Austria and Munich

I know it's been awhile since I wrote in this, so I'm going to try to briefly sum up the rest of my Eurotrip so I can keep my blog up- to- date. 

Vienna:

We were in Vienna for two days. We arrived on a friday afternoon via bus. We being Courtney, Adam and myself. We hustled to the apartment we had rented for the two days, which was near city centre. The ticket machine was so dumb and was giving our cards problems. KEEP CASH ON YOU. We hauled ass with our luggage to the apartment because we were running late for "meeting the person with the keys", which was dumb, because the keys were in a code box thing outside the door and we had to call them for the code. The apartment was beautiful. It looked weird from the outside but so spacious and modern on the inside. There was a washer/ dryer and a huge bed and a huge couch. Obviously, there was a kitchen too, which was nice. The three of us just relaxed until we decided to explore the area nearby. We went for a walk and ended up eating at an Australian restaurant, because we were starving and there was nothing else around. We explored the mall which was connected to the train station, because we weren't dead set on taking a metro into town being so tired. Gabby and Julia ended up joining us at night and we all stayed up chatting for a bit before getting some rest for the next day. 

Since none of us knew anything about Vienna, and we couldn't find a hop on/ hop off bus option, we decided to just roam around and explore the city. We saw the main square and St. Stephen's Cathedral. We ate at an Italian Restaurant near the cathedral and enjoyed the view. We then walked through the alleys and got lost until we started trekking to some of the sites. For the life of me, I could not tell you the names of any of the places we saw- which is probably why Vienna wasn't really on the top cities we went to. There were a ton of pretty sites and palaces and gardens, but I don't know the meaning of any of them. We decided to start taking pictures of us imitating statues.. People thought we were weird. We stopped in a park to sit down for a few minutes and catch our breath. Afterwards, we went to a famous palace that was literally ginormous. According to google, I'm going to say the name of it was "Schoenbrunn Palace". After the Schoenbrunn Palace, we rushed to the metro, because it was going to rain like crazy in about .5 seconds. The metro was so full and Courtney and I were squished in between a million people and little kids bringing their damn bicycles or scooters. We went back to the mall to pick up some food stuff from the grocery store and for me to get a new suitcase, since mine was kind of broken. Courtney and I just relaxed at night, while Gabby, Julia, and Adam went to this carnival thing and then met up with two other exchange students. Courtney and I were literally exhausted from the first two weeks of traveling. The next morning, we had to pack quickly and head to Salzburg for the second bit of Austria.

Salzburg

Salzburg was dead on Sunday.. granted it was Easter Sunday. I finished watching the Sound of Music on the train ride to Salzburg, because I mean it's the main location of the movie. We (Courtney, Adam and I) walked around Salzburg City Centre and went to the Mirabell Palace/ Gardens. That's where "Do Re Me" was filmed in the movie. It was so much fun to frolic around there. We went back to the hostel before it got dark outside and just hung out in the lobby (or well Courtney and I did) to just catch up on things since there wasn't much open/ to do. Monday we decided to take the Sound of Music Tour, which was definitely a waste of 40 Euro. It was cool to see the lake that Maria and the children fell into on the boat in the movie/ the back patio of the house that was used on location, the gazebo and the church used in the movie for Maria and the Captain to get married in. We also saw a beautiful view from the mountains. But we just drove by the front of the house (at a distance) where Maria finishes the "I Have Confidence" song, the Abbey used not only in the movie, but also in real life (at a very far distance) and a couple of other things. The tour guide definitely was getting annoyed with me because I knew everything she was saying, if not more, about the movie as well as the true story. After the tour, we went back to the Mirabell Palace and then walked around and saw one of Mozart's houses in Salzburg, as well as the hotel that the adult actors in the Sound of Music stayed in while filming on location. We walked around and saw a statue of Mozart and the fountain where Maria is at during the "I Have Confidence" song. We crossed the bridge that the children and Maria crossed right before "Do Re Me". We walked around a lot and only headed back to the hostel around dinnertime. I did my laundry, which took 4 hours. Annndd I met a few random people which was nice. Some were from Singapore or America and one was from Canada. It's amazing who you can meet while you're waiting for laundry to be done.

