Introducing us

Welcome to Sarah and Lucy's Alternative Grand Tour! Over the next three months, we will be undertaking a journey around Eastern and Central Europe, from Istanbul, the gateway to the East, to Tallinn, perched on the doorstep of Russia and Scandinavia. In the coming weeks we will pass through twelve countries, eleven capital cities, three major rivers and four mountain ranges, will change money into ten different currencies and will attempt to say "hello" in eleven languages. You can see our route here, in all its zig-zagged glory.

Quite a few people have asked us, why Eastern Europe? Granted, it's not the usual gap year destination, not being Australia or Thailand. But this relatively small corner of Europe is wonderfully diverse, culturally rich and just bursting with a historical legacy that is incredibly relevant to who and where we are today. It's amazing to think that when our parents' generation were our age, they couldn't have visited most of the countries on our route. And yes, some of the places we're visiting are obscure to us - Plovdiv, Sibui, Poprad, Wroclaw, Siauliai, Tartu - a few months ago we couldn't have located these places on a map let alone pronounced them (we still can't pronounce most of them)! But the obscurity is very appealing in a continent as touristy as Europe, and we're hoping to find some corners that are still relatively undiscovered. Oh, and did I mention the cheap air-fares....they're quite attractive too!

Thanks for looking up our blog - we will aim to update it regularly with our experiences and impressions, and will upload photos as often as our somewhat limited technical skills permit! Do keep in touch with us, and if you happen to be in our vicinity at any point during the trip, let us know and we'll badger you for a free meal, sorry, welcome your company. This is probably the biggest adventure of both of our lives to date and we can't wait to get on that plane on Sunday......