June 2018 Travel Roundup

June was an exceptionally busy month, it seemed! We somehow squeezed six countries into our 30 days! It was full of outdoor adventures, a perfect anniversary celebration and beautiful city explorations as well. Here’s a small glimpse of what we got ourselves into over the last 30 days.

JUNE 2018 TRAVEL ROUNDUP

PLACES VISITED

⋙ ICELAND: Reykjavik, Akureyri, Eglisstadir, Höfn, Vik and Flúdir

⋙ FAROE ISLANDS

⋙ DENMARK: Copenhagen

⋙ GERMANY: Wiesbaden, Trier, Mainz, Cologne, Heidelberg and Dresden

⋙ LUXEMBOURG: Luxembourg City

⋙ CZECH REPBULIC: Prague

TRAVEL HIGHLIGHTS

DRIVING THE RING ROAD: Matt and I took an incredible road trip all around the island country of Iceland. It was so wonderful and full of waterfalls, geothermal activity, beaches, fjords and a million adventures in between. I’m so glad that we got to experience this together.

 

HAVING AN AMAZING NIGHT OUT IN REYKJAVIK: Although Matt and I love having a cocktail, beer or wine, especially in places that have a local specialty, we often skip it for the sake of our budget. Reykjavik is one of the most expensive places to have a night out, but we went out anyway and had such a great time. We got an awesome hookup at a local bar and we went out with four lovely ladies we met through our AirBNB. It was so much fun. 

CHECKING OUT THE BEAUTIFUL MÚLAFOSSUR: Matt and I actually drove out to this waterfall twice in our week in the Faroe Islands. It’s just such a spectacular scene and we got to see it both gushing after a storm and then again during its normal flow, which was actually more beautiful.

CLIMBING KLAKKUR MOUNTAIN: This was the highlight of our trip to the Faroe Islands. This hike was a steep hike, basically straight up, and it offered such a spectacular view. From the top you could see the town below, the mountains behind and other islands all the other directions. It was truly a 360 view.

 

CELEBRATING OUR SECOND WEDDING ANNIVERSARY IN THE FAROE ISLANDS: Even if we were just sitting at home, this is a special day because it celebrates the day I made the greatest commitment to the greatest man in the world. The fact that we got to celebrate in one of the most remote, stunning locations made it over-the-top amazing. It was a super stormy day, but we still got out and explored a bit before having a super cozy night in together. It was just perfect. Plus, Matt sweetly surprised me with the earrings in the first photo above. I fell in love with them in Ireland, but they were way more than I would ever spend on myself. So, Matt snuck out while I was at a museum and picked them up and carried them around for almost a month. He’s just so sweet. 

VISITING FREETOWN CHRISTIANIA: Christiania is this little self-titled autonomous, anarchist state that sits within Copenhagen. This area has definitely seen its ups and downs and has gone through a lot of changes just in the last 12 years or so. A group of people took over old, abandoned military buildings in 1971 and it has grown ever since. If you walk down small residential roads, you’ll find incredibly unique houses built out of seemingly nothing, but they’re oddly stunning. If you go to downtown Christiania you’ll find cafes, shops, loads of street art and the infamous green light district or Pusher Street, where weed is sold in stalls on the side of the road. A photographer could go absolutely crazy taking photos here. It’s unbelievably unique and quirky. However, a lot of these actions aren’t actually legal in Copenhagen, so I heard from a friend that some years ago you weren’t to take any photos. This has changed a bit. There are signs all around saying photo ok and signs that clearly say no photo (especially on Pusher Street). We basically avoided capturing any faces and mostly took photos of some amazing street art. If in doubt, ask. We found the people here to be super open, willing to talk and friendly.

VISITING FAMILY IN WIESBADEN: Matt’s cousin Jason is living in Wiesbaden, Germany for a couple of years, so, of course, we wanted to visit and he graciously let us stay with him for about a week! While we took some day trips around Germany and even to Luxembourg, we loved getting acquainted with Wiesbaden. It’s a really lovely city and I can’t wait to share more about it.

STOPPING IN GERMANY’S OLDEST CITY: I love history and archaeology and the older it is, the more fascinating I find it to be! So, when Jason said he was taking us to Trier, Germany’s oldest city, I was all in! It was first founded by the Celts in the 4th century BCE and became part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BCE. It’s really old, guys. We got to see a lot of the Roman ruins and explore some truly beautiful churches here as well!

COLOGNE’S MASSIVE CATHEDRAL: After seeing literally hundreds of European churches, it’s not often that one stops me dead in my tracks. This one did. We arrived by train and the second we stepped out of the train station the massive Cologne Cathedral just took over the entire view. I stopped and said, “Holy crap!”; Matt came out next, stopped and said, “Oh my god, Wow!”. It’s just so impressive. The spires tower overhead and it feels like you never see the whole thing because it’s just massive. Inside is just as impressive and beautiful. Plus, it’s free to enter, which feels almost unheard of for something of that size. Don’t forget, you can certainly leave a donation – we did!