Munich

Munich was our last stop before our final stretch in Italy. I've been to Munich before, and to be quite honest, wasn't expecting much, but it was amazing! One of the best times of the trip. On Tuesday, we arrived relatively early in the morning- like 11 ish. We went to the hostel to drop off our bags and headed to Hofbrahaus to get some lunch. It was WAY less crowded for lunch than it was when I went with my dad last year for dinner. The waiter was definitely rude and just blah. But I got a vegetarian dish (thankfully they offered vegetarian options) and the large beer. I had to ask Adam to help me finish it. Too much beer. Anyway, after the Hobfrahaus, we walked around a bit and headed back to the hostel to check in and figure out the rest of our game plan. Adam and I decided to go on a " Free Beer Tour" which ended up being a Free Beer Garden Crawl. We went to three beer gardens and hung out with a bunch of new friends. All the Americans kinda clung together- surprise, surprise. But we had a great time and got to meet amazing people. At the last beer garden, Adam, these two girls we met- Cathy and Ruby, and I left early to go to the hostel bar where everyone else was going to go at the end of the tour anyway. Cathy and I stayed at the bar until everyone got back and hung out with everyone else for awhile.

 The next morning, I had to wake up early to go on Mike's Bike Tour. I definitely struggled on the bike because it was the weirdest bike I've ever ridden. It was a small group, so it was nice to not feel so far behind the group, since I usually was at the back of the line. We went all around Munich city centre and stopped at the Chinese tower beer garden in the middle of the Englischer Garten. After the bike tour ended, I went back to the hostel to relax for a half an hour (Courtney and Adam went on a free walking tour instead), and I went back into the city centre and went back to my favorite places shown on the bike tour so I could take proper pictures, Then I climbed up like 200+ stairs of this tower to see a 360 panorama view of Munich. It was breathtaking. It was also frightening to climb up and down the tower. After that, I strolled back to the hostel and ended up running into one of the friends I had made the night before. We decided to meet at the Wom-bar (the bar in the hostel) to hang out later with some other friends. It became another night of fun with my new friends I'd made in the hostel. Cathy and I went to grab food and then hung out with a few other people in the Wom-bar. I met a lot of new friends that night as well and two of them ended up going on the Dachau Tour the next day with Courtney, Adam and myself.

 The last day in Munich was spent at the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. Well at least the beginning part started off there. Our tour guide was amazing. We learned so much on that tour. It was definitely somber.. After our tour there, we headed back to city centre Munich and went back to the Englischer Garten (we being Courtney, Adam, Dave, Dan and myself). Dave and Dan were the two friends I had made the night before. We hung out in town afterwards and then went back to the hostel. I hung out with Dave and Dan in the wom-bar and was their "wingwoman". I'm sure if they were to read this, I'd probably be scolded for writing it. Anyway, they're cool people and it was a fun last night before heading to Italy the next morning. We hung out with the two other people who were on the Dachau tour with the 5 of us. We tried to venture outwards, but ended up heading home early anyway. Munich was such a fun time and I feel like I saw so much in three days. They were the most tiring days, because I was exploring all day and hanging out with new friends at night, but it was so worth it.

OH, and we also saw Australians surfing in Munich. That is all.

Julia, Adam and I imitating statues in Vienna

Julia, Gabby, Courtney and I on the steps of the palace actually named above in Vienna

Adam and I on one of the fountains used in "Do Re Me" in the movie "The Sound of Music" (Salzburg, Austria)

The fountain Julie Andrews playing Maria goes to during the song " I Have Confidence" in "The Sound of Music" (Salzburg, Austria)

Adam and I with some new friends on the free beer tour in Munich

Chinese Tower in the Englischer Garten

One of the many views from the top of the 200+ stair tower in Munich

One of the memorials in Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site

Prague- Czech Me Out

On Tuesday we arrived in Prague. We left Berlin much too early after little sleep.. Once we got to Prague (on a crowded bus.. 4 and a half hours later), we found our way to the hostel, which was actually really modern looking. It was only 2 metro stops and a 1 tram stop away from the bus station, which really isn't bad. It took about 15 minutes. We checked in, put our stuff in the room, and relaxed for a bit (that's where I wrote the last post about Berlin). We walked like 5 minutes to a Mexican restaurant (closest thing nearby) and ate a SUPER cheap but quality meal. We decided not to go into the city centre, because it was kind of a journey and we needed a day to just chill out. Plus, our wifi was finally on point. The only other exciting thing about that day was that we met the 4th person in our room, who turned out to be really cool and lives near us in the UK. The hostel room was split into two separate rooms with 4 beds in each. We had huge lockers and a lot of space. In the main area of the hostel room that split the two sub- rooms, there was a toilet and a shower room. The hostel was really nice...

On Weds, the three of us (plus our new friend) went on the free walking tour around Prague and got to see all of the different sites of the new and old Prague. We saw the Astronomical clock, a few different churches, the Jewish quarters, and many more sites that I can't really put my finger on at the moment. It was a four hour tour and we learned a lot about the architecture of Prague buildings. Prague is such a beautiful city... After the tour, we met up with one of our friends from the exchange program- Julia. We walked around an Easter market, which was really awesome. Tara (our new friend from the hostel) and I tried figuring out plans for that night, since we heard the nightlife in Prague was on point. All of us walked to Julia's hostel to meet up with Gabby. Long story short, we all met up, got ready and went back to the Easter market. Julia, Gabby, Tara, and myself decided to do a pub crawl (after eating delicious crepes). The pub crawl was definitely interesting and we met some pretty nice people on it. Thankfully, the last pub/bar was very close to our hostel, so Tara and I had walked home directly from it. Oh btw, ALWAYS ask what kind of drinks are free before choosing a pub/bar crawl in another country..

The next and final day in Prague was spent with the four hostel amigos going to a Castle tour. Between the free tour and the castle tour, we saw about 80% of Prague. We took a tram up to the castle grounds and saw an amazing cathedral and had an awesome tour guide who showed us the property. I can't remember the names of all the places up there, but we saw an amazing view of the city, as well as got to see the changing of the guards (haven't even really seen that in London...). After the castle tour, which lasted about 4 hours, we went to find souvenirs and eat in the Easter market. I tried this "Czech" thing that the tour guide recommended for vegetarians, which is fried cheese with tartar sauce and potatoes. I felt so fat afterwards, but it was delicious. We walked to the metro and stopped in various stores, just because. By time we got back to the hostel, we just got ready for bed and packed up our stuff for the next adventure: Vienna.

Berlin

Berlin:
We were technically in Berlin for 3 days, but the first day (this past Saturday- it's Tuesday now..) was basically spent traveling from Amsterdam to Berlin. I met this really nice lady on the train who asked me why I liked Amsterdam so much and was happy with my response filled with a ton of facts I had found interesting about the city itself. It was a 6 hour train ride, and with the exception of that one lady sitting next to me for 30 minutes before getting off at her stop, I had the row to myself to spread out for the rest of the 5 and half hours. OK, quick suggestion.. DO NOT BRING A SMALL SUITCASE WITH A BROKEN HANDLE WITH YOU ON A SELF PLANNED EUROTRIP. It's really difficult to maneuver your way in certain train stations...
Well by time we arrived in Berlin, it was about 7:15/7:30 pm? Thankfully, our hostel/ hotel was literally right outside the station. We arrived in "Berlin Hbf", which is a HUGE station and very modern. For some reason, the three of us were really exhausted so we just checked in, went back to the station and grabbed food. That night was kind of uneventful but we deserved a break.

On Sunday, I didn't really wanna be up and about super early, so I lazed around a little bit, while Courtney and Adam went on a free walking tour at 11. I went on the same company's free walking tour at 2 pm, which was nice. I had to find my way to the Brandenburg Gate, where the tour met at. It was a fairly simple walk, which was nice and I got to grab a quick bite to eat before the tour started. Another suggestion: BRING CASH. BRING CASH. BRING CASH. A lot of places that I have mentioned thus far mainly take cash and it's difficult to buy food with a card. DONT even think about using an American Express card, that would be a mission and a half. Anyway, I digress.. The free walking tour ( New Europe Tours) was really great. My tour guide led our group to see the gate (obvs), the hotel where MJ dangled his baby from the balcony (that by chance is right next to the gate), the Holocaust Memorial (which has a free museum underneath), the place where Hitler's bunker was (and where he had committed suicide with his wife), Checkpoint Charlie (total tourist spot), part of the Berlin Wall, one of the oldest Nazi buildings to still be standing (even after approx. 70% of Berlin was destroyed due to bombing back during/ after WWII), and a couple of historical plazas. We even saw the university that Albert Einstein had either taught or studied in.
SN: Hitler's bunker is obviously no longer there, we were literally standing where it used to be.. which is now a parking lot of a residential area.
I met these three nice British ladies and hung out with them during the tour. It was cool to meet new people, even if they were from where I'm currently living. They gave me general tips about England and must sees back in the UK. After the tour, I went back to the hostel to reconvene with Courtney and Adam, but then set out on a mission to take out cash from the only bank in Germany that wont charge me ridiculous extra fees, since it's a partner with Bank of America. I'm not gonna lie.. after watching this insane video during study abroad orientation back at UCF, I was terrified to be at an ATM alone. Thankfully, these two women walked in not even 2 minutes after I had walked into the bank ATM section. It was a mother and daughter in law from California and we chatted for a bit as well. After leaving the bank, I went to this bar that was kinda underneath the bridge right near my hostel. It was really quaint and nice (although cold). I tried a couple of the Berliner Pilsners, then headed to grab food and go back to the hostel. 

Monday morning, I got to sleep in again, because my Third Reich Tour was at 2 pm. It was a much colder and windier day than Sunday. The tour met up at the same spot. It was interesting though, because upon arriving, I almost instantaneously met two other Floridians and hung out with them the rest of the tour. We went to see the Reichstag Building, a few memorials for those groups of people who died in the Holocaust: the gypsies, the homosexuals, and the military, the Nazi Propaganda Ministry (obv it is no longer that, but we went to the building), SS and Gestapo headquarters, the New Synagogue (which was saved during Kristallnacht), the Jewish cemetary and the Otto Weidt's museum (he saved a bunch of Jewish people during the Holocaust). The tour was pretty interesting and had a lot of cool stories. It did pour A LOT. Thankfully, one of my new friends had an umbrella so the three Floridians huddled together whenever the downpour would begin. There were more tours offered and a lot more to see: the underground scene, the concentration camp nearby, East berlin areas, etc. I just chose the Third Reich tour, because my dad and I had gone to one in Munich (we had also gone to Dachau) last year, so I wanted to see the differences in tours and how the focus was a little different. After the tour, one of the Floridian friends I had met and myself went to go souvenir shopping and to grab dinner together. We had one of the greatest conversations ever. I love meeting new people and I think that's definitely part of the experience of traveling around the world. I've met people from America, UK, different countries of Europe, Australia, Singapore, China, and many more places. And that's just from the past two weeks.. that definitely doesn't include all of the people I've met on the Exchange program. After my new friend and I parted ways, I went back to the hostel to shower and do laundry (never know when I can do that for that cheap again). I kid you not.. it took 3 hours to do. It was the worst. But at least it was done. Courtney waited with me downstairs in the "kitchen for guests" where the laundry machines were for my stuff to finish. We met this American guy and British guy that were doing their laundry too and we just all chatted about our experience abroad and Eurotrips in general. It was pretty interesting. Afterwards, there was nothing too exciting, except packing and dreading waking up in 3-4 hours. 

