anoverseasadventure

[anoverseasadventure]

A short post about our long journey to Ireland. After a train from Caen to Cherbourg and a taxi from the station to the harbor we found our ferry. Here we realized that what we thought was going to be a 17 hour ride, was actually an 18 hour ride because of time change. We didn't mind much, we figured we'd sleep the whole time. Passing through security, and taking a shuttle to the ferry, we boarded and chose our seats in our reserved room. Wanting to explore we locked our things together, and went walking about the boat which was the size of a small cruise ship! When we were done exploring we sat in the wifi area for a while and eventually I went upstairs to go to sleep early. Kayla joined sometime after, and we proceeded to have one hell of a night. We were going through a storm and saying the waters were rough was an understatement. It felt like we were going through the eye of a hurricane for hours on end. Also the boat was viciously cold; teeth chattering, shivering cold. At some point in the night I moved from the chair to the floor and was somehow warmer, but only by a little. Ten times more comfortable there, I stayed curled up in a ball on the floor until kayla woke me up for breakfast. We attempted to eat breakfast but failed miserably due to the nausea from sea sickness as the storm was still raging and the waves were awful. Looking out the window you would either see all water or all sky as the ship lurched back and forth, and everyone walking (even the staff) looked incredibly drunk as no one could walk even a semi straight line. After another nap we made it Into the harbor an hour later than anticipated which meant we missed our train to Dublin. With no other train until 5 that night we were pointed in the direction of a bus. This bus wasn't going to Dublin, but rather Wexford where we could change to catch the bus to Dublin. With no other option we boarded the bus, got off the bus, waited by the side of the road in the middle of no where, boarded another bus that we assumed was the correct one and waited. After three hours we made it into Dublin City center, hopped off the bus, grabbed a cab, and found our Airbnb. It was a JOURNEY to get there 28 hours total making it equal to our journey from Italy to Spain although I'd prefer 6 trains and being homeless in Madrid to this ferry any day.

[anoverseasadventure]

A surprise stop: Normandie, France. D-Day weekend.

Our plans post Paris rapidly changed when our Airbnb in Cherbourg canceled on us. Originally we were supposed to leave Paris and head straight to Cherbourg to stay in a quiet house boat and have a day of rest before our 17 hour ferry from France to Ireland. However while we were in Spain, our host canceled our reservation and we had no where to go. I texted my mother, who while living in Paris traveled throughout France a lot, and she told me to head to Bayeux and Caen. Kayla and I booked an Airbnb right between the two cities figuring we'd spend one day in each. While booking, we were slightly oblivious and had absolutely no idea we were coming to Normandie on D-Day weekend. Our host, who lived closer to Bayeux, was gracious enough to meet us in the Caen station to take our bags while we explored around. We spent our day slowly wandering through a HUGE open air market, picnicking on fresh strawberries in a large green field, and heading to the castle. Inside the castle we learned about the history of Normandie and we also got to see an art museum! We enjoyed a quiet lunch and some leisurely strolls around before catching our train back to bayeux. Since public transport isn't much of a thing in Normandie we took a cab for the short 7 minute drive from the station to our Airbnb. To our surprise the cab was over 20€!! Taxis in the north of France are terribly expensive. A little shook, we got out of the cab and were in awe of how cute our home was! We were in a modern day wooden cabin in the middle of no where. The property had flowers and plants EVERYWHERE and even had 3 chickens roaming the yard. Our host and his son were picking cherries from their cherry tree in the backyard and tending to the veggies growing in the vegetable garden. We walked inside and our host met us with countless amounts of guides, maps on Normandie and D-Day festivities and even fresh fruit from his garden! He was so helpful! Kayla and I got settled and went to the kitchen to figure out our move for the next day. With no mode of transport other than over priced taxis we were stumped on what to do, we knew that whatever we did we had to have our backpacks with us which was definitely a pain. It seemed our only option was to go to Bayeux for the day with our bags which, while Bayeux would have been nice, we felt since it was D-Day weekend we should see the beaches. Not necessarily having come to any decision other than that we were hungry. We walked to a conveniently placed very small pizza shop/convenient store where we ordered a pizza and bought a bottle of wine. As we were sitting in the garden enjoying the evening while eating our dinner the Austrian couple who was also staying with us at our Airbnb came to say hi. While chatting with us they realized we were pretty helpless and offered to tote us around in their car the next day! They were heading to the beaches and then back to Caen to drop their car off. We looked at train options and saw that we could get to Cherbourg just as easily from the Caen station and graciously accepted their offer! What brilliant luck. That night kayla and I watched the sunset with the chickens and went to bed early. The next morning we woke up to our host preparing us a lovely breakfast! He even made homemade croissants that were as big as my FACE. When we were finishing eating we all got our bags and headed to the car. This car was small to say the least, so fitting four people, two backpacks the size of adolescents, plus two smaller backpacks belonging to our new friends was HARD. But we managed and set off. Driving through the countryside was gorgeous and we had good company. It was even an amusing drive as their GPS was Homer Simpson. We arrived at the beaches as the D-Day celebrations were just getting started. It was surreal to be on the landing beaches for this special weekend. I couldn't believe we were actually there. We spent a little while wandering around looking at the harbor and the memorabilia that was in display. We also had a good time looking st. how many different men and women in uniforms of all kinds there were. So many people were visiting and they all had different military vehicles with them. People were also authentically dressed up as men and women from World War Two as well. It was very cool to witness. From there our new friends drove us back to Caen where we waited for our train over beer and croque-madames preparing for our very long journey to Ireland. Normandie was an unexpected addition to this trip but our stay was lovely and may be among my favorite places we've been. Next stop: Ireland!

