Last night, as my flight from Seattle descended at dusk into San Jose, I saw fireworks crackle and pop amongst the stretch of buildings. It's a mind trip seeing how crazy tiny fireworks look from above– you'd miss them if you weren't keeping an eye out for them! It was markedly different observing these same fireworks from below, where they shoot for the moon and take over the sky.
This contrast was a literal display of perspective, something that I gain with each experience abroad and every trip that I take, near or far. I spent this weekend in Vancouver with my family, and it was a good dose of the exploration pill that I desperately needed. To think that this time last year, exploring was all I did... well, let's just say... can someone start a Kickstarter for a legit time machine, please?
While that idea is a pipe dream (for now), I guess I'll make do with the next best thing: re-living my travels by re-reading my blog posts about them. I realized that those posts were sprinkled throughout this past year with not much rhyme or reason, and wanted to house them collectively somewhere. Here we have it. Europe in Summer of 2015 in all its glory:
CCTakesEurope 2015 from
Caroline on
Vimeo.
London: our arrival into a summertime London + getting hit with the plague.
London, Favorite Attractions: both new and old!
Oxford: a day trip to my old stomping grounds.
Paris: eating crepes by the river Seine. Absolute perfect day.
Paris: a rainy, magical solo day hunting down treats and treasures.
Venice: a dreamy 24-hours, most of which we spent caught in a thunderstorm!
Tuscany: a total fiasco (one of my favorite travel mishap stories ever!) rewarded with wine-tasting.
Florence: a most charming city in which we ambled about leisurely looking for gelato.
Rome: when travel expectations aren't met, plus the BEST tiramisu on this planet.
Naples: PIZZA. TO. DIE. FOR. (literally, almost.)
Capri: a delightful island escape where we sunned on a boat all day long.
Split: a slow, luxurious retreat, and our introduction to Croatia.
Plitvice Lakes: most beautiful place on this planet. End of story.
Short video of our time in Dubrovnik and Bosnia.
Dubrovnik: why we were there + walking the old City Walls.
Dubrovnik: the five memories I'll never, ever forget from the city that changed me.
Dubrovnik: five more priceless memories, the best of Dubrovnik.
Lokrum Island: a haunted island full of peacocks! what even!
Korcula Island: Marco Polo's birthplace and the bluest waters of all.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: roadtripping through beautiful BiH, making stops along the way at Pocitelj, Mostar, Jablanica, and Buna. The bookends to a time and place that punched our souls and opened our eyes.
Sarajevo: a most unforgettable history lesson.
Santorini: bucket list item (sunset!) checked off + a rowdy wine-tasting trip, and more.
Athens: lazy adventuring among the ruins, delicious gyros, and custom-fitted sandals!
In other exciting travel-related news, I'll be back at it again in September! Flights are booked, friends have been convinced to come along to... the Balkans! Again! Croatia and Bosnia left an itch that has yet to be fully scratched, and so Cassandra and I (plus two of our favorites) are headed to Belgrade, Sarajevo, Dubrovnik, and Montenegro for two weeks in the fall. Recommendations welcome, as always.
Have you been to any of these cities? Which was your favorite? Did you have a good holiday weekend?
ahhh so awesome! you will have an incredible time. and I loved reliving this with you! so amazing!
ReplyDeleteWell this was cool . . . makes for a nice summary to save in my feed for when (let's not say if) I get to travel to these places! So excited for your new trip . . . can't wait to read along!
ReplyDeleteSo jealous of your upcoming trip! I've heard the Balkans are gorgeous! Promise you'll take so many pictures so we can live vicariously through you!!
ReplyDeletexx, Caitlin - wandererandwolf.com
Pinky swear! Now when my friends get annoyed with me for being overly enthusiastic with the cameras on the trip, I'll say that a promise is a promise :)
DeleteI love reading about your travels and I totally am kicking in for that time machine! Your September trip is going to be so amazing (:
ReplyDeleteLove the way you did your itinerary! So excited to read about your next travels this fall!
ReplyDeleteWow when you put them all together like that, it's insane how much travelling you did! You've seen way more of Europe than I have despite having lived here all my life (please, nobody make any Brexit jokes, I'm still healing..) xxx
ReplyDeleteLucy @ La Lingua : Food | Travel | Italy
You know, we were so travel fatigued in Greece that we ended up not really doing anything... but looking back, I'm like "well of COURSE we were exhausted." Definitely an ambitious itinerary, but for sure a once in a lifetime trip to go for that long. (Also don't worry, I've seen like 5% of the USA I would say!)
DeleteLook at you being an overachiever with this absolutely awesome table of contents!! Why don't you live closer so we can have blogging days together?! It might also really get that time machine going too... because travel memories are the best memories!
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind me asking, how have you managed to travel through Europe so many times? We are dying to go and are looking for ways to do it cheaply.
ReplyDelete