30 Countries in 30 Years, Part II
aka: a recap of countries 9-18
Hello, sweet friends! Happy almost-Friday! How are you keeping? I know Thursday is an awfully unusual time for me to be hitting your inboxes, but sometimes needs must! The countdown to my birthday is well and truly FLYING by, and I have two more posts to share with you before that can happen - oopsie daisy! In case you missed it, at the start of the week, I shared perhaps my most epic blog post to date: 30 Countries in 30 Years, Part I. It was the first post in a 3-part series that involves me doing a deep-dive-slash-recap of my past travels. Today’s post, as you might’ve guessed from the title, is a continuation of the series, with hopefully the third and final post following before the end of the weekend.
Okay, ready to dive in again? You know the drill: countries 9-18 listed below, followed by a fun explanatory paragraph on each country/city, with some extra cheesy young photos for added hilarity.
Enjoy!
country #9: italy
rome
2011, 2013
Ahh, Italy – where to begin? My love affair with all things Italy started in Rome in 2011. I was just 17 then, and four friends and I went to the Italian capital as our 6th Year holiday. It was my first trip away without my parents or a teacher or any semblance of a grown-up, and honestly, it changed my life forever. We jam-packed the trip to the brim: Colosseum, Forum, Pantheon (my fave, in case you were wondering), Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Mouth of God, Palatine Hill, Piazza Navona, cycle-bussing around the Villa Borghese Gardens, and trekking out to Ponte Milvio. All of the above, as well as eating all the pizza/pasta/gelato I could lay my hands on, definitely kick-started my deep seeded Italy addiction. Since that first summer, I’ve returned to Rome only once – in 2013 with my then-boyfriend – and while it may no longer be my favourite Italian city, it holds a very special place in my heart.
milan // lake maggiore
twice in 2013, 2014
My ex-boyfriend’s father used to live in a small town named Sesto Calende, not far away from Milan. Each of the three times we visited him, we used it as an excuse to explore other nearby areas: Milan, Lake Maggiore’s Stresa, and a town over the border to Switzerland, the name of which escapes me. Milan didn’t really do anything for me; I found it to be crowded and vain, the only aspect of the city I actually enjoyed was getting to see da Vinci’s The Last Supper in the flesh, an almost spiritual experience for the art history graduate in me. Stresa was picturesque and nice, but mostly filled with older English couples. The Swiss town, whatever it was called, was gorgeous! My ex’s family all went skiing, which meant I got to wander around the most beautiful snowy picture-perfect winter-scape ever, enjoying hot chocolates and cozy treats.
florence // fiesole // pisa
2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, twice in 2022 // 2018 // 2022
Florence ever-so-slightly nabs the title of my absolute favourite city in Italy. On my first sweaty visit to the city in the summer of 2013, I literally felt my hooks of allegiance to Rome come out and sink firmly into Florence instead, where they have remained ever since. I’m obsessed with every thing about the city, but it’s the combination of world-class art and fantastic food that keeps me coming back year after year. I’ve honestly devoured some of the best meals of my life in Florence - all of my favourite meals listed here - and I can’t imagine a time where I don’t have to be dragged away from gawping open-mouthed at my favourite sculpture. Although I find it hard to leave the city when we’re there, Husband and I once took a daytrip to the hilltop suburb of Fiesole, where we ambled around for a couple hours before heading back down to the city for mealtime. Another time, because we were flying into/out of Pisa, we sacrificed a day of Florentine eating to go explore the city of the Leaning Tower. Our planned 5-hour exploration around Pisa actually turned into a casual 48-hour one due to snow & flight cancellation, but we ended up falling totally in love with the city; it’s such an underrated gem!