[anoverseasadventure]

A surprise stop: Normandie, France. D-Day weekend.

Our plans post Paris rapidly changed when our Airbnb in Cherbourg canceled on us. Originally we were supposed to leave Paris and head straight to Cherbourg to stay in a quiet house boat and have a day of rest before our 17 hour ferry from France to Ireland. However while we were in Spain, our host canceled our reservation and we had no where to go. I texted my mother, who while living in Paris traveled throughout France a lot, and she told me to head to Bayeux and Caen. Kayla and I booked an Airbnb right between the two cities figuring we'd spend one day in each. While booking, we were slightly oblivious and had absolutely no idea we were coming to Normandie on D-Day weekend. Our host, who lived closer to Bayeux, was gracious enough to meet us in the Caen station to take our bags while we explored around. We spent our day slowly wandering through a HUGE open air market, picnicking on fresh strawberries in a large green field, and heading to the castle. Inside the castle we learned about the history of Normandie and we also got to see an art museum! We enjoyed a quiet lunch and some leisurely strolls around before catching our train back to bayeux. Since public transport isn't much of a thing in Normandie we took a cab for the short 7 minute drive from the station to our Airbnb. To our surprise the cab was over 20€!! Taxis in the north of France are terribly expensive. A little shook, we got out of the cab and were in awe of how cute our home was! We were in a modern day wooden cabin in the middle of no where. The property had flowers and plants EVERYWHERE and even had 3 chickens roaming the yard. Our host and his son were picking cherries from their cherry tree in the backyard and tending to the veggies growing in the vegetable garden. We walked inside and our host met us with countless amounts of guides, maps on Normandie and D-Day festivities and even fresh fruit from his garden! He was so helpful! Kayla and I got settled and went to the kitchen to figure out our move for the next day. With no mode of transport other than over priced taxis we were stumped on what to do, we knew that whatever we did we had to have our backpacks with us which was definitely a pain. It seemed our only option was to go to Bayeux for the day with our bags which, while Bayeux would have been nice, we felt since it was D-Day weekend we should see the beaches. Not necessarily having come to any decision other than that we were hungry. We walked to a conveniently placed very small pizza shop/convenient store where we ordered a pizza and bought a bottle of wine. As we were sitting in the garden enjoying the evening while eating our dinner the Austrian couple who was also staying with us at our Airbnb came to say hi. While chatting with us they realized we were pretty helpless and offered to tote us around in their car the next day! They were heading to the beaches and then back to Caen to drop their car off. We looked at train options and saw that we could get to Cherbourg just as easily from the Caen station and graciously accepted their offer! What brilliant luck. That night kayla and I watched the sunset with the chickens and went to bed early. The next morning we woke up to our host preparing us a lovely breakfast! He even made homemade croissants that were as big as my FACE. When we were finishing eating we all got our bags and headed to the car. This car was small to say the least, so fitting four people, two backpacks the size of adolescents, plus two smaller backpacks belonging to our new friends was HARD. But we managed and set off. Driving through the countryside was gorgeous and we had good company. It was even an amusing drive as their GPS was Homer Simpson. We arrived at the beaches as the D-Day celebrations were just getting started. It was surreal to be on the landing beaches for this special weekend. I couldn't believe we were actually there. We spent a little while wandering around looking at the harbor and the memorabilia that was in display. We also had a good time looking st. how many different men and women in uniforms of all kinds there were. So many people were visiting and they all had different military vehicles with them. People were also authentically dressed up as men and women from World War Two as well. It was very cool to witness. From there our new friends drove us back to Caen where we waited for our train over beer and croque-madames preparing for our very long journey to Ireland. Normandie was an unexpected addition to this trip but our stay was lovely and may be among my favorite places we've been. Next stop: Ireland!

[anoverseasadventure]

