Europe

6 of the Best Bulgarian Foods to Try When Visiting

After being underwhelmed by the food in Turkey when I had expected to fall in love with it, I took my first bites of Bulgarian food skeptically.

Sure, it was served in an adorable, colorful ceramic pot, but how good could it possibly be? Wasn’t Bulgaria supposed to be the home of meat stews and brown sauces? As it turns out, my first Bulgarian meal was not only good, it was so good that I practically left the restaurant skipping with joy.

This scene was repeated after nearly every meal I enjoyed while traveling in Bulgaria, and six foods stood out among the rest as being delicious no matter where we tried them.

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Walks of Italy Florence Review – A Perfect Tuscany Day Trip

I didn’t expect to find myself going back to Tuscany in 2019, but when my family wanted to take a trip to Italy I was game to join in.

They had heard of my stories of taking a Tuscany day trip from my 2013 visit, and were eager to get out and visit some of my favorite spots- namely San Gimignano, Siena, and wineries. We opted against doing this one on our own as my driving in Tuscany experience on that trip was not the best. So instead we hopped on a tour with Walks of Italy (now Take Walks) to take the driving component out of our trip.

As I later found out, going on a Tuscany tour with a guide allowed for a more insightful visit about each destination, and, in the case of the winery, allowed for greater drinking capacity in not having to drive!

In this one, I wanted to break down some of those points from the Walks of Italy tour in greater detail. 

Note: I was a guest of Walks of Italy on this tour. All opinions are my own.

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Bougatsa is the One Greek Pastry You Absolutely Must Try

Bougatsa is one of those things that when you see pictures of it or read about it you instantly start drooling, even if you’ve never eaten it before.

Such was the case for us when we heard about it on Anthony Bourdain’s show “No Reservations,” and again from one of our friends who traveled to Greece.  (Okay, fine, so you have heard about it, but you probably have long since forgotten). 

So what is bougatsa? It’s a Greek pastry consisting of buttery, flaky phyllo dough wrapped around either a cheese filling or a sweet semolina custard filling.

Drooling yet? Yep, I thought so.

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6 Tips and Traps to Avoid While Driving in Tuscany

Our five days of exploring Tuscany are over, and we can safely say it was one of the most interesting experiences we’ve ever had.  We got to see the sunflower fields Angie was desperately hoping for, toured medieval cities, and even spent a day driving through the vineyards of Chianti!

But while this all sounds exciting (and it was), we have come to realize that driving in Florence and the surrounding regions of Tuscany is quite possibly one of the worst tortures a traveler can subject themselves to. 

From obscene driving laws to poorly marked signs and hundreds, if not thousands, of speed traps, the cards are stacked against you from the moment you place a reservation for your car.

All you have is the hope that you don’t screw up, because your mistakes may cost you more than your entire trip to the city, and then some!  But if you absolutely must drive in Tuscany, which is something we advise against, please keep the following tips in mind for a more enjoyable experience.

Enjoyable being a relative term, of course.  

Your nightmare is about to begin.

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