Tag: Travel2017

London + Cambridge

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Sadly, this is my last stop on my trip! BUT I made the most of it with a final visit with my favorite British people. (You may remember them because I stayed with them all the way back in June 2016 and then again in February 2017.) Originally I had met them at a hostel in Barcelona in May 2015 and have visited them 4 or 5 times since then. So without further adieu…

CITY: london

HOW LONG: 3 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

I stayed at Astor Hyde Park while in London for the final time. I booked super late so there weren’t many options left, but I ended up getting one of the last beds at this hostel. This place had large under the bed lockers and an en suite bathroom. There’s a large guest kitchen and two great common areas for socializing. Also the hostel is right next to Hyde Park!! Definitely recommend a stay here.

WHERE TO EAT:

The main thing I did while in England was go to Cambridge for the day with my British friends! To start off the adventure we went to Copper Kettle for a full English breakfast. This was the first time I had one, and while I can’t get on board with beans for breakfast, the rest was delicious!

Enjoying brunch

Full English

After a full day of exploring Cambridge, we all went to Bill’s for dinner + drinks. It had a good vibe and could seat all 6 of us. I got a tomato soup because I wasn’t super hungry, but AJ and his gf, Chloe, split a halloumi burger and it looked great!

I went to Nandos, a staple in the UK, for the first time on my last night in Europe. I met Henry and one of his high school friends for dinner. It’s a Portuguese chicken chain and it’s pretty good, although I was surprised by how spicy it was! There are tons of different menu options. Definitely recommend a visit here if you have the time.

The most perfect hot chocolate I got while Henry and I were waiting for the rest of the crew to show up

WHAT TO DO:

As I mentioned, the main activity of my visit to London was a day trip to Cambridge. Henry and I met up at the train station in London and headed to Cambridge, while AJ & Chloe and Tony met us there as they drove. After getting brunch, we walked around the town before finding a grassy spot to enjoy the sun. Around 2pm we loaded into a boat to go punting, which is very popular in Cambridge.

Meeting Henry at the train station on our way to Cambridge

Cambridge

Enjoying the sun!

The crew

Busy day for punting

Aj, Chloe, Tony, & Henry

We made it on the boat

The bridge of sighs

On the boat!

After punting we again found a grassy spot and just enjoyed the rare sunny day.

Sitting in a park

Henry planting a garden on AJ

My fav’s

The most exquisite roses I have ever seen

Other than Cambridge, I did spend a day at Hyde Park reading my book. A wonderfully relaxing day.

Hyde Park

My last day on this wonderful trip I spent hanging at my hostel, meeting some people, and working on my blog 🙂 That night I grabbed dinner with Henry and his friend and we were some of the last people to leave the restaurant.

It was really, really hard to say goodbye to my friends because they ended up being such a big part of this trip!! Each time I visited before, we knew there would be at least one more visit ahead. This time, we knew it would be an indefinite goodbye. HOWEVER, I am trying my hardest to convince them to come to CA to visit me sometime in the future.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

As always, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in England, and it is has furthered cemented my dream of moving here. I hope to eventually find a path to living in London, even if it’s just for a few years.

See ya soon California! While I will miss Europe with all my heart, I am excited to go home and sleep in my own bed for the first time in a while 🙂

Northern Croatia

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After spending a few days hiking in Bled, Slovenia, I headed to the capital of Croatia: Zagreb.

City: Zagreb

How Long: 3 nights

Accommodation:

I stayed at the Swanky Mint in Zagreb. It was a larger hostel with two separate bars that were filled with both locals and guests staying at the hostel. It also had a common room attached to the guest kitchen, which was just for guests. I did find it a little hard to meet people but that is to be expected at a larger hostel with a bar in the building. The beds were comfy and the lockers were big enough to hold my backpack. I will say that the staff were spectacular! I was sick and asked for extra blankets and they were happy to help me. They also made sure the heater was working. I just felt they consistently went above and beyond!

Where to eat:

One of my favorite meals from this trip was at La Struk in Zagreb. WOW it was so good. They serve a traditional Croatian meal called strukli. It’s basically dough and cheese + whatever variation of flavor you choose and then they throw it in the oven and it comes out piping hot. SO GOOD. I had the truffle strukli and the blueberry strukli because yes I came back twice. HIGHLY recommend a stop here if you are in Zagreb. Other than this I used leftover groceries from Lake Bled to save money.

