europe - i should log off

Five Places to Re-visit in Europe

March 13, 2013 By Lauren

I’ve been traveling for ten years, and the number one question I get is “Where’s your favorite place?”

My answer differs depending on my mood. Some days, it’s the Galapagos. Others, it’s Cambodia or Australia.

But quite frankly, Europe will always have my heart.

These days, I hear more about Southeast Asia and South America as backpacker destinations, and it’s true that these regions are much easier on the budget. Although Europe costs a little bit more, it is still a traveler’s dream.

Because of Europe’s many options, you can tailor your trip to suit your budget and time frame. You can travel by bus, train, budget airline, and even ferry. You can sleep in bare bones hostels, fancy hotels, or seek out a vacation apartment through Go with Oh. You can eat at markets, sidewalk cafés, upscale restaurants, or shop at supermarkets.

I can’t pick my favorite European cities, but I can tell you about five places I’d definitely go back to. They’re not off the beaten track. They might get crowded. You might not agree with me. But they’ve still got that European magic.

5. Croatia

I can’t say enough about how gorgeous Croatia is, only that I could have stayed much longer than the eight days I spent there, sailing down the coast. The white cities feel ancient and powerful, and the coastline is craggy with clear, salty water.

4. Greece

Mykonos, Greece — Wouldn’t mind seeing this again.

I went to two places in Greece: Athens and Mykonos. Somehow I suspect that there’s more to it than a famous capital city and an overrated party island. If I ever get back, I’m heading for the volcanic island of Santorini. And I’m eating way more Greek food. And not drinking any ouzo, because it tastes gross.

3. Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey — Next time, I’d go inside instead of being too lazy.

Five days in Turkey, regrettably, is not enough. You could easily spend 5 days in Istanbul alone, let alone tackling the rest of the enormous country. I’m tempted by the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia and the Mediterranean coast.

2. Berlin

Berlin, Germany — Regrettably, this is the only photo I could find from my trip to Berlin.

I would happily return to all of Germany, but Berlin really knocked my socks off. I wasn’t expecting it to, but it did. It was one of the first times that I felt history come to life – all that we’d learned about WWII in high school suddenly seemed shockingly relevant, from the remains of the Berlin wall to walking gingerly through Sachsenhausen, a Nazi work camp.

1. Paris

Sacre Coeur, Paris — The Sacre Coeur in Paris.

Many people don’t like Paris. That’s okay. I get it.

Okay, I don’t get it. It’s PARIS. The city of love. The city of lights. The Eiffel tower, crepes, baguettes, the Seine. I’ll love Paris until the day I die, all based on my first trip abroad when I was 12. That’s when I learned that the French language was more than just 7th grade French class – it was a door opener to a whole new foreign culture.

What do you think – agree or disagree with my choices?

What European cities most appeal to you?

Photo: Reclaiming the Wall

September 8, 2011 By Jillian

For decades the Berlin Wall stood as a symbol of separation for Germany. The site of many attrocities throughout the years, the Berlin Wall separated families, friends and colleagues not only by concrete but also stood as a separation of haves and have nots.

Today the Berlin Wall stands as a monument against the hatred and political mistrust that it once represented. Fractions of the wall stlll remain today scattered across the city, attracting tourists and locals alike. In many places, the wall is heavily decorated with graffiti. In others it’s been made into a work of art, like this one below.

I love this photo because to me it represents the reclamation of Berlin. Today the city is completely unified, in economy and in spirit and thrives as a vibrant center of the arts. We loved Berlin, in fact it is one of our favorite places in all of Europe.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Don’t miss the museums and culture in Berlin, even if you’re not a history buff you’ll appreciate what Berlin has to offer. We loved tooling around the city on bike and spent our evenings relaxing in the park. There’s a wide range of accomodation from Berlin apartments to hostels and hotels. It’s easy to get around the country, we used a ride sharing website, which unfortunately is difficult to navigate if you don’t speak German, but if you get to the right listings, there are many in English.

Good Beer, Bad Beer & Ugly Beer

February 16, 2011 By Danny

Some beer is great, actually a lot of it is. So good in fact that we dedicated a Foodie Friday to all the different beers we tried while we were in Europe. Beer helped us to become friends with a few Iranians and we became enthralled in Tanzania where our beer options were Safari, Kilimanjaro, Uhuru and Serengeti. We tried a huge variety of beer on our trip, mostly because we wanted to collect a variety of labels, and here’s our good, bad and ugly.

The Good

This one is really difficult to put our finger on. While we were in Cologne, Germany our friends there introduced us to Kölsch and explained to us that by law it has to come from that very region. We were there during the world cup, while Germany was making a run for the championship, and on game day we went to buy some and found the warehouse of a beer aisle at the local supermarket completely cleaned out. The beer is refreshing but really, is every bit as good as those wonderful pilsners we tried while we were in Prague….namely the original Budweiser. We didn’t have any trouble finding that in a local Prague bar and the local version of the familiar ‘black and tan’ was quite frankly amazing. Given that we have friends in both cities, I think we’re going to have to call it a tie. (I’m willing to take my chances that our friend in Munich isn’t reading….she might have a slightly different opinion.)

The Bad

This one goes to Egypt. Many of us have been toasting the changes occurring there recently but the unfortunate truth is that Islamic countries, even secular ones, just don’t understand the concept very well. The local brew was actually OK but it was only memorable in that it was almost impossible to find outside of a tourist restaurant. Wanting to celebrate our completion of the overland Cape Town to Cairo route we struck out again and again. Finally we found a liquor store (we’d been told that the handful in existence were all run by Christians rather than Muslims….I’m not so sure of that) and, giving up on beer, made the switch to liquor. Have you ever heard of Jani Walker Red Lion? I imagine it is pretty similar to motor oil. Runner Up: Every time I go home and visit my parents I’m confronted with a refrigerator filled with Michelob Ultra. How Lance Armstrong, the world’s premier endurance athlete, became associated with a low-carbohydrate beverage is one mystery….how they get away with calling that yellow water beer is another.

The Ugly

The recent purchase of Anheuser Busch by InBev has had many Americans upset that our American beer is being stolen by Europeans. Company number two, behind InBev is South African Brewing Co, based in Johannesburg. (In case your curious, familiar names like Miller and Peroni are SAB labels.) While in Jo’Burg we toured the International Beer Museum (which is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon) and were surprised to learn that our tour entitled us to a taste of traditional African beer. Thankfully it was just a taste and we were later given two pints of real beer, plus a small souvenir glass filled with some more.

This column of ishouldlogoff.com aims to answer those questions that we always get asked. What was your favorite this, or your worst that. Every week we aim to highlight a new topic and will do so until we run out of ideas. If you have an idea for a Good-Bad-Ugly post, feel free to tell us in the comment section below or send us an email. To read all of them, click here.

Photo Tuesday: World Cup 2010

November 9, 2010 By Jillian

World cup fever spread across Europe seemingly following us. From the first games we saw in Germany, to the final match we saw from home, the excitment and energy of the World Cup was inescapable. People cheered for their home team, their neighbor’s home team and the under dog. In Brussels our friend’s neighbors were from Ghana and the night they were defeated the street went from noisy and boisterous to completely silent. Here’s a little fan who played his vuvuzela loud and proud on the streets of Brussels.