Switzerland & Eastern Europe 2019

7/1/19 Travel Day

The day you leave for a big trip is always full of running around and excitement for the impending journey. After all these years of traveling, this day just seems like any other. As usual we lock up the house, pack the car and drive off to Dulles Airport where we check in and then hang out in the lounge until it’s time to board. My excitement for the trip didn’t fully manifest until we were waiting in line to board and I had my boarding pass in one hand and Washington Black by Esi Edugyan in the other. I always love this part of traveling, because I don’t know what’s in store for the trip yet and I’m actually excited for a 6 hour flight instead of dreading it. We flew into Frankfurt and then took a connecting flight to Zurich, from where we drove to Lucerne, the first stop of our 10 day trip.

7/2/19 Lucerne, Switzerland

The drive from Zurich to Lucerne was gorgeous! We were surrounded by greenery and mountains on all sides and it gave us a glimpse into what our two days in Switzerland would be like. Although I’ve been to many mountainous regions from Ladakh to Costa Rica to Mont Blanc and more, I still stared in awe at the beauty of the majestic Swiss Alps. Along the way we saw cows and cute little Swiss houses made from wood and decorated with flowers on the windowsills. Last time I came to Lucerne, I was 3 months old. That trip was my first one ever and since then I’ve been passionate about traveling the world. This time we stayed in the same hotel that my parents stayed in 18 years ago, because the views from the rooms were one of the best in Lucerne. Across the lake we could see the clouds blanketed over the peaks of the mountains, the green trees competing for space with the up and coming apartment buildings and hotels, and the seagulls gliding through the air looking for food and a place to nest. After catching up on some much needed sleep, we ventured into the center of Lucerne to explore and to see the picturesque Spreuer Bridge. For dinner, we decided to finally eat raclettes, because despite coming to Switzerland a couple times, we’ve never gotten the chance to try this classic Swiss dish. All I’m going to say is that the wait was totally worth it. Not only was it a unique and fun experience, but the raclettes were absolutely delicious. The cheese was warm and creamy and it paired well with the pickles, potatoes and fresh bread. In order to walk off the heavy meal, we walked all the way back to the hotel from the city center. I highly recommend doing so because our evening walk along lake was one of my favorite experiences in Lucerne. It was peaceful, serene and a good workout.

7/3/19 Interlaken, Switzerland

We started the next morning with one of the most luxurious breakfast spreads I’ve ever laid eyes on. There were smoked salmon rolls, fresh ham, rosemary potatoes, fresh breads and pastries and orange juice with a hint of lavender. After breakfast, we drove for an hour and a half to Interlaken, a very famous Swiss city, especially if you’re an avid Bollywood fan. Unfortunately, Interlaken and Jungfrau are both extremely touristy places so if that’s not your thing I would avoid them, because to be honest, the sights were not worth the amount of money we paid. However it is important to note that Jungfrau is highest point in Europe, so that’s why people come in busloads to see it.

We took the train all the way from Interlaken to Jungfrau, about a two hour journey, and it was quite the experience. Yes the nature and mountains and little Swiss homes were absolutely stunning, but on one of the connecting trains, I was told to go back to my own country. Never in my 18 years of living in the US or traveling around the world has anyone behaved with me in the way that the old couple on this train did. There was a huge crowd of people waiting to board the tiny train and my dad somehow got ahead of my mom and I, so he was able to save three seats for us. However upon seeing this elderly white couple, he gave up two of the three seats for them and gave me the third so I could sit down with the three backpacks while my parents stood like the rest of the people who weren’t able to get seats. Within three minutes of sitting down, the elderly couple (to whom we had given up our two seats) started yelling at me to give up my seat for another woman so she could sit next to her husband (who was sitting next to me). While I explaining why I wasn’t going to do so, they started making blah blah signs (or whatever you call them) with their hands, calling me a bad girl and then proceeding to tell me to go back to my own country (except I could sense the shock when I told them I was born and raised as an American). Before I knew it, the two of them were yelling at me and I was yelling back at them for targeting me instead of the 15-20 other people sitting down in the train. It was a wild experience and I’ve never had an encounter like this in my life. Looking back now it’s all kind of funny, because of how childish the two seniors were acting. But what’s not funny is how racism continues to run rampant across the world and how xenophobia is still a real issue that not only the US but other countries have to deal with too.

