Author Archives: Gaia Gamaggio

Finally, I went on my first trip away from Sydney. This one took me to Tasmania. It was a very spontaneous trip as some friends asked my if I wanted to join them just one week before haha. Luckily, my schedule isn’t too busy and I could go. All we did was book the flights and rent a van and the rest we decided to plan once we arrived on the island. Usually I fully organize my trips in advance, so it was lots of fun to have such a laid back approach. We started off in Hobart and spent the first night on Bruny Island, where we visited the Neck Lookout and did the Cape Queen Elizabeth trail walk to the Arch. I can highly recommend all of this! The next day we drove towards the West Coast and visited Russel Falls. We also spent a night in Queenstown before visiting Cradle Mountain where we did the Dove Lake Circuit, an easy hike with stunning views. We ended the trip at the East Coast where we had some lobster, wine and finally got to see a Wallaby close up.

At first I hadn’t planned to go to Tasmania during my time here in Australia but I am so glad I did! There is so much nature, good food and wine, making it a must visit on your next trip to Australia.

Good Afternoon from Sydney! I can’t believe I’ve been here now for two months already. It’s been a really good time so far and I can proudly say I am enjoying my exchange semester here. While studying at UNSW, I’ve had the opportunity to take some very interesting classes on Aboriginal art or Australian foreign policy. This has been great as I’m getting to learn about topics usually not addressed at European universities. I am here to study of course, but mainly I’ve been exploring what Sydney has to offer and its beautiful surroundings. My friends and I have done day trips to the Blue Mountains, spent days at Bondi Beach, gone on lots of coastal walks, participated in the 10k of the Sydney Marathon (we got to run over the Harbour Bridge!) and go on brunch dates to those classic Australian cafes everyone always talks about. Next month we’ve booked a trip to the Gold Coast and I cannot wait to explore more of the Australian East Coast!

The last stop on our roadtrip was Nizwa, the old capital of Oman. Coming here on Friday meant we were able to see the goat market. It was quite an exciting experience, although I did feel a bit bad for the animals. We also visited Nizwa fort and Jabreen castle, two historical sites that once again showcase the beautiful architecture you can find in Oman. We ended the day with an iced latte at Anat coffee. Usually I would never drink coffee so late in the evening, but because of Ramadan it only opened after sunrise. I was so set on trying coffee from here that timing didn’t matter to me haha 😀

As you can see I took LOTS of photos in Wahiba Sands Desert. It really was a beautiful place to spend the night. We slept on top of a sand dune in big white tents whilst overlooking the main camp. This was the ideal place to see the sunset and sunrise and of course the tent, makes for a more authentic desert camp experience. In the afternoon we got to go dune bashing and it is so impressive to see how good these drivers are at navigating the sands. After enjoying golden hour and the sunset, we had a cozy dinner and were able to get to know a young camp worker from Bangladesh. It was very interesting to hear his story and be reminded of how lucky I am to be living the life I have.

Sur is a cozy small beach town about two hours away from Muscat. On the drive there, we passed by Wadi Shab, an amazing spot to go swimming in Oman. Like I mentioned in the last post, the people in Oman are some of the friendliest I have ever met. After randomly meeting an Omani guide at Wadi Shab, we were invited for an Iftar dinner on the hill while watching the sunset! He brought the most delicious food & dessert – and of course we completely overate (but how could we not haha it was so good). Sur was perfect for a stop over on our roadtrip. It serves as an idea stop over between Wadi & the desert!

After seeing some photos from a girl I met whilst traveling the Dominican Republic, Oman has been on my bucket list. I am so excited that I got to go this past week and enjoy this beautiful country, its friendly people and delicious food! Our first stop was Muscat and we spent our days here doing an excursion to the Al Daymaniyat Islands and exploring the town. The trip to the islands was particularly special because for the first time in my life I got to see turtles. We spent the day snorkeling and also got to see lots of colorful fish swimming in the turquoise water.

A must visit in Muscat is the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. The architecture is amazing and I really enjoyed walking around. We were lucky to not have too many tourists around due to Ramadan and got to really enjoy the spot.

After two days in Muscat it was time to go explore the country’s nature. We started with a road trip through the mountains.

Now that my lovely dad lives in Dornbirn, Austria, I could not miss out on the opportunity to go visit for a weekend and go skiing together. From his town, it is only a 30 minute drive to Ski Area Damüls and around 50 minutes to Warth Schröcken. A perfect distance for a short trip. Unfortunately, the weather on the first two days was not great, as snow and fog surrounded us. It was almost impossible to see the mountain and the slope haha, but we kept skiing and enjoyed it regardless. Although we disliked the weather, somewhere we were grateful that the snow as back. Our ski day was not plagued by green mountains and white strips of ski slope, as this had been the case a few weeks earlier.

Back in October/beginning November, I headed over to Tallinn in Estonia to visit my friend Daria doing her study abroad there. Booking the cheap flight to save money, I got to wave goodbye to direct flight from AMS to TLL, while I was waiting at the gate to board my flight first to Riga and then to Tallinn. Oh well, the saved money was well spent during the following days. Tallinn is filled with lots of cozy little cafes and bars, offering you anything from cheap beer, coffee and delicious cinnamon rolls. The city is small, but charming with its history written all over it. You can learn about the previous Soviet influence or visit museums to discover the creepy ghosts of Estonia. The town has a few different areas to explore such as the old town, Rotermanni Quarter and the area close to the train station (not sure about the name of the area haha). This last area was my personal favorite as you can find the Balti Jaama Market, lots of cool restaurants like f-honne and a natural winery. Overall, it was a fun little trip to the Baltics. If you are in need of more food recommendations for Tallinn :D, you can go check out my Instagram restaurant guide!

Close to the Netherlands, only a two hour bus ride away and the capital of the country of fries and beer, makes Belgium the perfect little get-a-way for the weekend. Spending a summer weekend in Brussels means strolling around the center and European quarter, eating lots of fries with too much mayo, trying beers and having fresh fish at a little cafe on the side of the road. I had been to Brussels before but wasn’t sure what to expect of it. I can say I was really positively surprised and loved the city and buildings. The city has lots of yummy restaurants & drinks places to try (seems that food is all I care about haha) but also gives you the opportunity to visit all the institutions that run Europe, since Brussels is of course the capital of the EU.

In August two of my best friends and I took a much needed girls trip to Barcelona and we loved it. The city is ideal to get together with friends and spend time eating delicious food, going out and strolling around the city and visiting museums. There are lots of yummy food options and I really made sure that every meal we ate good haha. You can see some of my favorite places above. This trip to Spain, I actually managed to communicate in Spanish without taking the easy route and switching to English. After spending two months in the Dominican Republic in March and April, my spanish was definitely at a level where I was able to order and have a small conversation. I for sure intend to get back to Barcelona soon and discover more places to visit in this vibrant city!