Some things can provide you with access to a certain place: let’s say, wine tasting may be your key to Tuscany, surfing – a key to Hawaii or techno clubs - a key to Berlin. One of the ways to understand the soul of Crete may be through counting its sheep (and goats).

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What we absolutely loved about our last trip to Rome in December was the Night of Museums in Music: Musei in Musica 2018.

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If you read us for some time, you know of our fascination for Cretan villages: so peaceful, so quiet, with the scent of oranges in the air and old people in black sitting in the village taverns. With whitewashed houses nestling close to each other and pots with flowers in the streets, the Cretan villages are incredibly scenic. People of the Cretan villages are usually amazingly friendly. Cretans love sharing their food (A couple of times we got pastry, fruit and a piece of cheese from strangers) and it is fun to be around these people. Don't be discouraged by your basic Greek – ours doesn't go beyond "Hello" - Kalimera and "goat cheese" – katsikísio tyrí.

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July 25, 2018 Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Russia On a sunny but cool morning, we jumped out of a train arriving from St Petersburg at a cracked platform in a train station in Petrozavodsk. In spite of the arrangements we had, nobody was waiting for us to bring us to the kayak basecamp, that our 5-day long kayak adventure tour in Russian Karelia was going to start from.

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We leave the Arctic Circle behind and move back southwards. Travelling Karelia brought us to the conclusion that the wooden villages, churches, and the great outdoors are the best sights of Karelia. While the outdoors is jaw-droppingly beautiful everywhere in this part of Russia, you may find some great architectural landmarks here:

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Santorini is said to be the most beautiful place on this planet. Is it expensive? It is said to be one of the most expensive holiday destinations. However, following in our footsteps, you can have a fantastic holiday without breaking the bank. Here are some great tips for you to travel Santorini on a shoestring:

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Santorini is a photographer paradise: white-washed houses, volcanic rocks rising over the ultramarine sea, blue and white chapels, color contrasting flower pots and sunsets over the old windmills are doomed to look good on the pictures. This Santorini photo series is the outcome of the four afternoons I spent on the island strolling in the villages above caldeira and hardly letting my camera off my hands.

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Valdai is a great destination for a weekend trip from Moscow and St Petersburg or a perfect place for a break on the road from Moscow to St Petersburg.

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Sicily is one of the most popular places to travel to. Going to Sicily, better be prepared to share this beautiful island with other folks. But if you want to travel Sicily beyond the crowds you can find some great places and activities off the beaten track.

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On our road trip from Moscow to the Arctic Circle and beyond it, we leave the paved road for the water road and set off for the Solovki Islands. Solovki embodies all the reasons we love the Russian North for: the beautiful nature, the remoteness and historical architecture. However, these idyllic isles have some obscure history of their own.

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It's incredible what you may find on the Kola Peninsula beyond the Arctic Circle in Russia! A great outdoors with tundra, Arctic deserts and fjords is just one of the examples. You can certainly have some unique experiences here - like doing a tour on a nuclear ice-breaker or visiting a reindeer and husky farm!

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Once upon a time in Paris, I was idly examining a map of the city. Having spotted "Place de la Bastille" in the network of the streets, I immediately put it on my Paris itinerary: I was curious what this old prison I knew from numerous books by Alexandre Dumas looks like now. It turned out it looks like nothing - not a single trace of it survived the French Revolution.

With the Berlin Wall, things are different. There are some remnants of it spread over Berlin. In order to help you choose which historical sites of the Berlin Wall to visit on your next trip to Berlin, we made a list of the most interesting still standing parts of the Berlin Wall and will tell you what is so peculiar about it.

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We arrived at the East coast of the enormous Onega Lake and my mind was blown away. That was just exactly what I dreamt to find in the Russian North: harsh and wild land, so scarcely populated that it might almost be called 'virgin', left and forgotten, and still beautiful in its decline.

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...When we left Moscow at the end of August, it was burning hot. The city was glowing. Just 450 km north - or a one-night-long drive away - the temperature fell to 12 degrees and the sky was rainy and grey. But with every degree off the thermostat, the landscape around was getting more and more beautiful. The burned yellowish meadows turned to ankle-high wet green grass. Deep dark forests, lakes, swamps and seldom villages built of wood appeared behind the car's window.

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We had an epic time on our road trip to the Arctic Circle, exploring the northern wilderness in the European part of Russia: Karelia and the Kola Peninsular. This part of the world has everything we are fond of: pristine nature and it is far off the beaten path. There is room for both peaceful contemplation and wild adventure.

We are up to summarize our experiences into a series of articles. Maybe it will inspire you to put the Russian North on your bucket list or if it's already in your plans, our stories might provide you with some travel tips and a sample itinerary.

This first post is devoted to the things we learned on this trip: some of them were more or less expected others got us by surprise!

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