Tag Archives | venice

Tell us your Mistletoe Moment!

Our contest is now over.  Stay tuned for the winners to be announced.  

The Fighting Couple hopes that you have a Merry Christmas and many Happy Mistletoe Moments in 2012!

 

 

We are looking for the best Mistletoe Moment from 2011!  The lovely winner will be awarded a $150 Visa gift card!  Yay!  Finally it is OK to Kiss and Tell!

 

Couple Kissing in waterSo what exactly is a Mistletoe Moment (aka MM) you ask?

Simply put, it’s a moment in time when you and your special someone get taken in by your surroundings, the sights, and smells but most of all, each other!  You could be with 10,000 tourists in St. Mark’s Square in Venice or in the middle of the Amazon where you are surrounded by 1,000 bugs!  It could be anywhere/anyone?/anytime but it MUST be magical!

To get your creative juices going, here is our MM from this year:

We were visiting Paris, (great place for MMs!) we stayed in a charming little boutique hotel. Our cozy room had an ornate little balcony overlooking a sleepy little Parisian thoroughfare. There was a great little bakery in the distance and the magical scent of a 1000 flowers created an ambiance that was truly magical. We stood hand in hand taking in the backdrop of Paris in the distance. What a moment!

 

How to enter?  Just two easy steps:

 

1) In 50ish words or less, tell us about your “Mistletoe Moment” in the comments section below.

2) Give us a “like” 1000Fights on Facebook here.  Then leave a comment,: “I had a Mistletoe Moment!” Here.

 

Please meet our panel of “Celebrity Judges“.

 

The Fine Print    (sorry, but its really not that bad.)

1) Mistletoe Moment must have taken place in 2011.

2) Entries will be accepted till midnight December 20th, 2011.

3) Final selections will be made by our awesome panel of judges. (To be announced soon!)

4) We will announce the winner on our webpage on December 22nd, 2011.

5) This contest is not valid where prohibited. (What a terrible place to be!)

6) Please keep Mistletoe Moments rated (PG-13 or PG, no G’s allowed!)

7) Prize will be delivered via Paypal, or another agreeable method.

8) The last one we promise…remember its ok to Kiss and tell!

 

Please share our little contest with your friends!!!  Just click below to share on Facebook or Twitter.  (Thank you!)

 

 

 

 

Lake Bled: Girl’s Fantasy Camp

Okay ladies-What makes your travel fantasy? For 1000Fights, it’s a vacation without a fight! But if you can’t have a fight free trip, try the next best thing-a real life fairy tale.

1000Fights visited the former Yugoslavia-for most Americans they know very little about this region. What we heard most was “Isn’t there a war going on.” No, that was 20 years ago and the former Yugoslavia is now one of safest places to visit in Europe. If you are looking a fairy tale spot then head to Lake Bled, Slovenia.

Want to see a bunch more of our Lake Bled pictures?  Just jump over to our facebook page.

Less than an hour north of the Slovene capital of  Ljubljana, Lake Bled is a glacial lake nestled in the Julian Alps. Affordable (our room was only 89E) and pristine, Lake Bled is the poor man’s Switzerland with better views and less people. The Lake is small. You can walk around it in less than 90 minutes on a beautiful walking path that takes you right to the shore of the lake in places. On our walk, we bought an artist’s rendition of the lake for 5E. Again, cheap!

But what makes Lake Bled a girls fantasy is the surroundings. In the middle of the Lake, is an island topped by a church. Rent a row boat for less than 10E and make your spouse row you across the lake. Once you reach the island, make him carry you up the steps to the church. If your spouse makes the 99 steps, you’ll have a happy marriage. If you don’t, well, you’ll be like 1000 Fights. Ring the bell the church bell and a wish will come true. Guys, if you don’t want row, you can get in an oversized gondola called a plenta and someone will row you along with 10-12 other lazy tourists.

lake bled slovenia

If the steps, wishing bell, rowing and the Lake aren’t enough to feel like you are a world away, there’s a castle perched on the granite cliffs surrounding the lake. Hike up to Lake Bled Castle or drive and enjoy the oldest castle in Slovenia.

