VirtualTourist Member Aurorae Sponsored Links for World |
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| Page Views: 4,308 | My Travel Favourites by Aurorae - last update: Aug 3, 2008 |
Maccagno & Lago d'Orta | Maccagno, Lago Maggiore, Italy |
It's very difficult to choose which is the page I like the most, especially since I've been to so many WONDERFUL places that I can't fit them all over here! Also, perhaps there are places that I liked more, but I don't have a page on them (yet!) or I have a very bad one...
Some of the places that I adore and that deserve a special attention and are not adequately presented on my pages, or not represented at all are ISRAEL, PORTUGAL, BELGIUM, SLOVAKIA, THAILAND, AUSTRIA, GREECE, ALBANIA, NORWAY, SWITZERLAND, SPAIN, some parts of ITALY (Siena!), Budapest, Bucharest, ... etc... So, here I will give you an overview of what I'd suggest you to see on my travel list...
Let's begin with Italy, one of the most beautiful countries ever. I won't suggest Rome, Florence, Venice and worldwide famous places. You all know that. I'd like to show you some less popular spots, some even unheard of perhaps among many, but so beautiful and inspirative that they left me breathless... Like, Maccagno Inferiore, an enchanting town full of bliss and perfect getaway for relaxing times in idyllic scenery on BEAUTIFUL Maggiore Lake (I highly recommend Lago Maggiore, it's wonderful!)
One of my most favourite spots ever on Earth is a little, cute Lago d'Orta, The Lake of Orta. It's so neglected and underrated due to vicinity to major pompous lakes of Maggiore and Como, but it's a secret well kept... I discovered it by accident, and I'm glad I did! Ever since, I keep going back, with ever the same enthusiasm. The thrill never diminishes.
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| Tremezzo, Lago di Como, Italy |
|  | Lago di Como
Como Lake is one of the most beautiful spots on Earth. All the towns, villages and little corners on this lake are breathtaking, stunningly beautiful, unforgettable... It's a little paradise hidden beneath the Alps, with a great variety of things, from beautiful towns, chic villas over great beaches, gardens and nature to rich cultural life and historical heritage.
This page is constantly updated. I keep coming back and I keep discovering new treasures of this lake...
Some of the places I highly recommend at Lago di Como are:
- Tremezzo, with stunning Villa Carlotta and its botanical gardens. It's one of the most romantic places in the world!!!
- Lecco, a lovely town at the "right" branch of the lake, surrounded by mountains and with fantastic hiking and trekking opportunities there!
- Inevitable Bellagio, and for that place you probably already heard of! It's a picturesque town at the "nose" of the lake (the central peninsula), with tiny, colourful streets, old houses, super chic hotels and villas, quite touristy but very, very beautiful!
- Cute Cernobbio, a place right after the town of Como, one of the cutest and sweetest places ever! There is the most beautiful restaurant in glass on the very lakeside with the best calzone ever!
- The town of Como, the capital of the province. It's quite a big town comparing to the others on the lake, with all the facilities and activities, enchanting lakeside promenade with beautiful villas and a stunning Duomo.
There are also Ossuccio, Isola Comacina and Sala Comacina, which are very special pleases, so beautiful and peaceful, romantic and sweet, one of my most favourite spots on the lake, but I don't have separate pages on them yet, so far it's all under my general Lago di Como page. It's the approximate location of the paradise planet Naboo from Star Wars, that's where it was filmed!
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Tuscany, Val d'Aosta, Liguria and more of Italy!
These are my most favourite regions ("regionically" speaking), among those I visited so far, of course.
Everybody knows Toscana - picturesque, authentic region of Italy scatterred on hills with cypress trees, colourful fields, vineyards and fantastic wine, the most beautiful and ultra famous historical towns, like Firenze, Pisa, my beloved Siena that I'm still to write about here on VT, San Gimignano, Lucca... Tuscany is the cradle of culture, the mother of art and the most sensual of all Italian regions.
Val d'Aosta is an autonomous Alpine region bordering France and Switzerland, the place of spectacular Alps and some of the most famous world mountains, like Mt.Cervino (Matterhorn), Mone Bianco (Mont Blanc). It's a gorgeous alpine area, lovely valleys, medieval castles, delicious food, lots of snow and sunshine, multicultural variety... a must see!!!
The page on Liguria is yet to be built, but for a start check out the colourful, sizzling town of Varigotti, a successful combination of exotic architecture, bright colours and Italian esthetics. It simply warms you inside out, even on a cold winter day (when I visited first!)
And now the classic - Venice. I didn't go suggesting what to see and where to go, as there are plenty of pages here with that info, excellent ones, and everyone knows Venice, so what I did here was only put up a few photos to show la bella Venezia from my perspective, through the ocular of my camera.
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| Ölüdeniz (Fethiye), Turkey |
| | Seaside Tops: Turkey, Croatia and Montenegro
There is also Greece in this section, but I haven't built representative pages on it yet, so it will have to wait. So far I only began working on my Thasos Island page, and I hope to finish it soon...
