Tag: Explore

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 🙂

Greece

After 6 weeks of solo travel, I am ending my trip with about 8 days with Adam, one of my best friends from high school! Also our friend Matt joined us for Santorini. It was so much fun to see a familiar face and travel with a friend!

CITY: Mykonos

HOW LONG: 3 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

We stayed Orpheas Rooms hotel and it was GREAT. It was reasonably priced and we had two separate bedrooms. The location was perfect and close to everything. The shower was AMAZING, we both had never seen anything like it. It had like 4 different water spouts and was piping hot. We also had a little patio with a table and chairs where we spent hours playing cards and drinking wine. Definitely recommend a stay here!

Our little patio

The coolest door that was next to our place

WHERE TO EAT:

After settling into our place, we wandered out to find some food. We eventually found Kavos Cafe Bar Restaurant, which is right on the water. I am trying to try new foods in each place I go and thus ordered my first ever plate of gyros– and I think I fell in love. They were delicious! Plus they come with tzatziki and french fries so I was in heaven.

After renting ATV’s and exploring some beaches, we wanted to find a restaurant outside of the more touristy downtown and we were in for a treat when we found Myconian Plate. It felt homey and local. The food was delicious and the waiters were very attentive. We had such a great experience at this place!

Lunch at Mykonian Plate

Mykonian Plate

After laying out in the sun the next day we found a lovely restaurant right on the beach on the other side of the island called Yialo yialo. The staff were super friendly and the food was good. The best part was that after we ate we were allowed to use their chaise lounges on the beach.

Our last meal on Mykonos was at Marco Polo. It’s a family run restaurant in the middle of Mykonos Town that had a nice ambiance. I ordered a delicious plate of Greek meatballs and Adam and I shared a bottle of wine. It was a nice end to our food experience in Mykonos.

Dinner at Marco Polo

our dessert

WHAT TO DO:

Other than walking around Mykonos Town, which is quite cute, the main thing to do on the island is rent ATV’s and go to the cool beaches— So that’s what we did. It was so much fun zipping around the tiny island on them. We used them to beach-hop all day. As you can imagine, we played cards, read our books, napped, and swam all day long. Overall, super fun and relaxing!

The famous windmills

Beach day

“Try and look like you are not freezing!”

All the chaise lounges

Adam being inventive

However, as we were here in May, it was a little too early for all the famous partying and clubs to even be open. I think Adam and I were actually pretty happy about that because neither of us are super into that scene. We did end up going out to a bar/club in Mykonos Town and had a blast! They played super fun danceable music and we made some Australian friends.

The “crazy” famous beach clubs that weren’t so happen’ while we were there

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I really enjoyed Mykonos and am not sad about being here in the shoulder season. The beaches were beautiful, although a bit windy. I also really liked Mykonos Town, as it was quite cute and trendy.

Our ferry to Santorini

CITY: Santorini

HOW LONG: 4 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

We stayed at an airbnb that was literally carved into the cliffs. It was accurately described as a cocoon. It was on the small side but had everything you needed. The best part of the airbnb was the incredible patio that offered chaise lounges to view the incredible sunsets every night. The bathroom was spacious and there was a tiny kitchenette. The bed was comfy and there was also a table with two chairs. Really enjoyed this special airbnb.

Our patio

WHERE TO EAT:

Our favorite place ended up being a cafe right near our airbnb called Cafe Galini. I think we ended up eating here about 5 times during our stay in Santorini. We had amazing greek yogurt bowls with fresh fruit + honey. Also the club sandwich was our go-to for lunch. I often enjoyed some hot milk + honey in the mornings because I was feeling a little under the weather while here.

Greek yogurt + fresh berries + honey 🙂

Our other favorite spot was Zafora. We ended up here twice, once for a late dinner, and once for an entire afternoon of playing cards and snacking until the sun had set. We really enjoyed the food, customer service, and most importantly, the view.  One night I had a yummy crepe, and the other I had a yummier gyros plate.

Zafora!

Sunset from Zafora

One night we cooked our own meal with some pasta, prosciutto, garlic, and onions and ate on Matt’s balcony.

Dinner on Matt’s balcony

The sunset the next day from the same spot

Drinks to celebrate our birthdays

WHAT TO DO:

Santorini has plenty to offer in forms of things to do. First up was a walk through Fira. Settled at the top of some cliffs, you are offered some incredible views as you stroll through the town. There were plenty of restaurants and stores to wander through. What we came to realize in our time in Santorini was that given how the town is etched into the cliffs, almost everywhere you go has an incredible view over the water.

Views

Near our airbnb

Santorini at sunset

My favorite wall

The next day, along with Matt, we rented ATV’s and headed over to some black sand beaches. I have never been on ATV’s before Greece and really, really enjoyed riding around in the open air on these things. It’s the best way to explore the Greek islands. After the beaches, we rode 45 minutes over to Oía, the other main city on the island. We walked around the famous city streets and eventually headed down to the water so Matt and Adam could go cliff-jumping. After, we found a nice lunch spot.

Black sand beach

Snack break

Oía

Matt + Adam jumping off the cliff!

Another highlight was a boat tour to an active volcanic island and to some hot springs. We got to walk around the island, even seeing some smoking craters. Next up we boated to the island next door and jumped into the fairly cold water to swim towards the hot springs. Pretty quickly we realized a more accurate description would be “lukewarm springs” but we still had a good time spreading the “healing” mud all over our bodies!

Exploring the volcanic island

Santorini in the background

Where the hot springs are

Adam and I enjoyed a nice afternoon at Galini cafe playing cards and reading our books after a couple of action-filled days. We had said bye to Matt, who was supposed to fly to Rome that day BUT he got bumped from his flight and got “stuck” in Santorini one more night. Lucky for us he got put up in a super nice hotel on the other side of the island where all the beaches are. SO the next day (and our last day) Adam and I lugged our luggage over to his hotel to hang pool and beach side until our midnight flight to Athens. We really lucked out because this place was super nice and we were just able to relax all day.

Sunscreen is important!

Attempting to skip rocks

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Santorini is awesome! Incredible views, incredible people, incredible sunsets. Such a picturesque place. It’s definitely not the cheapest place I went, but we had such a fun time exploring the island.

CITY: Athens

HOW LONG: 2 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

We stayed at Athens Backpackers and it was the perfect location. Adam and I were only here for one full day so it was critical to be centrally located. This place also had a guest kitchen and common room. The beds were comfy and there were lockers. They were connected to a bar, restaurant and a laundry facility so there were options to explore beyond just the common room. Definitely would stay here again.

WHERE TO EAT:

We only had the one day but we had 2 great finds. First off, to warn everyone, Athens restaurants were SO AGGRESSIVE at trying to lure in the tourists. Adam and I were harassed almost every where we went. It was overwhelming. But eventually we picked a restaurant and we ended up having a great meal with the first round of drinks on them 🙂

The more important find was a dessert place called Lukumades. They had these fresh, homemade donuts and they you could add ice cream + the donuts in a bowl. WOWOWOW it was good. We got two combos to split.

