Oh Switzerland! You beauty!

I met Bianca December 2004 on an exchange program in her beautiful town of Tamins just outside of Chur. It is hard to believe that we have known each other, and managed to stay in contact, for almost eight years.  So, when I found out I would be living in Europe I just knew that I would have to take some time to visit Bianca and her incredible family in their gorgeous corner of the world.

Three incredible stops in Austria!

I have been to both Graz and Salzburg before but it was in the winter time. It is incredible just how different a place can be in the summer. We don't have such contrasts in South Africa. The winter is cold and a bit drier but things, for the most part, look the same. Europe goes through these big seasonal changes and consequently visiting the same place in a different season gives you a whole new experience.

Slovenia!

I was fortunate enough to get to see a lot of Slovenia, a slow paced Eastern Europe country! Starting near the Austrian border in Maribor I was already charmed by the good weather and scenery. Things got better as I moved toward the slow moving capital and then to the iddy biddy little stretch of Slovenian coast!

Hungarian Surprise

Hungary surprised me. I had no idea how awesome it was going to be. To be honest I hadn't heard much about the place at all and having never ventured into Eastern Europe before I didn't really no what to expect. But the one great thing about no expectations is that they are always surpassed and in the case of Hungary they went far far beyond!

Around the Sound

Travelling around Sweden isn't the cheapest thing in the world. And wanting to go across the Oresund Bridge to get some of the action happening in Denmark is even more expensive. So what to do?

Make a trip of it!!!

Going via train return to Copenhagen from Lund will cost you roughly 216SEK but if you buy the Around the Sound ticket it will cost you 249SEK so why buy the Around the Sound ticket? Here's why:

• You get unlimited travel in Southern Sweden and Denmark for a full two days
• It's the perfect excuse to go away for the weekend
• You get to take the train in one direction and the super awesome ferry in another
• And, when the weather is good its amazing just how much you can see in two days!

When my friend Karolina was here we decided to make use of this pretty sweet deal and see how much we could see. This is what we managed to do: