As a Romanian, my heart melted at the interaction you had with the Romanian musician on the street. A simple interaction, just acknowledging each other by the names but however full of emotion and characteristic to the Latin spirit that the Romanian and Spanish people share. Nice video, I send you good vibes! :)
Thank you so much for your kind words. We love interacting with locals wherever we go, especially those that look 'out of place' from the surroundings. We are now on a two year trip through the Adriatic regions to Türkiye and back through the Balkans. Romania is high on our list of countries to visit. If you have any suggestions of places that you recommend that we see, please let us know. We welcome any suggestions that you may have. Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
Romania is an underrated gem and I swear I don't say this just because I'm Romanian. I've been to plenty of places myself but I am always mesmerized by the raw beauty, nature and unaltered spirit of the people that you meet along the way (especially in more rural areas). I'll leave some of my recommendations below. Since you come from that side of the world I presume your first stop will be Bucharest, but feel free to adjust accordingly. - Bucharest, capital of Romania, vibrant city where you'll see a lot the clash between communist, neo-classical and also modern architecture (very interesting!). Also the Palace of Parliament - the second heaviest building in the world (after the Pentagon in the US). The Old Town is charming. I would also include a visit to Ceaușescu house (museum now), to learn more about how communism shaped Romania culture across decades. - Transylvania (a must!) - the cities of Brașov - medieval town known for its well-preserved architecture, beautiful squares, and cozy cafes. From here, you can explore Bran Castle (the famous “Dracula’s Castle”), Sighișoara (UNESCO world heritage site, birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, one of the only well preserved medieval towns in Europe), Sibiu (Germanic architecture and influence, less crowded and among the prettiest cities in Romania), Cluj-Napoca (my city haha, second biggest in Romania, up and coming tech and business hub, considered the "capital" of Transylvania, modern and more westernized - would be interesting to see the contrast with other Romanian cities). - Carpathian Mountains : don't miss the Transfăgărășan road, considered by that famous British car show -which name I forget now - the best road to drive in the world! - Maramureș region : This northern region offers an authentic look into Romania’s traditional lifestyle. With its wooden churches (many UNESCO-protected), locals in traditional dress, and horse-drawn carts, it feels like stepping back in time. The Mocănița steam train in Viseu de Sus is an unforgettable way to experience the area. - the Danube Delta - a biosphere paradise with unique flora and fauna. UNESCO world site as well. - food!! Traditional food like "sarmale", "mici", the România cuisine is heavily influenced by balkan and even Turkish cuisine, and in the north by German and Hungarian cuisine. Just prepare your bellies! Also wine tasting in wineries across country. We do make pretty damn good wine but never leave the country without tasting our traditional drink "palinca", a homemade brandy usually made from plums or apples (depending on the region) - guaranteed to make you want to stay a bit more in Romania than expected, haha! Enjoy! ❤
@happyhourgeezer Wow..! Thank-you so much...! Some great recommendations there. Some we already had on our list, others that we didn't. We love the smaller towns, rather than the big cities and love to be able to see the traditions and culture of a country. I've (Alison) already spotted some archaeological sites in the Danube Delta that would be great to check out. I've always been obsessed with Dracula, since I was quite young, so although Bran Castle will be worth a visit, I'm hoping that Poenari Citadel will have finished it's renovations by the time we get there, so that I can see Vlad's actual castle. If you think of any other places to suggest, let us know. Many thanks and much love 💜🤟🇷🇴
@@findingxanadulife I'm also thinking about Peles Castle, it's really beautiful! Also the castle of Hunedoara has a very medieval feel to it and it's quite interesting. For archaeology I would definitely recommend the Sarmisegetuza Regia ruins, it's a place surrounded by plenty of stories and spiritual importance for the beginnings of what we know today as Romania. Notable smaller towns at least worth a day trip would be: Timisoara, Oradea, Baia Mare, Targu Mures. I can't wait for the episode to come out! Love, Alexandra
