"It's like living in a fairytale until you realize there isn't much to do," we were told by an older couple we met in Copenhagen. On the train, we mentioned to a German man that we were stopping in Ljubljana because we heard that it was nice. He paused and said, "Maybe." These experiences did not inspire confidence about our upcoming time in Ljubljana, but then we arrived. And we were greeted with the most charming city in the most charming country, and it became a highlight on our European Adventure. Ljulbjana's Old TownLjubljana's Old Town is filled with picture perfect buildings and cobblestone streets. A number of bridges span the Ljubljanica River flowing through town. Along the river banks, cafe tables line the sidewalks and locals sit outside, sipping wine. The Old Town is small but fun to wander through, stopping in cafes, exploring shops, and walking along the river. We spent a couple of warm summer afternoons sitting outside at cafes, sampling Slovenian wine. A particular favorite was TOZD. The symbol of the city is a dragon. Local legend says that the founder of Ljubljana killed a dragon. There are dragons all over the city, including a Dragon Bridge, dragon statues, and dragon souvenirs. I though this was a fun quirk, something different than you encounter in other European capitals. Another thing I noticed in Ljubljana was the number of garbage cans. On the street, I saw receptacles lined up for various types of waste. I learned the Ljubljana was given the "European Green Capital Award" in 2016. The honor is awarded based on 12 environmental factors, including transport, green urban areas, waste production and management, nature and biodiversity, air, water consumption, and energy performance, among others. So, it makes sense that I saw evidence of Ljubljana's efficient waste management while walking the city streets. Ljubljana CastleWhat fairytale would be complete without its very own castle? Ljubljana Castle is perched on top of a hill in the middle of Old Town. It's a majestic stone structure, originally a medieval fortress. There is a funicular that ferries visitors up Castle Hill for a price, but we chose to walk up the hill, which ended up being a nice way to look out over the city. At the top, we did not end up paying the entrance fee, since we were able to look out from the castle walls, walk through the courtyard, and enter a small chapel without a ticket. Looking down over the red roofs of Ljubljana was quite a sight! Ljubljanajam Food TourOne of the activities that we chose to pay for on our European Adventure was a food tour in Ljubljana with a company called Ljubljanajam. I HIGHLY recommend a food tour with Iva, who owns this company. She was very knowledgeable, was very accommodating to food allergies, and put together a lovely food tour that highlighted some traditional dishes from Slovenia. We went for the Ljubljana Essentials Tour, but tours focused on craft beer, Slovenian wine, and desserts are also offered! On our food tour, we stopped by the farmer's market and sampled bear sausage. We tried soup, pumpkin oil, a fish plate, a chicken dish, Slovenian liquor and wine, gelato, and coffee. For a longer summary of our Food Walk, read my full review here. Hanging with localsWe stayed in an Airbnb just across the river from Old Town Ljubljana, right across from the Rog Factory, an abandoned bicycle factory that is occupied by squatters and operates a variety of community spaces. We stayed there during protests in June 2016 against the demolition of the building, and we could hear protesters from our room throughout our stay. Our Airbnb was fantastic! We had lovely hosts who chatted with us, made us feel welcome, gave us a demo record (they were all dancers, artists, musicians), and even arranged for us to come to a small, local yoga class when we couldn't find a yoga class to attend on our own. Our apartment was located on Trubarjeva Cesta, just across the Dragon Bridge from Old Town. Trubarjeva Cesta was lined with shops and restaurants, most of the buildings colorfully adorned with graffiti. Shoes hung from a few of the telephone wires overhead. This street contrasted with the clean and tidy streets of Old Town. I liked the contrast and the visual interest of the graffiti along this street. ModernaIn our never-ending search for coffee, we ended up at Moderna, a minimalist coffee shop located inside the Museum of Modern Art. As we entered the building, we heard some other-worldly sounds, coming from a modern art exhibit, I presume. But Moderna was a lovely treat, with delicious, hand-poured coffee. Curiously, it was served in wine glasses. We spent a few hours relaxing in Moderna, drinking coffee and taking advantage of their wi-fi. If you are a modern art fan, I'm sure the museum would be a fun stop either before or after the coffee shop. We spent two days in Ljubljana, which was enough to explore the central part of the city. The architecture was charming, and the people we met were friendly. There are not a ton of big "attractions" in the city, but we were happy enough wandering through the streets of Old Town and taking advantage of the cafes. The relaxed pace and small feel is a nice break from some of the bigger, busier cities in Europe. The wine is delicious. And there are dragons.
Ljubljana is also a great jumping off point for heading into the Julian Alps. We took a bus to stunning Lake Bled, which took about an hour, but more about Lake Bled is coming in another blog post!
