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July 2015 travel re-cap: former favorites, friends, and the French life

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Let’s completely ignore the fact that I’m more than two months behind, shall we, and jump right into this. So here is a quick little July travel recap…. errr… at the beginning of October. (And don’t be surprised if you see re-caps for August & September real soon too).

June 30 – July 7: Wroclaw, Poland

July was a really good month in a lot of ways. For one, we started the month with a week in Wroclaw, one of my favorite cities in the world!

1. Wroclaw town hall // 2. Polish breakfast at Bernards! // 3. pierogis at Pierogarnia // 4. when in Wroclaw... go gnome hunting

1. Wroclaw town hall // 2. Polish breakfast at Bernards! // 3. pierogis at Pierogarnia // 4. a resident Wroclaw gnome

We had spent 4 days in this city last summer and fell in love with it (okay… maybe i should say we fell in love with one certain restaurant) so much that I knew we had to return this year. I’m proud of us that we made it a point to eat at different restaurants this time, though you can bet that Pierogarnia was part of the regular rotation. 

We didn’t do much in Wroclaw aside from (sometimes twice) daily ice cream cones and gnome hunting around the square. But for anyone looking for tourist tips, I can offer this: the Racławicka Panorama is absolutely breathtaking and worth every penny to see.

July 7 – 9: Kraków, Poland

We made a quick two day stop in Kraków because we needed to fly out of the airport. This visit was short, but we had fun revisiting old favorites and discovering some new ones. Kraków is never a bad idea!

1. Krakow market square // 2. Polish breakfast // 3. daily ice cream! // 4. arches by the Cloth Hall

1. Krakow market square // 2. Polish breakfast // 3. daily ice cream! // 4. arches by the Cloth Hall

July 9 – August 5: Lyon, France

And then we were finally in Lyon! A place we’ve been dreaming of ever since seeing Bourdain’s episode featuring this city. And yes, the reason we wanted come here was purely because of its reputation as France’s gastronomical capital. What else is new?

Lyon street

our street right next to the river!


Lyon 1

beautiful Lyon streets


Lyon view at Fourviere

view over Lyon from Fourviere

It wasn’t long before we settled into the French life. We both instantly loved Lyon with its friendly locals, slower pace, and of course, the to-die-for food. We quickly scoped out our favorite neighborhood boulangerie, fromagerie, charcuterie, and boucherie. With so much good, fresh food, we opted to go back on the 4-hour body diet and cook ourselves most of the days.

On cheat days, we went nuts with baguettes and pastries. And of course, we had to check out a couple of the renowned bouchons (I absolutely can’t wait to write about those!).

1. an assortment of charcuterie and cheeses // 2. French pastries! // 3. macarons from Voisin // 4. traditional Lyonnaise bouchon food

1. an assortment of charcuterie and cheeses // 2. French pastries! // 3. macarons from Voisin // 4. traditional Lyonnaise bouchon food

Lyon was a lovely city, but what made it really special and fun was the fact that for the first time ever since we started traveling, we had friends (aside from family). Real friends! People we can get to know and hang out with more than just once!

On our second day there, we met another young entrepreneur couple who had just arrived in Lyon as well. What started out as an early evening meeting turned into a night of bar hopping and good conversation until we found ourselves closing down the bar (not that it’s hard to do in Lyon… as bars close at 1 am). It was great to connect with people who believed in the same lifestyle and had similar views and goals. Together, we explored the city, from the bouchons to the nightlife.

Friends in Lyon

And together, we rented a car and took a day trip to Geneva, Switzerland, stopping at Annecy on the way.

Annecy was the one of cutest, most picturesque towns I’ve ever laid my eyes on:

Annecy 1Annecy 2

Geneva, on the other hand, was… completely dead on the day we visited. Not sure if there was a holiday that day, but nothing seemed to be open and we couldn’t find anything to do. Before long, we were headed back to Lyon to end the night at our favorite spots.

Geneva 1 Geneva 2

Two things I learned from having travel friends that month: 1) you spend a lot more money , and 2) you drink a lot more (those Europeans… :P). But I’m joking. No one ever complains about drinking too much wine, do they, and going slightly over budget was completely worth it for the good company.

I know I always say that leaving a place is hard, but this time, it wasn’t so much the place that was hard to say goodbye to, but the people. Having friends made a strange city feel a little more like home, like it was a place we could belong to. I still have a lot to share about Lyon, so keep an eye out for more detailed posts!

And stayed tuned for the August re-cap coming soon!

I know I’m super late with these re-caps, so tell me, where did you go this summer? And how do you make friends while traveling (especially as a couple)?


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