After we left Cadiz on 15th December we travelled to Olvera. It is a small city surrounded by hills. It was a nice and sunny weather. We went on the top of the Arab castle and we enjoyed the amazing view. Then we visited a cemetery which was nearby.

After visiting Olvera we travelled to Arcos de la Fronteira where we stayed in the hotel Los Olivos. Arcos is a small city and not very interesting but on 16th December there was a living Bethlehem in the evening. We had to wait in the line with many other people until we were allowed to enter the city. The main square and also many streets were decorated and there were animals. People were wearing costumes and there was also food tasting.

On Sunday 17th December we travelled to Sevilla where we stayed in the hotel Petit Palace Santa Cruz which is a 4-star hotel. We had very good breakfasts in this hotel with a large variety of food. For me it was already a second time to visit Sevilla, I had been there before in November 2012. At that time it was rainy and this time it was sunny and relatively warm in the sun.

We visited Plaza de Espana firstly and then we walked to Las Setas or Metropol Parasol which is a wooden construction at La Encarnacion square. We had lunch in a local cafe where we ordered pancakes. Then we walked in the city and by the river until it was dark. We had diner in the restaurant La Bodega where we tasted many different tapas including chickpeas, shrimp omelette and seafood. The following day we also spent in Sevilla and we went to Casa Tomate for diner which is also tapas restaurant. We had avocado with shrimp, spinach with chickpeas, meatballs, vegetables and chips.
We left Sevilla on 19th December and we travelled to Cordoba where we stayed in 4-star hotel NH Cordoba Guadalquivir. It was a luxurious hotel and we had a good breakfast there.

We walked to the Roman bridge of Cordoba and then to the Great Mosque. Thomas came back the following day because the entrance was free in the morning but I didn't go with him. In the evening we went to the tapas restaurant El Churrasco.
On Wednesday 20th December we travelled to Granada where we stayed in the hotel Palacio de los Navas. We walked up the hill in the afternoon and we watched the sunset. There was a Moroccan restaurant nearby where we had diner, we ordered meatballs. Granada was the only place which was really cold during the night and we needed a warm jacket.
On Thursday we visited Alhambra which is a beautiful palace and a fortress complex built in Arabic architecture. We spent some hours there.

On Friday 22nd December we travelled to theTabernas desert close and then to Almeria. We saw the village Fort Bravo from the distance which is used for filming western movies.

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We spent one night in the 4-star hotel Catedral Almeria and we had a breakfast there. My friend Younes who I met in Morocco in 2012 and his girlfriend came to meet us in the evening and we went together to the restaurant Entremares which is by the sea. We ate a lot of different kinds of seafood.
On Saturday 23rd December we returned to Malaga/ It was the last day of our trip in Spain. Thomas flight was departing earlier than mine so he dropped me in the city and he went to return the car. I spent afternoon walking by the sea and in the city and finally I went to McDonalds' to eat chicken and chips. It was warm and sunny that day. I took a bus to the airport and my flight to Prague departed around midnight. When I got to Prague it was late night and I slept only 4 hours because I had to catch a train to Slovakia around 9:30am. I arrived there in the evening and I had Christmas dinner with my mother and grandmother.   

I got holidays for 3 weeks in December and I took a flight on Friday 8th December to Brussels early in the morning. I spent 3 days in Brussels with my friend Sarka and her boyfriend. After arriving at the airport I took a bus to the city center and the journey took quite a long time. The first evening we had dinner in the restaurant Au Soleil D'Afrique which I had already visited once in 2015. This time I ordered a chicken in palm oil with rice. On Saturday we visited Bruges which is a beautiful historical city with cobbled lanes and picturesque bridges.

We spent some hours walking in the city and admiring the architecture. The city looked like a fairy-tale. It wasn't snowing but it was very cold outside. My friends did some shopping for Christmas and then we returned to Brussels.
On Sunday it started to snow and in the evening we went to a party to Sarka's friends. We had fun, we got food and drinks and then we returned home because I had to get up early on Monday morning 11th December because I had to travel to Eindhoven in order to catch my flight to Malaga. I took Uber to the bus station where I travelled by Flixbus to Eindhoven. There was a very heavy snowstorm when I got to the airport and approximately half of flight were cancelled. There was another flight to Malaga which was supposed to be departing around 20 minutes before my flight and it was also cancelled. I waited a long time and I was getting ready to return to Brussels but finally my flight was only delayed by one hour. I made a booking in the Casa Al Sur Hostel because I couldn't find a host on couchsurfing. I was supposed to check-in by 10pm and I arrived a few minutes late but it wasn't a problem. The staff was very friendly and let me in. I made tea in the kitchen and then I turned on heating and I went to sleep. The bed was very comfortable. When I got up on Tuesday I went to visit the city. The hostel was located in the city center. I walked to the beach and it was warm, in the sun it was around 18°C. Then I climbed up the hill towards the Gibraltar castle and on the way back I visited Alcazaba which is a fortress.

