Category: Eastern Europe
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Day 90 – Day trip to Brașov and the Castles of Transylvania
With time running short, we decided to book an experience off of AirBnb to see the central area of Romania and Transylvania. We chose a 14 hour tour with George because he seemed like a relatable guy and his reviews were great. It turns out we made an excellent choice because George was exactly…
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Day 84 – Bucharest, Romania.
Without knowing much at all about Bucharest or even Romania we decided to spend our first Christmas abroad there. What I discovered was that exactly thirty years earlier on Christmas day, one of the soviet’s most brutally repressive dictators Nicolae Ceausescu was executed by firing squad after a bloody people’s revolution in 1989. This history,…
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Day 79 – Sofia, Bulgaria
We knew we were probably doomed while our previous hostel talked about the sick that everyone had. But it wasn’t until the train to Sofia that it really started to kick in. We arrived with screeching sore throats, coughs, and the general ick. With only four days in Sofia, being sick affected our ability…
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Day 78 – Niŝ, Serbia – Taking the train to Sofia from Belgrade in the off season.
If you haven’t noticed the recurring theme yet, travelling the Balkans in the off season is a little harder than the rest of the year. And heading into Bulgaria was no different. In the summer there’s an express train that runs direct from Belgrade to Sofia once a day. But in the summer you…
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Day 74 – Belgrade, Serbia – An unexpected good time. (Beograd / Београд)
I had no idea what to expect in Belgrade. I’d heard no travel stories or experiences. So we came with an open mind. We’ve been travelling for over 2 months now and we haven’t made many local friends except a few people we’ve met on buses. So we decided to book a hostel room…
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Day 68 – Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina
Sarajevo was a pleasant return to a metropolitan area. The bars were lively and the food was everywhere. Cheap and local food was plentiful and you got your pick of upscale and fast food too. Old town was where everyone came to party and the shops that lined the streets, though obviously touristy, retained…
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Day 63 – Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina – War torn but still standing.
Entering Mostar, there is no hiding from the recent past. The scars are on full display. There is no forgetting what has happened here. As we walk from the near derelict bus station towards our apartment in old town via the main east side road, the war is all around us. Once grand buildings…
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Day 61 – Dubrovnik, Croatia – the Dubrovnik Winter Festival!
We had originally planned to travel through Albania then up to Kosovo but while we were in Kotor a major earthquake hit Tirana, Albania a few days before we were to start that leg of our trip. After a bit of consideration a second earthquake hit the area and we decided it might not…
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Day 56 – Kotor, Montenegro – A breathtaking fortified city surrounded by limestone cliffs.
Seeing Kotor for the first time takes your breath away. Arriving by the coastal highway you wiggle and wind your way around relentless curving roads tracing the edge of a sprawling inlet at the base of sheer limestone cliffs. The woman beside us discreetly purges into a plastic bag from motion sickness (a fact I…
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Day 49 – Dubrovnik, Croatia – A formidable walled city on the sea.
Our first full day in Dubrovnik was the memorial of the people fallen in the recent war. Outside the door to our restaurant, I watched a steady stream of children filing from the church, each with a red lantern in their hand, an endless parade of joyous children too young to remember what they were…