Cheers to summer!

To letting go of control and making time irrelevant.

To unexpected encounters and friendships that start around a campfire.

Cheers to encounters around the fire! | Timothy Meinberg/Unsplash

To cliff jumping and night swimming.

Splash | Jakob Owens/Unspalsh

To the velvet touch of moss in the forest.

Moss | Stas Ovsky/Unsplash

To days that start at sunrise and finish at the next sunrise.

Sunrise on the day of the summer solstice | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

To warm nights and fireflies.

Fireflies at Ochanomizu Kobayashi Kiyochika

To swapping the bed for a portable hammock hung in the woods.

My summer bed | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

To the smell of hay and pine trees.

Hay time | Stephen Radford/Unsplash

To homemade cocktails and rooftop views.

Homemade summer cocktail | Aj Garcia/Unsplash

To finding the joy of challenging yourself!

Summer freedom | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

To saying “yes” more often.

Kayaking | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

Cheers to your best summer ever!

The post Cheers to your best summer yet! appeared first on 203Challenges.

The trulli (the local name for the cone-roofed stone houses; trullo in singular) have been here for centuries and some of them are still inhabited by tiny Italian grannies who refuse to swap their one-room stone house for an apartment in a block of flats in the new part of the town. Fair enough, we reckon.

Alberobello, Rione Monti | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

History of the trulli fairy houses

According to legend, the trulli (from Greek trullos – dome) were invented as a cunning plan devised by the inhabitants of the village when the local count introduced a tax on every newly built house. To avoid paying, the locals started building these stone, storehouse-like structures to mislead the tax collectors. If necessary, they could be dismantled in a matter of hours because the walls were dry-stone. The whole family used to live in one room, with the roof space often being separated with a plank “ceiling” where the kids were sent to sleep. Today, the trulli are protected by UNESCO.

Alberobello, Rione Monti | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

How to explore the trulli in Alberobello

The trulli in Alberobello are concentrated in two areas, while the rest of the town has normal Italian-style streets and buildings.

Rione Monti is the most touristy area with countless souvenir shops. Some of the trulli here have become restaurants, hotels or AirBnBs.

Alberobello | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

One of the most emblematic photo sites in the town is the row of houses with pagan symbols on their roofs. The truth is there is nothing mystical about these symbols – they were ordered by the local tourist office in the 1930s because Mussolini was expected to pay a visit to the town.

Alberobello, the “mystical” signs on the roofs | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

I’d recommend spending more time in Aia Piccola – the other trulli area that has thankfully remained trinket-free. This is actually a residential area where many of the houses are still inhabited; it’s much calmer than its noisy neighbor, and you’ll probably be one of just a handful of tourists around.

Alberobello, Aia Piccola | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

One of the best views of the trulli comes from the vantage point of Belvedere Santa Lucia (see the map below).

There are a few small museums showcasing the story of the houses. The biggest of them is the Museo del Territorio, which features 10 trulli and allows you to get an idea of what life was like in Alberobello in the past.

Where to see more trulli

While Alberobello is the most famous and most densely concentrated of Italy’s trulli towns, it is not the only one. Traditional stone houses are scattered around the whole Valle d’Itria region.

Alberobello, Rione Monti | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

Tips

1. Summer is scorching here and everything closes at noon, so plan to rest between 1 and 5 pm.

2. You probably know this already, but just let us remind you to skip the restaurants with huge signs in English saying “tourist menu” – you will get more food for less money if you walk a few blocks away from the tourist area (tested!).

3. There are many shops selling local products that will let you taste high-quality vinegar, olives and sweets for free.

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Map:

The nuraghes

Nuragic structure – a nuraghe

Since the first time we heard about the ancient cultures of the Ozieri and the Nuragic civilizations, who used to live on the island of Sardinia, we knew the remains of their imposing buildings, temples and burial sites would be the highlights of our road trip in North Sardinia. One of the symbols of Sardinia is the nuraghe – a circular tower built by the Nuragic civilization around 3,500 years ago. You can use your imagination to guess what they were used for, because historians have no idea – only hypotheses (military bases, ruler’s residences, religious spots etc.). There are more than 700 nuraghes left on the island and you will see many brown signs pointing to them while you drive. Visit one (or several) and feel the ancient vibes they exude. Some of the best-preserved examples in the northern part of Sardinia are Palmavera (near Alghero) and Nuraghe Santu Antine (near Torralba).