Ölüdeniz is the most beautiful place at the seaside I have ever been to! It's 17km from Fethiye, Turkey, and the Mediterranean sea coast is absolutely STUNNING in the area. Breathtaking lagoons (especially the Blue Lagoon in Ölüdeniz), little coves, islands, archeological relicts, typical boats, paragliding from 2000m high Mt. Babadag directly to Ölüdeniz beach... It's a pure paradise for all senses!
Entire Croatian coast is a pearl, until I've been to Ölüdeniz, that was the most beautiful seaside for me. Now I have to admit that Ölüdeniz is a bit more beautiful ;-), but Croatian seacoast remains my absolute favourite, and it keeps my most precious memories... It's very personal for me...
All the places from Rijeka to Dubrovnik are fabulous, wherever you go you are surely going to have a wonderful time and enjoy amazing beaches and old Adroatic coastal towns. I am still to build all those pages, so in the future I'll update this section, so far I've got ready only Krk island and Punat.
Another town in Croatia that I love is Osijek, although not on the seaside, but I have FANTASTIC friends there, and therefore it's special for me! And it is a pretty town indeed!
Plitvička Jezera (Plitvice lakes) in Lika are the most beautful lakes in the world in my opinion, carbonate cascades between 16 lakes situated in the lush green environment and traces of the oldest European "jungle". It's the area where I originate from and where I've still got one cousin, so it's even more precious for me. The nature of Plitvice cannot be compared to anything else in the world.
Montenegro will be described in the section about my ex-home country that just ceased to exist, Serbia&Montenegro.
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Northern Africa
One of my most favourite destinations - Algeria! What a spectacular surprise. I can't describe it in a few lines here, for a start, check out my Algiers page. A land of wonders, surprises and contrasts, with amazing people and culture. It definitely captured my heart!
And of course, the inevitable and majestic
Egypt. I didn't write about the history and facts, as you all know that very well, and you can find that information everywhere. On this page I tried to express my impressions of Egypt, the way I experiendced it, and how it captured my heart.
Some of the places I love there are Ain Soukhna (I don't have it as a separate page, my Egypt page is mostly about it...), amazing and unforgettable Cairo with separate page on its pyramides plateau - Giza , the jewel of Egypt and my favourite city there - stunning Alexandria, a splendid Red Sea resort with the most incredible underwater world and a place of very special memories - Hurghada and the treasure of ancient Egypt, Luxor.
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| Râşnov, Transylvania, Romania |
| | EUROPE
One of my most favourite countries, and a place where I enjoyed myself the most, that stays forever in my heart, with wonderful, loving, warmhearted, hospitable people, amazing nature, wonderful towns and so much hostory and tradition is ROMANIA. I haven't built a page on it yet, as a country, and I WILL, but so far there are a few places I'd like to recommend:
- Braşov, the pearl of Transylvania! A precious town between Karpati mountains, multicultural, with the most wonderful people, amaying winter scenery, great skiing, great culture... I just love it! And its surrounding villages, like Râşnov especially!
- Bran, the home of Count Dracula (actually, his real name is Vlad Ţepeş), and its famous castle in the midst of Transylvanian highplain. This is a very funny page in my opinion, joking on account of vampires, Dracula myth (very FAR from the real Vlad Ţepeş personality!) and the whole horror industry...
- My beloved Bucureşti (Bucharest), so called "little Paris", the most beautiful city of Eastern Europe and further, a city with amaying architescure, wonderful parks, broad avenues and a home of my very special friends! My page on it is not finished, it is just a beginning and it doesn't do it justice, I promise to work on it much more and represent this amazing city the day it deserves!
- Precious lovely Sinaia, a fairy tale town in Transylvania again, with the most beautiful houses, enchanting landscapes and fascinating royal castles Peleş and Pelişor. I should add so much more to this page as well, but even like this you can have a hint of the aura of the place...
And now we're moving to PORTUGAL, a country full of magic that I hold in a very special place in my heart, where I spent some of the most beautiful moments. Portugal completely bewitched me. A very BEAUTIFUL country, with breathtaking cities like
Lisbon (Lisboa) and my very special, dear and beloved Porto. I haven't built pages worth those fascinating places, but still, there is a bit of my Portuguese experience.
It's the home of fado, and one of my most favourite singers, incredible Mariza.
And now, over to little, irresistible Luxembourg. A tiny, pretty country in the heart of Europe that impressed me so much and broke down all of my stereotypes and expectations!
A little bit of FRANCE can be felt in my Metz page. Metz in beautiful Lorraine is a town that I really liked, so cute and simple, but very appealing.
The fancy and pompous Monte Carlo and Monaco inevitably have to find their place here, and although too pompous and posh for my taste, it's still a thrilling and incredibly beautiful place, very nice for a visit! I still didn't get around to build tips, but I did post all the 5 photo albums, so who wants to see pictures only, they are most welcome!