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Ahh, Dubrovnik. The "pearl of the Adriatic". I had heard so much about Dubrovnik before we visited. A co-worker told me it was one of her favorite places she's ever visited. A friend insisted that we HAD to go to Dubrovnik on our European trip. I heard rumors that some obscure television show is filmed there. (I actually don't watch Game of Thrones.) But, when we arrived in Dubrovnik...I felt disappointed. The streets were packed with hordes of tourists who had docked for the day on cruise ships. I mean, packed. It was hard to take a picture of the beautiful medieval walls without a crowd in front. A steady stream of tourists were on the city walls, walking the perimeter like a line of ants, one right after the other. A late-2000s guidebook that my friend had given me listed admission to the city walls as 50 HRK (almost $8) per person. My husband and I felt that we could pay that for what we heard was a "must-do" attraction. And, it's not every day that you get to walk on medieval walls. We were shocked to learn that, in 2016, admission to the city walls had tripled to 150 HRK, which, at today's exchange rate is over $23 per person! On a backpacker's budget, we couldn't afford nearly $50 for one attraction. Nearly every restaurant inside the walled city of Dubrovnik had the same menu at higher prices than we had seen anywhere else in the Balkans, giving us very little choice in food or price point. Game of Thrones t-shirts waved from shops. I felt like we had arrived in a medieval theme park that had been set up for cruise ship visitors that docked during the day. But, simultaneously, the fact that Dubrovnik exists is SO COOL. The Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the best-preserved medieval walled cities in the world, despite being under siege during the Yugoslav Wars. Tiny pathways wind between stone buildings, and, once the masses of people re-board their cruise ships, you get this incredible feeling of being transported back in time. The architecture is stunning. The coastline is stunning. So, I can't really blame everyone for wanting to come here, dock here, and flood the city with tourists. What I learned from two days in Dubrovnik was that I had planned this part of the trip all wrong. And, I would like a do-over with Dubrovnik. I would do basically everything differently in order to better enjoy this lovely area. What we did in dubrovnikCroatia was the last stop on our European adventure, and our wallets were feeling thin. We tried to be as cheap as possible and do free or cheap activities. Also, the weather was rainy during our time in Dubrovnik, so a few of our planned activities, like going to the beach or hiking up the mountain weren't possible. Walking the city streets - Always free. The tiny labyrinth of alleyways was fun to explore, and we came across charming houses with flowers spilling out of the windows and worn stone staircases. On the side streets, the crowds thinned out slightly, compared with the packed Stradun, the main path through Old Town. Cafe Buza - I expected this cliffside bar to be more crowded than it was, even though we stopped by mid-afternoon. This bar is situated on the other side of the medieval walls, on the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean. When I stepped through the hole in the wall to enter Cafe Buza, I was rewarded with views of the ocean, the rocky coastline, the small island of Lokrum, and the outside of the walls. Various staircases lead down to additional seating areas. It was windy but a lovely spot to sit, and it only cost the price of a drink! Dubrovnik Museum Pass - We discovered that Dubrovnik offers a museum pass with admission to a variety of museums and historical houses. Brett and I aren't big on spending a lot of time in museums when we travel. However, I ended up being glad that we got this pass for a few reasons. First, it was rainy during our time in Dubrovnik, so outdoor activities were limited. Second, we were able to buy student tickets for 25 HRK (less than $4). Regular adult museum passes are 100 HRK (around $15). Third, it allowed us to explore some of the beautiful architecture of the Rector's Palace, and we unexpectedly got a view over the city at the Ethnographic Museum.