Paris, France

After a day long journey we got into Paris around 8:30 pm. Arriving at our Airbnb we met our host Claude. We all needed to shower but the layout of this house was strange. There one room with a toilet, the only toilet in the house, but that room had no sink. Then there was one room with a shower, the only shower, and that room also had a sink. However this room was inside of Claude's room, so whenever we wanted to shower or brush our teeth we had to ask his permission. And if his door was shut then we could not shower. This proved difficult on the days where we would leave very early in the morning, and come home very late at night. For our entire trip in Paris none of us were exactly sparkling clean.... Luckily he was awake, hanging out and watching tv when we got there so we were all able to shower that night before we went to find dinner. After our showers, we found a spot near us, ordered what the waiter said was good, and drank a lot of wine. Our dinner was delicious and so were the pastries we found on the way home. We went to bed happy and full. The next day it was supposed to rain in the afternoon and rain means you can't go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, so we made that our first stop. We took a metro and when we got off we immediately saw it. I cannot believe how big it was. The Eiffel Tower far exceeded my expectations and I was stoked to go to the top. We got in line, bought our tickets and took the lift all the way up. Throughout this trip we have all climbed countless church towers and lookout points but this is by far the highest we've been. The view was GORGEOUS and although it was pricey we all felt it was necessary to buy a glass of champagne at the very top 😊 We eventually made our way back down and spent the rest of the afternoon bopping about different main areas. First we went to St. Michaels square and saw Notre Dame. Then we went to the new love lock bridge, which really isn't a bridge at all (they made the old one lock proof and took the locks down because of structural instability from the weight of the locks!!) Then we walked across the oldest bridge in Paris before making our way to the Louvre. We didn't go inside(yet) but took some pictures before walking through the tuileries gardens, the largest square in Paris, and eventually found our way the the arc de triumph. We got to the arc right as a ceremony for the unamed soldier was going on! It was a little boring but kinda cool to see all of the veterans dressed up. From there we went back to the louvre for free entrance to see the Mona Lisa. When we left the louvre we went to my mamas favorite bar in Paris. She lived there for a little while and a place Called Polly Magoo was her favorite hangout spot. We went and it was real groovy. After that we went to acacias favorite restaurant from the last time that she was in Paris. Here we had our last dinner together, and after 25 nights of eating and sharing drinks the dinner felt a little sad. From there, since it was acacias last night with us and her last night in Paris, we all decided to get some champagne and sit under the Eiffel Tower. Finding a place that was open and selling champagne was hard and finding a place to sit was even harder, but we eventually found an area where a lot of people were sitting a drinking so we set our things down. We made some friends with a British man, a Canadian, and a Parisian and proceeded to spend much longer than anticipated drinking, laughing, talking, and watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle. We spent so long there that eventually the Tower turned off its lights entirely and we had to go home. The metro had stopped running at this hour but our new friends called (and paid for) our taxi home, how nice of them!! The next morning we all woke up feeling rather rough but had a lot to accomplish. Acacia was leaving us that morning and needed to pack, and kayla and I had a big day of adventuring. We reluctantly pulled ourselves together, got breakfast at our favorite bakery downstairs and said our goodbyes. Kayla and I then took the metro to montmartre and climbed up the many many stairs (very VERY slowly) to sacre couer church. The view was gorgeous as was the church. From there we meandered around the streets of this little town, found our way to Mulan Rouge and then to a flea market. By this time is was early afternoon and we needed to find our way back into the main part of Paris to catch a train to versilles. One of our major mistakes in Paris was not allowing ourselves enough time to walk around versilles. People told us it was huge but we had no idea it was THAT huge. I mean this place is enormous. If there's ever a reason for me to return to Paris it's to go back and spend a day or two here. I fell in love with Paris and I really didn't expect to. After my visit to Nice Two years ago didn't think much of France and with Paris being such a big city, I thought it would be too touristy and disappointing. But I was definitely wrong. Paris has a certain charm to it and it's filled with rich culture and history. I can see why my mama lived there for a year. I can't wait to go back and visit with her one day ❤️ Next stop: Normandie!! (This portion of the trip is completely unplanned)

[anoverseasadventure]

Madrid, Spain.

Due to the random festival happening in Seville the taxis were not functioning that day and the busses were running an hour later than usual; because of this we missed our train. After waiting for about an hour we finally caught a bus to take us to the station. Two trains and a few hours later we were in Madrid and low and behold we arrived in the middle of taxi riots! People were shouting and marching and holding signs and waving flags and shooting fire rockets into the air. It was a large shitshow and we had to walk straight towards it in order to get to our hostel. Definitely an overwhelming welcome to Madrid! We arrived in our hostel, dropped our bags and set off. We were all deliriously tired, and I'm still not sure why. Could have simply been that we had just finished our third whole week of constant over exertion and little to no sleep. But we can't afford a day of rest when there is so much to see. First we hit a restaurant that was supposed to be great, and sure enough when we got there the line was out the door! The food was amazing. Afterwards we went to the temple of debod, which was frankly a little disappointing. Then we walked towards the royal palace. Something that really surprised me about Madrid is that the city is so dang hilly. Everything is up and down with steep roads and lots of stairs. This did not help with us being physically and mentally exhausted. The rest of the afternoon we wandered around the northern part of town some more before we almost collapsed of exhaustion. We caught a bus back home, showered, and I was in bed by 7 pm. The next morning we woke up, found a place for some breakfast and walked towards the southern part of town. We saw one of the main plazas, and on the way to parque retire we found an arts and crafts festival! We spent a long time here and before we knew it, we had to head back to our part of town to meet our guide for a walking tour. The tour was nice and on this tour we met two guys from UMD who will be in Dublin the same time Kayla and I will! We exchanged numbers and are planning on meeting up with them. When the tour was halfway over, I left the group to go to the Reina Sofia museum- the main reason I wanted to come to Madrid. In this museum is Picasso's famous Guernica. For those of you who don't know, I was in a dance a few years ago that was a tribute to this painting and the terrible events that happened in that small Spanish town. The dance was emotional and powerful and ended with a large depiction of Picasso's Guernica projected across the whole stage. After being so heavily involved with this piece for months I have been dying to see the painting in real life but never got the chance, even while I was living in Spain. I found my way to the museum, somehow got in for free, and went straight to the Picasso exhibit. This exhibit was more than I could have ever hoped for, with so much of his original work and quotes by him posted everywhere. I was loving every moment of walking through the rooms and finally hit the room with Guernica. It's HUGE, way bigger than I thought and it's incredibly emotionally powerful. I was overwhelmed just looking at it and I could've stayed for hours sitting and staring. Time did not permit me to stay in this museum for long, as I wanted to see the park before heading home to shower and joining the girls for our tapas and flamenco tour that night. I left the museum, walked to and around the park, and went back home. That night we joined some other travelers and tasted 5 tapas, one dessert, and a couple different Spanish drinks, ending our tour with a brilliant flamenco show. We ended our night sharing some drinks with people from our hostel in the bar downstairs and went to bed. Madrid surprised me. It was nothing like what I pictured it to be, but it was beautiful and interesting. I'll definitely be back one day. Next stop: Paris!!