Alghero: the Catalonian city

Alghero, Sardinia

This is the most Spanish city in Sardinia – it was colonized by Catalonians in the 16^th century and has maintained this special atmosphere ever since. The old town of Alghero is encompassed by a historic citadel with imposing towers and gates, some of them turned into museums or accessible for panorama-lovers to take a look at the roofs of Alghero from above.

Detour idea: Hop on a boat from Alghero’s port and visit Neptune’s grotto, which hides a massive salt lake in its bowels. Boats leave several times a day.

The fairy houses: Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju

One of the highlights of our trip – the Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju (pronounced An-gheh-loo Roo-you) – is a complex of 5000-year-old, underground, rock-hewn tombs that you can explore and even enter (if you feel comfortable in narrow spaces!). For many years the locals, being unable to imagine how these hollow rocks had appeared, believed they were the houses of fairies, and that’s how they named them: domus de janas (homes of fairies). There’s a very fairy feeling here, though the site is actually an ancient graveyard. Who knows, maybe tourists will walk on and wonder about our graves some 2000 years from now.

Read more about Anghelu Ruju.

Sassari: the city of the nine giant candles

Sassari, Sardinia | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

If you can be in Sassari on 14 and 15 August, you will witness a particularly quirky Sardinian festival: Candelieri, when nine gigantic wooden candles pass through the city in a solemn procession to honor the Virgin Mary, who saved the city from the plague. The old part of Sassari is quiet and inhabited mainly by lazy cats who, on a hot summer day, won’t even make the effort to turn their heads in your direction. For a good chat and a creative atmosphere, sit and sip a coffee at one of the student cafes around the university (in the city center).

Basilica della Santissima Trinità di Saccargia

Basilica della Santissima Trinità di Saccargia, Sardinia | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

We had no intention of visiting this basilica, but the contrasting black basalt and white limestone facade blazing in the sun forced us to pull over by the road. If it reminds you of Tuscany, that’s no surprise because it was built in Tuscan Romanesque style. It’s a 30-km (18-mi) drive from Sassari on the way to Ozieri and Thiesi (see the map above).

Sant Andrea Priu Necropolis near Bonorva

Sant Andrea Priu Necropolis near Bonorva, Sardinia | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

You might feel like you’ve seen too many burial sites already, but this one is worth the road traveled (plus the route cuts between scenic hills and plains). One of the domus de janas (remember, the fairy houses = ancient rock tombs) at Sant Andrea Priu Necropolis, the Tomb of the Chief, looks like a 5000-year-old luxury apartment with its 18 rooms sheltered in a cave. Near the main group of rock chambers, there is a headless stone bull believed to represent one of the gods of the Ozieri culture.

Thiesi: a random stop with beautiful street art

Thiesi, Sardinia | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

There was one time when we had been driving for so many hours and got so hungry that we started imagining each other as hot dogs. So we stopped in the first town – Thiesi – where according to the old traveler’s tradition all restaurants were closed. After all, it was before 4 pm and Italians take their resting time seriously. We rambled through the streets, discovered some amazing murals and finally stopped at the only bar open at the time, where we were the only customers and were fed with the last two sandwiches available. That’s what I call luck!

Ozieri and the San Michele cave

Ozieri, Sardinia | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

We visited the town of Ozieri with the intention to see the San Michele cave, known for its domus de janas and some ancient rituals that took place there. Unfortunately, it was closed that day and we had to go on.

Detour idea: Nuoro, the literature town. We didn’t have enough time to go to Nuoro but if you do, plan a stop here – it’s one of the cultural hubs in Sardinia. It also contains the house of Grazia Deledda, a writer who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926 for her exquisite texts describing life in Sardinia (if you want to fully immerse yourself in island life, read some of her works before you hit the road).

Olbia: the happy town

Olbia, Sardinia | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

The Ancient Greeks called Olbia ‘The Happy Town’ and all the tourists practicing dolce far niente (literally translated as ‘sweet doing nothing’) did indeed look happy. Olbia is a port with laid-back cafes and plenty of cork tree souvenirs (you will see the cork trees while you drive).

