Victoria

Having just read the newly released Lonely Planet’s Top 10 cities for 2012,  I thought I would create my own list.   Would love to hear your thoughts on both!

1. DUNEDIN, New Zealand – has to take the number 1 spot, it is my home town and a fabulous city.

Dunedin is amazing for so many reasons aside from the more personal ones, (dunedin is still home to most of my immediate family and some very dear friends), some reasons for your to visit Dunedin when you are in NZ include;

• beautiful scenery

• the stunning and diverse range of wildlife, home to the Yellow eyed penguin, the Royal Albatross, Sealions, and seals to name a few… have a look at this link http://www.elmwildlifetours.co.nz/ if you would like to know more.  We also have the recently opened Orokonui Ecosanctuary, a must for bird lovers http://www.orokonui.org.nz/.

• wow! i could write a whole post about Dunedin, it really is number 1 for me

2. KORCULA – my current home town, where I met my wonderful husband and so much more…..

again, there are so many reasons that I love Korcula, you can see some of my other blog posts for more about Korcula and have a look at www.korculaexplorer.com for more island information and recommended places to stay during your visit.

• Korcula is also the home of our small business,Seba Dizajn, home of fabulous Traditional Filigree Jewellery and so much more….

3. QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand

With scenery like this, and a cute niece like this (below), what’s not like to like about Queenstown?  It is also NZ’s self claimed adventure capital and tourist meca, offering literally hundreds of entertainment options and more bars and restaurants than any other small ‘city’ I’ve visited to date.

4. VICTORIA/VANCOUVER, Canada – a draw for 4th place

12 years ago I started my current travellers journey in Vancouver and headed on to Victoria on nearby Vancouver Island, both cities rank highly for me as I have GREAT friends living in the two places, therefore they are always fun places to visit.

Both cities also offer a fantastic selection of places to eat, easy to use public transport, & proximity to mountains and sea that are hard to beat.  Try The Reef, http://thereefrestaurant.com/ for some extra tasty treats & cocktails and fabulous customer service. Yummy!

5. KATHMANDU, Nepal – oh so many reasons to love this vibrant city.

• the PEOPLE of Nepal are fabulous, friendly, resourceful – once again I am reminded how blessed I am to have met such fantastic people in my travels;

•  the FOOD, Kathmandu has some of the tastiest places to eat you can imagine

• the CULTURE, Nepal’s predominant mix of Hinduism &Buddhism create a colourful and vibrant cultural mix, and a calendar doted with frequent celebrations and holidays!

• Kathmandu and the Kathmandu are also home to our wonderful FAIR TRADE supplies, you can find out more about them in my ‘Who is Sewing Your Sequins?’ post.

•  And I have to make a quick mention of Verena, the wonderful bar keeper and owner at SAM’s BAR – always a friendly welcome, and a friend indeed during my many solo visits to Kathmandu, thanks Verena!

 6. GRANTOWN ON SPEY, Scotland – a little bit of a push on the ‘city’ category here but I make the rules!

Really the same rules as above apply to Grantown, friends and scenery make a ‘city’ special for me – ‘no comment’ on the Grantown food options! Although the Royal Chippy and a pint of Belhaven Best at The Claymore must rank somewhere in my most memorable ‘meals’ of Scotland.

• and of course there is the Scottish WEATHER as a draw card to Grantown???

7. BERLIN, Germany – family, food, culture, galleries, shopping…. a great mix of good things!

• the public transport, easy to negotiate, cheap and full of beautiful people!

• Berlin also has fabulous NIGHTLIFE, especially if you have a FABULOUS GUIDE!

• Berlin is also home to some amazing artistic talent, including that of Helen Bogun of http://helz-design.com/, look at this FABULOUS tree she did for our Christmas website….

8. PRAGUE/MLADA BOLESLAV, Czech Republic – another draw; Chocolate, architecture, FAMILY, and Skodas!

9. WELLINGTON, New Zealand – friends, food, scenery, seaside dwelling, the wind?

Wellington in New Zealand’s capital city and home to some VERY fine people, and it will always hold a dear spot in my heart, we hope to make it to Wellington next time we are in NZ as we sadly had to miss it last time round.

Wellington is a vibrant buzz of a city, home to some amazing galleries, museums and artisans.  Te Papa is of course the most well known museum and hosts some fabulous touring exhibits.  The gallery I want to mention is located in Lower Hutt, just outside of Wellington, Expressions Gallery is  a fabulous community that hosts a gallery, theatre, cafe and recreation centre all in one, http://www.expressions.org.nz/ IMPRESSIVE!

Wellington also hosts a huge variety of fun events throughout the year, steam, food and FUN!!! here, http://nz.totaltravel.yahoo.com/experiences/a/-/10047793/kapiti-foodies-go-full-steam-ahead/

It looks like I need a new trip to Wellington to update my photos, something to look forward to for 2012.

10. ROME, Italy – the city of romance and rendezvous, fabulous food, wine, CHEESE, shopping and more.

I have recently written about Rome in my ‘5 Lost Years – where does time go?’ post, I met a dear friend in Rome 2 weeks ago and we had a blast walking the town and taking in the city sites and coffee!  Rome holds a LOT of special memories for me, in 2010 we met my Mum and some friends there for a pre-wedding party, and in 2008 I was lucky enough to be there to meet more friends and my lovely now husband!  Here are some of my favourite Rome photos;

There it is, my TOP 10 ‘Cities’ – would love to hear you thoughts, what’s your TOP CITY and why? Where do you think I should visit next?  Thanks again for joining us and remember you can sign for all the Seba Silver updates in the box at the top right of this page.

Family and friends make it for me everytime, of course great food gets a look in too!

Thanks to all of you, mentioned, photographed and not.