War Photo Limited - A photojournalism museum with a permanent exhibit called "The End of Yugoslavia", with images from the break-up of Yugoslavia and the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. It also contains rotating photojournalist exhibits. When we visited, there were two rotating exhibits: Under Siege: Dubrovnik, 1991 with images from the bombing of Dubrovnik during the Yugoslav Wars, and The Balkan Route, with images from refugees traveling across Eastern Europe. The admission price is 50 HRK ($7.73) for adults, and I highly recommend this museum for more insight into the recent history of the region. Watching Croatia in Euro Cup - Lucky for us, Croatia's soccer team was playing in the European Cup 2016 while we were there, which gave us an opportunity to sit at a cafe with a bunch of jersey-clad supporters to watch the match. This was exciting because a lot of the cafes with outdoor seating had large screens set up and large groups of people gathered to watch. We were able to take part in the excitement surrounding a big soccer game. Malvasija Wine Bar - Croatia has amazing wine. The country is filled with vineyards to visit and bottles of wine to sample. Without time to spend exploring Croatia's wine country, we found Malvasija Wine Bar in Dubrovnik, a little family-run gem tucked into a side street in Old Town. We spent our last night in Dubrovnik sipping wine and chatting with the friendly family who runs the shop. We let them pick the wines that we tried, since they knew the best varieties. It was a lovely evening and a highlight of our time in Dubrovnik. WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLYIf I were to return to Croatia tomorrow, I would change a lot of things about my time in Dubrovnik. First, I would not book accommodation in Old Town Dubrovnik. Prior to visiting, I felt like I had to stay in Old Town, in order to be close to the "cool" things. This backfired when we were stuck with overpriced, touristy restaurant options for every meal and had tourists looking into our window from the medieval city walls. The Airbnb was very nice and clean, but I would prefer to book accommodation outside the city walls or even in a nearby, smaller town. This would allow us to take advantage of cheaper lodging prices, relax and enjoy the beautiful seaside location away from crowds, spend less money on subpar food, and still head into Dubrovnik if we wanted to. Second, I would try to limit my time within the Old Town walls to early morning or the evening, when the cruise ships have not yet arrived or have already departed. By doing this, I would minimize my time spent fighting crowds and explore at a more leisurely pace, as well as take pictures without a hundred people in them. Third, I would perhaps spend half a day in the Old Town, but I would want to explore more of the region on a return trip. There is SO much more to do in this region than Dubrovnik's Old Town. We narrowly focused our sights on things inside the city walls, but felt like we had seen a lot of it within a single day. For example, Cavtat, a small, less touristy town only 30 minutes from Dubrovnik, with its own Rector's Palace, beautiful architecture, and beaches. Plus, it's connected to Dubrovnik by public bus. Or what about Montenegro, less than 2 hours from Dubrovnik? It has rugged mountains, sandy beaches, red roofed towns, and its own UNESCO World Heritage Site - the walled city of Kotor. Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina is also a daytrip from Dubrovnik. It's a charming little town, with scars from the Yugoslav wars still visible, a well-photographed bridge, and an old bazaar for shopping. I could spend a day exploring vineyards of the region, either independently or with an organized wine tour. The options seem endless, varied, and exciting. I expected to fall in love with Dubrovnik. There's a lot to love, but its growing popularity as a tourist destination rubbed me the wrong way. It's a shame that we ended up eager to leave Dubrovnik pretty quickly. We were not prepared for how expensive it would be or how crowded. But, it was also such a lovely piece of the past, with the medieval passageways and stone buildings. In hindsight, I realized that I didn't dislike Dubrovnik. I just didn't do Dubrovnik correctly. I hope that I get the opportunity to give it, and the surrounding area, another chance.
On the first day in Budapest, our goal was to get a feel for the city and experience the general vibe. By our second day in Budapest, Brett and I had a good idea of what we wanted to do, and, thanks to the coffee map we received on the first day, we started with amazing coffee. Fekete, the Hungarian word for "black", was my favorite coffee shop that we visited in Budapest. It was right near the Astoria metro stop, making it easy to find. On top of that, the espresso was super high quality and the shop was a cool, modern space with high white ceilings and industrial furnishings. Just outside, people caffeinated themselves on a small, cobblestoned patio. Budapest has a really vibrant coffee scene. I have heard that the historic, old-world, ornate coffeehouses are famous in Budapest as gathering places for artists and writers in the early 20th century. However, Brett and I never stepped foot inside any of them. There is a plethora of old architecture and ornate buildings around Budapest, which we loved exploring, but it was also cool to experience the trendy side of Budapest by visiting modern coffee shops. Rather than run into tourists who heard that coffee houses were the "thing to do", by visiting shops like Fekete, we encountered young locals and baristas who were super passionate about coffee. After grabbing espresso, we headed to the Great Market Hall, a massive, multi-level, indoor market in central Budapest. The lower level is