I have been lucky enough to visit many countries as I was growing up and now due to the fact that travel is not exactly a possibility (Gah to you oh Covid-19), it would seem I have run out of trips that I have good memory of. This I hope goes a little way to explaining my lack of new material being posted! However, I intend to adapt and take a leaf out of Match of The Day’s book and do a few top 10’s until a new trip can be planned and taken. As I said before I have been lucky enough to visit many countries so I though the first list should surely be related to trips I took when I was younger that I cannot possibly write a full post about as I cannot remember it all and no doubt the information I would give would be rather outdated and useless to any would-be travellers. Sadly I have little to no photographs of the holidays to hand. The post shall go as follows, I will count down from 10 to 1 my favourite places in the world and give a short summary of each pointing out my most vivid memories. Enjoy.
10: Vienna (Austria).
We start in Austria where in all honesty I have two major memories of this place, which immediately highlights why I haven’t given Austria it’s own post. My visit to Austria was with my Parents and my Grandmother on a glorious coach trip! (Of which we took many in my youth). At the time I was around 15 years old and the trip was titled, Prague, Vienna and Budapest, the former and latter will feature later. Of two major memories I have of Vienna, the first is night at the Opera, (Which I have recently been informed by my father was in fact an orchestra playing waltz music, clearly says something about my memory!). Secondly the hotel we stayed at. Though the name evades me its was a beautiful building outside Vienna in the mountains. The reason why Vienna features in my list is because, although I don’t remember all the details, I vividly remember being happy with my parents and my grandmother touring these wonderful cities. The highlight of the Vienna stop was an early morning walk through the woods with my Father to watch the sun rise over the mountains and being able to spend that time together. I am told we also visited the Hofburg palace and the Schönbrunn Palace gardens. I do also remember my father and I being told off by the female coach driver (A husband and wife team) only to present her with a plastic rose from the fair that I had just won, ever the charmer me.
9: Paris (France).
A weekend trip in Paris when I was around 14 years old springs to mind with my mother. Again only certain aspects return immediately when I reflect, such as the Arc Du Triomphe, The Eiffel Tower, Champs-Élysées and The Louvre though specifics evade me therefore, a dedicated post would be impossible to do Paris justice. Major memories that do stick out are, the Arc is over rated, forgive me, I was 14, the Eiffel Tower was apparently too expensive to go up and the Mona Lisa is really small and a waste of queuing time!
8: Barcelona (Spain).
A holiday to Barcelona when I was 15, ‘ish’. I would very much like to go back to Barcelona to see if my memories have played tricks on me because I get the overwhelming feeling that I enjoyed my time there but aside from the Olympic stadium and the Sagrada Familia, that we didn’t go into as it was still being build with no access for the public, I can’t remember a thing! I know that I was old enough to find Tossa de Mar, the location of our sea side hotel, a very funny name, but clearly not old enough to appreciate the holiday and explorations.
7: Amsterdam (Holland)
Now many people will think of a lot of things when I say I can’t remember a holiday to Amsterdam. The humorous retort would no doubt be, ‘Neither can I pal.’ But it wasn’t ‘that’ kind of holiday! I went to Amsterdam with my mother on a whim for a few days as at the time my Father and Brother were in Rome and we wanted to go somewhere too. (I will explain why we weren’t with them later). Once again this was a cheap and cheerful coach tour that no doubt took us to many places but the one that sticks in my mind is the Bulb Fields. At the time I was about 13-14 years old. So why did visiting a bunch of fields with flowers in them stick in my mind, I hear you ask. Well the colours of course! The array of different colours was spell binding and as someone who has developed a taste for gardening and growing such things in his adolescence and now adulthood it is in fact a very fond memory of mine.
6: Venice, Verona and Lake Garda (Italy).
Another coach trip and this one was rather good! Major memories are experiencing deep snow for the first time in my life up Monte Baldo on the banks of Lake Garda. Going up the bell tower lift in St Mark’s Square in Venice only for the bell to start bloody ringing as we approached the top and being deafened by it when the doors opened. At the same time watching the snow come in sideways and go back out as rain up the tower. The hilarity when crossing the Bridge of Sighs in the Doge’s Palace in Venice as my Father points out the, mind your head sign, only to almost knock himself out as he walked into the low ceiling. Sorry Dad but it sill makes me laugh now! Visiting Juliet’s balcony and being slightly bored, though also Infuriated as the coach goers voted to leave Verona early so they could go to a shopping centre meaning we had to miss some of the main attractions!
