alizroundtheworld

It’s been my dream for over 4 years to link my passion for fitness together with my other big passion, travelling. I have been to different fitness retreats in the past, all very different to one another. I took the best of all of them and created my own retreat at the end of last year/ beginning of this year. I chose an amazing villa in the less travelled province of South of Italy, Calabria called Villa Mediterraneo.

Why Calabria? I worked for 3 months in a resort there 15 years ago and although the memories I left with were not great, I believe we all need experiences like that in our lives to teach us about the world..so we see how other people live/work/run businesses. I was only 22 and I went to a Travel Fair in Hungary where I approached an Italian stand and asked if they had any openings in any type of work (bar/restaurant) for the summer. So after finishing uni, my friend and I took a flight to Rome, then a train down to Briatico and the adventure began. Beyond 14h working days and some drama and backstabbing I don’t remember much, the one thing I remember though was the colour of the water, the beauty of this province where mountains meet the sea, where Sicily and Stromboli are around the corner, and most importantly where the food is to die for…

Fast forward 15 years, I started marketing this Retreat with the excitement of spending a week sharing knowledge, common passion for fitness with likeminded people, and then COVID happened with Italy being the worst hit country so I got very disappointed and until the last minute I did not think that it would actually happen. But it did! And I’m so happy with how it all went.

The villa we stayed in, was absolutely stunning. Some pictures of both the interior and exterior below…

We had a timetable that we followed but were also flexible as there were only 4 of us that were able to make it.

Me and Emilie arrived on the 15th and headed to Tropea as soon as we picked up the car to make sure the tours that we planned for Friday were confirmed. Tropea is a stunning city, Calabria’s jewel.

After having spent a few hours here we had to leave to reach our accommodation in Fuscaldo, situated near the villa called Il Cerro Agroturismo. The drive from Tropea to this place was a little more than 2h. When we got close to it, it was already dark..and for obvious reasons (lack of Google map accuracy, no sign posts, pitch black and mountain roads) we got lost. Luckily Francesco the owner found us and got us to the place. Next day when it was light we understood that this place would have been a challenge to find even in daylight! But it was amazing to spend the first 2 nights here.

Next day we visited the villa which blew our minds completely (so much nicer than on the photos when I booked it), then had lunch in town, met our Head Chef, Giovanni who took us round the town to show us the beach (Lungomare) shops and all the essential places. He was so welcoming and nice to us. My Italian was essential as nobody spoke any English. In the evening I went out with Carmelo for dinner, he was the one who found Giovanni for me. He took me to a wonderful place called Borgo Rosso di Sera where Massimo spoilt us with an amazing 7 course dinner.

Day 1.

On the morning of the 17th we checked into the Villa and went to pick up the guests from the airport. They were all tired as it was an early flight but the warm Italian air, the smell of the sea and the excitement of the week ahead made them want to explore already on the first day. Giovanni cooked the first lunch then we went for a walk, had a Yin Yoga class and Daniele prepared for us dinner which was an absolutely beautiful and super tasty octopus starter and fish main.

Day 2.

The next day we had our first big fitness day starting with Power Yoga, then we set some goals for the week and had breakfast. Had a little rest (or the brave ones ventured into the pool) and did a strength class with bands at 11am followed by lunch.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSQG6v2K/

After lunch we went for a stroll on the beach..

After the walk we had an Italian Lottery conditioning class and a gentle yoga session.

Dinner was prepared by Giovanni, shrimps and poached egg with spinach starter.

Day 3.

Yoga to start with, wonderful healthy breakfast and a sprints and core class. In the afternoon we had free time, so visited a nearby town called Diamante, famous for its murals.

Dinner with Giuseppe this time, super engaging and detailed!

Day 4.

5k run at the beach to start with!

Followed by delicious breakfast, then free time for the girls and a strength class before lunch. We used TRX, bands, chair, wall, curb.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSQGHB5k/

Lunch was salmon and salad in a buffet format prepared by Giovanni.

After the siesta we did a Boxing class and a yoga class late afternoon followed by dinner prepared by Simone and a fun table football game boys vs girls!

Day 5. Hiking in Sila National Park!

Started with an early breakfast, drove 1h 40 mins to reach this lovely national park in the mountains and did a 6h hike following the path of Botte Donato.

