Big Changes Are Coming For Hello Future Me.
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I forgot to say in the video, but thank YOU again-everyone-for giving me the opportunity to do this job. Education, writing, storytelling-there is nothing closer to my heart, and I get to share it with you. Not only that, but the HFM community is just one of the best, kindest, and most creative communities I've ever seen. I love the messages you send me, the emails, the stories you tell. I always want this to be a place you feel you can be yourself and be creative, but it's only that way because you are as kind as you are. The world is full of pain, but Doctors Without Borders is helping. Donate in the box beside/below the video. I hope you'll join me in donating. ALL profits from the 2024 Art Calendars go straight to Doctors Without Borders too, and there are only 100 available, so snatch them up as perks! It's always good to end on a giving note for the year.
You can follow my journey at instagram.com/tim_hickson_hfm
or www.tiktok.com/@tim_hickson_hfm
Stay nerdy, stay safe,
Tim
And the Cat 🐈?
Wow 😳
Nice to see you are in Europe, Hope you get to see all you want to see. If you are planning to go to the Netherlands Im i love to show you around my city(its not amsterdam but still a one of the best citys in my opinion.
If you visit istanbul when you come to türkiye go take a forest walk trip through Belgrad Forest it's a wonderful place
Wow
Tim: "am I coming to your country?"
Me in New Zealand: no Tim you're leaving it
Gimme 2 years ;)
I was gonna make the same joke, he's even leaving the region.
@@jarlbreadmaker What is a region anyway when New Zealand is an island country in the middle of nowhere?
Real.
@@HelloFutureMe counting down the days.
Hello future me unlocked instant transmission
That happens after you release your 4th book... :)
SpaceBending
Tim, you give so much to us and to this world. The 24hr charity livestream has always been tough for you but you kept doing it anyway cause you’re awesome. Please don’t think we are disappointed or anything like that because you’re not doing it this year. You’ve had a hectic year and you’re MOVING and just taking care of yourself. That’s a good thing man.
Hope you enjoy your European excursion these next couple of years!
Oh man, I was really excited to see Finland on your list :D If you want to experience winter stuff (Northern Lights, reindeer, skinny dipping in the snow after sauna, ice hole swimming etc), go to Lapland - where there's less of that public transport you like but seasons are like important to maximise one's experience. If you want to experience summer stuff (sauna and actually swimming in a lake or the sea, light nights, festivals etc), going below Oulu means less mosquitoes (and southern Finland has the best public transport in the country due to more people and shorter distances).
As for food: Sautéed reindeer (poronkäristys) with mashed potatoes (I personally don't like lingonberries but jam with the käristys is traditional), Finnish style cinnamon buns (korvapuusti), squeaky cheese with cloudberry jam (leipäjuusto and lakkahillo), and fried vendace (paistettu muikku).
Thank you for the recs!!
~ Tim
I'd also give local salmon a try! Hope you enjoy Finland @@HelloFutureMe
@@HelloFutureMe I'd also recommend tasting mustamakkara (lit. black sausage). I've heard that the best mustamakkara is sold in Tampere
Yes Welcome to Finland
As an Estonian, I'm happy that you're visiting our northern brothers. Finland is so vast and so much culture and history. You're really gonna enjoy it
Trier in Germany as the oldest city north of the alps is always worth a trip. Densly packed with roman and medieval and a little bit of napoleonic history and in summer, the weather is quite nice.
We also have lots of old ruins in the norther parts near the Black Forest. Old castles and the like. Also the Varus Battle is a famous tourist spot for history-minded folks. Lots of Germanic and Roman stuff there.
It was the biggest Roman city north of the alps, however it's not the oldest city north of the alps. There were dozens of Celtic cities before it
And don’t forget there is the “real” black gate in Trier
I am originally from Germany, but I live in Sweden and I am really excited to see the latter on your list.
For Germany I can mainly recommend stuff from the area I grew up in, the Rhineland, specificcally the area around Cologne and Bonn. Regarding food, you have to try Reibekuchen with applesauce, and if it's the right season, definitely search for Mutzen in a bakery. You have probably tried Haribo at some point in your live, but it actually comes from the City of Bonn (Haribo = Hans Riegel Bonn). Great places to visit are Cologne Cathedral, Bonn Minster, the Chocolate Museum, Beethoven's childhood home, the main building of Bonn University (although you might not be allowed in, but its quite pretty from the outside), remains of the Roman city wall in Cologne, if you wanna go hiking, the Siebengebirge is nice, Heisterbach Monestary, Löwenburg, and particularly for stories you have to visit the Drachenfels, it is supposed to be th place where Siegfried killed the Fafnir in the Nibelung Saga.
Not specific to my region, but you have to try Berliner (or Krapfen, or Pfannkuchen), Franzbrötchen and Döner Kebab.
Some nice cities to visit in the rest of Germany are Lübeck (try the Marzipan and Marzipan cakes), Marburg, Aachen, Weimar (Writers and poets Schiller and Goethe lived here and it's the birthplace of the Weimar Republik, also the first German state to get a constitution in 1816), Berlin (you either love or hate it, but it has a lot to see, especially when it cokes to history) and Schleswig (mostly for the Hedeby museum close to it).
Germany as a country is very multicultural, every region has its own things and customs, and with the increase of immigration since the end of WW2 it has gotten even more, so try to look for that too.
For Sweden someone who grew up here can probably say a lot more, but I have some suggestions still. Going south to north, you have to see Lund and its Cathedral, then obvoisly Malmö and Gothenburg, if you come through Småland, got to Astrid Lindgren's World (preferably in Summer), visit Bullerby, Katthult and Astrid Lindgren's birthplace and go to Mariannelunds Karamellkokeri, they make extremely good fudge and don't forget to hike in some of the nature reserves and along the lakes. There are also some nice ruins around Växjö. Kalmar is also nice, you have to visit the Castle there and once in Kalmar, drive across the bridge to Öland. It has a completely different geography than mainland Sweden and some really cool cliffs and ruins to look at. Continouing north, Jönköping and Norrköping are nice to visit and lake Vänern is pretty impressive. If you wanna have the most stereotypical Swedish experience, you supposedly have to go to Dalarna, although I haven't been myself. Stockholm is a really pretty city, scattered over a lot of islands. Here you have to visit the Vasa museum, built around the ship Vasa (take your time for this one, I spent over 4 hours in there), also go to Skansen (maybe you are lucky and you can catch Allsong i Skansen, a sing along event) and if you're interested in music, the ABBA museum might be nice. Umeå and Luleå and there respective surroundings are nice, especially if you wanna see the change in goong further north. You cannot miss out oj going to Jokkmokk, if its February you have to visit the Sámi market there. In general, look up the Sámi and there culture, they are an incredible people and must not be forgotten when visiting the nordic countries. I haven't been myself, but many people also suggest Kiruna. Torneå/Tornio might also be interesting since its a border town with Finland. Generally for the north of Sweden, rent a snowmobile, try snowshoeing, go cross country skiing, go somewhere to see reindeer and maybe do a tour with a husky sledge.
To list some foods: Sill (maybe even Surströmming 👀), Jansons Frestelse, Köttbullar, filmjölk, reindeer meat, Swedish cheese, Knäckebröd, Marabou Chocolate, Kanelbullar, Kardamombullar, Prinzesstorta.
Generally, enjoy the nature and that Sweden (same as Norway and Finland) is a lot more spacious than most of the rest of Europe.
I hope you have a really good time and enough time to see everything you want to!
Happy holidays, frohe Feiertage, god julhelg,
Miley
I was going to write my own comment, but as I am German, come originally about an hour from Cologne, and went to Sweden for vacation many , many times, often Mariannelund in Småland (Karamellkokeri and Astrid Lindgrens Värld are a must), most of what I wanted to say has already been said.
For Germany I would add eating Kochkäs(schnitzel) and drinking Bembel/Äpplewoi (Apfelwein) in a small town/country pub, that's a good combination with a small hike. They will often also have Reibekuchen or how it's called an hour soth of Cologne: Kartoffelpuffer.
In Stockholm I also really enjoyed Fotografiska, a really great (you probablly guessed it) photography museum. In many places in Scandinavia wild camping is allowed and there are also a lot of little hiking huts, so if you can I would reccomend a hiking trip over a few days. If you manage to befriend a local Swede, eating Kraftor (crayfish) together, that they fished is a lot of fun too. We have friends in Sweden and my dad did an overnight fishing trip with them once when I was really small. Don't ask anyone were they find their chanterelles or other mushrooms though, that's a family secret.
Should you ever come to the Netherlands, I would recommend 'poffertjes', which are small, fluffy pancakes which you can combine with things like butter, sugar, syrup or even an interesting liqueur: 'advocaat' 🥞 Also, if you have time, visit the Efteling. It's a theme park that does not emphasize thrills, but storytelling. It's honestly one of the most themed theme parks in Europe, and I don't wish you to miss it 🎠
we also have a lot of good snack food - kroket, frikandel, bitterballen, kaassoufle. You can get those things from vending machines some places. You should also try out a "kapsalon" - if eating at a train station is convenient for you they'll often have a doner company there, those are good. It's a very multicultural dish, combining turkish meat with indonesian sauce and dutch cheese.
