I stayed my first night in the airport, again because I didn’t want to spend $50 on a taxi and wait for public transport in the morning! I roamed the city early Sunday morning before the sun came up and enjoyed a great day of church. My couchsurfing hosts were great and showed me the city. I cooked them an AMERICAN bacon cheeseburger! I really liked the city’s vibe, highly recommend a visit!

Duration

4 days

Accommodation

Couchsurfing (3 nights), Airport (1 night)

Favorite Food

Calamari sandwich

Favorite Site

Retiro Park

Cool Person I Met

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I knew nothing about Poland or Warsaw prior to this visit. The city’s architecture felt bland, while the people were vibrant. Later on, I learned about the difficult history involving World War 2. 95% of Warsaw was destroyed (rebuilt with a communist style) and the most Jews were killed in this city. I stayed at a church building and enjoyed some wonderful time with other Christians my age. I consider Warsaw historically rich and architecturally okay.

Duration

3 days

Accommodation

Believers house (2 nights)

Favorite Food

Fried dumplings with bacon gravy

Favorite Site

The Jews in Poland museum

Cool Person I Met

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I arrived to Budapest on a Flix bus at night and my host brought me to his flat using public transport. We stayed on the Buda side and I explored the Pest side the next day. Buda + Pest = Budapest :), the two capitals of Hungary. The pointy buildings and bridges reminded me of Prague (not as great though, in my opinion). Climbing the Buda castle and seeing the city view behind the Fishers Gate was breathtaking. Meeting with other Christians and locals was most memorable. One guy introduced me to froccs (wine with bubbly water).

Duration

3 days

Accommodation

Believer’s home (3 nights)

Favorite Food

Turkey breast stuffed with chicken liver

Favorite Site

Fishers Gate

Cool Person I Met

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I landed in Vienna after talking to an entrepreneur on the plane from Istanbul. This was the first time in one month I felt cool air! I arrived to my host home and enjoyed some conversation about the church situation in Vienna. The next day I toured the main sites of the city. Vienna is known for their sausage, Mozart, and museums just to name a few.

I spent hours riding a bike around the city the next two days. Bikes cost one euro to set up an account and is free as long as you return the bike to another station within an hour, if not then they charge one euro an hour! I nearly crashed many times and wobbled so much. After all, I’ve only rode a bike once or twice in the last eight years… I spontaneously decided to buy a ten euro ticket to Bratislava for sight-seeing and a church meeting. A wonderful decision!

Duration

3 days + 1 day in Bratislava

Accommodation

Missionary’s home (3 nights), believer’s home (1 night)

Favorite Food

Halusky (dumplings with sheep cheese and bacon)

Favorite Site

Schonbrunn Palace

Cool Person I Met

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I enjoyed a döner kebab upon arrival and met my Couchsurf host. We went out for a typical Turkish night of eating, drinking, and talking that lasted 5 hours. My host and two friends came back that night to music in the living room (where my couch to sleep was) until 3am. What a fun, interesting (& sleepless) night!

I hurried around the city and walked 15 miles the next day to see the main sites, eat some food, and meet with a local. This was the second time I’ve ever been inside a mosque (first time was in Izmir). I really enjoyed walking around Istanbul and would like to return. I recommend that if someone visits there, he or she goes for at least 3 days. There is a lot to see and absorb and doing that in a short time can be hard.

Duration

2 days

Accommodation

Couchsurfing (2 nights)

Favorite Food

Lamb, lentils, salad, and pita bread

Favorite Site

Blue mosque

Cool Person I Met

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I would’ve never visited Thessaloniki, had it not been for a friend who gave the recommendation, and connected me with some believers to provide hospitality. I’m so glad I was able to experience a city that Paul wrote two letters to 2,000 years ago. Sure, the city is much more developed now… but I still appreciated the Roman ruins and other historical places. I also enjoyed walking the city and mingling with local Greeks.

Next, I flew to Izmir to stay with a friend I met in Amsterdam. He showed me the Turkish way by “properly” crossing the street, eating local food, and just hanging out. Izmir is the location of ancient Smyrna mentioned in Revelation chapter 2. Izmir is a port city with two sides of the city split by the Aegean sea. I took a day trip to the ancient city Ephesus next to Selcuk. Ephesus is the most impressive archaeological site I’ve ever seen, even more so than Rome and Athens (in my opinion). I felt like an Ephesian 2,000 years ago walking along the ancient street. I enjoyed finding Biblical references to Ephesus from Paul as I explored the city.

