Hello everyone! My apologies for not updating in a long time, but I have been traveling and dealing with midterms and just procrastinating.
I think I'll just write some highlights from my time in each city. Make sure to check out all the pictures on my Shutterfly account!
Prague, Czech Republic (pictures)
I began my first self-travel break with an overnight train ride to Prague. I was in a cabin with people from Denmark, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, and my American friends. I actually loved talking to all of them and sleeping on the train- it was almost like being rocked to sleep. I had such high hopes for Prague, as everyone I know who'd been there said it was fantastic and beautiful. I therefore gave myself 5 days to experience it, which may have been a day or two too long. My main problem with Prague was that the time we (and by we, I mean Jen, Kelsey, and me) went was "the coldest weekend in 15 years". Other than that, though, it really was a beautiful city. Like Budapest, there were two main parts to the city separated by a river. The Old City part had a really great Easter Market going on with wonderful food and music. We went on an underground ghost tour that started from beneath the Astrological Clock, also pretty interesting. The other side of the city, the one with the castle on it, was gorgeous. There were numerous times that we wandered around looking for food (and finding great little places), but the best time was when we stumbled into a cozy pizza place where they gave us a free bottle of wine when we ordered 2 pizzas. Getting around was fairly simple; we could take the tram and then walk most places. It was a relatively inexpensive city, especially coming from Copenhagen, which was also a great part of the city. A night highlight was going on a pub crawl that stopped at a few local bars before ending up at the five-story club. Beer was PHENOMENAL here, and I don't even typically like beer. My favorite parts were visiting the Lennon Wall and viewing everything people had written and painted on it as well as visiting the statues of David Cerny's giant faceless babies.
London, England (pictures)
Kelsey and I flew to London for two days and stayed with my friends from Laf/AGD, Bianca and Danielle. It was really awesome to see them as well as to see places in the city that I have seen on television and heard about so many times. "London Calling" was stuck on a loop inside my head as I replayed the Friends episode where the cast goes to London for Ross and Emily's wedding. Kelsey and I explored all the major sights, drank a lot of tea (so happy to be somewhere where tea > coffee), and I embarrassed myself with my attempts at speaking with a British accent. I have to say, being in a place where English is the predominant language was so nice. Crossing Abbey Road, eating delicious fish and chips, English-nerding out at the Globe Theater, and eating phenomenal Indian food were some fun highlights. I also spent a decent amount of time visiting the Tower of London and seeing the crown jewels. Having to take the tube everywhere was kind of annoying, especially with how expensive it was. London isn't the most walkable city in the world, and it was also really cold outside. Overall it seemed like a pretty typical large city, similar to NYC. My biggest regret was not having an extra day to do the Harry Potter Studio tour... I'll have to come back some day. The best part, though, was leaving from Kings Cross Station and taking some pictures of going through the wall at Platform 9 3/4.
Edinburgh, Scotland (pictures)
Continuing with my Harry Potter quest, I traveled by train to Edinburgh (where JK Rowling first began writing the books) for two more days. I absolutely loved Edinburgh. It was such a cute little city that was completely walkable. The 4 of us stayed in a hostel that was right next to the castle, so it was a fantastic location. Walking down the Royal Mile, climbing Arthur's Seat, and visiting other Laf friends made it a really good time. It was Easter weekend, so the city was pretty crowded for the holiday. I love Scottish people and their accents and everything about Scotland- I can't wait to return and visit my friend Grace in the Highlands someday. My favorite part of my stay in Edinburgh was going on the "Potter Trail" tour of all the places that influenced JK Rowling- ie. Tom Riddle's grave, the Elephant House, etc. The Elephant House bathroom actually made me almost cry. Any avid Harry Potter fan will appreciate the dozens of pictures I have from there. (People who aren't will probably think I'm crazy). Out of the three cities visited that week, Edinburgh was definitely my favorite. I would love to one day return again to the land of sheep.
My 21st Birthday
Okay, I realize this isn't a place. But it was a major event in my life. We started the celebration in Copenhagen on April 11th, since my actual birthday (the 12th) would be spent in class and on a plane to Berlin. After receiving some awesome packages from my family, I went out to dinner with a few of my close friends. We had delicious Thai food with lots of wine. The plan was then to go back to my kollegium and then go out to a karaoke bar, but we ended up staying in Keops all night and singing along to our own songs. My Scottish and Canadian friends thought that it was hilarious that they were celebrating a "coming of age" party again- they thought they'd be done with that at 18. I had a great time though, and it will definitely be a birthday that I'll never forget.
Berlin, Germany (pictures)
I flew out to Berlin on the 12th. Though Jen and Bri and I got to the airport 2 hours early, we still almost missed our flight. Sitting around, eating dinner at the airport, we thought we still had 45 minutes when one of us happened to look up at the screen and notice that our gate said "closed". We started to walk rather quickly until a man asked us if we were flying to Berlin and then proceeded to tell us to "RUN". This was not my first time running through an airport, and we eventually made it along with some other passengers. Apparently everyone had checked-in early so they decided to change the flight to a half hour earlier. I still don't understand how that's even allowed. Anyway, we were only in Berlin for less than 24 hours because it was cheaper than flying directly to Barcelona. It was pouring rain, so I didn't see much besides the East Gallery of the Berlin Wall. I could definitely feel the alternative vibe of the city, though. It reminded me of 90s grunge, if that makes any sense.