Lukumades

Apple filled with honey + cinnamon on top

Chocolate on Chocolate on Chocolate

WHAT TO DO:

We started the day with a visit to the Acropolis. Pretty spectacular what the Greeks were able to build all those years ago. After walking around that site, we meandered through all the pedestrian friendly shopping streets before popping into the National Garden to soak up the sun and play some cards. The gardens had some interesting combos of animals in the park. One tiny pond had probably more than 50 turtles. There were goats and rabbits in the same pen. They had all sorts of birds. It was a crazy place haha.

The Parthenon

Exploring the Acropolis

Ancient ruins feat. Adam

National Gardens

Adam checking out the sun dial

approx. 1,000,000 turtles

Walking through the park

Beautiful purple trees

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I went in with low expectations of Athens, and was quite pleasantly surprised! Adam and I had fun exploring Athens by foot and enjoyed everything except the harassment from the restaurants. I wouldn’t necessarily rush back to spend a ton more time in Athens, as there are other places I would rather go back to and obviously there even more places that I want to go that I haven’t been to! BUT I really liked my time in Athens.

Estonia + Finland

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Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve posted! Sorry about that….After arriving in Barcelona to study Spanish for 4 months I got immersed with my day-to-day life and decided to stop posting on here. But I’M BACK! I’m also going to try a different posting style to see if I like it better.

City: Tallinn, Estonia

How long: 3 days

Accommodation:

I stayed in Red Emperor Bar&Hostel, which was right outside the walled in Old City. It was a perfect location and was easy to get to from the bus I took from the Tallinn Airport. The rooms itself were fairly basic but had everything you needed. The only issue I really had was that the lockers provided in the rooms were too small to fit my bag so I had to remove my valuables from my bag instead of just being able to put all my stuff securely away. I tend to find that people don’t go through your stuff though so I wasn’t too worried about people stealing my clothes. The hostel had coed bathrooms but this wasn’t an issue for me. The hostel also had a kitchen so I prepared most of my meals there. There was a bar attached to the hostel which had some activities most nights. I only went for one of the activities which was a trivia night. I was lucky to find a pair of girls (British + German) who let me join their team. We didn’t win but the British girl, Katharine, and I hit it off so we planned to meet for dinner one of the other nights I was there. She also gave me some recommendations for places to go which was great! Overall the hostel was fairly empty, meaning it wasn’t very social which is tough on solo travelers. But I don’t think this is the hostels fault, it was more a by-product of it being January in Estonia. Not exactly prime time for travel in Estonia!

Where to Eat:

As I said I mostly cooked my meals in the hostel to save money, but I did go to a pancake restaurant at the recommendation of Katharine. Kompressor was within the Old City and is definitely worth a visit. It was delicious! The pancakes were sort of thick crepes and there must have been 30 different types. I ended up with bacon, egg, and cheese–my favorite combo. Definitely recommend a stop here during a visit to Tallinn.

Another restaurant that was good was Must Puudel. I had a burger that was awesome and Katharine had the steak, which she raved about.

On the way to Must Puudel, Katharine had actually wanted to go to Popular but it was too full. The place looked super cute and trendy so this would be another spot to try.

What to do:

The first full day I was there I went on a free walking tour, which left from the tourism office within the Old City. It was about 2 hours long and took us through the history of Tallinn/Estonia, which is quite long as I found out! We walked all around the city and saw some great views and some very old buildings. During the tour I met an Aussie and we decided to get some hot chocolate after the tour because we both froze our butts off during the tour. Highly recommend approximately 16 layers of clothing if going on a walking tour during January in Estonia!

Overlooking the Old City

From a different view point

The next day I headed out on my own and just walked around the Old City, popping into shops and exploring some of the old walls and buildings. It’s so different from walking around cities in the US!

Overall thoughts:

I really liked Tallinn and would love to come back during the summer when it’s easier to spend time outside. I’m sure it would be beautiful. Also the hostel would probably be more social and fun during the summer. Definitely recommend a visit to Tallinn if you get the chance. Also Estonia is super cheap, which was great on my budget before heading to the EXPENSIVE Finland!

City: Helsinki, Finland

How long: 3 days

Accommodation:

I stayed at Hostel Diana Park, which was fairly centrally located. I took the ferry from Tallinn and was able to walk about 20 minutes from the port to the hostel. Easy when all you have is a backpack. When I arrived before check-in time, they were nice enough to let me into my room early because I was super tired. I took a quick nap and then a British guy showed up in the room so I ended up talking to him for a while. He was about to take a train from St. Petersburg all the way to China! That is practically halfway across the world! Then he heads to Australia, South America and eventually the States! It’s going to be a bout a 2 year trip he said. Pretty cool. The room was fairly basic and the bathrooms were TINY, but again not really an issue for me. There was a kitchen so I was able to save money by buying groceries and cooking for myself because Finland is SO expensive. Again, however, because it’s winter in Finland, there weren’t many guests and there wasn’t much social interaction at the hostel. I did run into the Aussie I had lunch with in Tallinn and he was actually staying in my room!! Coincidences like this happen a lot when traveling for a while I find.

Where to Eat:

Because it was so expensive to eat out in Finland I ended up cooking most of my meals, however, I did go to breakfast at Café Engel. It was good but nothing spectacular. Also, it was about 16$ for some eggs, toast, and an OJ so that ended my attempts at eating out.

What to do:

I walked around Helsinki for about 2 hours on my first full day and saw the Uspenki Cathedral which was quite beautiful. Also the Helsinki Cathedral, which is the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral, was stunning on the cloudy day I saw it.

Helsinki Cathedral

The highlight of my trip to Helsinki was actually not Helsinki itself. It was a town about 45 minutes away, which I went for a day trip on my last day there. The name of the town is Porvoo. It is one of the quaintest towns I have ever seen with all of its buildings painted in different colors. I REALLY enjoyed my time there.

The colorful houses!

Porvoo

Next to the church

Exploring the site where a medieval castle used to stand

Overall thoughts:

I didn’t love Helsinki, in fact I was supposed to stay longer but with the short days and lack of sun, I was starting to feel depressed so I decided to head to Barcelona a few days earlier than scheduled! I really regret not going to the northern part of Finland instead of Helsinki so that at least I would have been able to see the Northern Lights and maybe a reindeer or two, but it just means I have to come back! However, I really liked going to Porvoo, although it only requires a day so it wouldn’t make sense to stay overnight there. Also it was super cold in Finland, so again bring layers upon layers.

