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Europe 2023
  • Steph and Trent Travel
  • Steph and Trent Travel

Europe 2023

Our 3 month sabbatical in Europe! Read more
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  • Trip start
    August 6, 2023
  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler
    Water level extremely high due to windsBrunch at Union Ktichen1Sweet corn fritters at Union KitchenLike a chicken pot pie? At Royal Bistro night 1Had to try the local brews!

    Copenhagen, Denmark

    August 8, 2023 in Denmark ⋅ 🌬 64 °F

    Places we visited:
    - Nyhavn
    - Canal tour with Hey Captain
    - Freetown Cristiana
    - Palace District
    - 28,000 steps so most of Copenhagen

    Hit some awesome restaurants:
    - Dinner at Royal Bistro
    - Union Kitchen for Brunch
    - Reffen for snacks/drinks
    - Gorilla for dinner

    Fun Facts:
    - Had a nice night cap at Drop Inn where we were talking about Trent’s confusion of the bathrooms here. Apparently there is no nudity laws here so we all use the same bathrooms? 🤷🏻‍♀️
    - Denmark rated the “Happiest Country on Earth” but our boat captain wants this clarified to “most content” as it’s also the country that takes the most antidepressants. 65% tax rate buys you safety but 17 hours of darkness in the winter sucks    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Ålesund, Norway

    August 9, 2023 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 55 °F

    What we did:
    Flew into Alesund to start our Norwegian road trip! Pilot announced there was an “issue” with our plane and we’d be diverted to Trondheim. He later came on to tell us that we were good and landed in Alesund correctly. However, they grounded the plane the rest the day...

    Places we visited:
    - Kiwi supermarket to stock up on road trip essentials
    - Hung in the Airbnb enjoying the view of the Fjord as it was pouring

    Food:
    - Zumma sushi (our first taste of Norwegian salmon) since Ålesund is the biggest fishing hub in Norway.

    Fun facts:
    - Landed and discovered that we had traveled to Norway during the biggest storm they’ve had in 25 years named Hans (yay for us)! We then debated pulling an audible and heading to a southern country to get out of the rain. Flights from Alesund to Greece may allegedly have been looked at.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler
    1

    Åndalsnes, Norway

    August 10, 2023 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 52 °F

    What we did:
    - First day road tripping through the Fjords. Drove the Atlantic Ocean Road that meanders through the ocean, voted one of the prettiest roads in the world. Bit rainy though.
    - Cabin #1 stay in bunk beds including drinking wine on the patio in the rain
    - Slept in until 11 due to rain but then drove the windy bends of Trollstigen, which was timed well with clouds clearing. See pics!

    What we ate:
    - Saving money time! Bars and road-trip PB&J’s for breakfast/lunch.
    - Thai food in town for dinner!    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler
    ValldalInnvikfjorden

    Loen, Norway

    August 11, 2023 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F

    Our FIRST beautiful day of the trip!!

    What we did:
    - Norwegian roadtrip continues! Stopped in Valldal for lunch.
    - Drove to Geiranger Fjord and rented a kayak on the fjord (thanks Aileen & Chris). Saw Seven Sisters waterfall from a distance in the kayak.
    - Stayed in our second cabin of the trip and it was much more spacious! Ended the day with Norwegian beer and some wine on the patio.

    What we ate:
    - More breakfast bars and PB&Js! (Trent dropped Steph's PB&J on the ground so we opted for trying our first Norwegian cinnamon bun!)
    - Norwegian Kit Kat
    - Pizza for dinner (maybe our cheapest dinner of the trip thus far?)
    - Ringnes beer

    Fun facts:
    - Norway is the country with the most tunnels, including the longest tunnel which connects Trondheim and Oslo (~20 mins).
    - Geiranger Fjord is the most visited fjord in Norway.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Balestrand, Norway

    August 12, 2023 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    What we did:
    - Slept in again! S/O life with no work or responsibilities
    - Trent took “the most scenic jog of his life” although he spent more time taking pictures than running
    - Day 3 of the Road-trip meandering through more fjords and beautiful landscape, including a nice two-hour hike to Briksdalsbreen glacier
    - Decided we are out on the long 15 minute Norwegian tunnels due to highway hypnosis and claustrophobia
    - After dinner grabbed our Rignes beers and hung by the harbor enjoying the views! Capped by a nice FaceTime from Mom/Helen and Claire from the Macy’s dressing room

    What we ate:
    - No shock here - granola bars and PB&J!
    - Snack of freshly picked raspberries. Easily best ones we’ve ever had as they were huge juicy and fresh. Norway grows a TON of berries in the summer and we saw the vines everywhere.
    - Dinner of Norwegian meatballs in lingonberry sauce and fresh salmon. Finally fitting in with the locals

    Fun facts:
    - Sognefjord (what Balestrand overlooks) is the 2nd largest worldwide fjord behind one in Greenland
    - Longest tunnel in the world is outside of Oslo at a shocking 15 miles. They had to put in four rest areas and colored lights to help the drivers
    - Most vacationer's lodging is just rented vans/small cabins alongside the fjords so not many hotels and so seasonal, so that means minimal restaurant options
    - Fjords have sharks! But no great whites….yet    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Bergen, Norway

    August 13, 2023 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 63 °F

    What we did:
    - Slept in…again and tried to find coffee. However it was our first Sunday here where we realized everything was closed.
    - Road-trip to Bergen. It was raining so drove straight through to Bergen. We were sad to leave the fjords.
    - Fire alarm went off in the hotel that night. Most of the hotel evacuated to discover it was a false alarm
    - Caught up with Sally / Mom for first call check-in before going to sleep that night for a bright and early 3:30am wake up call for our hike the next day.

