Country #73 - Russia Day 1

The Palaces

I slept pretty well on the ferry from Helsinki, Finland to St. Petersburg, Russia last night, other than when I woke up in the middle of the night to pay for slow wifi to attempt to buy tickets in the Taylor Swift presale. It was a definite struggle on the $5 an hour incredibly slow wifi situation. I fell back asleep pretty quickly, though, at least, and got some okay tickets though not great. When we arrived in Russia we went through immigration quickly which was quite surprising as I had read it can take a while. I think it’s probably likely that it was not busy as it was a mid-week boat and also because it is freezing and snowy in both Helsinki and St. Petersburg so not exactly the best time for sightseeing.

It wasn’t a problem for us, though! We were really cold, of course, but came prepared with lots of layers and so far, we're doing okay with the cold. However, Russia was going to be a whole other level of freezing. After clearing immigration we took the free shuttle from the ferry terminal to the center of town, and from there took an Uber to our hotel, M-Hotel. It was a bit difficult to find at first, but once we did we found a charming little spot in the very heart of the city. We had a nice room with our own beds and it was a nice spot to rest for a bit after a crazy journey into town. Thank you so much to M-Hotel for sponsoring this night of my trip!

We ate lunch very close to our hotel at a spot called Cafe Brynza, where we were able to eat traditional Russian cheburek. They were so yummy! A bit like a crepe would probably be the best comparison. We also had cheesy potatoes which were great as well. After lunch, we stopped by an ATM to get some rubbles and then called an Uber to head out to Catherine’s Palace. Uber was truly a lifesaver in Russia – it was so cheap and with the freezing cold it was so much easier to do than public transit, and helped us to fit in more sights. It took about an hour with traffic to get from St. Petersburg to Catherine’s Palace, but it was definitely worth it. It was my grandmother’s favorite stop when she visited Russia so we knew we had to go!

When we arrived we first saw the beautiful grounds and the magnificent palace. It was very blue and beautiful all at once! The tour itself through the palace was very quick as there was very little to read and the audio guide was only in Russian. It was magnificent, though, both inside and out. We finished much quicker than expected and spent time walking around the gardens and other buildings outside before heading to our next stop, Peterhof. I loved playing in the fresh snow outside at both Places because it is something I never get to do. It was so light and fluffy and I had a lot of fun with it! I’m basically a child, I know.

Peterhof took about another hour to reach by Uber, but I’m so glad we were able to visit both iconic St. Petersburg spots on our first day. Peterhof was even bigger and grander than Catherine’s Palace! The fountains outside were, of course, turned off, but we could easily imagine how impressive they would be in the summer as they were pretty great without the water flowing through. I found it interesting that all of the sculptures, not just at Peterhof but throughout Russia, were enclosed in boxes during the wintertime, I presume to help with the snow. After marvelling at the main fountain outside and out back of Peterhof we then proceeded to take the tour. It was, again, beautiful and a magnificent palace. There were more helpful guides to read here than at Catherine’s Palace, but the audio guide was again in Russian only.

By the time we finished the tour through Peterhof we were back outside and it was now entirely dark. We walked around the front of the palace and were able to get some great pictures of Peterhof and its Christmas decorations. Similar to Helsinki, St. Petersburg has done great on the Christmas decorations! Our last stop after Peterhof was Peter and Paul Cathedral, which was across the street. Peter and Paul Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox church, and it was so interesting because a service was going on while we were there. After a bit of taking in the church (it was small but spectacular, especially with the service going on) we then took an Uber back into the heart of St. Petersburg.

Before heading in for the night we decided to have a really nice dinner and treat ourselves – thanks, Russian exchange rate! We had what would be at least a $100 meal at home for around $40 at an incredible restaurant called Gras. Everything that we ordered was amazing, and if you ever find yourself in St. Petersburg I highly recommend this place. To start we had Sourdough bread with seasonal butter along with Sainte-Maure, Camembert, and Solide de Village cheeses, followed by Top Blade steak with glazed beets and red onion puree and Trout fillet with spelt porridge and cranberry sauce for our main courses, with cheesecake for dessert and a shared white glogg to drink. It was so yummy and such a great way to end our first day in Russia! We were able to then walk back to M-Hotel from there where we were so exhausted it was not hard at all to fall asleep. I’m looking forward to a great day two in St. Petersburg tomorrow!

73 countries down, 123 to go.

Read about my second day in Russia here.

To learn more about M-Hotel click here.

