Visiting Italy: Tuscany

Finally, after weeks of excitedly waiting, it was time to go on holiday. I had spent the week writing lists and faffing over how to fit everything I wanted to take into our ridiculously small luggage limit (7.5kg of hold baggage each!? What?!)  but now it was time. The boyfriend and I were heading to Italy!

We were off for two weeks and had decided to travel around a little bit, so our trip involved a few days in the Tuscan countryside, a couple of days in Florence and a few more in Rome. It was going to be glorious!

We landed at Pisa airport and after a couple of short trains, we arrived in the small village of Rignano Sull'Arno that was to be our home for our Tuscan stay. It was beautifully hot, the sun beating down a sizzling 35^oc, and, after setting off walking for all of about 10mins, we found ourselves to be a tad lost.  Wandering around, we discovered just how hilly a tiny village can manage to be (very!), before eventually and exhaustedly finding the gates to our accommodation.

We had booked all our accommodation for the trip through Air B&B (basically a site where people offer up their spare rooms to tourists for very reasonable prices) and we seemed to have struck gold. Our very friendly host Leonardo (how much more Italian can you get?) showed us into our own little stone cottage which had a little sitting room, kitchen, a large bedroom and a rather unexpectedly modern bathroom. He showed us around, recommended his brother’s pizzeria, and then left us to inspect the pool.

The view from the pool was amazing. The ground to the side of the pool just dropped away and suddenly we had this beautiful view over the Tuscan countryside. We could see for miles and miles all around! I was instantly very happy and knew where I’d be spending all of my time!

Tuscany was wonderful. I managed to read an entire book (something I haven’t done in a long time), get a tan (something I haven’t done in even longer), eat some great pizza (Leonardo’s bro’s place turned out to be really good!) and just generally catch up on some well needed sleep. I was in bliss!

Soon however, it was time to go to Rome…

Rincon De La Vieja Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

Our third stop saw us staying on a working horse and cattle ranch in the volcanic Rincon de la Vieja National Park. This area is famed for its abundance of natural hot springs and rich, therapeutic mud, so naturally we were pretty keen to put on our swimming kit and dive in!

Getting to the hot springs turned out to be more of an adventure than we anticipated. After a short minibus ride, we found ourselves on the edge of a tropical forest where there were some little changing rooms. We donned our bikinis, wrapped ourselves in our towels and put our trainers back on before trekking into the forest. We followed a winding path through the trees before reaching a long hanging bridge across a fast flowing river which took us to the the first of the hot springs.

The springs were just heavenly. The water was a toasty 40 degrees or so (it varied from pool to pool) and was pretty clear. The forest came right down to the edge of the pools and the river flowed past, a mere arm's width away. We were well and truly in our own little woodland paradise!

Before long however, the evening was rolling in and it was time to retire to our hotel room and rest before the next day's excursions.

The next morning, we rose bright and early, and went to meet some new furry friends. We were going to take out some horses and ride to the waterfalls in the national park!

We saddled up and rode off, our guide (a real life cowboy!) initially taking the lead. Before long, we saw our first extraordinary sight. Ahead of us, an entire heard of horses was coming towards us down the road, with a cowboy following shortly behind. On seeing us coming, the cowboy whistled to his horses who all immediately stood aside to let us pass! I had never seen such well trained horses before in all my life and soon found that the same training extended to my own mount! I have to say, I have never ridden such a responsive horse before, which I felt was especially surprising since horses used for 'touristy' hacks tend to know exactly where they're going and don't listen to you at all!

We rode onwards through the surrounding forest, climbing up bouldery banks and wading across rivers before arriving at the first of the waterfalls. A beautiful torrent of water spilled over the rocks high above us and before long, we discovered that we could climb up the rocks to get a closer look.  

The second waterfall was not quite as impressive as the first, but was definitely beautiful nonetheless. Apparently, this one is where people come to swim but I have to say the river looked a little fast flowing for me!

A little while later, it was time to return our tired horses to their stables and so we set off on the last leg of our ride. I have to say horseback was a lovely way to explore the area just because we could get to places which would have been tricky to reach by car and a rather long walk on foot. I really enjoyed our ride, especially since the places we'd visited and the landscapes we'd seen along the way were just so stunning. A definite highlight (although the sore thighs we had for days after were not...!).

The Travel Diaries: Lantau Island, Hong Kong

One of my favourite excursions around Hong Kong was Jossi's and my trip to Lantau Island. We were planning to visit Lantau to see the famous giant Buddha statue and the surrounding monastery, however while Jossi was running some early morning errands she discovered something a little out of the ordinary.

