You know Airbnb is getting a lot of hits from friends around me, and I absolute love every single experience with my hosts every time in Europe. It’s a great way to live like a local, it’s affordable to trim down the budget, and it’s full of tons of inspirations for any dream home seeker. 

It can be irritating, to be honest, those lovely places all made me feel guilty that I couldn’t spend more time with my lovely flat, make them more calm, and charismatic. Yes, I have to confess: I do spend a lot of time on my couch, without moving my butt to make some magic!

Here I am, I took some photos from the places that we stayed in Europe, and I hope you won’t judge me and say: hey, you can do better, because there’s no better way! Every each of them is so unique, warm and full of their stories. And what we human being do is to share the stories, don’t we? But bad news is: I won’t show you everything. Because you can find all of their pictures via Airbnb, what I can show you is what I love about them. That’s all, and that’s my true show and tell. So…

1. NIce

Beautiful penthouse

After dragging, and lifting, and tolerating seemingly perpetual train trip(5 trains!!! Can you belie that?!) from Cinque Terre to Nice, what we felt like was find the accommodation, then sit down somewhere, sipping beers to recharge/reward ourselves. Without any cheerful expectation( because we were really exhausted and we booked it long time ago), what embraced us was bubbly Isabelle, and her modern, rustic penthouse near the famous beach.(Later on, her super friendly cat Chocolat came to visit us A LOT)

Isabelle has quite impressive collections of paintings, books, and posters. I Also love the rich window lights from every angle. Plus, the croissant she left us next day morning was so fresh and delicious. Not to mention, the restaurants nearby are quite competitive, it’s really good area to eat out, or chill out on the beach bar. Too bad, we only stayed one night, and we would love to go back again.

2.Avignion

Historic centre view with terrance

We hired a car to Avignion for its famous vineyards after Leaving Nice. After a few dramas on the road, we finally arrived at this cozy apartment. The whole flat is very considerable with great balcony, we sat at the balcony and watched every sunset during our stay. 

This modern, fresh apartment is located at the best part of the Old City in Avignion. You can see the historic high wall and the castle that used to be pope’s residence. The whole facilities are so considerate and with great quality. You will be surprised how detailed that this place represents. We only met Pascal at the time, Pascal was really passionate, and extremely hospitable. 

p.s: I forgot to ask him why they have bottle brush in their garden??! I thought that’s Australian native flower?

We hired a car to Avignion for its famous vineyards after leaving Nice. After a few dramas on the road, we finally arrived at this cozy apartment. The whole flat is very considerable with great balcony, we sat at the balcony and watched every sunset during our stay. 

p.s: I forgot to ask him why they have bottle brush in their garden??! I thought that’s Australian native flower?

3. Orgon

Beautiful country escape with animal paradise

The location in this cottage is very closed to the national park, and that’s why we picked it. Andrew basically closed eyes and just point on the map and eager to start an adventure in Southern France. This place for some local people is a great place for camping. 100% of French people we met during the trip have never heared about this region before.(I wonder why…) The other reason that Andrew chose this place is we want most diversities in our trip, a little bit of coastal sun, a little bit of South France country side, a little of something different. 

Their cottage reveals their love to animals and the mother nature. The backyard has the mountain as backdrop, the horse stud, the friendly dogs, and beautiful neighbourhood. We walked around on those winding paths, exploring the surrounding areas, every corner we found was just simply delightful. And the highlight was we had a BBQ at the backyard while watching sunset, it was just magical. Thanks Oliver, that BBQ was a life saver, big time.

4.Venice

Warm Italian apartment with charismatic kitchen

Alexandro is one special man, he sat down with us like literally 20 mins to give us the recommendations. And he is so passionate about the exhibition EXPO(,which is in Milan, not in our itinerary) and his little friend, Gina.(The dog). There are so many lovely designs and decorations in the apartment that you have to be there to find out.

The best breakfast yet. Every morning around 8 a.m. It’s the brekkie time. We all come out and sit down with whole table of delicious food that Alexandro has prepared. From Bruschetta, toast, tarts, sandwiches, and some sweets. He even scatter some Easter eggs to decorate the table, to make it more interesting and playful. The portion was really generous plus the special Cappuccino that he made himself(not with the machine, it’s made in the pot), so if you are not hungry enough, maybe put down “go for a run before breakfast” in your itinerary.

5. Florence

Modern park side penthouse with playful vibe

Olivia’s apartment is also a great penthouse located in the centre of the city, near the Ponte Vecchio. The fillout was just like other places that we love, full of colours, travel pieces, vintage homewards and it’s a great space to relax. I even started to look into penthouse style properties in Sydney when I got back, because I found penthouse is so charismatic and special and I want to be part of it. During this trip, I decided to dedicate more budgets to souvenirs(not just the ones in tourist spot) which will remind me of the trip but also part of our life. Every piece is different, and so as every journey, every person you travel with. Sometimes, I feel that travelling is not just widen your vision, extend your territory, it’s about screening what you really love, and what you really forget in life. Sometimes we forget about every piece matters, which will complete our journey. Sounds a bit cliche, but I absolutely feel relaxed in this space and inspired. 

5. Cinque terre

Town view apartment with art

This apartment just demonstrates that how vibrant that Italian style is. It’s full of life, colour and passion. I always found it amazing that how effortless that different textures, colours and style mixed so well and burst with strong characters. I guess I have to come back to Italy to find out more.

So finally, I want to share with you a few more tips about Airbnb:

1. Always check the fine prints. Sometimes you do share with others, or have your whole house, be careful. 

2. Make sure you have some copies of the location details. Sometimes, google map/ navigator might not pick up quick enough, or even the reception. Trust me, asking directions doesn’t mean you will always get the answers. 

3. Book early, so that you get more options with better price, and better experience.  

4. Be kind, clean and don’t forget to share!!

Hope you like this post! 

Stay cozy 

xxx Aka

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1446169439255_134282 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -28px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1446169439255_134282 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; }