How do you summarize an entire continent in a few hundred words?
You can’t, really. Especially Europe, because as a visiting North American, the sheer grandeur and antiquity is incomprehensible until faced with it. At times, it stopped our hearts from beating, our feet in our tracks, and halted the flow of words from our mouths.
And then there were those damn infuriating Mozart Balls. And touted tourist meccas that we found disappointing (London). And some curt Germans who put us in our place.
But really, we loved it. Every minute of it. How could we not?
In lieu of words that will most certainly fall short, we want to pay tribute in the best way we know how, a collection of our favorite photos.
We started our exploration by house-sitting for two months in Ireland. We took care of a 10th century manor, and enjoyed roaming the countryside when we could.
Another house-sitting gig took us to Belgium for a brief visit.
The Netherlands was a country that surprised us a bit – we didn’t expect to like it as much as we did!
We made a couple of visits to the UK, and even though we didn’t love London, it sure is pretty sometimes.
From London we flew south to begin our Eurail.com Blog Trail – visiting Croatia, Slovenia and a big chunk of Italy.
The nation of Malta is tiny, tiny, tiny, and it was also hot, hot, hot.
We skirted the top of Germany with a stop in Hamburg, and then the bottom by spending a week exploring the area around Munich. We need much more time there.
Adios Europe! We will see you again soon.
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Great photo set guys. I’m from Ireland, and when the sun shines there, it is indeed a wonderful looking country.
Carlo Cretaro recently posted..Weekly travel photo – Church in Atina
Thanks Carlo. We loved our time in Ireland and were especially lucky to get so much sun.
Incredible.
That is all that is needed to say.
Thanks Cole!!
Really lovely!
Stunning, stunning, absolutely stunning. I must reiterate that you two do the best postcards out of anyone I’ve ever seen.
My favorites: United Kingdom, Italia, Slovenia, and Germany!
Thanks so much Kate 🙂 It was pretty difficult to narrow down the photos to our favorites. We probably had 5-6 from each country.
It’s hard to pick a favourite but I’m choosing Ireland, just because it’s not one my list of places I want to go and the photo makes me feel like I may be missing out.
Ayngelina recently posted..Hopping on the tourist train
It’s funny how Ireland has this special place with us. We loved it, but when we left it was easy to go. Now we seem to both be reflecting back how beautiful it was and how we want to return.
Is it wrong that I was judging them by the font? I love the Italia one (both the pic and the font)… 🙂
Raymond @ Man On The Lam recently posted..5 Quirky Things to Do in Mazatlan, Mexico
Haha, awesome. Dalene had the duties of font selection 🙂
Wow, gorgeous! Are there HD photography?
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Hi Alex, Thanks so much 🙂 Yes a number of these are HDR.
Fantastic shots…have you thought about selling them?
Yep, want to buy some? 😉
absolutely AMAZING pics!!!
Amazing, breathtaking photographs!! I don’t think you could have summarized Europe any better.
Marisol@TravelingSolemates recently posted..Magical Prague – Part 2: The Left Bank
Thanks Marisol, I’m glad. We had to leave some photos out otherwise it would have taken me weeks to get all the photos done.
Well, you have me drooling over your photos, as usual.
And dreaming of being back in Europe.
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Every time I come back to look at this post I dream of being back there too 🙂
You do such a great job with these. You know we have a big thing for Croatia right now so love those.
Thanks Kent. I would love to spend a lot more time exploring what else Croatia has to offer (along with the rest of the Balkans)
awesome shots. makes me wanna head back to Europe IMMEDIATELY!
These look so great guys! It makes me look forward to other parts of Europe.
You guys are going to love it!!! Looking forward to seeing your adventures. Have fun at TBEX, wish we were there.
These are spectacular! What a great idea! Love Europe 🙂
Thanks Ellen!! We love Europe too 🙂
Stunning photos! But really how do you summarize a continent eh? But what about Austria??
I figured somebody would ask 🙂 Sorry, they didn’t make our cut, but I used some of our best shots in our Salzburg in Photos post.
Great postcards, as usual! I think Slovenia is my favorite – such a beautiful photo!
Dani recently posted..Polaroid of the week: Beetle taxi in Mexico City
That has to be my favorite photo as well. It was our first trip to Bled. It was so cold Dalene decided to go back to a cafe for a cappuccino and I thought I would take a stroll around the lake. I’m so happy I did as the fog broke and I got this shot.
Well done! I like the one of Tower Bridge because of the bright lights and calm water. But I also like the Slovenia one because its so original and spooky.
