Mum and daughter making memories all over the world. Follow us to explore the best places this beautiful earth has to offer Next trip: Greece
Hello World
Let me first introduce myself before taking you on an adventure around the world: My name is Alianne, 36 years and the proud (single) mother of the second blonde mentioned in Two Blondes and a travel blog:
Besides being a fashion addict, foodlover, full-time working mum and booknerd, we have this part-time gig on the side which is travelling the world.
Often people are wondering how I can travel the world as a single mother. The idea of this travel blog started by wanting to change your mindset and give away the tips and trics to see the world on a budget. Life is not meant to stay in one place.
And so the adventure begins….
Curacao
In this blog I will explain to you why Curacao needs to be on your travel bucketlist. Besides the picture perfect of Caribbean holidays, Curacao has so much more to offer.
Bring your snorkel, step into the ocean and pretend to be a mermaid while meeting new friends exploring the clear blue underwater world. Never have we seen so many different colours and shapes of fish, turtles and dolphins. We found paradise.
The cheapest solution to the travel around Curacao is by bus. The only thing is that you are never sure if the bus shows up on time or at all. Because we missed our bus stop at the dolphin training academy and ended up in Punda, we found ourselves wandering the colourful streets of Willemstad. Some things are meant to be.
Swimming with dolphins at the Curacao Dolphin Academy.
Go where you dreams take you. I would rather look back at my life and say I cannot believe I did that instead of saying I wish I did that. So we went swimming with dolphins in the open sea. Dreams came true that day.
We stayed at Morena, a lovely eco resort next to Jan Thiel beach. We have been spending most of our time around Jan Thiel beach just relaxing, reading and enjoying the local cuisine and cocktails. And the area comes with free wifi, a must for a 13 year old.
A bumpy boatride took us to a deserted island called Klein Curacao to have the proper Robinson Crusoe experience. We had to travel to hell (motion sickness) to find paradise. But in the end it was all worth it.
Klein Curacao
One of the sights we had to visit was the flamingo sanctuary. We went on a 10km hiking trail through the old colonial salt plains where now wild flamingo’s claimed their residence. It was extremely hot but definitely worth it. We can now claim to have befriended wild flamingo’s.
Cas Abou beach
Travel makes you realize that no matter how much you know, there is always more to learn. Every trip we take teaches us more about history, culture, nature and wildlife.
And remember, not all classrooms have four walls.
Roadtrip through Tuscany
After exploring the most fashionable city in Italy we took a train down south to Florence. Travelling by (high speed) train we would highly recommend as your mode of transportation in Italy. Driving a car in Italy is challenging and the traffic is insane. Plus parking spots are hard to find.
We found the perfect hotel (La Croce di Malta) for us next to the train station with a swimming pool and a cocktail bar overlooking the city.
After the colloseum in Rome and the leaning tower of Pisa, the Duomo of Florence is the most recognisable item of Italy and not to be missed on your trip to Florence.
The best way to explore a city is by getting lost in it. We found the Ponte Vecchio after dinner in our favourite Ravioli restaurant (Raviolo è Raviolo) trying to find our hotel.
You cannot leave Florence without a visit to the Uffizi Gallery where you can find the most famous renaissance masterpieces such as works by Giotto, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, Titian and Caravaggio.
This city is also known as art lover’s paradise.
Horseriding in Tuscany
After a couple of days exploring the city we felt the urge to explore more behind the cityscape into the Tuscan hills.
Tuscany, with its rolling hills, vineyards, and medieval castles and villages is one of the most picturesque regions in Italy.
Our travels at some point need to involve horses, so we booked a horseriding tour with Fun-in-Tuscany to explore the Tuscan vineyards on a horseback and ending the tour with a winetasting experience. A fabulous manner to combine both my passions for wine and horses. Needless to say, the best experience in Tuscany.
Visitors are universally spellbound when they discover San Gimignano. This ancient walled city on top of the Tuscan hills is called medieval Manhattan.
The towers of San Gimignano were not just displays of wealth, they also represented the power of the families who built them. The taller the tower, the more important the owners appeared to be.
Another reason you need to add San Gimignano to your trip, is the award winning gelato. These Italian gelato connosseurs have tried gelato throughout Italy and have to agree with this winner.
After spending these glorious days in Tuscany, the time comes to explore some more. With train tickets in my hand, we’re departing to the ancient city of Rome.
To be continued.
Amsterdam
As we are still unable to travel to faraway lands and stuck at home due to this Covid pandamic, we decided to keep on exploring close to home. On this blog we are showing you where to go in one of the most touristic cities this world has to offer.
