Friday, March 14, 2014

Tell me more

I honestly enjoy hearing everyone's unique lists of must-sees and don't-sees in the states or abroad. My desk and inbox are comically cluttered with travel tips. Jason's Reddit-ing has also been incredibly helpful (thank you everyone at /r/travel!) We needed to write it all down in one place, so I thought I would share it here as well. Thank you to everyone who has so graciously shared with us! (Note: These are not endorsements, they may not be accurate, and they may not even be spelled right.)

Packing
  • Advice varies from 20 to 64L packs. We settled on 50L.
  • www.duolingo.com to practice your foreign language skills. (I reached 1949XP in Italian!)
  • Lay out everything you want to take and cut it in half. 
  • Bring an unlocked GSM phone. Oddly, one of my old ones will work for this.
  • Small detergent packs, clothes line and a drain stopper to do laundry in the hotel.
  • One book - ditch it when you're done and pick up a new one at a used book store.
  • Travel-sized toilet paper roll and duct tape roll.
  • Pull out only the relative pages or maps instead of bringing entire travel guides.
  • NO JEANS - a rule we are both ignoring because who doesn't wear jeans on vacation?
Spain
  • Tapas, tapas, tapas!
  • Drink tinto de verano, not sangria.
  • Fallas de Valencia - we're kicking off our trip with this festival. 
  • 100 Montaditos
  • Churros (with hot chocolate)
  • National armory in Madrid
  • La Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias
  • Turron (honey, sugar, egg whites toasted with almonds)
France
Germany
  • Beer, beer, beer.
  • Hofbrauhaus - Epic beer hall
  • BMW factory
  • Beer and sausages. Stick to local Bavarian Beers. Urban myth is they can't contain nasty chemicals, reducing the likelihood for hangovers. 
  • Starkbierzeit, strong beer festival
  • Radler (beer and carbonated lemonade) for non-beer drinkers like me.
  • Neuschwanstein Castle (the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle)
Austria
  • Sachertorte - chocolate cake must-have in Vienna.
  • Salzburg - setting for the Sound of Music.
Switzerland
  • Chocolate
  • Interlaken
  • Matterhorn
  • Beautiful but extremely expensive.
  • Bern has bears.
Budapest
  • Ruin Pubs - abandoned buildings turned into pubs. Two of my favorite things combined!
  • Great Market in the stain station
  • Hungarian baths
  • Budapest castle
  • Funicular - vertical railway established in 1870
  • Opera house
  • New York Cafe
Slovenia
  • All sources seem in agreement that Bled is the place to go.
  • Ljubljana - City of Dragons. Yes, DRAGONS.
  • Metelkova - reformed site of former military barracks.
  • Hotel Celica - established in a former military prison in Metelkova in Ljubljana.
  • Boat to Italy.
Italy
  • It seems like everyone who visits leaves with a lifelong love affair with the country. 
  • Caffe and pasta
  • Gelato. Sounds like if you get nothing else but gelato, the trip is well worth it.
  • Climb the Duomo in Florence.
  • Uffizi gallery
  • Walking tour
This is a random collection of the many things we've heard lately and we appreciate every bit of it. With just a few days to go, our itinerary is still undefined so please feel free to keep sharing your tips and recommendations!

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