filled with food - produce stands, meat products, pastries. One of my friends who studied abroad in Budapest said that locals actually shop at the market, and I believe that's true if you stick to the first floor. Disappointingly, the upper level was jam-packed with people and stand after stand sold the same touristy souvenirs. Our Airbnb host had a folder of recommendations, one of which was to eat traditional Hungarian food at Fakanal, a restaurant in the market. After we moved through the line to pay, we were astonished at the prices. We paid more than double what we paid for lunch the previous day! The food was delicious, don't get me wrong, but I feel confident that there is cheaper Hungarian food in the city. To be honest, if I found myself in Budapest again, I would not return to the Great Market Hall, with the packed aisles, touristy stands, and overpriced eats. After lunch, Brett and I made our way to the House of Terror Museum. If you are in Budapest, you MUST go here. The House of Terror Museum was the best museum we visited on our European Adventure. It was definitely sad but so eye-opening. As I mentioned in the post about Day 1 in Budapest, the Hungarians seemed stoic and reserved upon first impression. This museum showed us why. It opened our eyes to the many tragedies that occurred in 20th century Hungary. I realized that my generation is the first group of Hungarians in a long time to grow up free from oppression. The House of Terror shows life in Hungary under the various regimes of the 20th century and acts as a memorial to the victims of these dictatorships. In WWII, Hungary was occupied by the Nazis and placed under a homegrown fascist dictatorship, before falling under Soviet control and Stalin's regime. The museum displays actual footage of tanks rolling through the streets, propaganda from each dictatorship, items left behind by people sent to labor camps, and more. The building itself used to be the headquarters of the secret police, where victims were imprisoned, tortured, and killed. That fact really hits home at the end of the tour, when you head slowly down to the basement in a dark elevator and emerge to see the prison cells. It gave me chills, creeps, and tears to see where people were imprisoned and tortured just for speaking out against the regime. There is a lot of reading to do: in each room of the museum, there is a paper handout (in both Hungarian and English) explaining that era of Hungarian history. If you don't want to do that much reading during your walk through the museum, consider purchasing the audio tour with headphones. It's all important information to understanding the history and the exhibits. Anyone visiting this city must visit the House of Terror museum in order to better understand Hungary's recent history and its resilient people. After leaving the House of Terror, we had time to try one more coffee shop. As we walked down Andrássy út, referred to as the Champs Elysees of Budapest, we were drawn into the Hungarian State Opera House because it was just so beautiful. Once again, Budapest's amazing architecture captivated us, and we stepped inside to marvel at the ornately decorated lobby. Unfortunately, we were unable to walk around the rest of the opera house without a guided tour, so we snapped a few pictures, craned our necks staring at the ceiling, and continued on our way. Brett and I enjoyed our afternoon coffee at Espresso Embassy, which was another very cool shop, before taking the yellow line metro to our Airbnb to get ready for dinner. The yellow line/Line 1 is the oldest electrified underground railway system on the European continent and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. The stations had wooden columns and old fashioned subway tile covering the walls, a contrast from the utilitarian feel of the newer metro stations. While public transportation is rarely one of the "attractions" in a city, I was glad to have the opportunity to experience Line 1. We decided to have one fancy dinner on our European Adventure, and we chose Budapest because we could actually afford a nice meal in Budapest. So, based on the recommendation of our Airbnb host and online reviews, we made a reservation at Zeller Bistro. Upon entering, we descended the steps into a stone-walled room, reminiscent of a wine cellar, and were greeted with glasses of elderflower champagne. Oh my goodness. That elderflower champagne. I could have drank glasses upon glasses. It was like bubbly, happy, magic in a glass. They also brought us a basket of bread - gluten free bread, since we had let them know about our dietary restrictions. I felt so showered with food and happiness. We each ordered a glass of Hungarian wine and shared a charcuterie board to start. For my entree, I ordered fish, while Brett chose a duck dish. Everything was fresh and delicious, so it was a wonderful choice for our nice meal in Europe. And, it was still cheaper than we would normally spend on a date night in the United States! After dinner, we wandered through the Jewish District one last time, then headed home to pack and get some sleep for our early morning train to Slovenia! Upon arrival, my first impression of Budapest was of grit and character. After clean and orderly Copenhagen, Budapest was a bit more chaotic, a bit dirtier, and a bit rougher around the edges. Compared with smiling Danes, the Hungarians we encountered were stoic and reserved. But, I don't think that a place has ever grown on me quite as much as Budapest. Quite simply, it charmed me. Here's how we spent our first day in Budapest: Day 1We began our first morning in Budapest with an errand. Our Airbnb was conveniently situated near Budapest Keleti railway station, where we could buy our train tickets to Ljubljana for a few days later. Also, this meant that the Keleti metro stop