My main reason to go to Italy was to trek in Dolomites, blog post and photos to come, but I also spent some time in a few cities as well. I was planning on going from Slovenia straight to Venice, but the woman who hosted me in the mountain hut I stayed at in Slovenia told me she was from Trieste and that I should spend a day there. Trieste was a great place to spend one night, and also a great first day in Italy. Trieste has a lot of history. It was originally a Roman town, and then it became a major port for the Austrian Empire. The main downtown area is architecturally similar to Vienna, and other Austrian cities, and was the perfect place for a blue hour self portrait!

My main reason to go to Italy was to trek in Dolomites, blog post and photos to come, but I also spent some time in a few cities as well. I was planning on going from Slovenia straight to Venice, but the woman who hosted me in the mountain hut I stayed at in Slovenia told me she was from Trieste and that I should spend a day there. Trieste was a great place to spend one night, and also a great first day in Italy. Trieste has a lot of history. It was originally a Roman town, and then it became a major port for the Austrian Empire. The main downtown area is architecturally similar to Vienna, and other Austrian cities, and was the perfect place for a blue hour self portrait!

After Vienna, Budapest and Slovakia my next main stop was Italy. On my way to Italy I figured I’d stop in Slovenia for a few days and check out the mountains there. In Slovenia I spent one night in the capital city of Ljubljana and three nights in the mountains, two of which were at a small little mountain hut. The mountains in Slovenia were amazing. My pictures definitely don’t do them any justice. I had a hard time getting myself to the right places at the right times for epic golden hour landscape shots, but I think I was able to pull together a collection of shots that together can show the true beauty of the Slovenian alps.

Slovakia, the land of mountains and castles! And apparently rain. I spent one night in Bratislava before renting a car and driving all over the country for a week. It rained just about every day. This put a bit of a damper on my plans of hiking up lots of mountains and taking photos of beautiful mountain landscapes, but I had a great time none the less. And got a fw decent pictures too.

Budapest, the land of soups! At least that’s what a waiter told me. Not Budapest specifically, but Hungary. He said Hungary is similar to France in its love for soup. And apparently I really like soup! So that’s one thing to like about Budapest. I had a ton of great food overall, not just soup. Budapest is full of cuisines from all over the world. I got sushi at a Vietnamese restaurant. Thai noodles at a Japanese restaurant. Traditional Neapolitan pizza. Traditional Hungarian fish soup and bean soup. Pudding! And lots of great vegan food! I was pleasantly surprised by all of the vegan restaurants I found throughout my trip. I have no pictures of all that delicious food, so please take my word for it. But I do have a couple of pictures from Nagy Vásárcsarnok, or the Central Market Hall, with food in them. I got some cherries and apple strudle there. Do not get the plates of traditional Hungarian food at this market. It’s a tourist trap. The food is insanely expensive. No idea if it’s good or not. Produce is good and cheap.

Vienna is a beautiful city. Vienna is also a very modern city. And a city full of chaos. My number one tip for visiting Vienna is to look all twelve ways before taking a step anywhere. Cars, buses and scooters fill the streets. Trams are everywhere, sometimes going against the vehicle traffic on a one way street. And then add in all the bikes, with a complex of network of bike paths that go all over the sidewalks. People are drinking on the streets and plazas, with DJ’s blasting music everywhere. And every once in a while a parade of bikes and rollerblades will cruise down the street, taking over major intersections, and preventing anyone from crossing the street. Which is a great time to check out the awesome vegan food festival that happens to be on the side of the street where you are.

On my recent trip to Europe I got to spend two days in a Prague. When I was originally planning my trip I had no plans to go to Prague, but I ended up finding a good deal on a flight there so I decided it would be a good place to start my journey. My favorite thing about Prague was how old the city feels. So many of the buildings in the old town area have survived for hundreds of years. You feel like you’re walking around in the middle ages with cobble stone streets and old historic buildings at every turn. Of course Prague is a modern European city, but they seem to be making a conscious effort to have the more modern constructions blend into the style of the old city.