Other than the racist encounter, my parents and I had a fun time running from one connecting train to another, seeing the ice palace at Jungfrau, eating spicy ramen noodles from one of the microwaveable cups at the highest point in Europe, and trying to avoid getting soaked in the rain. All in all we had a great time and I wouldn’t change anything about the trip.

7/4/19 to 7/5/19 Ljubljana, Slovenia

I can say with great confidence that Slovenia is one of my favorite countries. Ljubljana is the perfect quaint, little European city with lots of outdoor seating, a canal that runs through the city center and even a small park. At night all the restaurants turn into bars and everyone is out and about until midnight. It’s so lively and bustling with energy, which was not at all what we expected, but I have to say it was a pleasant surprise. During our first night, we explored the various Ulicas and Cestas and ate one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had at a restaurant called Ljubljanski Dvor. My mother and I even indulged in a bit of shopping at Zara and H&M and then we grabbed a light dinner, after which we continued to roam around the city. The area that our apartment was in was walking distance from all the action, which was perfect because we really got to know the city.

The next day we had a traditional Slovenian breakfast with eggs, ham, breads, and coffee and we drove to the countryside to see the more quiet and traditional parts of Slovenia. Our first stop was Port Piran, which sits on the border of Italy. As soon as we drove into the area, Italian influence in the architecture, the cars and the people’s accents stood out to us. It was almost as if we were in Venice itself. The port was filled with European tourists swimming in the refreshingly cool Adriatic Sea and sun bathing in the 90 degree heat. After a delicious Italian lunch of fresh squid, pesto pasta and risotto, we began driving to Stanjel. However, within an hour, the driving signs changed from Slovenian to Italian and we realized that our GPS had led us across the Italian border! All of us were shocked and extremely excited, because we never expected to come to Italy on this trip. We decided to take full advantage of this by taking a quick detour into a small Italian town called Opicina, where we stopped to get gelato, fresh fruit and pasta. No one there spoke English, so I tried my best to piece together my knowledge of latin vocabulary words and the French language to converse with the locals. Hearing the locals speak Italian felt so nice, it was as if we had gone back in time or come to an alternate universe where we were the only tourists or foreigners in the area and everyone else was a local going about their daily life.

After our mini Italian excursion, we continued to Stanjel, one of the oldest Slovenian towns. It was such a quiet and peaceful place, with almost no one in sight. It almost felt deserted, as if we were the only souls in the entire village. Upon seeing multiple fig trees my mother finally caved and plucked a couple (her favorite thing to do on vacations is to pluck fresh fruit from various countries). They were so sweet and juicy and tasted exceptionally fresh! Finally by 8pm, we went back to Ljubljana, where we took part in the energetic night life. We went back to the pizza place and this time tried their Slovenian Klobasa sausage and spaghetti and then we went bar hopping until about 1am. It was a very different experience, because the bars in Europe are nothing like those in the US. First of all, everyone sits outside, no one is on their phone or drunk out of their mind, and everyone is simply socializing or enjoying a drink with their friends without being rowdy or disrespectful. People of all ages were enjoying the beautiful evening weather and the Slovenian night life. I was definitely not ready to leave this place!

7/6/19 to 7/7/19 Plitvice, Croatia

The drive from Ljubljana to Plitvice took about 4 hours, but I would recommend taking the scenic route because it will take you through the villages and towns along the way and allow you to see what local life is like from Slovenia to Croatia. Plitvice is an extremely small town in the middle of the Croatian mountains with only bed and breakfast hotels and little restaurants and cafes, since the main attraction here is the Plitvice National Park with the famous waterfalls.

