Michael from Easy Hiker invited me to tell you my ABC’s of travel. This tag is for the travel bloggers – and I’m glad I was invited to answer. So, here’s my ABC’s of Travel.

A: Age of first international trip: I guess many could laugh for I was old – compared to many other travelers – when I made my first international travel. I made a very-very short trip to Bulgaria – one or two hours and later a full day – and then, later in 2008, my husband and I went to Austria (Vienna) and then to Germany. I had 26 years.

B: Best (foreign) beer: I don’t usually drink – a glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve qualifies as much J. I tasted however a beer in Germany that I liked. It was Becks with lemon flavor. I bought some at home too – and sometimes I share a glass with my husband or with our friends.

C: Cuisine (favorite): Not that I want to sound patriotic, but given that I didn’t visit too many countries, I have to stick to the Romanian cuisine. After this comes the German cuisine (I love Wiener schnitzel).

D: Destinations, favorite, least favorite and why: Favorite is definitely Europe – Austria and Germany (my roots are there and I love the spirit, the places, the sights and people!). My least favorite is the Arabic countries – never been there but the way a woman is seen there doesn’t make me want to visit them. From the countries I have seen, I cannot say I disliked any.

Schloss Schoenbrunn

E: Event experienced abroad that made you say “wow”: The Schoenbrunn Palace and its Zoo in Vienna. Really happy animals and an amazing palace. Yes, I know there are many other great places, but I simply loved it here, and I also found out some interesting curiosities.

F: Favorite means of transportation: Definitely the car. Of course, you cannot take it everywhere, but in Europe it is rather accessible and I comfortable to go by car and I simply love traveling by car.

G: Greatest feeling while travelling: Here I have to say I share Michael’s opinion: “The excitement of discovering and experiencing great new places.” It is always lovely to discover a city, a town, a country or even a museum you already visited. I cannot wait to show my son the places I saw and to experience new and great places together with my family.

H: Hottest place travelled to: Oh, I so avoid traveling to hot places due to the fact that I don’t cope well with heat. I always plan my travels in order to avoid heat so… no place to mention here.
I: Incredible service experienced and where: I cannot say we didn’t have a good service somewhere. I never went to either all inclusive or 5 star hotels. But I was really impressed by the Zipser hotel in Vienna.

J: Journey that took the longest: The trip back from Germany (near Mannheim) to Bucharest – 23 hours, almost non-stop (save a few breaks), by car – my husband drove. Not an experience to try again. Not something ANYONE should attempt.

K: Keepsake from travels: Oh, I like to collect souvenirs. I have many fridge magnets, I have several keychains, a wooden jewelry box and many more. I shared some of them in the dedicated category – travel souvenirs and I’ll keep sharing them. I have to admit that a precious souvenir is a red matrioska doll – offered to me by a friend and received in the morning of the day Eric was born.

L: Let-down sight, why and where: I wasn’t let down – so far

M: Moment where you fell in love with travel: When I went on vacations with my mother when I was growing up. I always liked to travel – did that within my country.

N: Nicest hotel you’ve stayed in: As I already mentioned – I don’t have a big experience, but I liked Zipser Hotel. An interesting experience was at Herren Haus in Germany.

O: Obsession—what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while traveling: I admit I like to enjoy the view and only afterward to photograph it.

P: Passport stamps, how many and from where: None – I started travel in Europe after Romania entered the European Union and I’ve never been to a country outside EU. Now that’s a surprising answer – right?

Q: Quirkiest attraction you’ve visited and where: The oldest glacier in the world. A funny road – and an amazing experience – to go from +24 degrees centigrade to -10. And we had only one and a half hour to visit the glacier and the cave, since the dog was in the car – which we left half in the sun.

Scarisoara - road to the cave and glacier

R: Recommended sight, event or experience: The Apuseni mountains with all their caves and special places, including a fossilized snails mountain wall.

Fossilized snails wall - detail

S: Splurge; something you have no problem forking over money for while traveling: Buying something I need for the house .

T: Touristy thing done: Of course – visiting museums.

U: Unforgettable travel memory: First visit in Vienna.

V: Visas, how many and for where? None.

W: Wine, best glass of wine while traveling and where? As I already mentioned I don’t drink. So I really don’t have an answer for that.

X: eXcellent view and from where?: Also the Apuseni Mountains, Romania. Amazing views. Also Vatra Dornei and Dornei Mountains from Romania.

Y: Years spent traveling? I’m not a seasoned traveler. I traveled in my country since I was several months old. In other countries I only traveled since 2008.

