Four days in Rome, and one day in Naples to visit Pompeii. Rome is one of our favorites, probably Dan's very fav. The city's blend of ancient Roman buildings and history with modern times--shopping, restaurants, and more--gives it a unique feel. We walked miles and miles around, and we only captured a glimpse of everything on offer. We hit the tourist hot-spots--St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, plus several churches, too many to keep track of! Add the AMAZING shopping (I bought a pair of shoes :), wine, and buzz of the city with the quaint [View Full Entry]

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Apologies to our blog fans for our lack of blogging the past month and a half. Once we got to Europe we pretty much abandoned blogging...whoops! We had every intention of keeping you up to date, but unfortunately when you are on the go every few days, you end up spending the few extra Euros on one more sight rather than internet! Just over a month and a half in Europe and we have seen so much. You may want to get your world map out for this... Flew into Helsinki, Finland for one day. Then to Sweden for one week [View Full Entry]

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Ciao! Florence One day here, which is definately not enough time for all this beautiful city has to offer. Stayed at the Hotel Pensione Feretti (highly recommend!) with the nicest staff, the biggest room to ourselves, and we even had our own shower IN THE ROOM. Such a pleasant surprise. The day was cloudy and rainy so it wasn't the best weather for picture taking, but we hit the markets, by the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio Bridge, by the Uffitzi Gallery (which we opted to miss since the line was at least 2 hours long!), and the Duomo, one of [View Full Entry]

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Cinque Terre is on the northwestern coast of Italy, five small villages connected by a 12km walking trail. Each village is unique, and the entire area is surrounded by local farmland and protected by the government to maintain this amazing place. We stayed in the first, or southernmost, "terre", Riomaggiore, in a small hostel. The town is seriously tiny and is built into the side of the cliffs. Only two shops to buy food, and they closed from 3-6pm each day. Very "local" here, except for the thousands of tourists who visit each year. Our first evening we just hung around [View Full Entry]

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We only had 2 days in Venice, but we definatley made the most of it. Perfect weather with warm days and cool nights. Sightseeing for us in this "floating" city consisted of endless walking, getting lost in different neighborhoods, small piazzas (squares) popping up around corners with cafes and geleterias galore. Pizza by the slice (delicious) and huge pasta dishes, good coffee (according to Dan) and wonderful wines. Local children running around playing in the squares and the early morning hustle and bustle of the shops getting ready for the tourists. It's just a great city for people-watching. We had our [View Full Entry]

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Salzburg We road with a van full of other people to get into Austria, then took a train to get to the city. Austria is a country that I've always wanted to visit, and the countryside couldn't have been more beautiful with the Alps towering in the distance. I just wanted to take photo after photo to capture it. Salzburg is a small city, very walkable and clean, and we enjoyed our two days of sight-seeing. Of course, since "The Sound of Music" was filmed here we reconized many bridges, buildings, and squares, and tested each other of our movie knowledge [View Full Entry]

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October 5th-- We took a train (7 hours) from Budapest to Prague, admiring the changing landscape and quaint villages along the way. The Czech Republic turned into rolling green hills, lush with trees, and picture-perfect little towns until we got into the city. Prague is just as mystical, old, and magical as one could expect. We both loved this city, despite the cold temps!! I had to buy a pair of gloves! We stayed in a couple of different hostels near the Old Town and spent our couple of days walking everywhere. The weather was cloudy, but it somehow added to [View Full Entry]

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Our guidebook calls it "one of the most beautiful little towns in Europe," and we both have to agree; so adorable, sitting in a river valley, with rolling green hills all around, and old castle on a hill, narrow cobblestone streets, and perfect little shops and restaurants. It's exactly what you think of when you hear "European village." Yes, it's pretty touristy, and most of the centre of town focuses on the tourist trade, but somehow this town retains its authenticity. Just walking a few minutes from the center gets you into real life; we enjoyed walking along the riverbank a [View Full Entry]

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The journey from Macedonia to Budapest, Hungary, consisted of a very long bus ride through most of Serbia to Belgrade, then an overnight train into Hungary. We only had 2 nights in Budapest, but we explored quite a bit of this beautiful city by foot, taking in the riverfront all lit up at night, soaking in some national springs at one of the popular therman baths, and meeting up with two locals for dinner and a walking tour at night. **Thanks again, Esther and Dezi! [View Full Entry]

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Sept 27th--After a long trainride to Thessaloniki in northern Greece, one night in a cheap and kind of dirty hostel, and another early morning train, we arrived in Macedonia. Our main reason for visiting this country was to visit two of Heidi's friends, Kelley and Laura**, who are in the Peace Corps here. Kelley had just arrived so we only had a few hours to see her during her training, but we spent the rest of the week with Laura, staying at her apartment in Prilep a few days, then down to Ohrid, a beautiful little town on a lake. Macedonia [View Full Entry]

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