The first time that I went abroad and lived and studied in Paris, for the most part we were only able to make weekend trips to different countries. I loved that every weekend we were traveling to a different country but I think that we only were able to make two trips for more than two or three days. After starting this trip I have seen how significantly different it feels to have visited and experienced a city for five or seven days versus two. For the past two weeks I have been on a series of two day trips and have been amazed at the amount of cities that I have been to in such a short period of time. Although, it is hard to truly get oriented with a city, switching from city to city is thrilling and exciting. I feel like I am constantly walking around with my head spinning around on my neck trying to see everything and anything I can in the time that I am given in a new place. After my birthday in Prague we went to Vienna for 2 days, back to Budapest for 3 days, I went to Interlaken, Switzerland for 2 days, Amsterdam for 2 days, Brussels/Gent in Belgium for a night to see the I love Techno festival, Bruges for 2 days, and finally now I am posted in Berlin for at least 5 days.
Vienna:
It was interesting going from Budapest --> Prague and then to Vienna because Vienna has a completely different feel than the first two cities. Vienna is pristine, crawling with classical music history, and a very pretty city. I have been blessed on my travels so far to have gotten that excited and exhilarating feeling just from setting foot in a new city in almost every single city that I have been to on this trip. I did not feel this same way in Vienna, although I believe it has a lot to offer. I think that it is a place that you need to really dedicate your time to experiencing the kind of music that was created there in the past in addition to the surface level sightseeing.
We spent our first day walking around The Ring which contains the main part of the city and most of the exciting things to see. Vienna has a lot of beautiful parks and one of the most amazing things about coming here was seeing the colors of Fall. There were so many rows and rows of trees lining the city streets forming arches of yellow, orange, and red leaves. At the end of this day we went to Grinzing which is 30 minutes outside of the city and contains streets full of wine taverns. We spent a few hours hopping from tavern to tavern trying their home-made wines. It was such a blast to just try different types of wines in cozy taverns with locals. Each tavern had a different feel to it and was wooden and homey inside.
Our second day in Vienna we went to the Schonbrunn palace. It was massive from the outside but somewhat understated with it's yellow coloring and green shutters but it blew me away when we walked through it. One of the best parts about this palace tour is that for the base student price you were able to get an audio guide with it. This was really helpful to bring life to all of the rooms and to make you feel like you were watching the history happen. It was really amazing when we came to one of the rooms that they held events and parties in because the audio guide explained that the six year old Mozart played his first performance in that very room. I remember getting the chills thinking about that occurring right where I was standing and what that moment meant for him at that point in history. The gardens and backyard of the palace were of course perfectly groomed and beautiful again with the fall colors lighting up the yard. The trees were so perfectly trimmed at the top that it looked as if they formed a wall, all of them so closely fit next to each other without a space in between them. We went to the zoo in the back of the palace grounds after the palace tour. It was so fun to see all of the animals and feel like a little kid again, running across the window chasing the jaguar trying to get a better look. I hadn't been to a zoo in a really long time and I was really happy that we decided to go because it was a spontaneous decision and the zoo is said to be the oldest zoo in the world. We spent several hours there and it was a really fun time.
Budapest...round 2!