My friend Thomas from Paris joined me in the evening and we visited tapas restaurant together. We tasted many different kinds of food including octopus, shrimps, squid, pork and beef. Then we had a dessert and we went to an Arabic tearoom to drink some tea. On Wednesday morning we visited the city center of Malaga. Thomas hired a car but it was towed during the night because he parked on some forbidden place. We had to take a taxi there and the fine was 80 Eur.
Thomas booked accommodation for the rest of the our trip. We travelled to Ronda on Wednesday 13th December where we stayed in the hotel Parador de Ronda where we had impressive view overlooking a gorgeous abyss.

There was a tapas restaurant nearby where we had dinner. Then we watched some movie online.
As we stayed in 4-star hotels which were luxurious we had usually comfort there. We also had a good choice of food for breakfast there. We spent only one night in Ronda and then we travelled to Cadiz on Thursday 14th December where we spent one night in the Hotel La Catedral.

We weren't lucky with the weather in Cadiz because it was raining heavily when we visited the city. I had already visited Cadiz once before in 2012. We also met Raul who had hosted me in Cadiz before and then he also visited me in Prague. We joined him for dinner in the tapas restaurant.

I took a flight to Venice Treviso on Monday 20th November at 15:35. We flew above Dolomite mountains with snow. When we were arriving to the airport I watched sunset from the plane. Then I found a bus which took me to the city center. I stayed with my friend Maurizio in the hotel Gardena above canal. We had a well furnished room. We went to walk around the city and we had dinner in a restaurant where I ordered spaghetti with cuttlefish. The following day it was a nice weather, sunny but not warm. We had a breakfast in a hotel and we walked to the St. Mark's Square.

Then we walked around the city, admiring architecture and watching gondolas. Maurizio bought me a carnival mask on a square in Venice and I wore it for some time. 

We spent a good time together and then we had dinner in a restaurant where I ordered pizza with seafood. Then we went to a train station and Maurizio went to Milan while I went to Verona. I stayed with my friend Giamba from couchsurfing. I had met him in Prague before around 7 years ago. It was already late evening when I got to his place. Giamba had to go to work on Wednesday and I woke up late but we met for lunch and we went to the restaurant Locanda Lo Speziale. I had chicken with potatoes and pumpkin, it was very tasty. Giamba had to return to his work at the university and I went to visit the city. I walked to Arena and afterwards to the city center. I visited Casa di Giulietta which is not particularly interesting and then I walked to Tomba di Giulietta. 

In the evening I went to a couchsurfing meeting in the bar Osteria Ai Preti. There were many people but I didn't know anybody there. I spent some hours there and I talked to several people and then someone accompanied me back home. 

On Thursday Giamba worked in the morning but he was free in the afternoon. We went to the Caffeteria Fuoricorso where we had lunch. I had Cuttlefish with peas and polenta. 

We walked up the hill where we had a view on the city. We watched a sunset there. Then we crossed a bridge and we returned to the city center. We went to a Christmas market and then Chocolaterie where we drank hot chocolate with whipped cream.

I left Verona on Friday afternoon. I met Giamba before I left and we had a lunch in Locanda Lo Speziale again. I took a bus to Munich but it was more than one hour delayed. The journey took around 6 hours and we got there late, it must have been around 11pm when we arrived. We crossed Austria on the way and it was quite cold, we saw snow. My friend Christian whom I already visited in Munich before came to pick me up at the bus station. We decided to have dinner in McDonald's because it was already quite late. I ate chicken and chips.

On Saturday we went to the city center and we walked around but it was rainy. We went to a cake shop and we had dinner in an Indian restaurant. In the evening we went to a Christmas market.

We visited Neuschwanstein Castle on Sunday. It was sunny weather firstly but then it was snowing. 

The Neuschwanstein Castle is an impressive palace with many decorated rooms and paintings. 

We bought excellent sushi for lunch in the Chinese shop and we ate it at home. Then Chris accompanied me to the bus station. I took a bus to Prague and I arrived in the evening around 11pm. 

I started working in an assistance service on 15th May 2017. It was the same job as I did before at Axa. I was very busy during the summer season but I took holidays at the beginning of August and I travelled to Slovakia to visit my grandmother. It was very hot, around 35°C. I went twice to the swimming pool and I met some friends there.
Then I travelled to Krakow in Poland on 5th August and I spent 2 nights there. The ticket from Presov to Krakow was very cheap, it costed around 5 Euro. The journey took 3 hours and I arrived there in the afternoon. I walked to Rynek Glowny which is the Market Square.

I bought some clothes there in my favourite shop Tatuum. I waited for my host Soumya from couchsurfing next to the Cloth Hall. Soumya is from India and he is a PhD. student. We went to a resutaurant to eat pierogi (dumplings) and then we travelled by tram to the dorm where Soumya was staying.
On Sunday I visited the city by myself because Soumya had to work. It was rainy and it got much colder, it was only around 20°C. I went to the Wavel castle and then I visited the city center.

