Europe Roundup

Our European travel route

After spending months in Europe and seeing so many different places and cultures, we thought we would summarize things with a few rankings. These were actually extremely hard to narrow down, so we won't promise that we won't change our minds or say something contradictory if you ask us later :). We agreed on a lot of these, but where our rankings differed we split them out by whose was whose. So, without further ado, opinions are below: 

Best Food:

1. Italy
2. Greece
3. Turkey
4. Balkan Countries (they all had similar dishes...)

Best Dish We Ate:

Carson:

1. Margarita Pizza, Rome
2. Grilled Octopus, Santorini 
3. Pottery Kebab, Cappadocia 
4. Burek, Sarajevo
5. Pesto Lasagna, Florence

Melissa:

1. Margarita Pizza, Rome
2. Cacio e pepe and Carbonara pasta we made, Rome
3. Pesto, Cheese, and Prosciutto di Parma Sandwich, Cinque Terre
4. Seafood Feast, Santorini
5. Turkish Breakfast, Istanbul 

Honorable Mentions: Greek Salad (Naxos) and Kebabs (Greece and Turkey)

Best Hiking:

1. Italy
2. Slovenia
3. Albania
4. Greece (Naxos)
5. Montenegro

Best Architecture:

1. Florence
2. Rome
3. Istanbul
4. Athens
5. Dubrovnik
6. Honorable Mention: Bologna

Friendliest Local People:

1. Bosnia
2. Turkey
3. Croatia

Best Beaches:

1. Split, Croatia (technically south of Split by 30 mins)
2. Naxos, Greece
3. Manarola, Italy

Best Accommodation:

Carson:

1. Dolomites
2. Split
3. Cappadocia
4. Santorini
5. Mostar

Melissa:

1. Split
2. Cappadocia
3. Mostar
4. Dolomites
5. Paros

Most Picturesque:

Carson:

1. Cappadocia
2. Dolomites
3. Santorini
4. Florence
5. Kranjska Gora

Melissa:

1. Cappadocia
2. Cinque Terre
3. Santorini
4. Dolomites
5. Kotor

Worst Public Transportation:

1. Montenegro
2. Albania
3. Croatia

Best Activities:

Carson:

1. Hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia
2. Colosseum Tour
3. Hiking in Albania
4. Cinque Terre Hike
5. Sarajevo Film Festival

Melissa:

1. Hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia
2. Paros boat ride
3. Hiking in Albania
4. Sarajevo Film Festival
5. Pasta making in Italy

Favorite Cities:

Carson:

1. Athens
2. Istanbul
3. Florence
4. Ljubljana
5. Rome

Melissa:

1. Istanbul
2. Athens
3. Florence
4. Sarajevo
5. Rome

Least Favorite Cities (even though we still liked them):

1. Zagreb, Croatia
2. Split, Croatia (we loved the coast, just not Split)
3. Kotor, Montenegro
4. Venice, Italy

Best Bang for Your Buck:

1. Bosnia
2. Albania
3. Turkey (despite recent increases in prices for visiting the main attractions)

Favorite Countries (the hardest to choose!):

1. Greece
2. Turkey
3. Italy
4. Bosnia
5. Slovenia