After leaving Budapest the first time, all three of us felt unsatisfied and extremely sad to leave the hostel and the city. We were planning to go to Salzberg and then Berlin our first night in Vienna and then suddenly on our second day it came out that Laura and Presley were going to go back to Budapest instead. I did not know how I felt about returning to Budapest because I didn't want to have to cope with leaving everyone again and potentially getting sucked in again. I also had the thought that I am over here for another month and I want to see as many places as I can! I had decided that I was going to go to Salzberg. By the end of the evening I could not suppress the feeling that I had had all day about wanting to join my friends in returning to Budapest. I literally told Laura I would go with her to the train station and would decide once we got to the platform. We got to the train station and I didn't stop following her and as we were walking up the steps to the train to Budapest I said, "Welp, it looks like I'm going to Budapest!". I'm very very glad that we all ended up going back. We were welcomed with open arms into our old hostel and even though they had no open beds for us, they made room for us in the staff room. We fell right back into our Carpe routine and had a blast. We all left Budapest feeling much more satisfied and feeling so glad that we decided to go back and see our friends and favorite city. One of the days we hiked up to the Citadel which was a painfully long hike that we all thought would never end but had such an amazing view of Budapest. We made the hike while the sun was setting and made it to the top when it had just set and the city buildings were starting to light up. It was stunning, especially since it was in a city that we all felt such a connection to and comfort with. We have made several hikes up towers, and up hills to see stunning city views of almost every city we've been to. It was a different feeling looking out over a city that you have experienced so much in and have actually spent a significant amount of time in. The hike and beautiful panoramic sight took on such a different and reflective meaning.
Interlaken:
After three days in Budapest I decided that I wanted to take a trip to Interlaken because I have never been to Switzerland and heard the most amazing things from some of my best friends from San Diego about the Canyon jumping experience they had there while studying abroad two years ago. I've never truly traveled somewhere new 100% alone without either being with at least one other person or knowing that I would be meeting at least one other person at my final destination. I was both excited and nervous about this.
Interlaken was one of the most breathtaking places I have ever been. It was so serene and I felt like it was a town straight out of a movie. I would compare it to a tiny ski town like Banff in Canada would hold but to a much more fairy tale like degree. The hostel that I stayed at was like a cozy ski lodge, the town took about thirty minutes to walk through, and there were beautiful mountains surrounding me on every side. I tried to sign up to do the Canyon jumping which is what I came to Interlaken for but I was the only one to sign up and they needed at least 5 to go. I did paragliding instead which of course was unbelievable. I had the most hilarious pilot, Fabi, and was stunned by the outstanding views that I was able to see from the top of where we took off and were able to see while soaring through the air. I was shocked by how normal and easy it felt just hanging off of a parachute and having to perfectly fit through the gap in the fog hanging over the tiny town of Interlaken. It was such a cool experience and unlike anything I've ever done and it made me want to paraglide where ever I can in the future. They dropped me off by one of the lakes in Interlaken and I took a two hour walk along the lake and river leading into the city. It was a beautiful day and so peaceful strolling and enjoying the beauty around me with no agenda and no time constraints.
Switzerland was also the first place that I learned how hard traveling can be without a means of communication and without knowing a single person. On my train out of Interlaken to Basel, Switzerland my backpack got stolen from the baggage storage shelf directly to the right of my seat. For some reason I had a bad feeling about the train in general, partially because I was traveling alone, but I remember thinking to myself that I should just set my backpack at my feet or next to me. I reassured myself that it would be fine since both of my bags were just directly to my right across the aisle. At about our second or third stop, everyone started filtering out, people started filtering in, I looked up from my book and my backpack was just gone. I did a double take and stood up and searched around my seat. I looked out all of the windows but couldn't jump off of the train because we were about to continue on and my stop wasn't for another hour. I walked through about two or three cars over and did not find it anywhere. I was so upset that I was shaking and fighting back tears. I couldn't believe that it was just gone, right in front of me someone had taken it. When I reached my stop, naturally I decided that the only solution was to go get a glass of wine..or two. I wished so much that I could call someone, namely my mom, to vent about what had just happened. I don't know if I've ever been in a situation like that, completely alone, without any means to reach a loved one to just talk. However, I always try to look at the bright side of situations. Luckily I had been traveling with two bags, and therefore only lost half of my clothes. I had my passport, all of my credit cards/debit cards, forms of identification, eurail pass, the most essential and irreplaceable things. Most importantly Doug, my stuffed dog/pillow that I've been carrying around was safely seated by my side as well. It really sucked getting my backpack stolen especially since it was a graduation gift as well but I do feel fortunate to be safe and to still have at least half of my belongings.