[anoverseasadventure]

Sevilla, España- home ❤️

PSA: This post will contain a lot of "my favorite this and my favorite that" and it may get repetitive. But Sevilla has my heart and I had so many favorite things to do and places to eat and of course I had to visit them again. After two trains and a lot of anticipation we got into Sevilla in the early afternoon. We found our hostel easily, checked in, and set out to explore. I was BEAMING with pure joy and excitement to be back in my home. Everything was just as I had remembered and I did not even need to use google maps to get around. Our hostel is located close to my favorite market near the river which also happens to be next to the best churro stand in all of Sevilla. We headed there first and ate our churros con chocolate near the river with a great view of the Triana bridge. From there we headed down toward my school which was unfortunately closed, and then to avenida constitución to hit the cathedral. We waited in a short line to head inside. The cathedral was just as large and beautiful as I remembered as well. However it was much more crowded as it's peak tourist season. But we're running into that everywhere, Europe is crawling with tourists. After walking around the cathedral and climbing the Giralda we walked toward metropol parisol, and although the market under the parisol was closed, there was a small open air market next to it that we wandered around for a bit before heading up to the top of la cenas where we enjoyed free beers and a good view. From there we went down one of my favorite streets with the best dang cookies I've ever had in my life. We got a half dozen and walked around munchin and shopping. Walking towards where I used to live, we hit the alameda. Here we got the best mojitos in the world and they're still just €3 ❤️ With a few mojitos in us we headed out in search of dinner. Wanting a large greasy meal we opted out of typical Spanish food and hit the good burger, one of my favorite Spanish chains. Unfortunately they upped their Sunday prices but everything was just as good as I remembered- better even and we devoured them. After sitting on the free wifi for a bit, we pulled a local move and hit a corner chino for €1,50 forties of cruzcampo and botellóned by the river with a gorgeous view. The first day back home was amazing and by our second day I was already sad about leaving so soon. But we ventured out to continue to see the beautiful city. First we hit my school which was open! Things seemed a little quiet, but it was a random Holliday week in Seville so it was expected. I did see a few professors I knew and got to show the girls where I used to hang, and take class. It was a little surreal to be back there. Leaving, we walked to my favorite bakery I would hit between class and much to my surprise it had doubled in size! Pan y piú has expanded and I was so proud of them! Their pastries were still amazing so of course we each got a few. After breakfast we grabbed some supplies from the hostel before adventuring on. First we walked up toro de oro, walked through the university of Sevilla, gazed at the beauty of plaza de España and the Maria Luisa park and finally found ourselves in barrio Santa Cruz. This neighborhood was just as convoluted and twisty as I had remembered and we got lost immediately. After wandering around in and out of shops for an hour we found ourselves a Tapas place. After having our fill of tiny bites I took them to my favorite spot on all of Sevilla: The alcazar. Unfortunately, do to a meeting with my Spanish mama that evening we did not have much time to spend here, which was a shame because I could've easily spent 3 hours wandering around and I've been there more times than I can count. But I did my best to show them the highlights of the Islamic palace, focusing on the gardens because wow they're the best. A few amazing things happened that afternoon. First, it must be peacock mating season because one of the many peacocks that roam the ground was fully fluffed and cocked (sorry I don't know the proper terminology for this) but he was BEAUTIFUL. All the times I've wandered the grounds and hung out with those birds I've never seen one fully expand their feathers and it was gorgeous. Second, as some of you may know, the alcazar doubles as the water gardens of Dorne in game of thrones. While there we ran into a woman dressed as Deanerys Targarian (complete with baby dragon). Of course I completely geeked out and got some pictures with her and it was real rad. We left the gardens, running a little behind schedule, and went to the apartment I used to live in to visit my mom. I was SO excited to see her, and when we got there she was so happy to see me too! She look gorgeous per usual and had grown her hair out. She was skipping one of her dance classes for me so I felt really honored ✨ we chatted for a while, completely in Spanish and she even complimented me saying my Spanish skills had improved (no clue how considering I rarely use them). Eventually we had to leave and head back to the hostel and I was honestly so sad to have to say goodbye to her again but she assured me we would meet again one day. That night we went to my favorite tapas bar for dinner and I ordered all of favorite foods. Then we went to the international beer house, tried to see some flamenco, hit dilemma again for mojitos, and finally went home for a good nights sleep. Not going to lie I definitely teared up leaving Seville. It seemed like a tease to return back to my home away from home for only a short two days, but it reaffirmed my love for the small city in the south of Spain. I know I'm going back one day and next time I'm bringing my parents. It makes me sad to know that they've never been to my favorite city in the whole world and it's because of them that I was able to go in the first place. Pack your bags mom and dad let's plan our next trip :) Next stop: Madrid !!

