My Holiday: Virginia Frankovich
What was your greatest holiday?
My impromptu trip to Europe last year with only hand luggage for two months. My [now] husband and I were miserable in our mouldy Auckland flat so we found a cheap flight that departed in two months’ time, gave notice, put all our stuff in a storage unit and set off with only our backpacks. We swanned around rooftop bars in London, overdosed on art galleries in Berlin, drank Aperol spritz in Milan, got inspired at the Biennale in Venice, camped among olive trees in Florence, cycled through the woods in Norway, drove all across Spain over the glorious European summer. The absolute highlight was staying in a cabin on a permaculture farm on top of a high mountain in the Sierra Nevada, Andalusia. Incredible views of rolling hills, olive groves and pueblos as tiny specks down below and not a person in sight.
And the worst?
Going to the Balearic Island of Menorca amid the slow unravelling of a terrible relationship. He hated the sun. So we stayed inside this horrible over-air conditioned, all-inclusive resort eating tepid buffet food and fighting for the majority of the time.
If we bump into you on holiday, what are you most likely to be doing?
Frantically rotating around in circles with my GPS trying to find the direction of the closest opshop.
If we could teleport you to a place in New Zealand for a week-long holiday, where would it be?
Waikite Valley in Rotorua. There are geothermal pools nestled into the side of a hill. And to sweeten the deal they have a campground onsite which means you can stay and have unlimited access to the thermal pools. Absolute bliss.
How about for a dream holiday internationally?
I very briefly went to Chile for a wedding and it was so beautiful there. I’ll never forget arriving in Valpara´ıso and being overwhelmed by the beauty of the colourful clifftops and the maze of hills packed with incredible restaurants and bars. It made me want to go back and explore more of South America — particularly Peru.
Aisle seat or window seat?
I’m more of an eyemask traveller, so I’ll take the aisle seat any day. Nothing worse than being trapped in between two passengers who are open-mouth dribbling and fast asleep when you need to use the bathroom.
Complete this sentence: I can't travel without …
my Saint Christopher necklace given to me by my dad for good luck while travelling. Also, when I travel with only hand luggage I couldn’t survive without my microfibre travel towel — it saves so much space.
What's the best travel tip you've ever been given?
Someone once told me to talk to everyone you meet when you travel.
What was the most memorable meal you've had while travelling?
In Florence I went to this amazing family-run theatre restaurant called Teatro de sale. It was mainly local senior citizens who were members of the theatre club. There were never-ending courses of delicious Italian cuisine. After the mammoth feast of pastas and meat, we all dragged our chairs over to the stage where we were treated to the family performing. I couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying, but it was magical!
What's the best thing you've brought back from a trip?
At the Singapore Arts Festival I became obsessed with these giant tissue paper fruit shapes strung across the city. My artist host Rinda gave me a stash of the cheerful decorations. I hung them up at my wedding.