Amsterdam:
After the tumultuous ride from Interlaken to Amsterdam, I was so ready to see my two lovely travel partners: Laura and Presley and to be in Amsterdam. I knew that seeing them would make me feel instantly better and that Amsterdam is such a lively and fun city, that it would be the perfect place to visit after something like that. I had been to Amsterdam for a weekend before while I was studying abroad in Paris two years ago. Both Laura and I had but we loved it so much the first time around that we both without question knew we wanted to go back. Amsterdam is such a beautiful city, with cobblestone streets everywhere, twisting and turning alley ways in every direction, and canals running through the city. There is so much happening all around in the city, and you see such a diverse group of people roaming the streets. We went to the Van Gogh museum and it was unbelievable. I already knew that I loved Van Gogh's work but I had never seen it so concentrated before. The museum was set up very well in that it thoroughly explained each room, what time period it was, what was going on in Van Gogh's life, and who/what was inspiring him. I liked that they placed the artwork of people that inspired him next to the artwork of Van Gogh himself. It was interesting to see the similarities and how those people affected Van Gogh's work. All throughout the museum were amazing quotes by Van Gogh expressing his desire to capture emotion in his art. I could see how strongly emotional he was as a person just through the brush strokes in each of his paintings. He painted some of the most simple things but could make the sky look sad for example. He was able to make paintings come to life, and could make you focus on the simplest of objects just from the coloring and emphasis of the brush strokes.
Another thing that we did in Amsterdam was the Heineken museum. It was much more that I had expected it to be. It was very elaborate with history, interactive videos and displays of how the beer is made. It was a really fun experience and as they called it, it truly was the full "Heineken Experience". It was fun being in an atmosphere where everyone that worked there was genuinely excited about their job and about the product.
Belgium: Brussels, Gent, and Bruges
In Prague Laura had heard from her friend, living about two hours north of Amsterdam, about a techno festival that was happening in Gent, Belgium. It was called I love Techno and had tons of different electronic bands/DJs. We had been researching different music festivals going on in Europe but hadn't found one that would work out with where we were going to be. We were supposed to be meeting up with Laura's friend around the date of when the festival was so we all three were up for going to this festival. We met her friends and drove up from Vlissengen in the Netherlands and went to Brussels where we enjoyed the beer and the company of Laura's friend's friends. The majority of the people we have met while traveling have been Australians and I have not met a single one that I have disliked. They are some of the nicest, most genuine, hilarious, and fun people I've met in my life. Specifically the ones that we drove up with to the festival and hung out with were so welcoming and fun to be around. We hadn't planned on going to Brussels so I was excited when I found out that we would be spending the afternoon there, staying the night there, and taking a tram to the festival in Gent. The festival was crazy. It was in a massive warehouse with about five or more different rooms of music being played by different people. Each was deemed a different color room, shining Green, Red, Yellow lights depending on while color room it was. It was a really fun experience and I'm glad we got to do something like that while traveling.
After the festival we had planned to go back to Vlissengen to where Laura's friend is living but Presley and I decided to go to Bruges since I had heard good things about this city as well. Also, my friend Zach was there and Bruges was only an hour train ride away from Brussels. Bruges was such a quaint little city. You could walk from corner to corner in about 20-30 minutes. The beer was delicious, the fries were equally delicious, shopping was great, and we heard "In Bruges" movie references all around us. Bruges was a mellow two days just leisurely walking around the city, hiking up the clock tower, and enjoying great company.
It was a whirlwind of two weeks but also a great two weeks and very exciting. I got to see so many fabulous and beautiful places and had a blast as well. It was sad on Tuesday because Presley had to leave us to go back home :( We feel really weird not having her around and miss her terribly already! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone, and that I will be home in less than a month now. I just booked my flight home to the US, and cannot even fathom what it will be like to leave this lifestyle. I have had the most amazing time so far, it has been the best decision I've ever made.
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