Category: Explore Europe

Cities & Culture Culture Explore Europe Slovenia

Underground Culture in Rog Factory Ljubljana

June 22, 2014 11:54 am June 22, 2014

Soon after World War Two, Rog Factory Ljubljana was a place for manufacturing bicycles and typewriting machines until the early 90’s when the production was closed. Since then the abandoned…

Soon after World War Two, Rog Factory Ljubljana was a place for manufacturing bicycles and typewriting machines until the early 90’s when the production was closed. Since then the abandoned factory represents an alternative open space for users who developed cultural and artistic scene on site.

The first thing you see when entering the territory of ROG is a panel labeled “Staying at your own risk on the ROG factory area“. After 15 years of falling apart in the center of Ljubljana this abandoned factory was occupied by alternative artists.

The city of Ljubljana plans to renovate this area on the basis of public-private partnership which would transform it into Contemporary Arts Centre with exhibition spaces, studios, artist in residence programmes, educational facilities but also with commercial spaces such as apartments, shops, restaurants, hotel and more. Of course, the main problem is that idea tends to be in favour of private commercial space which would make 80% of the total area.

ROG is a place where different people gather and where friendships are formed, mainly among people who work on joint projects. All that lead to creation of a new community which is known as “Rogovci“.

Besides these joint projects, they even formed their own media. Through its newsletter ROG notifies the local community with the activities that happen there and through their radio they allow young voices to be heard.

The main motto of the community is based on “temporarity”. “We do not plan things that can not be realized in less than three days” they say.

And while the future of ROG is now uncertain, this will still be a place where people of different professions gather and create in a space free of racism, hierarchy and discrimination.

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Cities & Culture Croatia Culture Explore Europe Travel Tips

Zagreb’s Museum of Broken Relationships

Zorica

June 9, 2014 7:26 pm June 9, 2014

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“The Museum of Broken Relationships encourages discussion and reflection not only on the fragility of human relationships but also on the political, social, and cultural circumstances surrounding the stories being…

“The Museum of Broken Relationships encourages discussion and reflection not only on the fragility of human relationships but also on the political, social, and cultural circumstances surrounding the stories being told. The museum respects the audience’s capacity for understanding wider historical, social issues inherent to different cultures and identities and provides a catharsis for donors on a more personal level” the EMF’s (European Museum Forum) judging panel noted this when awarding it as Europe’s most innovative museum in 2011.

It all started as a traveling exhibition based on the idea of failed love relationships. Anyone can donate an object which represents their broken relationship along with a story and objects could be anything from a fluffy toy and music CD to something more extreme as an axe. You can also become a donor and send your exhibit. Donors come from all over the world, from neighboring Serbia to far Japan.

Stories are usually packed with humor, hatred and hurt. The exhibition was shown in cities like Amsterdam, Paris, Istanbul, Singapore, Belgrade, Berlin and Ljubljana.

“I was determined to marry her. After two months I called her. She told me that she was in love with another guy who lived near her home. No words came from my mouth, tears ran like a new river from my eyes, and I hung up. I never called her again. My heart was broken very badly, I cried a lot. I spent many sleepless nights. Still her memories are chasing me, still I am crying. She left me alone. Months passed. I moved to my national capital of Delhi. Still it hurts” says an Indian guy Prasanth who donated love notes and winter coat.

“Love is a violent recreational sport. Proceed at your own risk. Helmets, armor, and steel-toe boots are required by law.”

– H.C. Paye

You move on and the next exhibit says “Given to me by an American “boyfriend” when I was 17 and inscribed “for _____ who charmed the savage wolf”. I didn’t know that he would hound my parents for years and would eventually have a sex change and steal their name for his new persona.”

And here’s an “Ex-Axe” story or to be more detailed a story of two lesbians and an axe being promoted to a therapy instrument. After being left for another woman by her partner, this woman from Berlin decided to chop her ex’s furniture. “Two weeks after she left, she came back for the furniture. It was neatly arranged into small heaps and fragments of wood. She took the trash and left my apartment for good.“

“Love is an invited deal for losing peace.”
― Seema Gupta

A Linksys router with a message “We tried. Not compatible.”

