This week’s blogger round-up brings us three completely different subjects. We start with favourite Europe travel apps by Marie-Eve from Europe Trip Tips, a girl after my own heart, because she, too, is addicted to her iPhone! Next, Janine Marsh from The Good Life France shares 5 things she doesn’t like about France and I’d be very interested to hear your own list. To finish up, Anda from Travel Notes and Beyond takes us to Sibiu in Romania – the more I learn bout her country of origin, the more I want to go there! Enjoy!

My Favourite Europe Travel Apps

by Marie-Eve from Europe Trip Tips is a something Canadian, full-time travel blogger, amateur photographer, translator and copywriter living as an expat in France who’s been to over 17 European countries and keeps adding new ones every other week.

Anytime someone asks me “What’s the one thing you wouldn’t travel without?”, my answer inevitably is “My iPhone” — what I commonly refer to as my other half (and yes, I am married to an actual human being). Saying that I am obsessed with my phone isn’t an understatement, and I am seriously considering a surgical operation in order to permanently attach it to my hand. I barely ever read guidebooks anymore — not because I don’t enjoy them, but because frankly, I cannot be bothered to go out and buy them when I can get the same insightful information for one third of the price and one tenth of the weight at the tips of my fingers. Considering travellers can book hotels, purchase flights, look up restaurants, take and edit photographs and plan an itinerary with their phone, it’s hardly surprising that I wouldn’t travel without mine. Read more

5 Things I Don’t Like About France

By Janine Marsh from The Good Life France, an independent on-line magazine about France and all things French, covering all aspects of daily life including healthcare, finance, utilities, education, property and a whole lot more

People say I’m always going on about how wonderful France is. They say “there must be something you don’t like” and there is. Nowhere is perfect. But first, let me just emphasise, I love France and having a home here, I can never understand those people who moan constantly about living somewhere they chose to live. Of course if they have bad luck I sympathise, and that does happen. But, most people I meet who are unhappy and moan would be so much happier if they could make more of an effort to integrate, learn to speak the language and accept that nothing is perfect – not even in France.

So here are 5 things I don’t like about France (but they are just little moans)… Read more

Transylvanian Trails; The Historic Centre of Sibiu

by Anda from Travel Notes & Beyond, the Opinionated Travelogue of a Photo Maniac, is a Romanian-born citizen of Southern California who has never missed the opportunity to travel

It took me a long time after emigrating from Romania to become interested in exploring the land of my birth. Being born there, Romania wasn’t at the top of my list of European countries to visit. But I have to confess that every time I came across other people’s posts about my country of origin I felt a little jealous and ashamed. So here I am, trying to undo my betrayal.

A couple of months ago we took a road trip to Sibiu. Also known as Hermannstadt (in German) the city was the center of Romania’s German minority since medieval times. But the Transylvanian German population started decreasing after World War II and the process continued during the Communist Era. Read more