Now I'm in Prague and will write all about these next few days.. eventually!

Because I haven't uploaded any of my other Berlin pics from my phone to my computer... Oh, well. You can see a few on insta: anitababii

P.S. That's the view from the rooftop of our hostel (taken the first night after dinner)

My New Favorite City

Where did I leave off?

REST OF BELGIUM:
After I blogged, Courtney, Adam and I went to Delirium, which was fun. The entire bar was so complex and had a cool atmosphere. Of course, a Lil Wayne song was playing when we first sat down in the main bar. It's like they knew I was there. We only stayed for me to have one beer and to see the atmosphere. Then we had the most interesting experience at a Mexican restaurant. I swear, everyone in Europe is just so relaxed. It took forever to get the check- literally about 30 minutes. Then we just headed back to relax and sleep before the rest of the journey. Courtney and I got to sleep in, but Adam left early to meet a friend in South Holland before heading to Amsterdam. Courtney and I got lost on our way to find a frittery (can't spell apparently). We just hung out before heading to our bus (which was AN HOUR AND A HALF LATE).

AMSTERDAM:
I've fallen in love with this city. I could write AT LEAST 5 pages about my time in Amsterdam and still be cutting corners. If you've kept up with my blog, you already know that I've been there once already on my study abroad journey, but once was clearly not enough (plus it just worked out this way).

Courtney and I arrived relatively late on Weds night, so when we finally got to the hostel and met up with Adam, all we really had time/ energy for was eating. Since it was an early night, we realized the next day was going to be a long day and got up relatively early (basically not completely sleeping in). We all walked together towards the Anne Frank house, but they went to the line and I got breakfast/ lunch. I had already seen it and didn't really want to spend more money on it not even three weeks later, plus it was a really long line. I had a "savory" pancake which pancakes are apparently a Dutch thing to have. After lunch, I went to see if they were done with the house, but they weren't even to the front of the line. So I decided to go and walk around Amsterdam a little bit more. I found a cheese factory, a tulip museum and really cool architecture. I loved to get lost in the city by walking around and enjoying the day. After they were done with the museum, we headed to Dam Square to "create our own Magnum bars" which basically was picking a coating (dark chocolate for me- obvs) and 3 toppings for a Magnum Ice Cream Bar. It was so yummy. We then decided to hit up Red Light District... This was a journey because we stopped at like 7 different shops on the way out of Dam Square. Experiencing the Red Light District during the daytime was much different and a lot less overwhelming than at night. It was less crowded and you could actually see the streets. I also realized that the actual district wasn't as large as it had seemed the first time I had went. After that, we walked towards the "IAMSTERDAM" sign to take pictures. It was a mission to get up on the A, but I semi made it! We ended up walking towards the Heineken Factory afterwards so I could get a gift for one of my best friends, Danae, since she's obsessed with Heineken. We then decided to grab dinner at Wagon Mama's. I don't really know if it's spelled that way, but oh well. The three of us headed back to the hostel for what seemed like it was going to be an early night... False. We hung out with one of the people staying in our hostel- Dean. The four of us went back to the Red Light District and got lost in the streets near Dam Square. We all just hung out and talked.