Our snack food isn't very unique. I recommend getting Kibbeling. Also visit our open-air markets, they have a lot of good food, and one of my favourites is getting a broodje worst, which is just bratwurst on bread with sauerkraut.
I'm a fan of advocaat in various cocktails, but haven't heard of this use before. Will be trying it out, thanks!
Don't forget the frikandelbroodjes
In the Netherlands you could also see fishing village you could go to "het zuider zee museum" in Enkhuizen. there you are taken back in time to see how live was in the VOC time. But there is also a WWII theme sometimes and a light fest around December. Also in the summer makes the 'Enkhuizer Friethuys' a mean strawberry milkshake.
For Polish good you definitely have to try PIEROGI RUSKIE (the main "flavour", they basically have potatoes+cheese filling with some onion and pepper too (the name comes from the old lands of south-eastern Poland and some of the land that is Ukraine nowadays (it was called Ruś), and there are other kinds too)
and different SOUPS 🥰 (my fav is tomato soup, but we have lots of them, like rosół (magic-health-boosting chicken soup with noodles), barszcz (beet soup, it can be translucent or more oprawie, often eaten with eggs), żurek (the sour rye one, with eggs, that we usually eat around Easter)
you can also try gołąbki (literal meaning- pidgeons 😂)- which is usually a meat-rice with pepper filling wrapped in cabbage leaves
For the sweet stuff you could try some Polish cheesecake (but it might be hard to get the real thing, not made with some thermomix or smth, it's ofc the best if you can have it homemade :'))
Or crumpets- yeast dough little pancakes, sometimes they can have apple or banana bits in them :D
And there is lots of food specific to the regions and to holidays too :) for sure you'll find smth for yourself 😂✨
We have both the seaside and the mountains (most of them are good for regular hiking :))
Lots of castles, museums :D most tourists usually visit Kraków or Gdańsk (the first one is a southern city, that for a long time hosted Polish kings- the Wawel castle is important (that's where the Kings were based), also the highly decorated churches and museums too, the second one is a seaside big city also with a rich history- Solidarity and II World War museums are big there), I would also suggest going to small places (like the tiniest villages at the seaside, especially the ones without the crowds, for examples on Mierzeja Wiślana, bc there is still a couple places left that don't have that many people- like Jantar or Mikoszewo (in which you can go for a walk or on a boat to see the exit of the Wisła river that was digged kn XIX century (because the original exit use to flood the surrounding areas))
You walk there through the forest and come out at the beach 😊✨ at the Mierzeja Wiślana there is also less known about nazi german concentration camp in Sztutowo (named Stutthoff), and it will for sure be less crowded than others, the is a long history with this one too, of the prisoners crossing the river and being driven by a narrow-gauge railway (that you can ride in the season yourself nowadays too, people even take children for a ride now, you just go through those forests :))
As for the mountains, the most popular are probably Tatry, where Zakopane is (with Polish ethnic culture of górale (like, the people of the mountains, kinda similar to the Tyrolean highlanders) and Bieszczady- smaller, more green/forest mountains, lots of places with minimal light pollution for stargazing there 🥰 (especially nearer the Ukrainian border ♥️🌌)
You can also go see National Parks of you want to stay in the nature more- we still have lots of forest left, even though recently there was lots of very bad gov. decisions that made deforestation easy :'c
But also, finally our government is changing- so many things might start getting better :))
As for Warsaw, you definitely have to visit the Warsaw Uprising Museum, there is also a castle (because later the capital was moved from Kraków there)
A big tip for travelling by a train in Poland- you can buy the tickets through the website a month in advance, and they will be way cheaper then (the earlier the better 😊)
Also, yeah, in many stores you have to weigh your own fruit and vegetables 😂 but many places just have it already bulit in at the checkouts :))
If you like alcohol (I personally don't), there is also a whole range of traditional tinctures (hope it's the right word)- basically differently flavoured vodka- with added nuts, fruits or other stuff :))
Overall, Poland is the best to visit when it's warm (~March to ~September I'd say :) we have beautiful springs and autumns, winters usually have lots of cloud coverage and it's usually really gloomy and grey though :'))
Hope you'll have a great time in Europe and will enjoy Poland, greetings 🥰✨
Well, I can't invite Tim to Ukraine, don't want to be responsible if something bad would happen due to war, but at least I am relieved that significant part of our cuisine would be cowered by Poland, since we share most of things that are listed here. ❤
Whoa nice, I live in Warsaw and was trying to think of what to recommend but you just covered actually everything LOL
If you come to Ireland, specifically N. Ireland, I’d recommend coming around spring and seeing if you can try dolce or yellow man. They’re traditional snacks sold at the Ould Lammas Fair. That’s in August and I personally am not a fan of it, but you can sometimes get those snacks at other times during the run up.
Dunluce Castle is also gorgeous, and if you can get on a kayaking tour you can sometimes explore the cave beneath it and the other caves around that stretch.
Dublin is also great, if the Leprechaun Museum is back open I highly recommend it as it’s actually a traditional storytelling experience and folklore museum, and of course Trinity Library but also Marsh’s Library where Bram Stoker used to research and you can still see the bullet holes from the 1916 rising. The Post Office’s museum about the rising itself is also well worth checking out.
If you’re at all interested , I am Ulster University’s writer-in-residence ( I am researching revolutions in high fantasy and your work has been so useful), and it would be amazing to get a chat. I also used to work at the Giant’s Causeway and was a Game of Thrones extra, so I know the locations and love giving tours.
I can't tell where your travels through Germany will take you, but I think you would love the Rakotzbrücke in Gablenz, that's a really special sight. The artsy parts of any of the big cities like, for example, Berlin or Hamburg are great to experience in terms of counterculture. München is beautifully baroque. I don't know, there are so many places and they all offer different things. You can go skiing in the alps or visit the beaches of the Baltic Sea. There is a lot of lovely nature everywhere you go: the Lüneburger Heide during calluna season is breathtaking. So is going down the Rhine in autumn when the vineyards are at their peak. The many lakes of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are tragically slept on. I could go on and on.
Concerning food, we have so much bread, so so much. The beer is good and very varied as well, of course. But food is a very regional thing, many cities have a local piece of food they pride themselves on. For example , there's Marzipan in Lübeck, Franzbrötchen (a flat cinnamon bun) in Hamburg, Currywurst and Döner Kebab in Berlin, Fischbrötchen (bread rolls with cold pickled fish or warm fried fish fillet) everywhere along the coasts and Knipp (a kind of blood pudding) in Bremen, to name just a few from around where I live. You should probably visit a Christmas Market of you have the chance, drink mulled wine and eat some Mutzen.
I hope you enjoy Scotland when you get here! My top pick for something to see would be the crannog centre at Loch Tay. It's a recreation of a style of iron age house that was built on artificial islands on the many lochs, along with a museum and interactive exhibits about life from that time. The original was lost to fire a couple of years ago, but the replacement is well along the way to being built. Loch Tay is beautiful in its own right too, although being a New Zealander you're not exactly lacking for landscapes. If you do head that way, the incredible chocolatier Iain Burnett is nearby and does a tasting course that is well worth your while too.
Get a fish & chips at Anstruther if you're close by. And obviously, try haggis if you can catch one.
Bro unlocked teleportation & is now speed-running Europe.
If you're going to Poland you need to check "traditional" food like schabowy, bigos, gołąbki and pierogi, also, try to find out about regional cuisine which is different depending on the historical part. I think you won't regret it
Hi Tim, welcome to Europe!
On behalf of Spain 🇪🇦, I recommend visiting the Alhambra and the city of Granada, take a tour where they explain its rich history of the clash of 2 cultures and how the city was built to defend itself from invaders.
Another recommendation is Toledo (the city where 3 opposing cultures had to live together for a while) and you will surely get a lot of inspiration for possible stories.
And then, if you can go to more touristic places like Seville, Madrid, Barcelona ...
As for food, our main dish is the Spanish omelette (tortilla de patatas, as it is known here), although each region has its own special dish (like Valencia and Paella). We have one of the best gastronomies in the world thanks to the Mediterranean diet.
Have a good trip, I look forward to seeing you here😊.
I'm happy for you and I hope you'll enjoy life in Europe!
Now, for my simple suggestion about my country: Italy. I would really recommend to avoid larger cities until you're ready. Sure, there's a lot to see and enjoy in Rome, Venice, Milan, etc., but I would always recommend a broader trip through smaller and less chaotic towns. Considering what you said about space and preferring the less "cramped" parts of Europe, I would recommend a trip across the countryside in the central area of Italy (so, basically going around the regions of Tuscany, Umbria, Emilia, Marche and/or Abruzzo): traveling around in these areas offers a lot of vast sceneries to see, lots of different foods to try (they basically change from town to town), and a ton of small, almost forgotten smaller towns and villages that sit in the middle of nowhere and always have that one cultural or historical element you can't find otherwise, which is cool to see and (at least for me) always nice for writing inspiration.
For a similar experience, instead of the central regions you could go for the nothern ones, across the Alps, still avoiding bigger and more chaotic cities. Like going through the several valleys of Trentino, or traveling around Piemonte.
