1st Part: San Francisco – Golden Gate Bridge and its surroundings

Back to our US trip. After a few days discovering San Francisco, it was time for me to pack a few things and leave the city. Our first stop was Monterey, a small coastal city located 2h drive from San Francisco. The city is quite touristic as it has great seafood restaurants and bars. But I think that the most popular attraction is The Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of the biggest and most famous aquariums in the US. And that’s exactly what we picked for starting our tour in Monterey.

We left San Francisco quite early to arrive in Monterey at 10am. We started by visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Tickets can be purchased here and cost 49.95$ per adult, which can be seen as quite expensive. You can have better deals though by booking packages with hotel partners if you intend to stay in the city for more than a day.

As we got some days off for Shavuot holiday here in Israel, we decided to go and have a nice Northern-Israel trip.

For those who don’t really know what Shavuot holiday means, here are a few words about it:

Shavuot is one of the Shalosh Regalim (Three Pilgrimage) which are 3 major events in the Jewish year (the 3 are Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot) as in the ancient times, these 3 holidays were the only times the Jewish people were going to Jerusalem from all over the country to visit the great temple and participate in big festivities and ritual worship. Shavuot is the first harvest time of the year in Israel as well as the celebration of God giving the Torah to the Israeli people.

Back to our story: I have booked us a Zimmer (a room in a hut) in Rosh Pina, at the highest neighborhood in the city with an amazing view to the Galilee Sea and the surroundings.

On my last trip to Dublin, I got lucky enough to visit the Guinness Factory. Even though I’m not a huge fan of beer, the place is amazing and definitely worths a visit. Not only will you learn all there is to know about the story behind the Guinness, you will also be able to get access the top floor with an incredible view on all Dublin. This visit was one of the highlights of my trip.

For my 18th birthday, I got the gift of a lifetime: the chance to discover for the first time the United States. I traveled with my parents to San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Here is a brief recap of this amazing trip. Let’s wrap it into parts with each city I visited.

First one was San Francisco.

December 2013, Venice, Italy.
Beyond magical.

I know what some of you might say: is there any city more “cliché” than Venice ? Well, actually, you have to experience the beauty of Venice and its special atmosphere at least once in your life.
Venice is quite small; a long week-end is enough to see what there is to see. But you can’t help feeling the magical place and romantic atmosphere around you. Here are my 5 tips to get to know Venice better.

Israel is well known about Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the southern part of the Negev desert. People coming to Israel for the first time rarely go explore the Northern part. It is a shame because the North has just as much to offer as the South in breathtaking landscapes and holy places. Here are my key destinations I would recommend you to explore.

Vienna is certainly famous for its coffee houses and the atmosphere that you get while sitting in one of them.  At the time, there was a real “café culture” that we somehow lost. Politicians, authors, journalists were coming in cafes to discuss and debate about political and life issues.

Even today, this is not just about sipping your hot chocolate; there is an Austrian life/heritage that you feel while entering into these coffee houses. I made a list of some of my favorite coffee shops of the Austrian capital. All of them are obviously legendary and here’s why.

It is no secret that I love traveling to Eilat. I can’t count how many times I’ve been there already, and still, I feel like I will never have enough of this place. Each time I came though, I stayed at different hotels. Last ones were the Royal Garden Hotel and the Herods Vitalis.

This time, I chose to stay at Soleil Boutique Hotel, a real cute hotel that will charm everyone. As its name mentions, it is a boutique hotel very different from the big hotels I’ve been used to stay at when coming here. Although I didn’t really know what to expect. I have been charmed all the way and I will explain you why.

We decided to travel and discover Avignon city and its region; therefore, I organized our road trip all around it. Starting our road trip from Toulon, we first stopped in Arles, before continuing our road until the beautiful Camargue. We spent the night 25km away from Nimes, in a perfect guest hotel in Remoulins medieval village. The following day, we went to visit the Pont du Gard (the Gard’s Bridge that was built under Roman Empire) and we finally continued our road until Avignon. Overall, we made 300 km in 2 days and enjoyed seeing different landscapes and visiting famous monuments of the region.

During our trip to London we decided to visit the Warner Bros Studios, where the Harry Potter movies were shot. Located a few miles outside of London, we advise you to take a visit there as this is truly a magical experience! You’ll be able to visit the studios, discover the real outfits that were worn by the actors, drink a Butterbear, admire the wax statues and even record yourself flying on a broomstick!