My parents came to visit this week and requested to see some of the street art in Shoreditch. Of course I obliged to such a surprising and uncharacteristic request by a couple of people in their 60s.
Category: Europe
Brescia
Brescia is only a 1.5 hour train ride away from Bergamo, so we decided to take a day trip there. Brescia is the second largest city in the region of Lombardy in Northern Italy.
On the way there we changed trains at Treviglio and had to board an extremely packed train. So I’d recommend taking one of the direct trains even if they’re not as frequent on a Saturday morning.
The walk from the train station to the old town area was a bit depressing… but it got better.
Bergamo
Last weekend we went on another long weekend trip to the location of a Ryanair airport. You know how Ryanair allegedly flies to all these cities but the airport really is miles away in a different town. We did the same thing at the beginning of the year when we flew to “Karlsruhe” (ha, ha…) and really stayed in Baden-Baden, where the airport is.
So this month we did it again. We flew to “Milan” – and really stayed in Bergamo and surroundings. And it was lovely!
We arrived on Thursday around lunch time and checked into our Airbnb. It was really close to a large supermarket (where I bought loads of Burrata…) and to Via Borgo Santa Caterina which had a few bars and a really good pizza restaurant called Vesuvio.
Baden in Baden-Baden
The German word “baden” means “to bathe”. And bathe we did when Matt and I went to Baden-Baden in South-West Germany last weekend. But we didn’t only take advantage of the thermal spas in this small town in the Black Forest. We also climbed a mountain, checked out a casino from the 19th century and sampled some of the local cuisine.
Even though I’ve lived most of my life in Germany, any place south of Frankfurt is pretty much completely alien to me. So going to Baden-Baden felt almost like an exotic holiday. I’d heard years ago that the town has thermal spas, and I’ve been wanting to check it out ever since.
Ryanair flights from Stansted are cheap and go directly to Baden-Baden’s tiny airport, which used to be a Canadian airbase.
When we arrived on Friday afternoon we soon realised that the bus to Baden-Baden station only goes once an hour. A taxi into town costs around €50, so we decided we’d rather spend our money on beer and pretzels at the only airport café and wait around for the next bus.
After 40 minutes we finally took the bus to the station, changed onto another bus to the town center and checked into our Airbnb. It was really roomy and clean. I can recommend it.
A weekend in the rural North of England
A couple of weeks ago we went to Darlington in County Durham to visit Matt’s mum Barbara. She recently moved there after living in London for most of her life.
A bit of a change from Bermondsey to wake up to this view every day!
Hello Rabea 