Also from Italy! Totally agree!
Quando sapremo dove vuole andare dobbiamo anche fargli la lista del turismo alimentare ;)
I wish I've seen this before coming to study in Milan. Totally agree, smaller towns offer a way nicer experience. Now I'm planning to transfer to Trento for this reason. Speriamo che Tim abbia visto il tuo commento😄
Welcome to Europe! In Sweden, I would recommend the Wasa museum in Stockholm and the high coast up north. And finding an isolated cabin to write in shouldn't be difficult - Sweden is two thirds forests!
Hey Tim, I know Ireland wasn’t in your flag list of places to visit, but I’d highly recommend you do! Lots of ancient culture and history in every corner of it, you’ve got your standard Newgrange, Dublin Castle etc, but I’d recommend Clones, County Monaghan - one of the oldest round towers in the country is still standing there, along with the supposed tomb of a national saint! Definitely worth a visit if you can grab a guide for the town!
My favourite place I visited in Ireland was the Skellig rocks (where some of Star Wars was filmed), lots of history and those islands are really cool, plus there were sooooo many puffins it was amazing
I’d definitely add Achill Island, Killarney, Sligo, and Glendaough, as places of natural beauty, but more just in general, the advice I’d give to any tourist in Ireland is this: get out of Dublin. If you really want to experience the country, you need to leave The City.
Hey Tim, if your visit to the Czech Republic isn't over already, it would be worth visiting the Bohemian Paradise and Moravský kras. And I'm not sure how much crosscountry skiing you've done in your life but if that's something you fancy trying and time and snow allow it, try going to Jizerské hory. Big fan btw
I'll be returning next year I think!
~ Tim
Hope you'll enjoy our little county then 😁
As a Swede I definitely recommend taking the time to explore nature, our country is full of beautiful nature trails (both short and long). If you're here in summer there is lots of hikes and lakes to go swimming in and berries to be picked in the forest, for autumn foraging for mushrooms is a must and in winter I highly recommend going skiing, tobogganing and/or ice skating. There are of course a lot of other stuff to see here other than enjoying nature. My favorite city is probably Gothenburg, but there are a lot of really pretty smaller towns all around, Gränna for one is really pretty. If you have the chance to head up north I'd definitely recommend it, either in the almost complete darkness of the winter with the northern lights lighting up the sky, or in constant day of summer.
Also, if y'all are around the area of Gothenburg or the cities/towns around it and want a guide or just a friendly face send me a message and I'll do my best to show you guys around!
If you have homesickness, Ireland has often been compared to New Zealand, particularly the west coast. It's such a stunningly beautiful part of the world! If you're heading to Norway, I would highly recommend Bergen AND a fjord tour. One of the best holidays ever.
Also the Swiss Alps have parts that I have seen compared to New Zealand a lot
So exited to follow the journey! You (understandably) didn’t put wales on the flag image, but if you find yourself near the English border, then it’s Recommendation from a local time - the Dolaucothi gold mines. The only known Roman-era gold mine in the uk, and suppliers of the royal family for hundreds of years. You can re-enter the old mines, which are truly a mystical setting. Wherever you end up, hope you make the most of the moment
I'm putting that on my list for next time I go to Wales
Croatia is very diverse for such a small country. The interior has a lot of central european influence mainly austrian and hungarian, while the coast has more italian and mediterranian influence.
Some of the coastal places to see are:
- The Istrian peninsual, especially Pula (with its ancient roman ampheteathere, which is still in use for concerts and cultural events today), Rovinj, the village of Motovun.
- The city of Rijeka and the northern islands of krk, cres and lošinj (the region was the inspiration behind the Ghibli film Porco Rosso)
- The plitvice national park (a absolute must see)
- The Paklenica national park (amzing views if you like hiking)
- Zadar (Especially to witness a sunset there)
- The Knin fortress ruins (It was the court of the medieval croatian kingdom during its height)
- Split (Another must see there is diocletians palace)
- Probably the most famous city in croatia; Dubrovnik (A lot of movies and shows were filmed here, like GoT, Star wars...)
Some of the places to see in the interior are:
- The capital Zagreb ofc (The city center is like a mini Vienna, with a lot of baroque and 19th century austro-hungarian architecture. Also there are some pretty wierd museums there)
- Varaždin
- The Trankošćan castle (in my opinion one of the most beautiful castles in croatia)
- The Đurđevac desert (a small sand dune desert near the hungarian border)
- The Požega valley along with its surounding mountains and hills like papuk and psunj
- Osijek
- Vukovar (If you are interested in recent croatian history and the war of independace)
In terms of food:
- One of my all time favorite dishes is Brudet (a stew made out of Mixed fish and tomatoes, served with polenta)
- Zagorski Strukli (a baked pastry dish filled with fresh cheese)
- Black risotto (Risotto with squid ink)
- local Lamb cocked under a "peka"
- Istrian truffles with Fuži pasta
- Škampi na buzaru (i dont know how to translate this, langoustine stew maybe?)
- A spicy salami called Kulen from the slavonia region
- Pag Cheese (hard cheese made on the island of Pag
- A bunch of region specific unique wines, prosciutto and olove oil
- There is also typical balkan food like Burek and Čevapi with Ajvar
Holy crap... i really went a bit overboard with all this, huh... 😂
Some less known places in Sweden I haven't seen mentioned yet:
My #1 recommendation would be Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred, about 65 km from Stockholm. A castle from 1537, home to a very stupid looking taxidermied lion from the 1700s. From there you can also go by boat to Birka, the site of an old viking city with a bunch of museums and whatnot. That means you'll get to see two of our most interesting time periods - the Viking Age and the Early Modern Age/Renaissance.
Söderköping, one of our oldest towns that somewhat managed to escape the demolishing/rebuilding hysteria of the 1900s - making it unusually picturesque for a Swedish town and overall just a nice place to be. It's got a couple of medieval churches, an ice cream place, and a tiny local history museum where one of my own works are on display :)
I've never been to the Chinese Pavilion (near Stockholm) but it sounds really interesting. The aristocracy in the mid 1700s were fascinated with Chinese culture and saw China as somewhat of a fairy-tale land. So the king built a small "Chinese palace" as a birthday gift for the Queen which is now a museum. Can't know whether it's worth a visit but that weird Swedish-Asian culture mix must be strange. You've also got the royal Drottningholm Palace while you're there.
You'll find early modern castles/palaces just about anywhere you go, esp. in southern Sweden so keep an eye out for anything nearby that ends with Slott - it's probably worth a visit. If it's a museum that is, some of them are still in use as private residences or offices or whatnot.
It's so cool that you're going to be moving around Europe! In Sweden i would recommend going to Grönalund in Stockholm during the summer, it's an amusement park and it's not that big in comperison to other amusement parks in Europe. There's a museum also in Stockholm called Livrustkammaren, basically its a bunch of armor from the swedish royalty, mainly form 1600-1700 hundreds. (theres also a little place under livrustkammaren with a bunch of like royal carts and some letters)
Id second livsrustkammeren. Fantastic museum with a lot of cool arms and armory (I think many of the past kings)
Also, after he's spent that time in Stockholm, if he really wants to get out in the woods and find a sweet lake to do some writing I'd suggest looking up places in Värmland to rent. Lots of beautiful nature here and my friends rented a sweet cabin on airbnb a few years back
If he's in stockholm, he should also drop by Södertälje, and go to Tom tits Experiments (lots of cool stuff for adults and kids best to go in summer), and Torekällberget (an outside museum, with old houses showing how old towns and old villages used to look, with houses you can go into).
oh, and if he's in sweden during winter, he should go to Kiruna, they have an icehotel
Awesome!👏 thank you. your recommendations are helpful for my first ever trip to Sweden 🇸🇪 in 2025 from usa 🇺🇸 😊
when you go to Greece you gotta try gemista, pastitsio (not sure how to spell them in English haha) the burger scene here is also pretty good. As for places to visit, aside from the obvious of going to the acropolis and its museum i do recommend the archeological museum in Athens, it's pretty cool.
I definitely recommend Ireland. I go there annually (I don't live there but my mothers Irish and I've gone there enough to see quite a lot of it) and it's a beautiful country with a ton of beautiful landscapes and great ruins. Lots of great history, nice towns, great food a lot more. If you do go I have to recommend Cobh (pronounced cove) Cork, Dublin, Blarney castle (and all the other castles there great.)
Food wise Tatos are the best potato chips in existence, lot of great candy's and choclates and stuff but also Shepards pie is classic along with a ton of other great cuisine.
I get if it dosnen't fit in with your plans but if you find space you will probably enjoy your time.
You’ll hear about it on all the tourist sites but I’ll confirm here: the Salt Mine near Krakow Poland is a must - so cool!