Not every museum will give you an emotional, thoughtful and funny experience like this one and that’s the reason I totally recommend it if you are in Zagreb.

And there’s something we shouldn’t forget;

“There is always love, hope and life after a broken heart.”
― Jelord Klinn Cabresos

The best example for this are Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić who founded this museum after their own relationship broke up!

Which object from your past relationship would you leave in the museum?

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Advice Explore Europe Hitchhiking

15 Essential Hitchhiking Tips Everyone Should Know

Zorica

May 12, 2014 6:09 pm May 12, 2014

9 Comments

Hitchhiking is not only the cheapest way of traveling but also the most exciting one as it allows you to have so many experiences in short period of time. You…

Hitchhiking is not only the cheapest way of traveling but also the most exciting one as it allows you to have so many experiences in short period of time. You will;

meet a lot of people and maybe even befriend someone

get frustrated or mad after hours of waiting, but the feeling of getting a ride after waiting for such a long time is good

you will be exposed to very interesting music (see below)

you’ll get better at sign language

your faith in humanity will be restored

you will hear insider stories from your drivers

and more

Hitchhiking is not fun and games only as it involves a risk of being picked by a potentially unsafe driver, so if in doubt turn down the ride.

Here, we’ve compiled a list of 15 essential hitchhiking tips everyone should know.

1) Think twice before you decide to hitchhike. Why? Hitchhiking is not about getting a free ride only, it’s also a WALKING ADVENTURE, so be ready to walk. And sometimes to walk all day!

2) Buy a good road map. It’s gonna be useful when deciding whether you should accept that ride or not.

3) Try to learn the language at least a bit as it will help you have a conversation with drivers. Sometimes they decide to pick up hitchhikers for one simple reason – they are bored and they appreciate company. You will also have a higher chance of getting that ride if you speak your driver’s language.

4) Have a supply of food and drinks with you.

5) You will of course first use the public transport and then go to the outskirts of the town to hitchhike.

6) NEVER accept a ride into the center of the city if you are traveling long distance and between big cities. Not only you will lose a lot of time, it will also be hard to come back to the highway.

7) When at the border, it’s better to cross it on foot and then hitchhike from the other side. Why? Drivers are more alert and they don’t feel comfortable transporting other people through an international border, so you might have more success from the other side.

8) Gas stations are a good place to hitchhike. You can always ask people around for a ride and the chance of success is usually pretty high.

9) Getting a ride at night is really difficult and not recommended.

10) Some people will react mean or try to make a joke on you. Don’t let that discourage you! You are awesome! 😉

11) Usually people who stop don’t go all the way to your destination but you can ask them to leave you at a better spot or at the next gas station.

12) Hitchhike with a friend. Not only it’s more interesting, it’s also more safe. A girl and a guy is the best combination for hitchhiking.

13) Walking along some roads like highways can get you warned or even arrested. Although you may have the right to walk along most roads, it doesn’t bother to check which one you can and cannot.

14) If you are entering a truck, take off your shoes. This is especially true for the part in the back. Truck drivers spend most of their time in a truck and they treat it like it’s their home.

15) In EU there is a law that forbids more than two people in the front of a truck. That also means if there’s two of you traveling you won’t be able to pass an international border with a truck and will have to cross it on foot instead.

What do you think about hitchhiking? Would you do it or not? If you already did, do you have any other tips to share? Feel free to comment below.

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Advice Explore Europe

Hacking Flights In 12 Steps

Zorica

April 29, 2014 1:47 pm April 29, 2014

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There are many ways and resources for finding a cheap flight ticket online which can be confusing, but in general finding a cheap flight is much easier now than it…

There are many ways and resources for finding a cheap flight ticket online which can be confusing, but in general finding a cheap flight is much easier now than it used to be in the past. Here I will list all the tools that you can use to find the best possible deal. Booking a flight is also the most expensive part of your trip and it can be time consuming, but it’s definitely worth it as it can save you a lot of money if you use this ‘Hacking Flights in 12 steps’ guide.