    What we ate:
    - Oatmeal for breakfast. Not sure we had lunch?
    - Trent tried reindeer sausage at the local fish market in Bergen, but out of principle couldn’t bring himself to try the whale or moose sausage.
    - Trent tried the local delicacy “fish cake” (aka cod pancake) and panicked because it was gross. Then bought a crappy overpriced hotdog that he regretted for the rest of the night. Steph smartly chose a Norwegian cinnamon bun.
    - Went to a local pub to try some other Norwegian brews. Steph’s was a lot more manly than Trent’s.
    - Dinner at Kafe Spesial in the local college town to capitalize on those college prices. Split shakshouka (picture) and a lamb burger which was not very good.

    Fun facts:
    - Bergen is Norway’s second largest city.
    - There are free range cows and sheep roaming everywhere in Norway. We had to drive at a good pace at all times to make sure we didn’t hit any.
    - We didn’t take any pictures in Bergen! This was a first of the trip.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Stavanger, Norway

    August 14, 2023 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    What we did:
    - 4:30am wake up to make our 6 hr drive and multiple ferry trip from Bergen to Pulpit Rock hike. Had to beat the afternoon clouds and rain!
    - Hiked the 3hr round trip hike to Pulpit Rock, enjoying the expansive views and sheer cliff face. Weather turned out great too. Trent did great keeping his fear of heights at bay until Steph said “You know I could just run off this right now if I wanted to”….
    - We spent the afternoon/evening exploring Stavanger - our favorite Norwegian town! Enjoyed drinks on the patio on “Color Street” before our 🔥 dinner.

    What we ate:
    - SUSHI!! The best Norwegian salmon sushi we ate at Sushi Sabi. Our favorite salmon sushi ever!
    - Trent had 3 ham sandwiches in the morning - one on each ferry. The PB&J/Oatmeal diet may have finally caught up to him

    Fun facts:
    - Pulpit rock was a location used for Mission Impossible 6
    - Japanese sushi never used salmon until 1985, and in fact they thought it repulsive as their local salmon had too many parasites. Norway had a glut of high quality salmon around that time and the fishing minister convinced Japan that they needed this fish to add to their sushi. By the mid 90’s Salmon became the most eaten fish in Japanese sushi.
    - Aurora salmon >>>> . Typically Norway exports all of this breed directly to Japan for use in their luxury sushi offerings, but the place we ate at had a deal to get a small quota.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler
    1

    Stockholm, Sweden (Day 1)

    August 15, 2023 in Sweden ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Day 1:
    What we did:
    - Caught a very early flight from Stavanger through Copenhagen and landed in Stockholm at 10am. Walked in the rain to find our rental car in Stanavager and couldn’t figure out the rental car drop off location. We flew with a bunch of smelly trekkers.
    - Grabbed some brunch and did our first free walking tour! Tour included 2 hours of info on Stockholm Old Town (Gamla Stan).
    - Started to rain so we grabbed a drink in Gamla Stan and checked into our Airbnb in the heart of old town. Our nicest Airbnb to date, we were very pleasantly surprised considering the building was likely in built in the 1600s - maybe earlier?

    What we ate:
    - Brunch at STHLM Brunch Club. Bacon break or plate and chorizo eggs benedict.
    - Pho at Vi-Na Fresh - much needed and delicious once it started to cool off for the day.
    - Tried to find a night cap in the middle of a downpour in Gamla Stan and stumbled into Steph’s favorite bar of the trip - Corks, a Portuguese wine bar! Amazing wine, the friendliest waitress, and lots of free bread (Trent had 12 rolls). We sat under an umbrella in the rain until we were moved inside. The restaurant was so cool but we didn’t take a picture.

    Fun facts:
    - Swedish pancakes are not really a thing. They only serve them every Thursday with pea soup!
    - Sweden has picked a lot of fights with Norway and Denmark. Seems to be the main theme of all of our tours. They came out on top though!    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Stockholm, Sweden (Day 2)

    August 16, 2023 in Sweden ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    What we did:
    - Slept in and Trent went for a run and grabbed a late breakfast in Gamla Stan.
    - Caught a boat tour on the bay. Our guide was very nice and brought his guitar to play us some songs. No one was really paying attention so it felt like he was mostly talking to Trent the whole time.
    - Walked along the bay and grabbed a drink in Ostermalm on the water at a trendy spot called Strandbryggan.
    - Went to a lookout suggested by some local Swedes called Mariaberget. Best view to see the city from afar!
    - Our waitress from the wine bar told us to go to a beer garden overlooking the city - Mosebacketerrassen. This place was awesome - full of locals grabbing drinks after work. We got a couple of local beers and enjoyed the weather/scenery.

    What we ate:
    - Breakfast/brunch at Coffee Stop. We got carrot cake, coffee, and the local favorite Raksmorgas (aka an open faced shrimp sandwich).
    - Stopped at a local fish stand Strommingsvagnen to finally try some herring. We got the knackis (fried herring on crispbread)
    - We had a craving for American food and got our first burger of the trip at Barrels. These burgers were awesome! Definitely hit the spot. However our tummies did not fair well the next day due to all the things we ate and drank that day as listed above.

