I was writing the last month’s recap post from Starbucks in Budapest, this one comes to you from Starbucks in Kuala Lumpur airport. Will it be my new pattern, writing from Starbucks at the end of my trip somewhere? This time I’m finishing one of the best trips I’ve ever had – to New Zealand – and it was epic for several reasons. But more about that later!

Travel

Even if I’ve decided to cancel my trip to Romania it was a busy month! I really was all ready to go for a weekend to Bucharest but then it turned out I need to go to Germany for few days for work still in October, then there was New Zealand and it just felt too much in one month only. So Romania has to wait!

The first half of the month was calm with weekends spent either visiting my parents in Puławy or my mother visiting me in Warsaw. But then the madness has started! I went for the conference to Germany, to Lutherstadt Wittenberg. On the way I had few hours to kill in Berlin so besides the mandatory shopping spree I also squeezed in a short walk between Alexanderplatz and Hauptbahnhof, passing by all the main tourist attractions. It’s been years since I’ve done such a walk across Berlin and it was good to see all those places again!

The time in Wittenberg was busy as I’ve spent most of it inside at the conference. One afternoon, however, I managed to sneak out and see a little bit of the city. I’ve already visited Wittenberg, some 10 years ago, but it was so much more beautiful now! I blame it on beautiful autumn weather and pastel houses but I really fell for the place and I wish I had more time to discover it properly (like seeing more of the street art or the school designed by the famous Hundertwasser – the same one who made the famous colorful houses in Vienna). I will be back, Wittenberg!

As soon as I came back from Germany I flew to Croatia to start my biggest trip of the year (2 weeks but I don’t like travelling for too long). The cheap deal I found to New Zealand was from Zagreb so I planed everything to have one extra day in Croatia.

I finally managed to see Plitvice Lakes – it’s been on my list for way too long! It was amazing but at the same time for some reason I somehow expected a small version of Iguazu Falls… Still I loved it and the combination of the autumn colors and beautiful weather made it even more beautiful! Plitvice Lakes make a perfect day trip from Zagreb so I might be writing more about it at some point.

And then the adventure began. I literally had butterflies in my stomach when I was waiting to board my plane to London (from there it was three more flights: to Kuala Lumpur, to Auckland and eventually to Christchurch). It was a long journey but not as tiring as it seems (or maybe I was just overexcited?).

My first proper stop during my 10 days in New Zealand was in Twizel, visiting my friends back from Poland (blogging at 4evermoments.com) – the main reason of my journey all the way there. It was so good to see them again and catch up!

They live in the most beautiful place ever – Twizel – and I felt way too good there, it was idyllic! Small, cute town, snow-topped mountains, green fields, crystal-clear waters and shining sun – it couldn’t have been any more perfect!

When being in Twizel I also went for a day trip to Mt. Cook and did the hike in Hooker Valley – OMG, it was the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to, literally (I’m sorry, Kotor)! I still can’t believe I’ve seen such a stunning landscape myself!!

The rest of my time in New Zealand was really good too and each place I visited was incredible but after visiting Hooker Valley nothing has blown me away so much.

What I enjoyed the most in New Zealand were people! I’ve never met so many incredibly hospitable and friendly people, anywhere! Both locals and fellow tourists were just amazing and helped me so much along the way. Those random acts of kindness made this trip unforgettable and one of the best ever!

In Auckland I met with my lovely readers Richard and Sam and it was such a fun day together! If I happen to be visiting your city or if we will be at the same place at the same time – let me know, I’d love to meet up!

Life

I honestly can’t recall any major interesting events from my everyday life, I guess this month was dominated by New Zealand and everything else feels not so important. But when I look in my calendar it wasn’t all that boring after all, meetings with people I like are always the highlight of my days!

Blogging bits

I neglected the blog so much it hurts! Before I left for New Zealand I published two posts, about Pristina, Kosovo which is still one of my favorite cities and about Chernobyl tour I took in August (and enjoyed it surprisingly much).

And I literally did nothing ever since. I blame it on awesome New Zealand, poor internet there and a time difference (jetlag is a bitch!) but to be honest I really needed a holidays, it felt so good not having a never-ending list of things to do. Now I’m just having a really hard time to get back on track!

Together with blog I neglected Instagram too. But still I posted some pictures from the Balkans earlier in October and my most popular one was from Pristina!

Plans for November

We’re already almost half way through this month (as I didn’t manage to finish the post in KL, had to run to catch my flight) and so far I’ve managed to visit Kuala Lumpur and kill some hours in Zagreb on the way back home.

But plans for this month still include a long weekend in Cyprus (have you been? Do you have any recommendations for me?) and most likely another long weekend in Sarajevo (it would be my 3rd time there this year!). We have two extra days off from work this month (due to the Independence Day and – my favorite – Railwayman’s Day) and I just have to use these opportunities for some travels!

Despite the terrible weather have a great November!