Read more: Italian Adventures Part I: Florence // An Ode to Florence // Festive Florence in December // Three Days in Florence // Two Unexpected Yet Wonderful Days in Pisa
venice // burano // verona
2015
My final trip of the year in 2015 was to Venice with one of my then-colleagues. We stayed in a somewhat dumpy - although wonderfully located! - Airbnb, got lost every single day, and tried our first ever Aperol Spritz – it was love at first sip! Tourist-wise: we climbed up the Campanile at exactly the right time to hear the bells go off, admired the Bridge of Sighs, and visited the Guggenheim. We also ventured out of the city twice: via ferry to Burano which, while colourful and pretty, didn’t have much else going for it; and also via train to Verona, where we visited Juliet’s Balcony and wandered the market.
bologna // siena
2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 // 2016, 2019
Bologna and Siena – where to begin? Husband & I visited both cities together in early summer 2016, Bologna alone in 2018, both again in early autumn 2019, and Bologna alone again in both 2022, when Husband proposed(!), and in 2023, on our mini-moon ❤️ We adore everything about the two cities. The architecture, the food, the culture, the food, the people, the food. We’ve tourist-ed to the best of our ability in both places, but it’s the food scene that keeps us returning again and again. Visiting Bologna would be unfathomable without a picnic lunch in Osteria del Sole, followed by a dinner of ragù or gramigna alla salsiccia. Likewise, a trip to Siena without dining in Taverna di San Giuseppe would be simply out of the question - we actually considered having our wedding there!
Read more: Our Engagement in Bologna, Italy // Bologna, A Love Letter // Italian Adventures Part II: Bologna // 72 Hours in Bologna, the Emilia-Romagna Capital // Three Days in Bologna // A Quick Guide to Siena, Italy
san gimignano // castellina in chianti
2019
The summer of 2019 was the first time Fiancé & I ventured further into Tuscany together. We started in Florence, bussed to Siena, made a pit-stop in San Gimignano, rested in Castellina in Chianti, and finally left the region for Bologna; it was the perfect Italian trip. My San Gimignano memory highlight reel includes: spending the night to avoid day-trippers, watching the sunrise over the Tuscan hillside, and eating a) amazing pizza by the slice & b) world-champion gelato. As for Castellina, the overwhelming highlight was the sheer joy of unwinding by the pool in Tuscany, without a care in the world. Well, that - and the food. We ate some truly amazing meals in Castellina – Ristorante Albergaccio di Castellina in particular – which was a rather pleasant surprise!
Read more: 24 Hours in San Gimignano // Castellina in Chianti | A Guide to Tuscany’s Most Overlooked Village
ravello // amalfi // positano // naples
2021
September 2021 saw us finally leave the country for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic! We were invited to a wedding in Ravello, and basically used that as an excuse to explore a part of Italy I’d never before visited. We spent four nights in Ravello, two nights in Amalfi - with a day-trip to Positano! - , and one night in Naples; Ravello was by far my favourite. My top memory from the whole trip was when Husband & I splurged on fancy cocktails in a 5-star hotel in Ravello; we were sitting out on the terrace, overlooking the beautiful view, when suddenly a crazy thunderstorm started rolling in; it was incredible! Other memories include: hiking to Amalfi and literally dripping sweat, Husband braving his sea-sickness for me to see Positano by ferry, and the bucket-list pizza of my Julia Roberts dreams in Naples.
Read more: Ravello Travel Guide // Two Days in Amalfi & Positano // One Night in Naples
san donato in poggio
2022
Never not looking for an excuse to visit Italy, when Husband’s mom suggested we all go to Tuscany to celebrate her 70th in summer ‘22, we hopped right on board! After spending a few days in Florence alone, we traveled with Husband’s family to San Donato in Poggio, a miniscule town in the Tuscan hills. His parents very graciously rented apartments for everyone, and we spent an entire week relaxing, eating, drinking, and chilling by the pool. Or at least, I did that – poor Husband contracted Covid-19 while we were there and had to spend many days staring out the window during his isolation period. Not to worry, his illness didn’t stop me from going out for fancy-pants lunches alone 😉
Read more: A Week in San Donato in Poggio, Tuscany
ravenna // modena
2023
Our love of Italy well and truly OBVIOUS by this stage, it was only natural that we wanted to return to the country after our wedding for our mini-moon. We spent a slow week eating, unwinding, and lightly tourist-ing our way around, having touched down in the country just 3-days after our celebrations ended. We started in Bologna, naturally, before moving on to the smaller cities of Ravenna and Modena. Husband had been to Ravenna before, so he was able to act as my de facto tour-guide around the intricately mosaic-ed city, but Modena was new to us both - and boy were we surprised! Oh my god, the food!! I don’t know what took us so long to visit seeing as it is literally world famous for its produce - parmesan! prosciutto! gnocco fritto! balsamic! - but oof, we loved it so much!