I love waking up early at a bed and breakfast in the European mountains, because the air is crisp, the birds are chirping, and the smell freshly ground coffee wafts through the hotel. We fueled ourselves with a nice homemade breakfast and drove to the national park to see the renowned Plitvice waterfalls. The hike was actually really fun, but less of a hike and more of a stroll, because the park had a wooden walkway that wraps around the entire park, bringing guests as close to the waterfalls as possible. It was an absolutely gorgeous sight and I have never seen water so blue! It felt as though we had jumped right into a National Geographic Magazine page or ended up on another planet. Although it was quite hot and I was slowly melting from the heat, the views were totally worth it. Despite the large number of tourists, it was still so serene in the park. At times we’d just sit on a bench and watch the waterfalls in silence, taking in all the beauty while my mother would sometimes throw a couple insults at Donald Trump for ignoring climate change and allowing the beauties of the world to slowly fade away. All in all, it was one of my favorite parts of this entire trip and I would highly recommend coming here. The hike was about 6-7 miles and when we finally got back to the hotel all of us crashed from heat exhaustion.

7/8/19 Dubrovnik, Croatia & Hercegovacko-Neretvanski, Bosnia and Hercegovina

The drive from Plitvice to Dubrovnik was very scenic, but also quite long which is why we decided to take a break in the Roman city of Split. It’s a huge Croatian city with a cruise port and lots of high rises, so we should have guessed that it would be way too touristy. The place was packed with tourists, people in their swimsuits and with nice golden brown tans, and lots of fruit stands. It was a blistering hot day so we quickly ate a mediocre lunch, and headed to Dubrovnik. However on the way, we reached a passport check, because apparently, we had to cross the Croatia and Bosnia border to get to Dubrovnik. All of us were super excited and thrilled, because we never thought that we would come to Bosnia and Herzegovina and now we were driving along it’s coast. We decided to take a quick detour so we could document our adventure with our typical family selfie and then we went back to our route to Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik is a very beautiful place that reminded me of a mix of Italy and Greece. We got to the hotel and had initially decided to just chill at the beach, but after falling all over the pebbles and running out of the water because it was too cold, we instead headed to the old town to explore and eat dinner. Although there were way too many tourists there, it was a gorgeous setting. There were multiple rows of alleys filled with restaurants and shops and people walking around with ice creams in their hands to cool down in the intense evening heat. The entire place was lit up and radiating with energy. I still liked Ljubljana more because it felt less like a tourist destination and more like a local European city, but Dubrovnik was still a fun experience. My parents and I shared a delicious meal of fresh baked olive bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, truffle pasta, and a seafood Buzara which is a mixed seafood stew. We washed everything down with a bottle of local red wine and then headed back to the hotel so we could save the rest of old town for the next day.

7/9/19 Dubrovnik, Croatia & Herceg-Novi, Montenegro

To be honest, there wasn’t much to do in Dubrovnik, so we didn’t need more than one day to see the old town. All the shops and restaurants in the old town were catered towards the tourists so it didn’t feel as authentic as one might hope, but it was still a beautiful place and a must see. We drove up to a look out point from where we could take postcard-esque pictures of Dubrovnik. It literally felt like I was looking at a picture and not the real thing, the view of the city was just stunning. We headed back down to the old town and walked around in the extreme heat for a couple hours, taking in the town’s unique character and architecture. Once we felt like we had seen everything we wanted to see, we decided to be a little adventurous and drive to Herceg Novi in Montenegro, because the border was only about 10 to 15 minutes from our hotel. But first we had to hike all the way up from the old town to where our car was parked. This was definitely one of the hardest hikes I’ve done, because of the number of stairs and the sweltering heat. When I say I was dripping in sweat, I mean actual sweat droplets were falling from my face, my arms, and my legs. When we finally got to the car we blasted the AC and headed to Herceg Novi. The drive there was one of the most beautiful drives we’ve done and it reminded me of our drive form Athens to Delphi in 2012. I would highly recommend visiting Montenegro if you come to Dubrovnik. Herceg Novi was a little like the old town of Dubrovnik but with way fewer people and a lot more stray cats. We seemed to be the only tourists among all the locals, but we loved the calm vibes of Herceg Novi. Instead of going back to Dubrovnik for dinner, we had a beautiful meal in Montenegro which included the local rosé, fresh grilled octopus, risotto, and bruschetta. This was definitely the best meal that we had on the trip. Ive never had such a perfectly cooked and grilled octopus and such tasty bruschetta. My favorite thing about Europe is that all the countries are so small and close to each other that it’s very easy to drive to another country for dinner. When we got back to Dubrovnik, we took a little night stroll by the beach and then walked to the mall where we bought a couple clothes right as the stores were closing. However we completely forgot to bring our umbrellas so we had to walk back to the hotel in the pouring rain. We were soaked by the time we made it back but it was a fun way to end our Croatia trip. Now onto Prague, our last stop!

