Hi! I'm Elena! Welcome to my travel blog Creativelena.com.
For me, it is all about “life-seeing instead of sightseeing”: Join me as I create, eat & live my way around the world. Curious?
*Check out my book, “The Creative Traveler’s Handbook”, for learning more about what we mean by creative travel. Travelling means the world to me, makes me fit for everday life and sometimes, I trust, also calmer on the inside. Read this blog with a smile, share what you love and remember to check back regularly: After all, when was the last time you did something for the first time?
Since the beginning of this year, I have been writing for a digital magazine called “Urlaub am Winzerhof” (Austrian Wine Farm Holidays). Their website www.urlaubamwinzerhof.at tells you more about different overnight stays on winegrowing estates in Lower Austria, Burgenland or Styria. In addition, some of their short stories are authored by me, telling you more […]
With so much commitment shown by the (young) winegrowers of the wine village Strass, my small little hometown in the Lower Austrian Kamptal, I find myself really really proud today. Wonderful to see what the “young creatives” are capable of achieving. Because “Gaisberg Uncorked“?! I mean, really … What is that supposed to be? Well, the […]
“Würzburg is sooo beautiful … Enjoy Würzburg and the wines of Franconia”, my travel friends advise about my short stay in Würzburg. As part of the “Romantic Road“, the Franconian town is surrounded by countless romantic vineyards on the Main river. I take to visiting “Vinothek Wohlsein Weine” with their goal to introduce younger, smaller […]
“Am Brunnen vor dem Tore, da steht ein Lindenbaum …” Gently, I recall the famous melody to this traditional Austrian folk song written by Franz Schubert, Austria’s famous 18th century composer. We follow in the footsteps of our host, Irene Moser, who leads us around the historical Höldrichsmühle hotel. A property close to Vienna, yet still […]
Imagine visiting the town of Baden near Vienna. The sweet scent of thousands of roses, the fairy-tale like Doblhoff park, the historic little streets of the old town. And all of a sudden … the roar of a lion. The glaring stare of a white tiger. The intense look of an exotic pair of birds. The […]
If coming from Lower Austria to the north, and driving via the Packsattel pass, you can definitely draw “a different breath of fresh air” beyond. Carinthia, the south of Austria, feels just different, more “southern” already! It’s what Pater Maximilian must have thought, as he “applied” to be taken from his original Benedictine abbey of […]
Did you know that the earliest signs of spring can be found in the very (north)East of Austria, in the Pannonia plains of northern Burgenland, near Lake Neusiedl? That as you travel here and stay in one of its cozy accommodation units (either B&B or hotels), you will receive the so-called Neusiedler See Card offering you many attractive […]
Just near my little home town Straß im Straßertal, you will find a true gem of a place in Rohrendorf near Krems: The Bed & Breakfast of the Krappel family. Stay here if you prefer a home-cooked meal, as well as home-made brandies, to the often impersonal service of a hotel. Gerda & Christian really know […]
Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria at almost half a million inhabitants, is a Balkan star rising. Forming part of a trend that sees “Europe’s second cities” gain in popularity, it may well steal the show off its capital neighbour to the West, the city of Sofia. In my last post about Bulgaria, I […]
Standing in front of the national park centre “Weidendom”, I draw a deep breath and close my eyes, allowing the rushing river Enns behind me to fill me with its thundering noise. Ah, the clean air, the merry colours of nature, timeless it seems, yet touching us with their every fibre. As my gaze follows the […]