I'm from Poland 🇵🇱 and Kraków is honestly overrated and overpriced. I recommend Poznań, Wrocław and Gdańsk. However, if you want to see something different than big cities and still beautiful, i strongly recommend Bieszczady. It's a mountain range in the south east. When it comes to the food, of course you should try pierogi 🥟❤
For Croatia - we don't really have dishes that we could call uniquely ours, but you might want to give 'janjetina' (lamb) or seafood dishes (around the coast) a try. We do have a cake, called 'Kremšnite', but that specific for middle-ish part of Croatia (Samobor, near Zagreb, where I'm from :)) (important note: ask for them to be served cold!). There's also 'purica i mlinci' (chicken/turkey with a type of pasta-ish thing, it's tasty I promise), and štrukli (like a dough filled with cheese... don't know how to explain it but it's okay I guess), and almost all of us eat this thing called 'ćevapi', which is actually Bosnian but it's a staple around here, basically ground meat in a specific shape lol.
For places, I would recommend Dubrovnik (where GoT was filmed hehe), Plitvica Lakes, and a castle called Trakošćan. Again, if you find yourselves in Samobor, there is this really cool miniature depiction (in the bus station) of how the town used to look a long time ago - the guy who made it looked at the old maps etc. just to reach maximum accuracy. Though Croatia has a mesmerising diversity of landscape and just traveling is fun, I would say :)
I hope you will enjoy your stay here. Can't wait for your comment on it :)
I want to add if you are coming to Zagreb go to the mountain Sljeme and visit the Medvedgrad Old Castle, which was recently renovated and has a historical significance for this part of Croatia. There are also some interesting legends regarding it and an amazing view from the top.
Some other interesting towns: Pula (in Istria, has a lot of Roman archeological sites with a Colloseum, Istria has also great food and amazing nature), Motovun (also in Istria, an amazing little city on top of a hill, nearby are many wineyards if you are into that), Korčula Island (if you are going south I recommend visiting it, it's probably one of the prettiest islands in Croatia, has great food and wine, and also a beautiful old city).
Haj haj :D ja isto predložila ćevape i kremšnite haha ali super su i ovi drugi prijedlozi. if Tim doesn't get a bit fat in Croatia, we have failed as a nation 😂
@@nelgluhak6709 ah, the ultimate Croatian goal 😌
Please make sure you visit the countryside when you come to the UK! Everyone seems to focus on London, maybe Bath or Edinburgh but the spaces in between are so worth it! From Pembrokeshire to the rolling hills of the Cotswolds (just avoid Castle Combe as everyone heads there, pretty much any Cotswold village is gorgeous), to the Lake and Peak districts. I’m not as knowledgeable of places in the North but there are just as many gorgeous places to get your peace and quiet :) Plus in summer you can get warmth and long days without feeling like you’re burning in the heat 😂
Welcome to Europe! I hope you enjoy your stay here.
If you are looking for recommendations for places to see and stay here in the UK then may I suggest:
- Whitby, Yorkshire - it's in the North Yorkshire Moors, on the coast of the North Sea and not far from the historic city of York. It also got great claims to fame with the likes of Dracula. Try the fish and chips and the Whitby buns at Botham Bakers.
- Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire - the bookshop town of Europe, there is a book festival here twice a year and is surrounded by beautiful scenery.
- Keswick, Lake District - in the northern part of the national park, beautiful landscapes and delicious ice cream.
- Brecon Beacons, Wales - excellent medieval castles and ruins (see Tretower Court or Raglan Castle), dark sky reserves and mountains, staying here feels like you have travelled back in time. All the pub food is good.
- Bath - beautiful city with the ancient Roman baths, excellent tea houses and the Frankenstein museum.
- Cambridge - great links from London and the colleges are beautiful. Recommend going to the Eagle Pub where the scientists who discovered the DNA genome were said to have visited on their breakthrough. A good roast dinner here on a Sunday, also try the bangers and mash.
- The Cotswolds - lots of pretty villages such as Upper and Lower Slaughter.
- And if you must see London then have a walk around Hampstead Heath or walk along the Thames from Borough Market to Westminster Bridge - if you can, go to the Globe theatre and see a play (recommend paying extra for a seat rather than standing in the pit!!)
If you get the time, try Dartmoor in England. The folklore is still strongly remembered and there are stone age circles and villages all over the landscape - plus it's about as quiet as the south of England gets, and close to the Eden Project which is also very cool.
Agree with all of the food recommendations for Croatia. I have visited family a few times and I'm excited for you to experience it, even if only for a week. In terms of what to see, see the sunset in Zadar. One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. Even Hitchcock said it's amazing.
As you are currently in the UK, I'm sure Oxford is on your list of places to go and it is totally worth it! Beyond like the colleges, libraries, museums, and the punting I think you should really really go to Blackwell's! It's a bookstore (the oldest bookstore in Oxford) and their basement (the Norrington Room) basically is a tardis stuffed with books! It's magical and possibly one of my favourite places in the world!
Good places for food are Brancas, Opera Café (the wraps!!!), Barefoot café (cupcakes!), G&Ds (handmade ice cream)
The afternoon tea on top of the Ashmolean is also pretty decent^^
Other than that, I'd try and see if you can somehow get into a formal dinner at college, they're pretty interesting events altogether, the most peculiar one might be "Dining with Dinosaurs" which actually happens inside a museum hall (Natural History Museum) and includes some academic lecturing and discussion😂 It's a little weird, it started bc Reuben College didn't yet have a proper hall for dining... But it's quite the experience and very "Oxford"😅
Welcome Tim & family! I'm a Greek living in Paris and my recommendations would be:
-visit mainland greek countryside. Islands are nice but they're expensive and unflexible, and sadly theyre becoming more and more touristic. I believe mainland Greek villages have a wild cozy authentic feel to them. My favorite destinations would be Pilio, anywhere in the Peloponnese and Ioannina (if you want to go to an island i'm biased towards the Ionion sea honestly everything is gorgeous there, from mainland like parga to islands like Kefalonia and Corfu)
-everywhere you go in Greece there is a tiny bit of mythology lingering and having France and a couple of other countries as reference..well Greek museums are superior. Its like they're actually made to help you understand rather than attempting to stuff info into impressionable tourists. In Athens a walking tour of the hills of the city is a must.
-Food wise, try boiled weed salads adding generous amounts of olive oil, fresh lemon and salt and choose lots of mezedes (Greek tapas) rather than main courses which are usually huge and don't allow for a lot of different tastes. Don't be afraid to indulge in bean based stuff cause they're amazing and trust locals for their suggestions- in villages its a guarantee youll eat well this way!
-As an Athenian I recommend the taverns 'ama lahei stis nefelis', 'stin avli' and later a walk in Anafiotika.
-iced coffee is the best; we call it Freddo. But Greek/Turkish coffee is equally delicious. Try it in either country! Have so much fun in Europe!
My favourite place in all of Germany is probably the MiWuLa in Hamburg. It's the world largest model train intallation, spanning about 8km² at this point and it's full of little jokes and secrets. It's in the Speicherstadt as well, which is already one of the places that are worth a visit in Hamburg.
I second this!
I live in Germany and didn't know about that place. Thanks for the tip!
Loving the Tom Scott impression. Seriously though, I dunno what exactly your route in Spain is gonna be, but if you're looking for places outside Madrid, then Salamanca is a gorgeous city, especially its main plaza, which serves the best hot chocolate I've ever had besides. Also just generally in Spain, prepare for a lot of people to still be up and about at midnight, taking their kids out for ice cream, whatever.
When you come back to Austria try: Germknödel with butter and poppy seeds; Kernöl on salad, Kärntner Kasnudeln; Anything in Italy. Food is just amazing there.
To visit: Gdansk in Poland. Super pretty and affordable in comparison. Steyr in Austria (nope, not where I am from, but super pretty). Salzkammergut in Austria, where you will most likely find quiet places to write. Oulu in Finland. Lisbon, or other places in Portugal. Also, Portugal is supporting virtual nomads, so they have lots and lots of places with cheap, short term rent, good internet and a solid community.
Enjoy your time here!!!
Someone here from Granada, Spain. If you come to Andalucía (the south of Spain), you'll probably will want to visit the Alhambra. I never get tired of going, it's great inspiration for writing. Fair warning tho: get your tickets in advance online, they run out.
Córdoba and Sevilla have also really nice stuff, just try not to go during summer, you'd probably just die 🌡️🔥
Apart from that, Spain has lots of old and beautiful stuff. Madrid is nice and all, but too big, too crowded and a bit overrated. Segovia, on the other hand, is a small city really close to Madrid (1 hour by bus) I would really recomend visiting. It has the castle that inspired the one from Disney Snow White. Also, the Aqueduct is really cool and the whole city can be walked in a day.
And then sure, Barcelona is beautiful, I know you'll probably go there. Just expect it to be veeeery crowded. To the point of being overwhelming. Try not to go on holidays.
And then about food, you probably know la paella (which is technically from Valencia, btw, that's where they do "the real one"), but you should try the Spanish omelet, aka tortilla de patata. There's a big divide in Spain on how it should be done, with or without onion, sliced potatos or in cubes, raw or well cooked... (The answer is with onion, sliced potatos and raw, of course XD).
Hope this was somewhat useful, enjoy your travels!