Z: Zealous sports fans and where: Steaua – football team, Romania.

I’d be delighted if

Gray - http://solofriendly.com/
Simon - http://www.wild-about-travel.com/
Abby - http://thejungleprincess.com/
Diana - http://www.dtravelsround.com/
Alina - http://traveltweaks.com
Silvia – http://trippando.wordpress.com/
Cumi & Ciki – http://cumidanciki.com/

will have the time to share their ABC’s of travel. You’re tagged

Later edit: it seems I missed Gray’s post, so I’m adding to the list Cameron and Nicole  – http://travelingcanucks.com/

Travelling is fun. Really fun. But you need to pay for all that fun. And you need to choose a destination for your budget.

So today I’m presenting you an infographic on How Do You Plan And Play For Vacation Travel – click for the larger view.

Infographic offered by http://www.baltictravelcompany.com/.

The moment of posting the first prize winning article is here.

It has been a great journey – and thank you all for paticipating once again. Thank you Silvia Ceriegi from Trippando, and thank you Cristiana from Hotel Acacie.

And now: the post of the winner of the first prize: Ian from Eager Existence – Beach Holiday in Phuket, Thailand

Here’s a short fragment from his post:

I guess being Australian, and growing up on the coast, I always associate summer fun with beaches.. but everybody does don’t they? When you’re sitting at work, day dreaming away about your next holiday destination, its usually somewhere tropical, just like your desktop screensaver.

I’ve been chasing the sun around Europe for the best part of the last 10 months, and in that time I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some of the greatest beaches on earth (following closely behind our own beaches in Australia, of course). I’ve scootered along the Amalfi Coast of Italy, spent days lazing around at Praia a Mare, partied on the Greek Islands and again in Ibiza, explored the Croatian Dalmatian coast with a lover.

But one of my most memorable holidays was the two weeks I spent in Phuket, Thailand with my girlfriend.

The Birthday Gift

I bought us two tickets to Phuket for her 21st birthday, a surprise. It was her first time leaving Australia, and I wanted to be the one who got to share that experience with her. I remember it vividly because it took months of preparation, five months before the holiday I had to assume we would still be together, and went about organising with her mother to get her a passport. Now, she was a smart girl, my girlfriend, so she cottoned on pretty quickly that she was getting this passport for something big, and something to do with me. But that’s all the information she got until the day of her birthday party.

It was a few years ago now, so the memory is a little bit cloudy, but from what I do remember, I printed the itinerary and showed it to her at her birthday party (which we moved forward a couple of weeks) in front of her friends and family. Two weeks in Phuket, Thailand. Not all-inclusive of course, I was younger then, and didn’t have a lot of spending money. But I booked us a few nights in several places along the island so we had the opportunity to explore everything, most importantly the beautiful beaches.

You can read the full article here.

Each day brings a new discovery for my son.

I must admit that it seems time flies. Today, Eric turns 7 months. I don’t know when did the time passed.

Here he is in an interesting position: he’s on his belly, with the head on a side, but covered by the hooded jacket.

He’s cute, though – I think

Eric Radu Cristian – 7 months old

Eric

The second place and the second prize in the contest organized with Silvia Ceriegi from Trippando offering prizes at Hotel Acacie in Elba Island went to Paper-Plane Travel‘s blogger Albena Krasteva who wrote a post called Moments in Time – Beach.

Here’s a fragment of her post.

July Morning
The sea level has the exquisite privilege to be the point of reference to which altitudes are measured.

Further, it is to mark a metaphorical beginning.

Though I have no recollection of the occasion, I am often told that when I first saw the Black sea at the tender age of I-don’t-remember-but-I-must-have-been-young, I was looking perplexed, struggling to understand what seemed completely unnatural and foreign to the world I had known up to that point – the possibility of infinity. “It does not end. It has no end.” – I was repeating.

Today, as I have grown in size, and, as I tend to claim at job interviews, in knowledge, I know the sea is not infinite. Not in terms of geography, anyway.

As I have grown in size, and, as I tend to claim in the company of adults, in understanding of the world, one thing has not changed – the sea with its splendour, the beach as its earthly receiver, for me, still mark a beginning. A beginning to any altitude my life could achieve, a beginning of a perception of the infinite, and an escape into that perception.

Have you ever heard of July Morning? Do you remember the hippies? Do you dream?

You can read the whole post here.

Yes, the contest organized with Silvia Ceriegi from Trippando offering prizes at Hotel Acacie in Elba Island is over. The winners were announced and, as we mentioned in the rules, the three winning posts are republished on this blog and on Trippando.

