Category: 2024
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Morning in Honfleur: Art, Harbor, and History 🇫🇷
After a restful night in our petit château, we started our morning exploring Honfleur, a charming port town in Normandy. Its picturesque harbor, Vieux Bassin, is lined with 17th-century townhouses that have remained remarkably well preserved. The slate-fronted façades and cobblestone streets give the town a storybook feel, and it’s easy to see why artists…
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Beginning the Normandy Journey in Reims 🇫🇷
Using the book “Road to War: Trip of a Lifetime” to plot our D-Day Normandy journey, our first stop brought us to Reims, a city layered with centuries of history and pivotal moments. Pronounced “Rance” (like France without the F), Reims immediately shows its importance in both ancient and modern times. Walking through the city,…
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Sun, Sand, and Seafood: A Beach Weekend in Lamezia Italy 🇮🇹
Sometimes, the best kind of getaway is the one where you do… absolutely nothing. No museums, no must-see landmarks—just sea breeze, sunshine, and plates of perfect pasta. For Memorial Weekend, we checked into Cridda Hotel & Restaurant, perched right on the coast of Lamezia Golfo in southern Italy. Check-in was easy at noon, and within…
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Blooms & Venetian Flair at Groot-Bijgaarden Castle 🇧🇪
For a quick weekend escape, we headed to Belgium to visit Groot-Bijgaarden Castle, just outside Brussels. Every spring, the castle grounds transform into a dazzling display of flowers, and it’s the perfect mix of history and beauty. We wandered through gardens bursting with tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths, each pathway leading to another colorful surprise. The…
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Bluebells & Battlefields in Belgium 🇧🇪
Once a year, the forest of Hallerbos near Halle, Belgium, bursts into bloom, carpeting the woods in endless waves of bluebells. We felt lucky to catch it this year—and even luckier that we packed rain boots. The trails were muddy in places, but the misty atmosphere made the forest feel almost enchanted. Between dodging raindrops,…
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Traditional Life & French Flair in Bucharest 🇷🇴
One of our stops in Bucharest was the “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum, an open-air exhibition showcasing traditional Romanian village life. The museum features historic houses, churches, windmills, and workshops relocated from villages across the country, giving visitors a sense of how people lived in different regions over centuries. It’s no surprise that this is…
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Touring the Heaviest Building in the World: Palatul Parlamentului 🇷🇴
Our Bucharest adventure brought us to Palatul Parlamentului, Romania’s massive Parliament Building. Visiting here is almost as impressive as the building itself—getting tickets requires a phone call the day before, and only if someone answers and there’s space will they write your name down. Payment is made on-site, adding a little suspense to the whole…
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Relaxing at Largest Therme in Europe 🇷🇴
After days of castles, mountains, and underground adventures, we spent a full day at Therme Bucharest to recharge. Nestled just outside the city, this sprawling wellness and spa complex is the largest thermal wellness center in Europe, covering over 250,000 square meters. From warm thermal pools to saunas and lounging areas surrounded by tropical plants,…
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Deep Into the Slănic Salt Mine 🇷🇴
From castles and mountains, our journey took us underground to Slănic, Romania, home to one of the largest salt mines in Europe. What looks like a quiet town on the surface hides a vast labyrinth below—cavernous chambers carved entirely out of salt. Walking through the mine felt otherworldly, with walls shimmering in streaks of white…
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Peleș Castle – German Royal Innovation in the Carpathians 🇷🇴
Our Transylvanian route brought us to what has quickly become my favorite castle so far—the breathtaking Peleș Castle in Sinaia. Nestled in the Carpathian Mountains, it was once the summer residence of King Carol I and Queen Elisabeth of Romania, and today it still feels like a jewel of European history. Built in the late…