Country #70 - Macedonia

The Statues

I had a great (though early) breakfast at Dunes Hotel Apartments before leaving Dubai, UAE to begin the trip headed back west. I flew out of Dubai at 9am and had a longer than expected flight to Skopje, Macedonia. I had no idea that the flight would be six hours! Luckily I had the entire row to myself, though, and was able to sleep for half of the flight. When I arrived in Skopje around noon I took the transfer bus into the city and then walked about ten minutes to my hotel, Hotel De KOKA. I was greeted by the kind front desk staff and given a small but very nice room in the heart of the city. It was perfect for my short stay, and I cannot thank Hotel De KOKA enough for everything!

By the time I set out for my day in Skopje it was already 2pm. Luckily, though, the town is not huge so I was still able to see a lot! My first stop was located right near Hotel De KOKA, the famous Old Bazar. The tiny winding streets and shops were cool to walk through and the historic architecture was really interesting to see. After walking through for a bit I made my way towards the heart of the city by crossing the Stone Bridge. The Stone Bridge was where I saw the first of the many statues scattered throughout Skopje. The giant Alexander the Great statue that can be seen when crossing the Stone Bridge in the heart of the Macedonia Square is probably the best example of the statues dotting the city - it is giant!

The area around the Alexander the Great statue was really nice. From the water and the beautiful Museum of Archeology building to the beautiful architecture of the surrounding buildings, it was my favorite part of the city. From there I walked to what I found most interesting in Skopje, the Memorial House of Mother Teresa. I had no idea that Mother Teresa was born in Skopje and it was a really great, free, and tiny museum about her life. I really enjoyed reading about her life and the museum took less than fifteen minutes to see everything. The house was really quaint and informative and I really enjoyed my visit!

From the museum, I walked back towards Macedonia Square where I ate at Pelister Restaurant. I had some really tasty ricotta stuffed bread followed by some much needed lasagna. The food was fantastic and I really enjoyed the restaurant for the view out on the square. After dinner, I made my way back to my hotel by way of the Art Bridge. It was so cool! The entire bridge was filled with statues and was all lit up as it was now getting dark outside.

I arrived back at Hotel De KOKA around 5pm and was asleep by 8pm as I was so tired and knew I would have to wake up at 4am the next morning. It was a great short stay in Skopje and I’m really glad I was able to see the highlights of the city!

The Thanksgiving Travel

I woke up at 4am and took a taxi to the Skopje, Macedonia airport as the shuttle bus was not running regularly so early in the morning. I slept okay but was really dreading today as I have a bunch of really quick flight connections to make. I even dreamed that I missed my connection in Belgium! The flight from Skopje to Brussels CRL airport was easy but then the fun set in - I had to transfer from CRL to BRU airport in Brussels in an hour.

I lucked out and had a seat in the second row of the plane. I was able to then rush to immigration and then run from immigration to the shuttle bus that would take me to the main Brussels train station. This was my biggest concern as the buses ran only every thirty minutes, but I made it (dripping sweat) with three minutes to spare! When I arrived at the train station I caught a train to the airport (that was, of course, delayed). However, when I got to the airport there was still such a long line at the check-in counter that I immediately knew that I would be fine and would definitely make it back to the US!

I was really annoyed at check-in, though, by the new rules in place regarding travel to the US. Every airline implements them differently, and everyone, regardless of nationality, must deal with them to fly to the US. My questioning was fine and super basic (did you pack your own bag, blah, blah, blah) but it was the couple in front of me’s questioning that made me quite angry. They were a married couple - the husband was from Florida and the wife from Holland, and they were maybe two or three years older than me. They live in the Netherlands but were traveling to the US for a few weeks for the holidays. She didn’t yet have a return ticket because legally she could enter the country for three months. Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve ever bought a plane ticket three months out! Anyways, they told her (and many others on my flight) that if they did not purchase a return ticket on the spot that they would not be able to fly.

It was absolutely insane! They were very smart and bought a $50 ticket to the Bahamas, but no one should have to deal with having this sprung on them when checking in for a flight. This new rule is ineffective at best (if you’re breaking the law I don’t think you’re going to fess up to a gate agent) and greatly deterring US tourism at worst. If the rules were well implemented and people knew about them that would be one thing, but to just spring them on people with no warning was harsh and upsetting. I would hate to be put in that situation! And honestly, I would just buy a refundable plane ticket and then cancel it once I arrived. It is a system that is easily outsmarted and I would consider just political BS.

Anyways, to get off of my soapbox, I boarded my flight and had a long, ten and a half hours ahead of me to Miami. I slept for about three and spend the rest watching movies and working on the blog. When I arrived in Miami I was greeted with the unfortunate news that the flight I was planning to use a family pass to fly home on had filled up in the past ten hours. I’ve said it before (many times) and I’ll say it again - using a pass can be the best but can also quite easily be the worst, especially when travelling around Thanksgiving. I had to scramble with the help of my dad to search for last minute connection options to just get me to the state of Alabama.