So today I’m inviting you to read Alessandro Bertini’s – author of Girovagate – winning post in the #momtripelba competition.

7 wonders of mine

“Take me to my beach“! Just like the refrain of an All Saints’ song, soundtrack of an (un)forgettable film with Leonardo di Caprio, “the place where I love to be” is a pure shore. In every season, at whatever latitude. It doesn’t matter if there’s sand or rocks, stones or pebbles. I think I always have had a true, intensive, deep passion for it: the soft touch of the sand under my feet and the smell of the saltiness rising up from the tide simply make me happy
Since when I was a child I used to stay all day long in the sandy beach of Igea Marina, on the Adriatic Riviera, during my family’s holidays, a couple of weeks. In that time “beach” meant playing bowls, rackets and soccer or building something similar to a sand castle (this kind of sculptures was not “my way”…). Sometimes my father took me from my legs and traced a path with my back for small glass balls competions….!
Growing up this feeling with the beach and the sea didn’t stop and together with my girlfriend I have seen several wonderful places wandering around our wonderful Italy and sometimes around the world
Wich one I love the most? Everyone, I swear.

I was at the seventh sky where I saw for the first time the colors of Cuba
(Ero al settimo cielo quando vidi per la prima volta i colori di Cuba)

(Varadero beach)

and didn’t imagine how amazing could be the wildness of Portugal.
(e non immaginavo quanto può essere sorprendente la natura selvaggia del Portogallo)

(Murter)

I’m congratulating – again – all the winners in the contest – may you all have fun at the hotel

Dear bloggers, we enjoyed all your entries very much. But we should only choose three winners.
Since your blogs are very interesting and your entries great, all of you win an interview on Trippando. You may write to silvia.ceriegi@alice.it and get in touch for your interview.

After reading, re-reading and talking a lot, we decided the three winners. They are:

• Third Prize (Three night stay at Hotel Le Acacie – B&B accommodation): Girovagate’s blogger Alessandro Bertini
• Second Prize (One week stay at Residence Le Acacie – self catering accommodation): Paper-Plane Travel‘s blogger Albena Krasteva
• Grand Prize (One week stay at Hotel Le Acacie – B&B accommodation): Eager Existence‘s blogger Ian

The three winners may get in touch with  Hotel & Residence Le Acacie info@acacie.it to decide the dates for their holiday at Elba Island.

The three winner posts will be posted on Trippando and Travel – Moments in Time during the next three days.

A big thank you to Silvia Ceriegi for organizing this travel writing competition with me and to Cristiana Bartolini, the Acacie’s owner, to offer such big prizes.

Yesterday it was the final day in which travel bloggers all over the world could participate in a contest with great prizes from Acacie Hotel in Elba island, Italy. The contest was organized on Trippando and Travel – Moments in Time blogs, and the rules were presented here.

I was so happy to see many interesting posts. Here’s a list with the entries in the contest (it is a chronological list).

Ian – Eager Existence – Beach Holiday in Phuket, Thailand

Mary Jane Cryan – 50 Years In Italy – Top ten Italian beaches

Michael Schurmann – Easyhiker – Beaches In the South Of France

Aurora Domeniconi – Aury’s Passions – Wild beaches of Scotland

Albena Krasteva – Paper-Plane Travel – Moments in Time Beach

Jason Noronha – The Orange mango – Top 5 beaches in Goa

Roberta Zennaro – gamberettarossa – Bir Ali my favourite beach

Kasia Dietz – Love in the city of lights – Walk of life

Dario (guest) for Katrina Stovold – Tour Absurd – Beach Flashbacks

Alessandro Bertini – Girovagate – Alcune delle spiagge più belle che ho visto! 7 wonders of mine, contest for Trippando

Lynne Gray – In the rain and the wind, I’m dreaming of beaches

On January 25th we will announce the three winners of the contest. It is a very hard period for us, due to the fact that all entries are indeed great.

Thank you all for participating in this contest!

There are days in which you simply don’t want to stay in the city. You want to go somewhere and see something.

My husband and I, we have some days like that. We choose sometimes to go somewhere with the dog and our son. Usually it’s a trip at the airfield – where Andrei flies his RC airplane. But we weren’t in the mood for such a trip this day.

It was December 31st. The final day of the year. I wanted to go somewhere I’ve never been before. A one day trip somewhere relatively close to Bucharest – for in the evening we should get back, pick Eric from my mom’s and spend New Year’s Eve together. So Andrei suggested to go see the church made of one tree, than to visit a cave and then Hurezi Monastery.