My blueberry Strukli

What to do:

I arrived in Zagreb feeling fairly sick so unfortunately I did not do much while I was there but I did go on the free walking tour, which as always was a great way to orient myself and get a flavor for the history and culture. ALSO, after my walking tour I ran into Tom, a Brit I had met at my hostel in Bled. He had come to Zagreb with another girl I had met at Bled so we decided to grab drinks later that night. Always so much fun to randomly run into people you’ve met at previous stops along your trip. I’m so glad we ran into each other because Tom and Sam, the Kiwi he was traveling with, decided to come with me to my next stop!! The three of us took off the next day for Plitvice Lakes National Park.

Viewpoint of Zagreb

St. Mark’s Church, and no it is not made of legos 🙂

Walking through town

Zagreb Cathedral (Tallest building in Croatia)

Overall thoughts:

Because I was sick, I didn’t really get a full chance to explore Zagreb as it deserves. Although, from what I saw I don’t know if I need to go back. It was a capital city that felt not all too different from any other metropolitan capital city. I keep finding that I like smaller towns and this felt a little too industrial for me.

City: Plitvice Lakes National Park

How Long: 2 nights

Accommodation:

I stayed at the awesome Falling Lakes Hostel while exploring the Plitvice Lakes National Park. This hostel was GREAT. I was in a 10 person room and there were large locker under the bed (my favorite type because it’s so easy to just grab what you need!) Nice guest kitchen and plenty of bathrooms/showers. There was a common room with plenty of seating. My favorite part of this hostel was all the board games they had!! Tom, Sam and I played Settlers of Catan on our table while others at the hostel played other games, and others still were playing guitar and singing. Such a fun scene.

Where to eat:

The three of us went to the store for both dinners and made pasta one night, and pizza the other. It was a fun struggle because Tom is vegetarian, but I don’t like tomato sauce so both nights the three of us had a slightly deconstructed version of the meal. Sam and I would have meat on ours, while Tom and Sam had tomato sauce other theirs. Nevertheless, it was delicious! On our hike at the national park, we just bought lunch at the restaurant in the park.

What to do:

The main/only reason to come here is to go to the Plitvice Lakes National Park. IT IS INCREDIBLE!! Basically it’s a magical place filled with waterfalls around every corner. The photos below do not do it justice!! Highly recommend a visit here. This was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

Beginning our hike though the most magical place 🙂

Look at this water!!!

The waterfalls begin

Up we go

WOW

SO MANY WATERFALLS

Tom, Me, & Sam

Friends 🙂

Unbelievable

Look at that water flow

The tallest waterfall in the park

Overall thoughts:

Please visit this incredible spot! I can’t say enough good things 🙂

 

After this awesome spot, Tom and Sam decided to follow me again, but this time to Split!! We decided to try out hand at hitchhiking, to the dismay of my mother (my dad was fully supportive, which is why I told him beforehand and not Mom 🙂 ) Unfortunately it was raining, which means it is much less likely that someone will pick you up. BUT someone did stop while we were waving our “SPLIT” sign around. However, he was going to Zadar not Split. We made a group decision to take him up on his offer, figuring we would at least be that much closer to Split. He was a super nice guy who was on his way to work in Zadar. We arrived in Zadar and walked around until we found “Crazy Pizza” which was an indeed pretty crazy as the pizza’s were HUGE. After lunch we found the sea organ that is famous in Zadar, which is essentially an organ that makes noise as the water hits it (?) It was pretty cool even if I don’t totally understand how it works. The rain started coming down so we decided to give up on hitchhiking and took a bus the rest of the way to Split.

Anyone wanna take us to Split???

City: Split

How Long: 3 nights

Accommodation:

I stayed at the Backpackers Fairytale hostel in Split. While the facilities were for the most part adequate as there was a guest kitchen, nice sized lockers, and a common room, my experience here was ruined by the staff. They were unavailable, rude, and seemed annoyed to help me whenever I had questions. Also there were not enough showers/bathrooms. The beds were also super squeaky so whenever someone turned over the whole room could hear it. Also, security was sorely lacking, as a girl turned up around midnight, somehow got into the hostel and crashed in the bed above me, without having a reservation. There was no staff around to stop this so I think she just left in the morning and the staff were none the wiser… Would not stay here again.