Now off to Spain because I can’t seem to stay away for too long 🙂

Stuttgart + Paris

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Our next adventure took us to Stuttgart, Germany. We stayed with Moritz and his family, someone I met because he stayed with my family 5 years ago while he attended IDEO camp with my sister. Last summer, he and a friend visited again while they did a tour of the West Coast of the U.S. So fun to see him again after four years, and when I mentioned I was doing a Europe trip the following summer, he invited me to stay with him for a couple of days. Sabrina also met him last summer when we had a fun dinner at my house.

Dinner at my house last summer with Moritz (Top right)

Our flight arrived at 10:45pm and Moritz was nice enough to pick us up! We made a pit stop at a view point of the city before heading back to crash after a long day. The next day Moritz had to work (I sorta forgot that people have to go to work 😉 ) so Sabrina and I were on our own to explore the city. Moritz’s mom, Sonya, kindly dropped us off in the city center. Sabrina and I headed up the tower at the train station, which gave us a great view of all of the city. Next we wandered around all the shopping streets before finding a yummy salad place for lunch. After we read in Schlossplatz, which is a lovely plaza with benches, fountains, and grass. After 2 hours of lazing around we headed back to Moritz’s house to shower and do some much needed laundry. That night we went to dinner with Moritz and his parents at a delicious Italian place.

The next morning we had a lovely breakfast with Moritz, which consisted of fried eggs, fresh croissants, and sourdough bread. It doesn’t get much better than that. Our first stop of the day was the  Ritter Sport Chocolate Factory. We walked through the museum, which explained how the chocolate is made and how the company got started, but obviously the best part was going to their store and buying way too much chocolate!

Caught in the act

After the chocolate museum we headed to the Mercedes Museum, which was awesome. It mixed history with amazing cars. We had so much fun picking which car was our favorite on each floor (of which there are 7!).

Early version of the trooper 😉

Dream car

Mercedes-Benz 500k Spezial-Roadster

Fake race track with different models of race cars

Definitely a highlight of our time in Stuttgart! After the museum, we drove back to Moritz’s house to change for our night out. We picked up food from a restaurant owned by a friend of Moritz and went to another friend of Moritz’s house to eat and hang out. After eating, another friend showed up and we began playing drinking games, which is always fun with new people. Once alcohol had been consumed, we took the metro to Schlossplatz, where Sommerfest was taking place. It’s basically an awesome outdoor festival where all of Stuttgart shows up. Tons of good food, music, and of course, alcohol. We meet up with more of Moritz’s friends and drink some more wine. Fairly quickly we head to a club on the plaza and hang there for a couple of hours. It’s always fun to meet locals and find out more about their lives. Around 3:30am we finally take a cab home, and quickly pass out at Moritz’s house. Boy oh boy do I not function well after being out that late. In the morning, Sabrina and I rally to pack our things and Sonya rushes us the train station. Moritz struggles to even get out of bed to say goodbye, so you can imagine the pain Sabrina and I were in getting to the train station. We barely make it on to our train, but alas we were able to crawl on the train at the last minute.

Everyone out at the club

A lovely breakfast with Sonja

Off to Paris we go!

Our first night in Paris was spent in the Generator Hostel Paris. It was a little far from everything, but for one night we made do. The main thing we did that night was visit the Eiffel Tower as Sabrina had never been to Paris before! We sat on the lawn and read until the light show went on. It’s so beautiful when it’s all lit up.

The next morning we went on a free walking tour and saw some of the big attractions in Paris including the Lourve and Notre Dame Cathedral. We also met two teachers from Boston and ended up having lunch with them after the tour. Right after lunch, Sabrina and I rushed back to our hostel to grab our things and head to the center of Paris in the 6th arrondissement where we were meeting Uncle John and Aunt Amy!

Notre Dame

The Louvre

Being a tourist!

Views during the walking tour

They helped us settle into our (awesome) apartment which is owned by a friend of my uncles before we all had a drink at Freddy’s. Sabrina and I could not be happier about having our own space and our own shower. Such a treat after staying in so many hostels. It was also amazing to see my aunt and uncle. After drinks, we all took a siesta before meeting up for dinner at Semilla, a super nice restaurant that Sabrina and I cannot afford on our travelers budget! We had a spectacular time talking with Amy, but unfortunately someone who knew my uncle sat down with us so my uncle didn’t end up being able to talk with us very much. The food was amazing though, and the wine wasn’t too shabby either ;). Amy, Sabrina and I decided to ditch John and we walked to the Lock bridge to watch the light show on the Eiffel Tower from afar. A wonderful night all in all.

My great-grandfather Ford Nichols on the menu at Freddy’s (in the middle)

Food at Semilla

Melon soup

The next morning Sabrina and I took a train to the Palace of Versailles and met up with the teachers we had met the previous day. After walking around for a bit, we saw that we could rent row boats! We piled in one and took off to explore the palace grounds by water. Super fun!

The gardens

Sabrina rows us around the canal

On the boat with Jackie and Valerie

Next, the four of us took the train back to Paris where we had cider and crepes! So delicious! We said bye to Jackie and Valerie and headed home to nap before meeting my aunt, uncle and two of my uncle’s life long friends for drinks and dinner. Always fun to see “Grapp” and Craig. In case anyone was worried, there was plenty of food and alcohol to go around that night 😉

The next day was filled with pampering! Amy took Sabrina and me to get a mani/pedi, and boy were we excited! Our nails did not look our best after 2 months of traveling… not that we were complaining! After nails we went to a delicious falafel restaurant and Amy treated us to lunch. Sabrina and I took off for a long run before meeting Amy for popcorn and a movie! We saw Bad Moms and we all thought it was hilarious. It was nice to do something so familiar. It was almost as if we were back in the US for a couple of hours.

Our run took us to Luxembourg Gardens

Our fourth day Sabrina decided to venture out on her own and meet up with her cousin so I spent the day with my aunt and uncle. We started the day with pho along with Grapp and Craig. The tres amigos were nursing big hangovers because they had had a big night and the only thing my uncle was willing to get out of bed for was pho. After some filling food, Amy and I set off for Sacra-Coeur Basilica in the Montmartre area, which is known for its many artists who have been populated the areas since 1880. We walked up the hill to the Basilica and then found a cafe to sit and people watch. Overall a lovely afternoon.

View of Paris from Montmartre

Sacra-Coeur Basilica

Walking around Paris

That night the 6 of us all had plans to get dinner so we met at John and Amy’s hotel and headed to the restaurant. Another delicious meal filled with all different types of food, good wine, and fun conversation. Craig kept saying “I am my own brand. I control the content” and Grapp said “put that on the blog” every 15 minutes. There were definitely wise guys 😉 Unfortunately the four of them were off the next morning so we had to say our goodbyes then. It was so much fun to see some family after being gone for 2.5 months so I was sad to see them go.

