SLOVAKIA | Things to do in Bratislava

After a couple of days in Austria, we passed through Slovakia (the fourth country on our Europe trip), on the way to Czechia. Slovakia is a small landlocked country known for its stunning castles, folkloric traditions, and – surprisingly – cars!

Fun fact: Slovakia is the world’s largest producer of cars per capita with major automotive companies like Volkswagen, PSA (Peugeot and Citroën) and Jaguar operating in the country.  We didn’t spot any of those cars though, as the main historic center is pedestrianized, which made walking around very pleasant.

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AUSTRIA | Things to do in Vienna

Renowned for its natural landscapes, music, literature and art, Austria is a wonderful destination to visit in Europe. Austria was the third country we visited on our European tour earlier this year. After traveling around Rome and Venice in Italy, we crossed to Austria in Central Europe, which lies in the Eastern Alps. Most of us are familiar with some aspects of Austrian culture having grown up watching the classic 1965 film The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews. The real von Trapp family once lived in Salzburg and the movie was filmed mainly in and around the city.

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ITALY | Free things to do in Venice

Venice needs no introduction. The world-famous floating city in Italy has been featured in so many Hollywood films, TV shows, books, video games and modern media, that everyone knows what it looks like. Theme parks and malls around the world build artificial canals just to replicate the look and feel of Venice.

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ITALY | Where to stay on Lido Island near Venice: Albergo Quattro Fontane

While in Venice, we got to stay in a historic hotel on Lido de Venezia or Lido Island, which hosts the Venice Film Festival every year. The 1st Venice Film Festival took place on Lido Island in August 1932. The 81st film festival is happening from August to September 2024, with stars congregating at “Palazzo del Cinema,” a 1937-era theater just five minutes away from the hotel we stayed in.

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ITALY | A taste of ‘La Dolce Vita’ in the Tuscan countryside

After a full week of sightseeing in Italy’s capital city Rome and Vatican City ticking off all the big-name attractions for first-timers and biking along Rome’s ancient Roman roads, we got a taste of “La Dolce Vita” (the sweet life) in the Tuscan countryside near Florence on our way to Venice.

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Travel Highlights: Our 27-day Europe trip

Traveling to Europe has always been on our travel bucket list. We originally hoped to go on a European tour in May 2020 for our 10th wedding anniversary, but we all know what happened that year. In the past few years, I’ve realized that life is short and we should take the time to travel and enjoy life while we can. Fast forward four years later, and the dream came true when we finally went on our first-ever trip to Europe to 10 countries for almost a month in June 2024.

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