[anoverseasadventure]

Valencia, Spain.

Before I discuss Valencia let me start with our 28 hour journey from Italy to Spain. The majority of it was fine, 6 trains, most of which we slept on. We had minimal waiting time between trains but enough time to fill water bottles and grab a snack. However we had one long layover before our final train; 6 hours in the Madrid train station. I've stayed overnight in train stations and airports before, no problem, and with first class tickets we assumed one of the lounges would be open to us. However much to our surprise the GIANT train station in Madrid closes for 4 dumb hours in the middle of the night. We were homeless. Luckily there were many tiny hostels around the station. And after ringing just two door bells one graciously let us in for a 3 hour nap before our final train. I'm sorry to disappoint you but I don't have much to say about Valencia. It was very much a city of rest for the three of us. We arrived in the morning, and after messing around in the train station for a while we caught a cab to our hostel. We couldn't check in right away so we rented a couple towels and found a bus to the beach. The rest of our day was spend napping in the sun, splashing in the Mediterranean and generally being so happy to be relaxing in SPAIN!!! I was beyond ecstatic to be back on this country and turns out my Spanish is not as rusty as I thought. We grabbed a meal right on the beach with croquetas and agua de Valencia. We found our bus back home and spent the evening casually drinking and doing some laundry. Once we were showered and clean we thought we'd actually put on some real makeup and join a pubcrawl. Off we went, meeting a ton of cool people, and as a typical Spanish night out is... we didn't return home until around 5 am! The next day we took a very leisurely walking tour around Valencia, explored some markets on our own, climbed a church tower, and relaxed. Valencia was beautiful and beachy and refreshing. A small town that was very easy to navigate was a nice change from Rome. I do wish to return one day as there is a lot that we did not see that I would have loved to visit. But we were exhausted and time was short. Valencia may we meet again ❤️ Next stop: HOME!! SEVILLA IM COMING BACK

[anoverseasadventure]

Roma (once again)

We arrived in Rome, sleep deprived and so fucking itchy. We made our way to our next airbnb and after borrowing someone’s phone, found our host. We technically weren’t allowed to check in yet since it was so early, so our plan was to drop our bags and go adventure. When we walked in the door everything had a very homey feel. Our host, an older Chinese woman who spoke very little English, brought us water and bananas. She mentioned our room wasn’t ready, but we could use the wifi and the hall bathroom to freshen up. We started getting our adventure packs ready for the day but shortly there after our host told us our room was ready. I guess after seeing the physical and emotional state we were all in, she rushed to prepare our room for us. SO grateful, we went in and each took turns showering the filth of last night away. We needed to do laundry and when I mentioned this to our host she INSISTED she do it for us. She washed dried and folded our clothes and we were all so astounded.

After a 3 hour nap we went out on the town. Our bites were hurting, so we hit a pharmacy for a cream and also a spray for our luggage to ensure no creepy crawlers followed us to Rome. We had a wonderful lunch of homemade pizza and beer and bagan wandering around Rome. We saw the trevi fountain, the pantheon, and the Spanish stairs. Still so dang exhausted we headed back home, picking up some wine on the way. When we got home our new Chinese mother brought us fresh cantaloupe and cherries. We all showered again and went to bed.

The next morning we woke up early to get a good start on Rome. At this point my body was having a severe reaction to the bites. They’d doubled in size and were very painful. Stopping at another pharmacy on the way to breakfast I was given a prescription to assist in whatever allergic reaction I was having to these bites. Over breakfast we discussed our plans for the day. Unfortunately president #45 was in Rome at the same time (I left America to get away from that man!!) so we weren’t sure if we could even get into the Vatican which was our main goal for the day. We wandered around Vatican City and found our way over to the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel. There was a line, and after speaking with some authority we found that trump had left the Sistine chapel and was now in the Vatican, so the museum was open to the public but the actual church would not open that day.

After standing in line for a little while we were able to enter and wander around. The museum was huge with so much to look at. We spent a good 2 hours in there admiring the old art and being generally amazing at the beauty of it all. We even got to see Michelangelo’s famous frescos (my favorite part!!!) after the Vatican we headed towards Piazza Navona, then to the cat sanctuary, and from there to the colosseum! Having not eating since breakfast we were famished and decided to be a little fancy and have dinner at a restaurant right next to the colosseum. We ordered bruschetta, fettuccine Alfredo, Prosecco & rose and finally tiramisu. Full and happy we walked home, showered, and went to bed. The next day we had 27 hours of travel time to get over to Spain and we needed our rest.

Although I had already been to Rome once, I enjoyed it just as much the second time. Italy was wonderful and I ate so well. But I am more than excited to be traveling to Spain!!

Next stop: Valencia!