Read more: Two Days in Ravenna // Two Days in Modena
country #10: vatican city
vatican city
2011, 2013
Not only is Vatican City the smallest country in Europe, it’s also the smallest country in the world! Mind-boggling! I visited Vatican City both of the times I visited Rome, first in 2011 and then again in 2013. There are three main attractions: the Vatican Museums, St. Peter’s Basilica, and visiting il Papa on Sunday mornings; all of which I’ve done. I will never forget the overwhelming feeling of insignificance upon walking into St. Peter’s the first time, or what it felt like to see Michelangelo’s Pieta up close: totally awe-inspiring. It amazes me how many people walk straight past the sculpture without ever noticing it; it is so beautiful!
country #11: croatia
split // hvar // zagreb
2012, 2013 // 2012 // 2012
Croatia was the first new-to-me country of my summer 2012 inter-railing trip with my ex-boyfriend. From the moment we arrived in our central little hostel, where the old lady owner promptly informed me “you white like snow lady!”, I knew I loved it. Our days were spent merrily: climbing Marjan Hill, exploring Diocletian’s Palace, and eating all the market fruits, pizza slices, & ice-creams we could lay our hands on. We also spent one day exploring the nearby island of Hvar, which neither of us loved; we accidentally got stranded in the miniscule town of Stari Grad for hours before making it to Hvar, the highlight of which was the Fortress. From Split, we took a 9-hour overnight train to Zagreb, and immediately fell for the city. The old town, St. Mark’s Church, Mirogoj Cemetery, two free visits to great galleries – Mimara Museum & the Strossmayer – , and a life-changing first ever taste of risotto; I loved it all. I also returned to Split for one day the following May, and remained enamored by it.
zadar
2013
Oof, Zadar! Itching to get back to Croatia since falling head-over-heels for it the year before, I visited Zadar in May 2013 with my ex-partner. I have fond memories of sun-drenched days getting lost in the winding little streets, eating strawberries down by the Sea Organ and peaches up by the old city gate, watching the Monument to the Sun change colours at sunset, devouring a serious amount of pizza, and taking a bus to Split for one day. However, I also have some not so fond memories of getting not one, but two!, mosquito bites on my face. I’ve been dipped in DEET ever since.
country #12: hungary
budapest
2012
Hungary was the second new-to-me country during my inter-railing trip with my ex-boyfriend, and I recall we were both rather impressed. My overarching memory of the city was how muggy it was; it was either gloriously sunny or thunderously rain storming on every single day of our trip, but either way it was damp, you know? So sticky! Other sweaty memories include: the taxing climb up Gellért Hill, the view of the Parliament Building from Fisherman’s Bastion, feeling so miniscule outside St Stephen’s Basilica (which we reckoned was at least x50 times my height), devouring bowls of goulash & pints of beer for less than €3, crazy tall swirly ice-cream, getting stuck in an absolute downpour at Hero’s Square, and visiting the old communist statues at Memento Park. The art history nerd in me always wins out!
country #13: slovakia
bratislava
2012, 2017
From Hungary we moved on to Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava. Not to be mean to the city, but I’m just gonna say it: we weren’t expecting too much from Bratislava, and we weren’t wrong. We only spent about 10-hours in town before catching a night train to our next destination below - but even that felt like too much time. While the Old Town is nice - although, my journal from the day actually says “nice-ish”? -, the outer environs, aka the train station area, were definitely not nice. We spent our day doing two tourist things: climbing up to Bratislava Castle - which I recall being horrifically steep, sweaty, and leg-killing - and tracking down the statues dotted around town. Tourist attractions done, we ate a traditional Slovakian meal, stopped for ice-cream, and went back to the train station hours early out of boredom… Years later, when I flew into the country with Husband to visit a nearby city in a different country, it’s no real surprise that we hightailed it straight out of there without a second thought. Sorry, Slovakia, you’re just not for me.
country #14: poland
kraków
2012
Stepping off our overnight train from Bratislava to Kraków - which, btw, we both had amazingly comfortable couchette seats on! - my ex-boyfriend & I instantly fell head-over-heels for the city! I wasn’t prepared for the prettiness of the place, but gosh it’s stunning. I have so many happy memories from Kraków - it actually ended up being one of my favourite places we visited on the trip! We did two free walking tours to really get the lay of the land - one of the Old Town + Wawel Hill, and one of Kazimierz, the Jewish quarter - , ate countless pierogi, found the 24-hour café-cum-bar of our book loving dreams, marveled at the over-the-top beauty of St. Mary’s Basilica, and devoured many a kebab & zapiekanka. I loved it all! We also took a trip out to Auschwitz-Birkenau for the day, which was exactly as harrowing as you’d expect.
