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?
So where exactly … are Porvoo and the small island of Pellinge, just a little outside of Helsinki in the south of Finland? Well located, I’d say first of all. Well indeed if you, like me, have already seen Helsinki for yourself, have done perhaps a tasty food tour in the Finnish capital city, and are […]
There’s an old saying in German: Alles neu macht der Mai. (“April showers bring May flowers.”) In my case, it’s a flourishing of fresh ideas about the range of hiking options in Eastern Germany. Spoiled as can be, you don’t easily expect to impress an Austrian by suggesting a hiking trip in (Eastern) Germany. However, […]
Take five days of rest and retreat, mix it with the inspiring atmosphere of a view across a vast lake, add your very own pool and sundeck, garnish it with the taste of fresh strawberries, pizza, pasta, vino & cappuccino, and serve it with the aroma of a one thousand year old olive grove. My […]
EF – Education First. The motto of what I consider to be, my “Alma Mater” concerning language travel abroad, and also the name of the very first language school I went to London with for an “Academic Year Abroad” back in 2002 ..! EF has really changed my life in many ways: Thanks to this early […]
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 […]
“So what exactly are you doing in Mysliborz?!”, my Polish friend asks me, quite surprised. “Not off to Warsaw, Krakow, or Gdansk?”, he seems to be adding, naming the much more well-known travel destinations in Poland. My EuropeTour mission about developing sustainable cultural tourism in the rural areas of Europe has once again led me […]
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 […]
Bulgaria, a travel destination that continues to evoke something special in me. Starting from my open fascination for the historic capital city of Sofia, I would like to take you further this time. Further into the countryside. Right into where I believe lies the heart and soul of Bulgaria, its many different cultural landscapes shaped over the […]
Bulgaria. It’s -15C when we arrive in Sofia. My first meeting with the city is thus a rather frosty one; however, my soon-to-be Bulgarian friends know how to put on a programme, involving merry rounds of Rakia, dance, music, etc. I am on this trip called #CreativeBulgaria (check out our hashtag for even more colourful impressions […]
