Hello fellow budget hunters
Today is a Friday which means – NEW blog post!! I am getting back into the routine of blogging on a schedule again which means a few days of writing a lot of content! This post is going to be a run down of everywhere we went and what I thought about those places! Let’s start Friday with some honest views of 5 crazy weeks!
First of all – I will not be reviewing my Grandparents house, I have to go back and love visiting especially when its sunny!
So Marseille – I will be honest, French cities from my experience are dirty and this one especially smelt. The Old port was very pretty and we enjoyed our walk up to the Cathedral. The style of this city was very nice and lots of black and white striped churches. We enjoyed the fortress but everywhere to eat was very expensive and the fireworks got cancelled. We had lovely hosts but I will rate it a 3/5 as we didn’t see the beach and I wouldn’t return again.
Next we flew to Rome – We spent 4 nights there slightly out of the city. We spent one day at the Colosseum, Roman Forum and the area surrounding. The next day we saw a lot of the main sights including the Spanish steps (bit disappointing – thought they were taller) the trevi fountain and numerous churches. The final whole day we spent in the Vatican which was worth the museum ticket. All in all I loved Rome but I feel we saw most of the attractions and I preferred the feel of other cities. It was also dirty but I was prepared for that! I will rate it 3.5/5 and may not return.
We then got the train to Florence where we stayed at a lovely apartment that we were meant to share my boyfriends family. It was so beautiful and Florence was so different from Rome. The churches were marble and beautiful on the outside. We did a lot less sightseeing and more just existing in Italian life. I did eat a lot of gelato there too! I would rate it 3/5 again and wouldn’t necessarily go back there.
Instead of our original plan to go to Tuscany, we went to Bologna which is one of my favourite places on the trip. We had a nice chilled out time there, just walking around and feeling very italian. It was lovely being away from the crowds of tourists and enjoying so much food! It was such a different city from the other two and part of the reason I love Italy. It was more reasonable to eat out then Florence but not as cheap as Rome. Our accommodation was lovely and I would return again – 4/5!
We then went to our last Italian city, which was Venice. I found Venice so surreal as we see it so often but I had never understood that there are no roads and even police/ambulances are boats. It was very strange to me but I fell in love with this city. It is very touristy and not many locals still live on the islands, I just loved how slow things are there. Apart from tour groups, no-one is rushing everywhere. We did stay on a boat which I may have stayed in a hotel instead upon a return but 5/5 and I will be back!
Our Penulitmate place was Split in Croatia. This was our location for my birthday, we spent 2 days in Split before going to visit a friend of ours in Krapanj, a beautiful island near Sibnik. It was very beautiful and we did also enjoy swimming in the sea and island hopping. Split is a holiday destination rather than a city break place. We enjoyed a day exploring but it wasn’t as fast paced. I may return to Croatia but not Split – our flat was lovely and good value but the food was as expensive as Italy. I would give Split a 3/5.
Finally, if you’re still with me on this post – we went to Paris! I expected Paris to be a bit dirty and it was but I was not prepared for the beggars and homeless families everywhere. A lot of them are refugees or illegal immigrants but have small children and it was very sad to see. However the security in Paris is crazy, most of the queues were just for body scanners. The Louvre was good, but the Mona Lisa is overrated – The Eiffel tower is worth the security queues. Our accommodation was good and we did eat out in a few South Indian restaurants (By the Gard de Nord) and saved money by Brie for lunch. Overall I would rate it 4/5 and may return as a lot of it was similar to what I hoped all of Paris would look like.
I hoped you enjoyed this review of my summer! See you Monday! xxx
TheGreatAmbini 