Elisa's Daily Scoop
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Tanya's Daily Scoop
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TRAVELIN' COUSINS BLOG HAS BEEN RANKED #7 IN
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Underrated European Sites
Happy Tuesday!! Here on Long Island, it's wet and rainy out. I'm glad I enjoyed the sunny, warm weather yesterday. I say "warm" because high 40's is warm for January.
Today, I'm headed to meet a friend for coffee - well, in my case, a hot chocolate - to catch up. She has a very interesting fashion business venture that she is doing and I'm so excited to hear all about it! I'm thinking that perhaps there may be some synergies for us to work together. Fashion and Travel just go to together so perfectly. I'll keep you guys posted! 
You guys probably know that I read a great deal about travel and destinations, and when I do, I LOVE sharing my finds with you!
Today, I came upon a very interesting article from The Discoverer Blog entitled: The Most Underrated Attractions in Europe As the author herself states, "It is strange to say that anything in Europe is "underrated" because that was my exact reaction to this title, but quite intrigued to see what was on this list. I can wholeheartedly say that after reading about the five featured destinations, they are now on my radar, and, in fact, one was just added to my own travel itinerary! Let's take a look: 
Campanile del Duomo di Messina, Sicily, Italy (Credit: Szymon Mucha/Shutterstock)
Campanile del Duomo di Messina (Sicily, Italy)
Located in Messina, a convenient 45 minute drive from Taomina, where Tanya and I will be visiting this coming June/July, I'm ashamed to say, I was not even aware of this imposing clock tower and its astronomical clock! Most travel buffs are well aware of Prague's (Czech Republic) astronomical clock in the center of the Old Town, but, what a delight it was for me to learn about this intriguing attraction, in a city that was not on my itinerary for this trip! As of today, Messina will absolutely be visited, which will surely include a visit to the Campanile del Duomo. According to the article, "The Astronomical Clock of the Cathedral of Messina) is located adjacent to one of Italy's famous ornate Catholic churches, and features a golden lion that comes out from the top of the tower and roars every day at exactly noon. This spectacle goes on for nearly fifteen minutes, with a crowing rooster coming next, and Jesus' apostles and family making an appearance on a rotating pedestal while music swells up to accompany them. " I know that Tanya will be stoked to find out about my addition to our trip. (Of course, we only have one week during this visit, but we'll do the best we can!!) Other noteworthy attractions featured in this piece include: Ring Gaeltacht (County Waterford, Ireland) 
City of Waterford (c) travelincousins.com
Ring Gaeltacht, County Waterford, Ireland (Credit: morrison/Shutterstock)
This destination was clearly NOT overlooked by the Travelin' Cousins - namely, Tanya, who paid a visit to this Waterford in March, 2018.
Founded by Vikings in 914 A.D, Waterford is the Ireland’s oldest city! However, within this country, outside the city proper, located near the Southeast Coast of Ireland, Ring Gaeltacht "is home to locals who sing, dance, read poetry and tell stories just like their ancestors did. As if that wasn't enough to make this small city worth a visit, the route to get there takes you through some of the most breathtaking natural scenery Ireland has to offer, through stunning views of County Waterford" according to the author. Lake Faak (Austria) 
Lake Faak, Austria (Credit: Credit: mdworschak/iStock)
The fifth largest body of water in Austria, I learned, that it remarkably experiences 360 days of sunshine!!!
Sounds like this somewhere I'd love to visit on my next trip to Austria! Perperikon (Bulgaria) 
Perperikon, Bulgaria (Credit: GMihaylov/iStock)
I've never been to Bulgaria, however, I absolutely love the eastern European countries, its culture and the people!
This place however, has some interesting vampire legends to it, which provides some more intrigue to visit!! This ancient city, located about three-hours from Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, has been being excavated by archaeologists for nearly two decades and still only ten percent of it has come to the surface. Famous for a "vampire grave." The legend has it that the corpse of a 40-year-old man in this grave, with an iron stake through his heart "to keep the corpse from rising from the dead and disturbing the living" No one is sure if he was a vampire, but the area is known to have a great deal of worry and preoccupation with vampires up until recently. Fascinating! Santa Claus Village (Finland) 
Santa Claus Village, Finland (Credit: RPBMedia/iStock)
What do you get when you combine a working snow village, Santa's Workshop and real reindeer rides? Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland!
This charming destination sounds like the perfect place to visit with children! And while the area does not get much sunlight throughout the day, the visibility of the Aurora Borealis in the sky, makes up for the lack of daylight, adding to the magical appeal!. (Click Here to read the full article). More for the bucket list, wouldn't you say? Tomorrow, I'm going to chat a bit about Tanya and my evolving itinerary to Sicily! Have a fab day!! -Travlein' Elisa xoxo 
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Guess what day it is...
Hey there!
Guess what I've come up with a new nickname for Tuesdays... 
I love it... What do you think?
So of course speaking of travel, I've only got 3 more days until my first trip of 2019. So exciting. But I'm still not quite 100% ready - in any shape or form. YIKES!! I've been spending time everyday working on our packing or shopping for things either for the trip or preparing the house for me being gone for the 2 weeks that I'll be away. With this and everything else it's been a lot. I'm not at the level of being pre-Christmas busy. But it still seems like I'm doing things every single second of the day. Another thing that has got me absorbed is transitioning to my new phone - the iPhone XR. 
For some reason doing a restore from my previous phone to this one just did not work the same way that it use to and it only transferred certain things. Like the darn phone has a mind of it's own.
So like an idiot, I've been carrying both phones around with me. Making sure little by little that I have all of the information that I want/need on my new device. Yesterday was a busy day that started at 6a and I was out of the house by 6:30a only to have a few minutes to pick up the kids at 4p and then head to choir rehearsal and my board meeting, we didn't get home until nearly 10p. We walked in, said hello to the fam bam and I saw that they were watching Cheaper by the Dozen - a book that I loved as a child, so I decided to plop on down right next to them and enjoy the movie and some down time. 
After-which, I still had a bunch of stuff to get done before heading to bed. But as always, everything worked out.
Okay, so I don't know about you but I have a circle of friends that travel the globe. It's amazing how we feed off of each other and how we manage to surround ourselves with people who have similar interests. So I've known these friends of mine for years and years. Some since I was a teen and whether I got it by the travel bug first or not and whether the addition is contagious is an entirely another story. But I just find it amazing and love seeing and hearing all about each of my friends travels. AND just yesterday I found out that a dear friend of mine who I use to work and live with happened to "check in" on FaceBook at the Hassan II Mosque. The Hassan II Mosque or Grande Mosquée Hassan II is a mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. It is the largest mosque in Africa, and the 5th largest in the world. Its minaret is the world's tallest minaret at 210 metres. 
Hassan II Mosque (c)afrikanza.com
You might be thinking "cool" but what's the big deal...
Well this is the first time that this friend has traveled to Morocco and I will be touring this same place in exactly 7 days from today! And as you know, with all of my travels I've still never been to Morocco or stepped foot on the continent of Africa for that matter. So I immediately contacted him to see if he would still be in Casablanca on the 15th so that we could meet up. But sadly he will be in Marrakesh and we will miss each other. I guess we'll just have to catch up soon and compare notes! Anyhow, that was kinda cool. I only wish it could've worked out a bit differently. Well, it's about time that I head out. Still have lots to do today and then a glorious appointment to get my hair done at the salon. I'll catch you guys back here tomorrow. Ciao 4 Now, -Travelin' Tanya |