When you visit Switzerland I would recommend visiting the older parts of towns when you are visiting there is a lot of special historical architecture and often nice smaller cafées and shops :) definitely go up into the mountains maybe Grindelwald. Also Bern (the capital) is a very nice city, in terms of architecture and vibes, there is the river Aare going through, and a game shop there called: DracheNäscht (Dragons nest :)) I would also visit a town with a lake, because there are a lot of lakes here and those are all quite nice, I especially like the Lake of Geneva, especially in summer it is very nice (u should never call it Lake of Geneva! when you are here call it Lac Léman ;) insider tipp) Nice places to walk by the lac léman are among other the cities Vevey and Montreux (near montreux there is also a castle: château de Chillon). The Italian speaking part of Switzerland, Ticino is also very nice to walk by lakes or in Bellinzona there are three castles to visit! Valle Maggia or other valleys there with rivers are worth seeing :)
Whenever I'm in Austria I always aim to have kaiserschmarrn and germknödel at least once. I'm usually there in the winter and these are the perfect winter warmers for me
For denmark:
Food: smørrebrød, and danish hotdogs with remoulade, also flæskesvær.
Things you need to see: Copenhagen has a lot of great museums. I recommend Glyptoteket, the national Museum, Experimentariet and the natural history museum if it's open when you get here. You can also take the boat bus to Refshaleøen for really good streetfood. If you're going other places than Copenhagen in Denmark, i recommend going to the western coast of jylland. Go to the hede (a specific biome created by humans, covered in heather, hence the name) and learn about its history. I also recommend going to the northern part of jylland, where two seas meet (skagen). They have great art museums there too, and we have a weird moving "Desert" (pile of sand) that's worth a visit. Up there we also have the church that is completely submerged in the sand iirc, so much that you can only see the tower part sticking out, as well as a lighthouse that had to be moved bc it was about to fall into the sea lol
In the trash taste podcast the boys went crazy over the hotdogs.
If you go to Ireland, I would recommend going into some place in the middle of nowhere, (basically anywhere but Dublin or Cork) which although it has almost no public transport, there are a LOT of old ruins, a lot of them even back from the bronze age. If you see a strangely circular small hill, then that's probably the remains of an ancient small settlement. Most of these ringforts are in some random people's fields though.
Dublin is fine. 🙄
Good to see you're enjoying yourself after putting in so much work with your writing. You deserve it!
The thing about visiting Croatia is, the four corners of the country are such different experiences they might almost be different countries. If you _have_ to pick though I'd recommend visiting the southern coast and the islands (the city of Korčula for example), preferably in spring because summer is hot and brings a lot of tourists. Food - both burek and ćevapi with ajvar are cool but not really 'Croatian', it's popular throughout Europe with various names, but they still might be your best bet.
If you come to Ireland, and you absolutely should, I'll personally give you the coolest tour of Newgrange, which is a structure older than the pyramids at Giza, has remained water tight foe 5,000 years and the sun shine directly in the doorway on the dawn of the winter solstice.
I wrote my book based around this structure and your videos helped so it would be a great full circle moment if I got to give you a tour!!
I'm an English person. I'd really recommend visitting one of our national parks in the north. The people are really friendly up here and there's lots of rich history. Hadrian's Wall or the Antonine Wall is a good shout, too. I'd love to see you analyse our history. We have anglo saxon, celtic, and viking history that still lives on in our languages, dialects, and place names today. Of course there's also many castles to visit too. I'm from Yorkshire and we have a lot of viking remnants in our dialect for example.
I have been a big fan of yours for a while now and I'm excited to see you're doing well! I am always happy to support your channel and I'll buy your world building books for Christmas. You have been the best for writing advice! Sincerely, a very obsessed fan ❤
Hey...this is my first post to you, but seems like a good point to say thanks for the book recommendations! I have found a few new authors thanks to you. Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children of Time" is one of the best books i have read...and u love your Avatar critiques. My son and I watched the cartoons together. Your discussions on writing really trigger something for me any I pick up a pen soonish. Have fun in Europe.
I'm excited for how this will influence the channel! I'm sure Europe will inspire you for future videos
In Hungary one of the main tourist destinations are baths.
There are waterparks, turkish baths both very popular, but gonna recommend my personal favourite: cave bath
AFAIK there are only two cave baths in Hungary one in Demjén near Eger, one in Miskolc.
The one in, Demjén is an artificial cave covered in white plaster and tiles with the usual attractions, lazy river, room with colored lights, bubblers, jets and even a few in-cave waterslides. The water in the cave is not too cold not too warm, and there are thermal pools outside.
The one in Miskolc has the same things (except the waterslides) but somewhat tamer. The main difference is that its a natural limestone cave. The water in the cave is a bit colder but not too cold, there are pools outside, but neither is a warm water pool.
You should visit St. Fagan’s Museum of Welsh Life if you make it to Wales. They do incredible work - they take buildings deemed historically significant which are due to be demolished, carefully dismantle them, and then rebuild them brick-by-brick on the museum grounds.
You’ve got everything from 1500s farmhouses to 1950s pre-fab bungalows to a whole row of terraced miner’s houses decorated to look like different decades, it’s a great day out.
Oh, and there’s an old-fashioned sweet shop that does the best fudge I’ve ever eaten, plus an old-fashioned bakery that sells great cob loaves.
I’m a kiwi, my family is from Slovakia. Just in this video it’s cool seeing places I have been. Prague I think is the one city in the world I think everyone needs to see in their lifetime. If you ever are in slovakia, Ďevin hrad (the castle) is my favourite. Enjoy your Christmas time! I’ve only been once for Christmas, it is absolutely wonderful there
Prague is my top 1 city in Europe. I've been to all Western Europe (and central Europe), besides Portugal and UK and to most of former eastern block countries. But Prague is the city that always invites me back
Tim! Guess what I’m getting for Christmas! Some weird, nerdy RUclipsr’s book ;)
In all seriousness, I’m so glad I started watching you years ago because of your ATLA videos. You’re one of my favorite RUclipsrs and I’m so glad I can support you by getting your book. I obviously haven’t read it yet, but I’ve been blown away by the excerpts you’ve shared in videos, and the themes that are in your writing are the exact kind I like to explore in my own. I hope one day I can publish my fiction too (in more than just my college’s literary magazine, but hey, that in itself is a dream already achieved). Thank you for being a constant inspiration for me in all you do. Enjoy Europe! When in Italy, try a traditional cannoli please!
Aw thank you! It means a lot. I'll make sure to try it!
~ Tim
Hey Tim!
So coming from Germany, especially the north-western bundesland/state of Northrhine-Westphalia, Insuggest you just go to good ol'german restaurants, here often called "Gaststätte". They have all kinds of amazing local and traditional food for you wetzer you wanna try Sauerkraut, Haxen, Kässpätzle, Maultaschen, Wurstplatten or the like. ^^
I can wholeheartedly recommend you coming to Münster for a cultural experience, a great city founded as one of germanys first bishops seats in the early medieval age. Good food places, some good museums, a palace and 18th century building all over the city since its one of the older university cities of germany.
Since you mentioned public transport, Freiburg im Breisgau is a truly incredible city, showing that not only the dutch but also we germans can design proper cities with proper public transport, not just complete car centric abominations. And that city is quiet af, which, as Not Just Bikes would say, is further proof that cities arent loud, cars are loud. (:
I also hope youre visiting Berlin since the museumsinsel, an island inbetween two riverbanks inside the city that holds most of the cities and countries most important museums, is a real looker, and I cant recommend the Pergamonmuseum enough there. Look at their website in case you havent heard about it so far. Its a real experience.
Otherwise obviously any major city in the netherlands is a good idea if you come to dislike the car centric noise of most european cities, cause those cities with their public transport networks and bicycle infrastructure are just super high quality places to live in and comparatively quiet because of that.
Ive also been to Finnland, so a good place to be in during the winter, especially if you want to try climbing up frozen waterfalls with spikes or snowshoetrekking.
And Iceland is arguably the most beautiful country in existence. Every picture on the internet of that country looks like it came straight from bing. Just unbelievable nature.
Great project!
Here from France, I highly recommand the following food: Boeuf Bourguignon, Raclette, and Fondue Savoyarde. Also, of course, your daily dose of baguette, especially with butter and/or jam in hot coco.
And if you ever go to Bretagne, the crêpes and the kouign amann are killer there (but often bland when "imported"). And if you're there, you may as well drink some good cider.
For what to visit, I strongly recommand the "Châteaux de la Loire" (or "Châteaux of the Loire Valley"). Out of the bunch, I'd pick at least the Château de Chambord and the Château of Amboise. Both are very nice, and their history is tied to Leonardo Da Vinci, and Amboise is just next to the Clos-Lucé where he lived. It's a very nice place with props and a delicious restaurant using medieval (inspired ?) recipes. Went there twice already, and I always enjoyed it. Also, there are great wines to taste in the area.
If you're there and can afford the detour from there, the Chateau of Guédelon, a castle built from scratch with tech and materials from the 13th century, is an absolute blast, with lots of info and things to discover. Be careful tho, it's open not open half the year so you should check it out in advance.
If you're more constrained to Paris and "Ile de France" in general, I hope you like it. There's a LOT of stuff here (we concentrated everything in there after all), but I hear people are often disapointed by the city itself. At least if you're impressed by public transportation, the whole tentacular (near Lovecraftian) nature of Parisian public transportation will amaze you. Be aware that during July-august, there are a lot maintenance on it. I recommand using the vianavigo[dot]com website to find your way.
