Category: Europe
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Türkiye: Istanbul and Cappadocia
Istanbul, Türkiye! This MASSIVE, beautiful, historic mega-city is where the West (Europe) officially meets East (Asia) – we explored the city center, attended a European women’s soccer game, and consumed impressive amounts of Turkish delight, baklava, and kebabs! We stayed in central Istanbul, the Golden Horn/Sultanahmet neighborhood – in the…
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Greece: Meteora and Athens
Leaving Italy was surprisingly emotional. We had been overland traveling by train, bus, and car for more than 10 weeks, so boarding our flight out of Rome felt like we were starting a new chapter in our big adventure! We landed in Athens and drove 4 hours north to a…
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Central Italy: Cinque Terre, Firenze, Montepulciano, and Rome
We actually started our final two weeks in Italy with a quick stop in Bavaria (Germany) to spend time with another one of our previous au pairs and her family. Sara was our very first au pair and joined our family just a few weeks after we became parents! She’s…
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Croatia: Istrian Peninsula
After our month of full-on hiking and climbing through the Dolomites, we headed to the Istrian Peninsula (Croatia) for a few days of fantastic, relaxing beach time! We camped on the Adriatic coast near Rovinj, spending our days swimming, snorkeling, and relaxing. Howie and I took evening walks into the…
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Italy: The Dolomites
A month of hiking and climbing through our favorite place on earth, meeting up with friends and family from around the world – what an absolute dream come true! Our four weeks in the Dolomites were spent in 4 different regions – we began in the Tre Cime/Sexten region along…
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Switzerland: Zermatt and Bernese Oberland
Our travel day from Paris to Zermatt included 1 subway ride, 6 separate train transfers, and a bus (portions of the journey re-routed due to recent flooding and landslides in Switzerland). It set our new record for most consecutive transfers, and was definitely a challenge with all of our gear.…
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Prague and Paris
Cities are not our family’s natural habitat… but there are some cities in the world so stunningly beautiful and culturally rich that they deserve exploration. So we hung up our hiking boots for a bit and spent some time discovering the 2 European icons of Prague and Paris. We landed…
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The Balkans: Montenegro, Albania, and Bosnia Herzegovina
How did the Balkan region end up on our radar as a family travel destination? After the breakup of Yugoslavia, from 1991 until 2001 (a significant portion of our young, formative years) the entire region was involved in ongoing ethnic/cultural conflicts and all-out war. If you had asked me to…
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Portugal: The island of Madeira
Madeira, Portugal. What a sweet little gem to begin our adventure abroad – a small island off the coast of North Africa, known as the “Hawaii of Europe.” The topography is incredibly steep, with every road, trail, and town clinging to a terraced hillside. Though it was often more crowded…
Eight Boots Abroad 