Lake bled slovenia

Top off your visit to Lake Bled with cake! Every princess needs a cake and at Lake Bled you can enjoy the famous kremšnit. The cake has a layer of whipped cream followed by vanilla custard and topped with filo dough. As someone who loves, anything creamy, the cake is worth every calorie. But skip the filo dough on the top.

Lake Bled and Slovenia in general is simply not to be missed.   The are many cheap flights in and out of Ljubljana or there are reasonable international flights into nearby Venice, Italy.  You might want to consider one of many holiday packages that include hotel and airfare.

Our Morbid Venice Side-trip

The Fighting Couple are always on the look out for smart off the beaten pass couple travel ideas.  On our recent visit to Venice, we explored  a great find, the San Michele cemetery.    We put together the following photographic tour of our visit.  If you are a history/music/Italy buff, this place is not to be missed.

Ok, Ok…we know, visiting a cemetery is not for everyone.   Unlike some macabre type burial grounds, San Michele has a garden type feel.  The architectural and intricate sculptured tombs is extremely impressive.

Photo by Mario Vercellotti (vermario)

Image via Wikipedia

Getting there

The Isle of San Michele is located just outside the main islands of Venice.   Scooting across the bay is simple and can be done via a number of different options: Vapparetto, Water taxi (expensive), gondola (very expensive).   The island is in between the main Venetian Islands and Murano Island.  You can see most of what there is to see in two hours, so it is a great place to see in route to spending your euros in Murano.  What a great reminder that you cant take the money with you.

Interesting permanent residents include: Igor Stravinsky, Ezra Pound, Joseph Brodsky, Jean Schlumberger, Frederick Rolfe, Horatio Brown, and Zoran Music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rolfe's grave in Venice, (San Michele).

Image via Wikipedia

Offerings
Image by DBarefoot via Flickr

 

Travel Blogging Divas

As many of our followers know we recently held the Travel Blogging hottest Hubby and Travel Divas contest. Response was incredible! We had loads of fun, made some new friends, and shared some great travel blogs. We decided not to neglect our solo traveler friends.

Our intent is not to run a petty beauty contest…only to give you a look at some of the very best in independent travel blogging.  Blogs were nominated that focused on single travel.  There are some really, really great folks out there on the road that have insights to share.  So visit theses sites and vote early and often!  Voting ends Jan 5th 2011.

Femmes

Lillie

“My name is Lillie, and I am a 29 year old, six foot tall Boston native.  For six years, I taught high school English in the Boston Public Schools before flying out in August of 2009 to begin voyaging around the world!”   http://www.aroundtheworldl.com

Andi

“For most of my adult life I have led a dichotomous existence of both wanting to flutter my wings around the world AND to settle down and focus on my true calling in life, which is being a Chinese Medicine Doctor.” http://mybeautifuladventures.com

Leslie

“I am a twentysomething native Californian with an art history degree and love of adventure.  This is a blog of my travels and expeditions…it is reviews, tips, advice and observations.  It is a way for me to interact with other people like me who find the thrill of life in seeing new places.”  http://cgtravelsblog.com

Suzy

SuzyGuese.com showcases people and places from around the world not in the ordinary, travel guidebook sense. I am fascinated by the simple way a story can be told, usually with a little humor.”(Doesn’t she have amazing hair!!?)   http://suzyguese.com

Anna

After 8 hectic years of studying at UC Berkeley, University of Oxford, and earning a law degree in London (and a whole lot of letters after my name–BA, MPhil, GDL, LPC…), I couldn’t face starting work in a corporate law firm without first going out and reviving my battered and exhausted soul. So I moved to South Africa to undertake volunteer legal work at a human rights NGO instead.  http://www.nilikutashani.com