After a full on day having burnt 3600 calories we decided that we earnt an authentic Calabrian pizza, so upon arrival we scrubbed up and went to Giovanni’s restaurant. ODDIO! The best best pizza EVER!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/9%20American%20Food/150853915726280/

Day 6.

Full excitement! The day when we had the National Television in our villa in the evening…No idea how this happened, the chefs wanted to share with the nation how to link food and fitness together to create a good balance. But before that we had work to do!

I had a full on day with online PTs in the morning, meanwhile the girls started with Power Yoga, had breakfast and at 11am we did the Italian lottery class where Lisa could luckily join in. Sadly she wasn’t able to be with us but through the online streaming she could enjoy an hour in our lovely villa. Well…enjoy might be a big word. Those of you who know me, also know the card conditioning class!

Lunch was very light, minestrone soup, then we had a boxing class as the last class of the week at 3pm. The girls went to the beach after this and I prepared the villa for the evening. During this TV recording we had the chance to assist Chef Carmelo Fabbricatore in his preparation of the famous Calabrian Risotto with Liquorice. What a night! We had our sommelier matching wine to this fantastic meal, we had our waiters and of course the journalists representing the main channels of Italy. Here is a snippet of the night:

Here is a short video of my interview:

https://youtu.be/f-bzeHmxeOE

Day 7 Tropea

After an early breakfast we drove to Tropea. When we arrived we strolled through the romantic narrow streets of this wonderfully charming town, home to sandy beaches and red onions that are well-known in Italy. Cipolle di Tropea (“Tropea onions”) have become a synonym in Italy for all red onions.

In the afternoon we did a 3 hour cruise on the beautiful turquoise water with aperitif on board. What a wonderful day to close this week with!

We had a very late dinner, and we had to pack, and also had a little party to say thanks to the chefs for looking after us so much, plus we prepared a little surprise for Usha for her upcoming birthday!

It was time to leave paradise. Saturday morning after a smooth arrival, the departure was everything but smooth..but we only remember the good parts of this trip which was pretty much 90%! Im pretty sure that Tanu and Usha had an amazing time along with Emilie who did an amazing job teaching yoga and creating a calm and serene atmosphere.

If we are at the thank yous, I would like to say massive thanks to Giovanni De Luca for creating a Fitness Menu for us, organising all this local publicity around our event with a variety of incredible chefs and giving his heart and soul into cooking and managing this project, Carmelo Fabbricatore for putting me in touch with Giovanni, Giuliana Antonelli Founder of Wimpole Real Estate in London, without her encouragement and contacts this amazing week would have not happened.

Looking forward to being back to this beautiful place next year, dates will be out soon! Until then…

EAT well,

MOVE daily,

HYDRATE often,

SLEEP lots,

LOVE your body,

REPEAT for life!

Aliz x

A slightly delayed post from our trip in October 2015.

Egypt was the 56th country I visited in my life. It is a very popular destination for English people, however I might change this statement to past tense and leave the present for Russians.

My main attraction to Egypt was the Red Sea and diving hence why we chose Sharm el Sheikh to visit over Cairo and the Pyramids.

We booked the trip through Regal Dive as I could not find a straight forward way to book diving, flights and hotel separately.

Since it was Richard’s first dive livaboard experience we chose a mini safari (3 day trip) over a full safari (duration: a week).

We flew with Monarch to Egypt on the 4th October and once we arrived at the airport our driver picked us up and drove us directly to the port where the SNEFRO 6 fleet waited for us.

We were looking forward to this trip and hoped that we would have a great group, which we did! The group was small which is always a bonus, 4 guests in total, Richard and I plus 2 guys, Martin and Callum.

Our divemaster Basem was Egyptian and super friendly.

Few pics of the boat:

The whole experience reminded me of my first liveaboard in Thailand around the Similan Islands. The staff were superb! The food was exceptional..we were properly spoilt.

We sat down on the first night and tried out our equipment, then discussed the itinerary and the courses we wanted to do. Richard planned to do his Advanced course and beyond that the opportunity arose to do the Nitrox course so we both decided to do it.

The days began with very early starts, up at 6am and ready to dive by 6.30am.

We did the following dive sites on the first day

1. Temple
2. Stingray station
3. Sha’ab Surur
4. Sh’ab Ali Lagoon- night dive

We saw Lion fish, Masked Puffer fish, Giant Clam, Napoleon fish, Angel fish, Blue spotted stingray, Scorpion fish, Banner fish, Butterfly fish, Moray eel and Trigger fish.