    Fun facts:
    - Sweden had such a large cigarette problem, that they subsidized snus/zyn which is now a giant industry in itself. They chew it like gum now and you can find it everywhere.
    - Pippi longstocking originates here.
    - Stockholm syndrome originates from a bank robbery where the hostages fell in love with their captors.
    - Sweden's current king became king at 18 and was nicknamed the party king. Now that he’s older he focuses on environment initiatives and building as many museums as possible. There’s now 50 museums in Stockholm alone.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Zurich & Lucerne (Day 1), Switzerland

    August 17, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    What we did:
    - Another early wake up to catch our 6am flight. Had some time to walk around the city of Zurich - walked along the glacier blue river and Lake Zurich overlook before breaking in Switzerland right with traditional Fondue for lunch!
    - After lunch traveled onto the beautiful town of Lucerne. Took an hour or so break to regroup once we got there. Planned on doing a boat tour, but clouds/slight rain and unexpected cost led us to instead just explore the area on foot, and we were very happy we did!
    - We felt like true Euro locals as we had our 1st picnic of the trip down by the lake! Throngs of locals all hanging out and not a single one staring at their phone… need to import that back to the US somehow.
    - Capped the night in the land of chocolate by enjoying a box of assorted Swiss chocolates while reading on a park bench down by the lake that had an unreal view of the sunset on the mountains. Probably safe to say Steph’s trip peaked in that moment, and folks, we might be all downhill from here.

    Where we ate:
    - Lunch at the highly recommend Swiss Chuchi! Lots of hype coming into this and it lived up - true Swiss fondue with bread, steak, pickles/onions and potatoes. Some cold Chasselas wine that locals say helps your stomach with the cheese. 10/10
    - After gorging for the last few days we hit the local grocery store for salads to picnic at the lake.
    - Couldn’t be tooo healthy so grabbed a box of assorted chocolate from Bachmann’s (this place is Steph’s Mecca).

    Fun facts:
    - Fondue is typically only available in the winter so not many places serve it summertime. Fondue originated in Zurich!    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler
    11

    Lucerne, Switzerland (Day 2)

    August 18, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    What we did:
    - Lazy morning sleeping in and lakefront jog for Trent
    - Headed up to Mt. Pilatus on the “Golden Route” that included a gorgeous 1.5 hour cruise down Lake Lucerne, then a Cogwheel train up the mountain, and finishing with a Gondola down the other side.
    - Cogwheel train was broken so bit of a wait (and not too comforting)
    - Did a short hike to the top of Mt. Pilatus after the cogwheel. Worked our way through a Trent panic attack due to the sheer cliffs but we made it to the top! Celebratory beers on the gondola back to Luzern.
    - Trent was extremely hot from this hike and our hotel did not have air conditioning. See his love for the fan in the pic below.
    - Grabbed a drink at La Bonne Cave wine bar on the river before picking up poke for picnic round 2 by the lake in Inseli Park
    - Friday night and town was buzzing! Grabbed gelato for a walk along the lake and FT of Jackie D. before pulling out our books to read. Are we old and boring for reading in a park on a Friday night?

    What we ate:
    - Cliff bars for breakfast and picked up to-go sandwiches from Twiny Station
    - Poke from Pazo Bowl
    - Amarino Gelato 🔥🔥🔥 and ate by the lake.

    Fun facts:
    - Mt. Pilatus peak was in 007 Majesty’s Secret Service (George Lazenby). Might have pre-dated us a bit    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Bern & Interlaken (Day 1), Switzerland

    August 19, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F

    What we did:
    - Slept in a bit and then fumbled morning breakfast in town by not being ready in time so we ended up grabbing coffee and a sandwich on the hour train to Bern.
    - Wandered along the crystal clear, deep green river Aare through the capital city of Bern. We WILL be coming back! In the summer they have a tradition where they put their stuff in dry bags and float this river for miles through town. On this 85 degree Saturday the river was full of people enjoying the float - it looks so peaceful and refreshing. The fomo was real.
    - Climbed up to the Rosengarden park overlooking Bern to have a nice outdoor lunch and enjoy the scenic views. Steph spilled salad dressing all over her white pants making it look like she had an accident.
    - Hour train into Interlaken and quick walk to our Airbnb…. We may have been swindled on this booking.. The bed sheets had not been cleaned/were in a ball (fortunately they had a washing machine so we cleaned them ourselves) and this was an attic apartment with no AC so steaming hot on the 90 degree day. Also no door to our attic! So open for anyone in the building to technically just come up. We opened the window for a bit but bugs got in so we had to close it….Later that night contactless blind Trent stumbled right into a MASSIVE 2-3 inch long spider hanging from the door frame… maybe the first bit of morale dip on the trip.
    - After checking in we did hit the grocery store for a quick sandwich dinner and walked around town before crashing early.
    - Debated going up to the Harder Kulm but decided to save $$ and see if we thought it was worth it later on since it only gives you a view of Interlaken. We opted for a quick TV episode/reading instead.

    What we ate:
    - Coffee and Bachman sandwich on train for breakfast
    - Lunch at Restaurant Rosengarden in Bern, including good pasta, fish, and Prosecco!
    - Sandwiches from the grocery store for dinner (Switzerland coop’s have solid premade food).

