Travel Blur: A Long Weekend in Liechtenstein & Portugal

September 28, 2018November 17, 2020 / karaknick / Leave a comment

SEPTEMBER 26-30, 2018

Looking back, 2018 was one of my craziest travel years to date. I’d just ended the last day of 2017 in Belize, spent a whirlwind long weekend in between Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmö, Sweden, a month later jetted off to Mexico with friends I’d met in Belize, spent two perfect weeks in June studying poetry in the heart of Dublin, Ireland, welcomed July in Colorado and ended it in Maine, spent my birthday in Puerto Rico, stepped back in time in Havana, Cuba in August, and that’s what brings me here: a slice of time from September to October when I was so lucky to visit two AMAZING countries: Liechtenstein and Portugal. (I ended the year by dipping into Panama City, Panama & then dipping my toes into the beaches of Curaçao, but that’s for another post.)

My friend Sarah, who I met through my friend & coworker Debra, was also a passionate traveler and was working and living in Europe at the time. We had talked about meeting up somewhere in the world, but it just felt like a far-off venture that probably wouldn’t work out.
Until, it did.
We both had been wanting to go to Portugal, and miraculously our schedules aligned! I took a couple days before arriving in Portugal to meet up with my friend Cathy, who I had met in my MFA program. Cathy lives in Liechtenstein with her family and had often told me of the gorgeous mountain views she saw on her early morning hikes, but experiencing it with her was another thing. Putting on our sweatshirts and shoes in the dark, we climbed up the hills, past farms and pastures, and watched the sun come over the town below.

While I was there, Cathy brought me to her son’s school to speak to the kids about poetry. I didn’t realize how nervous I would be- I have no clue how to be in front of middle schoolers, y’all. I know how important poetry is, and what it means to me, but how could I ever relate that to a group of eleven year olds? Regardless, I was so honored she had invited me.

Cathy took me to the Werdenberg Castle, showed me Vaduz and the art in Städtle, but my favorite place was her kitchen, right in the heart of her home with the big picture windows, sitting with a glass of white wine and laughing.

After our short time together, I caught a flight to meet up with Sarah, and we set out to see as much as possible in two of Portugal’s most beautiful cities, Lisbon and Porto.

We started out in Lisbon, one of the oldest cities in Europe, and it did not disappoint!

Lisbon highlights:

Ponte 25 de Abril suspension bridge
Jerónimos monastery
Torre de Belém
pastéis de nata
Tram 28/funiculars
Mercado da Ribeira (market)
Alfama District (hill, old town)
Rossio Square/Pedro IV Square (peoplewatching, eating/drinking)
the Bairro Alto (nightlife)
the Padrão dos Descobrimentos
LX Factory
Check out all of the amazing street art, too!

OOH, we also took a day trip to Sintra/Pena Palace/Cascais, which is gorgeous and I would definitely recommend:

We packed a lot of fun into Lisbon, but nothing could prepare us for what the cobblestone streets of Portugal’s second largest city, (known for its port wine production) would lead us down…

We drank as much of the city in as we could ❤

Porto highlights:

The Cais da Ribeira/ Luís I Bridge
Clérigos Tower
Avenida dos Aliados
Graham’s Port Lodge
Teleférico de Gaia – Estação Cais de Gaia
Funicular dos Guindais
Croft Port
Muralha Primitiva
Pillory of Porto
Igreja dos Clérigos
Igreja do Carmo
Praça de Lisboa
São Bento Station (beautiful station from the 1800s)
Câmara Municipal do Porto (city hall)

Full transparency, there aren’t a ton of photos from Porto due to the many glasses of wine you see pictured above.

Some memories you can’t capture 🙂 I had the time of my life with Sarah and I’m SO glad it worked out for us to cross off a bucketlist destination together.

Portugal, you’re more beautiful than I could’ve imagined. Your landscape, architecture, seafood, and of course, wine, are still spinning in my head.

xoxo,

Weekend Warriors

May 27, 2018May 29, 2018 / karaknick / Leave a comment

Last weekend I took a trip to Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, with some friends for a little getaway. The weather finally broke and it was a beautiful day for hiking and being out on the water, which is just what we did.

After a couple miles of hiking in the morning, we cooled off by the lake.

It was my first time here, and I loved every minute of it. Just a short two hours from Pittsburgh, there truly is something for everyone, whether you’re looking for adventure or just to relax in nature. We also did the Mountain Coaster, which was thrilling!

As the sun rose higher in the sky, we opted to go paddle boarding. I’d never been before and have terrible balance, so I was interested to see how I’d do. It was a blast, and honestly easier than I expected. We also jumped off the dock and went swimming.

