Today I have a guest post that going to push us onto a different path, the less traveled one, as we visit another side of Europe. —- Many of us, who have traveled Europe extensively, know the continent’s greatest and most popular resorts and have grown tired of the tourist traps and overcrowded summer seasons.  With so many well established resorts available, it’s easy to overlook some of Europe’s most charming destinations that are just a bit off the beaten path.  These are destinations that can offer the same level of services, better views and a guarantee that you will still have the best holiday ever, with a wide range of prices to suit every budget.  All the great stuff, but without the melting pot of tourism. So open your hearts and minds and dare to explore Europe all over again with a vacation that is a little bit different, yet special and fun.

Alentejo, Portugal

Most people when looking for a summer vacation in Portugal will visit the Algarve, famed for its beaches, nightlife, golf, etc. But positioned just above the Algarve region is the biggest region in Portugal, Alentejo; yet few venture here. Cuba, (no, it is not a spelling mistake) is a quiet little village nestled deep in the Alentejo countryside that offers up beautiful hotels, wonderful restaurants and local gastronomic delights. This lovely and historical place offers a friendly and warm welcome from its locals who will share stories with you on the origins of the village’s name.  Some locals that it comes from when the Arabs ruled Portugal, the name Cuba or “Coba” means tower, while others will tell tales of how Dom Sancho I conquered the village from the Moorish in the XII Century discovering many barrels of wine known as “Cubas”. Tradition is big here, with weekly summer parties and an abundance of wine tasting. The miles and miles of open fields provide you with a backdrop that will tantalize your eyes and offer you the opportunity to witness wildlife and nature at it’s best.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Slovenia will inspire anyone with its beauty and places of interest, with so much to choose from, it can sometimes be hard to decide where to go. Dominating central Slovenia, the capital city of Ljubljana and its surrounding area are worth seeing.  Nestled below the hill of Ljubljana castle, and set on the river on which mythological Argonauts carried the Golden Fleece, the city is rich in heritage from the Roman Empire and was once the capital of Napoleon’s Illyrian provinces. Ljubljana boasts the greatest exhibition of Architect Jože Plecnik and offers a lively cultural life with numerous theaters, cinemas, museums and galleries. Home to one of the oldest Philharmonics in the world the city hosts thousands of cultural events each year, including ten international festivals; the Ljubljana summer festival, the Ljubljana Graphics Biennial, the Ljubljana Jazz Festival, the LIFFE Film Festival, and the Druga godba Festival of Alternative Music, and much more.

Kinderdijk, Netherlands

This particular small piece of heaven is a village belonging to the municipality of Nieuw-Lekkerland, in the South of Holland, approximately 9 miles east of Rotterdam. Translated from Dutch, the name Kinderdijk means “Children’s dike.”  The village  offers  4 lovely hotels, a wide selection of restaurants offering local cuisine and warm, friendly and excellent service where ever you may go. One charming sight are the town’s 19 windmills, that in the 2nd week of September are lit during the night in an artistic event called “mills in the flood light”. Visitors to Kinderdijk are able to visit one of these famed windmills in the summer season for a tour of how the mill works and the lifestyle associated with it.

Cinque Terre, Italy

The Cinque Terre (pronounced CHEEN|kweh TEHR|reh) consists of five small villages (“cinque terre” means “five lands” in Italian) which cling to the Ligurian cliffs along Italy’s western coast. They are usually thought of and visited collectively, mostly because they’re so close to one another that you can walk from the first to the fifth in a matter of hours, but each does have its own personality. The primary attraction of the area is the hike along the cliffs from village to village offering beautiful scenery. However Cinque Terre also boasts a delicious regional dessert wine called Sciacchetrà, excellent seafood, in particular fresh anchovies and a few nice sunbathing beaches. Easily accessible by train, less so by car or bus, and the closest town of any size is La Spezia to the south of Riomaggiore. You may undoubtedly find some hostel and hotel listings which claim they’re in the Cinque Terre, however they are more likely to be in La Spezia.