    Fun facts:
    - A big “coming of age” moment for Swiss kids in the Bern area is the first time they get to float the Aare with their parents.
    - Weeknights after work people will “float”home from the office. Per Jenna’s point, undetermined what they do with their laptop.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Interlaken (Day 2) - Mürren & Gimmelwald

    August 20, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    What we did:
    - Canyoning day! Picked us up at 9am to bring us to the shop and put on our wetsuit, helmets and lifejacket. It was a big group going as a mix of Americans, hungarians, Swiss, Brits, Spaniards, and French. It was a 30 minute drive up in the vans to the mountain and then 1-1.5 hours in the canyon!
    - The trail went through a 3-5 foot wide glacial river with large rock faces on both sides (i.e the canyon). Super cold glacial water so shout out to the wetsuits and 85 degree temps! Steph was still numb and shivering by the end. The trail was a mix of climbing through the river/rocks, sliding down rock faces into deep pools, jumping 10/15ft into other pools, and rope repelling down.
    - We grabbed a beer in the shop with the other guests before heading back to the BnB.
    - After regrouping, we took the trains/gondolas up to Murren! Absolute awe the whole way up. Walked the town and enjoyed the scenic overlook with some beers and Rosti while admiring the hang gliders (and freaking Trent out for our paragliding excursion the next day)
    - Walked the 30 mins down from Murren to Gimmelwald and possibly single best views and most peaceful walk we may have ever had. Stunned the whole way down
    - Gimmelwald is a postcard town - small swiss chalets with panoramic views smack right in the mountain. Stopped for beers at an idyllic patio at the Pension Gimmelwald overlooking it all.
    - BIG EXCITING NEWS - Mid Gimmelwald beers Jess and Joe facetimed us to tell us that they are officially engaged!! Great time catching up with them on the big day! Steph had been tracking Jess on “FindMyFriends” for a good 72 hours hoping to guess when it was going to happen

    What we ate:
    - Made eggs and sandwiches in the airbnb for breakfast/lunch
    - Snack of our 1st ROSTI at Hotel Alpenruh. Essentially a skillet of potatoes, swiss raclette cheese, ham onions and pickles 🔥🔥🔥. Trent was in heaven.
    - Another grocery store sandwich for dinner

    Fun Facts:
    - Trent forgot to tell them he had a previous knee injury until after we were in the canyon, which our guides weren’t thrilled about, but was easier to stomach than the man last week who let them know he had severe epilepsy once in there.. knee hung strong though!
    - Steph was shocked every time she was dunked in the canyon because it was soooo cold. She would have floated over waterfalls a couple of times if Trent wasn’t there to catch her!    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Interlaken (Day 3) - Wengen, Switzerland

    August 21, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    What we did:
    - Excursion round 2 - this time we are jumping off a cliff! Paragliding was straight up sensational. We took the gondola up to the top of Murren with our French and Spanish guides. These fellas just like soaring - having given tandem hang gliding and skydiving tours all over the world, we like we were in good hands.
    - You both get attached to a harness together and have to run full speed off the cliff, essentially running in midair while the parachute catches. After that it feels like you're on a sofa in the sky - so calm and peaceful just floating through the mountains and over Murren/Gimmelwald and Lauterbrunnen. We go the chance to fly over a canyon that is hard to reach via car or hiking, so awesome to get that opportunity.
    - Trent flew for 20ish minutes (that extra weight matters) while Steph was in the air for 30+ minutes. Steph had a false start on the take off due to wind changing directions, but after that was super smooth (albeit a bit nerve-wracking). Trent opted for some flips and spins at the end of his flight!
    - We grabbed celebratory coffees in Wengen at Hotel Caprice balcony with unreal Mountain Views - vibes were so high as we recapped our flights. 10/10 recommend paragliding.
    - In the afternoon we hiked the 2-3 hour Panorama trail from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg (took multiple attempts to type those). Great trail and views but a big sheer cliff/drop for Trent so he had mild to moderate panic and had to be talked down
    - After the hike went through downtown Lauterbrunnen for beers at scenic Restaurant Schutzen.
    - The evening was spent booking Oktoberfest tents.
    - MASSIVE SPIDER KILL COUNT at 2.5 - Undetermined if we got the third guy. Trent is phased after he came face to face with the second one again. Airbnb indoor temp registered at 31 Celsius - 88 degrees fahrenheit. Panic is slowly setting in…

    What we ate:
    - We need a Swiss Coop grocery store rewards card at this point. Made eggs and sandwiches in airbnb for breakfast/lunch and frozen pizza for dinner

    Fun Facts:
    - Hardo hang gliders will fly for 300-600 kilometers! You read that right - straight up human airplanes. They’ll get up to 15,000 feet and just float across the country.
    - Guides give 6 flights a day and each one is different based on the time of day, wind and heat.
    - In order to stay up or go higher you can catch “Thermals” which are pockets of hot air that help you gain loft. So midday/afternoon flights can be longer, but are a bit more choppy than early morning.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Interlaken (Day 4)-Lauterbrunnen &Mürren

