Where I travelled in 2015

I have been meaning to write this post for a while and just keep forgetting. But let's recap where I travelled to in 2015.

2015 was a good year for travel I must say, I crossed quite a few things off my bucket list (like mentioned here in this post) and had tons of highs and lows. I can't believe we are already practically half way through 2016, seems like just yesterday I was wandering the streets of Paris, but in reality it was actually, exactly one year ago today that I was! So lets go, starting with a quick overview of where I went and then lets get into it, this is going to be a long post!!!

Vancouver Island - Victoria, Tofino

Denmark - Aarhus, Kolding, Odis, Copenhagen

Germany - Cologne

Holland - Amsterdam

Belgium - Brussels, Brugge

France - Normandy (Asnelles, bayeau, the beaches, Mont Saint Michel, St. Malo etc.), Paris

Luxembourg - Vianden

Sweden - Karlskrona

England - London

Home - Carman, MB

Starting in January I didn't travel anywhere but some of my family travelled here and when that happens it almost feels like your travelling from being a tourist in your own city. We visited some of our favourite spots like English Bay beach and the Vancouver Aquarium.

In February we had another visitor, this one being a good friend of our from Denmark. Again acting like tourists in our own city, going hiking and my boyfriend and him going skiing in Whistler but also taking him to one of our favourite destinations in British Columbia on Vancouver Island, Tofino (this the post here). Along the way visiting Victoria of course and a few other stops on the drive. We went surfing, went to our favourite restaurants, admired the wildlife and saw the most amazing sunset (the first photo at the very top of this post). I always look for an excuse to travel to Tofino, what a gem it is.

After a few months of saving up for our next trip then at the end of May we were off to Europe. A month long trip for visiting family and going on a road trip (another item crossed off the bucket list). Starting with Denmark of course landing in Copenhagen having my boyfriends family pick us up and bring us home. Their home in the small town of Ødis about 2 and a half hours away from København really does feel like a second home to me. And while there celebrating a family members birthday and enjoying the countryside and as well as the time off with family. And at the end of the trip, spending a little time in Copenhagen and visiting the famous Christiania.

After a little time relaxing with family we headed on our road trip picking up the car in Germany and heading straight for Holland to go to Amsterdam. And I know I said it before but I fell in love with Amsterdam, it was a beautiful and lively city. Visiting Vondale Park which was full of happy and active young people, then marvelling at the beautiful canals throughout the city and the surreal-ness of the red light district.

Next up was Belgium where our first stop was Brussels and my first impression was that I was afraid of the drivers and our car but my boyfriend being the smart and great driver he is, he had no problem once he figured out how everyone drives there. At first we had no idea where we should start or see but we met the nicest lady at a great restaurant where we had lunch and she gave us a list in order of where to go and we were set. There is so much to see like Grand Place, The Royal Palace, Mannekin Pis, Mont des Arts, etc... Then we headed to Bruges which was one of the cutest towns I have been too. It had a small town vibe and everywhere you looked was so picturesque.

France was our next destination and the place we knew we were staying the longest. We had lots on our list we wanted to see and do before moving on. So we started in Northern France in Normandy. As a Canadian and learning all about the war there in school it felt so surreal to be there and see for myself the damage and stories of what happened there was overwhelming, yet the beauty of the area was unreal. We stayed in a small town on the coast right at Gold beach, one of the famous beaches there that I am sure you have heard of. We explore the area, learning as much as we could, going to museums and to all the beaches and bunker sites along the way as well as ending our time in Normandy at Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo. Then we drove to Paris to stay with a friend in the city and explore as much as we could, seeing the obvious attractions like the Eiffel Tower and The Louvre.

 After our short time in Paris then we were off and actually had no idea we were going next but we ended up going to Luxembourg. We were googling castles to see what was around and maybe somewhere we could go and we found one that looked amazing in Luxembourg. The thought of traveling there had not even crossed my mind but I am so happy we went. We were lucky to find a hotel in the evening in the city of Luxembourg and in the mornings headed straight for Vianden, Luxembourg where the castle was. I know I only was a little bit of Luxembourg, but I loved it there, the scenery there was breath-taking.

And last but not least was Germany. I loved that from our drive from Vianden to Cologne, we drove through 3 countries that day, which was a normal occurrence that happened during this road trip. Anyways, our last stop before heading back to Denmark was a quick stop in Cologne. We had heard that it was a great city and wanted to see for ourselves. We visited a museum and saw the famous Cologne Cathedral, which is amazing. The size of the building and all the detailed work on was is just crazy. I didn't get much photos because it was rainy and we were only there for a very short time, but we managed to get a delicious and huge breakfast, it was SO good.

We went back to Denmark after this road trip again to relax again before heading to Sweden for Mid Summer festivities with my sister and her family. My sister lives there with her husband and children and Mid Summer is the biggest day of the year there so I knew I couldn't miss it. My sister even bought us flower crowns to where for the day!! We went to a summer house with lots of there friends and family and if you know anything about Mid Summer (read about it in this post) then you know we had a good time. We drank WAYYY to much, ate lots of yummy food and danced around the maypole.

We didn't have much time after time on our trip, a bit more family and friends time in Denmark and then we were headed home. But on our flight home, we got a longer stop over so we could have time to leave the airport and explore. Our stopover was at heathrow airport so we could the underground train into London and managed to see the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Bridge and Buckingham Palace. I loved it there and did not get enough time there, I can not wait to go back someday!!

Not to long after this trip then my sister and her husband came to visit us here in Vancouver so we had more excuses to act like tourists again. We took them to Whyte Cliff Park and my sister and me went to the One Direction concert which was AMAZING! And then not too long after, in August I moved back to my small home town for a little while and that is where I was at the end of 2015.

I know this was a long post, so if you made it this far then thank you and I'm glad (and hope) that you enjoyed it. You deserve a round of applause. I had a blast going back in time and remembering all the great adventures I had through out the year and hopefully I can come up with more travel posts for you guys.

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