Where to eat:

Our favorite spot ended up being a restaurant in one of the main squares called Bepa! We ate there for breakfast twice and wish we had time to eat there again. The first time I had a delicious chia pudding with a hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was one of the best I’ve ever had… seriously. It was so thick and rich. It almost felt like a chocolate pudding. I wish I could have another one right now as I am writing this. We also went to Fife for Tom’s last dinner before he left to go back to England. It was a great spot with cheap, yummy food.

Chia pudding at Bepa

Tom feat. his fruit infused water at Bepa

What to do:

We walked around the old walled in city in Split, which is super cool. No matter how many “old towns” or “walled in cities” I see, I still think they are awesome!! Maybe it’s because we don’t have any in the States, but I just love an “old town.” We also walked along the beach and found a spot to lay down and read for a bit. On Tom’s last night we went to grab a drink at a bar that turned into a nightclub as the night went on. We had fun singing and dancing to the music until it turned into very clubby music and we decided to leave. Tom caught a flight early the next morning, leaving Sam and I to our own devices for out last day in Split. We decided to catch a ferry to a city called Supertar, which is on Brač, the third largest island in the Adriatic Sea. Supertar has 3,300 habitants, but apparently it is a growing population as we saw construction of a lot of new houses. We enjoyed wandering the old streets and then plopped ourselves on the beach to read for a couple of hours. We ate a yummy lunch before heading back to the port to grab our ferry to Split.

Split

Tom pondering his life as sailboats sail on by

So pretty

Can’t get over this water!

Tom testing the water

On the clock tower

Split from the clock tower

Relaxing in Supertar

Overall thoughts:

I really enjoyed my time in this city. It was definitely touristy and busy, so I can’t imagine what it’s like in August!! But I still have a blast walking around and finding my favorite ice cream places and bakeries. I also bought a punch of lavender so now my bag smells amazing! Definitely would go back to Split!

 

Now off to Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina 🙂

Warsaw + Krakow

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After wrapping up my time in Spain (sadly), I flew to Poland to start the final chapter of my trip! I will be traveling from Poland all the way down to Greece, mostly by bus.  I will be traveling to 10 countries in about 7 weeks. First up: Poland + Austria.

City: Warsaw

How Long: 3 nights

Accommodation:

This was a bit of a different type of travel for me as I was here for a tech conference! My former boss invited me to help him at a conference he was speaking at so I got to stay at the same hotel he was staying at. It was quite the treat after staying in hostels with 5 to 11 other people for most of my trip.

Where to Eat:

Most of our meals were centered around the conference, so nothing too exciting, but we did eat dinner our first night in Warsaw at a great restaurant called Karmnik. We had delicious cocktails and traditional Polish dumplings. Definitely worth a visit!

What to do:

As I have said, most of my time was spent at the conference so sadly I did not do anything noteworthy. However, one thing I learned was that during WWII, Warsaw was pretty much leveled so all the “old” buildings we saw had are actually reconstructions and are not the original buildings.

Warsaw

Overall Thoughts:

I did not really get a full sense of Warsaw, but I am not sure I would go back as there are so many other places in the world I want to go to. In general, I would not say Warsaw is a must see.

City: Krakow

How Long: 3 nights

Accommodation:

I stayed at an amazing hostel called Mosquito Hostel. Great sized lockers. Guest kitchen. Free breakfast and free dinner. Free laundry. Great location. Every night there were organized social activities and it was super easy to meet people. I HIGHLY recommend this hostel 🙂

Playing Monopoly with some people I met 🙂

Where to Eat:

Because there was free breakfast and free dinner, I ended up mostly eating at the hostel. However, some friends and I found a delicious cupcake place in the old town called Cupcake Corner. Great cupcakes, but even more fun, we got bagels. For some reason I often crave bagels while I am in Europe, which is odd because when I am home I rarely eat them. Anyway, I got a cheese bagel with thyme cream cheese. SO GOOD.