Unfortunately my computer let me down on the first dive, the battery died which I did not expect at all and it’s not something I could check as it switches on underwater at around 2m depth. It was not a major issue though because at least I could use Basem’s Suunto computer.

The second important item that let me down was my GoPro..it kept freezing underwater which made me incredibly angry especially because I had just bought a macro red filter before the trip to enhance the quality of the video and pictures.

The next day we did the famous Thistlegorm wreck that sank on 6th October 1941. It was super impressive, with all the motorbikes still inside, rusted with corals around them, pieces of rubber tyres, guns, rifles. We did this dive with Nitrox.

There was another dive around this wreck ..just because you cannot have enough of it:)

The afternoon and night dive was at the same dive site called Beacon Rock. Now that night dive was one of my highlights ever. I saw a Spanish dancer …dancing! It’s fairly rare to see them at all let alone dancing.

In the evenings we had great banter between studying EON and Richard his advanced course book.

On the third day we finished off with 2 dives only and some chilling on the boat. Then there was the time of truth; the exam. We had to sit separately with Basem marking our work. Of course Richard copied the whole EON exam off me therefore we had 2 identical mistakes! Back to school…..

The last 2 dives were at:

1. Dunraven
2. Shark & Yolanda Reef- 38m depth and current – very impressive dive site.

After the magical 3 days living on the sea we returned to Sharm to our hotel…which was a big disappointment. Falcon Naama Star Hotel is one to avoid! Not clean, not by the sea..the staff were very nice but considering the number of options in hotels it is on the lower end of the range.

On the first evening on ‘land’ we got a little taste for Sharm’s charm..the hassle, the constant, ‘hey my friend, do you remember me?’

Therefore we quickly realised that we wanted to plan things to do for the remaining 3 full days.

The next day we booked a fantastic 4×4 safari trip to visit the Coloured Canyon and Dahab. Highly recommended!

We had a super fun guide, spoke about 15 languages! But 2 for sure, English and Russian. After racing through the desert we walked through this beautiful canyon:

Then we made our way to Dahab and snorkelled the Blue Hole where lots of divers have died over the years. It’s a stunning crystal clear hole with colourful corals and beautiful fish.

After the snorkelling we had lunch from a restaurant with view across the Red Sea and the surrounding mountains. Fresh juice is always a must in tropical countries!

After lunch we did a 20 minutes camel ride along the sea..again..the guide was superb! We laughed so much!

The trip ended in a dodgy perfume shop where we had the opportunity to buy our favourite fragrance for a fraction of the original price.

Early night after the action packed day as for the next day we had booked a day trip to Jordan. We got picked up at 2am (!) from our hotel and we had a 8 hour journey waiting for us (4 h bus + 1 h boat + 3 h bus again). When we got to Petra we had about 3 hours to explore. 2 h guided and 1 h free. When I saw one of the 7th Wonders of the World it was just incredible! It was the 6th that I have seen…1 to go, the Great Wall of China, which I am planning on visiting in the next year or so.

With Petra my only issue was that in order to get to the Treasury (the main attraction) you can rent a horse with a carriage. The pavement is mainly stoned therefore the animals suffer a lot. The locals seem to ignore this and they encourage them with the whip to go even faster…my heart was breaking. People visiting Petra, please do not encourage this service by taking it!

Here is a map of Petra. It’s huge and I recommend that you leave at least a full day to explore it.

The penultimate day in Sharm el-Sheikh was fun:) I found an excellent snorkelling spot without needing to take a tour..well at least that’s what I thought. We packed our snorkelling gear and took a taxi to the Hyatt Regency. When we got there it was clear that this is not a common route that tourists take to go snorkelling…given that you need to go into the hotel and be on their private beach to access the reef. But I felt that I was so close  that I didn’t care:) We went through a security check before entering the hotel- like a conveyor belt and proper door men etc. first obstacle done. Then confidently walked into the hotel, through the lobby out to the pool area (removed our existing hotel bracelets and were happy to notice that in the Hyatt Regency people did not wear a bracelet). Finally we got to their amazing private beach..wow. It was great! The only problem was that we did not have matching towels to the rest of the people there so at the beginning we felt quite uncomfortable that we would be thrown out of there at any minute:) I threw myself into the water and spent most of the day there looking at the lovely Coral Garden. I saw a cuttle fish, tons of clown fish, barracuda, and an eel. It was fantastic! We had a great lunch at the hotel restaurant then back to sunbathing and snorkelling. That’s how we spent a day at a 5 star all inclusive hotel without any booking:)

The last day we spent on the public beach, having a massage, with shisha and drinking cocktails. It was a great holiday and I truly hope that the political situation will allow us to go there soon without any threat or fear.

