Pictured: The Royal Castle in Warsaw

Our stay in Poland was quick and we saw many things that we didn’t get to explore. We walked all around Warsaw and started our Polish trip off at the zoo that The Zookeeper’s Wife was written about. So much history is in Poland, but the city of Warsaw seemed young, full of energy, and the weather could not have been better for us. We ate pierogies, zapiekankas, played pinball and skiball, rode scooters around the city, and enjoyed a nice walk around the river.

Pictured: Brussels, Belgium

Brussels was a quirky city that reminded us of San Francisco. A progressive city with ‘something for everyone’. We drank Delerium Tremens beer, ate at food halls, ate Belgian waffles, walked all around the city, shopped and took a spin on the The View (pictured above).

Pictured: Alzette River in the Clausen neighborhood in Luxembourg City

Luxembourg has an interesting history and has played a big role in the EU with respect to it’s formation and the setting up of the Euro. We found the city of Luxembourg to be quiet, friendly and peaceful.

Pictured: Valletta Harbour

Malta was such an impressive small island and we were blown away by it’s diversity. We stayed in Rabat which is up on a hill away from the coast, but we took a day out on the water and explored all the other mini islands around Malta. Going through the Valletta Harbour was a history lesson in it’s own and you can appreciate all the different reasons why people want to call Malta as their home.

Pictured: Padrão dos Descobrimentos

We were amazed at how beautiful Portugal is, and it was clear to us why so many people choose to retire there. Portugal is rich with history, and they’re deserving of our appreciation with respect to the many navigators that helped map out the world. We spent a few days in Lisbon, but the true beauty of Portugal is just a 30 minute drive out of the big city into the smaller, but well known, Sintra. The other neighboring coastal towns were also packed with charm and you quickly forget about whatever troubles you might find in a big bustling city. We look forward to going back to Portugal to visit the smaller towns outside of the big cities where you can see the old world foundations covered in natures beauty. We felt a mix of Malibu, Carmel, Lake Como and Crystal Cove all while in the Portuguese countryside. 

Pictured: Plaza de Toros de Pamplona

Collectively we’ve spent almost 2 months in Spain; everywhere from the north Basque region in San Sebastian, all the way to the southern “Costa Del Sol” region in Malaga. We ran with the bulls, drank at the worlds top bars, relaxed on the beaches of Marbella, ate incredible tapas in San Sebastian, and toured the Alhambra in Granada. We look forward to going back and spending more time in Spain!

Pictured: Riding bikes along the Canal du Centre in Champforgeuil, Burgundy

Pictured: Amoudi Beach in Oia

We spent almost 11 days in Greece touring around all we could of the Grecian Islands. Athens is an incredible place to visit when the weather isn’t too hot, Santorini (more specifically Oia), is a great small spot to relax and vacation (when it’s not overrun by the cruise boat pedestrian traffic).