cityguide – Page 8 – Manisha captures

Imagine the following: turquoise water, charming marble streets, stunning medieval sights and ice-cream stalls on every corner… Yes, Trogir has it all. The medieval city centre of Trogir is on the UNESCO world heritage site and not without a reason. Its rich history & authentic architecture make this unique small town a true gem of Croatia. I visited this city in Summer and had a wonderful time. I had never visited Croatia before, but since it’s becoming a popular holiday destination day by day and I heard many good stories, we became curious. I must say, it went beyond my expectations. Let’s move on to the pictures!

– HOTEL –

During our trip, we stayed in Villa Carrara, a cute bed&breakfast hotel situated in the heart of the city centre. It only has 8 rooms, which makes it a quiet and relaxed place to stay. The staff was really friendly and provided us with a lot of insight information about the city. Even though the hotel was quite small, the rooms were surprisingly big! Also, there’s a bakery/ice-cream shop located on the ground flour, where we had some delicious treats. All in all, a really good place to stay when you want to make to most out of your stay in Trogir.

The first thing I noticed from the moment we arrived in the city: the water. It was definitely something else. When Googling travel pictures online, you usually see “picture-perfect” stuff which many times doesn’t resembles reality. This wasn’t the case here. I often had to put my sunglasses down, just to check if what I was seeing was real…

– FOOD –

Food from Croatia has been influenced by many cuisines: mainly Italian, Turkish and Hungarian. This influence has shaped the type of food they are serving over the years. Since Trogir is located along the coastline, fresh seafood can be ordered in almost every restaurant (for me as a sea-food lover, this wasn’t a bad thing at all ;-)). We had seafood everyday: prawns, squid and local fish, it was all amazing. A typical local dish is ‘black risotto’, prepared with squid or cuttlefish. One of the things that surprised me was the number of ice-cream shops in the city. Even tough Trogir is a quite compact and small city, in one or another way there were always lines at the shops throughout the day. One explanation could be the fact that the ice-cream is divine: it came quite close to the gelato I had in Rome…

– THINGS TO DO –

It’s easy to explore Trogir in one day, so people usually end up planning a day trip. We decided to stay in the city for a few days and use it as our base to discover other places in the area. Here’s a list with activities/things you should definitely consider seeing or doing when you happen to be here. Here we go:

-Visit Kamerlengo Castle

-Get lost in the labyrinth of narrow streets (trust me, this is easy)

-Grab a drink on one of the terraces at Central Square

-Take a leisurely stroll at night at Trogir Riva, the promenade. In the weekend there are usually live-performances and you’ll spot all the big yachts

– Visit Green Market, and drool over the seriously good-looking fruits and veggies

-A must: try. the. ice-cream. You won’t be disappointed.

-Cross the bridge and go explore the beautiful harbor

∴

When you’re planning to stay longer in the city just like I did, consider the following:

-A day trip to Split (!)

-Visit other islands/beaches close by (transportation is really convenient: there are lots ferry boats and tours you can easily book)

-Plan a trip to the magnificent Krka National Park

Lots of love,

Manisha

♥

Having conquered a place on the UNESCO World Heritage list, being the capital city of Scotland and attracting more than 2 million visitors every year, Edinburgh is a city which can’t be left out of your bucket-list when traveling in the UK. I visited this magical city for 3 days in February during my exchange. The timespan was perfect to see the highlights and to get a glimpse of the Scottish culture. Since the city isn’t that big and a lot of sights are situated in the same area, it was very easy to explore it by foot. It’s time to share the highlights, activities and nice places to eat with you guys!

To do:

1. Climb the Artur’s Seat

This was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. Artur’s Seat, a vulcano hill, is part of Holyrood Park and is situated very close to the city. By climbing this mountain, you’ll get incredible views of the city on your way up. There are different hiking routes which lead you to the top. Since my friend and I were in for a challenge, we decided to choose the adventurous path. It was quite steepy at some points, so I do recommend to wear good shoes! We did the hike late in the afternoon, so we were able to see the sunset. This resulted in some stunning views…

2. A stroll through Royal Mile

This buzzing street is situated in Edinburgh’s Old Town and the most important one of the city. It connects Hollyrood Palace and Edinburgh Castle. Here you’ll probably spot the most tourists, since the main street and the smaller side-streets are full of souvenir shops. Cashmere, shortbread and whisky are the main staple items to buy here.

3. Edinburgh Castle

This castle is a must-see sight in the city (it’s almost impossible to miss it, since it’s situated on a hill in the centre of Edinburgh!). Most parts of the castle are built in the 17th century and it functioned for a long time as a residence of the Royal family. Various museums and other sights are housed here. Since I didn’t had time to go inside, we decided to walk to the entrance and stroll around in the area, which was already very impressive.

4. Visit the biggest whisky collection in the world and do a tasting session in the Scotch Whiskey Experience.

5. Shop till you drop in Princess Street.

6. Watch an awesome Scottish comedy show at night.

To eat:

1. A full Scottish Breakfast at Loudens

Eating a big, hearty and traditional breakfast in the UK was still on my bucket-list, so we decided to go for it in Edinburgh. Loudens is a big, bright and busy cafe, where they serve amazing breakfast and lunch (Egg dishes are their speciality). I ordered the real deal, and as I healthy foodie I must say it was quite ok!

2. A hearty and healthy lunch at Milk Cafe

I was definitely in my happy place once I took a look at the menu-card in this cosy cafe: so many healthy and mouth-watering options! After a long and hard decision, I ordered the pumpkin salad with falafel and flatbread. It was the best.

3. Mediterranean dinner at Laila’s Bistro

After a long search for food, we stumbled upon this little gem in Cockburn Street. I love the Mediterranean cuisine since they usually use a lot of veggies and fresh products. I ordered the grilled salmon filet with various vegetables & rice. The dish was well-made and the staff was very friendly.

Lots of love, Manisha

Tag: cityguide

Trogir, Croatia

City trip Edinburgh

To do:

To eat: