BootsnAll Travel Network



Berlin – “Hey, we could live here one day.”

November 26th, 2006

Berlin Matthias and Andrea

Between celebrating birthdays, Shan getting bronchitis, a reunion with Anthony’s long lost Peruvian cousin, seeing Shan’s favorite Latin pop star in concert, hanging out with new friends and friends from home, and (of course!) the World Cup, our time in Berlin was jam-packed and flew by like a whirlwind but not without making a lasting impression on us.
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Hannover and the Hamburg Fishmarket

August 17th, 2006

Fischmarkt Hamburg Fishmarket

We had a great time partying in Hannover with our expat American friends Hugh and Erica, and fellow visitors Marwa, Jesse, and Zac who made it out to Germany from Michigan for the World Cup, and we even managed an all-nighter to make an early morning run to the famous Hamburg Fischmarkt, which was a site to see and experience.

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Munich: ‘Munchen’ on pork knuckles, reminders of Hitler, and Art Garfunkel

August 16th, 2006

Old and new architecture Go Deutschland!

We crashed in Munich with our friend Henning, whom we met in Vietnam and will be joining us in Peru to hike the Inca Trail this fall. We spent an awesome week there hanging out with Henning, taking in yet more World Cup craziness, checking out the city, and taking day trips outside the city which brought us to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, Berchtesgarten (home of Hitler´s infamous Eagle´s Nest), and across the border into Vienna for a visit to Salzburg. The last (but by far not the least) of the highlights of our time in Munich was seeing Anthony´s friend Marat who is the personal assistant to Art Garfunkel and got us free concert tickets and backstage passes and to meet the legend! Read the rest of this entry »

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Wurzburg, Ruddesheim, & Bacharach – Hidden beauties in Germany

August 12th, 2006

Bacharach Wurzburg

Between World Cup matches we made the point of seeing a lot of the countryside and visiting some small towns and villages in search of the quieter, more charming, peaceful, and serene side of Germany. Lucky for us that we had decided to rely on our Germany rail passes for getting around as our unlimited train access also gave us access to some of the most unbelievable and breathtaking countryside scenery that we have ever seen, much of which cannot be seen via driving. We fell in love with these small towns and villages that some consider the quintessential examples German culture and scenery, tucked away between rivers, moutains, and countryside.

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Deutschland 2006 – Shan’s First World Cup

July 23rd, 2006

Nuremburg stadium S&A and our tix

Before Germany 2006, I had never been to a World Cup. I was backpacking in Europe in 1998 when the World Cup was in France and got a taste of the action watching a match in a beer garden in Salzburg and being in Amsterdam for the semi-finals when the Dutch played Brazil. At the time, I was impressed by the excitement and energy that the World Cup had over the continent and felt lucky to have had a taste, but I had no idea just how big of a phenomena the World Cup really is until I experienced it in Germany. Read the rest of this entry »

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Prague – a quick 2 day stop

July 23rd, 2006

View of the city Band on the bridge 

Another last minute addition to our trip. We flew from Split, Croatia to Prague because: 1) we found an unbelievably cheap fare of about $25 each on SkyEurope Airlines, 2) it got us closer to our next stop Germany for the World Cup, and 3) does anyone really need an excuse to spend a couple days in one of the world’s most heralded cities? Read the rest of this entry »

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Dubrovnik and Hvar – Finally, this feels like honeymoon!

July 21st, 2006

S&A at the Old City Boats in the ha+Lee/wprbor
We spent about a week in Croatia – a few days in the beautiful city of Dubrovnik, another few days on the hip and relaxing island of Hvar, and a day walking around Split. Croatia proved to be just as beautiful, romantic and serene as it is supposed to be…if you’re looking for a relaxing European vacation destination we highly reccomend Croatia.

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Sarajevo and Mostar – beauty and the reminders of war

July 21st, 2006

Sarajevo Stari most 

Another one of our unexpected surprises on this trip, we didn’t decide to visit Sarajevo and Mostar until an American friend convinced us while we were in Turkey.  Lucky for us he did as both cities were full of natural and architectual beauty as well as riveting reminders of a brutal war just a few years ago. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sofia – Our 6 hour visit to Bulgaria

July 21st, 2006

 Independence monument Great graffiti 

We left Istanbul on an overnight bus and arrived at 9am in Sofia, Bulgaria. Before boarding our next overnight bus to Sarajevo that afternoon, we did a foot tour of Sofia as it was the first time for both of us to Bulgaria.
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Turkey – the “WOW” rock formations of Cappadocia and Istanbul “not Constantinople”

July 21st, 2006

S&A Along the Bosphorous

After an incredible 2 months in the Middle East with its intoxicating rocky and desert landscapes and beautiful neutral hues, we traveled by bus into Turkey and upon crossing the border into Turkey returned back into the world of color and greenery and into a country whose culture provides a unique combination of the East and West.

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