WATCHING THE WORLD CUP: I had never, ever watched a soccer match in my life. Matt had seen bits and pieces but had never sat through one. We got World Cup Fever. Ever single day we went somewhere to watch a match. It didn’t even matter who was playing, (Germany games were the most fun, obviously) we were hooked! My favorite match was the one we watched in Mainz. We took the train there to a big outdoor viewing party for Germany vs Sweden. We had beers, ate german food and celebrated Germany’s victory. Afterward we walked through the streets high-fiving people in cars that passed by all the way down to the edge of the Rhein to walk through a festival where we danced until midnight. It was definitely a night to remember. But now we have to watch the rest of the World Cup without Jason and it just seems so wrong!

 

OUR DAY TRIP TO HEIDELBERG: When I realized just how close we were to Heidelberg I wanted to take Matt here. His grandparents lived here when Opa was in the military. I visited back in 2014 when my mom and I took a trip together. Matt and I found some really cool new things to visit and I loved it just as much this time as I did last time. My two big highlights were climbing the bell tower and hiking the Philosopher’s Way.

FALLING IN LOVE WITH CZECH BEERS ON DAY ONE: Matt and I are beer lovers, no doubt about it. We love being able to sample different beers from around the world, but I have to say that the beers in the Czech Republic are my favorite European beers thus far! We went to U Tří Růží (or Three Roses Brewery) where Matt and I both tried different beers and loved both of them. Then, I was talking to the bartender about Czech beers and I asked him about his favorite. Minutes later he brought me his favorite on the house. It was so generous and so delicious.

TRAVEL LAUGHS + MISHAPS

MATT TELLING THE TICKET-CHECKER A LITTLE TOO MUCH INFO: When we were taking the train from Copenhagen to Wiesbaden, our train was seriously delayed, so a woman was coming through to check and rebook tickets. Matt was standing next to our seat and leaned down to tell me he was going to the bathroom right as the woman came up to rebook us. So, when she said, “Where are you going?” Matt promptly replied, “Oh, I’m just going to the bathroom.” We all erupted with laughter. It was so funny (The correct answer was “Wiesbaden”, Matt).

GOING TO THE WRONG AIRPORT IN ICELAND: I always thought to myself, how is it that someone goes to the wrong airport. Then, Matt and I did it. Turns out that while Keflavik is the “international airport”, the flights to the Faroe Islands are out of their domestic airport. After a $50, 45 minute ride to the airport, we realized that we went to the wrong airport. Seriously. It took another $100 and 50 minute ride to the door of the domestic airport, but we made our flight out of the teeny tiny Reykjavik domestic airport.

MY RIDICULOUS BUNK IN COPENHAGEN: I don’t think I’m a super accommodation-snob, but my hostel bunk in Copenhagen just left a bad taste in my mouth about hostel dorm rooms. We stayed in a 12 bed dorm and we had all the joys that come with living with 10 other people in the same room. However, that’s to be expected. What I didn’t expect was to have to put the duvet cover on myself over the bloodstained duvet and that my bunk would have a massive wooden beam stretching across my legs and an air duct over my head. Plus, the beds were built incorrectly so my ladder to get up there was only about 4 inches wide. It was tiny, uncomfortable and just plain terrible.

JUNE TRAVEL FAVORITES

FAVORITE PLACE WE STAYED: Our Faroe Islands AirBNB – This was the only time of the entire month that we had an entire place to ourselves. It was really simply decorated, but still very, very cool. Plus, it had a great location and stunning view. It was really quiet and the perfect place to spend our anniversary together.

FAVORITE SITE: Burg Eltz (Eltz Castle) – Jason took us to this really beautiful castle on one of our day trips together. This 12th century castle isn’t like Versailles or other grande palaces around Europe, instead it’s rustic and sits in a seriously gorgeous location. Included in the price of your admission is a tour and access to their treasury.

FAVORITE MEAL: Matt’s Chicken Supreme at Three Roses Brewery in Prague, Czech Republic. I’m really bitter that I didn’t order the same thing, but luckily we’re here for a little over a week, so I’ll have plenty of chances to have it myself! I did have a pretty tasty chocolate cake from there. So the ultimate meal of the month is that entree and dessert at Three Roses.

FAVORITE DRINK: Banana White Russian at Lebowski Bar in Reykjavik, Iceland. It was recommended to me by one of the bartenders. I was a little skeptical, but damn it was tasty!

FAVORITE FREE SITE: Faroe Island Hikes. I loved that anywhere you went to hike in the Faroe Islands was free. It’s all private land, but the Faroese people are so generous with their natural sites. They only as that you treat their land with respect. It’s just such a magical place!

MOST POPULAR BLOG POST

This post is all about movies that inspired me to travel to real-life destinations. I’m a big believer that travel inspiration is everywhere and sometimes I find some of the coolest destinations in films. Many other films have made me add destinations to my list, but these 20 actually made me buy a ticket or plan a road trip and just go. Check it out.

OTHER NEW BLOG POSTS

Read any of these posts by simply clicking on the photo!

MOST POPULAR INSTAGRAM POST

A post shared by PAIGE ↠ Travel Blogger (@fortheloveofwanderlust) on Jun 15, 2018 at 3:15pm PDT

WHAT’S COMING UP IN JULY?

Matt and I are spending the first part of the month in Prague and hoping to explore a couple other Czech cities as day trips. Then, we’re having out long-awaited meet up with my mom and aunt in Scotland! Scotland has been at the top of my list since I wanted to study abroad here in college. Then Matt and I are continuing our adventure heading back to Wales. It’s going to be an incredible month!