After 142 days in Europe, it is now time for us to return home to Canada. As we fly out of these snow-capped mountains peaks in Switzerland, we are thinking about how our return will be bittersweet. On the one hand, we are so happy to know that in a few hours we’ll be back home with our family and friends. On the other hand, we will miss the anticipation of waking up each morning and venturing into a new experience. Each destination has given us an education on how other cultures view the world and how they go about their daily life. We’ve been so fortunate these past few months to have learned so much from them.

We know friends and family will want to know our favourite spots and experiences. This will be extremely difficult to answer. We’ve come up with a list of our 25 most memorable moments, but this is a shortlist. We could have added so much more to this list.

Here below is our shortlist ( 25) of some of our most memorable places and moments:

1. Views & lunch at the Pousada de Viana do Castelo, Portugal.

2. Sipping port in the beautiful Douro Valley, Portugal.

3. “Wineing & dining” with Canadian friends in Porto, Portugal.

4. New friendships we’ve made in Porto & Kotor.

5. The home-cooked dinner we enjoyed in a Portuguese home in Porto.

6.  Morning & evening walks along the promenade in Kotor, Montenegro.

7. Our memorable day at Castel Savina Winery in Herceg Novi, Montenegro.

8. Our relaxing day in romantic Perast, Montenegro.

9. The rhythm of life in Zagreb, Croatia.

10. Having our son, Mathieu with us for several days in Budapest.

11. The emotional Jewish Memorial (shoes by the river bank) in Budapest.

12. The early morning splash at the Széchenyi Thermal Baths in Budapest.

13. Romantic sunsets in Rovinj, Istria.

14. “La nostalgia” in Venice.

15. Truffle hunting & binging on truffles in Istria.

16. Open Kitchen Fridays (Odprta Kuhna) in Ljubljana.

17. Taking in the breathtaking views of Lake Blend island while enjoying our glass of rosé.

18. Our morning walk around Lake Bled. It felt so serene.

19. Our evening stroll across Lucerne’s Chapel Bridge.

20. Reaching the peak of Mount Pilatus.

21. Being surrounded by a younger generation in most places we visited.

22. Awesome oldies music that was playing in so many places during our time in Europe. Apart from Portugal, I don’t think we heard any recent music. It was either jazz or our favourite oldies playing in our ears.

23. We were 99% pleased with our accommodations in the Airbnb’s we booked.

24. We had excellent weather for the whole time we were in Europe.

25. Having so many family & friends keep in touch with us during our travels either by email, face time or through our blog. It was great and comforting having you all travel along with us!

26. Number 26, I’m adding to our list. My hubby is one special travelling and life companion. Couldn’t have done it without him.

What we are looking forward too when we return to Canada –

1. Seeing family & friends.
2. Start planning for our next travel adventure together! 😊🧳

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”