When I returned to the dorm Soumya cooked dinner for us, we had a chicken and rice. We watched a horror movie in the evening. I travelled to Prague on Monday. Firstly I took a bus to Ostrava. I watched a movie Gone girl which was very exciting. Then I continued travelling by train and I arrived to Prague in the evening.

On Tuesday 2nd May Shady had to travel to a hospital around 100 km south of Abu Dhabi because of his work and he took me there with him. We left Abu Dhabi in the morning and we got to the Al Gharbia hospital around 10am. We were driving next to salt flats. Shady spent around 5 hours working and I waited for him inside the hospital. Most local women wore niqabs and I wore a sleeveless T-shirt and a knee-length skirt. Few women beckoned to me but otherwise nobody paid attention to me. There was a restaurant in the hospital where people from South East Asia worked. I tried to walk outside the hospital but the temperature reached 42°C that day in the shadow and in the parking lot it was 50°C. I literally felt how my nose was burning from breathing hot air so I had to return to the air-conditionned hospital.
When Shady finished working we had a lunch in the restaurant in the hospital. We ordered rice and meat. Then we drove to the Liwa oasis. There were many palms trees and sand dunes. Shady's car got stuck in the sand and I had to push it out while it was so hot that I slightly burnt my hands when I touched it. Shady thought there was a lake in this oasis but we couldn't find it.

There was a huge sand dune which is called Moreeb dune and as I found out later it was a place fordrag races. Firstly I thought it was too dangerous but later we decided to climb up the dune, it was very steep and around 30 metres high. Our hands and feet sank into the sand but I made it to the top. 

Then we started sliding down the dune but the sand made humming sound which I found sinister and I ran down quickly. Then we drove back to Abu Dhabi and we saw herds of camels on our way.
On Wednesday I slept till noon and Shady picked me up in the afternoon and we went to the beach where we spent around 2 hours. The beach was closing at sunset and everybody had to get out of the water. Then we went to eat shawarma with French fries and it was very tasty.
On Thursday Shady took me to the beach around 1pm and he went back to work. I spent there all afternoon but I got a bad sunburn despite putting a lot of sunscreen. The sun was already very strong in Emirates in May and I spent at least 3 hours on the beach. It was around 38°C that day. I got a lot of unwanted attention on the beach as I was a single woman and I had to talk with several guys while one of them even bought me some juice. Then Shady picked me up and we went to spend my last night in Emirates in a hotel in Dubai. I had pizza with seafood for dinner, it was good but the taste was different from pizza in Europe because there put different kind of cheese. Then we went for a walk and to a beach bar Barasti. You can watch the video from the bar here. We had some drinks but we didn't stay there for a long time because it was already late.

My last day in Dubai was Friday 5th May. We got up late and we had our breakfast around noon in Belad Al Sham restaurant. We ordered Damascus breakfast with makdous (oil-cured eggplans), youghurt cheese Labneh, olives, eggs, cucumber and hummus. Then we went to the beach near Burj Al Arab where we spent some hours. I swam in the sea but my sunburn got even worse than before.

Then Shady took me to the airport because my flight to Prague was departing in the evening. I was very thirsty and I drank a lot of water and mango juice on the way to the airport. The flight took around 7 hours and we got dinner on the plane, it was rice and meat and also a cake. We also got some drinks. It was a comfortable journey but it was hot on the plane.

On Monday 1st May in the morning we went to visit Abu Dhabi. Firstly Shady took me to Emirates palace which is a luxurious hotel. We entered and admired its grandiose lobby and spiral staircase.

We couldn't enter firstly because Shady was wearing shorts and the guards didn't let us in. He had to go home to change. I also wore revealing clothes but it wasn't a problem.

Although it was a hot day the sky was cloudy. We went to visit Umm Al Emarat Park with a botanic garden. Then we spent some hours on the beach, the water was around 27°C. We should have hurried up because my flight from Dubai was departing after 7pm but Shadi told me that we had enough time to visit also Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. It is the largest mosque in the country made of marble stone and gold. It was decorated with carpets and huge chandeliers. You can watch the video here.

Unfortunately we lost too much time while visiting the mosque and it was 5pm when we left. Shady still thought that we would make it on time but we got stuck in a traffic jam in Dubai. I saw sunset from the highway at Burj Al Arab and the panorama of skyscrapers which make Dubai's skyline impressive. I phoned my mother and told her that I was going to miss my flight. We arrived at the airport more than one hour after my flight departed. I wouldn't really mind missing my flight and prolonging holidays but the problem was that I was supposed to start a new job in Prague the following day and I didn't know if the new employer was willing to wait for my return. As they were willling to wait for me my start date at a new job was postponed by two weeks. 

When we got to the airport it was evident that there was nothing we could do and we left. I didn't want to take another flight the following day so I bought later another flight ticket for Friday afternoon.

We had to go back to Abu Dhabi but before we went for dinner in Dubai to the Yemeni Zam Zam restaurant. We ordered fish and rice and the food was juicy and very tasty. We returned to Abu Dhabi late at night and on Tuesday Shady took me on a desert trip to Liwa oasis.