was nearby, making it easy to get around the city. We loved using the Budapest metro and found it very easy and affordable to ride. It is also the oldest electrified underground railway system on the European continent, and the oldest line (Line 1/the Yellow Line) was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. A block of 10 tickets costs about $10, meaning that each ride is approximately $1. Everything was well-marked, timely, and, though some of the trains were older-looking, quite clean. On our way into the city from the airport, we were lucky that our Ryanair flight attendant told us to validate our tickets with validation machines each time we entered the metro and to keep the validated tickets on us. Budapest has multiple people stationed at each metro entrance and exit to ensure that you have a validated ticket, so, if you don't hold on to the ticket to show on your way out....well, we never found out what would happen. But, they are vigilant about checking for validated tickets, so I assume they would have a problem with it. After procuring our train tickets from Keleti railway station, Brett and I headed to Vörösmarty square to meet up with a free walking tour of the Jewish District. There was no need to pre-book this tour, and, just like the tours in Copenhagen, the only fee is what you decide to tip at the end. Brett and I chose the Jewish District walk because I had read about the rich history of the Jewish District and that it is currently the most vibrant area of Budapest. Our free walking tour was filled with history and beautiful architecture, led by a guide brimming with personality. He was, by far, the best guide we had at any of our free tours in Europe. Much like our guide, the Jewish District is also brimming with personality. The synagogues are quite beautiful and magnificent to behold, while the streets are lined with cafes and painted with large murals. The tour wound through the streets, tracing centuries of Jewish history in Budapest and ending at Szimpla Kert, the original "ruin pub". Here are some of the pictures from our walking tour: After the tour, we explored the Jewish District on our own. We stopped in My Little Melbourne Cafe for coffee and discovered that Budapest has a thriving coffee culture. Not just the old world cafes that you read about in guide books (although there are plenty of those), but a robust third-wave coffee scence, where baristas talk about preparation methods and serve high quality, single-origin beans in modern spaces. We received a coffee map with the best coffee shops labeled and made a mental note to check out some of the others during our time in Budapest. For lunch, we stopped in Legelo Salad Bar, a small spot with quick, healthy, and affordable salads. After the high prices at restaurants in Copenhagen, it was great to find cheaper spots in Budapest. One of my favorite places that we explored in the Jewish District was Printa Cafe, a coffee shop, art gallery, and store with a cool, modern vibe. Printa had a variety of shirts, journals, framed prints, and jewelry, silkscreened with unique designs or Budapest city maps. We ducked into Printa on our free walking tour to avoid a sudden rain shower, and I loved the vibe so much that we went back after lunch to peruse the shop at our own pace. Another place that I loved in the Jewish District was Massolit Books and Cafe, an English-language bookstore tucked into a quiet street with inviting turquoise doors. The cozy interior was filled with books to browse, while small cafe tables encouraged patrons to sit down with their finds. Brett and I spent time perusing the shelves, and I was particularly interested in the shelf on Hungarian history and the revolution of 1956. After exploring the Jewish District, we wanted to head to another part of the city, so we began wandering toward the Danube River. On the way, we stumbled upon St. Stephen's Basilica, the largest church in Budapest. The building itself was so beautiful, and Brett was so taken by the architecture, that we decided to head inside to see the church, which asks for a donation at the entrance. The inside of the basilica was stunning, ornate, and impressive, particularly the dome, which is the same height as the Budapest Parliament building. From St. Stephen's Basilica, we headed on foot across the Danube to the Buda side of the city. Budapest used to be two separate cities, Buda and Pest, divided by the Danube River. Now combined, the two sides of the city have each retained their own distinct character. We stayed on the Pest side and spent most of our time there. The Buda side was considerably quieter than Pest. Walking across the river offered a great view of the majestic Parliament building, one of the most iconic buildings in the city of Budapest. Brett and I climbed many sets of stairs in Buda to get up to Castle Hill. At the top, we took in the cityscape from the Fisherman's Bastion, a lookout point that can be accessed for free! From there, we could see Parliament, St. Stephen's Basilica, and all the bridges spanning the Danube. We also strolled through the rest of Castle Hill, admiring Matthias Church, with its beautiful patterned roof. Besides going up Castle Hill, we also went to Buda because we had read that there was a pizza place with gluten-free crust. The restaurant was called due Fratelli Ristorante & Pizzeria, and we sat outside on the sidewalk to enjoy our gluten free pizza. The pizzas were only 1700 HUF (~$6) each, so Brett and I each ordered a different kind and shared the pizzas! After dinner, we headed back to Pest, to the Jewish District for a glass of wine. This area of Budapest is known for nightlife, ruin pubs, and trendy cafes. We ended up at Gozsdu Courtyard, a pedestrian area with variety of bars and restaurants, specifically at DiVino Wine Bar. The wine