Europe Archives - Runaway Brit

Lockdown! A Teacher’s Thoughts on the Corona Pandemic

April 5, 2020April 5, 2020 Bratislava, Europe, Expat, Expat Life, Featured, Health & Fitness, Heartbreak, Life, Relationships, School, Teaching, Working Overseas international teaching, teaching, teaching overseas

It’s been 26 days since my world shut down. It’s been far longer for others. It began slowly. Back, in January, news of an unknown virus in China reached us here in Europe. I barely took

Love in the Time of Coronavirus

March 21, 2020March 22, 2020 Bratislava, Europe, Expat, Expat Life, Featured, Friends and Family, Health & Fitness, Teaching, Working Overseas Bratislava, coronavirus, europe, international teaching, Slovakia, teaching

With coronavirus currently decimating the travel industry, it’s a good time to write about my life as an international teacher instead. I don’t write frequently, because I can't travel full-time like I'd hoped I would

A Surprise Birthday Trip to Budapest

February 10, 2020February 11, 2020 City Break, Europe, Expat, Expat Life, Featured, Life, Tourist Attraction, Travelling budapest, city break, For Sale Pub, hungary, New York Palace

I left work on Friday with my bag packed for a surprise birthday trip. All I had been told was that the bus departed at 4pm and I would need my passport. Of course, I

Why You Should Visit the Bratislava Christmas Markets This Season

December 15, 2019December 15, 2019 Bratislava, City Break, Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, Tourist Attraction, Travelling Bratislava, christmas market, market, Slovakia

Once again, Christmas—the most wonderful time of the year—is upon us; and Bratislava just burst into life with festive crooners singing jovially of snow, sleigh-bells and chestnuts roasting on open fires. Ridiculously cute wooden cabins

Cyprus: Birthplace of a Goddess

October 22, 2019October 25, 2019 Europe, Featured, Nature, Tourist Attraction, Travelling cyprus, Greece

Most people visit Cyprus during the summer, but you shouldn't avoid this charming Mediterranean island during low season. Known for being the birthplace of Aphrodite: the Goddess of Beauty, Cyprus has much to love -

Why I Love Working in Europe (And Never Want to Leave)

October 14, 2019October 15, 2019 Advice, Europe, Expat, Expat Life, Featured, Life, Teaching, Working Overseas europe, expat, international teaching, living overseas, teaching overseas

Recently, I've been reflecting on why I love living in Europe out of all the places I could go. And, yes: publishing this post as Britain perches precariously on the brink of Brexit is ironic.

Winter Break: Malta

October 4, 2019October 4, 2019 City Break, Europe, Expat, Featured, Travelling city break, Malta

Here in Central Europe, summer hangs on a thread. The long, light evenings are closing in, the sun's warmth is fading fast, and I'm already thinking back to my first holiday of the year in

Košice, Slovakia: Try Once, Love Forever

October 13, 2018October 13, 2018 City Break, Europe, Featured, Health & Fitness, History, Tourist Attraction, Travelling biela noc, Kosice, marathon, peace marathon, Slovakia, white night

Home of Europe's Oldest Annual Marathon Slovakia is an underrated travel destination; most people I meet have never heard of it, and could not point it out on a map, so it was surprising to learn

Europe Travel: Eight Lakes in Six Days

July 24, 2018August 13, 2018 Europe, Featured, Nature, Tourist Attraction austria, balaton, bled, bohinj, europe, Hallstatt, heviz, hungary, lake, lake bled, mondsee, Slovakia, slovenia, wolfgangsee, zlaty piesky

"What do you want to see on our trip around Europe?" I asked my friend. "Mountains, lakes, or beaches" came the reply. Lakes, it is then. Because Europe is so compact, one of the best

10 of the Best European Old Towns to Visit this Spring

February 10, 2018February 10, 2018 City Break, Europe, Featured, History, Top Ten, Tourist Attraction, Travelling Bratislava, Budva, corfu, dubrovnik, gamla stan, Hallstatt, mostar, Old Towns, prague, Slovakia, stockholm, tallinn, Trencin

Who doesn't love visiting a Historic Old Town? My teaching career has shuttled between Europe and Asia on more than a few occasions: I moved from the UK to Vietnam in 2007, Vietnam to Sweden

