IN SEARCH OF A PERFECT SMALL CARRY-ON

I'm in search of a perfect backpack that I could bring with me on the plane as a small bag. I'm usually flying with Ryanain and if you buy the cheapest fare ticket, small bag is all you are allowed to bring with you. Even if you add 20kg check-in luggage, the small bag is going to be your only companion on board. It measures 40x25x20cm and if it doesn't fit into baggage size frame in the airport, you can get extra charged. It's kinda tricky to find a bag on the market that would fit these measurements, I don't think many manufacturers (or any, tbh)thought of that and it's really frustrating. I'm not someone who travels with a small handbag or everyday backpack, it's just not enough for me. I always have couple of cameras, sometimes my 15inch laptop, souvenirs or little gifts that I could easily pull out the minute I reunite with my friends' and my brother's little ones, so I want all of 40x25x20cm, no mm less. To be honest, I haven't travelled for what it feels like million years, as we are still in the middle of pandemic and lock-down, and I am struggling to remember all the stuff I usually carry in my travel backpack. Maybe it's not the best time to look for that perfect backpack after all... But hey, as they say, prepare sledge in summer!

 

So what am I exactly looking for? As I said, it cannot be smaller than 40x25x20cm, I'm gonna be a maximalist about that :) I am also looking for a lightweight bag, with as little unnecessary pockets (they call it organization) and zips as possible. The bag has to have some safety features, like hidden zips, maybe hidden pockets as close to my body as possible, etc. It also has to fit my 15inch laptop and have enough padding to protect my cameras and other stuff sitting in the bottom of the bag. I've researched a wide range of brands, starting with very cheap ones, finishing with expensive ones. I read a ton of reviews on the internet and watched Youtube videos, that mainly helped me eliminate certain backpacks from my list. 

 

I settled down on 2 brands - Samsonite and Pacsafe. Both of them are not cheap, so I secretly hope I am not gonna like any of the backpacks I chose. I purchased them off Amazon as they had the best prices. They fit my bill the best, but I have some doubts, as they have features that I love, but they also have features that I don't think will work for me. These backpacks did not have many reviews, so I am gonna review them myself for myself and you. 

 

I hope this will be helpful, so stay tuned. And if you have any suggestions for brands or certain backpacks, leave your comment down below.

PHOTO ALBUM OF SEVILLA

Hot, colourful and vivid city in the south of Spain. It is zigzagged by narrow streets with small independent full of curiosities shops. If something caught your eye in one of them, grab it straight away as you might not find the shop the next day. Prepare yourselves for sign language as locals do not speak English or any other language but Spanish. Watch out for cyclists as they are the most important traffic participants. Always have your EU passport as it allows you free entrance to some museums and other objects. If you are a shopaholic, have in mind that Zara and Mango are Spanish brands, which means that it is way cheaper in these shops in Spain. I have to admit that I found Sevilla cosier and more impressive than Barcelona. Although both cities have a special creative and artistic atmosphere :) 

THE CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLA

PLAZA DE ESPANA

 

 

ROYAL PALACE

POPULAR COSTUME AND ART MUSEUM

 

BULLFIGHTING MUSEUM AND ARENA

GIFT GUIDE #2. SOUVENIR GIFTS FOR GIRLS.

This post was not planned at all so it appears here very unexpectedly. I was not prepared for it, therefore, I found only one suitable picture for it. That's a shame cos now I think it could have been useful for some of you. 

Before going on holiday to Lithuania I knew for sure that I would want to spend it in my Mom's homestead with her girlfriends. Yes, HER girlfriends. She has quite a bunch of them, they all have extremely different personalities and I am the only daughter for all of them :D, so I wanted to surprise them, spoil them a bit and pamper. I wanted the souvenir gifts to be unexpected, useful and pleasurable:

So, the list of gifts:

1. Plastic red baskets (Wilko, the link is to another colour).

2. Notebooks "Thoughts of An Absolute Genius" (Wilko). Every bottom of the page of this notebook has pictures of glasses like mine, so I thought this would be kind of personalised gift and would remind a little bit of me.