Detour idea: La Maddalena is probably the most beautiful archipelago in Sardinia – with unreal blue water and myriads of tiny rocky islands accessible by boat tours, it creates the perfect atmosphere to lay back, bask in the sunshine and imagine you are Robinson Crusoe. Or how does a lonely island picnic sound? The resort area of Costa Smeralda is just a stone’s throw away if you need a few days of concentrated sun intake.

Necropolis of Li Muri: the ancient stone circles

Li Muri in Sardinia | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

This late Neolithic funeral dolmen will remind you of other stone circles seen all over Europe. Follow the brown road signs and you will reach a small widening of the road, where you can park and climb a shaky wooden ladder to get across a barbed wire fence. We weren’t sure if this was really legal, but why would they put the ladder there if you were not supposed to use it to trespass on someone’s private property?

Santa Teresa Gallura: the gate to Corsica island

Santa Teresa Gallura, Sardinia

This city was founded in 1808 as a base to cope with the large numbers of smugglers landing on the island, whereas today only tourists from Corsica set foot here. Climb the city’s highest tower – Torre di Longonsardo – for the best view around, and if you haven’t visited the island of Corsica yet, take the ferry (one hour) for a day trip.

Detour idea: If you want to stay longer, Spiaggia di Rena Bianca is the best beach in the city.

The island of Corsica (optional)

Bonifacio, Corsica | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

Ferries leave several times a day to Bonifacio, Corsica, from Santa Teresa Gallura. The Corsican town has a postcard-like harbor, an old town full of cobbled streets, souvenir shops and restaurants with tiny, tiny tables. Climb the Staircase of the King of Aragon and if you crave fresh air, follow the marked hiking paths that will take you out of the town to some rocky outcrops offering breathtaking views. Don’t miss the graveyard-town of Bonifacio, which consists of tens of family tombs resembling real-life houses. All of these tombs are colorful, with roofs, windows and flower pots in front of them.

The Elephant-shaped rock

The Elephant Rock, Sardinia

On your way south, just a few kilometers before the coastal town of Castelsardo, stop by the road to take a photo with an elephant. The Roccia Elefante (Elephant Rock) is 100% created by nature and makes an impressive backdrop for a photo.

Castelsardo: the colorful seaside town

Castelsardo, Sardinia | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

This colorful coastal town has so many beautiful vantage points that you can spend a whole day walking from restaurant to restaurant sipping the local Vermentino wine or mirto liqueur. Start with the old town and its rock-perched Sant Antonio di Abate Cathedral. Roam the steep streets and talk to the nice old ladies selling their handicrafts, then soak your feet in the warm, shallow water of the tiny beach.

Read more about Castelsardo.

Monte D’Accoddi – step back into ancient Mesopotamia

Monte D’Accoddi, Sardinia | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

It’s time to check out a (supposed) piece of Mesopotamia in Italy! This more than 6000-year-old megalithic pyramid is amazing for the fact that there is nothing like anywhere else in Italy or in the whole Mediterranean. At the same time, it very much looks like a Mesopotamian temple (ziggurat), which leads scientists to wonder how the two places were connected in those ancient times. Nobody has yet discovered the secret – maybe it’ll be you who unearths the key piece of evidence! Take an information brochure about the monument in your language and learn more about the mystical rituals that took place here.

Driving in Sardinia

I found driving in Sardinia rather care-free – the drivers didn’t seem as anxious as those on the continent, and the traffic wasn’t bad at all. Most of the roads are narrow and curvy as they follow the hills and rocks of Sardinia, and you can’t drive at high speed, so plan enough time to get from one point to another. The best part about driving in Sardinia is that the landscape changes all the time – from high, red-colored mountains and rugged coastlines to endless fields and colorful towns. And don’t forget about the long lines of old men sitting on benches in the town centers watching you as you pass by them:

Is that you, the granddaughter of Anna Maria? | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

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There are plenty of warm, mineral pools in the open air around the world. However pleasant they may be in the summer, there is nothing like getting into one in the winter, when snowflakes are falling from the sky and you are soaking in warm, mineral water, not caring about tiny details like weather forecasts or an air temperature more suited to polar bears…

How to do it (better):

Don’t forget to take a towel to dry yourself off as quickly as possible as you climb out of the pool. Also take your favorite warm drink in a thermos for pure bliss (coffee, cappuccino, tea and rum, only rum – we’re not judging).

