10 countries in Europe

So I’m finally back after 6 weeks in Europe and I have loads to write about and share. There are so many places we went to, which is why I’m going to divide this post into countries. And of course, the recommended restaurants need to be noticed, so I bolded those. I was going to divide this post into two parts, but I’ve decided to put everything in one, even though it’s 4000 words in total.

Sweden.

We started out in a popular tourist spot in Gothenburg, Sweden. The temperature was colder than I expected, but I liked it because it was relaxing. First off in the morning, we did a canal tour that went through and around the beautiful city.

Gothenburg

Canal Tour

Fish Church

Food inside Fish Church

Liseberg

Afterwards, since our luggage was delayed at the airport, we managed to do a bit of shopping in the town and then we went to the cool Fish Church where there was really good cheap food inside (it’s not the restaurants but a takeaway counter). We each bought a box and ate at the picnic benches just outside. After lunch, we visited Haga, a cute little area with nice restaurants and local stores. We also went to an amusement park, Liseberg, and in my opinion, it was the best one I’ve ever been to. For dinner we ate at Smaka and the food was pretty good! The prices in Sweden are really expensive though.

2 Weeks in Thailand and Hong Kong

I spent my spring break vacation in Thailand (more precisely Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai) and Hong Kong, which was definitely awesome. I won’t go into detail into what I did, but Thailand is pretty much all temples and delicious food whilst Hong Kong was visiting relatives and walking the streets (+shopping of course!).

In Thailand, amongst other things, we visited the Doi Tung Royal Villa and Mae Fah Luang Garden (a must see!), Doi Suthep, and the Golden Triangle (the place where Thailand meets Myanmar and Laos). We also visited Cat ‘n’  A Cup cafe on our last day in Chiang Rai.

The Yucatán Peninsula – Mexico

Happy New Year guys! I just came back from a trip to Mexico and I loved it so much. The hot weather, swaying palm trees and delicious food were a stark contrast to home, where it was cold and snowing. And the food in Mexico was delicious. Sure, it was pretty much just all meat and bread. And more meat and bread. Every day. But it was amazing! This format of post is going to be kinda like a guide just in case any of you decide to visit these places. (my dollar signs for restaurants are rated out of 3)

First stop: Cozumel. A pretty island just a ferry ride away from Playa Del Carmen, we had a nice walk through town and took some crazy bus to get to San Gervasio, an archaeological site from the pre-Colombian Maya civilization. I would recommend taking a taxi instead of busing to the ruins because it was very complicated and we ended up with having to call a taxi anyways to go back to the ferry terminal. The ruins itself were pretty, but nothing as extraordinary as those on the mainland. I didn’t eat anything at the island nor stayed there overnight, so no recommendations for this one.

Second stop: Playa Del Carmen. We stayed here for two days, hanging out at Walmart and the ATM stations. Kidding!

Linking the Americas: Panama

Oh yes! I managed to escape the cold winds of Canada and go to (drum roll please..) PANAMA! It was super hot and sweaty, but I still enjoyed the weather because anything that isn’t freezing cold is great for me. My vacay lasted 2 weeks (spring break!), which was plenty of time to travel around and visit the popular places. I also got to go on a coffee tour and a chocolate tour, which taught me some interesting information which I’ll tell you about further along this post.

We first arrived in Panama City in the morning after a long flight with a layover in LAX. Since we arrived early in the morning, we visited the famous Panama Canal which was constructed by the Americans, but (I actually didn’t know this) the French were the first ones to try and build it, but they gave up in 1894.

I was lucky enough to be there when a ship transporting Chiquita bananas (love those ones!) was passing through the locks.

Afterwards, we took the metro to Casco Viejo, a nice little area near the ocean, where we wandered around the old streets and fancy houses. To get there, we had to pass by the old and dirty streets where there was vendors milling about selling all kinds of fruit such as bananas, mangoes, passion fruit, melons… But the thing that saddened me was that most of the area had streets full of places for shops, and not one of them was open. So it was kind of like walking in a ghost town with colorful buildings surrounding you. If Casco Viejo had shops everywhere I think it would have been one of my favorite places. But it was still nice when we approached the rich area and the waterfront.

My Vietnam and Hong Kong Vacation

Hey guys! It’s been a long while ago since I last posted (not counting my 2015 blog stats). Sorry about that.

But I have an excuse! I went to Vietnam and Hong Kong in December, which, of course demanded all my time as I wanted to enjoy my vacation fully. Then, when the new year arrived, I was swept up in stuff to do, so didn’t have time to do pretty much anything with this blog.

But it’s Saturday! Which means I have full day with nothing to do! You do not know how relaxed I feel right now.

So I decided to write about my vacation. (Didn’t have time to make food, so, yeah, vacation post it is!)

When I first saw Vietnam through my real eyes, I was taken back by how deep the cultural roots went.