Like most post-plane hours, day one in Rome started slow. Having booked a 3pm free bicycle tour, we finally made it out of the hotel around 2:15. The tour was free (tip-based), the bikes, of course, were not. At 10euro/24hr for each of us, we took advantage of the opportunity to use the bikes again… Continue reading Roamin in Rome
Category: Europe
I Love Athens!
Really, I do. I love it. The month of bitter European Winter may have left me easy to please, but I am absolutely in love with Athens! The sun (how I missed it), the smell in the air that shifts between faint fresh flowers, and deliciously rich Greek herbs, the absolutely friendly people. All of… Continue reading I Love Athens!
One Hour in Budapest
You’ve likely seen posts for a weekend or a day spent in a city (maybe, say, “Berlin in a Weekend”). This is hopefully the most abbreviated city tour I’ll ever write about. While I do love that we had a chance to see Budapest, even a tiny bit longer would’ve been lovely. How did… Continue reading One Hour in Budapest
Berlin in a Weekend
Saturday Our 2 am arrival was no match for our 4am departure, leaving us just over 48 hours in Berlin, sleeps included. Day one started slowly, as recovery from our dreadful journey the night before took precedence over sight-seeing. We jumped on the 2pm free walking tour (yes, another one). It starts at the Brandenburg Gate,… Continue reading Berlin in a Weekend
Hamburg Horror
Okay, so “horror” might be just a tad dramatic. But it was pretty terrible. I noticed was my Norwegian app was showing my ticket as having a Hamburg destination instead of our flight booked to Berlin…odd. So, I called; as is all too common with customer service lines, I was on hold for far too… Continue reading Hamburg Horror
Sunny day in Copenhagen!
Am I still in Scandinavia? Is this real life? We walked of our hotel today to something truly amazing: sunshine. The skies were all blue and, though cold, the air lacked the sting I’d become accustomed to. It was a beautiful way to end our stay. We first walked to Rundetaarn (the round tower), and… Continue reading Sunny day in Copenhagen!
Christianshavn and Paper Island Food Trucks
To start the day, we thought we’d take advantage of one of the free-on-Wednesdays museums, the Thorvaldsen. A quick 30 minutes through was the perfect amount of time for me (I’m not the sit, stare, ponder type.) The menacing statues are both impressive in size and quantity. Hercules, in the stairway, is the best example… Continue reading Christianshavn and Paper Island Food Trucks
Ghostly Gamla Stan and Drottninggatan
We took the first half of the day to do a bit of northern exploration. Walking the busy pedestrian shopping street of Drottninggatan, you get a chance to do some people watching and touristy shopping. The best prices we saw for small gifts were on the most tourist-vibed street, a real surprise! There are a… Continue reading Ghostly Gamla Stan and Drottninggatan
Söder and Vino
We began the day on our way to Södermalm for the food free walking tour. Either they got moving promptly, or didn’t show up at all, because we arrived at 11:02 for the 11am meetup, with no food tour to be found. Making the best out of an unfortunate situation, we headed up to the Greasy… Continue reading Söder and Vino
Copenhagen Grand Tour
We began our tour at the Town Hall Square, filled with different colored umbrellas and very many tourists. The apparent orchestrator of the Copenhagen Free Walking Tours directed us to Rosie’s group who were just getting started. She gave us an informative tour with a lot of personality! The London transplant gives a great picture… Continue reading Copenhagen Grand Tour
Djurgården is My Garden
We began our Thursday with a free walking tour that conveniently met at the Gamla Stan T-bana station (a ~5 minute walk from Castle House Inn). With only a bit of Gamla Stan, and some great pointers for future visits along the way, our guide, Stephanie (a Chicago original, like us!), led a nice little… Continue reading Djurgården is My Garden
Sleepy in Stockholm
Well, we’ve certainly taken our Stockholm stay to recuperate from the busyness of Poland. Though, a girl’s gotta eat! So, we’ve got a couple restaurants that we’ve visited as well as the Royal Palace of Sweden over the past three days. The second night we made a rezo (the internet said it was necessary; it… Continue reading Sleepy in Stockholm
On to Stockholm
Our Ryanair flight to Stockholm-Skavsta Airport was quick and beautiful, flying over the vast archipelago of south-east Sweden. Upon arrival, we were delighted to have another arrival without border-control! Yay! Just one walk by a drug-dog, and we headed to the Flygbussarna we’d prepaid for on their app. It was an almost 2 hour trip… Continue reading On to Stockholm
Another Old Town-Warsaw
We found tickets for 3.40zl to catch the bus from Warsaw Central to Stare Miesto (Old Town). Arriving within about 10 minutes, we hopped off and made our way up the stairs to get on level with the cobblestone plaza in front of the Royal Palace, as well as our hotel: Castle Inn. Castle Inn… Continue reading Another Old Town-Warsaw
Krakow in 3 Hours
Waking up the only morning we had in Krakow, we repacked quickly and readied for a fast-paced morning. We left our bags at the hotel reception, where she kindly agreed to also print an email of our boarding passes while we spent the day on another (apparently the original) free walking tour. Missing an opportunity… Continue reading Krakow in 3 Hours
Warsaw to Zakopane
After a fairly uncomfortable 7.5 hours on train “beds,” with frequent and abrupt stopping, we arrived at Zakopane, and dropped into the station’s restaurant, for a coffee to start and to formulate our day-plan. Our original hotel, Willa Bor, was near to the station and to central Zakopane (Krupowki Street). Due to some extremely frustrating Expedia problems, where… Continue reading Warsaw to Zakopane
Zakopane to Krakow
For lunch, upon recommendation from the ultra sweet Aga innkeeper, we went to Dobra Kasza Nasza (we’ve also seen a location in Krakow) for a terrifically Polish lunch of baked fish, saurkraut soup, groat (not goat) pancakes accompanied with tzatziki-esque sauce, and some Ceylon tea with cherry vodka. Everthing was damn smaczne! After wandering the… Continue reading Zakopane to Krakow
Day Around Warsaw
We began our only full day in Warsaw the right way: with a couple dozen pierogi, borscht and hot rum cyder. Our meal at Zapiecek rivaled some family Christmas dinners of my childhood. The favorites of the meal were the Ruskie and the wild mushroom pierogi. Filled to the brim, we began our Maps-plotted route to… Continue reading Day Around Warsaw
Warsaw Arrival
Upon arrival into Modlin Airport, I was shocked and delighted to stroll right out! It was because we’d come from an Italy instead of the U.S! (Within the Schengen Area many airports have border-control free entry for Schengen flights) We deplaned, passed through the baggage area and the “nothing to declare line” (we had nothing to… Continue reading Warsaw Arrival
Milan, the final day
To begin our final day in Milan, we packed up and checked out, leaving our luggage for safe keeping at the front desk, as many others had as well. With the intent of taking the long hike up to the top of the Duomo, were deterred by the long line for tickets and gray skies… Continue reading Milan, the final day