Spring Getaway To Lake Como

This week is packed with travel posts (as I am traveling simultaneously) so after the last blog post from Palermo I am taking you up north to the other end of Italy: to the magic Lake Como. A few weeks ago I spent three days at the famous Lago di Como (and please don't ask me if I met George Clooney. In fact I had an espresso with him) as part of a workshop for Ikea. Workshop sounds like work and it was. Yet, I had some time to explore the beauties of Lake Como.

Spring at the Lake Como is truly enchanting. Everything is in bloom, it smells divine, it is warm and sunny. Even though this is a lake and not the Mediterranean, it already feels very mediterranean with the lush vegetation, beautiful, colourful villas and little boats. However this lake is not a tiny one, in fact it is pretty large and stretches from north to south over 46 kilometers whereas its width is rather small and makes it ever charming as you can always have a look at the villages and towns tucked on the opposite hillside.

I was staying in the far south of the lake in a picturesque village called Cernobbio, not far away from the name-giving town of Como. Since free time was short during my trip, I only made it with the ferry up to the serene and almost dormant village of Torno. It was so nice to walk around without a plan, discovering narrow alleyways, smelling the flowers, eating ice cream - and all this with my two good friends and fellow bloggers Ricarda from Germany and Sarah from Canada. We had lots of fun!

Lake Como is located pretty close to Milano so it is absolutely worth a prolonged weekend trip to enjoy sunshine, nature, good food and cruising this beautiful lake. A la prossima, ragazzi!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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Loft92 In Palermo, Italy

Well here we go: Now that I am traveling again this week (hop over to Instagram to see where I am this time) I thought it's about time to blog about the very cool design loft I stayed at during my Sicilian trip and visit to Palermo. I found the cool Loft92 after a short research on airbnb and it was an immediate scorer - it was unlike many other accommodations and had a very special look to it. So it was click, chat, book - and I did not regret it a minute!

This is definitely a place you should pick next time you travel to Palermo, Sicily. Why? Because it's unusual and special - it is a huge sort of hall, I don't know what exactly this building used to be (as it is clearly older) but the structure is more suitable for a storeroom or something similar. Maybe it was even a sort of factory or mill, who knows. Only thing I know is that the owner transformed it into an open and airy space with a minimalistic look (so unlikely in Italy).

The apartment is located in the city center of Palermo which makes it even better. You can literally walk to every important sight in Palermo from the apartment. And can you imagine my Urban Jungle Bloggers eyes when I arrived at the entrance of the apartment packed with all kinds of plants? It was an instant love affair.

The apartment itself is spacious and can host two people. It has a large entrance hall with an ancient fountain in one corner, a huge bed sofa to relax after long walks, a little open-space kitchen and a bathroom. Dramatically suspended stairs lead to the upper floor which is in fact a mezzanine and the bedroom. A big and comfy bed, a few seats, another bathroom and a closet - that's it. No clutter, no shenanigans. And with no shenanigans I mean none - so don't expect a TV there.

If you like what you see and you plan a trip to Palermo, have a look HERE to book it.

Happy new week!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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Dolce Vita In Sicily - Part One

A few weeks ago I set off to a full week of dolce vita, far niente and pasta and pizza galore. Obviously, my destination was Italy. To be more precise, its far south: the island of Sicily. As an avid traveler I have seen quite a bit of Italy so far, but Sicily was still a big white gap on my personal map - undiscovered terrain if you want so. Thus it was about time to descend to Europe's far south and explore this Mediterranean island.

Choosing mid March as the travel season proved to be a nice move - no tourist masses and no tourist prices but lots of nature, free tables in restaurants and quiet sightseeing tours. Sicily is one of the biggest islands in the Mediterranean, yet it is quite manageable to be discovered in one week. Traveling with a rented car is the easiest option - the streets are ok (not perfect though) and you can get more or less everywhere within a few hours.

My trip started in the popular seaside town of Cefalú in the island's north with a relaxed walk in the beautiful old town and a good lunch overlooking the sea (traditional pasta with swordfish, pine nuts, raisins and wild fennel) followed by pistachio sweets and a good espresso macchiato. Later on I headed to Palermo, the island's capital and biggest city. Sicilian cities resemble each other - you will notice beautiful architecture, numerous baroque churches, shiny domes, wonderful piazzas. On the other hand you will behold old, unmaintained buildings, crumbling facades and unfinished and abandoned construction sites. Palermo has it all - and still it is a beautiful city to visit. Most of the main sights are located in the city center and can be visited by foot (better than facing the chaotic Italian traffic). Some of the most iconic sights include the Piazza Bellini with three landmark churches, the Teatro Massimo, the cathedral of Palermo, the archaeological museum and the city's botanical garden (one of the oldest in Italy, I will blog about it in a separate post). Moreover you can descend to the La Cala port with its yachts and enjoy seaside views while eating a delicious local ice cream. In Palermo I stayed in a fab airbnb design loft - I will blog about it in a separate post too!

If you go to Sicily, don't miss the daily 'passeggiata' - an evening walk around dusk time when main streets turn into pedestrian zones and all Sicilians go out for a stroll, some shopping and chit-chatting on the street while enjoying buskers and other street performers. Food wise you will be in heaven, too. Amazing pizza can be enjoyed in the Pizzeria Frida with many queuing Palermitanes, delicious local dishes and wines in great quality can be found at the Osteria dei Vespri (reserve a table during the high season) and fantastic slow food can be tasted in the Casa del Brodo. Get prepared to loosen your belt a bit.

Palermo is a great starting point for a little discovery trip to the west of the island. If you like beaches and sunbathing, head to Mondello with its fantastic beach and seafront. For cultural sights drive into the island and stop at Segesta with its majestic temple and theatre in the middle of nowhere. Further west you will arrive at the coastal town of Trapani with its salines, windmills and sights of the Egadi islands (plus its local pasta dish with tomatoes, basil, garlic and almonds). If you opt for the southern route you will end up in the city of Agrigento sitting on top of a hill overlooking the Mediterranean. You can ignore the city itself as it is rather uninteresting, but just south of it is the world famous Valley of the Temples with a line-up of some of the most fantastic and best preserved Greek temples of the entire Mediterranean. You can enjoy a long and relaxed walk and dawdle from temple to temple. I visited the archaeological museum at the end with a great selection of ancient ceramics.

This complete today's tour of the northern and western part of Sicily. Next time I will take you to the west and Sicily's second largest city, the highest and most active volcano in Europe and more sights and culinary expeditions.

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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