Let’s say we are looking for a RT ticket between Belgrade and Istanbul and 5th-15th June are the dates. First we should;

1) Use flight search engines

We usually start looking for a flight online using various flight search engines. But which ones are the best to use? There’s Kayak, Vayama, Travelocity, Skyscanner, Momondo and many others. Skyscanner is great because it searches all airlines (both national carriers and low-cost) thus allowing you to find the cheapest possible price. If you are flexible about the destination, it will also show you the cheapest flights from your home base airport.

As you can see Skyscanner found the cheapest flight with AirSerbia, while Momondo filtered these results;

Momondo has a great user interface and it allows you to see which flights are cheapest and what is the quickest way to arrive. Another great option is the fare alert, which means that Momondo would let you know if the price of the flight would drop. Because of this Momondo is my personal favorite and I absolutely recommend it.

Kayak is also a good flight search engine but it works much better for the US citizens than Europeans.

2) Check the airline’s website to see if the price is cheaper

Sometimes the price is cheaper when booked directly through airlines website as they want to steer travelers to their own websites instead of online search engines.

So in this case we will check the websites of Turkish Airlines, AirSerbia and Pegasus Airlines.

The results we get are;

AirSerbia’s price is 97 EUR, same what Momondo showed us.

So from all the airlines who fly directly to Istanbul, AirSerbia offers the cheapest price.

3) Search flights from nearby airports

For example, the biggest air hub around is Budapest airport and many people from nearby countries (Serbia, Romania), fly from here. Anyway in our case this is not a good solution as the price is more expensive.

The good thing about searching for flights from nearby airports is the possible availability of more airlines. For example RyanAir flies from Budapest but not from Belgrade. For this reason it might be good to check nearby airports.

4) Check the website of the airport that you will be flying into

Many times budget carriers are not listed in the search engines and that’s the reason you should check a list of the airlines flying into that airport. Usually you’ll be able to find a much cheaper flight.

5) Watch out for the promotions

The earlier time I’ve flown from Belgrade to Istanbul it was with a special promotion of Turkish Airlines. The ticket costed 99 EUR and if you look above it’s 183 EUR. You should definitely sign up for the newsletter of your prefered airline as their subscribers will usually be the first to find out about special deals. So if you wan’t to fly this route for example, sign up for the newsletter of Turkish Airlines and AirSerbia.

6) Check airlines’ social media accounts

Besides signing up for the newsletter I recommend checking them on Facebook or Twitter.

The cheapest ticket we found so far is on Facebook page of AirSerbia! But these are not the dates we want. The advertised price is for travels between 29th april to 12th june so we should also…

7) Be flexible!

This must be the most important thing. Forget about booking months in advance, the best deal you will get is usually ONE MONTH before your trip. The key is to watch promotions and once you spot a great deal just grab it otherwise it’s gone. Being flexible also means traveling in off season which isn’t so bad as you will encounter less tourists than usual.

8) Use miles

If you are a frequent flier check if you can redeem your miles for new flights. You will have to sign up for the frequent flier program of your prefered airline and keep track of your miles.

9) Check student discounts

The best site in this category is statravel.com which offers cheaper rates for students.

10) Visit Holiday Pirates website

This is an amazing resource for crazy cheap flight deals, hotel deals and everything in between. Check it out for yourself, you won’t regret it!

11) Delete cookies

Clear your browser’s cookies when searching for a flight. Search engines usually track how many times you have visited their website which can make prices go up.

12) Check with the travel agent

Travel agents will rarely give you cheaper tickets than the tools I’ve just introduced to you but it doesn’t bother to try. Even if the travel agent has a slightly costlier price, he can help you by giving advice about your destination.

What is your favorite tactic for finding cheap flights? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.

