One Hundred and Seventy Centimetres of Snow and a Pink Church

Her adventures are also recorded in the My velvet blog that is, of course, written by her. In her articles, she writes about her experiences and delights her readers with concrete tips on how to travel cheap. She spent two years and a half writing her blog, making drafts and saving them. Her blog was created overnight, after she decided it was about time her articles see the light of day. She is all about short and concise blogs that give accurate information about trips, attractions, offers and prices. Many people still have no clue how easy and cheap one can travel these days. A return ticket can cost as little as 24 euros. The name My velvet comes from the Spanish word velvet meaning silk. Klara’s a fan of Spanish history and fashion, but she also likes the Spanish series Velvet. You can follow her blog here.

She began her journey around the world with her mom. They usually picked last-minute trips to Greece, Egypt and Turkey. Her mom is the reason she loves travelling the world the same way as she loves to enjoy relaxing at the beach in Croatia. In secondary school, she used to travel with her boyfriend when she saved up enough money with her part-time job. She’s also been travelling with her grandpa and grandma for the last few years. Her favourite trips are the ones she plans herself. She finds inspiration and ideas when looking for destinations in photos and on Instagram. What usually catches her eye is a beautiful photo. When travelling to a place she has never visited before she likes to enjoy in culture and spending time with the locals. She loves the mindset of a culture and people who are always in a good mood and are eager to help as well as share their experiences. On her holidays in Marsa Alam, she was surprised by her period. Despite the culture that forbids women to use tampons, a kind gentleman from a café came to her aid and went to pick up tampons for her from the airport in Kairo, which was a few kilometres away, so she could continue to enjoy her holidays without worries.

At the thought of Switzerland, what immediately comes to mind are the exorbitant prices. Klara started to laugh right away: “The prices are lower than the ones at home!” Yes, even I was shocked. After a long ride, they stopped at a Lidl; the prices were half of those in our Lidl supermarkets. They spent altogether six euros for coffee and a croissant at a café. Even accommodation was cheap. They spent 35 euros per night including breakfast. Healthcare and petrol, however, are considerably more expensive. The Swiss landscape is beautiful and mountainous. The snow stuck only to the mountains and mountain passes where they tried to cross the border, but were met with an ice cover two metres thick. They spent a couple of days in Sion and the place reminded them of medieval Ljubljana. Sion is known for its castle on top of a hill and for its grapevines, but it also has its own airport and a sports arena. Football, also known as soccer, and hockey are particularly popular. Sion has an extensive and rich history. As many as 14 town buildings are part of the Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance. Among them are the art museum, the office of the Ville de Sion district administration, the Tourbillion Castle, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the skeleton from the Archaeological and Missionary Museum, the Touse les Saints Chapel, the Maison Supersaxo, the Majorie Castle, and the St. Théodule and Valère Basilica churches. Streets are cobbled and cities are sparkling clean. That’s because people who leave their litter behind are heavily fined – you’ll be 100 euros short if you litter the floor with a cigarette butt. You can also spot Swiss flags waving at every turn. The Swiss are extremely proud of their cheese which is also the national delicacy. Klara and her boyfriend treated themselves to a cheese fondue with bread.

In Trient, they stumbled upon a charming village with a gorgeous view of the surrounding nature. The village is located at an altitude of 1,300 metres and according to the last population census, there were 145 people living there. They were captivated by a pink church on top of a hill that was surrounded by mountains and nature. The church’s interior was quite ordinary; it wasn’t pink, but Klara joked that the majority of the population in the village constitute women who painted the church pink. Maybe there’s some truth to it.

When travelling to Switzerland...

• Switzerland isn’t as expensive as some claim. You can pay in euros, but only banknotes are accepted.
• You can travel between mountain passes by car shuttle train. You simply drive onto the train, just like you would onto a ferry.
• The nature is gorgeous; up to a metre and seventy centimetres of snow can fall in mountainous regions, so it’s best if you organise your activities beforehand in accordance with the season.