I ended up flying from Miami to Charlotte and then from Charlotte to Huntsville, but it was definitely a stress-filled few hours. There were a few times I thought I would be sleeping in either airport overnight! Luckily, though, I made it home and just in time for Thanksgiving. I’m not going to lie, this trip on the whole was a bit more stressful than most. Whether due to the short flight connections or a few stressful destinations, I’m glad to have this one behind me. It was also incredible, though, and I had a great time seeing some of the most amazing sights in the world. I wouldn’t trade the travel, no matter how stressful, for anything, and am so excited for my next trip: I’m headed back to Europe around Christmas, and this time my mom is joining along!

70 countries down, 126 to go.

To learn more about Hotel De KOKA click here.

Country #63 - Georgia

The Bridge and The Churches

After a short but comfortable night’s sleep I woke up to eat a great omelet breakfast at Du Vin Rouge hotel before heading out to explore Tbilisi, Georgia for a few hours! Luckily Du Vin Rouge was located in the heart of the city and I was able to walk everywhere. My first stop was Tbilisi St. Trinity Cathedral, which was incredible! It reminded me a lot of the main cathedral in Helsinki - it’s grand and up on a giant hill with tons of stairs. The inside was pretty empty but the magnificent outside was incredible enough on its own. The gardens all around the cathedral were amazing too and I really enjoyed all of the time that I spent here.

I then walked back towards the heart of the city, stopping first at Metekhi St. Virgin Church. The church was very tiny and I just peeked inside, but outside it was picturesque and looked out on the rest of Tbilisi. I took tons of pictures from here of the city before walking into it and heading to the Sulphur Baths. I didn’t go inside but from the outside, the baths were domed and were really quite unique. I then walked through the city to another small church, The Sioni Cathedral of the Dormition. Once again it was small but beautiful.

My next stop was Liberty Square which had a large monument in the center. I enjoyed walking down Aleksandr Pushkin Street from Liberty Square towards the Mtkvari River. It was a very lively street with beautiful architecture. At the end of the street, I turned to walk past the famous Rezo Gabriadze Marionette Theater. There aren’t shows in the winter but the building was really cool and I was glad that I stopped by to see it!

I then walked to one of my favorite and final stops of the day. The Bridge Of Peace is a staple in Tbilisi and rightfully so - it was one of the coolest bridges I have ever seen! The glass bridge is stunning and leads across the river to Rike Park which I also really enjoyed. It was a large, beautiful park with other cool architecture (the Music Theater and Exhibition Hall were so cool) and there were many cool quirks to the park such as the giant chess set, giant piano, and the great views of the city. It’s also where you can take a cable car up to another part of the city, but it was not working today. Rike Park was a great last stop on my whirlwind tour of Tbilisi and I’m so glad I made it to where I would have a few hours here.

I went back to Du Vin Rouge where I wished Tigran farewell and thanked him again for all of his help! Du Vin Rouge was also very kind in providing my transportation back to the airport. I had an amazing stay in this new hotel and cannot recommend it enough! The staff were incredibly kind and caring and my room was very nice as well. Thank you again to Du Vin Rouge for everything!

The drive back to the airport was under twenty minutes but when I arrived I learned that my flight was delayed by two hours. This ended up being totally fine, though, as my layover in Dubai, UAE was already about six hours. This helped to make that layover shorter which was definitely a good thing. When the plane to Dubai finally departed I was exhausted and slept for most of the flight. I arrived at Dubai Airport (DXB) terminal 2 which is definitely the worst in the airport. It is home to Fly Dubai airline and is tiny, packed, and unfortunately very smoky when you walk in as the smoking lounge is located right by the entrance (and right by the food court… who thought that was a good idea?). I grabbed some food from Paul (the French cafe chain) and found a less hectic spot by my gate away from the smoke. It was still a very long layover but at least I didn’t have to spend so much time in uncomfortable terminal 2!

My second flight of the day was from Dubai to Manama, Bahrain and thankfully it was only an hour long, though I still didn’t land until about 2:30am. Thankfully I slept most of the flight again. I won’t have long in Bahrain but I’m really looking forward to what time I do have!

63 countries down, 133 to go.

To learn more about Du Vin Rouge click here.