Where to do it:

The Blue Lagoon in Iceland – The Blue Lagoon gets its name from the incredible color created by the mixture of fresh and salt water. It lies 40 km (24 mi) from the capital of Iceland – Reykjavík. The Blue Lagoon contains around 6 million liters (1.5 million gallons) of geothermal water, which renews itself naturally every 40 hours and its temperature is 37º C (98º F). Another cheaper and more tranquil option is the Myvatn Nature Baths nearby.

Japanese onsen – “onsen” is a type of spring that is very common in Japan. Visit Beppu, a city on the island of Kyushu, with its “Hells of Beppu” – geothermal hot spots, each differently colored due to the mineral content in the water.

*

Source: the book “203 Travel Challenges. Travel the World. Explore Your Inner Self.”

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Why is the Giant Rafflesia so special?

The Giant Rafflesia, which weighs up to 7 kg, boasts the biggest bloom in the world (the world record is 107 cm in diameter, and the average is around 1 m). What makes the flower even more special is that it takes 8-9 months to grow from bud to bloom, and the dark red petals are alive for a few days to a week only. Afterwards they decay to a black mass and you have to wait another year to see the magical spectacle. The Rafflesia is a parasite with no stem, leaves or roots, growing instead on a tropical vine.

Bud

Almost ready

In bloom

Rotten

When does the Rafflesia bloom?

Nobody knows when the flower will bloom, as the season changes from year to year depending on conditions. It’s a good idea to contact a local agency a few days prior to arriving – they can tell you if it’s the right time to see the Rafflesia. December and January seem to be the most likely months, but the bloom could happen any time.

Can you reach the Rafflesia in Khao Sok National Park without a guide?

The trails leading to the Rafflesia are in a way well marked, but the starting points are small, innocuous-looking paths by the roadside, which are kind of hidden on purpose. If you don’t know the starting point, you can’t get any farther.

At first, I was kind of annoyed that you must hire a guide (500-1500 baht for two hours depending on the agency and how big the group is) instead of getting there yourself. I initially thought they arranged it like this as a way of making money from foreigners, but I was proven wrong. The park rangers from Khao Sok take good care of the rare flowers – every bud is numbered and monitored through the year, and your guide makes sure you behave responsibly around the flower. You are not allowed to touch or, god forbid, pick the Rafflesia. If everyone could find the flowers on their own, the beautiful Rafflesia would undoubtedly suffer more damage.

How does the Rafflesia smell?

Before I visited the Rafflesia, I had read on the internet about how dreadful, life-endangering and dead-corpse-like the stench of the rotten flower was. Eager to try this lethal weapon on my own nose, I almost screamed out of excitement when I saw a dead Rafflesia on the way. But what a disappointment! There was nothing! I couldn’t understand why, as our guide spoke only Japanese (which I don’t speak), but after reading many blogs on the topic, I think I might be the first person in the world who has been spared the rotten-meat smell of this incredible plant.

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There’s no doubt life is better in flip-flops. If the first thing that comes to your mind when someone mentions the beach is a solitary bungalow on a remote island, here’s a challenge for you: find and enjoy some of the best city beaches in the world. Even amid the urban hustle and bustle, you can immerse yourself in the laid-back, cocktail-soaked, sea-breeze-infused atmosphere of these sandy dream lands.

Bruxelles Les Bains (Brussel Bad), Belgium

Beach time in Brussels | Stephane Mignon/Flickr

The capital of Belgium has its very own beach at Beco Quay (Quai de Beco) – every year for a month a real beach appears, featuring huge stretches of sand, palm-trees, exotic plants… Visitors play beach volleyball and beach soccer, or cool off by splashing about in fountains and pools.