@happyhourgeezer Fabulous Alexandra. Thank-you so much. I've added more places to our list and specific places within the areas that you have suggested. I strongly suspect that Romania will be more than one video. We have a friend who is from Romania, so we're very keen to see lots of it. Bear with us though, it will be quite a few months before we get there. We have many other countries to visit first. 😍 Thank-you so much for your comments. Much love 😘💜🤟
Well controlled Alison 🤣🤣🤣🤣 …. Face bovvvered???!!!!! Proper cracked me up watching you take a moment to find a polite way to say what ya wanted to say although it was written all over your face 😂…. Love ya dude xx
Enjoying another wonderful video. Funnily when we visited the castle at Denia, we had commented about the lack of railings and felt it was a health and safety nightmare! We must visit there again when over this summer. Not commenting on every video we watch but loving them all and finding them interesting and informative. Looking forward to working our way through the rest. Regards Barry and Sarah
On a slightly different note, what do people feel about the lengths of our videos..?!? Do you think they are too long..?!? Please let us know what you think..??? Much love, Alison and Darren ❤🤟
I think they could be slightly shorter, I tend to lose concentration after around 10 minutes, nevertheless, I am enjoying your videos anyway, I'm thinking of moving to Spain from South Africa and you have given me a great overview of the area ....your editing skills are great Darren and the music chosen perfect!! Keep it up....
Wow, thank you so much for your comment. We had never made a video before starting this channel in January. So to hear that is amazing... We would love to keep them around 20 minutes, but after a first edit most are about an hour 🫣 and we struggle to get them down to 30 minutes 🤟♥️ But we'll keep trying... Welcome to the family...
Hi I have just found your channel as looking for Denia videos. Just wondering if you can't point me to which video I should look at to find your story, why you are travelling etc. Thanks. Enjoying your natural style of narration.
@CAH3893 Hi, To be honest, we haven't actually made a video of our story. The first 11 months of the channel, we lived in the Valencia region in a large house that we reformed. In 2020 it became clear that our parents were not going to come to live with us, which was why we bought such a large house, so we decided to downsize. When we had the house, we didn't have the money to travel. We had intended to buy a small flat and a motorhome, but we couldn't find a flat, so we decided to travel a bit before re-settling. We bought the motorhome last November and liked the lifestyle, so we currently don't know when we will resettle. I hope that explains enough and makes sense. Thanks for your comment and your curiosity. Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
@@findingxanadulife Thank you. And did you both speak Spanish before moving to Spain, you both seem very natural when speaking the language. We follow another English couple on UA-cam who seem to have done the opposite - Travelling, then buying a motorhome before selling it to buy a property in Spain as a base but still plan to go travelling - 2goroam I think their channel is called. I am slowly catching up to date with yourselves and just watched you in Alicante (my husband’s favourite) and will watch your Benidorm video next. Thanks for replying and keep up the good work, I am really enjoying your videos.
@CAH3893 Darren learned Spanish at school, but then didn't use it and I had to start from scratch. I can read and understand more than I can speak. I struggle to remember the words that I need, often in English as well as Spanish, but if I hear I word that I know, it pops into my head. Trying to learn another language in my mid forties has not been easy and I'm far from fluent, but we both get by. I still use Google translate a lot, but read the translation rather than have the person read it themselves. 2goroam sound familiar. I think we may have seen some of their videos recently. Be warned, not everyone liked our Benidorm video. We took a lot of flack for it. 🤪💜🤟
@@findingxanadulife just watching it now,, confirmed my ideas of Benidorm in the first few minutes but am impressed with the cultural bit now. I am enjoying the way you do the videos, you are showing me what I need to see thanks. Keep on YouTubing!
Hi merry Christmas, I love your content and easy style. I’ve just started watching your journey so haven’t got to the motor home yet! I wanted to see your earlier stuff first and find it very informative and realise when we have visited a few of the places we missed so much !