For what to do there, outside of the usual suspects there, like the Louvres, the Panthéon, Chateaux de Versailles and the like, I suspect you might quite like the ethnographic museum of Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, with its huge collections of art and object from indigenous cultures of all around the world.
Have a nice traveling year, I'm very excited to hear about your adventure!
Excited to see Croatia on your list! I hope you do more than just Dubrovnik, because for a small country, it has a little bit of everything. For the small island vibe, I'd recommend Prvić. And for coastal beauty plus history, there's Split, Pula, Šibenik, etc. Then if you go over to the Istra region, it feels more like Tuscany with pretty mountaintop towns (the smallest town in the world -- Hum -- is there too). The capital Zagreb and northern Croatia also have a lot to offer (especially if you want to see some pretty castles)
Since I'm coming from a Christmas project in Slovenia I've spent 2 days in Zagreb before my flight back to Estonia. I'm currently in a hostel next to the main square. And man, I've got to say that I love Croatia and Croatians. Last night I forgot to book a hostel and my friend from the project went all the way out and hosted me in Zabok, even bought the train tickets for me. Much love to Croatians!
If you visit Spain, come to Granada. It is not a huge city, but it is unlike any other ehrn it come stop beauty. There are monuments from many cultures and is considered the city of poetry. You would love it here
So exciting!!! I did a month travelling around Europe and it was an amazing experience seeing so many places and the main advice I would give is the smaller towns and cities offer so much more in most instances. Staying in Briez Switzerland for example was beautiful and the locals were so welcoming and happy to show where things were and explain local history.
Being from the U.K. south coast areas though I would have to recommend Swanage/Corfe castle/Durlston area. There is so many little hidden gems around there that you can walk (and weirdly you can see bits of london that were taken to swanage by a fan over several years in the late 1890s)
I’m sure you’ll see many amazing things and have fun!!!
Moesgaard Museum in Århus is one of best museums in Denmark. The surrounding forest (marselisborg skov) is also gorgeous. And well you are there go to the forest mill café (Skovmøllen).
What a big change for your life! Hope you love Europe, it's a beautiful place full of little secrets. Don't know if you guys are considering it, but I think you'd love Portugal, in particular Oporto/Porto. It's a really impactful city full of places to visit and divine food! Enjoy your trip!
If you get the chance, I highly recommend the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage across the north of Spain (there are actually many routes, but this is hte most famous). An amazing experience where you just walk for 4 weeks with other pilgrims doing the same, staying in pilgrim hostels. An amazing chance to experience Europe and Spain in a different light, and a chance to just be with yourself.
Christmas markets must be a priority to visit right now. Over the area you are there are beautiful mountains and volcanoes as well. There is a place close to vienna (an abandoned mine) where you can go with a bucket and get all the rocks you can put inside.
Hello Tim! I saw that you were going to Croatia, while I don't live in Croatia I have family there and visit often. As for places to visit I have a list for you.
1. Dubrovnik - The old town is surrounded by walls and is beautiful. Make sure to walk the walls, you'll be able to see out into the sea with an amazing view. They also filmed a lot of Game of Thrones in Dubrovnik and Croatia as a whole.
2. Split - The old roman town in Split is beautiful, as well as the riviera.
3. Pula - the colosseum there is better preserved than the one in Rome. A lot of the ancient stuff is still in pretty good condition since it wasn't bombed since WWII.
4. Rovinj - One of my favourite cities in Croatia. It is beautiful, the old town mixed with the Austrian expansion and the unique dialect. Fun fact Rovinj was one of the only cities in Europe not to be hit with the plague and is one of the only cities that can go fishing in the bura winds.
Everything mentioned above is all costal and the cities have heavy Italian influences. Eat the seafood my family loves it (I'm allergic so I can't confirm their claims) I believe all the cities above have free walking tours in English which are really good.
If you want more of Croatia's modern history then go to Vukovar. There you will find a lot of sites and history from the Croatian war for independce in the 1990s. If you go to Vukovar, you have to go to the water tower.
Also, don't discount Croatia's national parks, they are wonderful as well.
If you want more information let me know! I'd be happy to help.
when you come to Finland, I'd recommend you visit Turku - not only is it my hometown (heh), it's literally our oldest city and first capital! So lots of history here 😀 and it's pretty peaceful compared to bigger towns (our current capital city Helsinki is super busy). if you can fit it into your schedule, I recommend visiting here somewhere between August and September, I think the town is at its prettiest in the late summer.
I am of course not Tim, but Finland is on my long travel list, and visiting Turku might be interesting for its history! I'm glad I found this comment!
Tim! I have two quick questions:
Do the holidays feel different now that you get to experience them in the winter rather than the summer?
Did it freak you out when the toilets flushed backwards?
Christmas is VERY different here. In many ways, so much better. It's also a much more "cosy" celebration, while back home we're outside and in the sun the whole time. And no, but I will paying for public toilets has caught me out a lot.
~ Tim
@@HelloFutureMe Does NZ have the same bizarre Christmas branding as we get in Australia, with winter food recipes, snow and fur imagery, etc, but also beaches, bikinis and BBQs?
"The think I am going to miss most is space."
100% this! I went there but I live in Texas. Adjusting to the people in my personal space was probably my #1 struggle.
This update is exciting! Congrats on the life change. But... please, find a tripod that is small and light enough to travel with you.
Congratulations. I've been wandering the earth non-stop for the last 12+ years and now am also in Europe. Enjoy yourself!
If you decide to visit Ukraine by any chance, there's a lot of cool and unique stuff to see and try here. In terms of historical and cultural landmarks, there's 3 cities worth visiting the most imo - Lviv, Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia: Lviv for its cool old architecture, castles and western ukrainian culture; Kyiv for old churches, monasteries, interesting architecture that combines historical, soviet era and modern in one place and probably the most landmarks and activities between all ukrainian cities; and Zaporizhzhia for it's still alive cossack culture, especially on Khortytsia island. When it comes to food, the most famous uniquely ukrainian dishes are Borshch, Varenyky, Salo, Banosh, and Uzvar, all of which are worth trying.
Also one of my favorite experiences in terms of traveling Ukraine was visiting Chernobyl and Pripyat and seeing those abandoned overgrown cities with my own eyes, but unfortunately I don't know if tours there are available right now, considering the damage done to the exclusion zone by russian forces. If they are when you happen to visit Ukraine, that's definitely something worth considering.
Much love and good luck in your european journey ❤️
I hope you'll have a wonderful time in Europe. I'm from Göteborg on the westcoast of Sweden and during the pandemic travel restrictions made me spend 3 summers exploring my own country as a tourist. I imagine that we both find history and nature interesting. Here are my findings:
2020 was spend in southern sweden, Scania (Skåne). Scania is much flatter and don't have the forests. Lots of fields as far the eyes can se. Historicaly one of the more densly populated areas of sweden it has lot of old mansions/castles to look at (Slott in swedish). The medieval Cathedral of Lund is a must see if you're ever in the area. The town of Helsingborg also have a very well preseved medevial Tower that is open to the public. The nature in the northwest corner of Scania is called "Hovs Hallar" it has a uniqe cliff formations and was where Igmar Bergman filmed his Iconic movie the Seventh Seal. There are nice walking tracks nearby aswell.
2021 we traveled in the area east of Göteborg called "Götaland". There's a small town called Skara that was big and important during the middle ages and has a big Cathedral in the middle. It's interesting to see such a monumental building in the middle of a small town and there is a good museum nearby aswell. Not too far away lies Varnhem, a medieval monastary build by french monks so it looks like nothing else in sweden and well worth a visist.
We also traveled further east to Vadstena on shore of lake Vättern. There Saint Birgitta of sweden build a large monastary and was a pilgramage site for all of Europe during the middle ages. It's still in use and also open for the public. It's one of the very Best historical sites in sweden. Nearby is also a renaisance castle from the 1500s and the town has a well preserved town hall from the 1400s. A lovley small town all around Vadstena is.
Not too far from Vadsten lies "Rökstenen" Sweden's longest runeinscription. There are 100s of runestones all around scandinavia but Rökstenen is by far the most impressing one I've seen. The inscription is a riddle that scholars still haven't solved.
We also the same year visited Karlsborg. Built after we lost Finland during the Napoleonic Wars. The Idea was that having a large fortress in the middle of sweden that the goverment could flee to would deter Russia from invading us. During wartime we would retreat inland and make a invasion too coslty for the attacker. It has never been used though and was obsolete before it was finished (artillery advancements during the 1800s was no joke). Still it's a fascinated area, like a snapshot into the 1800s.
