ENGLAND
- Pubs
After visiting England the word ‘pub’ has a whole new meaning. These English pubs offered new beers on tap almost everyday and were a mandatory stop for everyone on their way home! - Stonehenge
We were driving through the countryside of England when the Stonehenge appeared in the middle of nowhere (sitting in a farmers field). Opting for the free choice, we took our pictures in the field west of the famous landmark. - Royal Properties
Feeling like herded sheep, we joined the massive crowds outside Buckingham Palace while we all waited for the changing of the guards. One guard liked Rob’s mullet so much he broke his composure and started to laugh!
FRANCE
1.Football
The fans were throwing garbage onto the field and shooting off fireworks and shaking the stadium from their roaring cheers. Attending a professional football league game, experiencing the madness that is soccer hooligans, made France an unforgettable trip.
2.Small Towns
The small towns in Strasbourg were hard to forget with their beautiful cobblestone roads and tiny markets.
3. Wineries
Travelling between these small towns were green hills, lined beautifully with grape vines, extending as far as the eye could see.
ICELAND
1.Volcanoes
The scenery changes so drastically from rocky lava fields, covered in moss, to the greenest cliffs that drop off at the ocean. The lava fields extend for miles leaving a lasting impression that volcanic lava is not to be In the Northwest corner of the country there is a enormous piece of rock, that sits abruptly by the ocean.
2. Waterfalls
There are waterfalls everywhere you turn, tall ones, skinny ones, large ones, each and every one is picturesque. By the time we had left Iceland, we were sick of waterfalls!
3.Whale Watching
While in Huaganes we booked a whale watching tour; it was incredible to see breached whales and then barbecue the fish we caught afterwards!
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CZECH REPUBLIC
1.Buildings
In the city of Prague the buildings have thick walls and tall towers, made from stone and topped with red roofs. This is a perfect example of the gothic architecture found across the Czech Republic.
2.Youngsters Drinking
Seeing youngsters, under 15, drinking and smoking in the bar helped us understand how they are the country known for drinking the most per capita! Get the kids to drink too!
3. Ancient Weights
Rob used Olympic lifts with weights that predate the Olympics!
ITALY
1.Grace’s Black Eyes
It didn’t take long for Grace to hurt herself. She was bleeding and disoriented checking into our first hostel after tripping and hitting the ground. The goose-egg caused two black eyes which we did our best to cover up for our remaining time in Italy.
2.Impressive Buildings
When most people think of Italy the Colosseum comes to mind, and for good reason! The historical buildings all over the city of Rome were very impressive with how they stood tall despite being old and damaged. We could see the different styles of architecture from the many empires that ruled this area thorough out time
3.Parakeets
While we were in Rome, we were most impressed with the colourful Rose- Ringed Parakeets that we saw in the city parks and near the Spanish Steps. We were not expecting to see Parakeets while in Italy!
VATICAN CITY
1.Basilica
St. Peter’s Basilica stood up to its name with its grandeur and extravagant details.
2.Statues
While waiting in the ever lasting entry line, we admired the 140 statues that line St. Peter’s Square that welcome you to the Vatican. Even though it is the smallest country in the world, they still print their own euros, passports and prints it own stamps!
3.Rain
If the rain wasn’t enough to keep the visitors away neither would the thunder that came later that afternoon. The Vatican is a very desirable place for all types of people; religious, historians, and people just looking to visit the smallest country in the world!
SAN MARINO
1.Castles
Sitting high up on a hill top in a large green valley in Italy,we found the 5th smallest country in the world, San Marino. Known for its medieval walled castles and courtyards.
2.Church Bells
The castles are surrounded by churches that ring on the hour creating a symphony that echoes throughout the valley. It is not a wonder these castles were hard to invade, they are built atop sheer cliffs with little to no coverage and that is a part of the reason San Marino remains among the world’s oldest republics.
3.Views
The views are beautiful and with 360 degree view, it sits higher than anything else in the valley.
GERMANY
1.Beers
When the beers are cheaper than water, do we need to say anymore?
2.Brats
If you are looking for a meal to go alongside your many beers, bratswurst and cabbage goes great with fermented hops and is the perfect German dinner to indulge in!
3.Autobahn
The autobahn is famous around the world for which the speed every vehicle travels, and now we understand why! It was fun for about 3 seconds before getting stuck behind buses and trucks the majority of the way.
SLOVENIA
1.Lake Bled
After visiting Lake Bled, the only natural island in the whole country, we felt the charm this cute country has to offer. The town of Bled has a church-topped islet and a medieval castle that sits on the cliff side.
2.Caves
With mountains in the north and the ocean to the south, Slovenia has an expansive cave system with thousands of access points thorough the country.
3.Sex Shops
One other thing that caught our eye was all the sex shops available, there seem to be one beside every town’s corner store. This little country is nestled between Italy, Austria and Croatia.
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CROATIA
1.Whistling Steps
If you travel to Zadar and head out to the point you can hear the sea organ, whistling away as the water fills the steps and if you come at night, you can see the impressive light show from the ‘Monument to the Sun’, a circle solar panel.
2.Seaside Castle
The castle on the coast, used as a film site for Game of Thrones, was a beautiful seaside castle that towers over turquoise blue waters and pebbled beaches.
3.Smoking Indoors
While out partying in Zadar, we got smoked out of the bar from everyone smoking cigarettes indoors, literally!
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
1.Mostar
We always like to walk around to get different views of the city and become familiar with what it has to show us; in Bosnia, it is the scars from the 90’s civil war. You can see sniper shots and machine guns that left holes in the pavement and apartment buildings thorough Mostar. There is an old bank that was used as a sniper tower but has now been painted over with street art.
