citta Alta. But, we’ve never done it. It’s always looked interesting. The menu has always appealed....
brimham rocks : north yorkshire
Although we know most of the north of England fairly well, we weren’t aware of Brimham Rocks. How did we not know about them? Found on Brimham Moor in North Yorkshire, England the rocks began taking...
london : england
Not too long ago, when we still lived in Didsbury, we often thought about having time away in London, but never got round to it, because, well – London was just too far away from Manchester. The...
whitby : north yorkshire
Split by the River Esk, Whitby is one of my favourite spots on the Yorkshire coast. I always seem to have visited in the winter months, and although I am sure spring and summer are glorious...
the georgian townhouse : walton-on-the-naze : essex
Recently, we travelled south to Essex to visit a We Are Life client and decided to make a bit of trip of it. Not having ever been to Essex before, assuming it was all brash a-la “The Only Way is...
road trip : september 18
We’ve made a few trips back to England since we moved out to Istria, and we’ve just completed our second road trip. Driving is definitely not the quickest way to get back, but it’s surprisingly less...
salò : lombardy : italy
When we visited Brescia, not too long ago, we decided to visit the town of Salò, located on the western banks of Lake Garda. I’d seen Salò on Francesco da Mosto’s “Italy : Top to Toe” and was...
rovinj : istria : croatia
We thought we knew Rovinj, in Istria pretty well as it’s now one of our go-to places when we need some sea air and a bit of comfort away from an on-going house renovation. We decided to stay...
road trip : istria to venice
We’ve just said goodbye to our second set of friends who’ve been staying with us for a few days. Amanda and Steve had a few days in Italy first – they flew to Venice Marco Polo from Manchester and...
puerto banus : andalusia : spain
Puerto Banus was built in May 1970 by José Banús, a local property developer, as a luxury marina and shopping complex. And, as we were staying in the area, we decided to check it out - depsite our...
cómpeta : andalusia : spain
Although much larger than Frigiliana, and perhaps not quite as immediately pretty, Cómpeta is another of Andalusia's white-washed towns - the famous pueblo blancos. In the Axarquía (meaning 'East'...
capo testa : sardinia : italy
Capo Testa is located in northern Sardinia and is a wild and pretty remote part of the island. For thousands of years, the powerful wind over the Mediterranean has shaped Capo Testa, into an unreal...
pisa : tuscany : italy
A double header of an Italian trip meant that we could visit Florence and Pisa in one trip. We travelled independently and so our schedule was very flexible. The main stay was in Florence, with a...
florence : tuscany : italy
Our trip to Florence was pretty whistle-stop as we also wanted to tie in Pisa, and we only had a few days. So, every time we return to Italy, if we are in the region (or thereabouts) of Florence, if...
bergamo : lombardy : italy : 2015
Bergamo, located west of Milan, in the region of Lombardy, is beautiful. Often overlooked for the more glitzy (and possibly more brash) Milan, it has everything. There is the lower, more modern town...