Duration

6 days

Accommodation

Believer’s house (2 nights) and Couchsurfing (4 nights)

Favorite Food

Turkish mix pizza

Favorite Site

Celsus Library

Cool Person I Met

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I landed in Athens around midnight and decided it was best to stay the night at the airport to save money and use the wifi. In the morning, I went to my hostel and explored the city. Wow… 5,000 years of history in one city. Aside from the ancient artifacts and buildings, I noticed Greece has peculiarities rarely found elsewhere. The iced coffee is amazing (and only 1.5 euros), 99.99% of Greeks are orthodox (apparently the priest speak ancient Greek, which not many people understand), and the history is rich in the arts and sciences, which has impacted the entire world.

I tried greek yogurt, gyros, and coffee (with a nice layer of grinds on the bottom). The culture is quite warm and expressive. The few Greeks I interacted with can talk! Going to the acropolis and other archeological sites was breathtaking. I also enjoyed visiting the ancient university, which was where Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle formulated their philosophical concepts. Athens is the cradle of western civilization. I recommend everyone who is interested in modern society to visit Athens. It’s awesome!

Duration

3 days

Accommodation

Hostel (3 nights)

Favorite Food

Chicken gyro

Favorite Site

The Acropolis

Cool Person I Met

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I made it to Dubrovnik after an incredibly long night on a ferry, spent trying to sleep on an awkward chair while people sang and danced around me. My host was waiting outside the gate and held up a paper with my name on it. After settling in, we went to meet someone from the church and then relaxed on the beach. I found the university and spent the rest of the night relaxing.

Over the next two days, I explored the old town, climbed up a mountain to enjoy the view, met with two other believers my age, joined a prayer meeting, and tried some Croatian cuisine. The old town is quite unique and small compared to other cities. It’s a must-see, but can be experienced in a shorter time-frame. Of course, I was fascinated to see so much tourism with Star Wars and Game of Thrones!

Duration

3 days

Accommodation

Missionary’s flat (3 nights)

Favorite Food

Tuna sandwich

Favorite Site

Old city castle walls

Cool Person I Met

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I arrived to Santorini at 2am and spent another overnight in the airport haha. However, I woke up to an incredible sun rising on an island! This place is quite amazing. I spent the first day walking uphill the famous route through the center of the island, Thera. The island has literally hundreds of white-washed church buildings with the typical three solid-blue domes. I found the Three Bells Church, the Skaros Rock, and finally went to my host’s flat after enjoying a pastry.

It was so sunny and beautiful each day. I spent a few hours on one of the many beaches, which all happen to have black sand (the sand isn’t quite sand, but rather tiny pebbles). I walked through the ancient cities Akrotiri and Thera, enjoyed some more views, and met some people. I also experienced my first, second, third, and fourth time hitchhiking in Santorini! The island only has a few roads and is prime for hitchhiking, which is far safer than it sounds! I highly recommend this beautiful place. If only, my dearest Devon was with me! Maybe we’ll go for our anniversary in the future .

Duration

3 days

Accommodation

Couchsurfing (2 nights)

Favorite Food

Greek Falafel

Favorite Site

Imerovigli

Cool Person I Met

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Rome! I made it on a 10 euro train from Florence. I walked around the city, explored a University, jumped on random buses, and found the way to my couchsurfing host’s flat. He doesn’t speak English so we communicated through Google Translate! Anyway, he was a very hospitable guy and gave me his keys, wanting me to enjoy the city. The next morning I walked through the Roman ruins, Colosseum, explored a few church buildings (apparently there are 3,000 in Rome), and arrived to my walking tour after eating a 4 euro pasta/wine lunch. Both tours I took started at the Spanish Steps with the first one ending at the Colosseum and the second one ending at the Vatican. I’m so impressed how Rome is literally built on top of itself and people have been living in the same area for almost 3,000 years. 20 meters deep you’ll find ancient ruins and our tour guide expressed that “the pantheon is not archeology, like the Parthenon in Greece, but is living in Italy’. Rome was truly not built over night.

I ate a nice lasagna lunch with students from Washington University and we toured the Vatican museum at night. So I didn’t know anything about the Vatican museum before entering, but was thoroughly impressed. However, the grand finale left me speechless. The Sistine Chapel is without a doubt the most beautiful work of art I’ve ever seen. My neck felt broken after staring for 45 minutes. I didn’t know where to begin looking. I highly recommend you see this work if you visit Rome. The next day I relaxed, ate a canoli, some pizza, walked around the city a bit more, and caught up on some work. So much more I could’ve shared… Rome is amazing!!

Duration

3 days

Accommodation

Couchsurfing (4 nights)

Favorite Food

Pizza!

Favorite Site

Sistine Chapel

Cool Person I Met

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