[anoverseasadventure]

Venezia, Italia

We arrived in Venice after 14 hours of train travel. We were a little delirious but terribly excited. We walked ourselves to our hostel which was small and homey. After dropping our things off we headed for dinner. We found a cute little spot which offered us spritzers (sparkling white wine and liquor) on the house. Here, we stuffed our bellies with pasta bolognese, fillets of meats, salads and wine. Happy as clams we walked back to our hostel for a good nights rest. The next morning we woke up and packed our things. Due to a train change, we were no longer taking the over night to Rome but rather an early morning train. Our hostel was booked for a second night so we booked and airbnb- we were to meet our host at 1 PM. Seeing as it was only 9 am, we left our bags locked together in the lobby of our hostel, we checked out and went exploring. Our morning consisted of many many pastries, wandering in and out of every shop. Getting lost among the canals and bridges and generally being awed by the beauty of this small town. We made our way back to the hostel, grabbed our things and went to meet our host who lived about a block away. He was thirty minutes late. But at the time we didn't mind. However we would later discover this added onto a series of events which led to this housing experience to be absolutely awful. After finally meeting our host and dropping our things we ventured off into the other side of town. Hungry, We stopped and each ate our own full pizza for lunch and it was delicious. That afternoon was similar to the morning, but we also saw the bridge of sighs, st. Marks square and some of the other touristy things. We were all exhausted by 4:30 and on the complete opposite side of town. We decided it was just about time for some bellinis while we figured out where to catch our sunset gondola. Choosing to catch one near where we ate lunch, so that we could see the famous hands supporting the walls of Venice, we began our journey back that way. We picked up three bottles of sparkling wine and enjoyed our gondola into the sunset. It was magical and I could've stayed on that water forever. However we returned to land (a little drunk) and found our way back to our airbnb to freshen up for dinner. Here, our host met us and mentioned that he did not have pillow cases for us, annoyed but prepared we wrapped our pillows in our personal blankets. That night we enjoyed marvelous home cooked pasta. We were seating right on the water and had lovely conversations with the couples around us. I had a four cheese gnocchi and I was in heaven, especially paired with (more) wine. We walked back home after dinner full and happy. We climbed into our beds early as we had to leave for the train station at 5. That night however was a night out of a horror movie. We all were kept up by constant buzzing of mosquitoes all around us. Hiding under the covers for protection we still heard the buzzing and were swatting all night. We got out of bed at four, turned on the lights and the walls were covered in bugs. Our sheets had blood spots on them from the ones we killed in our sleep and we were covered in red marks, on our faces, arms, backs, legs, butts, EVERYWHERE. we ran out of that place as fast as we could. Upon getting to the train station and having more time to examine ourselves and cross check, we realized that while some of our marks were mosquito bites, the majority were in fact bed bug bites. Sleep deprived, itchy, and emotionally unstable we boarded our train for Rome. Venice was enchanting. I could have stayed there forever (but dear god not in that airbnb) I hope to one day return and bring my mother, because everywhere I went I thought of her. Mama you would have loved it there!! Next stop: Rome

[anoverseasadventure]

The Homeland

We arrived in Budapest on a Friday morning. My allergies from Austria had gone from bad to worse and it felt more like a sinus infection. I was feeling absolutely awful and we were all pretty confused about the transportation and money situation. We eventually found our way to a metro, and then a tram, and finally to our hostel! We dropped our things off and ventured into town for a full day of exploring! First we walked to a park which had a whole tree dedicated to Michael Jackson. Very weird- But kinda cool ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Then we walked toward the Danube river to see the Shoes on the Danube. From there we crossed the chain bridge, connecting Buda and Pest, to climb up castle hill. The view from the top was beautiful, but not the best view we were to see that day. We explored castle hill, weaving in and out of the castle, looking at little souvenir shops and snapping some pics before venturing on. The main attraction of the day was to climb to the top of the Citadella. This was a HIKE and to be honest, although it was not the largest hike of my life (shout out Patagonia and Scotland), it sure did feel like it- due to the condition of my sinuses and my lack of water. However getting to the top was very much worth it. The views of both sides of the river were spectacular! Even better than castle hill, we were up so much higher and it was breathtaking. We walked down and headed back into town looking for a pub we were recommended. On our way we stumbled into the shopping district where I was able to find myself a new adventure-pack! I haven't mentioned before, but the backpack I was using for my daily excursions was about two more adventures away from completely dying. It was ripped everywhere and actually covered in bird shit (shout out to the pigeons in Prague) So I'm happy I was able to find a suitable replacement for a good price! We then were able to find our pub which was very funky with momentos from every guest pinned to the wall. The three of us left a US dollar, signed in pink pen, on the wall:) after dinner we went back to the hostel, showered and rested before going out that night. I was still feeling under the weather, but I couldn't miss an opportunity to go to the infamous ruin bars, so I put on my big girl pants and ventured out for an hour- only ordering orange juice at the bar. The atmosphere was amazing, especially on a Friday night, and if I was feeling better I could have stayed there for hours. But after I saw everything there was to see, I walked home to my bed, leaving the girlies to have their fun. The next morning we woke up and headed to the Széchenyi thermal baths! We spent our whole day sunnin and splashin and relaxin. It was SO nice. We even ran into a couple we met on the beer tour in Prague! Again, what a small freaking world! When we were all tuckered out from the sun we headed back to the hostel to drop our bags and look for some grub. The hostel recommended a cheap Hungarian kitchen that I chose, while the girls opted for some burgers. I had a nice solo dinner of some healing home cooked beef goulash and mashed potatoes. That night we stayed in and went to bed early to prepare for our journey to Italy the next day. My homeland, the land of my ancestors, stole my heart and called me to stay. The beautiful architecture and landscape took my breath away and I cannot wait to return one day. Next stop: Venice!

