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Lake Bled: Angry Fairies & The Best Souvenir That I Never Wanted
Very rarely do places actually live up to their expectation that I have in my head. That’s what I reminded myself as the car door muffled shut. I climbed up a grassy embankment to the main road, and back down the other side. Lake Bled lay before me. Immediately I was hypnotized by the tall white steeple of the Pilgrimage Church. The church sat on the island in the middle of the lake. Visitors rode Pletna boats out to the island and rang the church bells for wishes. The ringing reverently reverberated over the glass-like surface tension up to the peaks above. My imagination was immediately captivated by legends of…
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Ljubljana: Europe’s most Romantic Best Kept Secret
Caption (above): I’ ll start with a love story, or lack thereof. The Prešeren statue stands in the center square of Slovenia’s capital. The square, has the same name as the nations most famous poet. The muse of inspiration stands above him holding a laurel. Across the square there is a relief of his lifelong love, Julija Primic, who he met at church. The tormented man became infatuated with her, but the feelings were not mutual. Many barriers separated the two, including his economic status and age. Julija lived next to the house that she’s now on. Prešeren lived a sad life of many affairs, he later found some solace at…
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Ich Liebe Dich: I Love You SWITZERLAND!
I’d just rolled into Switzerland as the sun shared it’s last rays over the most prominent wall of mountains and the greenest valley I’ve ever seen. There’s a reason I saved Switzerland for last in the region. But I figured, with a one night stand, surely a one night love affair in Europe’s most expensive country couldn’t be too expensive. (Disclaimer, Iceland, and Norway also lay claims for being the most expensive). Well, my one night quickly turned into more… because I just loved the Swiss Alps so much! It totally killed my backpacking budget. Fast forward to some of the Alps most amazing passes, which are best done by…
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Grossglockner: Europe’s Most Scenic Drive
Austria wasn’t a new country count for my collection, but with the limited travel these days (Corona Virus 2020) I decided to take the scenic route on a roundabout around the world summer backpacking tour. The decision didn’t make sense logistically as I tried to make my way East. Meeting border closures and dead ends, I detoured and backtracked back West. And man, am I glad I did! Here you’ll find 13 alpine photos of Austria’s most scenic drive: Großglockner Hochalpenstrasse! The park is named after Austria’s largest mountain, Grossglockner, which translates directly to big bell ringer. After taking a look, you’ll definitely want to visit this national park! Insert…
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Getting In the Backdoor: How I Legally Got into the EU during the Corona Virus Lock down
American passport– I’ll preface this article by saying that I know I will get lots of hate mail after publishing. Let me just squash all of the “You’re so irresponsible” comments now. Take a look at the photo below for a look at what European Social Distancing looks like as of June 18, 2020. Please note, my trip has been spent mostly in lonely alleyways, country roads, and wilderness trails. I mean you no germy threat by traveling. Now, I do have a conscience. So PROMISE me that if you use this information, that you will be 98.8% positive that you do NOT have this plague that could kill people.…
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Scenic Bear Viewing at Lake Clark, Alaska
Very rarely do I come home and immediately start writing– but I can’t contain myself . . . you won’t believe what I did today! All my life I have been an animal lover, fascinated by wildlife behavior on nature shows. I had never actually seen a brown bear in the wild. Today my inner seven year old girl squealed as I became that wildlife photographer. Now I just had to be brave enough to actually do it. My guide, Martin, from Scenic Bear Viewing in Homer, Alaska took me out in his plane to Lake Clark National Park where we photographed wild Alaskan Coastal Brown Bears in their natural…
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An Ancient Ache in Ireland
What happens when you’re sick over wanting to be back in a place where you don’t belong? An ache. That’s what Ireland was to me. It wasn’t leprechauns, luck, pots of gold, or Guinness Beer. I avoided those things like the plague. I didn’t even kiss the Blarney Stone. Upon arriving in Dublin, after a bustling lively night on the low side of town amongst lively working class families in a kebab joint, we stayed a night in a tiny converted appartment. I wondered how many generations sqeezed between those wallpapered walls. We drove south. I didn’t know it at the time, but every morning would be like this one.…
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Romania, So Much More Than Vampires
Can we begin with a creepy, exaggerated laugh of a villain? I’ll be the first shmuck to admit that the reason that we visited Romania was to see Bran Castle– hit Bucharest, tackle some vampires, and get out. But Romania has a way of slapping around silly tourists with this inappropriate attitude. My favorite memories really had nothing to do with Vlad , castles, or blood sucking. Folklore developed around the region when tribes fought to keep out invaders. The ruthless Vladimir, rather infamously known as Vlad the Impaler, went around mounting entire armies on sticks when they threatened his people. He became the most wanted man in…
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An Entirely Maddening Time in Dubrovnik
Let me just preface this by saying that I loved the Dalmatian Coast. Visiting a new place is similar to dating. You’re both trying to figure out if you like each other, if you fit together. Dubrovnik was the equivalent of dating an international super model. Despite her beauty, I couldn’t get to know her. I couldn’t tell if she just had no personality or if she was fabulously & characteristically mysterious. She slipped out of my fingers before I had enough time to figure it out. The experience was entirely maddening. Old town Dubrovnik was one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen . .…
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14 Photos of Montenegro That Will Make You Want to Visit
A week before my Balkan road trip I sat in a meeting. I didn’t know the man sitting across from me. I didn’t know his name or his official job title, but I knew he outranked me because of the way he carried himself. We scoffed at the latest news about Trump shoving the prime minister of Montenegro back in May. We conducted our meeting business via phone with an associate in London. Instead of telling the associate goodbye, someone at the table nonchalantly said, “Be safe” and the phone clicked. We all looked around. “Be safe?” “Yeah, you know, because she’s abroad”. Then the conversation came full circle. “She’s in London!…