Last moments with John and Amy

A cheers with Grapp

Sabrina and I spent our last day each going on a run. I did a nice 6 miles running to the Eiffel Tower and back! Next on the agenda was walking over to Paris’ beach (!). Every year for about 3 weeks in late summer, Paris brings in sand and creates a faux beach along the Seine. We brought along our books and enjoyed some time in the sun. We decided to visit Luxembourg Gardens one last time before we were both leaving. It’s definitely worth a visit if you are in Paris. Lastly, we took a nice bottle of champagne and took a river cruise during sunset. Couldn’t ask for a better way to end our time in Paris.

Paris beach

Eiffel Tower

Champagne on the Seine

Sunset on the boat

Sunset on the Seine

Sunset on the Seine

Can’t get enough of the sunset

A beautiful end to my time in Paris

The next morning I left at 6:30am to catch my train to Barcelona! I spent two nights in the hostel I stayed in last summer, which I absolutely loved! I didn’t do much sight seeing as I knew I would be here for 2 months and would have plenty of time to explore. I did go to the beach because I missed the ocean though! Unfortunately, I felt a little run down so I didn’t go out either night, but I did play drinking games with everyone before they went out.

Barcelona beach

Drinking games at the hostel

Competition in high swing

yummy strawberry + banana + chia seed smoothie

Now I am off to begin my real adventure in Barcelona: Studying español! I can’t wait to practice and improve my Spanish! Les hablo pronto!

 

Prague + Budapest

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I had never been to Eastern Europe before but after Prague and Budapest, I can’t wait to explore more of it. I started off in Prague where I was supposed to meet Sabrina, one of my best friends from home. BUT… she took the wrong bus in Rome and ended up at the wrong airport. Which meant she missed her flight. Which meant spending 24 hours in the airport waiting for the next flight to Prague. Luckily she met a couple of Aussies who were also stuck waiting for a flight so she had people to hang with. Meanwhile after arriving at my hostel, I spent my free day catching up on sleep (as I always seem to do) and going for a run. Finally Sabrina arrived in the afternoon. We went for a quick drink at the bar in the hostel and then walked to a fun restaurant for dinner. I had a yummy salmon dish, while Sabrina had a spicy, chicken dish. Because of the ordeal Sabrina had just gone through, we decided to make it an early night.

The next morning we went on a walking tour of Prague. Tons a cool architecture and fun shops. We also saw Europe’s oldest active synagogue. We also managed to make friends with four different Aussies during the tour, and we all decided to get lunch after the tour. After lunch, we walked around and got a tredlynik, a pastry filled with Nutella and vanilla ice cream. We meandered our way to the John Lennon wall, which was pretty cool. Our last stop was the Prague Castle. It offered awesome views over the city.

Walking around Prague

Oldest active synagogue in Europe

Trying to avoid getting lost with our Aussie friends

A close up of the tredlynik

John Lennon Wall

Views from Prague Castle

After getting back to the hostel, we took a quick power nap before heading down to the hostel bar to get some drinks. Sabrina hadn’t had cider before, and it became one of her new favorite drinks! We met some cool British girls and soon there were about 8 of us going out to find a club nearby… unfortunately we didn’t end up being able to find it so Sabrina and I bailed to head back to the hostel, while the rest of the group took cabs to another club. We found a falafel place and had a late night snack before passing out in our beds.

The crew before we left the hostel bar

After sleeping in, we took a tram to the downtown area where we walked around the Jewish quarter and old town. We went across the Charles Bridge and also caught the astronomical clock show, which while the show isn’t anything special, the actual clock itself is a technological feat. The clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still operating.

Charles Bridge

After the show, we hung around Old Town Square and read for a bit on a bench.

Reading in Old Town Square

With our stomachs grumbling, we grabbed some gelato and headed back to the hostel. We quickly changed for the night and went back to the restaurant we went the first night. After all it was so good and cheap. Dinner was about 7$ each. After dinner we decided once again to call it an early night because we were leaving for Budapest the next day.

Overall I think Sabrina and I really enjoyed Prague, but we wished we had been able to see more of the night life. Also I wished we had stayed in a hostel a bit closer to the downtown. Although our downtown was easily accessible by tram, I always like being able to get by with just walking.

 

As soon we arrived in Budapest I knew I would like it. The city seemed walkable (!) and the weather was nice. There were restaurants and shops everywhere and everyone was super friendly. Also, to top it off, our hostel was amazing!! If you ever go to Budapest, please stay there. The hostel had 4 sister hostels around the city and there were activities at them every night. One night was beer olympics, one night was Karaoke, one night was a pub crawl. There was always something to do! Also our hostel was small– about 22 people– but it made it super homey and you really got to know everyone staying there.

The first night I went out with some guys from the hostel to one of the sister hostel’s bar, while Sabrina took a nap. She eventually walked around the city with some girls who were in our room.

The next morning Sabrina and I walked around for a bit before meeting up with two girls in our room to go a thermal bath house, which are common in Budapest. We went to Gellert Baths, which is not the biggest, but it is one of the prettier bath houses. 70 million liters of 21-78 Celsius warm thermal water spring forth daily from its 118 natural thermal springs. Gellert Baths opened in 1918. We had a lovely, relaxing time moving from bath to bath.

Sabrina = Buddha

Elodie, Me, Claire, & Sabrina

Having fun with the gopro

Inside the baths

We spent about 2 hours at the baths before heading back to the hostel. Sabrina and I decided to buy food at the grocery store for the week to save money and also be able to eat a bit healthier, which meant as soon as we got back from the baths we got to work on dinner. After dinner, Elodie and Claire, the two Aussies we went to the baths with, and Louise (another Aussie in our room) went to Szimpla Kurt, which is an awesome, funky ruin bar. Highly recommend!

The next day Louise, Sabrina, and I went to get Thai massages because they are so goddamn cheap! It was about 17$ for 30 minutes. My only regret is not doing an hour. Funnily enough, after getting super relaxed, the three of us headed out to do something not so relaxing: Caving! With a guide, we were taken 150 feet below ground in 40 million year old caves!!! There were even sea shells stuck in the caves from 40 million years ago. It was definitely a highlight for I think both me and Sabrina.

Before caving

Getting safety instructions

In the caves

Sea shell preserved inside the caves

Sabrina

Happy faces post-caving

Despite an exhausting day, we had signed up to go on a boat party that evening with 400 other young travelers. Apparently it is the 3rd largest part boat in Europe. Essentially we paid 30$ and then there is unlimited free drinking for the first 2 hours of the boat trip. It was a really fun experience, but I am not sure I need to do it again (haha).

Views from the river

Parliament from the boat

The next day we decided to go to the biggest baths in Budapest because everyone recommended it. It’s called Szechenyi Baths and Pool. After bouncing around between all the pools, Sabrina and I, along with the 3 Scottish girls we came with, all sat out in the sun and read our books. Quite a relaxing afternoon.