bar had a variety of Hungarian wines at cheap prices, and it was a great place to people watch, since the Jewish District is the most popular area for nightlife in Budapest. After glass of wine, we walked back to our Airbnb to get some sleep for our second day in Budapest! One of the only activities I planned ahead of time for our European Adventure was a food walk in Ljubljana, Slovenia with Ljubljananjam. Brett and I love to try new foods and get a sense of new places by sampling local cuisines, so I felt that a food walk would be a perfect way to get acquainted with Ljubljana! Ljubljananjam offers a variety of different food walks, from "Ljubljana Essentials" to a craft beer tour to tours focusing on coffee and cakes. To set up the reservation, I got in touch with Iva, the owner of Ljubljananjam. She was very easy to communicate with and very helpful in figuring out our preferences via email. We let her know that we were interested in a "Ljubljana Essentials" tour and would need gluten-free food because Brett was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease. It was great to hear that a gluten free tour would be no problem. We met Iva by the Tourist Information Center in the center of Ljubljana, an easy walk from our Airbnb, though we initially went to the wrong Tourist Information Center. Luckily, she waited for us even though we were a few minutes late. Iva was friendly, knowledgable, and eager to share about Slovenia's food, culture, and history. Iva, Brett, and I spent the next three hours walking through the streets of Ljubljana, trying a wide variety of foods and learning more about this place. We started in Ljubljana's central market, which is set up almost every day and offers stands filled with produce, cheese, plants, and meats. Personally, I love markets, so I had fun perusing the various offerings as we made our way through the market. Iva had some specific stands for us to sample, including a stand that made goat and sheep cheeses and a meat stand where we tried bear sausage! Yes, it is made with real bear meat mixed with pork! From the market, we sat down at a small shop to eat bowls of vegetable soup before heading to a restaurant where we shared sea bream with lemony potato puree and chicken fillet with buckwheat and pumpkin seed oil sauce. Iva warned us ahead of time that we should expect the fish to be served whole, and, sure enough, on the plate was the entire fish, bones and eyes and all. She was nice enough to de-bone most of the fish for us. We learned that pumpkin seed oil is a common ingredient in Slovenian cuisine. Armed with that knowledge, we headed out of the restaurant to sample some pumpkin seed oil. Next, we stopped in a shop that sold a variety of Slovenian products, including pumpkin seed oil and Slovenian liquor. We were able to taste pumpkin seed oil made from raw and roasted pumpkin seeds. I liked the unique flavor of the pumpkin seed oil and ended up choosing it as salad dressing for other meals in Ljubljana. We also sampled some flavors of Slovenian liquor, which came in flavors like honey, sour cherry, and blueberry. Our next stop was at one of the cafes along the river to drink Slovenian wine. Iva picked a Lisjak Sauvignon Blanc for us, which was quite good. Google tells me that Boris Lisjak is a Slovenian winery in western Slovenia, only 16 km from Trieste, Italy. Brett and I typically choose red wines more often than whites, but we both really liked Iva's pick for us. It was highly enjoyable to drink our wine at a table outside, surrounded by the beautiful buildings of Ljubljana's Old Town with the river in the background. We actually went back to this same cafe the following day to relax with another glass of wine in the sunshine. Following the wine stop, we got gelato! After sampling a few different flavors, I ultimately chose a combination of lemon-ricotta gelato and a flavor with pumpkin seed oil, one scoop of each flavor in my cup. The food tour finished with coffee and espresso. Because Brett loves coffee, Iva and the guy in the shop showed him how to make espresso using the machine, which he had never done before. We chatted for awhile with the guy working in the cafe and found out that he is in a band called Koala Voice, just back from a tour around Europe. Throughout the tour, Iva gave us a number of recommendations for food and drink in Ljubljana and marked them on our map. We appreciated hearing where to go from someone familiar with the food and drink scene in Ljubljana, rather than wandering around by ourselves and guessing which shops were good. Our favorite recommendation from Iva was Moderna, a cafe in the Museum of Modern Art. They roast their own coffee beans and were the only shop in Ljubljana that served pour over coffee (or filter coffee, as they generally called it in Europe). Overall, I highly recommend Ljubljananjam Food Walks! Iva really personalizes the tour for each group and provides a wonderful experience. I didn't include the restaurant names in this post because I don't want to give away all of Iva's secret spots! The only name that I included - Moderna Cafe - wasn't actually on the tour, just a recommendation of Iva's. Brett and I felt that the food tour was easily worth the money that we paid, given the variety of foods we tried as well as the personalized service. The food walk doubled as our lunch, since the tour started at 11:00am and lasted until approximately 2:00pm. It was a fantastic introduction to the city of Ljubljana, and it was clear that Iva was happy to show off her city. I recommend doing a food walk early in your visit to Ljubljana, since it will help orient you to the city. You will also benefit from Iva's recommendations for the rest of your stay! If you are headed to Ljubljana, go to the Ljubljananjam website and find the right food walk for you!