5: Athens (Greece).
I have been to Athens twice in fact once at 14 with my Mother and once at 19 with my Brother. This brings me back to why my Brother and Father went to Rome without me and mum. When we were younger my Brother and I always clashed heads in one major way. He foolishly believed the Romans to be better than the Ancient Greeks even though I pointed out many times that the Romans simply copied the Greeks and thus by default the Greeks were better. Oh yeah we had a thrilling childhood and loads of friends as school can you tell? Anyway this meant obviously my Brother wanted to go to Rome and I to Athens therefore as a compromise, we both selected a parent and went to both, their trip was first so being cheeky me and mother took a trip to Amsterdam as well. Anyway, Athens, the first time I went with mother was brilliant. I remember a fair bit, obviously the Acropolis, the Corinth canal, and Olympia. The second trip I remember more as I was older. Highlights were getting caught in a Typhoon on a ferry going to a Greek Island watching the lightning bounce off the sea as everyone else was huddled below deck and deciding to walk from our hotel in Nea Makri to Marathon and back, 13 miles each way, so that I could say I did a Marathon to Marathon. Also interesting to note that both times I was in Athens city centre I was caught in protests that turned into small riots. The first time was the student protests where my mother and I dived into a McDonald’s to take refuge. I couldn’t help but see the beauty of the situation the second time round, austerity protests, when I found myself hiding in the same McDonald’s 5 years later!
4: Haugesund and Bergen (Norway).
My first ever trip that I took on my own was to Norway when I was 18 years old. I had saved up over college and decided to have a little adventure before I went to University. I remember Kayaking down a Fjord, taking the train up a hill outside Bergen and looking down on the QEII, climbing a local mountain to the hotel in awful weather conditions and wondering if I was ever going to make it back down! My main memory of Norway though was simply the stunning scenery, it was fantastic and though the country is rather expensive when you are there I cannot think of a better place I have been for simple and natural beauty.
3: Budapest (Hungry).
Budapest is a brilliant city, in fact it is so brilliant it is two different cities! On one side of the river you have Buda and on the other side you have Pest, hence Budapest. As part of the previously mentioned trip in number 10, Budapest was a wonderful place to visit. the parliament houses are fascinating and I was lucky enough to see them both in the day and night time. Numerous squares and bridges all with their own architectural nuances. However, the best bit about our Hungry portion of the trip was in fact a place we visited outside of Budapest. Esztergom Basilica is found on the northern boarder with Slovakia and from the dome at the top you can see right across the two countries. If you are able to visit and take the assent up to the top you will be presented with a small hatch that leads outside on to the dome. Once outside there is a very sketchy platform all the way round which is essentially two planks of wood! To stop you falling off there is a wobbly metal bar with nothing more than chicken wire, though be careful not to fall the other way as you will burn your hand on the roof if it is warm! It was up here looking over these two countries trying not to fall to my death or burn my hand on the roof that I fell in love with travelling.
2: Sorrento, Capri, Naples, Pompeii and The Amalfi coast (Italy).
My first ever holiday abroad saw my parents, brother and myself fly to Naples for our holiday in Sorrento. Once again this was in fact a coach holiday though we had plenty of fun. Visiting Pompeii, the crater of Vesuvius, the serene and beautiful Island of Capri and taking a long drive down the Amalfi coast. I didn’t enjoy the long drive or the Amalfi coast at the time as I was 11 or 12 and found it rather boring. The silver lining at the time was upon arrival to our turning back point I was able to buy and demolish the biggest tuna sandwich you have ever seen! Upon reflection however, I feel I would really enjoy the same trip today and I just wasn’t old enough to appreciate the beauty that was passing by the coach windows.
1: Prague (Czech Republic).
Prague one of my favourite places in the world. Distinct memories of the Charles Bridge, Astronomical clock and the architectural wonders. I have always maintained that I would like to return to Prague in the snow just to cross the Charles bridge into the old town, what an atmosphere that would be. During our time there we went on a river cruise as well which is one of the best ways to get about and see the sites. Honestly, I have little memory of the place but my feeling when I try to remember and recollect the small details that I can all I feel is overwhelming joy.
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