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Recent Reviews Aspasia


Danube Delta

Aspasia Luxembourg - 20-Aug-21

Danube Delta

Where's the pristine nature? Remoteness? Θάλασσα?

In May 2011 I had the exam session in front of me, so I told mom I would switch off the phone to study  and I went to the Delta. Chilia carries 60% of the water and is lazy. On the NAVROM boat from Tulcea to Periprava I got into Shrek mood (''are we there yet?''). Ukraine is across the water, phone on plane mode. The plan was ''wait and see''. We found the Lipovan priest of the village, asked where we could sleep (we were 3) and he said we could do it at his place. Periprava has 200 inhabitants and if you look on google maps, the roads are ways in the sand. Now they have one place to sleep on booking.com. Back then there was a dog who barked at us for 2 days because we weren't locals

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Vézère Valley

Aspasia Luxembourg - 06-Aug-21

Vézère Valley

This is not a review about what you see, but about how to do it without a car. Since I don't drive, I knew from the beginning that I would need to hitchhike. This was August 2020 and although not all the sites were open or they were already fully booked (as was Cap Blanc when I called, several days before going), I assumed that fully booked meant tourists, hence people I should be able to convince to take me, in spite of the mask. I based myself in Bordeaux and the initial idea was easy: take morning train to Les Eyzies via Périgueux, visit the museum + Cro-Magnon, reach Rouffignac and Lascaux (I had booked a few days before a tour in French for Lascaux II at 5 pm), then evening train Sarlat to Bordeaux. 

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Padmanabhapuram Palace (T)

Aspasia Luxembourg - 18-Jun-21

Padmanabhapuram Palace (T)

The trip started off the wrong foot. We had booked a tour through the tourist office in Trivandrum and as we got halfway, the minibus had a breakdown and all the tour director could say was that we had to wait. After 2 hours of eating red bananas, drinking coconut water and cursing next to a church (this is Kerala, after all), we finally started moving, but all I wanted to was to be done with the visit quickly. 

Once on the premises though, I regained my excitement: the woodwork is impressive. One such example is the pillar in Thai Kottaram (pictured). After reading here about the murals, I started checking the photos frantically, but then I realised that the access Upparikka Malika's topmost floor was restricted to visitors in order to preserve the paintings.

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Val di Noto

Aspasia Luxembourg - 18-Jun-21

Val di Noto

''Less is more'', they say. To me it seemed feasible to cover Noto and Modica by train with enough time to return and sleep in Catania, but then I was told at the train station: "Yes, there is a train doing Siracusa-Catania at those hours, but you cannot get a ticket for it. If you go to Modica, you will have to spend the night in Siracusa''. Right. Change of plans, skipping Modica and getting more time in Catania.

Since reviews have been written on Noto, I will just say that as of June 2021 the Duomo's renovation is done (the cupola has hipster-saints, if you ask me) and they are renovating now San Domenico (the one in Els and Ian's photos). 

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Mount Etna

Aspasia Luxembourg - 15-Jun-21

Mount Etna

Mount Etna had been on my list for quite a while now, but some of the reviews here made me curious and disappointed at the same time: is it that boring and ugly? I started my trip on the 12th of June 2021 with the bus from Catania train station to Rifugio Sapienza. The bus driver got chatty once we left Nicolosi and by the time the bus arrived its destination, I was hooked. Together with a French couple we went for a guided tour (45 euro), first through the compulsory dress-up (only my jacket was deemed suitable) and then we took the cablecar to 2500 m (30 euro return trip). The cablecar is indeed pricey, but I felt it worth it for the spectacle we were about to enjoy. 

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Profile Data

Name
Aspasia
Country
Luxembourg
Most Impressive
Persepolis
Proposal
Cold Desert Cultural Landscape of India

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