I should still build many pages on wonderful places like Austria, Paris, Greece, Bosnia, FYR of Macedonia, and especially my beloved SLOVAKIA (my pages about Slovakia are a real SHAME, and I do not want to post any links until I do something decent there, as it really deserves! It's a WONDERFUL country, and the home of one of my very best friends ever, a place where I spent FANTASTIC moments, so I can't recommend a pitiful page...)
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My homeland: SERBIA
And at last, but not least ;-), my home country, SERBIA. Yet undiscovered by tourists, but full of interesting things to see and enjoy. Check out for yourself!
- Beograd (Belgrade), the capital. My home town. A veeeeeeery BIG town. I cannot be objective when speaking of Belgrade, so see my page and see for yourself. ;-)
- Novi Sad, my most favourite city in Serbia, a typical Panonian town in Austrohungarian style, with gorgeous fortress of Petrovaradin, home to internationally popular EXIT summer festival and home to my most special friends! I feel more at home in Novi Sad than in Belgrade! It's a city I ADORE with very special spirit!
- Another special city, Niš. The jewel of the south, a wonderful town with fantastic, cheerful people, delicious food, great atmosphere and a scent of orient. I love it!
- Zlatibor is one of the most popular Serbian mountains and health resorts, a tame, pretty mountain with lovely lakes, fields, skiing lanes, national cuisine, typical jumpers and crafts, very ethno and a great place to spend a relaxing time!
- Some spirituality now: my Žiča page represents scenes from Žiča monastery, one of the most important, most beautiful and oldest Serbian monasteries, and a cradle of our culture and heritage. It is NOT a religious page, it simply portrays scenes from the monastery and its surrounding area. It's a very beautiful place!
| | | Kalemegdan fortress by night, Belgrade |
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| | Montenegro and more...
Montenegro is a small area, but extremely rich and various in everything - from landscapes and climate to culture and history. There are splendid mountains and lakes, incredible monasteries, amazing seaside, delicious food, long tradition... My favourite places are seaside of course (Boka Kotorska bay in particular, they call it "The Bride of Adriatic") and Durmitor mountain national park, but I have only begun building this page, it needs A LOT of improvement!!!
Kotor is a very old, impressive town in Boka Kotorska bay, with long, turbulent history. It's under UNESCO protection, a World Heritage site. The old town is made of stone and narrow streets, typical Adriatic style, and there are remains of an old fortress in the hills above Kotor. It's my most favourite city.
Perast is an old sailor’s town, small and peaceful, peaceful, where you go if you want to take a good rest, enjoy the beauty of old and touch the history, as it is the town from another time, it doesn’t belong to the present. OLD houses, many medieval ruins, churches, narrow streets and high stairs. Someone said once that it’s the only place where you go when you want to get lost in Europe. Such tranquility, nature beauty and authenticity, a place unspoilt with modernization but yet so cultural and historic. The highlights are two petite legendary islands: Gospa od Škrpjela and Sv.Đorđe, in the midst of the bay.
Budva, they call it Montenegrin Ibiza. Well, it's not my kind of the city during the season, too much mess and noise, but the old town is PRECIOUS and out of the high season it's fantastic place! It's the most poular spot on the Montenegrin coast, unspoken "capital" of the coast, the place with a very vivid nightlife, exclusive places to go out, very chic and pompous, the place of numerous summer festivals and cultural events, a circus and a lot more.
Sveti Stefan is a beautiful little island just a couple of kilometers after Budva. It used to be a fishermen's island, but 40 years ago it was turned into a very pompous ultra exclusive luxurious hotel of 5*, where the royal suite costs 1500 EUR per night!!! (the famous villa 118 where Tito used to stay) The access is forbidden for non-guests of the hotel, but if you want, you can make a tour around the island for 6 EUR.
Tivat and surroundings is a very underrated and yet undiscovered area. Thanks to that, it's still pure and unspoilt! In TIvat bay and nearby there is the amazing Blue Cave, the only sandy beach in Boka Kotorska area, Plavi Horizonti, many coastal spots and lovely beaches like Žanjice, to find your peace, fun and sea fulfillment. This page is permanently under construction as I keep going back there every year, and always discovering something new.
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| Aurorae's Albums | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | My Travel Favourites | - | 8 | | I... | - | 8 |
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 Comments for Aurorae about World | | | | |
Mr.Sparkle Mon Sep 8, 2008 12:23 UTC
omg, i'm in love with your pictures. i want to see the northern lights so bad! | LanaFromRiga Fri Aug 29, 2008 07:26 UTC
What amazing pictures!... | oceania26 Mon Aug 11, 2008 03:12 UTC
Great pictures!!! | a2lopes Tue Aug 5, 2008 11:57 UTC
Olá Jelena. Sei que estiveste em Portugal entretanto, mas... em 2009 temos mais um motivo - o Euromeeting no ultimo fim de semana de Maio. Bom verão. António |
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