Hvar, Croatia

This remote fishing village offers the sublime weather — not too warm and not too cold – making it perfect for its beautiful beaches and typical Mediterranean vegetation. Auto-proclaimed as the “sunniest place in Europe”, this attractive village boasts nearly 2750 hours on average of sunlight each year. The village holds a festival throughout the summer, starting in late June and ending late September, with national and international performers appearing almost daily. Located to the far end of the island, Sucuraj offers loads of hostels, hotels, restaurants and bars as well as a beautiful white sand beach and wild landscapes, making is the perfect place for the explorer in you to stay and discover the “lost lands”. Photo credit:  Courtesy of Shutterstock

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Keely Capel is a well known and respected member of the Holiday rentals industry who offers valuable and insightful tips on Travel and Holiday Topics. She owns and operates www.bidabooking.com -your online auction dedicated to holiday rentals. Simply, Look, Bid and Book.

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Despite a sagging economy, increased issues involved in air travel, and juggling a host of responsibilities, I still managed a fair amount of travel this year.

Here’s how my travel resolutions stacked up for the year:

Montefollonico Italy

• Visit two new countries – I accomplished this with visits to Switzerland, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
• Visit two new states – Not so good here.  Visited lots of new cities, but no new states.
• Re-visit five places that I’ve already been, but see and experience them differently -  I did pretty well with this one, although didn’t quite make it to 5.
• Discover new restaurants, hotels, and resorts and share those experiences with you – This one was pretty easy, as I discovered new places in the Seattle area, as well as discovering others on my travels.

Here are some of my other travel highlights of 2009:

• Visited two new island in Hawaii, the Big Island and Kauai
• Visited Houston.  Had a chance to explore a little bit on layovers, and am looking forward to a return trip to explore more.
• Returned to Italy, visiting several new places:  Lake Maggiore, Ancona, and lots of small towns in Tuscany.  Drank lots of wine and ate lots of pasta and gelato.
• Took the overnight ferry from Ancona (Italy) to Split (Croatia).
• Explored to areas in Croatia, Split and Dubrovnik.  Both are UNESCO World Heritage sites, and both were absolutely fabulous.  Definitely need more time there, so will plan to go back again.
• Traveling between Split and Dubrovnik meant passing through Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Although it was only two checkpoints and a stop for gelato (in both directions), it still counts as visiting another country.
• I had a great weekend in Napa Valley, and was surprised at how much had changed since I’d last been there.  About 12 years ago.  If you haven’t been recently, it will be like you haven’t been at all.
• I spent a little time in Portland, Oregon, discovering some of the new spots that have resulted from that city’s revitalization.
• I spent a week in Miami Beach for Pow-Wow, and had a wonderful opportunity to discover what’s great about the area.  In addition, I also got to meet blogger and Dine Magazine Editor, Katherine Lynch.
• And finally, I spent a bit more time in Las Vegas.  I was there for a couple of conferences and trade shows, as well as spent some personal time there with friends.  I was able to discover some new places and things there, got to meet blogger Lynn Goya.

What will 2010 hold for travel?  I’m giving some thought to my travel resolutions and will share them with you as soon as they shape up.

What were your travel resolutions or goals for 2009?  Did you meet them?

Photo credit: Mary Jo Manzanares

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Ancona is probably not one of the cities that would have been on my to-visit list were it not for its deep water port.  Located on Italy’s eastern coast,, smack dab on the Adriatic Sea, it is both an industrial port (cargo and commercial shipping) and a visitor port (ferries and cruise lines).  You’ll see plenty of both types of ships docking here.

I ventured to Ancona because it was the sailing point for ferries between Italy and Croatia in the Jadrolina line.

Ancona Italy, a deep water port

Our wayward group of travelers allowed for plenty of time to travel to Ancona, figuring that would give us plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely drive between Tuscany and Marche.  It was indeed a leisurely drive, and the route provided an array of scenic vistas.  Tuscany was full of small hill towns, winding roads, and a slow pace.  The topography changed quickly (and often), and we found ourselves driving up steep mountain grades, passing through tunnels built into the side of a cliff, and sometimes speeding along a highway cutting a swath through the countryside.

Arriving mid-afternoon, for a 9 pm sailing, gave us plenty of time to explore the port city.  The first hour or so was spent locating the Jadrolina ticket office.  It should have been easier to find than it was, and a couple of mis-turns had us in line with commercial trucks loading up cargo.  Between our bit of Italian, a bit of English from the port workers, and a lot of pointing at a map, we were finally able to get to the correct place.

After picking up our tickets (we had made reservations in advance), we needed to locate a spot to park the car for a week.  There was a parking lot about a mile from the port area, reachable by walking across an overpass, and we decided to park the car there.  Despite numerous attempts to determine how much it was going to cost us to park for a week, we couldn’t really get a handle on it, and throwing caution to the wind just parked.  It turned out to be an okay decision, with the week costing us only slightly more than prime parking for a day in downtown Seattle.