7/10/19 to 7/11/19 Prague, Czech Republic

By the the time we reached Prague, it was about 5pm so we decided to wander the city and to shop. As soon as we stepped into the city, I immediately felt like I was in New York or London. The architecture was very similar to London, but the vibes were very New York. Prague is a gorgeous city with a mix of French, Italian and modern architecture and a river running between the city. We hit up Zara and a couple local malls, because we love shopping in Europe, since the clothes here are so different compared to the US and the styles are more unique and chic. After a couple hours of shopping, we grabbed dinner at one of the top rated restaurants on Trip Advisor, which turned out to be an Indian restaurant. I’ll be honest, I had super low expectations going there, but their food was actually very good and it felt so nice to eat something spicy and flavorful after eating pasta and pizza and grilled meats for the past week. We finished dinner by 10:30pm, but wanted to continue exploring Prague so we walked into the old town and across Charles Bridge. It was a pleasant evening with a light breeze, but it felt nice to be in a colder place after the 90 degree heat of Croatia.

The next day we walked all the way to Prague castle from the hotel and then walked across Charles Bridge again into the old town. There actually wasn’t much to see at Prague castle, especially if you don’t buy the all-inclusive tickets, but there was a breathtaking cathedral with some of the most intricate and beautiful stained glass windows I’ve ever seen. Right outside the church, there were vendors selling traditional Czech food of meat and potatoes and beer so we decided to try some before walking into the old town again. The old town of Prague was a lot like the old town of Dubrovnik where most of the stores and restaurants were catered towards tourists so I would recommend grabbing food outside of the old town, because it’ll be cheaper and tastier. We did however, try a traditional Czech dessert called Trdelnik or chimney cake, which is dough that’s cooked on a spindle and then covered in sugar and cinnamon and filled with either whip cream or ice cream. I expected it to be sweet and heavy, but it was actually quite light and airy! We only got one, but we definitely wanted more. While walking across the bridge we saw an open air market and went to check it out. It reminded me of the ones in New York, where the vendors sell wine, cheese and breads, beer, and meats. I tried a lavender wine, which was a lot like a sparkling rosé with a slight lavender aroma, but we wanted to save space for some Asian food, which apparently is really good in Prague. One of our Uber drivers told us about how the Vietnamese came here as a working class and now own many restaurants and shops in Prague. Let me just say that the Pho I had in Prague was one of the best I’ve ever had! We were so full after our late lunch that we went back to the hotel and let the food digest before heading back out again. We basically just kept walking around the city and checking out the shops. In the night we grabbed a drink together in the old town and watched the tourists until midnight before heading back to pack up. I really enjoyed Prague because it reminded me of my two favorite cities and the food was some of the best we’ve had on this trip.

7/12/19 Travel Day

I couldn’t believe how quickly the trip ended. It felt like just yesterday we were on the flight to Frankfurt from DC and super excited about Eastern Europe. Everything went by so fast, but my parents and I made a ton of lasting memories together, ate way too much gelato and fries, enjoyed the local wines and beers, and walked miles and miles in every city and town we visited! Each place had it’s own story and character and I know for sure that I’ll be heading back to Ljubljana in the near future. But part of me also missed home a little while we were on this trip. Usually I’m not ready to come home from vacation, but this summer was a little different because in a month I’d be going to college. I wanted to visit all my favorite places and see my friends one last time before everything changed and before we would grow up and get jobs and travel on our own for internships and study abroad programs. But I’m glad I have the memories and pictures from this trip to take to college and cherish forever!