One week after we left ISIS took out the Russian plane so we timed our departure well.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

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In my last blog I described how I got into Colombia on a sailing boat. The final destination of the 5 day sailing trips is usually Cartagena. My first way lead to my Danila in her office..It was absolutely amazing to see her! She checked in with me in the hostel called ‘El viajero’, we got ready and we headed out to see the rest of the ‘sailors’ to Mamma Llena where they stayed, as we agreed that we are going to do the party chiva bus the first night on proper land.

Well..party chiva did not disappoint me this time either! 2 years ago I did this same bus party with my dear Hungarian friend Lili (whom I am going to see on he 1st of August after 2 years !! well excited:) and Renaud, from France. This was also the night 2 years ago when I met my friends living in Cali..they will have a proper dedicated section later on in the post.

A bit about this party bus. So you can book it in a hostel/hotel for about 35.000 COP (£12) and it includes a ‘Cartagena by night tour’ accompanied by live music, entertaining guide with great interaction with the participants and rum! What more you want?

The atmosphere is insane, people are dancing, singing, talking. We stop a few times and engage with the locals, then we get dropped off around 1-2 am by one of Cartagena’s best nightclubs to enjoy the typical dance called vallenato. Here is a bit of a taster:

 

 

Next day I felt awful..It wasn’t only hangover. The water in Cartagena is not good. Your drinks on the chiva come with ice made of tap water. Be careful. Also I think my immune system was already a bit run down. I got to know a really nice girl though called Vina. She is AmeriMexican and the lucky thing was heading down to the World Cup .. 2 days after chiva we went to Playa Blanca with Danila and  Vina.

It was quite busy cause it was a bank holiday in Colombia but equally it was great and the water was very pleasant!

The day after I was walking around ..needless to say also the previous 2 nights we were out and in Cartagena it is very easy to go to bed as the sun is rising cause you can get lost in dancing and the entertainment of locals. 🙂 One evening we went out to see the captain who works in the same company as Danila, and my favourite sailing buddy, Amabel.

After checking the bus prices to Medellin I found that flights are only maybe £10 more expensive so it was an easy choice for me to make. I took a flight to Medellin on Tuesday the 2nd July saying goodbye to Danila, Vina, the Caribbean, and the costeños..(It was a big step for me for not going to Santa Marta, the place where I enjoyed my time the most on my first trip working, partying, trekking in Lost City, dancing, drinking awesome juices every day but I had to see Medellin, and Salento this time, which I missed out last time and of course return to the salsa capital Cali!)

So I flew into Medellin, travelled with a lovely lady from the airport to the centre, from which we took a taxi together, she dropped me off at Black Sheep hostel. She said her favourite Hungarian writer was Sandor Marai (I like him very much too!) This hostel where I decided to stay is a kiwi-colombian owned hostel. Fab staff, location (very quiet street near the Zona Rosa). I had about 4-5 days in Medellin. What helped enormously is a friend I had there called Andres. We met with Andres on one of the best nights I have ever had in Bogota in Andres Carne de Res. Since then we have been in contact on and off and when he saw that I was coming he called me on skype and gave me some great tips on what to visit in Medellin. I met him and his girl one night with my Hungarian friend, Agi whom I met in Cartagena before Medellin and turned out we were heading the same direction. She is a lovely girl, we had great laugh together (sometimes pulling hair but that’s just Hungarian passion:). She was about to go to ayahuasca. This is a South American ritual where the participants with the help of  the Shamans and a special plant from the Amazon get rid of negative energies and the plant opens up chakras opening also future opportunities or seeing past memories. You are not supposed to eat 5 days before the event (which goes on during the night) but Agi ignored this little condition and was happily eating lamb 3 days before the ritual. She then informed me that the event went very well and she is feeling great. Medellin is a great city. It’s nothing similar as people imagine it as. Not drug capital anymore and there is no danger as it was 20 years ago. Anyone who comes here SHOULD DEFINITELY do the walking city tour with Pablo (http://www.realcitytours.com/ ). His enthusiasm and patriotism made me cry whilst listening to Colombia’s history.