country #15: czech republic
prague
2012
I’ll admit, Prague and me got off to a bad start. My ex-boyfriend & I arrived late in the day off the train from Kraków, and the hostel we were staying in was literally the pits: a musty damp old basement, no windows, no locks in the bathroom, and it was in the red light district! We checked out after 1 awful night and found somewhere else, but honestly I think that experience tainted the city for me. We did all the usual touristy things - explore the Old Town, watch the Astronomical Clock chime, Charles Bridge, Petřín Hill, etc. - but my favourite was the Lennon Wall, where we left our graffiti mark on the city. Overall, my favourite thing about Prague was actually, in a not-surprising-at-all total turn of events, food related. They make these delightful pastries named trdelník - think: gorgeous, swirled cinnamon sugar doused, flaky pastry - that were addictively moreish.
country #16: austria
salzburg
2012
Austria was the last new-to-me country of my 2012 inter-railing trip with my ex-boyfriend. We were staying with my relatives just outside Munich, and decided to take a train to Salzburg for the day before heading home. We wandered the gardens of Schloss Mirabell, ate a lot of Mozartkugeln, and lost faith in humanity upon seeing that ‘Mozart’s birthplace’ now has a large Spar on the ground floor. Honestly, we didn’t love the city and ended up getting the train home a few hours early. Which, actually, leads me to one of the things I remember most about Salzburg: my first ever 2-storey train! Yes, of course we sat upstairs, and yes, the views of the Alps were marvelous.
vienna
2017
December 2017 saw Husband & I visit our first European Christmas market together in Vienna. It was freezing, but so magical and worth it; let’s face it, the market snacks and glühwein alone made it worth it 😉 Other than the markets: we ate schnitzel bigger than our heads, wandered the boulevards in awe of how beautiful everything was, were entirely underwhelmed by the city’s famous chocolate cake, and visited the Belvedere Gallery to see Klimt’s iconic The Kiss. It is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular pieces of art I’ve ever seen in person.
Read more: Vienna in December
country #17: belgium
bruges
2012
Being the eternally frugal soul that I am, it was no surprise that my ex-boyfriend & I came in under-budget on our Inter-railing trip. This resulted in us, along with three of our friends, being able to visit Bruges at the end of the same summer. I have no idea why we chose to visit Belgium, but I suspect that it had something to do with cheap flights & In Bruges. My overarching memory of Bruges is the mouthwatering smell of chocolate in the air at all times – no, really! Other memories include: seeing Jesus’ congealed blood in the Basilica of the Holy Blood, climbing up the Belfry, boating along the canals, eating waffles drenched with speculoos, and being mildly disturbed at the XPO Salvador Dalí exhibition.
country #18: scotland
edinburgh
2012, 2017
In December 2012, my ex-boyfriend & I travelled to Edinburgh for one day to see the Christmas markets. We flew in on the first flight, lightly tourist-ed & explored the markets, attempted to stay warm by loitering inside the Scottish National Gallery, and then flew home on the last flight the same night. The trip was fine, but, perhaps because of the cold, Edinburgh didn’t really get its hooks into me until I returned in July 2017 with Husband. We spent a weekend in the city celebrating our two year anniversary and had the very best time! There was food aplenty, a light smattering of touristy behavior, some wonderful wine bars/pubs, and a whole big cheesy load of happy couple moments. #sorrynotsorry
Read more: Eating and Drinking in Edinburgh, Scotland
And there we have it: 30 Countries in 30 Years, Part II! What did you think? Have you been to any of countries 9-18? I gotta say, I’m loving writing these posts! It’s so fun getting to relive some of my pre-travel-guide-writing trips! I hope you’re enjoying reading along too - hit me up with any thoughts, comments, or questions using this box below!
Keep your eyes peeled for Part III, coming this weekend!
Hugs,
Vicki xo
related posts
30 Countries in 30 Years, Part I