In my opinion, Copenhagen is about as close as you can get to a perfect city. The buildings are beautiful. It's super clean. People bike everywhere in these wide, well-maintained bike lanes. Everyone is really tall, beautiful, and stylish. There was good coffee, interesting neighborhoods, and history to discover. The only downside was the cost: Copenhagen is quite expensive for travelers. In another post, I will explore budget tips for staying in Copenhagen, but, for now, let me describe the wonderful days we spent discovering Copenhagen. Day 1We woke up late at our Airbnb, feeling jet lagged. We had arrived past midnight and relied on the kindness of a local to help us find the correct bus stop. After waking up, we set out immediately for one of the coffee shops I had researched before the trip: Original Coffee. We were staying in Østerbro, one of Copenhagen's neighborhoods north of the city center, described by some locals as the place for "boring people and babies". There were lots of baby strollers and it was quite a walk to the city center, but, overall, it was a nice, quiet neighborhood to stay in. We ended up walking A LOT during our stay there. Luckily for us, one of the Original Coffee locations was on the way to the city center. After caffeinating ourselves and stopping for a quick late lunch, we headed to Rådhuspladsen, the city hall, where the Grand Tour of Copenhagen with Copenhagen Free Walking Tours would begin at 3pm. We chose the Grand Tour from the various options they provide because we wanted to orient ourselves on our first day there. And, yes, the name is correct - the tour is free, but the guides work for tips, so you can decide how much to pay at the end. The Grand Tour lasted about 3 hours and touched on most of the major sights in Copenhagen. As you can imagine, with a free walking tour, you don't get to enter any of the palaces, museums, or attractions, but you do get to view the exteriors (often beautiful), learn a bit of history about each place, and figure out where everything is, in case you do want to come back later. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and felt that we saw a lot of the city center, so we tipped our guide 100 dkk (~$15) for both of us. Here are some of the things we saw on the Grand Tour: We finished the day by having dinner at a raw foods restaurant, where we sat outside on the square.. Something that I loved in Copenhagen was that the outdoor seating at cafes provided blankets for chilly nights. I covered my lap and enjoyed the scenery despite an evening chill in the air. From there, we walked to a wine bar, where we met a fabulous bartender who spent a good portion of the night giving us recommendations about the city. Day 2We began our second day in Copenhagen much earlier than the first, and, unfortunately, we got caught in some of the unpredictable Copenhagen weather. We began by walking to Nørrebro, a neighborhood situated next to Østerbro, for coffee. The Coffee Collective is well-known in coffee circles. In fact, we saw shops in Budapest selling beans roasted by The Coffee Collective and encountered jealous Budapest baristas when we told them that we had just been to the shops in Copenhagen. Following coffee, we once again headed toward the city center on foot, getting caught in an unexpected thunderstorm and having to duck into a kebab shop to wait out the rain. While filling our stomachs with kebabs, I ran into someone that I knew from high school, back in Brookfield, Wisconsin. It really is a small world sometimes. After lunch, we bought some dry socks and stopped in the National Museum while we waited for the weather to improve. The National Museum is FREE and houses exhibits on Danish history and culture, including Viking artifacts. Once the storm had passed, we headed to Højbro Plads to meet up with Copenhagen Free Walking Tours again. We elected to go on the Christianshavn Tour, a 90 minute tour of the Christianshavn neighborhood that ends at the entrance to Freetown Christiania. Here are the highlights of our second free walking tour: As I mentioned above, the Christianshavn tour ended at one of the entrances to Freetown Christiania, a self-declared autonomous community in the Christianshavn neighborhood. It was created by residents squatting in abandoned military barracks and evolved into a kind of anarchist, "hippie commune", with its own flag and laws. Christiania is a community of people who collectively make decisions, contribute to the well-being of the rest of the community, and demonstrate extreme creativity in art and architecture. I can honestly say that I have never been anywhere like Christiania. I personally liked the Christiania bike, a three wheeled bike with a large basket in front, invented for transporting children around the community, since cars are not allowed inside. From Christiania, it was a short walk to one of our favorite spots in the city: Copenhagen Street Food on Paper Island. Copenhagen Street Food is a collection of food stands with a variety of international cuisines. Its aim is to be "a colorful and cheap street food market for the people". Go for a meal, go for coffee, go for a snack, go for a drink, just go here if you are in Copenhagen. You can grab your food inside and then head outside to picnic tables overlooking the harbor. All the stalls have to offer at least one item for 50-75 dkk (~$7.60-$11.40), so still not super cheap but definitely more affordable than most food in Copenhagen. I will make the disclaimer that most of the dinners we wanted were slightly