Bobby compact backpack

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored review.

Last year, I placed an order for Bobby compact backpack, an anti-theft bag by XD Design on a kickstarter website and it arrived just in time for my Europe trip.

What drove me to purchase the Bobby compact backpack was that I became a bit paranoid after reading and watching videos of pickpocketing in Italy.

Here is my review.

Pros:

+ Bag is padded, making it suitable for carrying laptop and fragile items such as bottles of wine.

+ Weight distribution is good. Does not strain back when carried.

+ Water resistant with bag cover to make it waterproof.

+ Can be strapped onto luggage handle.

+ Hidden compartments which are not accessible to others.

Cons:

- Bag has a definite volume and is rather bulky; it cannot be compressed and stored in the luggage when not in use.

- Mass of empty bag is around 800 g which is rather heavy.

- No external pocket for storing water bottle.

- Difficult to access side pockets 

An anti-theft bag makes it more difficult for pickpockets to steal things from your bag but it does not prevent your entire bag from being stolen. So, one still has to be vigilant and watch own belongings. 

Cinque Terre, Italy

Cinque Terre, literally translates to 5 lands, is a UNESCO world heritage.

What drew me to Cinque Terre was this breathtaking photo of Manarola. Colourful houses at a cliff by the sea. How beautiful is that!

Cinque Terre consists of 5 towns. I visited all 5 towns with the Cinque Terre card. In Mar 2017, the 2 day Cinque Terre card cost 23 Eur and allowed unlimited travel on trains and buses, Wifi access, use of public toilets, hiking on path 2 in Cinque Terre for 2 days. Without the card, each train ride between the towns in Cinque Terre cost 4 Eur. The frequency of the train ride is approximately once every hour. The train schedule is available online, however, there is a variation of ~10min of the actual timing from the online schedule.

Is the Cinque Terre card worth the money?

Yes, if you intend to visit all 5 towns. Otherwise, you could get the individual train tickets. Wifi access provided by the Cinque Terre card was limited, public toilets were closed and some of the trails on path 2 were closed.

Here is my take on the 5 towns.

Riomaggiore

Houses are pretty run down from the outside.

Corniglia

Most physically challenging and inaccessible due to the climb up to the town center. To reach the town center from the train station, it is recommended to take the Cinque Terre bus.

Vernazza

Most elderly friendly. Mostly flat ground and town center can be easily reached from the train station.

Monterosso

Largest and most children friendly. Have a beach and playground.

Manarola

Most scenic.

I stay at B&B Baranin at Manarola for 2 nights. It is located on a cliff. I remembered panting while rolling my luggage up the slope and carrying them up the stairs. In retrospect, perhaps, I would stay in the town center of Manarola, instead of up on a cliff. Breakfast offered by B&B Baranin was good though; the freshly-made croissants made my day.

I hiked around Manarola but not from one town to the next. Good walking shoes are strongly recommended.

I had dinner at Trattoria Dal Billy, which was a short walk away from B&B Baranin. Food was yummy and reasonable priced. In fact, it was so good that I had dinner there for 2 consecutive days! You should also try Sciacchetra, a sweet dessert wine which will be served after meal. 

Lobster pasta at Billy

Sciacchetra at Billy

Now, you must be thinking, if one has the time to visit only one town in Cinque Terre, what would it be?

If you have no problems climbing stairs and slopes, I would strongly recommend Manarola. I would recommend staying there for at least 1 one day, to catch the day and the sunset view and have dinner at Billy.

If you have difficulty with stairs and slopes, I would suggest Vernazza as the terrain is the most gentle. It is also beautiful.

Chianti wine tour, Italy

I have previously blogged about the great experience which I had during the Hunter Valley wine tour in Australia in 2015. Subsequently, I went for a wine tour in Khao Yai and more recently, Chianti wine tour in Italy.

As I had great experience with the Hunter Valley wine tour, I must say I have certain expectations of the wine tour and am rather disappointed.

I would do a comparison between the Hunter Valley wine tour and the Chianti wine tour.

The Hunter Valley wine tour costed AUD 100 (lunch excluded) while the Chianti wine tour costed 150 Eur (lunch included). Both were daytrips. For Hunter Valley wine tour, the pickup point was at my hostel whereas for the Chianti wine tour, the pickup point was at the travel agency's office.

The roads to the vineyards in Chianti were winding and uneven (worse than the roads to Genting Highlands!). A bumpy ride after winetasting generally made people feel uncomfortable. My friend felt nausea. Luckily, nobody suffered from motion sickness or vomited during the trip. In comparison, the journey to Hunter Valley in Australia was very smooth.

Chianti is famous for red wines and 80% of the wines we tasted at the 2 vineyards were red wines. It lacked variety. In Hunter Valley, we got to taste white wines, red wines and dessert wines and everyone managed to find something they like. In the first vineyard we visited in Chianti, there was a particular red wine which we tasted and I liked. Unfortunately, the bottle which we tasted was the 2009 bottle and it was not for sale, which made me wonder what is the point of letting us taste the wine if we couldn't buy it. We could buy the 2014 bottle but that was not offered to us for tasting and hence, nobody bought that. Seriously, they need to reflect on their marketing strategy.

Because of the long, winding and bumpy rides, we could only visit 2 vineyards during the Chianti tour. In comparison, I visited 4 wineries during the Hunter Valley tour.

My personal opinion is that the Chianti wine tour pales in comparison to the Hunter Valley wine tour and it was not as fruitful or enjoyable.