[anoverseasadventure]

The hills are ALIVE

Okay I know I wasn't in Salzburg BUT here's a little bit about my time in Vienna, Austria. We arrived in Vienna and took advantage of our Eurail perks in the 1st class club at the station. While we ate and drank free food and coffee we figured out what to with our day, and how to get to our airbnb. We took an Uber into town and we're dropped off at the address we were given by the airbnb website. Unfortunately this address was an office building. Confused, with a Dutch woman yelling at us, we found a phone to use to call our host. His apartment was just around the block. We dropped our things off and ventured into the city. First we went to an open air market called naschmarkt. Here we wandered around snacking on some treats and looking at different shops. We then wandered to the museumsquartier to stick our feet in fountains & stroll through gardens. After some dinner we went back home to do laundry and discuss our plans for the next day. With different interests and opinions we decided to split up after breakfast and meet back up around 2! We started our day with the famous cafe central. A Viennese coffee shop where everyone from Mozart to Freud went to enjoy afternoon coffees and discussions. The girls then caught an Uber up to a mountaintop where they spent there day at a pool overlooking the city. I decided to explore the city a bit more. First I went to st. Stephens cathedral where i climbed 343 steps up to the top of the south tower. Here I had a beautiful view of the city and the roof of the cathedral which was decorated outstandingly. I then, per Matt Raff's request, visited the haus der musik and the opera house! From there I went into the naschmarkt again to find a snack and an espresso before venturing to the Albertina. This museum had an exhibit that I was particularly interested in called "from Monet to Picasso" where artists like Degas, Matisse, Monet, Picasso and so many more were all side by side. It was amazing. The museum also had a lot of other exhibits I found to be very interesting- I really loved it. From there I sat and ate a snack in a shady garden happy as a clam. Something I do need to mention is that presently allergy season is going nuts out here in Eastern Europe and we are all suffering however my nose seems to be boycotting and I am on the verge of a sinus infection. The girlies and I met back up at two and hit the four day beer festival that was happening in the center of town. We drank lagers & ales & flights & pilsners before (finally) deciding to find some food and head home. Low and behold on our way home we hit an international food&drink market. We proceeded to spend the next hour or two lying in the grass, eating a collection of snacks from all around the world and it was magical. That night, exhausted, we all went to bed around 8 or 9. Vienna was nothing I expected it to be but amazing in each and every way. Next stop: the homeland, BUDAPEST!

[anoverseasadventure]

Czech me out (again)

We arrived in Prague and found our way to hostel Emma. Quaint and clean we were happy with our accommodations and even made friends with our Argentine bunk mates! (One of which will be in Vienna at the same time as us!) As soon as I got in I texted some friends who were studying abroad in Prague and we met up with them for dinner! Leaving the hostel 30 mins before we actually had to, we enjoyed wandering around the new streets and seeing what Prague was about. This was my second time visiting the city, but I had never stayed in that part of town before so much of it was new territory for me. We met the ladies and sat down for traditional Czech goulash and more liter beers (at this point in the trip our hands are bruised from carrying around liter brews) after dinner we went to happy hour at a cute cocktail bar and shared some laughs and caught up on each others semesters. The three of us were exhausted and decided to call it a night after that to get a good sleep in before our next day of adventuring. The next morning we woke up and had the best breakfast I've ever had in my entire life. (Could be an exaggeration but fuck it, those eggs Benedict were to die for) full of yummy food and happy vibes we ventured to the river to see the John Lennon wall. Due to construction and our tendency to take round about ways when we're exploring, we walked a full circle around the wall before finding it. HOWEVER along the way we found the most bizarre sculptures, I remembered them from the last time I visited although they were not where I thought they were so I'm happy our roundabout ways took us straight to them. We oggled and giggled and took a ton of pictures before actually getting to the wall. As always the wall was super cool, there was even a Colorado flag on the wall which I read as absolute fate. (For those of you who don't know, I made the decision to move across the country to Colorado when I return to the states) The mountains call me even while I travel Europe, HOW COOL. We left the wall and took a long time walking across charles Bridge and back into old town for our walking tour. We loved our tour guide and learned a lot about the history of Czech Republic and it's people. But unfortunately due to another tour we had scheduled that night we had to leave halfway through to go back to the hostel to shower, finding some food and other items we needed from the store along the way. That night our Virginia pals arrived in Prague and we met them for a beer tour! The tour was a blast and we met a lot of new friends along the way as well. After the tour we hit up a few pubs and clubs but it was a quiet night in Prague so we treated ourselves to one more trdelnik and hit the hay. We had to say goodbye to our Virginia pals, but not for long because we'll all be in Rome together in about a week. What a small freaking world. Although it was my second time in Prague I enjoyed it just as much if not more! Prague is a different city when it's warm out. Im glad I've experienced it in both the winter and spring ❤️ can't wait to see it again one day... maybe in the fall 😍 Next stop: Vienna!

[anoverseasadventure]

Food and Brews

[anoverseasadventure]

Munich, Germany.