Entrance to the baths

Sabrina and me with our Scottish friends

Szechenyi Baths and Pool

On the way back to the hostel, we tried Langos, which is a Hungarian food speciality consisting of fried bread and cheese with a few options for additional toppings. I decided to try it with everything on it, so it had cheese, ham, garlic, and sour cream. It was delicious, but quite heavy. I definitely didn’t need dinner after eating it!

Sabrina with her Langos

Katrin, Alice, and Carly with their langos

That night we didn’t go out because the previous night had taken it’s toll on us. We did however watch the season finale of the Bachelorette! 🙂

Our flight was around 9pm so we had most of the day to still explore Budapest. Sabrina and I took off walking around and she bought a new bag. After we headed to a famous panini restaurant started by two michelin star chefs! It’s called Bors GasztroBar. We had huge paninins for about 3$. It was unreal.

Lastly we hiked to what used to be a citadel on Gellért Hill. It had awesome views of Budapest and the river.

Views of Budapest

At the top of Gellért Hill

After getting back to the hostel we quickly showered and left for the airport. We are now on our way to Stuttgart, Germany!

Copenhagen (+ Hamburg)

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Wow oh wow did I love Copenhagen. It is my new favorite city! From the time I arrived to the time I sadly left, I had an amazing time. I arrived at my hostel around 8am (thanks to an early 6am flight from Bergen!) and couldn’t check in until 2pm so I slept on a large sofa bed that the hostel had in its lounge area. When I woke up there were about 10 others doing the same thing (it was a huge sofa bed) so at least I wasn’t the only weirdo doing this. After checking in to my room, which was great, I walked to the rose gardens and park surrounding the Rosenborg Castle. Everyone was lounging around, soaking up the sun’s rays.

Rosenborg Castle

The surrounding park

Around 5:30pm I headed back to the hostel to get a seat for the free dinner the hostel puts on. However, they only serve people seated in specific tables so you have to arrive early to make sure you reserve a seat! I really enjoyed this activity because it made it easy to meet people. I ended up meeting two girls from California who were headed off to college in the fall, one at Colorado College and one to Cal Poly. What a coincidence this was because the only person I know that goes to CC was meeting me the next day in Copenhagen. My new friend was thrilled at the prospect of meeting someone who goes to CC. We ended up bonding over the fact that the guys we sat with were rude and arrogant. After dinner we switched tables to meet some nicer people. Luckily I did. An Aussie (Brendan) and Kiwi (Ryan) sat down with us and we hit it off right away. I ended up talking with them the rest of the night before heading off to bed to catch up on much needed to sleep. I knew I would see them tomorrow as we both had decided to do the free walking tour.

Before the walking tour at 11am, I went to Stella Cafe and had a delicious omelette. After fueling up, I met up with Brendan and Ryan for the tour. As soon as the tour started we met another Aussie, Joanna, who ended up walking with us the rest of the tour. The tour was a great way to see all the main sites in Copenhagen, and because Copenhagen is fairly small, we really were able to see a lot of what I wanted to see. Half way through the tour, we had a 20 minute break to get some coffee and food. Brenden and Ryan went for the bacon wrapped sausages, while Joanna went to get coffee. I wanted a Danish pastry called kanelsnegle (basically a Danish cinnamon roll). IT WAS SO GOOD.

Kanelsnegle in all its glory!!

After the tour we headed back to the hostel to rest our feet and get a beer. At this point Adam Granath met up with me and the group. Also Brendan had a friend from Australia that lives in Copenhagen now so he met us as well. We were now a group of 6. Brendan’s local friend took us to a fabulous food market called Copenhagen Street Food. It’s right on the water and eating outside is a must. I had a yummy burger and some delicious ice cream.

The food market outdoor eating area

After eating, we went to a couple of different bars where we learned a traditional Danish drinking game, which is played at bars. It is sorta similar to BS, but uses dice. It’s called Mia and it’s super fun. After the first bar, we went to The Living Room, which was a totally cool, hipster bar with tons of comfy couches. We met up with more locals and headed to one of their apartments for more drinks before heading out to another bar. Really fun evening.

The next day I slept in (as I like to do) and went for a long run which included a stop at Kastellet, which is one of the best preserved start fortresses in Europe. It was built in 1662!

Windmill within the fortress

After my run I rushed through a quick tower because my cousin Delaney was set to arrive around 2pm!!! She brought along two friends, Julia and Annika. I was so excited to see some familiar faces. Delaney and Annika go to school together at Colorado College, and Julia (from Germany) spent a semester abroad at their school. After getting settled in the hostel room we set off to explore the city. Because I had been there for a few days I became a bit of a tour guide and took them to my favorite spot: Nyhavn, a 17th century waterfront, canal and entertainment district. I can’t get enough of the colored houses all over Scandinavia.

Nyhavn

Exploring Copenhagen

Much deserved ice cream after walking around for hours

After walking around a bit our stomach started grumbling so we decided to try a restaurant that had been recommended to them: Cock’s and Cows. Delicious food, but with Copenhagen already being so expensive, it definitely wasn’t a place we could afford to go to twice.

After a satisfying late lunch/early dinner, we meandered back to the hostel to hang at the hostel bar. The four of us grabbed a beer and enjoyed talking with all sorts of new people. We also met up with the girl that is going to be a freshmen at CC so the four of the them could catch up on all things CC. Around 11, they all decided to go out, but I decided to stay and continue playing card games with Joanna and two swedes we had met (I am not super into the club scene). About an hour later, Brendan and Ryan showed up and dragged the four of us out to some bars. We were the only ones in the first bar we went to and they finally kicked us out around 2am because the bar was closing down for the night. We then found another bar that was tropical themed and proceeded to also close out that bar, but not before dancing to some fun music. We ended up back at the hostel around 4am (which is WAYYY past my bedtime), but I was glad I went out.

The next morning, Delaney, Julia, and Annika went on the walking tour that I had gone on, while I caught up on some sleep and then hung out with Brendan and Ryan at the hostel. Eventually they had to leave for the airport so we said our goodbyes, but hopefully I’ll see them again at some point! Once the girls were done with the walking tour we met up at the Copenhagen Street Food market for some late lunch/early dinner. After we walked to the rose gardens to hang on the lawn.

Opera house in Copenhagen (view from the food market)

Hanging at the park

Our bus to Hamburg was a night bus, meaning we were going to board at 11:30pm and arrive at 6am the next day. After a quick drink at the hostel bar, we grabbed our stuff and headed to the bus station.

Once on the bus we settled in to try to get some sleep before arriving in Hamburg. We quickly realized however that it was going to be tough because every 1.5 hours they woke us up by going over the loud speaker to announce a stop. Also, once we arrived at the German border, German officials came on the bus to check passports. Interestingly, they spent about 20 seconds on my American passport, but about 10 minutes on a guy who looked Middle Eastern. I guess in the past couple months they have started to check passports even between Schengen countries. Nonetheless, we were off again towards Hamburg. Once we arrived, we grabbed a local train to Julia’s hometown of Bad Oldesloe.

