We flew into Chisinau not really knowing what to expect, and we were pleasantly surprised! The city doesn’t have many highlights, but there are some great restaurants and bars around.
For dinner we went to Gastrobar, a great place serving modern Middle Eastern cuisine, with plenty of veggie options. Make sure to reserve a table in advance. Dinner for two including drinks and tip for 1,000MDL.
We also visited Propaganda, a popular restaurant with quirky decor serving yummy food. A light dinner for two including drinks and top for 400MDL.
Wine: Moldovan wine is amazing and very cheap! Most restaurants and bars have a great wine list and you can find a good selection in supermarkets too.
Stay: We stayed in one of these apartments. It was spotless and ideally located.
One of the few places remaining for us to visit in Europe was Liechtenstein, so we flew into Zurich for the weekend to check it out.
We were really impressed by the food in Zurich. There are plenty of vegan and veggie options clearly labelled in most places. In supermarkets, vegan items are clearly labelled and options are plentiful.
Hiltl Haus: The oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe is a popular place with a buffet and a la carte options. The food is varied a really delicious. Dinner for two including drinks and tip for 79CHF.
Stay: We stayed at Swiss Star Apartments, a good self-catering option located just 10 minutes from the Central Station.
Vaduz is a small town surrounded by picturesque snow-capped mountains. The main attraction is the walk from the centre up to Vaduz Castle. The castle itself is not open to tourists but the walk gives you the most amazing views.
Kunstmuseum: This modern art museum has a small but good selection of works in a nice space. Tickets for 15CHF.
Go: From Zurich to Vaduz in Liechtenstein the best option is to take a train to Sargans where you can get bus n. 11 to Vaduz. You can buy tickets online here (choose option Vaduz, Post, which includes the bus transfers), about one month in advance.
We were going to visit San Marino, so we decided to spend a couple of days in nearby Rimini.
Rimini is a riviera with sandy beaches overlooked by cool modernist hotels.
The Old Town is beautiful and includes a good collection of Roman and Medieval landmarks. It is also the birthplace of Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini.
For lunch we visited Bar Lento, a cool cafe serving delicious vegan snacks and drinks (lunch for two including tip for 18.50€).
Rimini is definitely a good place to visit and relax for a couple of days!
San Marino was one of the few European countries we hadn’t visited yet, so we decided to check in out in January.
It is located high up in the mountains, giving it amazing views over the region. Unfortunately when we visited the place was right in the middle of the clouds, and we couldn’t even see further than a few metres ahead.
We spent a few hours exploring the narrow roads and visiting the main towers, even without being able to see much.
For lunch, we stopped at Laminona, which serves piadinas and offered a few vegan options.
San Marino is picturesque and I’m sure we would have enjoyed it more on a sunny day!
Go: We flew to Bologna, where you can get semi-frequent buses from the airport to Rimini. You can reach San Marino from Rimini taking a regular bus which departs just outside the train station (return for 10€ per person). The trip takes 50 minutes each way.
This was another year full of adventures!
We kicked off the year with a weekend with friends in Edinburgh.
Then we headed to amazing South Africa for a wedding – we hung out with elephants and enjoyed the breathtaking views.
In March we braved the cold to discover fun Riga.
In April we travelled around Sicily, eating all sorts of treats along the way.
In May we relaxed in sunny Paphos, Cyprus.
Then we headed to Berlin for a weekend full of amazing vegan treats.
I went to Paris for a beautiful weekend of chilling in the sun.
In September we had an adventure in the Balkans: we visited Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania – a great trip!
In October we flew to Barcelona and took the train to Andorra.
I finished the year with Christmas in Rome!
Another year full of amazing adventures!
And I have big plans for 2019: I may actually finish visiting every single European country!