Hi Sarah, Welcome to the family. So glad you like the videos and at least when you go back to the places, you'll know what to look for. 😉 We do like to go off the beaten track when we can. Merry Christmas and thanks for watching. Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
Denia, Javea, Benitachell, Moraira, Altea, Beniform, these small towns and cities in eastern Spain are like a string of pearls, making them the best retirement and livable areas in Europe!
Epoca musulmana fueron taifas muy ricas y prospera .allí llegó el santo grial de Jerusalén . Fue entregada al reino de León Hoy conservado en la catedral de León.
Tendremos que hacer un viaje a León. Sin embargo, estamos esperando hasta que comencemos nuestra gira mundial. Gracias por ver, mucho amor Darren y Alison🤟♥️
We have no issue with the word "Immigrant". We are indeed legal immigrants. Ex-pats, Immigrants, we happily answer to both labels, but prefer Alison and Darren. Thanks for watching and for your comment. Much love. Alison and Darren 💜🤟
Well controlled Alison 🤣🤣🤣🤣 …. Face bovvvered???!!!!! Proper cracked me up watching you take a moment to find a polite way to say what ya wanted to say although it was written all over your face 😂…. Love ya dude xx
Thanks for watching and we would love to know what you think of our content, much love Alison & Darren ♥️🤟
I for one am loving the content and I love the songs you use. Another great episode for my weekly fix of Spanish life.
Thanks Steve, as always your support and kind comments are very much appreciated, much love to you and your family, Alison & Darren ♥️🤟
Thanks guys, keep up the good work you are doing great!!
We still have so much to learn, but every week feels like we are getting a little better.
As a Romanian, my heart melted at the interaction you had with the Romanian musician on the street. A simple interaction, just acknowledging each other by the names but however full of emotion and characteristic to the Latin spirit that the Romanian and Spanish people share. Nice video, I send you good vibes! :)
Thank you so much for your kind words. We love interacting with locals wherever we go, especially those that look 'out of place' from the surroundings.
We are now on a two year trip through the Adriatic regions to Türkiye and back through the Balkans. Romania is high on our list of countries to visit. If you have any suggestions of places that you recommend that we see, please let us know. We welcome any suggestions that you may have.
Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
Romania is an underrated gem and I swear I don't say this just because I'm Romanian. I've been to plenty of places myself but I am always mesmerized by the raw beauty, nature and unaltered spirit of the people that you meet along the way (especially in more rural areas). I'll leave some of my recommendations below. Since you come from that side of the world I presume your first stop will be Bucharest, but feel free to adjust accordingly.
- Bucharest, capital of Romania, vibrant city where you'll see a lot the clash between communist, neo-classical and also modern architecture (very interesting!). Also the Palace of Parliament - the second heaviest building in the world (after the Pentagon in the US). The Old Town is charming. I would also include a visit to Ceaușescu house (museum now), to learn more about how communism shaped Romania culture across decades.
- Transylvania (a must!) - the cities of Brașov - medieval town known for its well-preserved architecture, beautiful squares, and cozy cafes. From here, you can explore Bran Castle (the famous “Dracula’s Castle”), Sighișoara (UNESCO world heritage site, birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, one of the only well preserved medieval towns in Europe), Sibiu (Germanic architecture and influence, less crowded and among the prettiest cities in Romania), Cluj-Napoca (my city haha, second biggest in Romania, up and coming tech and business hub, considered the "capital" of Transylvania, modern and more westernized - would be interesting to see the contrast with other Romanian cities).
- Carpathian Mountains : don't miss the Transfăgărășan road, considered by that famous British car show -which name I forget now - the best road to drive in the world!
- Maramureș region : This northern region offers an authentic look into Romania’s traditional lifestyle. With its wooden churches (many UNESCO-protected), locals in traditional dress, and horse-drawn carts, it feels like stepping back in time. The Mocănița steam train in Viseu de Sus is an unforgettable way to experience the area.