Brygge Islands, Copenhagen, Denmark 

Brygge Islands | © Christian Alsing/ Visit Copenhagen

You may think you’re too far north to afford the luxury of going for a swim in the open, but that’s because you haven’t been to Brygge Islands – a wonderful free pool by the harbor in central Copenhagen. The water is clear and refreshing, but you probably won’t want to jump off the quay and into the water unless you visit in July or August.

Paris Plages (Paris Beaches), France

Beach along the Seine, Paris | Eric Huybrechts/Flickr

The closest coast is 200 km (124 mi) from Paris, but that doesn’t stop the French. For four weeks from late July, several tons of sand are pumped onto the Seine’s banks in the French capital. More than 2 km (1,5 mi) of sandy beaches invite all those citizens and guests who are exhausted from the heat to enjoy a Seine-side holiday. The beaches bustle with free classes, rollerbladers, cyclists, a mobile library and plenty of people enjoying other fun activities.

Repulse Bay Beach Hong Kong, China 

Repulse Beach, Hong Kong | Mark Lehmkuhler/Flickr

Escape from the madness of Hong Kong and discover the sun and golden sands that grace the southern part of the island. This oasis of calm is set against a background of modern buildings and mountain slopes. 

Venice Beach, Los Angeles, USA

Venice Beach, LA | DenisDenis/Flickr

This iconic beach is perfect not only for sunbathing, but also for renting roller skates or a bike. You can roll down a seven-mile bike alley to Will Rogers State Beach.

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I feel like my whole travel story is filtered in Terry Pratchett’s Big Bang theory:

“In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded”.

His tongue-in-cheek wisdom has helped me see the world’s bright side, no matter where in this world I’ve been. Here’s a collection of 29 of my favorite Terry Pratchett’s quotes regarding various travel situations:

Tips to remember on your first trip…

“Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom.”

“We’ve got a lot of experience of not having any experience.”

“Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.”

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

When in Amsterdam…

“My experience in Amsterdam is that cyclists ride where the hell they like and aim in a state of rage at all pedestrians while ringing their bell loudly, the concept of avoiding people being foreign to them. My dream holiday would be a) a ticket to Amsterdam b) immunity from prosecution and c) a baseball bat.”

When in Spain…

“Studies have shown that an ant can carry one hundred times its own weight, but there is no known limit to the lifting power of the average tiny eighty-year-old Spanish peasant grandmother.”

When something goes wrong, remind yourself that…

“Freedom without limits is just a word.”

“There isn’t a way things should be. There’s just what happens, and what we do.”

“It’s not worth doing something unless someone, somewhere, would much rather you weren’t doing it.”

“Do you think it’s possible for an entire nation to be insane?”

“This isn’t life in the fast lane, it’s life in the oncoming traffic.”

“Inside every sane person there’s a madman struggling to get out.”

“So, everything in this world ran its natural course. Except for everything else that went heels over head.”

“Sometimes you laugh because you’ve got no more room for crying.”

When you’re afraid…

“Cowards make the best strategists.”

“Lots of people would be as cowardly as me if they were brave enough.”

When you get lost…

“She was also, by the standards of other people, lost. She would not see it like that. She knew where she was, it was just that everywhere else didn’t.”

While you watch the sunrise…

“The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn’t sure it was worth all the effort.”

When you had it coming…

“He was the sort of person who stood on mountaintops during thunderstorms in wet copper armour shouting ‘All the Gods are bastards.”

When you’re bored…

“Human beings make life so interesting. Do you know, that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to invent boredom.”

“Everything looks interesting until you do it.”

Traveling in style…

“If cats looked like frogs we’d realize what nasty, cruel little bastards they are. Style. That’s what people remember.”

When you keep on postponing that amazing trip, remember that…

“Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened.”

“If you don’t turn your life into a story, you just become a part of someone else’s story.”

“It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes. It is in fact true. It’s called living.”

“Time is a drug. Too much of it kills you.”

“So much universe, and so little time.”

“You know what the greatest tragedy is in the whole world?… It’s all the people who never find out what it is they really want to do or what it is they’re really good at. It’s all the sons who become blacksmiths because their fathers were blacksmiths. It’s all the people who could be really fantastic flute players who grow old and die without ever seeing a musical instrument, so they become bad plowmen instead. It’s all the people with talents who never even find out. Maybe they are never even born in a time when it’s even possible to find out. It’s all the people who never get to know what it is that they can really be. It’s all the wasted chances.”

