The Chocolates of Life Travels of 2016
Here we are, at the end of another great year for us… It’s the holidays, the baby is already sleeping and the glass of wine that I’m drinking, relaxed on the couch, listening to the IFM Top X, made me decide to make a review of all the places that we managed to see this year.
Although it was supposed to be a quiet year, with mostly taking care of our new family member, thanks to the grandmothers, we managed to have almost as many trips as we used to when it was all just about the two of us. Of course, this meant to organize things a bit better, and to plan everything even more in advance (not sure if in our case, that’s actually possible), but we did manage to work things out for the best. It was not always easy, and maybe sometimes things didn’t work out just how we wanted, but I think that this year we learned to enjoy our trips even more than we used to.
So let’s get started.
Traveling in Romania
The year began quite well with a short hiking trip in the snow, in the beautiful mountains of Paltinis, just a few kilometers from Sibiu.
And then our (already traditional) trip to the Barcaciu chalet. Both are perfect destinations for a winter weekend, with short days, but still good enough to get a taste of how beautiful mountains are during winter time, all dressed in snow.
Barcaciu Chalet – our winter destination
Next, in April, together with a big group of friends we went for a weekend to the Turda Gorges for a via ferrata trip, which was absolutely amazing. A great experience for us, that we hope we will have the chance to do again.
For a very nice and interesting history lesson, we made a stop to the Sarmizegetusa Regia, a place where you should go if you want to understand how the Romanians exist and how everything started.
We visted the Kulas from Maldaresti on a visit to Horezu. It was something unplanned, but a very good decision, as these monuments are full of history and very beautiful, representative for the architectural style of this area of Romania.
In summer, we managed to run away from home and spend 4 incredible days on the Fagaras Mountains Ridge. It was one of the best hiking trip we had done so far, with great weather, perfect hiking team and amazing mountains everywhere we looked.
4 days on the Fagaras Mountains Ridge
Our last trip inside Romania, was another hiking trip, but this time to a small, still unpopular national park. Buila-Vanturarita is the smallest national park of Romania, but it has so much to offer that you would need all summer weekends to cover it all.
Buila-Vânturarița National Park
Outside Romania
April was the first time we decided to go somewhere on vacation outside of the country. Itwas a bit stressful leaving the baby at home with our mothers, but in the end it was a good decision as we enjoyed Stockholm so much. It’s an amazing city, with a great culture. We had the time to explore it from scratch to toe and to discover so many great things about it.
In May we had a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland. It was initially planned to visit only Dublin, but our plans changed completely once we got there and we had the chance to see much more.
Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge, Northern Ireland
Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site, Ireland
Giants Causeway, Northern Ireland
September was again a month full of travelling outside the country, as we like to keep some vacation days for the end of the year, just to make sure we don’t have to wait too much until next year. So we started with a short trip to Tisno, in Croatia, for a music festival, where we enjoyed such good weather, perfect, clear waters and excellent company.
Tisno and Dekmantel Selectors 2016
At the end of September we took a one week vacation to Santorini, in Greece. Here we have the chance to explore the island from North to South and from East to West, and try to understand the Greek way of living.
There’s more to Santorini than the most beautiful sunset
This is how our 2016 looked like in terms of traveling. It was a long and very demanding, we got tired so much, but then found the force to recharge and start things all over again. Now it’s slowly coming to an end, we’re still gathering our forces for a nice New Year’s Eve Party and for what 2017 has to offer. We have already planned a two-week trip to South Africa, which will probably be one of the most amazing experiences for us, but also some other small trips, just to take our minds of real life.
Let’s hope all will work for the best and that all our plans will come true! 🙂
The Chocolates Of Life 