With logistics figured out, we now had time to walk the city, take a look around, and find something to eat.  Unfortunately, due to the time of day (about 4 pm at this point), this was easier said than done!  The area by the port was not terribly interesting, most restaurants and cafes were closed, and honestly, like many port areas, in looked a little scruffy and down-on-its-luck.  We eventually found a spot to have some gelato (always a good thing when you’re in Italy), and then found a spot to enjoy some quiet contemplation.  Jadrolina started the screening and boarding process around 6 pm, and the time passed before we knew it.

Although we didn’t drive there, the St. Ciriaco Cathedral is worth noting.  The history of the cross in subject to debate, some historians claiming it dates back to the 8th century, but it was restored in the 1980’s.   It’s built in the shape of a Greek cross, with a dome over the center., and you can see it in the distance in my photo.

Photo credit:  Mary Jo Manzanares

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I picked up this matchbook earlier this summer when I was visiting Croatia.  There is still a fair amount of smoking is this country, and it is not looked down on as much as it is elsewhere.  Since many of the restaurants where we ate were outdoors, it didn’t seem too overwhelming, however it was still an adjustment.

These matchbooks were picked up at a little corner store in Cavtat, a town on a bay just south of Dubrovnik.  Matchbooks weren’t available for FREE restaurants or bars, they were sold in local shops.  They cost about 10 kuna, which is the equivalent to about two cents.

Do you have a matchbook that you’ve found in a drawer somewhere?  Or maybe you’ve picked one up in some recent travels?  I’d love to feature it in an upcoming Matchbook Monday.  All you need to do is take a photo and email it to me, including any odds and ends of details about where you got in and when. It’s getting harder and harder to find new matchbooks, so dig deep into your collection and help me out!

Photo credit:  personal collection

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One of the highlights of my vacation has been the opportunity to visit Dubrovnik, Croatia.

I’ve been interested in Dubrovnik for years, long before Croatia separated from the former Yugoslavia.  The area was, at least I was led to believe, the area the maternal side of my family hailed from.

I have lots of restaurant, hotel, and attraction recommendations that I’ll be sharing over the next couple of months.

Photo credit:  personal collection

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With only 4 sleeps before flying off to Europe, I’m busy with last minute packing and doing some final organization with my guide books and information.  As part of my travels, I’ll be spending a number of days in Croatia, primarily in the city of Dubrovnik.  Dubrovnik is know as the Pearl of the Adriatic, a tribute to its prime location on the Adriatic Sea and its status as one of the most popular vacation spots on the Adriatic.

Dubrovnik has a history based in large part on the maritime trade, making it, through the years, a fairly prosperous city.  With prosperity came an appreciation for the arts, literature, science, education, history, architecture and scholarship.  In 1979 the city was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I’ve heard that there’s lots to do in Dubrovnik. from sightseeing in the Old City, to visiting nearby islands, to walking and hiking, to enjoying the clear, blue Adriatic Sea.  I’m soon to find out, and I can’t wait!

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A few weeks ago, I twittered about an upcoming trip to Croatia.  I’ve never been, and I was just putting the word out, hoping that one of my travel blogging friends, or soon to be friend, might have some information that would help me make some travel decisions.

I very quickly had a bunch of responses.  Some from people that I knew and some from strangers.  All were passing along information or a referral, and all were most helpful.

Eventually I connected with Peter Czinkan, from On the Globe.  Peter is a tour organizer, guide and event planner, whose geographic areas of interest include Hungary, Austria, Croatia and the Czech Republic.  Peter has been great with recommendations about transportation arrangements, things to see and do, and most recently has been instrumental in helping us secure hotel reservations.

Although this is primarily a vacation, as every travel blogger knows, we are never truly and completely “on vacation.”  This trip, like all the others, will give me photos, material, and inspiration for many, many stories.  You can count on me sharing stories about Croatia – from a hotel review, to the location, to traveling there, to the food, lots of photographs, and all that there is to see and do in this country on the Adriatic.

This is just one way that Twitter connect travelers, so remember to keep it on your list of research places.  Whether you’re seeking general or specific information, there’s someone out there with the answers you need.  Give it a try.  Throw it out to the twitter universe and see what comes back.

NOTE:  You can follow me on Twitter as @flyawaycafe

Photo credit: wikimedia

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