3. Fridge magnet with views of the region I live in (Waterstones).

4. Soap and Glory body scrub (Boots).

5. My favourite Thorntons chocolates.

6. And, of course, tea for girls Pukka Womankind.    

I wrapped everything in Paperchase tissue paper and secured the package with a sticker. It is a perfect gift for a cousin or grandmother :)

That is my recipe for a souvenir gift for girls :)

HOLIDAY @ HOME OF A CAT

This summer I spent two weeks in Blouse's fazenda. But before that I visited the capital city and Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania!

And here is the Dutchess herself:

Unlike Blouse, fazenda is not shabby at all. To tell the truth I thought it looked more like a little mansion with all amenities. It was surrounded by lots of flowers of different colours (that is the only way I can recognise flowers: red flower, blue flower, yellow flower...), statues and all kinds of objects in apple trees.

By the way, like a proper Mrs. Cat, Blouse has a servant my Mom, who is responsible for all interior and exterior design details. Just have a look what posh plates and bowls Mrs. Cat is eating from...

What did I do there? I was reading readings,

was sniffing roses that came to Blouse's fazenda from my grandparent's late homestead,

was staring at BBQ smoke,

all messed up in the mornings was walking on the grass,

was taking a picture of a snail cos my Mom told me to,

and had a walk in the up-to-my-knees forest! :D 

Shame my lazy days ended quicker than it came....



BEHIND THE SCENES:


rain,

wine,

green cheddar cheese,


yellow chicken kotlets,

sweet cherry I did not eat,

dried-up well,

sweet sleep,

creme brulee latte,

my feet in ice cold pool... 

FRAN MENESES TRAVEL-JOURNAL. A POST THAT TURNED ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE

Today I received a beautiful travel-journal written by Fran Meneses and have already finished reading it. Sounds epic, but it's a very small book, so that's ok :) This travel-journal is about Fran's and her friend Monse's trip to Paris and London. Fran is Spanish who lives in Berlin with her husband and two cats. She is an illustrator, blogger and youtuber, and she tells her story mainly through her drawings. It's such a beautiful little book with tips, recommendations and emotions that I can't even tell. It reminds me why I love travelling on my own so much. Fran writes about spliting with her friend during the trip on some occasions because they wanted to see different things and on one occasion she even had to change her plan to see an exhibition she was excited about, just because her friend did not want to go to Montmartre on her own! So selfish of her friend and so nice of Fran, but no one would have stopped me from doing my thing :) She also writes about being homesick and trying to adapt in a new country. She meets Estee from Essie Button who had moved from Canada to England years ago. They spent a beautiful day together, sharing their thoughts and experiences on the matter and I absolutely agree with Estee - everything's gonna be fine :) Life is beautiful! 

  

Do you guys write your own travel journals? I do. But mine is not even close to Fran's. My journal is more like a diary. Every time I fill it in, I feel it's too boring, my writing is rubbish, everything is very bad, including my handwriting. But I never give up and just keep doing it. I know that when I read it in half a year, every word will be worth of a gold. It's funny how many things you forget in such a short period of time. Last year I travelled a bit with my Mom. Well, she actually came to England to visit me and I asked her to fill my diary in with her thoughts. It's so interesting to read about the same trip through the perspective of another person, especially when the person is from another generation. It is fun, but I just love travelling on my own. So many people cannot understand that and find it shockingly astonishing, but that's the way I am and this is what my personality needs.

My travel journal. I got it from Paperchase a year ago.

 

 So these are some of the reasons why I travel on my own:

• I do not have to compromise on where to stay (£££) or how to get to places of interest (I can walk all day and this is what I do);
• I go to museums, exhibitions, parks, and other places of my own choice;
• I can spend as much time as I like on choosing postcards in souvenir shops or simply browsing at quirky shops. Or take as many shots as I want until I am satisfied with the one and no one is rushing me because someone is hungry or tired;
• I am responsible only for myself and I do not have to babysit someone else (trust me, there are people like that).   

I hope that makes sense. 

