Tag: Europe

Angloville: More than just teaching English.

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Our dedline for getting to Budapest by March 23rd was due to our first bit of ‘work’ as we were travelling; a week-long English immersion programme called Angloville. Before we started travelling, a friend of ours said that if we get to Poland we should definitely do it. It’s a great opportunity to teach English and for travellers like us we get free food and accommodation for the week in a lovely location, all in exchange for doing something natural to us – talking.

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Na Bled: Short but Sweet Time in Slovenia

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We had no real plans when leaving England of which countries we would visit. As our journey progressed we found ourselves unintentionally visiting every ex-Yugoslavic country. Time was short but we wanted to make sure we visited Slovenia as it was the only one of these countries we hadn’t visited, and we felt the need to visit all of the countries and hear all sides of the story from each place. Strangely enough, we didn’t see or read much about it during our visit, and the few locals we met didn’t talk to us about it. Very different to our trip …

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Croatia: Coast vs City

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Dubrovnik Our first stop in Croatia was Dubrovnik, by far the most expensive and most touristy place we’ve visited so far. Hotel, hostel and restaurant prices all dramatically increase in this coastal town. However, let this not put you off the beauty of the city. The old town is the real attraction to see; you can walk around the old city walls (for a price, of course) and look into the old town which has been so well preserved. Grey houses with terracotta roofs, to look over them and their matching style and colours is really something. When you look …

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Sarajevo: More Beauty and War

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Unlike Mostar, to walk around Sarajevo you aren’t immediately greeted with reminders of the war. You see banks, bakeries, shops just like any other high street, but if you look down occasionally at the ground you will see splotches of red paint, symbolising where blood was shed during the war. It’s a unique city as within a small space in town there is a Christian Cathedral, Jewish Synagogue and Muslim Mosque. We met up with a lovely local while there who not only showed us a brilliant bar but also took us to the top of the hill and showed us …

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Mostar: Beauty and War

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We’d met a few people on our travels who had expressed how much they loved Bosnia and Hercegovina, so I was excited to see what all the fuss was about. We spent a couple of days in Dubrovnik and then headed up to Mostar, mostly famous for its stunning bridge, Stari Most. We looked at the picture in our Lonely Planet book and thought that it must be photoshopped – it didn’t look real, but it really was. That photo is real and it does look that beautiful in reality. I was beginning to see why people loved this country …

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Snowy Macedonia

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We arrived in Macedonia’s capital of Skopje at 5am after getting a night bus from Tirana. The journey was smooth and we passed through some amazing snowy mountains. However, as with many long coach journeys, I often find it difficult to sleep. Therefore, arriving at 5am, Mitch and I were both a bit tired and simply wanted to crawl into a bed. Although we knew we’d be arriving early, we hadn’t arranged early check in at our apartment/guesthouse. So instead we thought we’d wonder around the city. Even though it was 2 degrees, it looked pretty damn beautiful at that …

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