    August 22, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    What we did:
    - Airbnb saga hits the crescendo. After a sweltering nights sleep interrupted by dreams of spider attacks, we woke up to someone in the unit. They were downstairs but we understood that our host was gone. Trent talks to the guy, and as it turns out, there are many other roommates that have access to this “shared space” and therefore our unit.
    - We follow-up with our Airbnb host again on the growing list of issues, and that we essentially want out of the reservation. Under Airbnb rules we have a host of complaints that enables us to leave. However, our host Daniel is extremely unhelpful, blames us, and generally throws a fit (Trent absolutely despises Daniel). Daniel is unwilling to find a compromise so we pack up and leave the apartment and file a formal complaint with Airbnb for a refund.
    - We rebook to what turns out to be an awesome place up in the mountains of Wengen, and after 1-2 hours of phone calls won our refund battle with Airbnb handily. Nice profit on the refund too! Take that Daniel 🖕
    - Morale and great vibes reestablished (spider fears may take longer to abate) we set off on the picturesque North Face trail from Murren, up through the mountains and then ending down in Gimmelwald. Absolutely a top 3 hike ever for both of us - Switzerland is a gift to the earth; the place is incredible.
    - Back to Pension Gimmelwald for another big beer to celebrate our battle against Daniel and rave about our views from the hike. Steph’s retirement might be running a coffee shop in Gimmelwald and Trent can be the bartender.
    - Stopped for dinner in Lauterbrunnen and crashed in our clean, comfortable, and spider free hotel room. Daniel 🖕

    What we ate:
    - Made big egg and veggie scrambles at the airbnb before leaving and packed sandwiches for lunch.
    - 1st tourist entrapment of the trip with $65 for two burgers at Restaurant Schutzen in Lauterbrunnen… we know better but places close early in Switzerland and we were running out of options. Reminder - check the menu prices!

    Fun Facts:
    - Airbnb support is top notch
    - You CANNOT die from a spider bite from Swiss spiders.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Interlaken (Day 5) - Grindelwald

    August 23, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    What we did:
    - Slept in after a glorious nights sleep and wonderful to wake up in the mountains! Nice coffee in town before making the trek towards Grindelwald
    - Grindelwald was easier to get to from our old airbnb so a bit of extra train travel to get over there but oh well!
    - Walked through Grindelwald before taking the 25 minute gondola (super long but picturesque Mountain Views) up to the top of First Mountain.
    - Solid two hour round trip hike to lake Bachalpsee capped by the “First Cliff Walk”. Cliff walk is single file grated floor/glass railing walk over the valley floor. Trent did okay heights wise given the railings and how many tourists there were.
    - First day of the trip where we really saw a large group of Disney World-esque tourists that kind of took us out of it. Everywhere else shocked us by how uncrowded it was so we were bound to get this at some point. Not our favorite hike but still solid.
    - Had a nice pizza dinner back in Wengen with an awesome night cap at a patio bar with live music and views of the mountain/cobblestone streets. Great cap to the Jungfrau region!
    - Read in the hotel and called Mom/Helen to plan for Amalfi!

    What we ate:
    - Coop grocery breakfast bars and pretzel bun sandwiches (this place rocks).
    - Salad and pizza dinner at Ristorante de Sina. Sticking strong to no alcoholic drinks at dinner - thriving on the big bottles of sparkling water!

    Fun Facts:
    - For friends/family wanting to do this trip, we recommend the first two days stay in Grindelwald (do canyoning, the First hike and Panorama/Eigen trails) and then transfer to three days staying in Wengen/Lauterbrunnen area (paragliding, North Face walk. Murren/Gimmelwald)    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Interlaken (Day 6) & Zermatt (Day 1)

    August 24, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

    What we did:
    - Woke up in Wengen sad to leave the Jungfrau region, but pumped to keep moving! About four hours of trains to our final destination of Zermatt, so we cut the travel in half with an amazing pitstop in Kandersteg. - We put our luggage in a locker at the train station, grabbed a quick coffee at Schweizerhof bar looking up at the mountains and then took the gondola to the top of the mountain. We’re back in the land of greenish blue glacier lakes - Lake Oeschinensee is gorgeous.
    - We took a two hour hike around the lake before enjoying our lunch on a bench at the water's edge. There were a couple of Brits whining about the water temperature that temporarily scared us off from swimming. But before potential regret kicked in, Trent took the plunge and dove in. The Brits were right! It was freeeezing, but super refreshing to swim around and enjoy the Mountain views. Steph opted for warmth on shore and documenting Trent's swim with her camera.
    - We finished up our hike and trek down from the lake, grabbed some rather large beers in town (at Schweizerhof again) and continued the remaining two hours onto Zermatt. Exhausted from the last few days we grabbed take out dinner and watched some TV/read on the couch in our very nice Airbnb before an early bedtime. Daniel 🖕.
    - We were in love at first sight walking through the picturesque Zermatt ski town - might be back for winter ski season! We can tell this is what Vail and others have tried to emulate.

    What we ate:
    - To-go breakfast quiches coffee and pastries from Bakeri Konditorei. Also bought sandwiches there for lunch.
    - Trent’s 1st Euro Kebab at "Take It Doner" in Zermatt

    Fun Facts:
    - Zermatt is consistently voted #1 or #2 ski resort in Switzerland and always the top priced lift tickets    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Zermatt, Switzerland (Day 2)

    August 25, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    What we did:
    - Woke up and had a nice breakfast of breakfast bars and hard boiled eggs that we made the night before. We walked through town and took the Sonnegga cogwheel to the Sonnegga outlook. We hiked part of the "5 Lakes Trail" to get to lunch at Chez Vrony. We were intending to the whole 5 Lakes Trail but after reading some poor reviews of it we opted into just hanging on the mountain the rest of the day.
    - We planned the lunch at Chez Vrony a while back for Trent's birthday. The restaurant has a massive deck with umbrellas and lounges with great views of the Matterhorn. You can only get to the restaurant via hiking, biking, or skiing (in the winter). They gave us a free champagne toast to start for Trent’s birthday.
    - We were planning to do more hiking in the afternoon but Chez Vrony was advertising their sister bar/restaurant which happened to be only a 10 minute hike away with even better views. Needless to say we opted out of any further hikes and enjoyed some drinks and coffees at the sister bar, Paradise.
    - We took the cogwheel back down to Zermatt and picked up little things for dinner from the Coop since we were so full from lunch. We capped it off by watching Jack Ryan and going to bed early. It was a wonderful day full of good drinks, great weather, and views!

