2014 was, of course, a full year,with lots of traveling. We had so many busy weekends and the most vacation days so far! We discovered new places, some we loved so much that we are considering of going again next year. But let’s have a short overview of where our feet took us this year.

We started in February with a city break in Istanbul.

First time in a Muslim country and first time when we set foot on the Asian continent. It was a very nice trip, although a bit cold for February. We enjoyed the city and its impressive mixing culture and of course, we enjoyed the culinary experience we had while being there. Istanbul is all about delicious street food, about cheap locals restaurants and about sweets for as far as the eye can see. As during the 5 days we stayed there we did so many things I has to split the Istanbul story by days, so here is the full review of the trip :

The Istanbul Experience – Day 1

The Istanbul Experience – Day 2

The Istanbul Experience – Day 3

The Istanbul Experience – Day 4

The Istanbul Experience – Day 5

In March we had another short trip, but this time in the south part of Germany, where we visited some friends of ours in the lovely town of Nürtingen. Nürtingen is a small town in the Baden-Württemberg region, located on the Neckar river, with beautiful traditional German houses, which are my most favorite.

A short trip to Nürtingen (Germany)

Being there, we also visited the Hohhenneuffen Castel, which is a large ruined castle in the northern foothills of the Swabian Alb, above the town of Neuffen in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg.

The Hohenneuffen Castle (Germany)

During our stay in Germany, we also had a one day trip to Tübingen. Tübingen is a traditional university town about 30km far from Stuttgart. With its 89 000 inhabitants, out of which a 3rd are students, Tübingen seems to have it all : universities, art, culture, night life, but also the traditional Swabian characteristics like order and tidiness.  Not to mention the Schloß Hohentübingen Castle, which is open for visiting and offers a great view over the entire town.

Short visit in Tübingen

End of May – beginning of July was time for our summer vacation, and again we took advantage of having friends living abroad and we went to visit them. This time we made a longer stop in Spain, on the Costa del Sol. Malaga and Calahonda were the towns we visited and boy, did we enjoy the summer, the Mediteranean Sea and its beaches and the great food.

Costa del Sol

For a weekend we also went to Tarifa, which is for me, so far, the coolest place in the world. Huge beach, the Ocean meets the Mediteranean Sea, perfect place for water sports and perfect mojitos…what else could you wish for? Not to mention that we got there during a Tuna Festival and all restaurants had special tuna dishes…so it was such a delight for us!

Tarifa – Ruta del Atún

From Spain we took a 5 days trip to Morocco. Here a guide took us to some of the most important spots of the country. We visited cities, Roman ruins, passed through beautiful valleys and mountains and slept for one night in the desert. All combined with the rich Moroccan culture and cuisine. Again, this was such an intense and full of beautiful experiences trip, that I had to split the story in more posts just to make sure I give the exact flavor that Morocco left me.

Road trip in Morocco

The cities of Morocco

Meeting the Sahara Desert

The Moroccan Cuisine

Morocco – conclusions and tips

We took a break from trips outside Romania for the rest of the summer and we spent more time in Romania, exploring new places. But when the autumn came, we started all over, with a short trip to Paris. We’ve been there before and visited the city in our previous trips that this time it was just wondering the streets, doing nothing and drinking wine. So not too many things to say about this trip…maybe only that we had the best weather possible and we enjoyed sun so much.

In October we took a 10 day vacation just for the two of us and we flew to the Canary Islands to enjoy a late summer. We left the cold and rain at home and we got the Gran Canaria for a well deserved bathe in the Ocean. We did take our time and relax on beautiful beaches, doing mostly nothing, but we did also wonder around the islands quite a lot. We also went to Tenerife just to climb on the highest peak of Spain (which is also an active volcano) and on the highest peak so far for us.

First time on an island – Gran Canaria

Teide Volcano – highest peak so far

Tasarte, the hidden place of Gran Canaria

The Canarian Cuisine

We had another short trip somewhere in November in Berlin, but that was just for enjoying some proper club nights. So we went out by night and slept by day 🙂

So, we pinned on the map this year Istanbul, Nurtingen, Tubingen, Costa del Sol, a part of Morocco, some of the Canary Islands and we visited Paris and Berlin again. Next year we are already working on getting the needed energy to go to Athens, London and Chesterfield and southern Portugal. Plane tickets booked already! Yay!