Country #61 - Cyprus

The Flights

I took a rather roundabout way to get to Cyprus but hey, it worked! The trip all the way to London was on a single family American Airlines pass so of course, it came with a few challenges. I flew out of Dallas for Huntsville as a standby passenger - it took a few tries but I finally got on a flight that landed that night. My brother, Edward, drove down from Nashville to pick me up and we went to my Grandma’s house near Huntsville to surprise her! It was so great (she was definitely surprised) and made the trip to Nashville totally worth it! I then spent the next day in Nashville with Edward and my one of my closest friends, Kat. It was a great day and loved having the day to spend with them.

My next flight was from Nashville to Philadelphia where I had a four-hour layover before flying to London. I had two seats side by side and attempted to sleep but was pretty unsuccessful. When I landed there was a thankfully short immigration line. Heathrow is totally hit or miss on this and thankfully today, when I was in a big hurry, it worked out well. I was in such a hurry to catch my National Express bus to London Luton (LTN) airport. I made the first bus with a few minutes to spare which gave me some definite breathing room.

The ride took about an hour, and as always it was sad not to be stopping in London. Transiting through your favorite city is never easy! Alas, I arrived at Luton and after waiting in a painfully long line got checked in for my Blue Air flight to Larnaca, Cyprus. Many people consider Luton to be the worst of the London airports but I will always hand Stansted that title, though Luton would be a close second place. It has been under construction since when I studied abroad and it looks exactly the same. There are also no self check-in kiosks (a rarity in a major airport) and no direct train access (there is a station ten minutes away that a shuttle runs to, so it’s not impossible). It’s also the airport I slept in when I studied abroad and got zero sleep so it’s definitely not my favorite place in the world.

I grabbed a quick snack, waited for my gate to be announced (I will never understand the logic behind not announcing gates for so long - it is the worst), and then finally waited to board. And it was a long wait. In the freezing cold. They scanned our boarding passes and then made us wait in a stairwell where the outside door was open and it was painfully cold for at least twenty minutes. After finally boarding the plane I completely lucked out - I had an entire row on the plane to myself! There were very few even empty seats on the plane so to somehow have an entire row when I most needed it was amazing. The flight was about four hours and I attempted to sleep the entire time.

When I arrived I had to take a taxi to my hotel, Palm Beach Hotel and Bungalows. The taxi was annoyingly expensive ($25) and was probably the first time in the EU that I’ve had to pay over $10 for transit thanks to the lack of many public transit options. It was unfortunately dark even though I landed around 5:30pm. The hotel was located on the beach, though, which was awesome even though I couldn’t see it! I had an incredibly nice room facing the water and was able to listen to the waves at least. The hotel room was really cool and the lobby was beautiful as well! I’d love to come back to the resort when I have time to spend a few days and relax and actually see the ocean.

It was a really long day but I was very glad to finally be able to go to sleep and get a few hours of rest before heading to Tel Aviv, Israel in the morning!

61 countries down, 135 to go.

To learn more about Palm Beach Hotel and Bungalows click here.

Country #56 - Romania

The Sickness

After a very quick four hours of sleep, I woke up to find that I have a bad cold. It’s unfortunate but after the past few days not surprising. I took a taxi to the Chișinău, Moldova airport around 5:00am. My flight was supposed to leave at 7:00am, but ended up being delayed until after 8:30am. This would have been fine except there was literally no information ever given that the flight was even delayed so none of the passengers had any idea what was going on which was pretty annoying.

The flight itself was another short one at about forty-five minutes. I landed in Romania and went through immigrations and customs easily. It’s nice to be back in the EU! I used Uber to go into the city and it was super cheap. It was about a forty minute drive for under $10. There is also a bus that goes to the heart of the city but being sleep deprived and sick I wasn’t exactly in the mood to figure it out. There are two floors at the arrivals terminal so it took me a bit to find my driver because he didn’t speak English. For reference, if you ever take Uber here pickup is on the top floor but the app fails to tell you that.

I arrived at my hotel, The Mansion, which is located in the Old Town of the city. I was met by Alex who was so helpful! He checked me in, told me all about the hotel, and then we chatted about my trip. The Mansion is such a unique place in the center of Bucharest. First off, it was so nice! From the moment that I entered the hotel, I fell in love with it. The hotel is also unique in that each room has a name, and theme, instead of a number. My room was Provence, which was accordingly themed Italian.

After checking in I decided to take a nap because by this point I felt truly sick. I fell asleep so quickly and woke up six hours later… It definitely wasn’t the plan, but it helped me to feel so much better. I really needed the sleep I guess! After my snooze, I headed to eat dinner. I found a great place called Pasta Restaurant where I had, you guessed it, pasta. You choose your pasta and then your sauce - I had the four cheese of course along with a tasty baked cheese and speck ( a type of ham) appetizer. It was only a short five-minute walk back to my hotel through the old town, and on my way, I stopped by a pharmacy to buy some medicine. Thank goodness the pharmacist spoke English and she recommended a cold medicine that I had taken in the U.K. before.