“When in doubt, choose to live.”

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>>> Discover more thematic collections of travel quotes.

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Of course, as a student, you would love to write your assignment on the places you visited before and, as a bonus, mention some quotes. So, you can pay for assignments to do a great job with writing experts.

Here are our favorite:

#1 It is not down in any map, true places never are – Herman Melville

#2 Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost. – Erol Ozan

#3 I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth. Then I ask myself the same question. – Harun Yahya

#4 Leave home, leave the country, leave the familiar. Only then can routine experience—buying bread, eating vegetables, even saying hello—become new all over again. – Anthony Doerr

#5 Discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. – Marcel Proust

#6 Wherever you go, go with all your heart! – Confucius

#7 There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it. – Charlotte Eriksson

#8 I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can’t read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can’t even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses. – Bill Bryson

#9 There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign. – Robert Louis Stevenson

#10 To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. – Aldous Huxley

#11 Own only what you can always carry with you: known languages, known countries, known people. Let your memory be your travel bag. – Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

#12 I like different places. I like any places that isn’t here. – Edna Ferber

#13 At the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling. – Shanti

#14 Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent in the office or moving your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain. – Jack Kerouac

#15 Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground. – Judith Thurman

#16 Travel is still the most intense mode of learning. – Kevin Kelly

#17 Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. – Neale Donald Walsch

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Practical travel tips for Italy

1. Italy welcomes millions of tourists every year, but don’t expect Italians to speak English. Before you go, it’s well worth jotting down some useful phrases in Italian. Italians are genuinely flattered when a foreign visitor makes an effort to speak their language, and will open their hearts to you.

2. If you stay long-term in Italy, you’ll need a personal tax code (called a codice fiscale, something like social security number in the USA) to get access to various services, or to rent an apartment.

3. August is the worst month to visit Italy (especially after August 15) because all Italians take their vacations at that time – the roads are jam-packed, many places are closed and the beaches are crowded.

4. In many parts of Italy, regional trains (treni regionali) don’t run on Sundays. This inconvenience is usually partially covered by a local bus that stops at each town on the route (but not always at the railway station – don’t forget to ask for the actual location). So if you have to head somewhere on a Sunday, plan carefully!

5. You’ll want to take photos all the time, so getting a second memory card and a back-up battery pack for your camera is a really good idea.

6. When visiting a world-famous attraction, buy your tickets in advance if possible. Leonardo’s Last Supper in Milan, for example, can be visited only with a reservation, and tickets sell out months in advance.

7. Bring comfortable shoes. Italy’s big cities require a lot of walking to get from one attraction to the next, while in small towns streets are often made from cobblestones and are not high heel-friendly.

8. Even if you don’t have much time, spend at least one night in a small, non-touristy town. Your hallowed status as a foreigner will guarantee you a warm welcome from the locals and a deep, genuine sense of communication that is hard to achieve in the big tourist centers.

9. Most shops, supermarkets and restaurants close between 1 pm and 5 pm. On Sundays they are closed all day. My first Sunday in Italy, in a small provincial town, was marked by hunger and desperate roaming around the city in search of somewhere to buy food. I found nothing. In the end, I had two spoons of sugar (the only edible product at home) until one bar finally opened its doors at 3 pm and I filled my kitchen with croissants.

A proverb many travelers swear by!

Food and drink

10. If you eat at a restaurant, you may find two add-ons on your bill – service and coperto (cover charge). They are usually a fixed sum per person. The only region where coperto is illegal is Lazio, which includes Rome.

11. Choosing a small, family-run restaurant or trattoria two blocks away from the tourist area is the best idea 99% of the time.

12. You will recognize good gelato by its bland colors. They don’t put artificial colors or flavors in quality Italian ice-cream. That’s why banana gelato will usually look grayish rather than bright yellow.

13. If you want to try having your morning coffee the Italian way, order an espresso at the bar, gulp it down while you stand and exchange some gossip with the bartender. There’s no sitting at a table or leisurely sipping here.

