2008 - Washington DC
2010 - Cuba
2011 - DR, Bermuda, & Cruise
2012 - DR & Costa Rica
2013 - Cruise, CR, & USA
2014 - SE Asia
The Year Off 2015 - 2016
- Preamble
- Thailand & Malaysia
- Italy
- Germany, Belgium, & Lux
- Czech, Poland, & Germany
- Austria, Slovakia, & Hungary
- Slovenia, Croatia, Austria & Germany
- England & Scotland
- Turkey
- Colombia
- Peru: Lima & Amazon
- Peru: Cusco & Inca Trail
- Peru: Cusco to Lima
- Mexico, Guatemala, & Belize
- New Zealand
- Australia & Thailand
2017 - The Balkans
2017 - Hungary, Romania, & Switzerland
2018 - New York
2018 - Amsterdam, Poland, & The Baltics
2019 - Costa Rica
2019 - France
2020 - Thailand
2023 - Mexico
2023 - Iceland & Cruise
2024 - Philippines
2025 - Japan
2025 - Iceland
Short Trips
Lists
Links
| July 4, 2015 - Saturday | Ljubljana | Slovenia |
| I left Salzburg for Ljubljana Slovenia. Ljubljana was probably my favorite small town that I went to. Admittedly there is not a ton of stuff to do here, but I loved the atmosphere around the city center, there were some good places to eat, and the slow pace was nice. I spent three nights here (and three more later on...). I had a very nice hotel at a very reasonable price which helped. | ||
| July 5, 2015 - Sunday | Ljubljana | Slovenia |
Other then talking a walking tour of the city I didn't do too much, just
walked around. I bought a sim card for my cell phone out of a vending
machine, which was a first. Usually you need to register your passport and
info with some company.
 |
||
| July 6, 2015 - Monday | Ljubljana | Slovenia |
I took a day trip by train to the Postonja Caves which are massive caverns
that you take a tour though.
 |
||
| July 7, 2015 - Tuesday | Zagreb | Croatia |
One thing on my "must do" list for Europe was the Plitvici Lakes in Croatia.
Since they are fairly close to Slovenia that was my next stop. I took the
train to Zagreb. At the time Croatia was not part of the visa zone for the
rest of Europe, so they stopped the train at the border and your passport
gets stamped a couple of times. Anyways, I arrived in Zagreb and went to my
hostel (private room) and they arranged for me to be picked up the next day
to tour the lakes. I spent the rest of this day walking around the old town,
where I saw a small parade going by. Then I went to the movies (Ted 2).
 |
||
| July 8, 2015 - Wednesday | Zagreb | Croatia |
Early morning I was picked up and we (about 30 of us) were dropped off at
the entrance of the national park for the lakes. About 6 of us grouped
together and off we went to explore the lakes. There is more or less a
standard route to take and we spent probably about 5 hours walking around.
This area is absolutely beautiful, and the weather was perfect.
Unfortunately they don't let you swim in the lakes which was too bad since
it was hot out. When we returned to Zagreb the six of us met up later for
dinner and drinks. All in all a very good day and a highlight of the trip.
 |
||
| July 9, 2015 - Thursday to July 11, 2015 - Saturday | Ljubljana | Slovenia |
| I returned to Ljubljana for three more nights. At this point in time I did not have any firm plans for the last couple of weeks in Europe or my next segment, England. So basically I spent the three days planning/researching what I was going to do and booking hotels. | ||
| July 12, 2015 - Sunday | Lake Bled | Slovenia |
My next stop was Lake Bled, which is fairly close to Ljubljana. This is
small vacation town and the main attraction is the lake which has an island
in the middle of it. Another beautiful spot to see. I walked up to the
castle - but did not go inside - to see the lake from the view point. I then
walked around the lake, which takes a couple of hours.
 |
||
| July 13, 2015 - Monday | Lake Bled | Slovenia |
Today was a major day for walking/hiking. In the morning I set off for
Vintgar Gorge. Walking from Lake Bled you go up a hill and then descend down
to the start of the Gorge. The Gorge is about 1.5km long and every inch is
beautiful. I know I use that word a lot, but it truly is. After walking the
length of it I turned around and walked back to the start and then returned
to Lake Bled. In the afternoon I walked around the lake again. I must have
done 20 plus km this day.
 |
||
| July 14, 2015 - Tuesday | Lake Bled | Slovenia |
| My final day here I walked about half way around the lake to a grassy spot where people relax, play, and suntan. After resting for a while I got into the water and swam to the island. This was a much longer swim then I anticipated but I made it to the island and walked around it. There is a church on the island, but I was barefoot and shirtless so could not go inside. Unfortunately then I had to swim back. I was pretty tired when I made it back to shore. That evening I felt like I was coming down with a cold. Not sure if it was from the swim, but it probably didn't help. | ||
| July 15, 2015 - Wednesday | Innsbruck | Austria |
| I took the train to Innsbruck Austria. I was definitely sick with a head cold, so other then walk around a bit I didn't do much. | ||
| July 16, 2015 - Thursday | Innsbruck | Austria |
Still sick, I was determined to see the sights. My first stop was the cable
car up the mountain Hafelekalspitze. Excellent views from the top. This was
a mistake though, as on the way down I had trouble equalizing my ears due to
my head cold. That was painful. Once down I also toured the Imperial Palace
and the church, then spent the remainder of the day at the hotel. My ears
would not fully equalize until sometime this night.
 |
||
| July 17, 2015 - Friday | Rothenburg | Germany |
| I left Innsbruck and went back to Germany, this time to Rothenburg. I was still sick and the train ride took a big chunk of the day so didn't do much. | ||
| July 18, 2015 - Saturday | Rothenburg | Germany |
I was feeling much better so I did the Rick Steve's audio tour of the town,
the Crime and Punishment Museum, and walked along the city walls. I really
like the way the houses look here. Very German.
 |
||
| July 19, 2015 - Sunday | Fussen | Germany |
| My next stop was Fussen which is in the very southern part of Germany and is where the famous castles are. However it was a long train ride and I did not do much else today. | ||
| July 20, 2015 - Monday | Fussen | Germany |
I walked to the two castles Hohenschweangau and Neuschwanstein. The N castle
is the famous one that the Disney castle is modeled on. The interior of the
castles are amazing and I got many great pictures of the N castle from a
vantage point that you can hike to.
 |
||
| July 21, 2015 - Tuesday | Munich | Germany |
I left Fussen and went to my final stop in mainland Europe, Munich. I did a
lot of stuff in Munich. Today I did another audio walking tour, St. Peter’s
Church, St. Micheal’s Church and Crypt, Asam Church, and finally I had a
beer and pretzel at a beer garden.
 |
||
| July 22, 2015 - Wednesday | Munich | Germany |
Toured the Residenz museum and treasury, and then took the train to the BMW
Museum. Not my favorite car museum, but worth the trip. I then walked
through part of the English Garden (large park, kind of like Central Park in
NY) to the Chinese beer garden for a beer.
 |
||
| July 23, 2015 - Thursday | Munich | Germany |
| Today I visited the old art gallery (Alte Pinakothek) which has many famous paintings. Rest of the day was spent planning for London. | ||
| July 24, 2015 - Friday | Munich | Germany |
| Walked around English Garden. There is one section that is for nudists. Unless you want to see a couple of old hairy men it is safe to skip. Got a haircut and did laundry. | ||
| July 25, 2015 - Saturday | Munich | Germany |
| On my last full day I went to the Deutsches museum, which has a wide range of stuff - everything from electricity, to planes, to glassblowing. It was very good. | ||