The next day, Courtney and Adam decided to go to the Tulip Fields, but I really wanted to try out this bike tour instead, so I stayed back in Amsterdam to do so. Best. Decision. Ever. The bike tour was BEYOND amazing. But before I get ahead of myself, I want to say how wonderful it is to truly just walk around Amsterdam and appreciate the beauty of the city and the architecture of the city. Before going on the bike tour, I had the chance to walk around a different area of Amsterdam and explore. It truly makes you realize how small the city is but how much there is to do there. I was SO nervous to go on this damn bike tour, but I did. It was frightening and terrifying, but amazing. At first, I forgot how to use a bike (for a hot minute), then I realized how easy it was. We went to this area where you can see this bridge two sisters who lived across a canal from each other had built to be able to easily reach one another. I wish I would have wrote this sooner, so I could be more specific of the buildings we saw and stuff, but I forget the names easily and that's kind of a problem. The group moved on... We saw the place where Rembrandt begun his art.. In fact, the building where he taught himself about the anatomy of the human body has been used for so many different purposes.. for example, right now it's a restaurant, but it used to be a city wall at one point. The place also had been used for "doctors" to take the bodies of executed people (from the square right in front of it) and dissect them to study the parts of the body. The thing is... anyone who wanted to see the process was able to view it. We moved on to the Red Light District, where we had a very interesting conversation afterwards. Biked to Dam Square, then to different neighborhoods in Amsterdam and finally at the Anne Frank House area before arriving to a square near the hostel. I'll write some of the things I found out on the tour in a hot minute.  After the tour was over, I realized Courtney and Adam weren't back yet, but I had terrible wifi in the hostel room (plus it's rather boring alone). I went to the bar/ common area of our hostel and ended up meeting three American guests of the hostel as well. They were on their own Eurotrip and we ended up going to grab dinner together and talking about our experiences in Europe. Afterwards, I just ended up going back to my hostel room and calling it a night (7 miles of a bike ride and non stop on the go was tiring).

The final day was quite short. I really just had enough time to walk a little bit and grab a bite to eat before the three of us headed to Berlin (6 hour train ride..).

FUN FACTS I LEARNED ON THE BIKE TOUR:
1) This is one of the only cities/ countries (if not the only one) that went from being a Republic to a Monarchy.
2) Because the property tax is/was ridiculous, people purposely made their houses skinny but super tall..
3) Because of the above statement, some houses are curved forward so that when they are moving their stuff in/ out of the house (there is a hook at the top of the houses), the furniture doesn't swing into the windows.
4) Other houses are just curved to the left/ right/ backwards, because something about the city sinking.
5) Amsterdam is under the sea level (I THINK by 7 meters, but I might be wrong.. It's been a few days).. But according to the tour guide, the Dutch are smart and created plans in case there is flooding or in case the water level consequently rises in the future.
6) The three "X"'s in the Coat of Arms DOES NOT represent dirty things... In fact, it represents the three dangers Amsterdam has had to face: fire, floods and plague.
7) Prostitution is an actual job in Amsterdam. They are tax payers, have retirement plans, get healthcare benefits, etc.
8) MARIJUANA IS NOT LEGAL IN AMSTERDAM. It is TOLERATED. There is a clause in their constitution/ laws that has a "no harm" part to it, which basically says two things.. 1) If the crime isn't hurting anyone, then there should be no punishment.. 2) If the punishment for said crime would cause more harm than the crime itself, then there should be no punishment. This is a huge misconception about Amsterdam.
9) Drugs and prostitution happens everywhere.. SURPRISE. No, but really, if you didn't know that, I don't even know what to tell you. The Dutch just go about it in their own way. They have coffeeshops so that there isn't as much violence and that hard drugs don't get into the mix with marijuana. This has made Amsterdam a lot safer as far as violence and extreme crimes go. They did try to make a law (NOT IN AMSTERDAM) in a city of the Netherlands to see if allowing only locals to be able to have a "marijuana card" would be a better idea. It was not. Crime went up overnight. So it was repealed.
10) The canals are also semi shaped like a horse shoe so if you see the canal curving in a certain direction and follow it, you will probably end up in Dam Square.

Okay, I'm done for now.. I'll write about my time in Berlin soon! Leaving Berlin for Prague tomorrow!!!

Delirium Pub in Brussels

Fries in Brussels

Lunch in Amsterdam

Anne Frank's house from across the canal

Customized Magnum Ice Cream Bar

I Amsterdam (Adam is in the background)

Hello from Brussels!