We were lucky enough to visit when there was a local parade happening so we got to see some local festivities before heading back to Julia’s house for a lovely breakfast made by here mother. We ate outside in their adorable gazebo.

The mayor of Bad Oldesloe

All the school children in the parade

Laney contributing an American favorite to breakfast: Toad in the hole

Breakfast in Julia’s backyard

After a much needed one hour power nap we headed back in to Hamburg. The first item on the agenda was a stop at a Hamburg court house where Julia’s awesome father works as a judge. The building was super cool and we got to sit in on the case he was presiding over. Even though it was in German and we couldn’t understand a word of it, it was still fascinating. After he was nice enough to give us a tour of the courthouse and then treated us to some yummy ice cream.

The courthouse where Julia’s dad works

Tour inside another court house

 

After saying goodbye we explored different areas of Hamburg and saw shopping districts, canals, and a beautiful government building.

A traditional German pastry!

We ended the day on a ferry around the river which gave us a unique view of the city.

On the ferry with Julia

A sculpture in Hamburg

We decided to make dinner for Julia’s parents when we got back so after grocery shopping we got to work! We prepared a summery spinach salad, quinoa, and sausages. T’was a great success. It was so fun to talk with Julia’s parents and learn a bit about their lives in Germany.

Homemade dinner

 

Sadly, Delaney and I were both leaving for our next cities early the next morning so we said our goodbyes and went to bed. Julia rode the train into Hamburg with us in the morning and I had to say bye to both of them as I headed to the bus terminal, while the two of them continued on to the airport as Delaney was going to Barcelona!

Now off to Berlin!!

Norway (Oslo +Bergen)

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After leaving the heavenly island off of Stockholm, we headed to Oslo. We stayed at Saga Poshtel, which was a “posh” version of a hostel, so it was certainly nice, but made it feel more like a hotel. As such, the atmosphere was definitely less social and friendly. The first night I went on a 6 mile run up the river in Oslo and then headed to bed early after a long travel day. The next day Megan and I did some solo exploring before reconvening for a bike tour through Olso. I spent time at the The Viking Ship Museum, which has three different viking ships built around 820 ad (!!).

The biking tour was fun, but Megan and I agreed that our favorite bike tour is still Amsterdam.

View from the Royal Palace, Oslo

The main walking promenade

I met a lovely couple from San Diego on the bike tour, and decided to meet up later with them. Megan wanted to try a new vegetarian restaurant so she ventured out on her own. After eating dinner at Illegal Burger, I met up with the couple at a bar. When I arrived they said they were starving so I went to an Indian restaurant with them so they could eat. I had a ton of fun with them. After, we decided to head to Andy’s Pub, which was a fun piano bar that they had been to before. The guy playing piano belted out American classic after American classic, so it was cool to be able to sing along. We finally left the bar at 1am.

The next morning I met two Austrian guys in my hostel room and decided to join them in visiting the National Museum of Contemporary Art. It was definitely a cool assortment of exhibitions, some I liked more than others. After a fun morning walking around with them, they unfortunately had to catch their flight home. It started to rain so I decided to hang out in my new favorite juice bar and book some upcoming hostels. At one point, the rain was coming down harder than I had ever seen.

This picture doesn’t even do it justice. It was like stepping out into a shower.

The rain finally let up just in time for me to head back to the hostel to meet up with Mehrdad for our final overlap. We strolled around Oslo and found a cute pizzeria that didn’t break the bank, which is RARE in Norway!

Mehrdad ready to eat delicious, reasonably priced pizza!

After dinner we headed towards the main walking promenade and found a bar with live music and decided to stop for a drink. One single drink because one beer was about the same price as the pizza we had had earlier (Around 12$!!). But despite the crazy prices, we had a really nice time listening to the guitar player.

The next day Mehrdad and I took a ferry out to Hovedøya, which is an island right off of Oslo. We walked around and saw a couple of ruins. There were a lot of families playing in the water and picnicking. Unfortunately, the sky decided to open up as we were halfway around the island. We were trapped under some trees, which, luckily, prevented a surprising amount of rainfall from hitting us. The rain let up a bit and we made a sprint for the other side of the island where the ferry would pick us up. After getting back we walked to the Oslo Opera House. It is a stunning building and you can walk on it. I mean literally on top of it, which gives you an awesome view of the city.

On top of the Oslo Opera House with Mehrdad

Sadly, it was time to hop on the train to Bergen, which meant a final goodbye to Mehrdad. Luckily, he lives in Berkeley so I am sure I will see him back in the Bay!

The train to Bergen passed through some incredible countryside. Despite a long train ride, it was quite enjoyable.

Norwegian countryside

Bergen was an adorable city in the western part of Norway. Despite it being cloudy almost every day, it was really fun to spend time there. We arrived at 10:30pm so we walked straight to our hostel and passed out. The first day Megan went on a serious hike, which required hiking boots, which meant I couldn’t join. But I walked around Bryggen, which is a World Heritage site. It’s the old wharf which was quite important from the 14th century to the 16th century. Now it houses different museums and shops.

Bryggen!

Inside Bryggen

After walking around that area, I found an adorable cafe for lunch. I had a delicious sandwich, while I read my book. Next, I took off on a Fjord tour on a boat! It’s always fun to see things from a different perspective, such as seeing the land from the water! It was a 4.5 hour tour and stopped by a water fall where they collected some fresh water for us to try. Trust me, it was delicious. We also stopped in front of another waterfall! It was definitely a a highlight of my time in Bergen. I also met a couple that had just graduated from Stanford, one of whom was from Colorado so we had a lot to talk about!

And we’re off!

A little village outside of Bergen

WATERFALL

Some fjords

I finished the day with a ride up the funicular! It offered incredible views of Bergen. Highly recommend doing this if you visit Bergen!

View from the top of Mount Fløyen

There are goats living under the viewing decks!

Unfortunately, Megan’s flight took off early in the morning so we had to say goodbye the night before. She heads to London for a day and then takes off for home!

My final day in Bergen had me exploring other parts of the city center and finding a fun cafe for lunch. I managed to read a full book before heading back to the hostel for a siesta. That night I caught up with my parents and had cereal for dinner because my wallet needed a break from Norwegian prices(!).

Bergen

Off to Denmark next! Wish me luck because I’ll be getting up at 3:30am to catch a 6am flight 😦

xoxo

Sweden

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This trip is flying by!!! Megan and I arrived in Stockholm, after our adventure in Latvia, just in time to watch France take on Germany in the semi-finals of Euro-cup. After dropping our stuff in our hostel, we settled in next door at a restaurant that shares a courtyard with the hostel. They had set up a large screen that was showing the game outside. I ordered a traditional Swedish dish: Meatballs! T’was delicious and it reminded me of the meatballs served at IKEA, which makes sense as IKEA is a Swedish brand (wow it’s all coming together!!). During the game two local Swedish guys sat down next to us and Megan and I ended up talking with them most of the game. It was fascinating to hear about Swedish life and how different it is compared to the US. When I asked them if they could list any downsides to living in Sweden, they paused and had to think for a minute. They finally came up with the weather, and fair point, as it is dark for 8 months of the year. But if weather is the only downside to living in your country then I would say you’re doing pretty well.