- the Danube Delta - a biosphere paradise with unique flora and fauna. UNESCO world site as well.
- food!! Traditional food like "sarmale", "mici", the România cuisine is heavily influenced by balkan and even Turkish cuisine, and in the north by German and Hungarian cuisine. Just prepare your bellies!
Also wine tasting in wineries across country. We do make pretty damn good wine but never leave the country without tasting our traditional drink "palinca", a homemade brandy usually made from plums or apples (depending on the region) - guaranteed to make you want to stay a bit more in Romania than expected, haha!
Enjoy! ❤
@happyhourgeezer Wow..! Thank-you so much...! Some great recommendations there. Some we already had on our list, others that we didn't. We love the smaller towns, rather than the big cities and love to be able to see the traditions and culture of a country. I've (Alison) already spotted some archaeological sites in the Danube Delta that would be great to check out. I've always been obsessed with Dracula, since I was quite young, so although Bran Castle will be worth a visit, I'm hoping that Poenari Citadel
will have finished it's renovations by the time we get there, so that I can see Vlad's actual castle.
If you think of any other places to suggest, let us know.
Many thanks and much love 💜🤟🇷🇴
@@findingxanadulife I'm also thinking about Peles Castle, it's really beautiful! Also the castle of Hunedoara has a very medieval feel to it and it's quite interesting. For archaeology I would definitely recommend the Sarmisegetuza Regia ruins, it's a place surrounded by plenty of stories and spiritual importance for the beginnings of what we know today as Romania.
Notable smaller towns at least worth a day trip would be: Timisoara, Oradea, Baia Mare, Targu Mures.
I can't wait for the episode to come out!
Love,
Alexandra
@happyhourgeezer Fabulous Alexandra. Thank-you so much. I've added more places to our list and specific places within the areas that you have suggested. I strongly suspect that Romania will be more than one video. We have a friend who is from Romania, so we're very keen to see lots of it.
Bear with us though, it will be quite a few months before we get there.
We have many other countries to visit first. 😍
Thank-you so much for your comments.
Much love 😘💜🤟
Well controlled Alison 🤣🤣🤣🤣 …. Face bovvvered???!!!!! Proper cracked me up watching you take a moment to find a polite way to say what ya wanted to say although it was written all over your face 😂…. Love ya dude xx
Haha thanks Rachy. 😘😘💜🤟
Thanks so much for sharing. I can’t wait to visit!
You're welcome, thanks so much for watching 🤟♥️
We were in Denia in February! Beautiful !
Hi Chris,
We may have crossed paths without knowing..!
Thanks for watching. Much love, Alison and Darren 🤟
Enjoying another wonderful video. Funnily when we visited the castle at Denia, we had commented about the lack of railings and felt it was a health and safety nightmare! We must visit there again when over this summer. Not commenting on every video we watch but loving them all and finding them interesting and informative. Looking forward to working our way through the rest. Regards Barry and Sarah
Your comments are always welcome Barry and thanks again, Darren & Alison 🤟♥️
❤❤❤
On a slightly different note, what do people feel about the lengths of our videos..?!?
Do you think they are too long..?!?
Please let us know what you think..???
Much love,
Alison and Darren ❤🤟
I think they could be slightly shorter, I tend to lose concentration after around 10 minutes, nevertheless, I am enjoying your videos anyway, I'm thinking of moving to Spain from South Africa and you have given me a great overview of the area ....your editing skills are great Darren and the music chosen perfect!! Keep it up....
Wow, thank you so much for your comment. We had never made a video before starting this channel in January. So to hear that is amazing... We would love to keep them around 20 minutes, but after a first edit most are about an hour 🫣 and we struggle to get them down to 30 minutes 🤟♥️ But we'll keep trying... Welcome to the family...
Hi I have just found your channel as looking for Denia videos. Just wondering if you can't point me to which video I should look at to find your story, why you are travelling etc. Thanks. Enjoying your natural style of narration.
