Posts from a Flashpacker

“So are you going to stay in Palermo forever?”

“Are you going to return to the US to live someday? “

“Do you think you and The Frenchman will ever get married?”

“Are you always going to keep traveling? “

“What’s your plan for next year? What about in five years? Ten?”

These are the questions I get so often.

But…Ragazzi!!! (“Guys”!) Do y’all think I have a master plan? 🫣 The answer is “nope”! 🤣 I’m pretty much winging it these days.

I am going with the flow, taking it as it comes…I’ve got trips planned through the end of the year (of course! 😉) but beyond that? Not a clue! 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s such a delight to see where the wind takes me - and I’m here for it!

(Too funny - didn’t notice it when I took the pic but check out the 2nd picture at the bottom! A lil note from the universe!)

Bratislava’s Quirky Statues

After the fall of communism in 1989, the city of Bratislava decided to make the place less austere and more inviting and fun for visitors by installing unusual statues throughout the city.

Here are a few of them…

The first one commemorates a soldier from Napoleon’s army who, while passing through Bratislava, fell in love with a local girl, stayed, and began producing wine. 🍷

Next: Above an ice cream 🍦 shop in a recessed nook, you’ll find a creepy little guy with an oversized phallus 🍆 known as Posmievačik, meaning "mockingjay" or "sneerer”. Legend has it that this sculpture was set there to ridicule a former owner of the building who used to spy on the passers through a small window.

One of the most famous statues is Čumil, the guy in the manhole cover. “Čumil” means “the watcher” 👀
Two possible explanations for his name: first, he is a typical communist-era worker who is not bothered about the work he’s supposed to be doing. And the second, he’s looking under the women’s skirts. Yuck.

Hans Christian Anderson spent time in Bratislava and was memorialized with a lovely statue featuring small animals and critters from his stories.

The two “skater girls” are hanging out on an actual functioning mailbox, just chilling.

And finally, a beautiful woman with flowing hair, an owl and 6 ravens called 🐦‍⬛“Bosorka” meaning “witch.” The six ravens, each with unique eyes, representing different types of magic: elemental, illusion, summoning, healing, transformation, and arcane. She commemorates the many women worldwide who were persecuted and killed because they were considered witches.

Such a cool little treasure hunt to find all these as I wandered and meandered about this beautiful city.

Day trip! 🎒

When I was looking for somewhere to spend a day that was easy to get to and not too far from Bratislava, I found the answer on one of my favorite blogs, Wander-Lush - Cultural Travel Blog. I have been a fan of Emily’s posts for years, taking her advice for my trip to Georgia a couple of years ago and then replicating her spot-on recommendations for a road trip around Albania.

Emily recommended Modra, so off I went, and as usual, she was right! 😁

Modra is a town surrounded by vineyards (now I bet ya see why I went! 🍷) and is famous for producing gorgeous majolica ceramics for centuries.

It was a beautiful day to be outside, so I just rambled around, strolling down the quiet side streets, enjoying the vibe. I popped into a tiny majolica museum in a beautiful ancient tower where I was the only visitor, took a bunch of photos, visited a ceramics workshop, and had an amazing lunch at Wild Kitchen Modra with a beautiful glass of local wine. I logged almost 20,000 steps- it was great to be outside enjoying the weather. ☀️

This trip to Slovakia has been completely expectation-free…probably a first for me. I did a minimal amount of research beforehand and am just “winging it”!

I highly recommend it! 🥰

It was the equivalent of throwing a dart 🎯 at a map.

I was looking for somewhere to escape the intense and brutal heat of Palermo and wanted a quick getaway that

1. wasn’t a long flight,
2. would be inexpensive,
and
3. was somewhere the temperatures would allow me to be outside.

So…Welcome to Bratislava! 😉

Although I knew nothing about the city, I figured I could learn a bit in the 24 hours before I boarded a flight there. 📚

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and is squished in between Austria, Poland, Czechia, Hungary, and Ukraine. Many people do a day trip here from Vienna or Budapest but I think this city warrants more than just a day. 🇸🇰

It’s clean. Really clean. Charming. Walkable. Compact. Historic. The architecture is gorgeous and the people are friendly. It’s affordable. Not the least bit crowded! There’s a diverse array of restaurants of all kinds and ethnicities, cafes with alfresco seating, scores of brew pubs…and wine!! Who knew Slovakia had wine - good wine!! 🍷

So, stick around! I’ll be here for a few days and have some fun plans ahead.


🇸🇰

It’s been a long time - too long! since my last blog post. 😳

With the extreme heat here in Sicily, I’ve been hiding in my apartment enjoying my air conditioning, and had some time to put together a new post.

https://postsfromaflashpacker.com/9%ef%b8%8f%e2%83%a3-nifty-apps-for-exploring-china/

Whether you are going to China or not, I hope you take a moment to look at my blog and enjoy the beautiful pictures of the locals and the scenery from my trip to Yunnan and Sichuan.

Una festa 🎉magnifica!!

The Festina di Santa Rosalia was an incredible event attended by nearly 400,000 - yep - FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND!! to commemorate the 402nd (written 402° in Italia) anniversary of the miracle of Saint Rosalia ending the Plague for the people of Palermo. (that’s a story I can tell you over a bottle of wine!)

A brand new Rosalia float (carro) decorated in plants and butterflies to signify growth, rebirth and metamorphosis. Drama, readings, songs, a bit of a kerfuffle as the statue of Rosalía got tangled in the overhead street decorations at one point, and a huge explosion of streamers and confetti at Quattro Canti before making its way to the seaside.

What followed was a drone show and 45-minutes of fireworks 🧨 ending at almost 2 am!

The crowds? Intense but peaceful and joyous! 🌹

The heat? Intense as well - nearly 30° (86°) at midnight! 🥵

It was an absolutely wonderful evening full of beauty and traditions - definitely a must see!!

OK, here we go Palermo, bring it on! 🥳

Tonight is the 402nd celebration of Palermo‘s patron saint, Santa Rosalia.
It’s my first time experiencing it, so I’m not sure what to expect but it sounds fantastic… A drone show over the Mediterranean Sea, fireworks, a procession, music, drama, a couple hundred thousand people (!!) and the requisite chaos that Palermo provides every day of the week.

Here are a couple of pictures from last night, and after tonight‘s extravaganza, I will share some more photos.

Edinburgh. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Its history is filled with tragedy and woe, death and specters, 👻 and the tales of the paranormal. 😱

Many stories of this city’s gruesome torture, terror, and horror give Edinburgh the distinction of being “Europe’s most haunted city”.

Theresa and I did not one, but two! haunted walking tours to learn more about the stories that make it so.

We were told tales of squalor, witches, overcrowding, fires, murders…all kinds of fun stuff!

Definitely a unique way to see this beautiful, ancient, moody, and atmospheric place. 😳

Some of my most memorable and favorite hikes are also the hardest ones I’ve done. 😬

Although this hike wasn’t that difficult, there were tricky spots - scrambling across a rock gorge on uneven, wet boulders to cross a small but rapidly churning stream (photo below of me not so gracefully fording said stream!), and a lot of steep dropoffs…but it was absolutely worth it! 😍

The Quiriang on The Isle of Skye passes though some of the most spectacular landscapes in Scotland.
It was formed eons ago by massive landslips which have created jagged high cliffs, moss covered hummocks, hidden plateaus and soaring pinnacles of rock.

A truly epic, gorgeous, awe inspiring afternoon exploring this incredible place.

a giant
sheep
castles
and bogs.

Welcome to the Isle of Skye!