Falling in love with Europe.

Hubby and I recently came back from a 1.5wk tour of Europe. Each time we come back here, we fall more in love with Europe (vs our first time there together where we had thought US 10 times better vs Europe).  It wasn't quite for pleasure. I had to be in Athens for our annual cosmetics conference which was an amazing experience in itself. Mr M decided to come along to eat the gyros  'protect' me in case of any dangers that may come my way. So we thought why not make it an European holiday? This was our first time traveling without the kids since being pregnant with Makayla more than 3yrs ago!.

1st stop: Dubrovnik, Croatia
I've always wanted to go to Dubrovnik for its picturesque cliffs overlooking the sea. It is about 2.5hrs flight from London. The city reminded me a lot of certain places in Italy (Isola Bella) cross with Greek Islands (more so Mykonos). Everything about it was great except the food. The food there are all Italian influenced however it was no where near the quality or taste of Italy. It was rather quite a huge disappointment. The cost of a meal was similar to back home in Australia. A Main would set you btw $15-$33 (Depending on where you go).

 

2nd Stop: Berlin, Germany

I really loved Berlin. So much history yet blended with so much modern art. The Berliners are so artistic and really knows how to enjoy their outdoors and art. I absolutely loved shopping in Germany especially their scarves! Every Germans I see on the streets just know how to wear their scarf in all sorts of ways. They also have like over 1000 designs and every store you find sell scarves! I also love shopping in C&A for kids & women's clothing whenever I'm back in Germany (which is like a Mid-Tier department store). I don't know... there is something about Germany that makes me want to go back all the time. I think it's because I studied the language and its culture back in High School from Year 7-10 and it fascinates me when the text book finally comes to life! 

If you are ever in Berlin, make sure you do the Brewers Free Walking tour. Also shop at Primark at Alexander Platz for some great designs and yet cheap clothing as well as amazing collection for boys clothing!  oh yes and coffee in Berlin is also unsurprisingly good!! One of the best place we had coffee was at Einstein Kaffee which is a chain but they have really good coffee that doesn't taste like the chains! They also have the BEST Apple Strudel w the yummiest custard EVER at their Checkpoint Charlie branch. 

3rd Stop: Athens, Greece

Out of the 4 cities we went in Europe (London included), both Mr M & I agrees that Greece has the best and most tastiest food not to mention the cheapest too! We really had only 1 day to explore this ancient city given that I was attending my work conference for 3 days. So the best way to explore is to hop on their Sightseeing tour bus (red double decker ) which you can buy at Intercontinental hotel (where we stayed) at a discounted price.

Surprisingly we absolutely loved Acropolis. It's quite a walk to get up there but once there, the view is simply breathtaking!

 
The best Gyros in town has got to be in a restaurant called O'Thanasis in the heart of Monastraski. There are two O'Thananis restaurants so make sure you go to the one that sells gyros.  For 2.60euros, you can have a delicious pork or chicken (which was our fav on the right) gyros and slightly cheaper if you have a takeaway. The restaurant is very clean, fresh ingredients and most importantly the meat has a very nice charcoal (but not burnt) taste to it!

We then caught out flight from Athens to Dubai and by the favour of God, He helped upgrade Mr M's economy class ticket to business so that he could sit next to me! Gosh you should've seen his face! By the time we boarded the plane it was like 11:20pm and instead of going to sleep for 5hrs, Mr M was utilising everything in business class. When we finally got onto our next flight which was for 13hrs, Mr M was stuck in Economy and for the entire flight, he could not sleep. So when we got off our flight, I looked so fresh and awake (thank you flat beds on Emirates business!) while Mr M looked like he hadn't slept in 40yrs! too funny!

So that ends our 3rd time journey back to Europe together!