Facebook and other social media platforms make me feel so jealous whenever I see someone traveling somewhere I haven’t been, or to somewhere I love! So to remind me of how lucky I am and how often I get to enjoy traveling, I filled in this “year in review” throughout the year look back on at the end. Reminiscing, I really did get to enjoy a lot of Europe this past year!
January: Rang in the new year with my grandparents in Jupiter, Florida. Spent about a week relaxing, reading, and laying on the beach.
Chaperoned the week long grade 8 ski trip to Süd Tirol, a German-speaking region of northern Italy. It was 24-hours-a-day work with 60 teenagers, but worth it for the chance to snowboard on high altitude slopes and soak up breathtaking views of the Alps for 7 days.
February: 9 days visiting Neuschwanstein, Germany and Innsbruck and Salzburg Austria. I fell in love with Innsbruck. From Salzburg, I took a day trip to walk around the Fuschl See.
Whirlwind weekend trip to Budapest. It felt like we walked every inch of Buda and Pest, making an evening in St. Luka’s thermal bath all the more worth it.
March: Launched Chris-crossing the world!!
Hiked most weekends on the 66-Lakes-Trail. I learned that March is far too cold for camping, although I went 3 times this month. (1, 2, 3)
April: Had two weeks for spring break in Portugal and Spain. I hiked the Camino de Santiago from Porto, Portugal to Santiago, Spain (240km in 7.5 days). The second week I traveled around Santiago, Lisbon, and Porto.
May: Climbed in the Frankenjura/Fränkisch Schweiz in Oberbayern (northern Bavaria) for the weekend of May 1st (Labor Day in Germany)
Hiked in Austria for a 4-day weekend – near Innsbruck – Natterer See and Mutters
June: Long weekend in Italy to visit the family (near Naples). Also spent the afternoon in Rome before flying back. Got to practice my Italian and eat a lot of pizza!
A week at camp with grade 6 students on an Outward Bound trip to Schloss Kröchlendorff in Brandenburg, Germany (north of Berlin).
Completed the 66-Lakes Trail!
July: Began my longest trip to date! Spent 2 days in Bergen, Norway before meeting my parents in Oslo and traveling together for 6 days. We went to Rjukan, Kristiansand, and Oslo. From there I traveled to Stockholm, Sweden to visit Marcel a few days. Then I was off to Finland, stopping in Mariehamn, Turku, and Helsinki (with day trips to Espo and Porvoo).
August: I took the ferry to Tallinn, Estonia and fell in love with this UNESCO medieval town. I spent a week traveling around the country including Lahema National Park, Tartu, Viljandi, and Parnu. Next up was Riga, Latvia with side trips to Kemeru National Park and Sigulda to see some castles. The 5 week long trip ended with a week in Lithuania. I began in Klaipeda and biked to and from Nida in one day (over 100 km). Then on to Siauliai to see the Hill of Crosses, Kaunas, Kernave, Trakai, and Vilnius. If that wasn’t enough, I got back to Berlin and biked to the Ostsee (Baltic Sea) on the worst bike trip ever.
Got to go camping with some colleagues for my birthday near the peaceful Liepnitz See north of Berlin. It was so much fun for me to pass through some sections of the 66-Lakes-Trail I had previously done (and cover some sections I missed when I had gotten lost) and to see some new trails. We had a great brunch at a nearby inn.
September: September proved to be a much quieter month with the school year beginning again, but I did manage to go on one weekend trip to Kassel to see the Documenta art exhibition.
Closed out September with a lovely night camping on the Möllensee followed by hiking about 30 km (19 mi) to and around the Seddinsee to Müggelheim.
October: Weekend trip to Ingolstadt with one of my worst public transportation stories everrrr. But the weekend was a lot of fun and worth the transportation catastrophe.
Took the weekend to get to know Berlin. Saturday I went on a street art tour of Kreuzberg with one of my colleagues. It was really cool to learn about the art, artists, and history of street art in Berlin and in general. Rode my bike 13 km to the Spandau Citadel, an old fortress in the Spandau neighborhood of Berlin. I visited the museum there, but everyone I talked to afterwards said the concerts they host are really great! Then, another colleague took me to the Festival of Lights in Berlin Sunday evening where several buildings in Mitte had art or light shows with music.
Climbed for a week in Leonidio, Greece, a few hours south of Athens. Upon arrival, we traveled to Delphi for a long (but well worth it) day trip to see the ruins there and enjoyed the incredible views of the valley below. Followed this trip up with a half day to Sounio, the southern-most point of the peninsula Athens is on, most famous for being where King Aegis jumped into the sea and the site of the Temple of Poseidon. Once the whole gang arrived, we drove down to Leonidio for 4 days of climbing the gorgeous red cliffs. A final day was spent in Athens before flying back to Berlin, but was certainly not enough time to explore this ancient and multi-faceted city.
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November: Another busy month of weekend trips, beginning with a second visit to Ingolstadt in which my luck with transportation was markedly better but the weather wasn’t so great.
I went to Stuttgart for the second weekend in November for a wedding shower and lots of visits with old friends. I even managed to get to the Ritter Sport Museum and the Fernsehturm (TV tower) while I was there. It was great catching up with everyone, but as my fifth weekend in a row traveling, I was beginning to burn out.
The following weekend I took a trip to Prague and Karlovy Vary (known in German as Carlsbard) to visit Fiona, a friend I worked with when I lived in Saarbrücken. The spa town is a gem nestled between the mountains and even prettier when decorated with autumn colors (which I arrived too late for) or winter white (which I was too early for), but I think I’ll be visiting again. Prague was still teeming with tourists despite the chilly temperatures but remains one of my favorite cities. This time I got to see some new parts of town which I’d like to explore again next time I’m there.
December: Christmas market season in full-swing, I finally visited the famed Nuremberg Christmas Market. Quite overrun, I think I’d enjoy this city more at a different time of year but there was glühwein (mulled wine) to drink and snow, so I was still pretty content. In the same weekend, I visited Bamberg which was a much more pleasant experience. Since I find Bamberg 1000x more picturesque, it was snowing like crazy, and the fact that it’s not as popular as Nuremberg made for a great end to the weekend.
Began 3 weeks of Christmas vacation travels. I started off with a long day in Zagreb, Croatia, followed by the overnight bus to Sarajevo, Bosnia. Fell in love with Bosnia in Sarajevo and even more after traveling onward to Mostar. I then spent 4 days in Kotor, Montenegro with day trips to Cetinje and Budva. The bay was gorgeous and I would not be able to get over how beautiful the water was as I traveled up the former Yugoslav coast into Croatia, spending Christmas in Dubrovnik. From there I spent 24 hours or less in each Split, Zadar, and Rijeka before getting fed up with winter travel in Croatia and heading to Slovenia. There were two amaaaaazing days in Bled, Slovenia, hiking along lakes, gorges, and waterfalls. Then it was back to Ljubljana to ring in the new year!
2017 was anything but disappointing. I hiked over 600 km (375 miles) of official trail, began biking adventures, and explored 10 countries I had never been to before! I’m looking forward to all the adventures 2018 brings and have some exciting plans to share with you soon 🙂