Countries Visited: Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Slovakia, the Netherlands, United Kingdom
Austria | Vienna & Salzburg
Visited: April 2019 – 4 days
Austria is well known for its incredible scenery and music. We visited Vienna (often referred to as the City of Music and was once home to many famous composers, including Mozart and Beethoven) and Salzburg (known for its charming architecture and for the filming of one of my favourite movies of all time – The Sound of Music).
Czech Republic | Brno & Prague
Visited: April 2019 – 5 days
The Czech Republic has a rich and fascinating history. There are historic castles, buildings, churches, monuments, relics, crown jewels, and other sites scattered around this Central European country. We visited two of the largest cities in the Czech Republic on a two-week adventure to Europe: Brno and Prague.
Hungary | Budapest
Visited: April 2019 – 3 days
Budapest: the tale of three cities named Buda, Pest, and Óbuda. Buda is quite hilly, lies on the western bank of the Danube, and features many of Budapest’s medieval structures and monuments, including Castle Hill and Buda Castle. Pest is predominantly flat, consists of the eastern part of the city across the river, and features attractions such as the Hungarian Parliament Building and Heroes’ Square. Óbuda lies north of Buda and isn’t really home to any of the popular tourist attractions, so it’s often forgotten about. Together these three cities united in 1873 to form Budapest, which is now the capital of Hungary.
Iceland
Visited: June 2015 – 20 days
and November 2016 – 4 days
Iceland has been gaining popularity over the past couple of years. With its stunningly beautiful landscape and magnificent geothermal attractions, it is any nature enthusiast’s paradise. And due to its close proximity to the Arctic Circle the days are endless in the summer and the night sky is often illuminated with the aurora borealis in the winter.
Italy
Visited: December 2013 – 8 days
Italy is a country that is shaped like a boot. Perhaps this is why us Canadians were drawn to come here because that is how we also pronounce “about”. But (not boot), Italy is also known for its famous wine regions, its delicious Italian cuisine, and being home to some of the most impressive ancient ruins on the planet. We toured Italy for eight days spending four days in Rome, two in Naples and two in Florence. We were pleasantly surprised with how enjoyable the temperatures were in December and by how few tourists there were out and a boot.
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Slovakia | Bratislava
Visited: April 2019 – 1 day
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. It is considered one of the smaller capitals in Europe, so it is therefore quite easy to explore the historic town by foot. And in a single day. With its close approximation to Vienna, it makes for a perfect day trip. And the perfect way to start our 2 week adventure in Europe.
The Netherlands
Visited: November 2016 – 4 days
Known for its windmills, wooden shoes, tulips, stroopwafels, the colour orange, bicycles, canals, dikes, and its beautiful tall people, Holland is one of the greatest countries in the world. Disclaimer: I’m Dutch. But seriously, the Netherlands (and its people) are pretty awesome. With one third of the country below sea level, the Dutch have found an incredibly unique (some might even call it genius) way to coexist with water through its elaborate canal system and its complex flood control system. Nobody does it better. If you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much.
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