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Europe

Europe, Travel

Top 5 Luxury Hotels in Vienna, Austria

A couple of weeks ago The Wandering Gourmand published a list of top boutique hotels in Vienna, Austria. Since most boutique hotels in the imperial city tend to qualify as artsy or avant-garde, they aren’t necessarily for everyone. Sometimes, you want the opposite of boutique. Sometimes, you want over-the-top spoils and luxury so you can live like Sissi. Here’s a list of hotels that will meet your every indulgence. Hotel Bristol –…

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Brewery Reviews, Craft Beer Travel, Europe, Travel

Best International Breweries

So far in the Best… in the World we’ve been to the best restaurants in the world, relived some of the best meals in the world, and partied it up at some of the best bars in the world. This week kicks-off the portion of the series that I’ve been most anticipating – the Best Breweries in the World. This stretch will be divided into two parts. This week, some of the…

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Europe, Travel

Top Boutique Hotels in Vienna, Austria

Vienna is beautiful! Vienna is grand! Vienna is quite massive and can at times be intimidating as you dodge fake Mozarts to sprint from the palace to a church to a museum. Your hotel stay shouldn’t be intimidating. It should be easy, comfortable, and light on the wallet so you that you are well rested and have of spending money to explore the city. Here are five hotels in Vienna to meet…

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Eating, Europe, Food, Travel

A Gourmand’s Itinerary for Visiting Vienna, Austria

Vienna, Austria carries with it a rather long list of “must-see” attractions to experience all the city’s grandeur. For starters, visitors must visit at least one the Habsburg’s grand palaces – the Schonbrunn or Hofburg. When you’re done touring the Hofburg, you might as well stop by the Spanish Riding School and watch the horses perform maneuvers to the waltz. Speaking of music, don’t forget to visit Mozart’s house. Then there’s the…

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Europe, Travel

Our Last Day in Rome

I was exhausted by our last day in Rome.  Two weeks of sightseeing, over eating and drinking, and sleeping in strange beds had caught up with me.  The last thing I wanted to do was hit another popular tourist attraction and fight crowds.  I had enough of that already.     We woke up late and lingered over breakfast in our hotel room near Trevi Fountain, fingering through Frommer’s Rome Day by Day for a…

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Craft Beer Travel, Destination Beer Travel Guides, Europe, Travel

A Guide to Rome Beer

Exploring the Rome Beer Scene After almost two weeks in Italy, it pains me to say that I was wined out.  And no, my liver wasn’t exhausted after twice (and sometimes thrice) daily intakes of wine – lunch, dinner, and the occasional mid-morning Prosecco – as it earned a degree in party from Ohio University.  Instead, my taste buds were screaming for hops.  As we wrapped up our Italian odyssey in the Eternal…

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Europe, Travel

A Day Visiting Ancient Rome

Visiting Ancient Rome truly deserves an entire day on your itinerary.  Some tourists may try to squeeze it into a few hours, but they’re not doing themselves justice.  Sure, they may capture a photo to share on Facebook, but is that why we travel?  To just brag about it online?  Hardly.  Ancient Rome is about the experience.  It’s about touring buildings that are thousands of years old, walking in the footsteps of…

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Europe, Travel

Visiting Central Rome and the Best Meal We Ate in Italy

If you have just one night in Rome, visiting Central Rome is essential. This post picks up from my last post on Rome where we spent the greater part of the day exploring the Vatican.  After lingering over wood fired pizza and a half carafe of wine, we explored Central Rome on a self-guided walking tour took us past the ancient of Castel Sant’Angelo and through the trendy of the Triangle of…

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Europe, Travel

Rome – Visiting the Vatican

I’m not Catholic and figured visiting the Vatican would be a waste of my time.  The saints, popes, and gaudy paintings of Jesus suffering would be lost to me.  I grew up Protestant and our Jesus has risen.  Besides, there’d be a lot of people there and I don’t do crowds.  I’d read of lines winding throughout and around Saint Peter’s Square to catch a glimpse of the holy grounds now that a…

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Europe, Travel

Arriving in Rome

We arrived at Stazione Termine via train after being rejuvenated in Tuscany.  I was on high alert as we entered the hoard of people shoving this way and that in Rome’s main train station, keeping close watch on all of my belonging as the station is a prime area for pickpockets.  We emerged unscathed but a little bewildered as we approached the taxi stand.  There were just so many people!  It was…

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