Gorgeous postcards from Europe. Lake Bled shrouded in fog is one of my favorites. And the Tower Bridge almost appears as if sparkling diamonds are glittering on it.
Jennifer recently posted..Remembering 9/11 at Ground Zero
Awesome photos! Hard to pick which one I like the best but the one from Northern Ireland is beautiful (and maybe because Ireland is on my mind too!)
Great pictures! 🙂 Haven’t been to Ireland, but your photo looks very inviting 🙂
Thanks Juno!! If you make it to Ireland, bring lots of digital memory, you will take a LOT of photos. It is definitely photo friendly 🙂
All are wonderful but Slovenia is super amazing. Romantic perfection.Thanks for a beautiful start to my day.
Vera Marie Badertscher recently posted..How Buddha Came to Brooklyn
Glad we could help, hope you enjoy the rest of it 🙂
I love that last shot!
Brilliant as always! Great photos.
Amazing photos, as always. So many places I haven’t visited yet!
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Jaw dropping photos, guys. Well done!
The one of Slovenia is really cool!
Thanks Tom, it is one of my favorite shots. Not only for the outcome, but the memory in getting it. It was freezing cold that day and you couldn’t see anything through the fog, but I thought I would chance it. I’m glad I did…
You have such a talent with landscapes! These really bring out the magic of Europe.
Amazing photos. When my least favorite is a great shot of Neuschwanstein, that’s saying something about the quality of the rest.
Thanks Daniel, much appreciated 🙂
I want to live in that first photo! It’s like a fairytale!
You are right Laura, it truly was like being in a fairytale. It was a little difficult to find, but once we did there was not a soul around. We spent a good amount of time here enjoying the serenity.
So beautiful it hardly seems real. Agh. And I seriously had no idea Ireland was so mountainous until Pam posted a photo on FB the other day! MUST GO.
I was shocked too. When I first thought of Ireland, I just thought of green rolling fields and rocky cliffs on the shoreline. How wrong I was.
Incredible photos. I always find curating a best of to be a challenge, and you guys have such epic photos to choose from, but you appear to have risen to said challenge magnificently! Great work 😀
Thanks Laurence. Damn I wish we were at TBEX to meet up and talk shop 🙂 I’m loving your latest series on your site
I love your shot of Lake Bled!
Sounds like yo had an awesome trip in Europe! Such a great place to travel around, and so easy. Thanks for sharing.
Truly stunning artwork from your photos
Thanks Lisa 🙂
gorgeous postcards! And I must admit, I feel happy that someone else shares my “meh” feeling for London…
I mean, I’m sure London has its charms, but even after being there 4 times, I don’t find it particularly interesting or amazing… meh
– Maria Alexandra
You must be very close to having a postcard from every country in the world!
Oh boy, we have a long way to go yet! (Less than 30 countries under our belt!)
Breathtaking postcards. You really have the eye of a photographer, excellent framing and stunning colors. Great work!
However, I cannot imagine a summary of postcards from Europe without Greece in it 😉
Nick Sotos recently posted..My Casio PAW5000-1 Pathfinder Watch Review
Yes, we just have to get to Greece to take some photos! 🙂
Wow!!! All the captures are just so so so beautiful! Cant pick up a favorite one. Europe is such a beauty! Thanks for sharing this
🙂
Arti recently posted..Technological Marvels: Japanese Automation and Innovation
Great collection! And great to get a sense of what you have seen/where you have been in Europe. Of course I have to ask – what was your favorite?
And I am reminded that you spent some time in Belgium – I just got back from my second trip to Belgium. I will have to look at your individual posts on Belgium and give you my take on what we saw there.
Thanks for sharing with us as you always do!
Thank YOU Karl! A favorite? Hmmm…we sure loved Slovenia. And Italy and the Netherlands. Oh, and we want to spend way more time in Germany…. 🙂
Wow, the Slovenia photo is beautiful :]
Seattle Dredge recently posted..10 Things You Can Do to Keep Yourself Busy on an Airplane
Wow. Amazing pics as usual. Nice portrait of Europe! 🙂
Hope to have you back soon! 🙂
Hey Dario! Hope you are well. I am sure it won’t be long before we get back!
Stunning shots…all of those… very difficult to pick the best one…. while scrolling through these pics, seems like Europe is calling….incredible work with the camera….
Wandering soul recently posted..Rock Climbing at Dhauj, Haryana
How do you summarise Europe? – Rome
Amazing photos, absolutly amazing all of them!
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