I'm basically going to be posting a lot this month due to traveling to 11 cities within 7 countries. There's NO way I can wait until May 1st/ 2nd to write about all of these experiences.. That would be the LONGEST post ever and also, I can barely remember what I ate two days ago, let alone what I have done within a month. 

Paris

I wrote last about my first day in the actual city of Paris (as opposed to the fantasyworld of Disneyland Paris). We had gotten there Saturday and just left this morning (6:20 am yuck!). So Sunday, I accidentally slept in (woops) and Adam thought watching his TV shows was more productive than waking me up. However, everything happens for a reason and we had the perfect Sunday funday because of our late start. It took us awhile to leave, then because I'm a person who needs to eat almost immediately after waking up (or else I get HANGRY), we stopped in the mall near the Louvre to eat at McDonald's. I know, I know. We're so cultured. After waiting a ridiculously long time to get food, we finally made our way to the Louvre. As I was about to put my credit card into the ticket machine, a VERY NICE french man gave us his two tickets for free. I guess it was because it was 3 and the museum closed at 5:30, and he was done with his tickets for the day. We saw the Mona Lisa and went around a good chunk of the museum.. Went to all three exhibit hallways and everything! We saw the foundation for the Louvre Palace (I think) and saw the Egyptian and Italian exhibit rooms. We got lost and walked around in aw for a good 2 hours. After the Louvre, we went to the Notre Dame. We got crepes outside of the church (I got two because I was starving again lol) and then sat down and took in the beauty of the Notre Dame. Afterwards, we realized it was open later than expected and was free entry (either it's always free, or it's because there was a service). We got to go inside of it and take a ton of pictures. Our journey continued as we headed to Basilique du Sacré Cœur where we took a funicular to the Basilique.. we were lazy. Then we saw the most BEAUTIFUL view of Paris from there.  Then went into the actual Basilique and were rebels by taking a couple of pictures of the inside.. Woops. We walked down the stairs and headed to the alley before the metro to see some souvenirs, which made us sad because we had accidentally bought overpriced souvenirs earlier that day before the Louvre... Whatevs. We headed to Moulin Rouge at nighttime to see how it's lit up. We are broke college kids, so obviously we could not afford getting into a show, but it was still cool. Then we decided to head to the Eiffel Tower (again) to see it lit up at night. On our way, we stopped at Arc de Triomphe to see the lights as well. Eiffel Tower at night is SO beautiful, but what made it even more breathtaking was seeing it sparkle at 10:00. It sparkles ever hour for 5 minutes. After taking a million pictures, we headed back to the hotel to finally wind down. 

The next morning (Monday), Courtney arrived in Paris and met us at the hotel. We went BACK to the Eiffel Tower (obviously after eating) and actually went up it to the 1st and 2nd floor. The top one was closed but it was still amazing. There was barely a line and we enjoyed ourselves. Then we got more crepes and  headed to try to find the Opera, but kind of failed at life. We also went to Bastille and found a really cool park... that had better wifi than our hotel. We just relaxed and hung out together since everyone was exhausted. I went back to the hotel (and got a mimosa because we were in France) while they went on a boat tour. We're basically obsessed with this bagel place nearby our hotel and got our dinner there (as well as where we had had breakfast). 