    What we ate:
    - hard boiled eggs and yogurt from Coop for breakfast
    - Chez Vrony - we ordered 2 glasses of white wine, a summer salad, Swiss rösti, risotto, and THE chez burger. All was absolutely delicious! They capped it all off with a chocolate cake for Trent’s birthday.
    - Sandwiches, salads from co-op for dinner.

    Fun facts:
    - Zermatt offers year round skiing.
    - We decided that Zermatt is our favorite ski town, even without being there during ski season! It seems that most US ski villages have tried to copy the Zermatt village, building structures, and vibes.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler
    1

    Zermatt, Switzerland (Day 3)

    August 26, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 59 °F

    What we did:
    - Great lazy day! Slept in and then headed up the 30 minute Gothard Bahn to the top of the mountain for some hiking. Well… started spitting rain and blowing really strong wind when we got to the top. The top is just shy of 12,000 feet and even in late August it was still covered in snow. Ever the adventures and trying to avoid regret, we set off down the mountain for a few hour hike questioning our life decisions - within 5 minutes we were scrambling back up to the station. Sideways rain at 12,000 feet of elevation with snow still in view was not our idea of vacation. Cool views and happy we tried, but down the mountain on the gondola we went, Grabbed an awesome lunch in town while it rained before just hanging in the airbnb for a few hours. Around 6 we headed out for a bar crawl! So much for not drinking on this trip. Over a few hours, three bars and many beers later we came back and crashed fairly early. Inches from giving in and getting McDonald’s we did show some self-restraint! Have to be proud of the little things.

    What we ate:
    - Hard-boiled eggs for breakfast
    - We split delicious Thai curry and rice bowl for lunch at Manud
    - Grocery store sandwhichs for dinner
    - Bar crawl to Hexenbar, Brown Cow and Grizzlys

    Fun facts:
    - Hangovers still exist
    - Steph needed a new hair clip so we popped into a “pharmacy” with some in the display case. She comes out in a panic, beyond phased, as the €.98 cents price tag was actually €98.00 Swiss franks… the lady wouldn’t let us return them so Steph’s now the proud owner of the nicest designer hair clip you’ll ever find 😂. Baffled yet slightly impressed at the Swiss’s ability to swindle us    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Lake Como, Italy (Days 1 & 2)

    August 28, 2023 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 59 °F

    What we did:
    - We spent two and a half days in Como and stayed in the town of Menaggio.
    - We got up really early from Zermatt on day 1 and took 4 trains, a taxi, and a bus to get us to Menaggio around 4pm. Since it was a Sunday most of the busses weren’t running when we reached Lugano, so Trent sweet talked our way onto a bus and we got to Menaggio at about 4pm after a nice scenic bus ride around Lake Lugano and Lake Como. It was quite cloudy that day so we walked around Menaggio and had dinner at Pizzeria Lugano.
    - We woke up the next day (Trent’s birthday - woohoo!) to some rain and had breakfast at the B&B with an older Dutch couple that was very friendly. We stopped at the pharmacy because Steph woke up with her eye swollen shut and got some allergy medicine. We headed to the ferry stop to make it to our 12:00pm lunch reservation for Trents birthday at Veranda dei Pescatore in Varenna. The rain was drenching and we were completely soaked (shoes, clothes, everything) by the end of our 10 minute walk to the restaurant. The restaurant applauded our determination and gave us free champagne and blankets while we tried to tough it out under the awning outside. We eventually moved inside and had a wonderful first Italian meal - great food and great wine! We headed back to Menaggio and hung around the town and had a very chill dinner at a cafe before heading back to the B&B.
    - On our last day in como we had planned to rent a boat for half the day but the wind made the lake too rough for us to go out. We ended up picking up snacks for a picnic and heading over to Bellagio on the ferry. Sat on a bench on the lake and ate our lunch made of amazing Italian meats and cheeses. Walked around Bellagio and got our first Italian gelato - so good! We then decided we hadn't seen enough of a Varenna the day before, so we took the ferry over to Varenna from Bellagio. We walked around the town and stumbled upon a great hotel bar with fantastic outdoor seating and views of the lake. Definitely the highlight of the day and we spent a few hours there. Took the ferry back to Menaggio at the end of the day and wrapped up Como at our favorite pizza joint - Pizzeria Lugano!

    What we ate:
    - Pizzeria Lugano: Diavola Pizza and Mushroom Pizza night 1. Diavola was the favorite! A calzone and bolognese pasta on night 3.
    - La Veranda Dei Pescatore: Burrata and tomatoes, meet and cheese plate, lake fish risotto, and mixed grilled fish. Great bottle of red wine: Viandante.
    - Gelateria del Borgo: Steph got lemon and strawberry and Trent got lemon, strawberry, and melon.
    - Hotel Royal Victoria: Olives, chips, pretzels, nuts, with a couple of Aperol Spritzes!
    - Cafe Central - a couple of paninis, a beer, and cappuccino for dinner night two since we were so full from Trent’s birthday lunch.
    - Picked up bread, salami, prosciutto, and some cheese for a picnic on the lake in Bellagio on day 2.

