It’s been less than two weeks since we left Europe for Asia, and yet it feels like a lifetime ago. That could possibly be because we’re in Varanasi, India which is a whole world different than Europe. Having had enough of the sensory overload from the city, we’re hiding in a café drinking coffee (made with filtered water) and reflecting on our 100 days in Europe. Continue reading
If you follow our blog, or know us, you probably understand that we are not your typical ‘two-week tourist’. The ‘two-week tourist’ as we call them, tries to do everything in two weeks; it makes sense, they have two weeks off a year and want to do/see as much as possible in that limited time. They also probably have a daily budget close to ten times ours. For us to try and be that type of tourist in all of the places we have been too (over 112 cities and counting), it would simply be impossible – we would have ran out of money months ago and likely been so exhausted we’d just have flown home. Continue reading
Attending a Polish Wedding was never something I imagined myself doing. So, when the opportunity presented itself, I was pretty excited. First off, it’s an honour to be invited to a wedding – anywhere in the world. Second, a wedding is an incredible way to get a better understanding of local culture and traditions. Continue reading
We left Berlin early in the morning to ensure we arrived in Warsaw on time to meet Dan’s sister, Jessika, and his mother, Ewa, at the airport when their plane landed. When we arrived (a bit late) they were waiting for us with Ewa’s brother, Krzysztof. We picked up our rental car and followed Krzysztof back to Otwock, a small town about 45 minutes from Warsaw where Ewa grew up. Her entire family still lives in that town and her brother and his family currently live in the same apartment she grew up in! Since she left, Ewa has only returned to Poland twice, once in 1998 with Jessika and Daniel. Dan barely remembers this visit and was essentially re-meeting his entire family; a very special part of our trip! Continue reading
Old men are stubborn. This saying is notoriously true, and was a prominent part of our trip to Lübeck. We stayed with Richard Wolf, who was my grandmother’s neighbour before her and her family left Germany in 1952. Richard turned 90 this year! His wife of over 60 years, Barbara, who I met last time I visited Lübeck in 2008, passed away three years ago. Richard’s English is minimal at best and thus we were thankful that Brigitte, Richard’s current partner, was around to help translate, although sometimes things get lost in translation. Continue reading
The Netherlands far exceeded our expectations and is, according to Dan, his favourite country in Europe and the “only one he could live in.” The country is simultaneously modern and historical, while being extremely organized and efficient. And it’s not just one city; the whole country is like that. My only dislike of the infrastructure design would be the insane crosswalks throughout the country: crosswalks often consist of two or three portions crossing bike lanes (which are everywhere, not surprisingly, and mopeds are allowed to use them!!), tram lines, and car lanes. Continue reading
One of the first things I did when we decided on dates for Europe, was start messaging all my friends and family who live there. Staying with people you know in other countries and cities has countless benefits: you get to catch up with someone you likely haven’t seen in a long time, you are shown a different side of the area, you can get away from just the touristy spots, you can often drive around (without having to weigh the pros and cons of a rental car), you get a glimpse as to how people in that area live and, in my opinion, it improves the overall experience. Oh, and free accommodation doesn’t hurt the budget… Continue reading
Our plan was to fly from Vancouver to Europe and we were looking for the cheapest city to land in – Paris, Frankfurt, London, etc. We checked prices to Reykjavik out of curiosity (I had always wanted to go Iceland) and they turned out to be surprisingly cheap. While Icelandair offers a “free stopover up to one week” en-route to Europe, it was even cheaper to only book a flight to Reykjavik with them and then another airline to England (we flew into Bristol with EasyJet). Continue reading