I made my way back to my room where I worked for a little while before falling asleep again. And getting eight more hours of sleep. I hate that I was unable to see more of Bucharest today but it was definitely a necessary rest day!

The Romanian Orthodox Churches

I had a great night’s sleep and woke up early enough to have a very filling and tasty breakfast at The Mansion hotel, complete with an omelet and everything. I was still not feeling great so I lied down again for a bit and took my time getting ready to try and make sure I would feel well enough to see Bucharest today. I was lucky enough to have a late checkout which really took the pressure off having to hurry and I really appreciated it!

Once I was ready around 1:00pm I headed downstairs to leave my bags. It was here that I met Simona, who is the manager. She was so cool! It was great getting to talk with her about my trip and to be able to thank her in person for an amazing stay at The Mansion. After taking a picture and saying our goodbyes I headed out for the day!

My first stop was Stavropoleos Monastery Church. I had no idea how unique the churches would be that I saw today but I was in for something special. Stavropoleos Monastery Church was a Romanian Orthodox Church like the rest that I would see today. It was very small but so unique - it was dark with frescoes and really you just need to see pictures to understand. From there I walked around the Old Town for a bit which was really nice. You can tell that they are really working to make it even better by all of the scaffolding around!

In the Old Town, my second church stop was Biserica Sfântul Anton. It was amazing. Tourists were allowed in but it almost felt like an intrusion. It felt like such a sacred place and people were very actively using it unlike I have seen before - for example, some women were crying inside. After taking it all in I made my way to Piața Unirii, one of the main intersections in town with very large fountains. I then had a long walk up to Patriarchal Cathedral of Saints Constantine and Helena where there were a lot of churches but they were unfortunately closed.

My next walk was the longest of the day. The good news, though, was that the weather was actually perfect for once on this trip. The cool sixty-five degrees made it much easier to walk farther while I was feeling under the weather. I walked to Palace of Parliament which you could only tour with your passport on hand and a reservation beforehand. I can understand the reservation, but needing to keep a passport throughout a tour is a bit ridiculous. If Buckingham Palace didn’t need my passport I don’t think this one does. It was an easy decision to not do the palace as I didn’t have my passport on me (though it is the main attraction of the city), but I was glad to be able to see the outside of it from up close at least as it really was magnificent.

After the palace, I walked through a few parks (Parcul Izvor and Cişmigiu Park) on my way to The National Museum of Art of Romania. Both were beautiful and made the walk more enjoyable. When I arrived at The National Museum of Art of Romania it was also unfortunately closed. It was a very random closure too, as there was just a sign on the door that it was closed for three days. I did get to see Revolution Square which was out front, at least! After that stop, I made the walk back towards the hotel. I stopped across the street and had some really good gelato at Cremeria Emilia to end the day. I then got my bags and headed to take an Uber to the airport.

I was really glad to be able to see the city today even though I was unable to actually do some of the main attractions. I enjoyed getting a feel for Bucharest, seeing the architecture, and seeing the people as well. It was honestly probably best as I could go to the airport an hour early and make sure that I avoided potential traffic. It was really important that I made my flight to Oslo, as you can imagine there are not many non-stops from Bucharest! The airport was basic but fine and I found a place to sit and wait for a few hours. I had no idea what to expect coming into Romania. However, it was a unique European country and definitely beat my expectations! I really enjoyed my time in the country even though I was sick, and would love to come back someday.

When I landed in Oslo, Norway I took the train from the airport to the heart of the city (the National Theater stop) and then walked to my hotel, Scandic St. Olavs plass. I had an unfortunately short stay in Oslo due to my flight schedule but Scandic St. Olavs plass helped to make the few hours that I did have perfect! I was greeted with enthusiasm about my trip and I loved talking about it with the kind employee who was working the night shift! She gave me a great room that was really large and super comfortable. There were heated floors in the bathroom, a nice couch, and a window overlooking a really cool giant sculpture outside! I was exhausted and got such a great night's sleep before having to wake up super early and wish the same employee goodbye. Like I said, it was an unfortunately short trip! I wish I had had more time to explore the hotel and visit Oslo as it is one of my favorite cities. However, I’m very excited for Bergen tomorrow!

56 countries down, 140 to go.

To learn more about The Mansion click here.

To learn more about Scandic St. Olavs plass click here.