What to do:

I booked a tour to Auschwitz through my hostel and it worked out really well. They picked us up from the hostel and dropped us back after. We had an incredible tour guide, who had worked directly with Holocaust survivors for many years. Overall, my time spent at Auschwitz was sobering, tough, enlightening, and so very powerful. I think it is incredibly important for us to understand the past and ensure we learn from it as we move forward. Auschwitz is a must while you are in Krakow.

In addition to Auschwitz, I went to Oskar’s Schindler’s Factory museum. Overall it was in interesting museum on the history of Krakow and a little bit on the Schindler’s role in WWII, but it was very heavy on the reading. I found that I didn’t get much out of it because there was an overwhelming amount of words on the walls. If you are interested in visiting this museum, you might consider going with a guide.

I also went to the Easter markets, which were in the main square in the old town. Very similar to Christmas markets, but with less Christmas ornaments and more decorated eggs.

Main Square

Tatum with her favorite new store

Streets of Krakow

Some friends!!

Almost died in Krakow

Wawel Castle

Inside Wawel Castle

Lastly I went on a free walking tour that ended in the castle, which was super cool. Krakow has a very tough, interesting history.

Overall Thoughts:

Overall, I absolutely loved Krakow. I wish I could have stayed longer! I met amazing people and ate some delicious cheap food! I am already looking forward to returning to this city in the future. Krakow has easily entered into my top 5 favorite cities in Europe 🙂

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Bath + London

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In between my homestays I took a week to travel, spending time in England and Barcelona!

City: Reigate

How Long: 3 days

Accommodation:

I stayed with my friend Tony, who I met two years ago in a hostel in Barcelona. So while his parents are super generous I don’t think I can recommend staying at their house :). Reigate is about a 30-minute train ride south from London.

Where to Eat:

Well, we mostly ate at his house, so again I probably can’t tell you to show up there! But we did have a great sandwich in Brighton, where we visited for the day. Before visiting Windsor Castle, we ate lunch at The Carpenters Arms, a pub that has a tunnel that used to run from below the pub into the medieval Castle. Food was good and it was fun to see a piece of history with the tunnel. Also, we stopped for some tea and desserts after going to Windsor Castle at Madam Posh. It was yummy but nothing to write home about.

AJ’s burger at The Carpenters Arms

What to do:

We essentially had two days to sight-see and we made the most of it. The first thing we did was participate in a local 5k run right near Tony’s house! It was the first race I’ve done since my marathon and it was super fun to be back in that environment. It makes me want to sign up for another half-marathon when I get home! After a lovely breakfast at Tony’s house we headed out on the road. Our first stop was South Downs National Park and Seven Sisters Country Park, which houses the UK’s highest chalk sea cliff. It was super cool and the cliffs were incredible. Definitely not a lay out in the sun kinda beach as instead of sand there were pebbles. Tony did find some pebbles that had been made from the brick in the houses above the beach, which was cool.

The Cliffs

Sitting on the beach

After a walk around the cliffs, we took off for Brighton, a big beach town directly South of London. I really liked it! So many cool shops and restaurants.We walked past the Royal Pavillion, an exotic palace that was built as a seaside pleasure palace for King George IV. It felt so out-of-place as it was built in the visual style closer to that of India and China, rather than Central Europe or England. Also there is a long pier which is home to an amusement park with rides, attractions, and an arcade. We managed to be at the end of the pier at sunset, which was stunning. Also we saw two swimmers without wetsuits on swim to the end of the pier and back… in February.

The beach

The Royal Pavillion

The sunset over the pier as we were leaving

That night we ate dinner with his parents again, which was so fun. I really enjoyed hanging out with them. His mom and I ended up staying up late chatting about anything and everything—Including Trump/Brexit. Super interesting talking to people about their opinions and thoughts; it’s actually one of my favorite things about traveling.

We went to Windsor Castle, one of the Queen’s homes, on our second day. We met up with AJ and Henry, two of the other guys from the Barcelona weekend 2 years ago. I usually end up meeting up with the three of them when I am anywhere near London! We purchased our tickets (student rate: 18.70 pounds) and began walking the castle grounds. Despite seeing my fair share of castles on this trip, this one is a must-see. It’s one of the bigger castles I’ve been too and the rooms we got to go through were incredible. Definitely some cool history in this castle and the Queen was actually there while we were. Surprisingly I was not able to schedule a meeting with her… After saying goodbyes to Tony, AJ, and Henry, I took off on a train to Bath!

