Getting Around Istanbul
Guide Mike Guide Mike

Getting Around Istanbul

Istanbul is a giant city divided by two rivers and often plagued by traffic. Get the low down on all the transport options available we tried during our 10 days there: trams, ferries, metro, taxies, etc.

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Karousing in Kadıköy
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Karousing in Kadıköy

Kadıköy was the perfect neighborhood for the first part of our stay in Istanbul, with its abundance of lively cafes during the day and vibrant, restaurant-filled streets at night. This part of Istanbul has warmth and spirit bursting from every nook and cranny.

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Beach Town in Wind-Down: Two Weeks in Sarandë
Travel Masha and Mike Travel Masha and Mike

Beach Town in Wind-Down: Two Weeks in Sarandë

Mike had wanted to see what it’s like to live in a beach town, and he certainly got his wish with Sarandë. But as the last of the tourists left town and restaurant after restaurant closed, we started thinking, what are we doing here? That is, until we met the local and expat community, discovered turquoise beaches, got seriously into jiu-jitsu, jet skied in the sea — and generally created our own vibe.

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A Roman Holiday
Travel Mike Travel Mike

A Roman Holiday

We tour the iconic landmarks of Rome, then switch it up with a stay in Villa Borghese with Alexander Pushkin and the runaway trolley.

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A Foodie’s Fancy Feasts: Ljubljana
Masha Masha

A Foodie’s Fancy Feasts: Ljubljana

Ljubljana was a culinary delight, and the subject of my first installment of a travel food series - A Foodie’s Fancy Feasts! Check out our favorite places to eat in Ljubljana, the best things to get there and whether they are family friendly and/or special occasion places.

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Barreling through the Birthplace of the Renaissance
Travel Masha and Mike Travel Masha and Mike

Barreling through the Birthplace of the Renaissance

Florence was our first stop on a whirlwind tour of central Italy where we abandoned any pretense of “slow travel” and went into hyper-tourist mode.

Check out our romp through this beautiful city, the beneficiary of the most generous gift in history.

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An Ode to Sorrento, of Sorts
Travel Mike Travel Mike

An Ode to Sorrento, of Sorts

Italy’s Campania region is chock-full of evocative names — Sorrento, Amalfi coast, Vesuvius, Pompeii, Capri. Even when you can’t quite place the name, they have an exotic, intriguing ring. Thus, we decided to brave the crowds and spent five days exploring the Sorrento peninsula.

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Bologna the Fat
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Bologna the Fat

Bologna the Red, they call it, the Learned, and of course, Bologna the Fat. In our two weeks we did come across some fantastic culinary experiences!

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Bologna, Where Everybody Knows your Name
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Bologna, Where Everybody Knows your Name

For our longest stay in Italy, we chose Bologna, a place renown for its food. It was a nice change of pace to have our own bread monger and cheese monger, and to be repeat customers in cute local shops. The relative lack of tourists give the city an air of calm and authenticity.

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Sunday Afternoon Malaise on the Road
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Sunday Afternoon Malaise on the Road

Long term travel amplifies many tendencies and vulnerabilities. If you're as sensitive to rain and bad weather as myself, when you're away from your favorite comforts and friends, the lazy patter of rain against the roof with a background of general greyness can be suffocating.

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The Tyrol Talent Show
Travel Mike Travel Mike

The Tyrol Talent Show

We rounded out our cultural program in Innsbruck with a concert of local folk music, song, and dance. More kitschy than I could have imagined, it was also a glorious exhibition of musical ingenuity.

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Touring Tyrol, Austria
Travel Masha and Mike Travel Masha and Mike

Touring Tyrol, Austria

To escape (yet another) imminent heat wave, we changed our plans at the last moment and, instead of north Italy, took a train to Innsbruck, Austria, a true Alpine city in the Tyrol region.

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Bled and Bohinj
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Bled and Bohinj

There’s few more famous landmarks in Slovenia than lake Bled. But of course, if you ask most Slovenians they will scoff at it --“Tourist trap!” — and praise the nearby Bohinj. Having over a month at our disposal, we went to see both and to attempt to summit Bohinj’s Vogel peak.

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EV in EU
Travel Mike Travel Mike

EV in EU

When it came time to rent a car for our biggest trip from Ljubljana, we opted to rent an electric one. We were promised a 300+ km range, more than enough to get to Venice, where our Airbnb was to be awash with charging stations. What could go wrong?

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