 

The next day I went to Guatape and Piedra del Penol. We went with a superb retro minibus (https://www.facebook.com/vanporcolombia?fref=ts)  and visited an artificial lake and a huge rock (740 steps to get up there). And the town of Guatape is a miracle…so nice and colourful!! What made it even more beautiful was the people and the fact that I bumped into an Italian couple whom I met in Honduras!! What a nice and unexpected surprise! 

 

In Medellin I met a fantastic couple from London, Kim and Keith. Keith wasn’t a big fan of Latin music as opposed to Kim (always the girls!!!!) so we went out one night to a Cuban club ..great night, great dancing!

We actually became good friends and happened to continue our journey to the same place on the same day, to Salento.

Salento is in the Coffee Zone with excellent hiking possibilities including breathtaking landscapes in the Valle Cocora.

The town itself is beautiful as well with full of incredible handicraft…given that I had 3 weeks left of my trip this time I bought a few things including my hammock and a lamp..these things will remind me every day of this cracking country and journey <3.

In Salento we stayed in a very cosy homey hostel called Casona de Lili. Lili, the owner was super sweet…every morning we received a big hug and smile ..juice, coffee and just simply love. There are many options to stay in Salento but this little house is highly recommended.

Kim and Keith decided to stay one more day not to miss the opening ceremony of the World Cup but I moved on to Cali where my dear friends were waiting for me with open arms. A bit of introduction about them..

Claudia- Carlos and Lorena- Luis Fernando: We met 2 years ago in Cartagena after me and my friend Lili and Renaud went on a chiva bus party..the memory stayed alive clearly as Claudia sent me an email a year ago that she was coming to Europe with work and she happened to be in London on my 30th birthday party!:)

2012:

2013:

2014:

She kindly offered me that I can stay with her and Carlos..and without any doubt this was the best part of my trip (apart from when Richard came to see me)! Carlos and Luis Fernando are musicians so we sang, danced, played on congas, guitar, did karaoke and everything one can imagine. I cooked one day Gulyas for them, we went out in town, clubbing, they looked after me so well ..I cannot be grateful enough to them.

Another fabulous addition to this week was Maki! Maki is my Japanese friend, whom I met again 2 years ago in the Bolivian jungle..me Danila and her (and of course David from Germany) hung out among the crocodiles for days and Maki decided to come back to South America! And she came to Colombia to see me!!! So we met in Cali (after she left her luggage again somewhere she made it to Cali with a couple of days of delay) and she spent the last bit of my travels with me. One evening we went to kilometre 18 in a place called ‘La Neblina’. This is a place where no tourist have ever been..18 km from Cali towards Buenaventura with a completely different climate there is a place with curvy mountain road which is a very popular place to go for the ‘caleños’. In fact if you want to see something adventurous (or do), you should drive down this road back to Cali…young crazy people are cycling down with the speed of cars overtaking from left and right or up and down..doesn’t really matter for them…as a car driver it’s a bigger challenge not to hit them!

Another memorable event in Cali I experienced was the first Colombian game during the World Cup against Greece. We all know what the outcome was and having been in Colombia during this time was similar experience to those being in Brazil!

Multiple day party followed the victory…

Sadly on the 17th June I had to fly to Bogota..1 day before the last..

Luckily Maki kept me company but Cali took everything out of me so we didn’t go out on my last night. On the 18th we went to the Botero museum and Maki left around 1pm, and I continued to the Gold museum and checking out the souvenirs.

Getting to the airport around 6pm in rush hours was again quite an experience..I nearly missed my flight back to Europe!!

I decided to stay one night in Madrid before flying back to London as I have never been before. I watched the second Colombian game here which ended with the same result as the one before.

On the 20th I flew back to London where Richard was waiting for me with open arms and heart full of love. I spent a week in London, went for an interview 6 days after my arrival, then flew home to Hungary, got a call informing me that I got the job, had a great couple of weeks, Richard came over for the last 4 days and now back in London again and just started my new job today.

This is my last blog for a while..but I am sure I’ll update it after my future short trips…

It’s not an end..but a new beginning..and Colombia stays in my heart forever..<3