On the way back to Pennsylvania, we stopped at Mountain State Brewery for some firewood flatbread pizzas and craft beer. With all these state parks right at our fingertips, there’s no excuse to not get out and enjoy them, especially if you don’t have the luxury of vacation days. I’ll definitely be back!

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DOPEnhagen

February 17, 2018March 2, 2018 / karaknick / 1 Comment

Q: What do you get when you gather seven friends, set them loose in a historic capital city, subtract your worries, multiply Carlsbergs and explored streets, and add in another country border crossing?

A: An unforgettable weekend.

My first impression of Copenhagen was that it reminded me somewhat of Amsterdam: the canals, the amount of bicycles, art and architecture, etc. But the Danish and the Dutch are quite different!

Our first stop was Nyhavn, the famous canal with brightly colored waterfront homes, shopping, restaurants, and more. We stopped for some smørrebrød before continuing past the wooden ships in the harbor.

Nyhavn

On the way to the iconic Little Mermaid statue, we stumbled upon St. Alban’s Church and the picturesque landscape surrounding it.

The city itself was very walkable, and public transportation was also convenient. I got the tourist card for 72 hours at the airport, which came in handy for the metro, buses, and trains. By the end of the afternoon, we made a final stop at Tivoli Gardens, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew it was an amusement park, but it was the middle of February. Surely nothing would be open and running. Wrong. Not only was this park a winter wonderland with its beautiful and brightly shining lights, but it was quite the happening place! We went for a ride on the antique roller coaster, screaming with delight as it whipped around corners and cut through the night.

Tivoli- winter wonderland

The next day, we wandered Strøget window shopping and climbed Rundertaarn, a round tower with an incredible view of the city, as seen below:

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Other notable sights: Amalienborg Palace, Christiansborg Palace and the Renaissance-era Rosenborg Castle.

Sunday afternoon, we took a train to Malmö, Sweden.

It was awesome to spend the afternoon in another country, wandering the city squares, stopping for a drink, and seeking out the Turning Torso tower.

We saw Stortorget, the oldest square, and got our bearings as we searched for the next café or landmark destination.

All of the locals we encountered in both countries were exceptionally helpful and friendly. It only added to the already charming cities.

Our final stop was Öresund Bridge, which was a breathtaking view as the sunset stretched across the sky. I’ve never seen such beautiful blue and peach hues. Crazy how many moments you want to bottle up just so you could relive them again.

After arriving back in Copenhagen, we explored Christiana (Freetown) in the dark, which was really trippy, but such an interesting place.

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If you ever get the opportunity to go, I can’t recommend it enough. Truly Dopenhagen. This was without a doubt a weekend for the books!

Until next time,

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AmsterDAMNNNNN

December 8, 2017December 8, 2017 / karaknick / Leave a comment

You guys, I just got back from one of the most fun trips of my LIFE! I flew to Amsterdam last week and took full advantage of my short time there.

Some quick highlights:

Van Gogh & Rijksmuseum

I Amsterdam sign

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Vondelpark- I stayed right near this gorgeous place.

Heineken Experience- this was a BLAST. Tour of the brewery, boat ride to A’Dam, interactive experiences, bottling your own beer, everything!

A’Dam Lookout- come onnnnn, more like AmsterDAMN.

Over the Edge- because why not?

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Anne Frank House- Truly an eye-opening and overwhelming experience to tour this annex and learn about this incredible young woman’s life and how her words have impacted us.

Dutch Pancakes & Coffee

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Floating Market

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Canal Tour- By the way, 12,000-15,000 of these bad boys get pulled out of the canals every year!

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Light Festival- so, so beautiful! Photographs don’t do justice. From November 30-January 21st, so I definitely picked the right time to go!

(These are just Christmas lights- but still, how spectacular?!)

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Dam Square

Here, you can see bubbles in front of the Grand Palace.

Jordaan/Leidseplein neighborhoods

Red Light District

I made fast friends with these lovely lads from Ireland and we had an amazing night out!

I also got to see the charming countryside of the Netherlands:

Zaandam- Behind me is the only working mill in the world that still makes paint.

Volendam

Cheese tasting is awesome. Until you’re a solid ten minutes in…

I tried kibbeling here, too. Delicious!

Marken

Wooden shoes, anyone?

And I’ll leave you all with this bathroom stall wisdom from Friday night:

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Catch you wildly beautiful people somewhere in the world next time!

