Ben and I spent a full 7 nights in an apartment in Florence.  It was perfect, and exactly the relaxing break that we needed. Staying put in one place (and knowing it in advance) allowed us to enjoy some things we’d been craving… (more…)

Venice is even more amazing than the postcards you’ve seen.  The real place is like a postcard in every direction.  For about 400 years (beginning in the 1300’s) much of the wealth of the world was concentrated in Venice, and the results are spectacular.

Some images from Venice:

We now have less than a month left of our Europe trip!  We’ll return home to Boise on November 16th from Rome.  Here’s an update on where we’ve been the last week and our plans for the rest of the trip…

After Budapest we took a budget flight to Venice, Italy and spent two nights.  Venice was amazing.  We spent most of our time wandering the streets and enjoying beautiful views of canals, gondolas, churches, and Venetian style buildings at every turn.  We’ll post photos soon.

Following Venice we decided to (more…)

Ben and I didn’t really hit it off with Budapest the way some people seem to.  I guess different cities just suit different people.  Other factors are involved too, like your mood, the weather, how long you’ve been traveling, and just random events and people.  But we ended up staying there 5 nights to take a break and relax.  We also met some cool people at the hostel that we enjoyed chatting with.

Here’s some things we liked (more…)

It seems like so long ago that Ben and I went biking along the Danube River in Austria, but it’s only been a little over a week. Compared to where we’ve been since – Budapest and Venice – it was so sunny and even hot.

So anyway, while we were in Vienna I read about this bike trail nearby along the Danube River, and we decided to give it a shot. We wanted a little change from the big city sightseeing; to head into the country and get some exercise other than walking. So we headed to Krems, Austria on a morning train (more…)

Our couchsurfing host in Vienna rock climbs after work twice a week, so she took us with last Monday.  We had fun and totally wore ourselves out. Our hands and forearms were really  sore after 2-3 climbs (but I think that means we weren’t doing it right…).
 

We spent 3 nights in Cesky Krumlov, a really small town in the south of the Czech Republic.  Since it’s small, there’s really not a ton to do there – which was perfect because we needed a little break.  We pretty much spent a few hours each day out walking around the town, and the rest of the time just hanging out at the hostel.  We stayed at a really cute & cozy little hostel called the Krumlov House.  The managers were two girls from New Zealand who were traveling around Europe but stopped there for a few months to make some money.  They were awesome, although a little tricky to understand sometimes (thick accents and goofy words – it’s harder than you’d think!).  There were also some really cool American visitors there, so we had a good time just hanging out with everyone.

Anyway, here’s a few photos from our time there… (more…)

I’ve been slowing down on the blog lately, I know.  It takes a bit of time and usually I enjoy it… but the last couple of weeks I’ve been appreciating my time off and relaxing a little more (in other words, being lazy).  So for those of you who are following along, here’s a quick update.  I hope to post more about these places later.

FYI, even when I’m not posting I usually keep the “Where are we now?” box on the right side of the page up to date, and every once in a while I update the map on the “Travel Plans” page at the top menu.  And if that’s not enough, join Facebook and add Ben and I to your friend list, we add things there occasionally too.

Cesky Krumlov (Czech Republic) – 3 nights in a hostel in this small medieval town.  We had a good time wandering the streets, and also hanging out with the hostel managers and guests.

Ben and I spent two nights in Prague, Czech Republic; just enough time to realize that it’s an amazing city, but hardly long enough to even scratch the surface.  Prague has really cool architecture, something I’ve heard before but I couldn’t have imagined without seeing it in person.  So far it rivals Paris on my list of beautiful cities in Europe.  Paris is a little softer and prettier, and Prague is a little more striking and edgy.
 

We spent 3 nights in Berlin with my cousin Jessica, and aunt Robin.  Jessica lives with her husband in Germany, and Robin came to visit her.  They were nice enough to let us share part of their vacation!  We kept ourselves busy sightseeing… Berlin is huge and there’s a lot to see.  My favorites were (more…)