14. Don’t ask for ketchup or mayo on your pizza. It is considered rude to the cook and a demonstration of bad taste. You’ll be happy to discover that Italian pizzas don’t actually need anything more.

15. Plan a visit to a food market. Most cities and towns have a weekly/monthly farmer’s market (ask at your hotel when and where it takes place) where vendors will be happy to offer you free samples of cheese, olives, bread and cookies. It is usually acceptable to bargain at these markets, especially if you plan to buy in bulk.

16. A typical Italian meal consists of antipasto, primo, secondo, contorno and dolce (appetizer, first and second courses, side dish and dessert). Italians seem to have no problem swallowing this glut of food, while a foreigner trying to compete with them will most probably be sweating and having trouble breathing by the time the tiramisu is served.

Practice dolce far niente

17. Dolce far niente (literally translated as ‘sweet doing nothing’) is the Italian concept of not hurrying, not taking anything personally, taking your time and enjoying life. It’s one of the best things you can learn from your trip to Italy.

18. Let yourself fall in love with an Italian girl/boy. Because what would a holiday to Italy be without a touch of romance?

19. Italians are famous for their transportation strikes, so allow for a few extra hours when you head to the airport.

20. Try hitchhiking in Italy. The last time I did it in Sicily, I was picked up by two lemon-growing workers who took me and my friend to the beach, even though they were not going in that direction. They were so nice that they even offered to come back later and take us to the town where we were staying.

21. It’s no use arguing with Italians about whether they did or did not invent pizza, pasta, football or fashion… Facts are powerless when it comes to national pride. Just enjoy the delight on their faces when you agree that Italy is the best country in the world!

22. Or simply forget everything and follow the wise man’s advice: visit Italy at least once a year!

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The post 22 honest travel tips for Italy appeared first on 203Challenges.

This list of travel challenges is meant to make you step a little out of your comfort zone. If you like spending time in nature, then you’ve probably already completed some of these challenges. Nevertheless, there are ideas here that will help you plan your next outdoor adventure.

1. Roll around in the snow after taking a sauna (in the name of health!).

2. Organize a night picnic with lanterns/candles/campfire/the full moon.

Photo: Dave Lastovskiy/Unsplash

3. Go where 90% of animals and plants are unique and can’t be found anywhere else (we mean Madagascar, but if you find another place that meets the criteria, go ahead!).

4. Boil eggs in a valley of geysers – there are just over 1000 geysers on Earth, but it seems the influence of hot water on the human mind hasn’t been well studied yet because people tend to think of weird stuff to when they see a geyser. Like boiling eggs (there are hundreds of videos of this; check them out if you find the idea interesting).

5. Pop a bottle of champagne when you climb a new mountain peak. You deserve it.

Photo: © Lachezar Sokolov/www.203challenges.com

6. Spend the night in a hammock in a forest or on the beach.

7. Jump into a warm, open-air mineral pool while it’s snowing.

8. Bathe in a waterfall (one idea).

9. Hug a very special tree (a local attraction, a very old tree or a family tree).

10. Practice gökotta. Gökotta is a Swedish word that roughly translates as “to rise at dawn in order to go out and listen to the birds sing”. Read more about gökotta.

Photo: © www.203challenges.com

11. Try volcano boarding – hike up to a volcanic crater, enjoy the view, then try something more interesting: slide down the volcanic stones and ash with a special board at a speed of up to 75 kph (47 mph).

12. Discover sandboarding – slide down a sand dune with your feet fixed to a board.

13. Skinny-dip in a remote mountain lake.

14. Stand before the Gates of Hell.

15. Fly high in a hot-air balloon.

16. Breathe in the scent of lavender in Provence (between June and August is the best time to do it).

17. The most difficult challenge for active people: Spend a whole day doing nothing. Rest, observe the world around you, take a nap in the afternoon, have a cup of tea… Genuinely try to enjoy doing nothing.

18. Sleep in a floating bungalow (one idea here).

Photo: © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

All ideas are inspired by the book “203 Travel Challenges. Travel the World. Explore Your Inner Self.”.

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Need more inspiration? Take a look at our photo guide of our planet!

​This type of trip can inspire you to take a new path – enroll in a livestock breeder course, learn a new skill, or something else.

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