Barcelona, Spain (pictures)
I LOVED BARCELONA. I should have studied there, as it was much more "me" than Copenhagen is. (They didn't offer a suitable program for me, though, so I really couldn't have.) The beautiful weather, the beach scene, the night life, great wine, tapas, speaking Spanish- it was all just fantastic. I got to see one of my best friends from high school too, which was so incredibly nice. We went to an Indian "Holi" festival of Spring, where colored powders are thrown in the air and Bollywood-style dancing and music was being performed. We went to Razzmatazz, one of the biggest night clubs in Europe. We unknowingly ate "queso con alcohol" - quite possibly one of the most disgusting things I've ever tasted. We laid out on the beach and had a Spanish man bring us wine and ice and cups. I can't even express how great it was to smell the blossoms of the orange trees and actually communicate in Spanish with the locals. The metro system was easy to use, and it was still fairly walkable. Cabs were cheap as well, which was super nice.
Paris, France (pictures)
I traveled to Paris by myself, which was an interesting experience in itself. More on that later. I have wanted to visit Paris since I was a little girl and asked my parents to buy me a computer program that would teach me French. (They pretty much forced me into taking Spanish in middle school, though, so my French is still limited to my 1st grade knowledge and ballet terms.) Paris was beautiful, but I did not like the people. It was 75 degrees when I arrived, so I decided to wear a sundress. Bad idea. The men were absolutely awful, and I hated walking around alone and having to deal with crude comments. I was able to visit a ton of museums for free though- thank you, Danish Residence Card. The Louvre was awesome and huge although the Mona Lisa was a bit anti climactic. I loved all the outdoor gardens most of all. The flowers were just so beautiful and it was nice to see the signs of winter being over. I was able to meet up with my friend Corinne, and together we climbed the Eiffel Tower and took some awesome pictures. The crepes were amazing. I loved all the outdoor cafes and accordion music. My hostel wasn't far from the Moulin Rouge, which was pretty neat to see considering it's one of my top 5 musicals (along with Wicked and Chicago and Rent and Grease). Like London, the city was kind of spread out and required a lot of metro use. I did not feel completely safe, either, a feeling that I hadn't really felt in my European cities.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands (pictures)
Amsterdam really surprised me. The land of tulips, cheese, clogs, and canals was actually really pretty. I met up with some friends from DIS and we explored the city together, stopping in every cheese shop and trying all of the free samples (there were a lot). We went on a canal tour and an all-you-can-eat pancake cruise. I spent about 10 minutes in the Red Light District but then had to leave- the girls all just looked so sad. That ares reminded me a lot of Bourbon Street in New Orleans, but the rest of the city was made up of quaint little streets with cafes on either side of the canal. I went to Anne Frank's "Secret Annex," her hideaway during WWII. Since I have read her diary at least 3 or 4 times, it was really surreal to actually be there. It was surprisingly bigger than I had expected it to be. Overall, Amsterdam was a nice, chill ending to a long 10 days of travel.
Factors that Impact Travel
After two months of visiting 10 different countries, I have learned a thing or two about traveling.
1. Weather. The temperature/elements can really make or break an experience. It can influence not only what you choose to do and see, but also your mood. Rain can ruin a day of walking around and seeing sights, but i think that the cold is the worst.
2. Traveling Companions. The people with whom you travel can make a huge difference in your trip. You have to make sure that whoever you go with has similar interests in wake-up time, amount of sight-seeing they want to do, how much they plan on drinking/going out, and how much money they want to spend. Obviously you'll have to make some compromises, but the more similar the better. Traveling alone is great in that you can do whatever you want whenever you want. You can also meet new, really awesome people. However, it can also be somewhat lonely and scary at times. I think I most enjoy traveling in a small group, ideally with maybe one person other than myself so that you don't have to feel like a crowd pleaser.
3. Public Transportation. Any place where walking is the main source of transportation is my favorite. Metro systems are generally easy to navigate with an adequate map, but they can get rather expensive. Cabs are easy but typically the most expensive.
4. Language. Obviously, it was easiest for me to get around in English-speaking countries. The good news is, most people in big cities like I have visited know English. It can be difficult sometimes, but it's really fun to be able to speak and read the native language. Whenever I went anywhere I made sure to know (at the very least) how to say "excuse me" and "thank you". It gets you a lot further than you would think, and people are much friendlier.
5. Hostel. Hostels range from awesome to awful. While it's fun to meet new people from all over the world, I definitely prefer when the room only consists of my traveling companions and me. I also prefer all-female rooms. Guys snore and are obnoxious. Additionally, hostel location is a big factor- it's never fun to have to take public transportation just to get into the city (especially at night when you have to get back and transportation is sparse).
Lastly, I want to touch briefly on the Boston bombings. I was in Barcelona when I first heard about it, and the world, which had been starting to feel so small, suddenly became immense again. Anything can happen on any given day at any point in the world. I'd like to end this post with the following quote:
"We cannot change what happened anymore. The only thing we can do is to learn from the past and to realize what discrimination and persecution of innocent people means. I believe that it's everyone's responsibility to fight prejudice." -- Otto Frank, 1970
