On our final day in Berlin, we explored the city’s history, focusing on the Berlin Wall and its complexities. We visited the Berlin Wall Memorial, learning about its impact and the lives affected by it. In the evening, we enjoyed our last Christmas Market at Charlottenburg Palace, experiencing its festive atmosphere and unique light projections.
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Berlin Inspires with Its History, Street Art, and Christmas Markets
On our third day in Berlin, Germany we visited the historical sites of Checkpoint Charlie, The Memorial for the Jews, and the Berlin Cathedral. We also looked for some well known street art and checked out two Christmas markets making it a full day of activity.
Budget Travel Tips For Your Next European Vacation
In a conversation with my brother last fall, he asked if I had any tips for traveling. That question inspired me to think about ways that one can save money as a budget traveler, especially in Europe. International travel can seem daunting. For many Americans their first trip overseas is to Europe. I hope these tips will encourage them to take that European trip. Last week I wrote about some simple and practical ways to save when finding flights and…
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Simple Budget Travel Tips for Flights and Hotels in Europe
Anyone who has read my blog has probably figured out that our travel style is budget travel. Part of the philosophy is that the less we spend on a trip means a greater possibility of another trip to Europe. So we don’t choose expensive hotels or visit pricey restaurants as we travel. Those are some of the obvious ways to save money. However, there are some other ways to save as well. They may not save as much, but every…
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40th Birthday Trip to Budapest and Prague With My Parents
My mom has always mentioned that she would love to see the Christmas markets in Europe. Given I’m still making up for missed trips due to COVID, I suggested that we make the journey to Europe this year to see some Christmas markets. My dad suggested Budapest and Prague. Of course perhaps I also wanted to go because I was turning 40 and felt like I deserved a special trip for my birthday. Ten years prior, for my 30th, I…
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Spending a Day in Prague’s Castle Complex
A visit to Prague requires one to visit the castle complex. I say complex as this is a large area with a number of buildings and things to see. The complex is easily visible as it looks down over the Vltava River and the Charles Bridge. Today was our day to explore this significant part of Prague. First one has to make it up the hill. We weren’t exactly sure how to get up to the castle, but we figured…
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First Day at Prague’s Charles Bridge and Christmas Markets
When we visited Budapest, we walked everywhere. Our hotel was near enough to the city center that we could walk there in about fifteen minutes. Such was not the case in Prague. We had a very nice hotel, but it was some distance from the city center so we took a light rail back and forth every day. Fortunately for us, seniors over 65 ride the light rail for free so only Andrea had to pay. Payments were made on…
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A Morning in Budapest then a Train to Prague
Wednesday was our last day in Budapest. We would be leaving by train for Prague in the afternoon. We should have had another full day here, but as happens too often, I managed to be confused about the dates when I made the reservations. Since Andrea had been to Budapest before, she was more excited about visiting Prague so it worked out. Our train to Prague wasn’t leaving until 3:30 so we still had time to take in more of…
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More of Budapest and an Evening Cruise on The Danube
Since we had only one full day in Budapest, it meant we had a lot to see in that day. Having visited the Fisherman’s Bastion the previous night and our first Christmas market on this day, Boxing Day, it was time to find the second Christmas market we planned to visit. We knew it was close by, but we were having a little challenge finding it. However, getting lost only allows one to explore the area even more, and we…
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Our European Journey Comes to an End in Spain
Monday was my 72nd birthday. It was also a travel day as we were to take a train to Madrid where we would leave Spain to fly home. However, our train didn’t leave until nearly 3:00 so there was still time in the morning to do a little more exploring of Granada. We headed out towards downtown again. We were headed to the University which we had been near the day before, but it had been closed. I thought we…
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