more than that range (around 85 dkk or $13). On our first visit, we ate pulled pork egg wraps from one stall and ordered green juice from another. Yes, we went back another day. Day 3Our third day in Copenhagen once again began with The Coffee Collective and food at Grød in Nørrebro. Grød is a porridge restaurant, where we ate the Acai & Chia Bowl, which was surprisingly filling and surprisingly affordable for Copenhagen (55 dkk or $8.40). From here, it was an easy walk to Assistens Kirkegård, a large, vibrantly green cemetery in Nørrebro. It may sound weird to walk through a cemetery for fun, but it was incredibly peaceful and beautiful. This particular cemetery also happens to be the resting place for some famous Danes, including Hans Christian Anderson and Søren Kierkegaard. On the other side of the cemetery, we emerged from the peaceful green space into chaos - work crews were setting up for Distortion, a street music festival held annually in Copenhagen. The first day's events were taking place on the streets of the Nørrebro neighborhood, and festival-goers streamed into the area. We took in the atmosphere and then continued to wander away from the mass chaos. Our next stop of the day was Torvehallerne market, another one of our favorite places in Copenhagen. Outside the buildings, fresh produce stands sold colorful fruits and vegetables alongside potted succulents. The inside contained a mix of products (e.g. chocolate, olive oil), grab and go snacks, trendy eateries, and beverage options (e.g. The Coffee Collective, beer). After wandering through the various stalls and examining the offerings, we bought some macarons for a snack. At this point, we had visited most of the central neighborhoods in Copenhagen: Nørrebro, Østerbro, City Center, Christianshavn, and Freetown Christiania. The main one we were missing was Vesterbro, which almost everyone had recommended we visit. So, Brett and I walked to Vesterbro to get a glimpse of Copenhagen's "hipster" neighborhood (check out #4 on this list of the world's most hipster neighborhoods). We walked around. It was definitely different, a bit grimier, than the squeaky clean Østerbro or city center. Vesterbro apparently used to be somewhat seedy not that long ago, and you can still see some traces of that. When describing Istedgade, one of the main streets in Vesterbro, the bartender that we met on Day 1 told us that the first few blocks "are all hotels and hookers". And he was totally right - sandwiched between the hotels were strip clubs and adult shops - but, after a few blocks, we began to see trendy restaurants, cafes, and shops. For dinner, we walked back to Torvehallerne and bought food from Palaeo. We also bought oranges from a produce stand and took them to Ørstedsparken, a park nearby with a nice walking path and a lake in the middle. It was filled with Danes enjoying the good weather, picnicking, and drinking wine and beer. After we walked back to our apartment, we spent the rest of the night enjoying wine and chatting with our Airbnb hosts, an Italian couple studying in Denmark. It was a lovely experience to spend time with people who live in Copenhagen and learn about what daily life is like there. We loved our stay and loved meeting Artu and Bertina. Day 4On our final day in Copenhagen, we returned to Original Coffee, where Brett studied for the bar exam while I got asked to be in a Danish historical film. I was reading and enjoying my coffee when a man came up and asked if I had ever done any acting. He went on to explain that he was casting for some sort of historical film about a Danish king, and that the Danish king marries a Slavic princess, for which I apparently had the perfect face. I had to tell him that we were leaving later that day and was unable to help him out. I'm still 50/50 on whether he was really trying to cast me for a movie or it was some sort of scam. Either way, we laughed about it for awhile after.
From Original Coffee, we rented bikes and joined the hoards of Danes who use bicycles as their main form of transportation. They used to have a bikes available for free in the city, but that program no longer exists. Instead, there is a city bike rental program called Bycyklen, which costs 25 dkk (~$3.82) per hour. You can pick up a bike at one location and return it to any stand around the city. Lets be clear about one thing: biking in Copenhagen is serious business. The bike lanes are well separated from the traffic, and some of the traffic lights have separate bike lights to indicate stop and go. It is like a bike highway, with people merging from side streets and fast bikers passing on your left. We braved the bike lanes and had a fast-paced but enjoyable ride to Copenhagen Street Food for lunch. There, we ate Thai food and looked out over the harbor one last time before returning to the apartment, gathering our things, and heading to the airport for our flight to Budapest. It was sad to say good-bye to Copenhagen, a city that we really loved exploring. In just a few short days, we had eaten well, walked a lot, seen beautiful architecture, met friendly people, drank wonderful coffee, walked through a street festival, and much more. Based on our time in Copenhagen, it's not hard to see why Danes are often called "the happiest people on Earth." |
AuthorMy name is Alyssa Good and I have a passion for travel, adventure, culture, and new experiences! I focus on budget friendly travel, trip planning resources, and seeking out new experiences. Archives
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