Europe Archives - Page 5 of 9 - sateless suitcase

10 Places You just Can’t Miss in Portugal

Summer has finally arrived in Germany and I cherish every little second of sunshine. The other day, I was waiting for my bus home when I suddenly longed for a cold, fresh pressed orange juice. I sat on a bench in the sun sipping my juice and realized how much I miss Portugal. A country where you can sit outside in the sun year round. A country where every little pastelaria sells freshly pressed orange juice for less than a Euro. How much I loved the Portuguese for their sweet tooth that they even serve the most delicious orange juice [...]

By Julika|2013-10-02T10:46:27+02:002013/07/14|Categories: Destinations, Europe, Portugal|Tags: Algarve, Architecture, Europe, Lisbon, medieval, Porto, Portugal|62 Comments

A Birthday in Bruges

I think I'm a little weird when it comes to birthdays. Usually, I try not to care about my birthday and I rarely plan anything, sometimes even trying to pretty much ignore the date. In the past, I would rather take an extra shift at my part time job in a clothing store than throw a huge birthday party. Somehow, birthday parties never really worked out the way I planned them and so I stopped doing something special, because I think I'm just too afraid to be disappointed. Instead of throwing a party, lately I developed a habit of "not [...]

By Julika|2013-10-27T11:40:59+01:002013/07/06|Categories: Belgium, Destinations, Europe|Tags: Architecture, Belgium, Bruges, Europe, medieval|17 Comments

Utrecht’s Amazing Illumination Festival

My previous posts on Utrecht already revealed that I really fell hard for this gorgeous little Dutch city, but I saved the very best for last. Because among beautiful canals, delicious food and great museums there was one last thing that I loved even more than all of the above: The Trajectum Lumen Festival. These amazing outdoor installations are where the city's beautiful sights and landmarks meet incredibly creative light design. Illuminated Utrecht at night Utrecht's colorful lighting installations can be seen immediately after nightfall and all over the city. And the best thing about: It's free, it's absolutely unique [...]

By Julika|2013-08-03T18:30:49+02:002013/06/28|Categories: Destinations, Europe, The Netherlands|Tags: Architecture, Art, Europe, The Netherlands|6 Comments

Why Utrecht is a Museum Lover’s Paradise

Museums are tricky. At least when it comes to travel writing. Many travel bloggers openly admit that they "don't do museums". Some even say that they don't like museums in general. And from a travel writing perspective, I understand. Museums are not adventure sports. A visit to a museum won't include how I overcame my fear of heights while bungee jumping in the dessert. Or how I almost drowned while wild water rafting in a river full of piranhas. To be honest, writing about museums is almost doomed to be boring. And then sometimes you aren't even allowed to take [...]

By Julika|2013-07-16T21:53:39+02:002013/06/22|Categories: Destinations, Europe, The Netherlands|Tags: Art, Europe, Museums, The Netherlands|7 Comments

The Truth About Paris on a Budget

Paris on a budget? Isn't that a paradox? A city with incredibly high rents, a city where desserts are topped with gold foil, a city where the most expensive handbags have to be updated every season? A few months back, I just randomly booked hostel in Paris on a whim. Just because I felt like it, but I didn't really think I would actually go. It was just one of those procrastination things I did while writing my thesis -- reading hostel reviews, comparing prices, researching about which arrondissements are good areas to stay in for a girl traveling solo. [...]

By Julika|2015-08-13T09:06:35+02:002013/06/12|Categories: Destinations, Europe, France|Tags: Architecture, Europe, France, Paris|26 Comments

How Holland (Almost) Turned Me into a Foodie

By no means I'm a foodie. I'm a picky eater. I don't like experiments. I sometimes have to force myself to even try new flavors in the first place. Throughout the last years I have at least tried to become a more open eater and realized that it was probably dumb to have lived more than twenty years without eating pineapples and eggplants just because I was too scared to try them and they looked funny. Traveling of course has made me more curious and more open about food, but I would still call myself a very picky pescetarian. Yes, [...]

By Julika|2013-10-27T11:43:51+01:002013/06/06|Categories: Destinations, Europe, The Netherlands|Tags: Europe, The Netherlands|13 Comments

Rotterdam via Instagram

Ever since I upgraded my embarrassing (but beloved), old-fashioned brick stone of a cell phone to a 21st century one, I've developed a slight addiction with taking photos on the road and instagramming them. And I also love integrating my Instagram photos into blog posts as a destination sneak peek, which I have done quite frequently during last months. This time however, I decided to introduce Rotterdam through scenic dSLR photos with blue skies first, although they are not really representative of my stay there... The old harbor of Rotterdam on the one (!) beautiful May day I took most [...]

By Julika|2013-06-04T22:40:45+02:002013/05/31|Categories: Destinations, Europe, The Netherlands|Tags: Europe, The Netherlands|8 Comments

A Whirlwind Road Trip to Switzerland

It's been a while since I've taken a real road trip. Throughout the last years I didn't own a car and as a student you don't really meet other people who can afford owning a car and traveling at the same time. But last Thursday night my boyfriend Steffen had a beer with his friend Sascha, who is going to move to Switzerland in the summer. Since Sascha had an interview at his future school on Monday morning, the guys somehow came up with the idea to take a 24 hour road trip down to Basel. When Steffen texted me [...]

By Julika|2013-05-29T13:03:10+02:002013/05/09|Categories: Destinations, Europe, Switzerland|Tags: Basel, Europe, road trip, Switzerland|23 Comments

A Weekend in Alsace via Instagram

I admit it: I'm a newly converted Instagram-addict (and, ugh, fancy phone owner). Although I tried really hard not to give in to yet another hyped social media platform for the longest time, I've come to realize that taking travel photos with Instagram is actually a lot of fun. And I just love the idea of having two cameras with me, which can both capture whole different angles of a destination. My fabulous travel buddy Ashley and me in the pretty town of Colmar Ashley's and my recent trip to France's Alsace region was a great option to try a [...]

By Julika|2013-05-09T10:09:12+02:002013/05/01|Categories: Destinations, Europe, France|Tags: Alsace, churches, Europe, France, medieval|8 Comments

Moonwalking in Croatia

Moonwalking?! Wait, what? Yes, moonwalking in Croatia. But it has nothing to do with Michael Jackson. Or the actual moon for that matter. The landscape on the island of Krk seems to be from outer space so someone smart came up with the idea to nickname the hiking trails of Krk "moonwalks". At least this was what my guidebook said. Honestly, I had my doubts. I had seen photos of Croatian islands -- beautiful pebble beaches surrounded by green pine forests and Mediterranean cities. All these typical Croatia photos depicted an insanely colorful country: Bright red old tiles on every [...]

By Julika|2013-05-13T14:26:34+02:002013/04/21|Categories: Croatia, Destinations, Europe|Tags: Croatia, Europe|6 Comments