Giving that the route involved passing through (or near) Ramnicu Valcea, a city where we have some friends, we gave them a call on December 30th to see if they are in Ramnic in the morning of the final day of the year. And they were. So we planned to visit them too

6 o’clock in the morning. 31st December. We got up:D. We eat, took a shower, walked the dog – and left home (we left Maxie, the dog, at home this time).

The first thing we noticed on the road?
The fog. And I really mean fog! Look:

morning fog

The car’s mirrors had some frost on them.

frost - car mirror

But we kept going and had some amazing views:

amazing sky

forrest

through village

forrest 2

sky 2

road

top of mountain with snow

top of mountain with snow 2

road 2

sky 3

fog again

houses near Ramnicu Valcea

One tree church entrance

The first objective for the day: The Church Made Of One Tree. I was happy. Giving the fact that this church has a special story – and some very interesting curiosities – I choose to dedicate it a special article here on the blog. So for now I’ll only show you the entrance – but soon the whole story!

After visiting the monastery, we were back on the road. The first thing we saw was a small railroad – for small trains

small railroad

and then many lovely places and landscapes:

through village 2

Horezu entrance

souvenir ceramic shops

landscape

landscape 2

Gorj

road 3

road sky

road sheep

road 4

And we’ve arrived at the second touristic objective of the day. Peştera Muierii – Womans’s Cave. We knew that the final entry was at 4 P.M. And we arrived there at 2.30 P.M. But guess what: it was the last day of the year, so the cave was closed at 2 P.M. It will be open on January 1st – but we won’t get back. We’ll definitely see it however on another occasion.

We took a photo of the mountain where the cave is:

Pestera muierii

and then we got on the road again.

We reached Hurezi Monastery – there were nuns there, and a priest, but the actually monastery was closed But we discovered also an interesting thing – I’ll also present it in a special post dedicated to the monastery. For now here’s a photo with a general view of this monastery:

Hurezi Monastery - entrance

After this we got back home – reached Bucharest in the evening:

road back - Bucharest - night

picked up Eric and then enjoyed the New Year’s together. You can see here some photos with Eric and his first fireworks

I wanted a day to remember – and I definitely got one What did you do on December 31st?

Enter the first international Trippando’s and Travel – Moments in Time travel writing competition and win 3 fabulous holidays to Elba Island!

Are you a blogger? Do you like writing about your travel experiences? Well here’s your chance. Enter our writing competition and you could win one of the three fantastic holidays to Hotel Residence Le Acacie at Elba Island.

The hotel & residence “Le Acacie”, situated in the wide and green vale of Naregno, and harmoniously settled in it, extends to the sandy beach, easily reached passing through the large private garden. To see the amazing surroundings and how the hotel’s apartments look, enter the official website: http://www.acacie.it/en/ (they have English, Italian, French and German versions ). You’ll enjoy the sun and an amazing 4 star hotel services in a great place in this world, in Italy.

Start the new year in a great way and win great prizes!

How to participate:

1. From January 5th to January 20th 2012, write a post about “Beach” and post it on your blog.
2. Include in your post a reference to the fact that this is part of the Trippando’s  and Travel – Moments in Time’s contest about this topic
3. Include, at the end of your post, links to Trippando’s (http://trippando.wordpress.com/) and Travel-Moments in Time’s (http://travel.prwave.ro/) blogs and to the Acacie’s web (http://acacie.com)
4. Let us know that you’ve posted an article by tweeting it with the hashtag #momtripelba. If by chance you don’t use twitter, email it to silvia.ceriegi@alice.it. We’ll read them all, and retweet some too!
5. On January 25th 2012 we’ll announce the winners and publish the three winning posts on Trippando and Travel – Moments in Time blogs.

Special mentions:

• your travel blog may be in any language – BUT the post you’ll write to enter this contest MUST be in English

Prizes:

Residence & Hotel Le Acacie offers to the winners:
1.    The Grand Prize
One week stay at  Hotel Le Acacie (B&B accommodation)
2.    Second Prize
One week stay at Residence Le Acacie (self catering accommodation)
3.    Third Prize
Three night stay at Hotel Le Acacie (B&B accommodation)

* Transport and leisure or other activities are not included!
* The prizes are for 2 persons! – one first prize, one second prize, one third prize, but you’ll be able to  go with someone in a great trip!)
* The prizes are available anytime during this year, except for August!

Enter the contest now!