I’ve just got back from Ferrara where a fabulous event took place: a Street Dinner. It was my second time and I must say that this event really met my expectations. This was really amazing and I’ll leave the pictures to speak for themselves. Just let me assure you that participating in this event is one of the best ways to visit this marvelous italian city. Ferrara seen and experienced through eyes of a participant of Street Dinner makes your travel experience memorable. In fact, memories and pictures from Street Dinner are really hard to beat. Being there, dressed total white and sharing the experience with friends and strangers makes this event very special. The second event in Ferrara that is similarly appealing is Palio. Although quite different it offers a fabulous opportunity to get known Ferrara. Do not hesitate any longer! You should experience Ferrara the best way possible. You can book today your stay in this Italian city: join I love Ferrara and let yourself immersed in Italian dolce vita!         Have you ever thought about visiting Italy? Here is an alternative way on how to visit Italy and get really close to the Italian way of life. I created a project ‘I love Ferrara‘ so you could join me and experience how beautiful and tasty Ferrara is. If you wish to immerse in Italy book your holiday now!  

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This was an awesome conclusion of my trekking spring: a one day hike in the German Alps with my friend. Needless to say the weather was marvelous, however, not everything went as smoothly as we planed. The start was pretty comfortable with excellent German facilities namely: parking lot WITH coins exchange (!) and ATM (!) on site! This is only possible in Germany, as far as I’m concerned. Mythical German organization appeared in its whole glory. The basic idea was to have a look at the Königssee (ang. King’s Lake) from high altitude and to do that we had a plan to go up in a cable railway first and climb a nearby summit called Schneibstein (2276 masl) afterwards. The plan was simple, we set up in the early morning and after a 2h drive from Munich we met the first obstacle: a lady at the cash desk of Jennerbahn (a cable railway). Not that I am prejudiced towards ladies working in such facilities but this time it was really classic! She refused to sell us a one way ticket up saying that the path towards  Schneibstein and Carl-von-Stahl hut was impossible to cross. We could only buy a half way ticket and we did so. And that was the first thing that made our day and the route really really long. No worries, though. Starting from the middle of the track we enjoyed a spring weather: +18C, sun and green grass all over the place. The sun was shining for the rest of the day but green grass became covered with snow really soon. So for almost 2 hours we’d been walking through Strubalm valley trudging up in deep snow, falling down up to our waists from time to time. If you start to laugh every time you fell you quickly become pretty tired so not only the trail was long but also considerably engaging. There should be a mountain hut waiting up there after about 2h walk but it was closed. Bad luck again but we were in such a good mood it didn’t make any difference. Instead of an open hut we met a local trekker who looked like a professional sherpa (I swear he did!) and he told us about another mountain hut called Carl-von-Stahl (1736 masl) located just at the border with Austria. 5 minutes walk. Fine. Before we arrived to this hut we sat for a while in front of the closed one that I can’t remember the name of and watched skiers who were skiing down the Schneibstein with amazing speed (so jealous!). It was high enough to enjoy amazing view towards west with the majestic Watzmann massif as background. After a short walk we reached a saddle where  Carl-von-Stahl hut was located. The view on the Austrian part of the Alps and Schneibstein was awesome. But by the time we got to the hut we knew we won’t be able to climb it. Obviously trekking without any summit reached feels somehow incomplete so after a short discussion we thought it might be a good idea to climb at least Jenner summit (1.874 masl). Crossing the ski piste we safely arrived to the cable railway (I wonder what a lady from the cash desk would say if she knew we crossed it!) and went directly to the peak. And it was so beautiful! The lake was there and although it was shadowed by the Watzmann range it was still amazingly appealing. Just as everyone says: reaching the summit is only a half way down so after a while we had to get going. This was fast. And tough at the same time. We picked up alternative route down and soon got to cross the snowy fields sinking up again. At some point we would just running down like mad through these fields until we reached the green grass again. The deep winter in Strubalm valley we crossed that morning was a fairy tale like place but it was also by far the longest route to the Schneibstein and because of our lost battle with a lady in Jennerbahn we had no chances to reach it. I guess we traded the achievements for the beauty this time. And I am quite happy about it. We were both smiling when we finally reached the car left in Schönau am Königssee and we are pretty determined to cross the mythical 2200 masl next time. Itinerary MUNICH – KONIGSSEE (603 masl) – STRUBALM – JENNER KONIGSBERGALM – CARL VON STAHL HUT (1736 masl) – JENNER (1.874 masl) – HOCHBAHNWEG – RABENWAND – KONIGSSEE (603 masl) – MUNICH  