@CAH3893
Hi,
To be honest, we haven't actually made a video of our story. The first 11 months of the channel, we lived in the Valencia region in a large house that we reformed. In 2020 it became clear that our parents were not going to come to live with us, which was why we bought such a large house, so we decided to downsize. When we had the house, we didn't have the money to travel. We had intended to buy a small flat and a motorhome, but we couldn't find a flat, so we decided to travel a bit before re-settling. We bought the motorhome last November and liked the lifestyle, so we currently don't know when we will resettle.
I hope that explains enough and makes sense.
Thanks for your comment and your curiosity.
Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
@@findingxanadulife Thank you. And did you both speak Spanish before moving to Spain, you both seem very natural when speaking the language. We follow another English couple on UA-cam who seem to have done the opposite - Travelling, then buying a motorhome before selling it to buy a property in Spain as a base but still plan to go travelling - 2goroam I think their channel is called. I am slowly catching up to date with yourselves and just watched you in Alicante (my husband’s favourite) and will watch your Benidorm video next. Thanks for replying and keep up the good work, I am really enjoying your videos.
@CAH3893 Darren learned Spanish at school, but then didn't use it and I had to start from scratch. I can read and understand more than I can speak. I struggle to remember the words that I need, often in English as well as Spanish, but if I hear I word that I know, it pops into my head. Trying to learn another language in my mid forties has not been easy and I'm far from fluent, but we both get by. I still use Google translate a lot, but read the translation rather than have the person read it themselves. 2goroam sound familiar. I think we may have seen some of their videos recently.
Be warned, not everyone liked our Benidorm video. We took a lot of flack for it. 🤪💜🤟
@@findingxanadulife just watching it now,, confirmed my ideas of Benidorm in the first few minutes but am impressed with the cultural bit now. I am enjoying the way you do the videos, you are showing me what I need to see thanks. Keep on YouTubing!
@CAH3893 Benidorm has a great history, it has just been a bit tainted by the current population. 🤷🏼♀️ 🤣💜🤟
Hi merry Christmas, I love your content and easy style. I’ve just started watching your journey so haven’t got to the motor home yet! I wanted to see your earlier stuff first and find it very informative and realise when we have visited a few of the places we missed so much !
Hi Sarah,
Welcome to the family. So glad you like the videos and at least when you go back to the places, you'll know what to look for. 😉
We do like to go off the beaten track when we can.
Merry Christmas and thanks for watching.
Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
Denia, Javea, Benitachell, Moraira, Altea, Beniform, these small towns and cities in eastern Spain are like a string of pearls, making them the best retirement and livable areas in Europe!
Thanks for watching... These are all great towns although a little expensive for our budget, but so are a string of pearls 🤣♥️🤟
We Spaniards think the same.
🤟
Lovely video. Subscribed
Glad you liked it. Thanks for watching and welcome to the family..!
Much love, Alison and Darren 💜🤟
Looks very nice, though quiet empty
It was out of season, and a windy day, so maybe that would explain it.
Thanks for watching,
Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
Epoca musulmana fueron taifas muy ricas y prospera .allí llegó el santo grial de Jerusalén . Fue entregada al reino de León Hoy conservado en la catedral de León.
Tendremos que hacer un viaje a León. Sin embargo, estamos esperando hasta que comencemos nuestra gira mundial. Gracias por ver, mucho amor Darren y Alison🤟♥️
🇪🇦👑💪🏻🥇
♥️🤟
You are not a x pat you are an immigrant? You just don’t like the word immigrant.
We have no issue with the word "Immigrant". We are indeed legal immigrants. Ex-pats, Immigrants, we happily answer to both labels, but prefer Alison and Darren. Thanks for watching and for your comment. Much love. Alison and Darren 💜🤟
Well controlled Alison 🤣🤣🤣🤣 …. Face bovvvered???!!!!! Proper cracked me up watching you take a moment to find a polite way to say what ya wanted to say although it was written all over your face 😂…. Love ya dude xx