We stayed at this wonderful hotel in the city centre in a normal world way too expensive for us but during the pandamic pretty affordable. One of the perks of travelling in this period of time.
The disadvantage of exploring Amsterdam during lockdown is that all restaurants and bars are closed. But it also gives you the possibility to find the best lunchspots with the most incredible views.
Positive thinking is key in creating happiness.
The shopping queen has arrived in Amsterdam
One of the best cities to take your daughter on a shopping trip definitely is Amsterdam. A magical place where you can spend money on dreamy items you want but not necessarily need.
Comfortably bathing in pink marshmallows.
The must visit for every girl between the ages of 10 and 14 is on a free ferry ride away in Amsterdam Noord. In this museum you can experience the world of Insta art and play. You can book your tickets online on www.wondrexperience.com to release your inner child.
As real tourists would, we bought stroopwafels at Van Wonderen located in the Kalverstraat. The shorter one just couldn’t wait for the photo to be taken and tried a bit along the way. Not so Instagrammable but they were delicious and that’s what matters most.
Museum Ons’Lieve Heer op Solder
The secret church on the attic is must visit for history lovers. This small museum takes you back to the 17th century with all the original details in this upper class canal house. We had a lovely time exploring the past and learning about life all these years ago. You can book your tickets online on www.opsolder.nl
Rembrand’s hall of fame in Rijksmuseum.
You cannot leave Amsterdam without visiting the Anne Frank House and to see the masters of art in the Rijksmuseum. Children can enter these musea for free, so brilliant for budget travellers.
Wake me up when I’m famous
We found this bench while wandering around Amsterdam trying to locate Dunkin’ Donuts on the shorter one’s request.
The best way to explore a city is to get completely lost. Even at home we manage to do so.
Iceland
Where to next? Slowly we are collecting passport stamps of the 500 best places to visit on this planet. One day we will be closing this book and have written our own stories. I have always been wondering where this urge to explore the world comes from. So I had our DNA tested on my Heritage to find out more about our ancestors.
Iceland
Before the results came in, I decided that our next trip will be taken to where my ancestors came from. The exciting moment soon vanished when my results came in. No far away mystical land, just very local Northern European (47% Scandinavian, 37% Northern European and 16% British). So the furthest I could take my next trip was Iceland and I dragged my friend Laura along.
Discovering my roots.
As soon as we arrived on Icelandic ground, that was after I accidentally missed the exit and walked straight through customs into boarding a plane to the US where I luckily found a nice officer to take me back to the “Welcome to Iceland” area, we picked up our rental car to explore the arctic circle.
It was all fun and games until the wind spilled our free glass of wine.
As the Eiffel tower to Paris is, so the Blue Lagoon is to Iceland. With all the positive and negative connotations implied. It is said to be too commercial and too crowded but you will be missing something if you do not go. When we arrived the wind was so strong it almost blew us out of the car. Luckily we could hold on to the doors.
Gullfoss waterfall
Following the golden circle we started to track the most amazing cascades in the world. Starting from Haifoss, Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss to the most famous of them all, Gullfoss.
Horses are an integral part of Icelandic life as it is in ours.
We stayed in a cute little cabin in the woods before continuing our journey to Jokulsarlon. The glorious luminous blue icebergs drifting through the Jokulsarlon lagoon before floating out to sea.
Jokulsarlon lagoon
On our next stop we visited diamond beach. A surreal scene with black sand and diamond shaped ice cubes on the shore. As we wandered the lakeshore it started raining and storming insanely. Soaked to the bone we located our car and drove off with the heaters on defrosting mode.
Trying the diamonds on diamond beach
The next day our journey continued to Skaftafell national park. A breath taking collection of peaks and glaciers.
Skaftafell National Park
After visiting the glaciers we went on a hiking trip to the Svartifoss waterfall. The star of a hunderd postcards. This waterfall with the black basalt columns is easy to find when you follow the 2km trail.
Svartifoss waterfall
On our return to Reykjavik we stopped at the world’s largest spouting hot springs. Every five minutes there is an eruption of steaming hot water in the air. A rare phenomena which we definitely could not miss on our journey. There is a video of the eruption on my Insta travel blog.
The great Geysir
Our hotel was located on the perfect spot to see the northern lights. Unfortunately on the days we visited Iceland it was cloudy and the sky was not clear enough to see the northern lights. Which means we just need to visit Iceland again and hopefully luck will be on our side.