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I love presents and gifts of any kind but there is no better way to make me happy than buying me a book. My friends are well aware of it and sometimes they send me amazing books that I am delighted about. Just two days ago one of my Italian friends sent me a beautiful small booklet: Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky (Penguin Books). It basically gathers 50 small islands from all over the world with map, geographical details and short description. It shares interesting quotes from the diaries of explorers who discovered them or stories about a movie shot there. I find this publication exquisite! It is limited to two colors: orange and blue and it makes a very nice impression. The power of books is unpredictable. Needless to say what a children book about a whale did to me! So I need to be aware of the influence of books on a reader here. The subtitle made my laugh: Fifty Islands I have not visited and never will. It is true for most of us but reading such books is fun! The picture above shows the inside of this atlas: one of my favorite small islands Pitcairn. The most mysterious and remote island ever. Sharing my joy out of this gift received I wish to thank to Cesare who was a kind donor. I hope we’ll soon go for a trip together and it might not be necessarily Pitcairn (I’ll be very happy with Sardegna!).  

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I always knew that meeting people as you go is probably the most important part of any travel. Meeting your friends is even more so. But meeting a friend after 10 years is truly spectacular. Ten years is a long time. That’s enough to go around the world at least once. Here is my story about a very special meeting in Galway. A decade has passed since I saw Damien last time, and funny thing, it was in Italy. We had been studying in Milan and met one evening in a student accommodation. At that time the university had a particular idea on foreign students: they placed all of them in the same accommodation, who knows to what purpose. Integration, I guess. This was quite striking: a red hair guy in Italy. He was- and still is- very tall, so it wasn’t difficult to notice him. You could see him a mile away on a street as almost nobody has red hair in Italy. Quite naturally we spent a bit of time together, visiting the city and struggling with the language challenges (at least WE spoke the same language). While hanging around, just as other students did, we joined some of the ‘happy hour’ thing, student parties, which after ten years we have only a misty memory of. I remembered Damien’s face burnt by the sun after one of the weekends and he remembered one of the parties we went together, that I have no memory of. All in all, this was charming to chat about the past, especially when the memories are good. For ten years the only thing we did was exchange emails from time to time. It was hard to follow the country of residence of my friend as he traveled the world more than I did but from time to time we always exchange important information. Actually, this meeting in Galway is a proof that electronic media helps to sustain and develop social ties. There was time when Facebook did not exist (I know it’s hard to believe) and simply through emails’ exchange it was still possible to stay in touch. Just few weeks before my trip to Ireland I wrote to Damien again and he replied with enthusiasm that we need to meet. Well done my friend, I would say! There is no better thing than visit a city with locals, therefore, I accepted Damien’s invitation with joy. He and his lovely girlfriend showed me their hometown Galway. They spent all Saturday with me in this enchanting town, including tour at the university where they both studied, local market, and their favorite restaurant. Oldest church (St. Nicolas), Cathedral, Lynch’s Castle, River Corrib Walk, NUIG, Lynch’s Window- all that with compact and interesting explanations. They were also extremely helpful in purchase of Irish SIM card which worked brilliantly in a remote location of the Aran Islands (receiving 200 free text messages and taking into account they were only people with the Irish number I knew this was a risky business;-) My stay in Galway was awesome! Thanks to you guys I had a great and stress-free time. There is a clever idea. Two ideas, actually. We had an idea to meet this year in Milan (the same place, ten years later), or to meet precisely in TEN YEARS from now. We’ll try to figure it out which option wins. I will keep you posted. In a mantime the story about my stay in Ireland continues here.  

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