The stuff in my journal.

As I have mentioned above, same as Fran I live far away from my native country. I moved to England from Lithuania nearly four years ago and I am glad I did it. I never was homesick or anything like that and I never had this feeling in my life. I remember when I entered university and moved to our capital city, my friends used to whine how much they miss their home and they used to go back to their home towns as often as they could. Whereas, I used to go home as less frequent as possible because I never fell the need to. It's the same story now. I do not miss my country and I probably would never go there if I did not feel the responsibility to see my friends and family there. Probably every town in England has Eastern European Food Store, but I shop there only couple of times a year. And that is not because I miss some specific foods, I just love discovering what's new on the market. The reason why I do not shop in Eastern European Food Stores is that I want to adapt to the country I live in as best as I can. I also want to know as much about the country I live in as I can and trust me, even simple thing like grocery shopping in local supermarket can tell you a lot about it. I should probably make a separate post about my grocery favourites :)

Oh dear. This post did not turn up as I planned it. It had to be praise of Fran Maneses talents only, but it turned out into something more personal :) Hope you do not mind :) 

If this is the first time you heard  about Fran, you should definitely check her blog! And if you would like to get her book, you can do it here! :) 

OSLO

Last October I spent three nights in Oslo. I had never been to Oslo before so I was really looking forward to it. I travelled with Ryanair, although I prefer travelling with Star Alliance companies. The flight to Rygge took only 1hr 40mins and I had to take train to get to the Oslo centre. I stayed at Smart Hotel Oslo and was not disappointed as the hotel is new, tidy, and has a retro sense to it. The room was compact, but I did not have anything to complain about. Besides, I did not go there to spend my holidays in hotel room. 

Speaking about my impressions, I loved everything there, even if the weather was not very warm (I even had a chance to see the snow on my very last day!). On my first day I went to Norwegian Folk Museum, The Viking Ship Museum and Kon-Tiki Museum. They all are located on Bygdoy peninsula and you can get there by public transport. I liked Norwegian Folk Museum the best because they had the most amazing carvings exhibition. And I will not lie if I say that I could not stop smiling for some time after I left it. October is not a holiday season and all attractions are open really short hours, therefore, I had not done or seen anything else that day. Oh, I actually managed to find a local cuisine restaurant and had reindeer cakes. Yummy :) I strongly recommend going to Restaurant Schroder and trying them, together with a pint of Norwegian beer.   

The second day happened to be a little bit rainy, but I had devoted it for shopping, so straight away I went to Markveien street. There are some really cool vintage clothes and accessories shops that I wanted to go to and the first I visited was Robot. I managed to get there a Viking ship necklace and a woolen sweater I fell in love with. I also grabbed a black wallet, but I still have not decided what I am going to do with it. Whoops... :D So I visited quite a few similar shops, but my next score was at Fretex. If you have similar interests to mine, definitely check it out, as they have good stuff and low prices. I also could not pass UFF store which is a huge second-hand shop. You have no idea how big it is and how much stuff it has. And all the stuff is vintage! Prices are a bit on a dear side though, but I still managed to find a coat for myself. Despite souvenirs I bought, these are pretty much all my purchases. By the way, coffee in Oslo is gorgeous. This might be due to fantastic water quality - it is so good that people are encouraged to drink it right from taps! Those who are going to pay for their purchases with their debit cards should consider the fact that every debit card transaction is charged extra, approximately £1. 

FIGURES:

• 10 NOK = £1.
• Postcards cost from 7 Kr (the cheapest are at TIC).
• A stamp to Europe cost 13 Kr and 16 Kr Worldwide.
• One-way train ticket from Rygge Airport to Oslo Central Station cost 156 Kr.
• City Bus ticket cost 30 Kr.
• Medium Latte price starts from 26 Kr (Deli de Luca, not that it's impressive).
• Admission to museums cost from 50 Kr, but there are also free of charge museums.
• If you are wondering how much I paid for reindeer cakes, let me tell you that it cost me 129 Kr.
• And last but not least, do not forget that debit card transactions are charged extra £.