Wednesday, 16 SeptemberAs described in my last post, Matt and I got to spend several wonderful days exploring Venice together, then he headed back to the Netherlands (for work) while I continued to the north-central area of Italy. When planning my route from Venice to Milan, I noticed that I would change trains in the … Continue reading Verona, Milan, and Lake Como (Northern Italy trip, Part 2/2)
Venice (Northern Italy trip, Part 1/2)
Among the places that was high on our list to see while crowds are much lower than usual was the island city of Venice. We had heard that, in recent years, it is almost not worth visiting as the excessive tourism has led to inflated prices, environmental degradation, and a lack of local residential life. … Continue reading Venice (Northern Italy trip, Part 1/2)
Southern Germany (Part 2/2)
Saturday, 29 August - On to Lake Constance!We often end up opting for trains to make our longer public-transit journeys when possible, but when researching routes to get from Munich to Friedrichshafen on this trip, bus stood out as the clear winner. This was the first time for both Matt and I using the Flixbus... … Continue reading Southern Germany (Part 2/2)
Southern Germany (Part 1/2)
Needless to say, trip-planning in the time of COVID-19 requires creativity and flexibility. We had made plans to spend 2 weeks of Matt's summer holiday time exploring southern Norway - we had a beautiful itinerary all planned out, flights purchased, AirBnB's reserved... and ten days before we were supposed to leave, Norway announced that they … Continue reading Southern Germany (Part 1/2)
Athens Adventure-ing (Part 2/2)
Saturday, 8 August – SounionI made another day-trip, this time south of Athens to the Cape of Sounion and Temple of Poseidon. The simplest way to get there via public transport is by bus, and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to find the pick-up location (near the National Archaeological Museum in … Continue reading Athens Adventure-ing (Part 2/2)
Athens Adventure-ing (Part 1/2)
My first solo travel experience to Florence was such a good time that I started brainstorming other places to explore (which were, of course, on the Dutch government's list of approved countries considered to have low/safe levels of COVID-19, and who were currently allowing visitors to enter from the Netherlands without a mandatory quarantine period); … Continue reading Athens Adventure-ing (Part 1/2)
Western Italy Holiday – Part 2 (Cinque Terre)
Here is part 2 of the stories from our Western Italy trip! As I mentioned in Part 1, it turns out that Sorrento and Cinque Terre are not particularly close to each other, so when Matt and I departed from Sorrento we took a bus back to Naples, then flew from Naples to Genoa, then … Continue reading Western Italy Holiday – Part 2 (Cinque Terre)
Western Italy Holiday – Part 1 (Rome, Naples, Sorrento/Capri/Positano)
Before moving to Europe, I thought it was so funny every time I heard a kid quote the Peppa Pig cartoon character about "going on holiday"... but it turns out that is the term used here for what we Americans typically call "vacation" (makes sense I suppose, given that Peppa Pig originated in the UK)! … Continue reading Western Italy Holiday – Part 1 (Rome, Naples, Sorrento/Capri/Positano)
Florence (Part 2/2)
As promised, here is part 2 of my Florence trip! Day 4: Uffizi Gallery, Basilicas, and Boboli GardensSaturday morning was relatively quiet around the city; I stopped in and spent some peaceful moments in the Church of Saints Michele and Gaetano and the Basilica of Santo Spirito before heading to the Uffizi Art Gallery. Church … Continue reading Florence (Part 2/2)
Florence (Part 1/2)
An unexpected perk of living in Europe during coronavirus: as soon as the internal borders for the Schengen Zone opened, my Dutch residence card allows me to travel within the EU again.So, the Netherlands opened their borders with Italy on 15 June... and I flew to Florence on 17 June :D(Please don't hate me) It … Continue reading Florence (Part 1/2)
The Bowersoxen Go Abroad 