A Snowy Weekend in the Tatra Mountains, Slovakia

January 15, 2018January 15, 2018 Bratislava, City Break, Europe, Expat Life, Featured, Nature, Tourist Attraction, Travelling Bratislava, Slovakia, Tatra mountains, Tatras, Tatrasky

A few weeks ago, I was tired of the rainy, grey, city sky. I desperately wanted blue sky, crisp air, and plenty of snow. I longed to see mountains; and for that, I would have

Gazing into the Blue Eye, Albania

January 1, 2018January 1, 2018 Europe, Featured, Nature, Top Ten, Tourist Attraction, Travelling Albania, Blue Eye, pool, Syri i Kalter, water

The unbelievably clear water of Syri i Kalter (‘Blue Eye’) in the South of Albania is beautiful, but it is not easy to reach. You have two options: 1) a laborious 5-hour journey along dilapidated

Čachtice: The Castle of the Bloody Countess

November 17, 2017November 19, 2017 Bratislava, Europe, Featured, History, Tourist Attraction, Travelling ?achtice, Elizabeth Bathory, Slovakia

It’s on a frigid Sunday in late October that I find myself climbing towards the ruins of a 13th Century limestone castle in Čachtice, Slovakia. Battling a bitter wind I draw my coat closer around

Hévíz: Bathing in Hungary’s Healing Thermal Lake

November 4, 2017November 4, 2017 City Break, Europe, Featured, Health & Fitness, Nature, Tourist Attraction, Travelling heviz, hungary, spa, thermal lake, wellness

If you’ve been to Budapest then maybe you visited Széchenyi thermal baths; but did you know that with over 1,000 hot springs, Hungary boasts more medicinal spas than any other European country? What’s more, it

A Year in the Life of an International Teacher

July 15, 2017July 15, 2017 Bratislava, Europe, Expat, Expat Life, Featured, Travelling, Working Overseas austria, bojnice, Bratislava, castle, cornwall, expat, heviz, hungary, iceland, international teaching, lake, looe, mountain, salzburg, Slovakia

I often get people asking me about life as an international teacher, so to honour 10 years of living overseas I have put this post together to show you what a year in my life

Spring in Bratislava is a great time to visit!

April 3, 2017April 3, 2017 Bratislava, City Break, Europe, Expat Life, Featured, Health & Fitness, Travelling Bratislava, expat, expat life, Slovakia, spring

Readjusting to a European winter after two years of perpetual spring/summer in India has been harder than I thought. I’m not sure why, because I like winter. For the last few months in Mumbai I’d

Boulanger & Patissiere: Bratislava’s Macaron Masterclass

March 19, 2017March 19, 2017 Bratislava, Europe, Expat, Expat Life, Featured, Food and Drink Boulanger & Patissiere, Bratislava, cooking class, macaron, Slovakia

I’ve always liked the look of a dainty, brightly coloured, meringue macaron. You know, the ones that you see piled delicately on silver platters in fancy cake shops? They look exquisite, but as I'm more

Orava Castle: Inside the Lair of a Vampire

November 27, 2016December 16, 2016 Europe, Featured, Literature, Tourist Attraction, Travelling dracula, Nosferatu, Orava, Orava Castle, Ovavsky Hrad, Slovakia

The flickering, grainy image of a hunched figure creeping up a silhouetted staircase, his claw-like hand extending towards a shadowed door, is an iconic piece of cinema history belonging to the 1922 German Expressionist movie,

Festivals, Food & Fun: Seven Weeks in Bratislava

October 16, 2016October 16, 2016 Bratislava, Europe, Expat, Expat Life, Featured, Food and Drink, Tourist Attraction, Tradition Bratislava, burciak, cabbage festival, festivals, langos, Slovakia, stupava, white night

Having lived in Bratislava for only seven weeks I am still new to Slovak culture, particularly as I knew very little about either Slovakia or the city before I came here. It is true to say,

A Day Trip to Devin Castle from Bratislava

October 9, 2016October 9, 2016 Bratislava, Europe, Expat Life, Featured, History, Tourist Attraction, Travelling Bratislava, castle, Devin, nature, Slovakia, walk

Autumn has arrived in Bratislava. Only last week I wore summer dresses and flip-flops, but this week it’s all scarves, winter coats and boots. When yesterday dawned cold but sunny, I went for a walk