Too Square to be Hip
A narcissist's guide to travel and culture
2022 Update Upon my 2022 revisiting of the city I retract my comment. Bratislava is actually not glum at all, in summer the city really comes alive and surely is one of the quaintest small capitals in Europe. My esteem for both the friendly Slovak people and their capital (but not just their capital, the …
Slow down, you crazy child And take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile It’s all right, you can afford to lose a day or two When will you realize, Vienna waits for you? Vienna, Billy Joel – The Stranger (1977) Vienna, the capital of Austria, is a place that has enchanted the …
I had arrived in Vienna from Graz and was just about to take a quick nap when my hostel roommate walked in. We began talking and she mentioned how exhausted she was from her day trip. I asked where she had been and she mentioned the Wachau Valley. Intrigued I asked her more about it …
Plovdiv was designated as European Capital of Culture in 2014 to great fanfare, for the 2019 edition of the event. This prestigious award meant that the city had come full circle. In 1999, exactly 20 years prior, it hosted the European month of culture. At this time, the city was a relatively unknown location to …
Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria, is a city often overlooked by travellers. Seen by some as a drab post-communist town with decaying gray facades, it is actually a great place to start your Bulgarian adventures. Although it is not my favourite city by any means, it has much to offer to any traveller including …
I left Hostel Mostel in Sofia on a bus headed for the mountainous highlands of Rila. The road to the national park is a modern paved highway called the A3, the road is smooth and, a little hungover, I closed my eyes. When I woke, the flat landscape had given way an imposing mountain range. …
I must admit, I was not particularly excited to visit Tirana, the capital city of Albania. I was however curious about it. I had decided to visit after hearing of ex-mayor Edi Rama’s art project to turn the drab communist concrete city into a multicoloured painted wonderland. Furthermore, I had heard good things from other …
Berat is a central Albanian town with a big reputation. Often referred to as “The City of a Thousand Windows” or alternatively “The City of Two Thousand Steps”, the city is one of the best preserved examples of Ottoman Era military architecture, an honour it gladly shares with its sister city of Gjirokaster to the …
Epirus, a harsh mountainous region stretching from Berat in Albania into the heartland of northern Greece at Ioannina, is a territory that has captured to imagination of adventurous types for centuries. In ancient times, these mystical highlands played host to a Greek oracle, as famous as the one at Delphi, and a proud mountain people …
The Pink Palace I was picked up at the airport by the Pink Palace van, a bright pink vehicle branded with the hostel name. The driver was a well humoured greekman, with a great sense of humour, that just referred to me as “Canadian Boy”. On this bus I met a bunch of American exchange …