2022 was the last year a vactioned in Sweden. We went to the eastcoast this Year. Kalmar and Öland to be exact. Kalmar was the center of the Medieval unifacation of Scandinavia named after the same town (Kalmar Union) and lasted for abit over 100years. There's a great castle to visist there and there's also much remaining of the old city walls remaining. Öland is very fascinating. During the migration period in the Iron Age many small walled towns whas built on the island and many of the ruins are still visisted. After the Iron Age they where abandon, but some of them where rebuild during the middle ages. A cool example of old structures being reused for different purposes in different times. The nature is also very uniqe for sweden with almost a steppe characterstic. Another very intresting ruin is that of Borgholm, a renaisance ruin that burned down and was abandoned in the early modern period, so nothing wooden remains. But everything of stone remaines and you can walk around freely almost anywhere and get a good scale of the thing.
Wow this got longer then I though. I Hope atleast someone find it usefull. Lastly Sweden has a law called "the right to roam" mening you are allowed to walk around anywhere in nature regardless of who ownes the land. You can't go too close to annons house or disturb fields. You are also allowed to camp allmost anywhere for a single night. Remeber to leave any place the same as you found it.
It get's very dark up here winter, but during summer we have daylight for 20+ hours.
I would add Skansen in Stockholm, where you get to talk to actors simulating live of all different kinds of people (farmers, priests, bookbinders...) in really old houses from 1300 onwards, and you can ask them everything you ever wanted to know. It's also a zoo, so cute otters, reindeers, bears, owls, all the good stuff. And you can hang out indefinitely, have a picnic, enjoy the view...
In general, it's amazing to get around on bike here. From Stockholm, you can get to Vaxholm (and stay in the scenic Kastell BnB), or Sigtuna.
Sigtuna is a cute little town, one of the oldest in Sweden. Good waffles on the southern tip.
If you can fit in the trip (tip: as a stopover to/from Germany on the Rostock-Nynäshamn ferry), you would love Visby on Gotland. It is full of church ruins from the 1100s, in the middle of the city, and you can even roam through the inside of walls of some (or ice skate in the amazing cathedral at the main square if you're there in winter).
If you're here during Midsommar, you get to sing the frog song and dance around a maypole :D
A long way away from New Zealand, welcome! I'll only add one thing for the Czech Republic, because I already saw some great suggestions. Anywhere you go in this country, be it national parks or normal towns, there will be well-marked hiking trails, and they almost always lead to cool places, from restaurants and attractions to overgrown ruines and nice lookouts. Sometimes it's just nice to be surprised!
In Sweden? You gotta try surströmming.
Cool ga je ook naar nederland???
Good to see you living life to the fullest! i love your books and you are amazing! Love you man, all the support in the world your way!
Croatia:
Okay so, ćevapčići (kinda like small meat sausages but they're quite different) and try to get them with ajvar (a spread made out of bell peppers). You also have to try međimurska gibanica (a layer cake with cheese, poppy seeds, nuts and apples). There's also kremšnita (quite fluffy cake, I think Austro-Hungarian roots). During Christmas season, you can also find fritule everywhere (fried sweet dough). But most importantly. MOST IMPORTANTLY. Burek. Burek with meat. It's a specific puff pastry filled with meat and it's eaten best with yoghurt :) I cannot stress enough how good it is. My girlfriend is Australian and she loves burek so much! Her favourite is with chicken and mushrooms, I believe, but that one is a bit less common. You can find it in bakery Dubravica, though! And my Italian friend recently moved to Croatia to be with their partner and they love burek too! 😂
In case you're visiting Dubrovnik, I'd recommend rozata (or rožata, depends who you ask), which is a type of pudding/custard with caramel, and stonska torta (torta od makarula) - it's a pasta cake. It's hard to describe. My mum dislikes it, actually, while I absolutely adore it 😂
Also!!!! Now, during Christmas, you HAVE to try sarma. It's meat in sauerkraut leaves and I cannot stress what a staple it is in our culture! Winter is coming? Means we start making s a r m a.
Where in the world is Hello Future Me?
Currently in Budapest still! About to go back to London.
~ Tim
@@HelloFutureMe so cool
Be careful man, I hope you don’t give too much public knowledge of your location
Ngl this is something I'm gonna have to be careful of!
~ Tim
@HelloFutureMe ok 👌
WHAT??!!! That's crazy, welcome to Europe!! I hope this season of your life brings you exactly what you're looking for and more!! 💖 If you find your way in Thessaloniki, Greece I'll be sure to offer as many suggestions as I can! You definitely have to try the popular foods, like pita gyros or souvlaki, but there's a ton more things! Drinks like tsipouro, soumada, ouzo, retsina, tentoura, mastiha, all the wines, and food!! Like gemista, the meatballs and fries, gioubarlakia, gigantes in the oven, pastitsio, mousakas, tzatziki, dakos salad, saganaki cheese, all the pies like tyropita and spanakopita, soutzoukakia, so many cheeses like feta, and the desserts like the syroupy stuff such as baklavas, saragli, kantaifi, but more like diples, chestnut pie (karydopita), kourabiedes and melomakarona, spoon sweets, sweet bread (tsoureki) and so many more! Greece truly offers a lot more than meets the eye; often a lot uglier, but still more real and so, in a twisted way, beautiful, than the picture-perfect blue houses on the islands that we so like to promote. The culture and the people is something that I hope you get to experience as they really are, instead of what there usually is for tourists, and for that I'd suggest venturing into lesser known parts and cities. I could hazard a guess that this applies for other European countries too. Thessaloniki for example, where I currently live for uni, is the 2nd biggest city in Greece after Athens, mostly influenced by the Roman and Byzanitne eras and has been one of UNESCO's cities of Gastronomy, for 2021. We call it the co-capital of the country and, as every Greek person who's been to both cities will tell you, the vibes are extremely different to Athens. Enough with my advertisement though! Once again good luck with all your travels and moving, this is an enormous task you're undertaking and I truly wish you the best! I hope I helped with my suggestions and if you need anything, you can find me @orfeassi on IG! I'll definitely be following along your adventures! Stay safe, see you in the future! ✨
When you swing around to Denmark (I saw the flag! 🇩🇰), must-visits are all of our palaces, especially close to the capital of Copenhagen (Amalienborg, Rosenborg, Frederiksborg, Fredensborg, Kronborg), and Northern Jutland for the spacious nature (or rather, the best we got 😂). Must-have foods are smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches), frikadeller (Danish meatballs), and the national dish, “stegt flæsk med persillesovs”. And yes, a lot of hot dog vendors in our cities; they offer a lot of choices too, which is nice!
Hello! Poland has a lot of trails in the mountains, so you may want to check this out - though I wouldn't recommend Tatras, if you want to avoid crowds. Don't get me wrong, they are gorgeous, but they are also really famous, so on more well known trails you may end up in a queue... Especially if the weather is nice, and it happens to be weekend. As far as particular mountains go, view from Mała Rycerzowa (Beskid Żywiecki) is really nice, and there's Leskowiec (Beskid Mały) too. One of my favourite trails is a rather long loop (about 20 kilometres) near Szczyrk, which goes through Skrzyczne, Malinowska Skała and Magórka Radziechowska. If you don't feel like walking, on Szyndzielnia (near Bielsko-Biała) is a gondola lift, same goes for Czantoria (near Ustroń). Not sure if they work in winter, though.
I could go on, but this comment is long as it is XDD But yeah, if you're going to visit this particular corner of Poland, those are my local recommendations.
Ok dane here:
in Copenhagen, one of my favourite places is Jernbanebyen! (Railway city) It's an old industrial area that's been transformed completely into a cultural little haven in the middle of the city. Specifically Banegaarden (the train station basically) is such a nice place. It's its old little western town with really nice (albeit pricy) food, and just such a vibe.
Another great place is Reffen, or Refshaleøen. (Dunno how to translate that. Apparently "Refshale" comes from what could be translated to "foxe's tail." "Øen" just means "the island)
It's another old industrial place, transformed to a streetfood market. It's best in the summer. Can be quite crowded though, in the summer holidays especially.
As for food... Well, Denmark is no culinary wonder to be honest. Best to eat anything that's NOT called "traditional danish food." It's just a thick sauce with some potatoes and a slab of meat. I mean it's ok, but anything else is probably bettter lol.
Outside of Copenhagen, there's lots of nice places too. I recommend Ærø, that's a quaint place. In northern Zealand, there's a place called Ordrup Næs, which just makes for a super nice hike along the coast there.
Aalborg is one of the larger cities in Denmark, too, and it's a really cool place with lots of culture. Haven't been there much.
Ok that's it I think! I mean, it definitely isn't, but I'm from the most central part of the capital so someone from somewhere else could probably give you a different insight
If you come to Bulgaria you would like to try the following dishes:
- Classical banitsa - with cheese
- Bob s nadenitsa (beans with sausage)
- Shkembe tchorba (tripe soup)
- Pork with sauerkraut stew
These will be better suited to colder months
For the hotter ones try:
- Tarator (cold yoghurt and cucumber soup)
- Ovcharska salata (Shepherd's salad)
- Zuchinni with garlic sauce (These might be common outside Bulgaria as well)
- Yaytsa po panagyurski (Panagyurishte-style eggs, basically eggs boiled without the shell and dipped in a sauce)
- Sirene po shopski (Cheese in a clay pot mixed with various other goods)
If you want peace and quiet, you should definitely check out Ireland. I was excited to see you mention it on your list of maybes and I think it'd be a good place to help you feel at home. Aesthetically its similar to New Zealand, albeit a little smaller!
