On a hot and sunny Sunday in mid-October, I took the train down from Porto, where I'm remotely working and living for a month, to visit the city of Coimbra. This fourth largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon, Porto and Braga,…
View Post
My all time favourite activity (especially while traveling) is hiking. I love getting out on the trails, exploring new paths and getting to experience the beauty and wonder of the natural world. With Portugal's only national park situated just north of…
View Post
For my first weekend in Porto, I decided I was settled enough and that it was time to head out of the city on a day trip. Fall is in the air, though much more belatedly than in central Europe,…
View Post
Bom Jesus do Monte is a stunning UNESCO-listed Portuguese Catholic sanctuary perched above the city of Braga, about an hour northeast of Porto. 577 steps lead up to the grounds which make this a popular pilgrimage site, finishing at the church…
View Post
I wrote with such optimism our plans for Belgium back in September last year, when Nico and I decided to move back to his country from our beautiful New Zealand where we had met, fallen in love and traveled together. However, Belgium…
View Post
Poland is a culturally rich country in eastern Europe, bordering Germany to the west, Czechia and Slovakia to the south, and the Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east. Many of these nations have visible influences in the country and,…
View Post
Vegan food in Poland?! People I spoke to before my trip wished me luck in a country traditionally known for its hearty meat and cheese-based dishes. Well, you may be surprised to learn that Poland is considered one of the…
View Post
The final stop on our cross-country tour of Poland was the city of Gdańsk. We absolutely loved Gdańsk; in fact, it was our favourite of all the cities we visited (although Warsaw and Kraków aren't too far behind!). Gdańsk is a…
View Post
Warsaw is Poland's bustling capital city in the eastern side of the country. We spent 24 hours in Warsaw after our time hiking in Tatra National Park, and loved the atmosphere, history, culture and vegan food scene to be found…
View Post
During our travels around Poland, one of the most important cities we visited was Warsaw, the capital. Home to a turbulent and important history, much of which is focused around WWII and the post-war communist era, we wanted to discover…
View Post
While I did a small hike in Luxembourg back in May, it was the mountains I truly craved. Having not seen them since my time in New Zealand over a year ago, I made sure to plan a stop in Tatra…
View Post
A visit to the Museum at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former Nazi Concentration Camp that saw the murder of 1,100,000 people is more heart-breaking than you can imagine. While I have neither the authority nor the ability to appropriately explain the story…
View Post
Kraków is a vibrant and fun city in Poland's south, and the most popular tourist destination in the country, given its proximity to the Museum at Auschwitz-Birkenau. With just 24 hours in the city to check off as many things…
View Post
During our day in Kraków, we visited the Wawel Royal Castle & Cathedral, widely considered the most important buildings in all of Poland. Wawel was one of twelve places on the first ever published list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites…
View Post