More locomotive delays put us in Munich an hour later than expected but our hostel was AMAZING, and only 3 blocks away from the train station! Putting our stuff down we immediately set out to our first German beer garden! Augustine Keller was the one we chose, and it was magical. We picked a table under one of the hundreds of shady trees and ordered 3 of the most German things we could: schnitzel, schweinshaxe, and a wiener platter. After finishing our liter beers and realizing it was a Saturday night we were feeling like the move was to go out and about so we headed back to the hostel to change. While back at the hostel we reconnected with our three Richmond pals from Amsterdam. We went to the oldest and most famous beer garden in the world and although the atmosphere was cool, we all agreed that we liked Augustine Keller better. After finishing a liter we wandered across the river toward muffatwerk (beer garden and night club). We got there and it wasn't quite open yet, so we took advantage of munichs open container laws and had some brews under a tree in a nearby park. The club was a very old building, it could have been a church, but the fog from the smoke machines and all of the disco dance lights made it hard to tell. It was pretty empty at first, but after my first trip to the ladies room I came out and it was packed. We spent the evening dancing and drinking and I met some lovely German women! The next day we woke up feeling a little rough, but went and explored. We stumbled around the city looking at all of the cool architecture. Wandering into art galleries and churches, we found ourselves at St. Peter's church. Here, you can pay a small fee to climb to the top of the bell tower. Granted this was very high and we were sweating bullets by the time we got up there, but the view was AMAZING. We could see the Swiss alps!! From there we walked around a bit more before meeting the guys for a walking tour at 2. On this tour we saw everything from the royal palace, to mozarts appartment and learned about the history of Germany and munichs part in World War Two as well. The tour ended in the English gardens, which is the largest city garden in the world. Our tour guide said in a quick 30 minute walk in we would fine the second largest beer garden in Munich. In we went, stopping to see the river surfers on the way, We were about 20 minutes in when a storm cloud above us burst open to the coldest rain with the fattest drops ever. Thunder and lightening are all around us and we had nowhere to go but forward. Only three of the six of us had rain coats but even with our rain coats we were soaked to the core. We managed to find out way to the beer garden which was closing because of be rain? however the owner took pitty on the drenched Americans and granted us each 2 cheap liters of beer and gifted us a heater. As we sat there chugging our brews to keep warm he also gave us 12 free pretzels. We felt loved and our bellies were happy. When the rain cleared we went home, warned up and went to get some dinner together. Although we planned on an early night, that was not nearly what happened. We had another great night with each other and with our Richmond boys. Next stop: Prague!

[anoverseasadventure]

Look at how cool this is!!!!

[anoverseasadventure]

Stroöp!!

Let me begin my post by professing my love for this city. It captivated me in a matter of seconds and I absolutely cannot wait until I return.

The three of us arrived in Amsterdam behind schedule due to some locomotive delays, but eventually found our way into the middle of central station with no idea how to get to our Airbnb. North of the city, we ended up taking a bus rather than the free ferry, but you live and you learn. We got to our airbnb, later than anticipated, and were confused by the fact that the address was a car wash and tire shop… after snooping around we found our host and it turned out we were in the right place after all. Our room was in the guest house attached to the car wash and it was, surprisingly, a nice change after our stay in London. We were stoked about the privacy and water pressure!

We showered (finally) washed our hair (yay!) and put on some cute clothes to go explore. We found a ferry and wandered into the center of the town. Everything was beautiful and new and exciting. The entire energy about the city was vibrant. While looking for some grub we found a few space cakes, and our next stop was a bar. We stumbled into the heart of the red light district and, overwhelmed, ran into a bar. It was here we met our companions for the night; four recent graduates from Ohio state. We played pool and chatted with them for a while before wondering around in search of a change of scenery. A change of scenery is certainly what we got when we walked into a topless bar. I won’t say much about my time in this bar- but never have I been to a titty bar before and never again will I have the chance to go to one as raunchy as that one. It was something else.

The next morning we hit the town, walking through 9 straats and the bloemenmarkt before meeting with our tour guide for another sandemans walking tour. The tour ended up being four hours and was phenomenal. We learned about the history of Amsterdam, the relationship between the Dutch and the French, the red lightdistrict, Amsterdam and World War Two, and so much more. We met some new friends on this tour as well, three grads from Richmond. Turns out that this day was their last day in Amsterdam as well, and we would all be traveling to Munich at the same time, and staying in the same hostel! What a small world.

When the tour ended we had to RUN to the Van Gogh museum in order to make our ticket time. The Van Gogh museum was amazing and captivating. I could have stayed all night, but due to rumbling bellies we had to leave. After meandering the streets, We stumbled into a place for dinner where we tried some traditional Dutch bitterballen. It just so happened that our restaurant doubled as a night club and since the full moon was that night they were having a full moon party. After running to a coffee shop we came back to our moon party and danced the night away in our fanny packs.

That night we had more of a nap than a sleep, but we all napped on the trains the next day. I was sad to leave Amsterdam. I had no idea how hard I’d fall in love. Between the architecture, the endless intertwining canals, the rich history and the friendly faces everything made me smile. I can say with confidence that one day I’ll return, and maybe I’ll stay there for good :)

Next stop: Munich!!