The next morning Megan and I joined a bike tour around Stockholm. We figured that because we would only have one day in Stockholm this would be the easiest way to see a lot of Stockholm. While the tour itself didn’t knock our socks off, we did get to see a lot of Stockholm and we biked to the highest point within the city, which offered great views.

View from the highest point in Stockholm

After the tour we grabbed lunch and walked through Old Town. Stockholm was beautiful, but didn’t feel all that different from a clean, put-together American city.

Megan goofing off with not one, but two viking helmets

 

After finishing the afternoon in Stockholm, we got on a bus to our Airbnb in Idalen, which is on an island in the Stockholm archipelago. It was AMAZING! We stayed in a cottage in the backyard of the home of the sweetest couple ever. After they welcomed us, Megan and I took off on a run to get some exercise and to see some of the beaches! Stunning is the only word to describe it:

Idalen, Sweden

Can you have too many beach/sunset pictures??

After our run, we jumped into the water at this beach!

 

The next day we set off on our bikes to rent a kayak for the afternoon. Although it was fun, we ended up paddling for our lives as soon as it started to thunderstorm all around us (!!).

Megan in the kayak right before the thunderstorm hit!

After safely making it to shore, we rode our bikes back to the Airbnb in the rain. We dried off in the cottage and decided to have a lazy rest of the day. We made some dinner and then watched a movie.

Luckily the next day was a bit sunnier! Megan and I went for a beautiful hike in one of the many nature preserves. We walked to a lake and back, which ended up being about 5 miles.

 

After a yummy avocado + apple spinach salad for lunch, we headed down to the local beach for some relaxing and some reading. This wrapped up our incredible adventure off the beaten path in the Stockholm archipelago. Both Megan and I marveled at how easy it was to find a place to stay out in the middle of a random island because of Airbnb. Definitely a positive experience!

Now off to Norway!

Amsterdam + (Latvia)

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Wow, oh, wow! Amsterdam was fabulous! It also marked the last of my solo travels. Megan, who I became friends with at Tufts this past year, joined me in Amsterdam after she attended a 6-week long study abroad program in Talloires, which is put on through the Tufts European Center. We met at the at soccer tryouts last fall (for the Tufts club team) when everyone at tryouts was going around saying their name, where they were from, and what position they play. It came my turn and I said “Meg, from Palo Alto (because no one knows Los Altos!!), and defense. After five others had gone, I was surprised to hear a new face say the exact same thing. I mean literally the exact same answer. Her name was Meg. She grew up in Palo Alto. She plays defense. It was hilarious. She later told me that she thought it was a prank and that all the seniors had figured out where different freshmen were from and pretended to have their name and be from their hometown. But obviously that wasn’t the case. Ever since bonding over our shared traits, we have been friends. We have been to concerts, done half marathons, and are now traveling Europe together!

Amsterdam is the first city of six cities we will be doing together- and it was a great one to start with, although it did start a bit rocky as Megan took the wrong train from the airport and ended up in the countryside in a town called Hilversum before she was able to get off and board the right train back to Amsterdam. She did eventually make it to the hostel and we had some delicious Asian fusion for a late dinner.

Our first full day in Amsterdam was sunny and warm! A nice reprieve from the cloudiness and rain I experienced in the U.K. We started our day with a walking tour around the city and walked past the narrowest house in Amsterdam! The reason houses in Amsterdam are so tall, but narrow is that back in the day taxes were determined by how wide your house was! So if you wanted to show off your wealth, you would build a particularly wide house. If you were stingy (like my dad 😉 ), then you built as narrow a house as you could!

Narrowest house in Amsterdam

We then had lunch at Il Panorama. We sat outside on a canal and had amazing focaccia with grilled vegetables as a starter! Next we were off to the I AMSTERDAM sign. Don’t worry, we took a lot of pictures 🙂

M is for Meg!

 

Meg + Megan

Megan

After some wandering around, we arrived at Foodhallen for some dinner. Foodhallen is a food hall with upscale eateries inside. It seemed to be where a lot of working professionals went after work. To finish off the day, we had some delicious Belgium waffles!

Meg with her sushi at Foodhallen

Strawberries + Nutella

The next day was primarily spent on a bike tour of the countryside! We got on our bikes and rode like locals… or like a group of herded tourists in matching ponchos. Although we hit some rain, we still had so much fun. We stopped at a windmill and a farm that makes cheese and carves clogs. He was one of three traditional clog makers left in The Netherlands.

After the bike tour we took a few hours to rest before heading out on a tour of the Red Light District. It was fascinating to learn the history of the area, along with how it has evolved into a legitimate and legal business. We heard about the tax, health, and safety implications of being a sex worker. Women have to apply for their business license at the county hall, just like every other person applying for a business license. Altogether, it was cool to understand how the business actually works.

The next day we took a train to a town called Utrecht. We had heard from a few locals that it was a cute town so we decided to check it out. It was definitely worth it if you have a few days while in Amsterdam. It’s only about 20 min. away by train so it’s easy to visit for the morning and lunch, which is exactly what we did! We walked around the town, which isn’t too large, and then found a nice Italian restaurant next to one of their canals to eat lunch. Overall, a really fun town to visit for a couple of hours.

To finish off the day, we went to dinner with two Canadians and a brother and sister from Alabama where we watched Portugal play Wales in the semi-finals of Euro Cup. We both enjoyed hanging with the four of them, although it got a bit awkward when the Canadians brought up Trump… Luckily, the topic switched quite quickly.  Unfortunately, Wales lost 2-0 and Portugal advanced to the final. After the game, we all headed back to the hostel and Megan and I packed up our stuff as we were leaving at 7am the next morning.

Amsterdam was definitely one of my favorite stops so far (along with Galway and Edinburgh). Meg and I dubbed it “one of the most Instagrammable cities” we had each been too. The canals made for a beautiful backdrop around every single corner. Some examples:

Also, neither of us smoke weed so we decided to focus on other things Amsterdam had to offer, but we did see the first Coffee Shop and some other fun weed related things!

First coffee shop!

For all you cannabis lovers out there!!!

 

After Amsterdam, our next stop was Stockholm… but the cheapest way to get there was to have a layover in Riga, Latvia. We embraced this by leaving the airport and spending the afternoon exploring this Baltic country (about 5 hours).

First stop was Centraltrigus, a food market that occupies 72.3 thousand square metres of space and has over 3000 trade stands. We walked around and snacked on some fresh raspberries for about 1.50$. SO CHEAP!!

