Game of Thrones lovers, don’t just sit and watch in awe: follow the sneakers and go to Meereen. The sneakers walked with Tyrion and Missandei and Varys and lingered on the streets haunted by the Harpies – so can you. The dragons are still there, remember? Season’s 6 Meereen was filmed in Peniscola, Spain, and this is one of our favorite escapes to wonderland 🙂
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VALENCIA #SINEQUANON: THE THINGS YOU CANNOT LEAVE OUT
Last day in Valencia and here are the likely and unlikely musts in this gorgeous and happily (and thankfully) underrated city – besides paella and the old city center. Random order, you really have to try them all1. Bioparc You can call it a zoo, but you’ll be a gross understatement. This is the most wonderful “bio immersion” you’ve seen. The concept of immersing the visitor into the animals’ habitat – and not the other way round, the way a classical zoo does – is magically re-creating Africa in Valencia downtown.
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# FOOD POSTCARDS
Crepe supercomplete, Dinard
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Romantic, but different
Since thehappyfew truly love celebrations yet are horrorstruck by what has become of Valentine’s Day, here are some heartfelt ideas to be romantic, after all. Love is three quarters curiosity. Casanova said it, and no great poet coined it better after that. Step into a different character, give into the temptation, celebrate as an impostor. No wonder the wearing of masks at the carnival was invented to let us indulge in the greatest misbehavior. You can dress up for the opera and waltz carelessly in Saint Germain at midnight. Celebrate on the 13th to break the badluck, and do absolutely nothing on the 14th. Or you can simply do absolutely nothing, paired with a…
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THE BEST TRAVEL ADVICE IN THE WORLD
Travel to wonderland. Just use the rabbit hole and go where the magic is: visit Disneyland or the Harry Potter Studios, follow the GoT locations, spend a week in a 300+ yo home, camp in the desert and bathe in the Milky Way at night. Travel back to yourself, recapture the world as it was before you grew up. Return to your happyplace. You must have one. It’s either a cabin, or a lake, or a beach, or a city, a precise time of the year, a table with a view, or a person. Return as many times as you can, or move there. Travel with your best friend. Friendship…
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Acqua alta in Venice
One miraculous December, I went to Venezia to… well, to celebrate my birthday with a splash. Venice is a great place to do this, especially if you go off season and avoid the crowds at San Marco or Rialto. But when the acqua alta comes, San Marco is exactly the place to be: a gigantic, surreal mirror revealing the magical counterpart of everything. yourself included. Some facts, wikipedia style: Acqua alta is the term used in Veneto for the exceptional tide peaks that occur periodically in the northern Adriatic Sea The peaks reach their maximum in the Venetian Lagoon. The phenomenon occurs mainly between autumn and spring, when the astronomical tides are reinforced by the…
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Postcards from Istanbul
Fresh juice stand, Tophane Artistic cat, Hagia Sophia Kunefe, making of. Gulhane on a tree, on a street
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Istanbul survival guide: some snobbish advice
Some snobbish warnings and some tips: Thehappyfew may often find Istanbul noisy, chaotic and insalubrious. The permanent feeling of being in a cheap, overcrowded bazaar will become quite a nuisance if you don’t have a backup. In Istanbul the backup is an oasis of comfort and peace, namely a very good place to stay and a few getaways far from the madding crowd. Choose a good hotel and don’t even think of looking for accommodation in Taksim or Istiklal The main hotspots in the old city are see-and-flee; there is no reason to linger (or find hotel, God forbid) in Sultanahmet, Topkapi, Grand Bazaar, Suleymanyie, Sirkeci, Eminonu. Some restaurants are…
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ISTANBUL #SINEQUANON: THE THINGS YOU CANNOT LEAVE OUT
1. Hagia Sophia. The one and only. Amazing, graceful, memorable 2. Topkapi Palace, including the must visit of the Harem. Plan a whole afternoon for it, it may very well be the most wonderful spot in Istanbul. Beautiful park, unbeatable views of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn from the terraces. Take your time, see it all, discover Moses’s walking stick and a fragment from the Mecca stone and the Otoman jewelries, have a coffee or lunch at the restaurant hanging over the sea. 3. Galata Tower and Pera district, the Montmartre of Istanbul. Small, steep, cobblestone streets and the warm vibe around the Galata Tower in the evenings. 4. Sultanahmet/ Blue…
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Istanbul survival guide: best things
One word for it: spectacular. Another two words for it: Grand Bazaar; that’s a very good synonym. Istanbul is a love it or not story, but a must-see nevertheless. You can never hate it, no matter how chaotic it may seem at times, but you will find there is a very thin line between loving it and simply visiting it off. I found that most people are thoroughly addicted to Istanbul, but thehappyfew will need this prose in order to feel the poetry. I have some of the best things in Istanbul, some snobbish advice and some personal tips. Here it goes. Best things in Istanbul The whole world becomes…