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Cities & Culture Explore Europe Romania Travel Tips

A guide to Timisoara, Romania

Zorica

January 29, 2014 11:03 pm January 29, 2014

10 Comments

So you are thinking of visiting Romania’s third most populous city? This guide to Timisoara should help you out. Timisoara can be easily reached from many locations like Budapest or…

So you are thinking of visiting Romania’s third most populous city? This guide to Timisoara should help you out. Timisoara can be easily reached from many locations like Budapest or Belgrade (click to read “Belgrade to Timisoara by train“). The name of the city comes from the river Timis that flows to the south of the city and this is the main center of the historical Banat region. It’s a small city and one day is more than enough for exploring it.

SIGHTSEEING

The best way to start sightseeing is by grabbing a map of the tourist attractions at some of the tourist information centers in the city.

As you can see the map suggests some routes that you can opt for. I suggest you opt for route 3 simply because you will see more attractions. Timisoara is known as the “City of parks” in Romania, so it has a special park route as well. You will most probably start your sightseeing from the Victory Square. From here you can easily visit the Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral which is one of the symbol buildings of the city. It’s also one of the biggest churches in Romania.

Interior of the Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral

Victory Square has many buildings in the “1900s style” with great architectural elegance. One of the most notable buildings in the square is the Culture palace which houses the Romanian Opera House. It was devastated by two fires and rebuilt again. The auditorium has 600 seats. Timisoara is actually the only European city that has state theatre in three languages as it also hosts the German State Theatre and the Hungarian State Theatre “Csiky Gergely”.

Culture palace

By exploring the city you will notice that street art is an important part of a city’s culture. Timisoara also hosts annual “Graffiti and Street Art International Festival” in September with the aim to represent street art works on great and visible sufraces. For more photos click here.

Besides Victory square another important square is Unirii. You can see the Holy Trinity Monument here, in baroque style. The three sides show bas-relief with scenes from the plague epidemics which occurred from 1738-1739.

Unirii square

One of the most beautiful buildings is the Baroque palace which dates back to the 18th century. Franz Liszt held a concert in the baroque room of the palace in 1846. The building had various names and functions: it used to be the President’s Palace (18th century), headquarters of the Timis Banat and Serbian Vojvodina Governor and since 1984 it has hosted the Art museum.

Serbian Orthodox Vicarage and Serbian Orthodox Church are another important landmarks of the city. The building of the Serbian Vicarage is under the administration of the Serbian community since 1865 and it hosts an old religious art collection.

Interior of a Serbian church

Theresia Bastion which used to be a fortress during the 18th-19th centuries is another interesting landmark.

Theresia Bastion

Eat/Drink

The local cuisine is influenced by Hungarian, Serbian, German and Arabic specialties.

There is a great Lebanese restaurant in the Victory square called “Beirut”. Shawarma here is really tasty and cheap! You can spot Hungarian kürtőskalács everywhere and Serbian pljeskavica is also quite popular.

Also, you will find many street stalls selling sandwiches, kebab, french fries etc. with great prices.

I recommend a visit to Bierhaus to enjoy a nice beer. There are more than 50 types of beer available here, so you won’t have a problem picking the right one. If you want to try Romanian beer choose Silva or Timișoreana.

Accommodation

There are not many hostels in Timisoara. I’ve stayed in Downtown Hostel which is located in the Victory Square. The hostel is small but cozy as it has three dorms: one of eight beds with shared bathroom, one double-bed room with private bathroom and one twin room with shared bathroom.

It also has a social room and a chill out balcony. But the best part of this hostel are the staff. Great place to enjoy your stay and I absolutely recommend it.

Downtown hostel

The walls of the balcony

If you have visited Timisoara, feel free to leave your suggestions below.

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Cities & Culture Explore Europe Photography Romania

Timisoara Street Art In Photos

Zorica

January 15, 2014 9:42 pm January 15, 2014

4 Comments

Timisoara street art- Timişoara is the third most populous city in Romania, located in Banat in the western part of the country. The city has many attributes and is known as…