2.Mosques
There are over a dozen minarets that make up the skyline of this medieval town. We were staying right beside a mosque so we could hear all 5 prayers thorough out the day.
3.Trebinje
Finding ourselves in Trebinje, where no one speaks any English, we managed to get haircuts and enjoy cheap street food in the old portion of the city.
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ALBANIA
1.Wedding Dresses
There are wedding dress boutiques all over the city, big, white and bedazzled dresses shining in the windows made for perfect landmarks to help us navigate our way around. Tradition is important in Albania as we learned from a gentleman on the bus, his family has been caring for a carpet longer than Canada has been a country!
2.Bustling City
When we arrived in Tirana we headed straight for the city center where we found packed cafes and plenty of hostels to choose from!
3.Great Hostel
We chose the first accomodation we found, Sombra Hostel, the owner was so welcoming and made us feel right at home!
MONTENEGRO
1.Tall People
Normally the general appearance of people don’t change to much from city to city, but here in Podogrica in Montenegro, the people grow like giants! We couldn’t believe how many 7 ft tall people there were talking around but then we learned the average height of a male is 6’1 (186 cm), so we knew we weren’t seeing things!
2.False Information
Wanting to do nothing but to fly fish we headed to the Northwest of the country. We never made it to the river but rather got lost and found ourselves on the doorstep of Dormitory National Park. One thing we did appreciate, was the time we spent in the mountains, hiking in the snow with no other tourists around, we even saw a Kotor!
3.Windy Roads
If you tend to get motion sickness, we recommend sitting in the front because on Montenegro roads, you are either up and down or going around and around!
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KOSOVO
1.Ugly Buildings
It has some of the ugliest buildings in the world! We had read about them before going but after seeing them in person, we can confirm they are the among the top ugliest buildings in the world.
2.Motels by the Hour
We walked all over the wrong side of this concrete jungle looking for accommodation and all we could find were motels that rented by the hour. We asked if we could just pay for the night and a couple hours but they demanded we wait until 11 pm.
3.Crush on USA
The country appears to have a crush on the USA with their street names and statues pay tribute to former American presidents.
NORTH MACEDONIA
1.Matka Canyon
Matka Canyon is a beautiful green space just west of the center of Skopje. It has sharp cliffs hanging over turquoise water and makes a great opportunity to catch trout, as Robbie proved later that day! We stayed with a wonderful family right on the river where we warmed up with coffee and tea.
2.Air Pollution
Skopje battles extreme air pollution due to lack of wind, environmental policies and low-quality wood and coal burning fireplaces in the winter but this city is not to be missed!
3.Statues
There are statues everywhere you look; in the courtyards, bridges, streets, parks and even in the rivers!
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BULGARIA
1.Markets
Sofia is where old meets the new. They have markets in the walking only sections of town selling cool items like antique rugs, handmade shovels and sheep skins; this is where Rob got his sheep skin for his ‘Motorcycle Across the Americas Trip’.
2.Churches
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is beautiful on the outside with it’s gold domed bell tower and on the inside where the old paintings on the ceiling have water marks running through them.
3.Hostel Mostel
We stayed at Hostel Mostel, recommended by a friend, and it was in a great location and even provided dinner for a small price!
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GREECE
1.Border
When we were visiting Greece the border police were having a difficult time with the number of refugees trying to cross the border illegally, so our bus was waiting for hours before being attended to. After abruptly having one passenger removed from the bus, the driver carried on without him and we were on our way to Thessaloniki.
2.May 1
We had terrible timing arriving on May 1st because the city had gone on labour strike, as they do every year. All the shops and restaurants were closed so everyone could participate in the marches. It was fine with us though, we got a curb-side seat watching the different banners and flags make their way through the city of Thessalonikiki.
3.Acropolis
We arrived at dawn in Athens, the Acropolis looked incredible in the soft lighting sitting up on the mountains. During the day the Acropolis is packed with tourists but it is worth attending a tour to hear how it has withstood the test of time, in an earthquake prone area.
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AUSTRIA
1.Skiing
Everyone knows that Austria offers amazing skiing but that won’t stop it from making our top three memorable things! 7 days, 5 mountains, 1 good time.
2.Window Pizza
After hours of skiing there was no better way to finish the day than grabbing a slice from the ‘walk through’ pizza window!
3.Spring Time
We think visiting Austria in the spring can be considered the best time to visit because you can ski at high elevation and swim at lower elevations getting the best of both worlds.
TURKEY
1.Coffee
We are big coffee lovers so trying Turkey’s unique method of preparing unfiltered coffee was an absolute must! The fine grind coffee is brewed in a pan full of sand which is heated over an open flame, the deeper in the sand, the hotter the coffee brews. The coffee is served in a beautiful silver dish with a small cup of water and a sweet delicious treat like the Turkish delight featured in the photo above!
2.Nose Jobs
Along with great shopping deals comes even better rhinoplasty deals! Don’t be alarmed when you see beautiful women, smiling ear to ear with two black eyes and face bandage, they probably just got an amazing deal on a nose job.
3.Bazaars
Navigating Istanbul was like navigating a maze, with its tall buildings and tiny alleyways. There are certain road ways with large crowds of people connected to these tiny alley ways leading to hooka bars and restaurants. The bazaars were loud and high in foot traffic, selling anything and everything out of their shops as they were packed from the front to the back! Be sure to try the yoghurt kebab while staying in Istanbul!
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