Port in Porto

Port in Porto

One of the great things to do when traveling is to sample the local beverages. In Belgium and the Czech Republic, this is usually beer, in France and Italy it's wine. Turns out Portugal has a pretty fantastic wine culture; the most well-known of these varieties being Port. Aptly named, the city of Porto is the historical trading and export hub for these fortified wines which vary in color from a light amber to a deep purple-red. The wine is typically sweeter and often drank as a digestive or after-dinner drink. Not a big fan of sweet wines to begin with, I wasn't sure I would be a fan of port, but, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was wrong.

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Visiting the Last Supper by Leonardo daVinci

Visiting the Last Supper by Leonardo daVinci

Milan is known as the fashion capital of Italy. And without a doubt, it is a very stylish city. But we weren't there for the fashion. We went to visit one of the great masterpieces of the renaissance - The Last Supper. Realistically, we knew we'd likely never be in Milan again, so if we wanted to see this famous painting before it fades away for good, we knew it was now or never. Turns out, trying to get tickets to see this thing is next to impossible! But, we succeeded in seeing not only the Last Supper, but also scored a tour of Milan to go along with it.

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10 Free (or almost free!) Walking Tours to Take in Europe

10 Free (or almost free!) Walking Tours to Take in Europe

It's no secret we love a good, free walking tour. They are usually led by locals and are pretty entertaining. Plus, they are a fantastic way to get a feel for the city and find things you may want to go back and explore later. I love that you usually get the history of what you're seeing, which really helps to put things in context. Plus, you get personal recommendations of places to go, restaurants to eat at, and pubs to grab a beer at, all from the people who actually go to those places. It's a win-win really. But sometimes the hardest part is finding the free tours, and then deciding which ones to go on! We've done the hard work for you and put together this list of 8 walking tours - all of which are FREE except for one! - that you can take on your European holiday. We've been on them all and can vouch for their awesomeness :)

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Travel Review: Sandeman's Walking Tours of Prague

Travel Review: Sandeman's Walking Tours of Prague

May in Germany is chock full of holidays. Most of them are religious in nature, but it doesn't matter much because it means we get time off of work! The weekend after Evelyn and I got back from Norway was another long weekend thanks to yet another holiday. Not wanting to lose out on a free 4 day weekend, we headed to a place that had been on our list for a long time: Prague. It was one of those places that was close enough to drive to, but far enough that we really needed a longer weekend to do it. And when we had longer weekends, we found we wanted to fly somewhere, you know, to maximize our time. So despite it being near the top of our bucket list, it took us nearly two years to actually go. But, I am so glad that we did!

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Walking Tours and the Best Pizzeria in Rome

Walking Tours and the Best Pizzeria in Rome

Not sure if you knew this or not, but Rome is huge. Like, mind-boggling huge. And it has an absolute plethora of things to see and do in the city. The city itself is best described as an open air museum. It is one of the few, if not only, cities in the world to be inhabitant for 3000 years, you can bet there is something exciting around ever corner. The problem is, unless you are an expert in Roman history, or really into Italy, a lot of the sites have little meaning without context. And this is where a handy free walking tour (or 3) comes in.

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6 Things to do in Bruges, Belgium

6 Things to do in Bruges, Belgium

Bruges, a small, midevil city in Belgium, not far from the North Atlantic, is a charming little city to spend a weekend in. There are canals, reminiscent of the ones in Amsterdam, that run through the city, a stunning center square watched over by a giant clock tower, twisting and winding cobblestone streets lined with houses hundreds of years old, lots of old, beautiful churches. All of this is accented with hundreds of chocolate shops, small cafes serving waffles or french fries (or both!), and pubs where the bar is lined with taps pouring fresh, but strong, Belgian beer.

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Walking Tours in Bruges

Walking Tours in Bruges

For the last weekend in February, a friend and sorority sister of mine visited us in Germany. After picking her up at the airport bright and early Friday morning, we drove directly to Bruges, Belgium. Our original plan was to spend a day in Bruges, and then a day in Ghent, but in researching things to do in Bruges, we decided there was too much to see and do and a one day visit would not do the city justice. So while I was bummed about having to cancel plans to visit Ghent, the silver lining is that we have at least one more trip to Belgium - one more chance to eat Belgian chocolate and waffles and drink Belgian beer. So really, not a problem at all.

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