Dear Florence, I Love You: A Letter To My Study Abroad Home

Dear sweet city of Firenze, When I first arrived I was filled with butterflies and anxious feelings and nerves but was excited to see all you had to offer. Soaking in the lavish and stately Duomo for the first time nearly took my breath away. I could stare into the depths of the beauty and…

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The Complete Guide to Munich Springfest

Springfest. Fruhlingsfest. “Mini Oktoberfest.” No matter what you call it, this springtime beer festival is filled with delicious beer, traditional Bavarian foods, and fun. Though this Munich festival is not as well known or as large as Oktoberfest, but it is certainly worth a trip (find my complete guide on Oktoberfest here). Naturally, I was excited to…

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How To: Easy DIY Springfest & Oktoberfest Flower Crown

This fall, I experienced Oktoberfest for the first time and had one of the best days of my life. Seriously, it was like Disneyland for adults. (Check out my complete guide to Oktoberfest here!) To help get myself in the spirit of the festival, I made a DIY flower crown, which I promptly lost on a…

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Gargoyles, Chimera, & Fantastic Views: Visiting Notre-Dame de Paris

“Great edifices, like great mountains, are the work of the ages.” ―Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame Notre-Dame de Paris, or “Our Lady of Paris,” is certainly one of the world’s “great edifices,” as Victor Hugo points out in his 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and last month I was fortunate enough to…

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A Perfect Weekend Getaway Discovering Tuscany’s Val d’Orcia

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love living in Florence, however every once in a while I desperately crave some time outside of the tourist filled, busy city (with a serious lack of trees and nature I might add). This past week I finally had enough of the crowds and seemingly incessant winter rain, and realized…

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7 Signs It’s Tourist Season in Florence, Italy

Brace yourselves: the tourists are coming! In case you haven’t noticed, the weather is absolutely beautiful (finally!) and with the better weather comes something Florence is famous for…tourists. Each year, this bustling and historic city receives over 13 million visitors, particularly during the spring and summer months. For those who live in the city, come spring…

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Surprising Slovenia: Stunning Street Art in Ljubljana

I’ll admit, when I first arrived in Ljubljana, exhausted from a long week and a weekend of traveling around Croatia, I had relatively low expectations of Slovenia’s capital city. I was tired, a little crabby, and Slovenia wasn’t exactly on my list of “must see places” in Europe. However, within instants of arriving, my opinion…

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