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A Scotland Escape

October 12, 2017November 3, 2017 / karaknick / Leave a comment

I’m sure you guys have all heard by now of WOW, the low-budget airline that flies to Europe. I decided to take advantage of their deals and flew to Scotland at the end of September. I had a friend, Kayla, (you might remember her from my Morocco trip) who was living in Glasgow and attending the University there, so it was a no-brainer.

I arrived Friday morning, September 29th and took a bus from Edinburgh to Glasgow to meet Kayla. Once we dropped my bags off at her flat, we set out to explore.

Stroll along the River Kelvin.

One of the first stops was her school, the University of Glasgow. It was a dream- the architecture reminded me of Hogwarts. I was surprised to learn it is one of the oldest universities in the English-speaking world!

Next, we stopped into Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, where I was equal parts creeped out and amazed by this display of heads:

Taking a break at Tantrum Doughnuts for a sweet treat.

We also saw the breathtaking botanic gardens and made it indoors right before a downpour. Luckily, it passed over us quickly, and we were surprisingly blessed with great weather the rest of the weekend.

Saturday, September 30th- Trying to fit in as much as possible, we opted to do a tour of the famous Scottish highlands, complete with Glencoe, Oban, and castles!

Lovely Loch Lomond.

Beautiful grounds of Inveraray Castle

Though I didn’t get a picture, the Highland cattle were also amazing to see!

Oban- place of the best fish sandwich.

Kilchurn Castle

Like a painting.

Sunday, October 1- We took the train to Edinburgh for more sightseeing- Arthur’s Seat, Calton Hill, The Elephant House (coffee shop where J.K. Rowling wrote), Greyfriars Bobby memorial, Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, etc. The sun even made an appearance!

How magical is this place?!

And that’s a weekend wrap! From the cultural vibes of Glasgow, to the glens and lochs of the Highlands, to the charming, winding streets of Edinburgh…this whole trip was a dream.

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72 Hours in the Queen City

April 6, 2017April 21, 2017 / karaknick / Leave a comment

It seems that I have a thing for visiting cities and making the most of them even if it’s less than 72 hours, and Charlotte was no different.

I love North Carolina, but this was my first time in the Queen City. I was finally visiting and reuniting with my best friend Stephanie who moved there last year.

Here’s how it went down:

I arrived Friday night, planned to go to a food truck festival with live music, but it was chilly (AKA, about 50ish degrees) so we opted for drinks at Fahrenheit with spectacular city rooftop views and followed those with a mouthwatering-ly fresh dinner at Sea Level instead.

Delish!

Surrounded by bright city lights, we left the restaurant and walked around town. I was in awe of the skyscrapers. We were in the midst of the most beautiful hotels, museums, theaters, and modern banks. (After all, it is the second largest banking center in the U.S..) Although I didn’t have time to check these out, Charlotte is also home to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the Mint Museum, among others.

Saturday morning, Steph and I set out to hike Crowders Mountain, a state park in Gaston County (roughly 30-40 minutes outside the city). The two peaks, Crowders Mountain and The Pinnacle, offered a bit of a challenging hike, but we were rewarded with this view upon reaching the top.

Hawks soared peacefully through the sky, the sunshine warmed our already flushed faces, and the gentle breeze cooled the sweat on our skin. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. Capturing it was impossible, so we put our phones away and focused on appreciating life in that moment.

Later that evening, we headed to the Spectrum Center for a Hornets game! Although I’ll always be a Knicks fan, I was pumped for my first Hornets game and to check out the Spectrum Center. We got a Cam Newton bobble-head the moment we walked through the door. The Hornets were playing the Washington Wizards and although it was an edge-of-your-seat game, the Hornets took home the win that night with a final score of 98-93!

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Girls Night Out!

The next morning, we walked around the gorgeous neighborhood of Cotswold. One of the things I instantly liked about Charlotte was that the city was spread out among all these smaller neighborhoods, and each neighborhood had its own unique charm. We then headed to brunch at ToastCafe. I can’t remember loving brunch any more than I did in that moment, sipping hot coffee in that wooden booth. I opted for the Raspberry Walnut flapjacks, and knew I made the right decision as soon as I sank my teeth into the warm dish. An interesting concept about the cafe is that “every server is your server,” so we didn’t see the same waiter/waitress twice! Everyone took care of us.

The one instance where I regret not photographing my food.

All too soon, it was time for me to return to Pittsburgh. Although we crossed off some items on Steph’s restaurant bucket list and climbed a mountain, I realized in those short three days that Charlotte really has so much to offer (no matter who you are or what you’re into) and I didn’t even begin to scratch the surface! That just means another trip is in order…

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