Hi Swede here. First of all I do want to say that you'll absolutely be able to find some quite here, its a really long country and a lot of it is nearly uninhabited. As for places it really depends on where in Sweden you end up but If you go to Stockholm or Malmö/Lund I do have some suggestions.
Stockholm: You should absolutely check out the Vasa Museum. It is a bit of a touristy place but it is definitely worth seeing. You should also go to Skansen. Its a combined zoo and outside museum where they've gathered a lot of old houses from around the country. Most of the animals are also Scandinavian so combined with the architecture, its a really nice way to experience a lot of Sweden in one place.
Malmö/Lund: These two are in southern Sweden (only a 30min train ride from Copenhagen) Out of the Two Lund is definitely the cozier one in my opinion but Malmö is bigger and has some old buildings as well. Lund is home to Sweden's oldest university and has been a major city since the 1100s. If you come here You should absolutely go to the old cathedral (1100) and honestly just wandering in town for a day you'll come across a lot of pretty houses and small cafés.
As for food I wouldnt really recommend "traditional Swedish food", you can get that at your local IKEA but I would highly suggest you try Kebabpizza. It's exactly what it sounds like and it is the best. If you go to Malmö or Lund you should also try to find some Falafel, its very good in Malmö especially. The only really traditional Swedish thing I would really recommend is to go to a café and have some Fika, most of our baked goods are fantastic and its a large part of Swedish culture. Also buy a beer and swim naked in a lake.
Hope this was helpful and good luck on your European adventure!!!
If you are going to the UK, you may be interested in visiting a location called Beamish, it is a big museum with small villages from different time periods from the UK. Difficult to explain but fun to visit, especially if its snowy!!
Welcome to Europe Tim! I hope you and Laura enjoy it here and get to make the most of the experience.
I’m excited to see the videos you have planned, especially with the new style involving real-world locations.
If you’re looking for somewhere in Italy that’s not quite as busy as a city, but with plenty of culture and breathtaking scenery, consider one of the villages and towns around lake Garda. Especially the part north of Bardolino has stunning mountains and excellent hiking trails if you’re into that. The rent is quite expensive though.
Happy New years Tim, i hope this new chapter of your life treats you well.
Welcome to Europe! If you come to Scotland and are in Edinburgh, you've got to check out Lighthouse Books, Edinburgh's radical bookshop! Amazing selection there.
I was really happy to see you're coming to Spain. For food I would recommend the classics, tortilla de pata and paella, but also gazpacho if you come around summer or spring, is a cold beverage of vegetables, very healthy and delicious. Someone recommended El Camino de Santiago and it's definitely a good choice. If you want to see nature, La Garganta de los Infiernos, in Extremadura, and El Caminito del Rey, in Málaga are also beautiful. Cities with a lot of history like Cádiz and Córdoba in the south, Toledo, in the center of the country, and Segovia, are good choices to visit because they are small, so you can spend 1 or 2 day in them. I'm sure others could give you even more advice, I hope you enjoy the stay in Europe, there are a lot of amazing places here, even as a european myself, I still discover new and wonderful locations everyday.
If you end up in Ireland, you gotta try a fry up for breakfast. Specifically an ulster fry up, comes with baked beans. And get a steak, I've never had a better steak than one in Ireland.
I think you'd love the ruins in Ireland too. So many of them are technically on private property, but are left open for the public. My favorite is Loughcrew in Co Meath.
A big hello to you for denmark - I hope you will enjoy your stay in this little back-yarden of a country (said with love, of course :-))
I come from Roskilde, and while you will probably hear about these destinations from other people as well, I will never pass up the chance to promote the town I grew up in 😊
If you are blessed with fair weather (unlikely) I recommend the Viking-ship Museum by the harbour (while the inside is decent, the main attraction to me is definitely the outside areas) or Sagnlandet Lejre - which is a bit further a field, but also a great experience for history nerds!
There is of course also Roskilde Domkirke - it’s a bit more touristy than it used too be, but it is still beautiful and exiting! I especially recommend the grave chamber of Christian IV, which features almost exclusively painted decorations because he left the ‘empire’ he inherited in a bit of a state, and an unmarked black grave behind the alter, which features in a local legend about a 3-legged horse with flaming eyes…
Your remarks about your already made experiences seem very large city focused. But yeah I get it even for smaller cities/towns. Also saying „I am in Europe“ or even „I am in country X“ it’s extremely broad. There are so much places to see in just one country. Europe is so cramped in history that around every corner there is something unique and interesting about the locality. And locality is like 10-20km. At least it feels like this to me. Relatives of mine from Australia traveled here and did this „I did Europe in a year“ and mostly saw freeways/train tracks. Allow yourself time at a place and get to know the (for you probably hyper) local stuff.
If you ever find yourself in Birmingham, England, on your travels, I'd recommend the Birmingham Tolkien Trail. Basically it's a list of places in Birmingham that inspired Tolkien growing up. There's Perrott's Folly and Edgbaston Waterworks Tower which are believed to have been the inspiration for Orthanc and Minas Morgul. There's the Cardinal Newman's Oratory on Hagley Road that Tolkien's family apparently attended regularly. The Chamberlain Clock Tower, or 'Old Joe' as we call it, is the clock tower on University of Birmingham's main campus that supposedly inspired the Eye of Sauron. And finally, there's Sarehole Mill, where Tolkien and his brother used to play. I'd definitely recommend the mill in particular because you can take tours to see how the mill used to work, as well as see the Moseley Bog that Tolkien used to explore, and 264 Wake Green Road is nearby, where Tolkien used to live.
if he's ever in birmingham i'd personally recommend he leaves ngl 😭💀
@@cymruuu Touche! 🤣
Foods to try in Croatia (focusing a bit on Dalmatia, but all can be found in Zagreb as well):
- Sarma (the cabbage roll variety, the vine leaf roll is something you will find more South in the Balkans) and Punjane paprike (Filled Peppers) are something every household eats - the first one in the winter season, the second in the summer;
- The Bosnian fast foods like "burek" and "ćevapi", since you are not going there but are a big thing in the whole ex-Yugoslavia region;
- "Blitva krpumpir" (Chard and potato) is a traditional side dish that goes with fish, so take that if eating fish;
- Soparnik - highly local thing, baisally a chard and onion pizza (sounds odd, I know) you will need to be in the area around the city of Split or find some tourist stand;
- Rožata - a Dalmatian desert, similar to the Italian Panna Cotta found only in specific restaurants;
- Paprenjak from the island of Hvar (the location is important as there are different things under that name) - basically honey biscuts, but have an over 500 year tradition;
- Pašticada is a Dalmatian main course dish you eat at special occasions - it's beef in sweet and sour sauce dish served with gnocchi;
- If hiking, go for dishes with beans;
- Grab snacks at bakeries in general, that is what the locals do;
If you need vegan options, feel free to comment for me to send an email and I can provide you with pointers about it
Greetings from Czech Republic. I hope you enjoy this little continent.
happy you're happy. love from a fellow austrian
Three things Denmark (assuming you’re visiting Copenhagen)
Food: Hot dog, now I know you just said that everywhere does sausages which is true, but the danish hotdog is pretty unique!
Place: Don’t se the little mermaid, you really don’t have to it’s underwhelming and crawling with tourists. If you want architecture go to Amalienborg Castle, the city planning is nuts there, it’s in between one of the prettiest churches and our opera house in a completely straight line and it’s cool.
Bar: Fantom Bar in Nørrebro. This is biased but it’s the bar that I run and I would be elated to have you!
Hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy Europe!
Pretzels in southern Germany, Chrismasmarkets (but try smaller local ones, they're not as commercialized). For example the Ren Fair Christmans Market in Esslingen or the ChocolArt in Tübingen. The best christmas markts are even smaller, in little villages with no commercial sellers and food from local clubs. Germany has a lot of cool castles, the Rhine Valley is really worth visiting, especially by boat. Krapfen (essentially donuts) around carneval. Though I really recommend avoiding the city of Cologne around this time. Most restaurants don't actually have traditional German food, because it's been seen as uncool for so long. If you can find the equivalent to a local pub I'd recommend giving one of the hundred different kinds of dumpling a try. (Potato and also bread dumplings are very popular.) Though no guarantee that the servers in the more traditional pubs speak good english. Franconia has good bread dumplings. Swabia has a type of dumpling called Maultaschen that are very typical for the region. Sauerbraten if you can find it has to be one of the best meat dishes out there (also a southern thing). Go to a bakery and try the bread and cake.
Seeing how I just got back from a year living in NZ, Goodluck with your travels and have fun, you'll look back it with great joy at both the good and the bad times you'll experience
A little addendum: when you're in Germany between the months of April and July, you should try asparagus and strawberries, respectively.
Germans go a little crazy over asparagus, don't be surprised. It's traditionally eaten with the first potatoes harvested, ham and melted butter.
You can find fields where you can pick your own strawberries, but there are also little huts, shaped like giant strawberries, popping up everywhere where you can just buy them. They're really good.
Summer is also barbecue season (Grillsaison). If you have the chance to visit friends "zum Grillen", you are in for a very German custom.