After walking around the market and the rest of town, we found a delicious lunch place called Street Fries Kitchen. It was sooo good! Megan had lentil and avocado salad and I had a ham, cheese, and egg crepe. Definitely one of our favorite meals so far!

Lastly, we meandered back to the bus stop by walking in a park along the canal.

Riga!

Megan frolicking through the park!

We took the bus back to the airport and despite Megan setting off the metal detector for the 3rd time (!!!), we made it through to the plane!

Now off to Sweden 🙂

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Ireland

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First off, I just wanted to thank my lovely friend Laura for giving me advice on what cities I should see through Ireland! I ended up being very happy with my final itinerary!

I arrived at my hostel in Dublin around noon and immediately met a group of guys from San Diego. They were headed to Howth, a coastal village that is a 30 minute train ride from Dublin and invited me to come along. It was so fun! The town is famous for its fish and chips so that was our first order of business. Next we decided to hike up to the light house, which was about 7.5 miles roundtrip.

View from the Howth harbor

Lighthouse and cliffs in Howth

 

After we returned to Dublin, we went out to dinner around 10:30pm. We didn’t realize that most places stop serving food around 10pm so we ended up at a late night “American Diner” called Eddie Rockets, which was very similar to Johnny Rockets back in the States. After, we went to the famous Temple Bar, which has been open since 1840!

The next day I went on a walking tour of Dublin and learned all about the history between Ireland and England, and Ireland in general. For example when the referendum on gay marriage came up in Ireland, over 100,000 Irish people living abroad flew home to vote. It was one of the biggest weeks for Dublin airport and the referendum passed at 62%.

I met two girls from Wisconsin on the tour who I ended up wandering around Dublin with. We ended up deciding to meet for dinner and go on a pub crawl later that night. Dublin is fantastic at night. On the pub crawl, I met Mehrdad, who is from Berkeley. After talking for a bit, we realized that we are going to be in the same city at the same time about 4 or 5 different times during our trips!

The following day I went to the Irish Whiskey Museum with another fellow Californian from the hostel. The guided tour was fascinating and after we got to taste three different Irish Whiskeys. I’ll admit that I did not like the whiskey, but it was fun to try them.

The next highlight was the Guinness Factory Tour. Despite not enjoying beer all that much, I have to say Guinness has totally dialed in the Guinness Factory experience. From learning about the beer making process, to the marketing and advertising strategy, to learning how to pour your own Guinness, the whole experience was great! The best part, however, was enjoying your hand-poured guinness at the Gravity Bar on the 7th floor, which offers a 360 degree view of Dublin.

At the Guinness Factory!

What can I get for you? Guinness, perhaps????

 

Next, I took a 3 hour bus to Galway, which is in the mid-west of Ireland. It’s the fifth largest city in Ireland, and is close to the Cliffs of Moher. I stayed at Galway City Hostel.

The first day was completely rainy so I spent the whole day playing cards in the hostel with fellow travelers and curling up with a good book. In all honesty, it was a perfect day, and it allowed me to rest up for the next day, which included an all day guided tour to the Cliffs of Moher! I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful it is so I am not even going to try; instead I’ll let photographs attempt to do it justice.

In the town of Galway I went to several excellent pubs with awesome live Irish music: Tig Cóilí, The Quays, and the Spanish Arch Hotel, just to name a few. I explored these pubs with Mehrdad, who I met in Dublin, as Galway was one of the cities we overlapped in. Another great find was Gino’s Gelato. I met some amazing girls from Colorado on the tour to the Cliffs of Moher and we immediately bonded over our shared love for Colorado’s nature and The Bachelorette. In fact, I even delayed going to my next city by a few hours so that the three of us could watch the most recent episode together!

Overall I really enjoyed Galway. In fact, it might just be one of my favorite cities yet. It was quaint, yet lively. It was incredibly walkable and easy to get to by bus from Dublin. I wish I had spent more time here and less time in Dublin.

Next stop was Tralee. It’s a small town near the Dingle Peninsula. I only spent 2 nights here, but I managed to do a decent amount. When I arrived at my hostel, I was immediately told I should take a bus to Killarney, which is home to over 25,000 acres and Ireland’s only native herd of red deer. It was stunning and I wish I had been able to spend more time walking around. I was fighting daylight and was only able to walk about 4 miles of the park.

Wild deer in the park

Old growth and new growth meet

Ross Castle

Killarney overall was an adorable town, and I almost wish I had stayed here over Tralee. There were dozens of pubs, shops, and hostels. It was lively, even on a Tuesday night. I finished my time in Killarney with a bite to eat at Tatler Jacks and with an ice cream special from Murphy’s, which is a Irish staple. It was honestly some of the best ice cream I have ever had.

Dingle Sea Salt and Caramel Honeycomb with Chocolate mousse and a cookie.

The following day I went to Dingle, a town on the Dingle Peninsula. When I arrived I walked into the tourism office and asked what I should do for the day. Immediately I was asked whether I wanted to go out and see the town’s unofficial mascot. I said “absolutely” and off I went. Can you guess what it was???

Fungi, the dolphin.

That’s right… there is a single dolphin that lives in the Dingle Bay and has lived there for over 30 years. He enjoys eating, sleeping, and smiling for the camera as he swims alongside the boats.

When I got back from the fabulous boat tour of the bay, I strolled along the waterfront and wandered into Danno’s Bar and Restaurant for a relaxing lunch. After picking up a postcard (I get one in every city I go to), I wandered back to the bus stop to go back to Tralee. Because I hadn’t spent much time in Tralee, I went for a 5-mile run around town and their park in the downtown area. There was a lovely rose garden inside the park where I found my new favorite flower.

Tequila Sunrise rose

To finish off my time in Tralee, I went to a pub with a couple from the Netherlands to watch the Italy vs. Ireland game. Ireland had to win the game to advance to the elimination round of Euro Cup, something they have never been able to do before. It was so much fun being in a bar full of total locals watching a great game of soccer (or ahem* football). It turned out to be a nail biter, but the room I think actually exploded when Ireland scored a header goal later in the second half to win the game 1-0. In fact, when I was going to bed later that night around midnight, I could still here cheering and celebrations from my hostel. Definitely one of the cooler experiences I have had since being here!

The next day, I spent about 6 hours on a bus getting to the Dublin airport to get on a flight to Edinburgh. Of course, when I got to the airport my flight got delayed 2 hours so here’s to a full travel day! Left Tralee at 9:00 and arrived in Edinburgh at 22:30 (That’s 10:30pm, but I’ve had to learn to read a 24 hour clock so you should too.) 🙂

Stay tuned for Edinburgh, and whether brexit will happen or not! It has been so lovely to talk about another countries politics for a bit instead of having to explain to every traveler I meet why Trump is still considered to be a legitimate candidate to be president of the United States of America………