I was roused from my bed by the phone ringing. 'Do you want to hike to a secret infinity pool?!' Joss near enough screamed down the phone, while my sleep addled brain whirred into life. I mumbled that of course I did (I mean, anything branded 'secret' sounds like fun, right?) and then sat about packing our bikinis into my bag.

A little later the word 'hike' floated back across my subconscious. I dismissed it. There's no way Joss had meant 'hike' in the traditional sense. I mean, it was 30+ degrees outside and as humid as a steam room. Plus we only had our flip flops on! Hiking surely wasn't on the cards... I grabbed my bag and went to meet Joss.

A little while later we arrived on Lantau Island and took a bus to the Giant Buddha. We were greeted by the Twelve Divine Generals (the protectors of Buddhism) as we walked through the Ngong Ping Piazza towards the Po Lin Monastery and the giant bronze Buddha perched atop his hilltop.

After wandering around the decadently decorated monastery and its grounds, we braved the 268 step climb up to the base of the Buddha, who towered above us at 34m tall! The size of the statue was a tad overwhelming to say the least!

After we'd absorbed our fill of the spiritual area, we decided it was time for our dip. So we hopped on the bus to Tai O, a small, traditional fishing village on the island. At this point, Joss pulled out her instructions to the infinity pool. 'Cross the stone bridge by the bus station. After an hour, you will reach a red fire hydrant marked '470'. Find the small concrete staircase to your left and walk up to the infinity pool.' 'Doesn't sound too tricky,' we thought to ourselves as we started to walk. And walk. We followed the shore for what felt like forever, keeping an eye out for the fire hydrant. I started to get worried we'd missed it, but we determinedly pressed on, battling terrifying spiders, stubbing our exposed toes on rocks and baring scorching heat on our quest.

Eventually, we found the (very overgrown) hydrant and the staircase and started to climb. Up and up we went, stopping after a good twenty minutes of steep climbing for a breather, and a quiet melt on a concrete slab. 'This pool better be worth it,' we grumbled before pressing on higher and higher.

It was. It would have been worth twice the hike. It was beautiful.

Natural waterfalls filled the pool, which was dammed off at one end by a man made concrete wall which dropped sheerly down the mountainside. The view was stunning and the water crystal clear and surprisingly warm. We had found our own little paradise!

We paddled, splashed and swam, incredibly happy to be cooling off after our gruelling hike in such a beautiful setting.

However, before long the sun started to sink and it was time to go home. So we picked up our clothes and headed back down the mountainside. The hike, thankfully, wasn't nearly as bad down hill!

The Travel Diaries: Hello Hong Kong!

The next few days of my trip were spent settling down into Hong Kong life. Jossi was pretty determined to show me all of her everyday stomping grounds. With this in mind, she took me shopping.

Along the way, we met some rather large, multicoloured creatures.

She also took me off to do some bargain shopping in Mong Kok where I may have invested in far too many crop tops. But hey, the weather was so hot I had an excuse!

Every morning at 5:30am, Jossi and her dad go off hiking around the Peak. One day, at a more sociable hour, they walked me around a little loop of the Hong Kong Trail, before reeling me in to join them on one of these early morning excursions. Somehow, I then found myself hiking for three hours up and down the Peak mountain in uncomfortably warm temperatures, in order to visit the fishing village of Aberdeen.

However, the views were pretty spectacular!

...but look how large the spiders were....!

Now, the term 'village' should probably be used quite loosely when comparing to UK standards. I mean, the shore was lined with densely packed, towering skyscrapers, completely unlike any quaint English village I've ever seen.

In Aberdeen I got my first taste of a Hong Kong fish market. This was definitely an interesting experience- everywhere you looked, there were fresh fish. So fresh in fact they were mostly still very much alive, swimming around in shallow crates of water. Apparently you pick the fish you want and then it is butchered for you, then and there! Definitely not a place for the squeamish but certainly worth a visit!

One evening, Jossi took me up to a rooftop bar, where I got a much closer view of Hong Kong by night. Just look at the view!

However, another evening I was really spoilt when Jossi's family took us to the Marriott Hotel to experience their dinner buffet.

I have never eaten so much. Ever.

Like any sensible people, Jossi and I started with ice-cream before working our way backwards to mains, and then forwards again to pudding.

There was just so much to choose from, from noodle and rice dishes to sushi, curry or more western dishes. There were even dishes of iced lobster available! I was in food heaven!

That evening, on our way home, we stopped in the more touristy part of the Peak to take in the view. Hong Kong was starting to feel like home!