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

Tony, Me, Henry, & AJ

Overall thoughts:

I really enjoyed my weekend exploring England by car (Thanks Tony!) It allowed me to see a bunch of new places that normally would have been tough to see all in two days. I also absolutely loved staying with a local British family! I kept telling Tony that if an American were to imagine a stereotypical British couple that his parents would be it. They are the most lovely, kind, generous couple. They made me a roast the first night I arrived, filled with potatoes, carrots, and chicken. Most importantly, they drank so much tea. To me that’s about as British as it gets 🙂

City: Bath

How Long: 3 days

Accommodation:

I really enjoyed my stay here. There seemed to be a lot of people staying here long-term (as it is cheaper to stay in a hostel than renting an apartment, especially for those only working in Bath during the week), but everyone I met was super nice and friendly! Great guest kitchen and there was common room with sofas, tables for eating, and a tv. The lockers were small so I couldn’t store my whole bag in the locker, which is always a bummer. But I was able to just put my valuables in the locker and lock it with my padlock. The staff was all super nice. Absolutely would stay here again.

Where to Eat:

I mostly ate at the hostel, having bought groceries to save money, but I did go to one café in Bradford-on-Avon called Coffee, etc. It was delicious. I had a deluxe hot chocolate and yummy sandwich. If you end up in the quaint town, I would absolutely recommend this place. However, there definitely seemed to be no shortage of cute, more upscale restaurants that were out of my price range, so don’t be afraid to explore other options.

What to do:

Bath is not all that big so to start I went on a walking tour to get a comprehensive understanding of the history of the city. Obviously the Roman Baths were a big part of the city’s history. The water was thought to heal all types of diseases so royalty from all over would come to the baths to heal their ailments. Also the architecture is very important to Bath. It is all made from Bath stone. Because the whole town is essentially built with the same stone, it is stunningly cohesive. I really enjoyed my time just walking around the town. Also the Abbey is not to be missed.

Bath architecture

The Abbey

Because Bath is fairly small, I decided to use a half-day to take a train two stops down to Bradford-on-Avon. It is a small town right on the river, as the name suggests. Its population is less than 10,000 people. There isn’t much to do other than take a walk through the hilly town with stops at the Saxon Church and Holy Trinity Church. I ended up walking along the river to the next train stop towards Bath to enjoy the sunny day as it wasn’t that far. After enjoying my three days in Bath, I was off to London.

Clearly a very old building 🙂

The bridge in Bradford

Overall thoughts:

I really liked Bath! It was fun to see a smaller British city as opposed to London. Obviously it was still touristy, but it felt much more local than London. The architecture is beautiful and I absolutely loved just wandering the city. Definitely recommend a visit to this city and if you have an extra half day, Bradford on Avon is worth the time!

City: London

How Long: 1 day

Accommodation:

I stayed at The Walrus Hostel. My sister stayed here and recommended it to me! Overall great hostel. Beds were comfortable (although the pillows were not very good) and the lockers were big enough to fit my bag. Small guest kitchen. There’s a bar downstairs that locals seem to frequent as well. I only stayed here one night and wish I could have stayed longer. The bathrooms weren’t the cleanest I have ever seen but it wasn’t that big of a deal for me. You need your own padlock here or you can buy one. Definitely would stay here again!

Where to Eat:

I was only here one night, but I met up with Henry for drinks at The Southwark Tavern. It was right by the London Bridge and clearly a popular place. It was definitely a British pub. We sat at a table downstairs where there were all these small alcoves. It gave it a more private feeling and allowed you to actually hear what people at your table were saying. I really liked this place! After drinks I headed back to the hostel and grabbed some food from a supermarket on the way.

What to do:

Essentially all I did was meet Henry for drinks because I arrived in the late afternoon and left early the next morning for my flight to Barcelona!

Overall thoughts:

Well this was a quick trip in London, so now major thoughts about this specific stay in London–but I love London, and hope to move here at some point, even for just a year or two.