Transylvania... an evocative and mysterious land that seems to dominate the plots of so many vampire and werewolf tales. A place that seems ingrained in our imaginations to be a storybook land of fog enshrouded valleys and forgotten-by-time quaint medieval villages punctuated by dark and foreboding castles perched on rocky outcrops. But its storied cobblestoned streets, spellbinding castles, and unbelievably…
Fringed by the peaks of the southern Carpathian Mountains, Braşov is one of those European cities that is simply saturated in charm with its gothic spires, baroque buildings, medieval gates and daunting towers. It is also a city which is rapidly being discovered and will undoubtedly escalate with the opening of an airport currently under construction. There are abundant opportunities…
Sometimes in life you just gotta take a walk to savor slow travel at its utmost. The Romanian countryside around the small city of Miercurea Ciuc in autumn is ripe, and beckoned us to set out on an admittedly very vague plan to walk a “Mineral Water Trail” dotted with natural springs and thermal baths spread out over 50+ km…
When we arrived to Romania, we were treading into an unknown. For the first time since leaving the U.S. in July, we didn’t have any plan for where we were going in the coming weeks. On the ground in Bucharest and Braşov we began asking a few locals, “what’s your favorite place to visit in Romania?” Almost without hesitation, and…
The Republic of Georgia is fast becoming the tourism hot spot for travelers in-the-know for Eastern Europe. And for good reason. The Georgian people are some of the most welcoming and warmest we’ve ever met, the cities and culture are dynamic and storied, the tucked away villages and ruins draw you in with their authenticity and charm, the nature is…
One of the world’s oldest cities, 1500-year old Tbilisi is the pulsating heart of the Caucus Mountains. It breathes a history which intertwines the Silk Road, ancient Christianity, and sulphur baths and combines with a modern, thriving city sometimes even said to be “the New Berlin.” It was a great city to stroll in…and we soaked it in in more…
For our last two stops in Georgia, we longed to escape the cities and step into something a little more laid back and authentic. We chose Kazbegi, aka Stepantsminda, a deliciously Georgia-eous mountain townlet on the Russian border and Sighnaghi, a charming red-roofed village plopped in the middle of eastern Georgian wine country. The ride to Stepantsminda (Kazbegi) was about…
After spending weeks in the Bulgarian countryside, arriving to Istanbul was an assault on all our senses...in the best way possible. The smells, the tastes, the sounds, the sights, even the lingering heat of the air and the sea breeze, the unbelievably inexpensive prices...all simply divine. We hadn’t been to a city of this size (14.5 million, biggest in Europe)…