    Fun facts:
    - Steph is either allergic to Como or the detergent used at the B&B. We decided she looked like Will Smith in Hitch every time she woke up in Como with her eye shut.
    - There are two pharmacies in Italy, one with a green cross that sells medicine similar to what you would find at a Walgreens in the states, and one with a Red Cross that sells botanical/home remedy type medicine.
    - Steph and Trent are pleasantly surprised by prices in Italy! Scandinavia and Swiss prices have made them appreciate the Italian prices.
    - Italy doesn’t understand the concept of time lol. Nothing runs on time (ferries, trains, busses) and this has been very frustrating for us.
    - Steph now wants to recreate an Italian patio/pergola with trellises, lanterns, and a climbing tree/plant in our backyard after being at the Royal Victoria.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Sorrento, Italy

    August 30, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    What we did:
    - Early 5am wake up to meet our first visitors! Taxi to Milan airport and bus from Naples to Sorrento - bit of a battle against motion sickness on all the windy roads but we prevailed
    - Trent and Steph checked in first with Helen and Brian arriving soon after following their flight from Malta and tour of Pompeii. Once there, everyone enjoyed catching up on the balcony over Italian wine and Maltese chocolates!
    - The group wandered through the streets of Sorrento on the way to dinner. Pitstop along the way for Aperol Spritz overlooking the marina! Living the good life
    - Fun few hours of Italian dinner and wines down at the Marina as the moon came up over the ocean.
    - Buzzed up by a few hours of drinks we ended up in absolute candy/booze onslaught in this Lemoncello shop (Limono Fabbrica) recommended by Sara. The store girls kept producing an array of free Lemoncello shots with various forms of lemon candy as chasers and “No” was simply not an option. After 15 minutes and 5+ shots each we bought a bottle and stumbled our way out of the store. Absolutely delicious, but man our heads paid for it in the morning.

    What we ate:
    - Breakfast bars and stale Naples airport baggage claim sandwhiches
    - Great dinner at Bagni Delfino! Right on the marina edge, enjoyed two bottles of local white wine, Caprese/Calimari apps, and seafood risotos/seafood platters for dinner. Thank you Brian/Helen!!

    Fun facts:
    - Ryan air does indeed stink. Just treat you like flying cattle with surcharges for in flight-oxygen
    - Sorrento is the birthplace of Limoncello. Original family recipes date back to 1900, with an international commerciallizarion of the “lemoncello” name not formalized until 1990. Made of a simple recipe of lemon peels, sugar, alcohol and water, this stuff is sacred in the area. Endless rows of similar shops deal their own take on the recipe throughtout the area.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Capri, Italy

    August 31, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    What we did:
      - Nursing our limencello hangovers we caught our ferry from Sorrento to Capri.  25/30mph winds had the ferry rocking as we wedged ourselves into seats in the bowels of the boat, amongst hoards of eastern european cruise ship groups. Thankfully it was only 20 minutes, but swimming might have been preferable
    - Morale picked up as we hit land and evaded the crowds in the winding streets of Capri to a quieter coffee shop. Cappacinos and croissants are good for the soul
    - We took a bus along the cliff roads to Anacapri and then took a single person chair lift up to the top of the mountain to enjoy expansive views across Capri and the ocean. The combo of cliff roads, fearless bus drivers, maniac bikers and heights on the chairlift really put Helen’s fears and emotions through the ringer - big champ though!
    - After the chairlift we grabbed a quick bite to eat and walked on a tour/hike around the entirety of the island and enjoyed gorgeous views! Good call on finding the hike, Brian! Stopped at an amazing hotel balcony for drinks/apps overlooking the sea and just chilled out for a few hours. Away from the chaos of tourists by the ports, we finally understood the hype around Capri!
    - After walking around a bit longer we caught the ferry back to Sorrento, regrouped and enjoyed delicious pizzas at a local hotspot! Exhausted from the prior few days we called it a night after dinner.  Another great day!

    What we ate:
    - Eastern European tourist armpits
    - Coffee and cappuccinos at Caffe Manari
    - Good prosciutto and turkey sammies at a street takeaway place for lunch
    - Aperol Spritz and bruschetta/calamari apps at the five star hotel La Scalinatella
    - Delicious pizzas at the local Pizzeria da Franco, with the group trying four of the staples (salami, prosciutto, caprese and mozzarella/arugula). Voted best pizza place in Sorrento. Had to get pizza near the birthplace!

    Fun facts:
    - The group has decided Italy is a 2nd/3rd world country (sorry not sorry). Naples makes Mexico look glamorous and lots of outdated infrastructure/processes that leads to chaos everywhere. But man does the food and views make up for it!
    - Capri is only 4 square miles big, which puts Dupage county 90x bigger.  Despite that it sees 3 million tourists a year, with up to 20,000 arrivals a day in the summer. This island rakes cash $$$$
    - Trent wants (needs?) a yacht someday. Every badass accountant has a yacht- it’ll happen
     - Apparently celebs just park on their yachts all day and only come on land for dinner once the ferries shepard us peasant tourists back off the island.
    - Pizza was founded by poor people in Naples in the 1700/1800s!  Snippet from History.com - “These Neapolitans required inexpensive food that could be consumed quickly. Pizza—flatbreads with various toppings, eaten for any meal and sold by street vendors or informal restaurants—met this need. Judgmental Italian authors often called their eating habits ‘disgusting, Helstosky notes. These early pizzas consumed by Naples’ poor featured the tasty garnishes beloved today, such as tomatoes, cheese, oil, anchovies and garlic.”  
    - Arugula is called Rocket Lettuce in Italy. Brian has confirmed that he does not like “leaves on his pizza”    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler

    Amalfi & Ravello, Italy

    September 1, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    What we did:
    - Woke up to catch an 8:15am ferry. The ferry stop was at the bottom of lots of stairs so Trent pulled out his super human strength to carry all of our bags down multiple flights of stairs (go trent). UPDATE 11/1 - Brian carried his own bags. Grabbed takeaway breakfast and found a prime spot on the top of the ferry to see all of the views. Great weather as we passed Sorrento, Capri, Positano, and Praiano to get to Amalfi.
    - Once we arrived, we put our bags in temporary storage with a very nice Italian shop owner and hired a taxi to take us up to Ravello. Found a nice wine bar for lunch that we stuffed ourselves with wonderful italian dishes and wine! Walked around Ravello and visited Villa Ruffalo to walk through the estate's gardens. Found a great gelato spot for a quick afternoon snack before trekking down Ravello back to Amalfi.
    - The path was not well marked in the beginning but we found our way down the “gentle sloping path” per Brian’s description. However, majority of the hike was stairs and had our legs shaking at the end. It was fun to go through lemon orchards, grape trees, and lots of gardens and Italian yards throughout! When we reached the bottom we discovered Amalfi was celebrating some sort Byzantine holiday and we were unable to take the bus back to our Airbnb. We split a cab with another couple and checked into our wonderful Airbnb! Lots of good views and patios for us to hangout on.
    - Trent and Steph hiked up to the local market for some groceries and wine (from which we discovered we did not actually have a working wine opener) and hung out until dinner.
    - Found a local dining spot called GAS Bar, which ended up being a point of reference for all of our travels from there on out, and walked along the road 10 minutes to get to the bar (this really freaked out Helen and Brian). We had a quick dinner overlooking the Mediterranean at GAS bar and made the dangerous trek back up in the dark with our cell phone flashlights to warn passing cars of or presence (and which one of the locals mocked us for using our flashlights). Proceeded then to get locked out of our Airbnb due to a faulty lock and climb through the windows to finally go to bed for the day! Note: the door was fixed the next day and we could enter the premises through the front door for the rest of the stay!

    What we ate:
    - Sorrento ferry snacks: coffees, croissants, sandwiches
    - Babel wine bar bistro & art: Recommended red wine (a huge hit with the group! see picture), the special ham ravioli, the special lemon pasta, mixed salad with goat cheese, lemon, orange, and chestnut honey, and of course a caprese salad!
    - Baffone Gelateria Artigianale: lemon, strawberry, and coffee were some of the flavors chosen!
    - GAS bar: Pohlman’s all ordered spaghetti carbonara and Steph got lasagna.

    Fun facts:
    - Trent and Steph feel validated refusing to take on the trek of hiking up to Ravello after traversing the many stairs down from Ravello to Amalfi.
    - The donkey is symbol of luck and good fortune amongst the locals of the Amalfi coast.    Read more

  • Steph and Trent TravelEurope 2023Traveler
    1

    Amalfi, Italy (Day 2)

    September 2, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    What we did:
    - BOAT DAY! And the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Before the boat we stopped at a cafe and Steph/Helen got Affogatos to really start the day right. The group stumbled through a chaotic Italian grocery store to buy beers, Aperol mix, snacks, and ice for the boat. The cashier was playing the pirates of the caribbean theme song to really set the tone as we dodged old angry italian women.
    - Captain Sergio met us at the Amalfi port for our 10-5:30pm boat day. Once on board we started loading beers in the cooler and he goes “how long are you guys staying?!” He only drinks beer after playing futbol so I think we floored him a bit. Americans drinking habits > Italians.
    - Sergio was the man. He took us at a leisurely pace all up and down the shoreline from Amalfi to Maiori/Minori and down to Praiano/Positano so we really got to see the whole coast. He was great at giving fun facts and pointing out key landmarks along the way.
    - We stopped twice to swim and the group had a blast diving off the boat and exploring the beaches (once at Minori and the other outside of Positano). Crystal clear blueish/green water with so much salt you barely have to swim - glorious! And no sketchy ocean creatures to be seen
    - Halfway through we pulled up to a boat access only restaurant that was absolutely bumping. Great vibes as enjoyed our lunch. After Brian absolutely butchered the pronunciation of the Italian menu, the waiter had a blast messing with him the rest of the meal much to the groups amusement.
    - After the boat we picked up grocery store dinner (see below) again fighting the tides of angry italian women. We enjoyed a chill dinner on our patio rooftop watching the sunset/moon ride over the ocean.
    - Probably best day of the trip so far!

    What we ate:
    - Steph and Trent made coffee and scrambled eggs at the apartment
    - Affogato at Bar Francesce in Amalfi main square
    - Waterfront lunch at Ristorante da Teresa (Seafood pasta and local peach wine for all)
    - Grocery store prosciutto, salami, italian cheese and homemade caprese salad

    Fun facts:
    - Sophia Loren owns one of the biggest houses on the coast, which includes her own personal helipad. Steph/Trent had seen a helicopter go in there earlier in the week
    - The super yachts rent for around $160k a week…
    - Our captain Sergio is a lawyer, but that’s such a tough business here given the state of Italian economy that it’s far more lucrative to do boat tours. Amalfi boating > legal briefs    Read more

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