Brussels

The struggle is real. We woke up super early to catch a train to Brussels. We got in around 8 am and found our hotel to drop off our luggage before a day filled with sightseeing. We got breakfast at McDonald's.. it's becoming a trend. It was also the only place open nearby.We got tickets to a hop on/ hop off bus tour, where we took two different lines to see the sites around Brussels. I kinda fell asleep on the second one, but the sites I saw were amazing. We got to walk around afterwards and see "Grand Place" which was beautiful. We then tried finding a Waffle Factory to get our Belgian Waffles. I had the most delicious one with belgian dark chocolate. These waffles were the best I've ever had that I can't even describe them. We went to the Manneken Pis. Then we went souvenir shopping before trying to head back to the hotel to catch our breath. We'd literally been sight seeing since 8:30/9 am. In a little bit, we're probably going to grab dinner and go to this bar that my cousin told me I needed to see (Delirium?) just so I can have a Stella in the country of origin. Tomorrow, Courtney and I get to sleep in because check out is at 12 and our bus to Amsterdam isn't until 3:30 pm. Adam, however, is leaving much earlier than us to visit his friend in another city in the Netherlands before meeting up with us in Amsterdam.

More to come as we keep traveling!

Also- can't really upload pics now but check out my insta for a few! @anitababii

BONJOUR FROM PARIS!!!

So I can't just start with Paris, because there's been a lot between the last post and now!

What I forgot from the last post:
AT&T FINALLY UNLOCKED MY PHONE SO NOW I DON'T HAVE A CRAPPY ANDROID (sorry.. I'm just super team iPhone) AND THUS I DON'T NEED TO CARRY AROUND TWO DIFFERENT PHONES WHEREVER I GO.

The days before Spring Break:
The entire group went out for Gabby's birthday to Casino, where we discovered there was a bottom floor - OK, maybe I was one of the few people not to have known about it. It was a lot of fun and it was great to hang out with the entire group. Then, Gabby's birthday celebrations continued to Tuesday night as well, where we hung out with more friends and went into town again. But then Adam and I had to finish writing our portions of our group essay for Travel and Transport, which our group finished early and turned it in well before the deadline!! Thank God.

Back in Florida, I got sick at least once a month, but here -even with the cold weather- I never once got sick... until that Thursday. Great. That Thursday I had gone to London twice in one day.. once early in the morning with Courtney and then again in the evening to see my friend, Tim and to catch up with my cousin, Kiran. After meeting up with Tim, his cousin and one of his friends, I headed to Victoria Station to meet up with my cousin (who recently got married and is soon moving to the States, where her husband lives). Since she's moving while I'm on my Eurotrip, then was the time to see her. It was great catching up with her!!

NORWAY:
The next morning, I woke up and headed to Gatwick Airport to meet up with Adam, Courtney and Emma. We all traveled to Norway together and had a fantastic weekend. On Friday, we just chilled out. They walked around and I just kinda relaxed due to the fact that I was trying to get over being sick so I could do more activities during the weekend while we were there. I realized when trying to buy shampoo at a local convenient store that the language was completely different (reminded me a little of when my parents and I struggled buying toiletries and groceries in Turkey). Since it was an early night, there was a relatively early start the next morning. Saturday, we headed out around 9 am. We walked around the beautiful city of Bergen. I got my "Bergen Card" which basically gave me free transportation and free entry to certain museums. The three of us got breakfast then took a cable car up to Mt. Ulkriel (spelling check?) where we took beautiful pictures of the mountains and the view of the town from them. Afterwards, we went to this church in the forest which was built in the 1100's and is now being restored. We walked around the town some more and got some souvenirs. Lunch was EXPENSIVE. Actually, EVERYTHING was expensive, but it was still a great time. Emma and I returned to the hotel early, because we were both not feeling well. After Adam and Courtney had come back/ we had time to rest, we decided to go to the cafe near/in the lobby of our hotel to get some tea. We also tried two different types of Norwegian beers, which were ON POINT. But otherwise, it was a very, very chill night. Sunday morning, we all walked around and went to a tower/ castle near the city centre to explore. We went to a really small (and expensive) cafe to eat lunch before I had to leave for the airport.

And the countdown to Spring Break begins:
That journey back to Guildford was STRUGGLE CITY and I was the driver of the struggle bus. I had a different flight than the three of them, because of the way everything was booked. I got to London maybe an hour before they did, but none of us made it home before 9 pm. When I landed, immigration was alright, but the train station in the aiport was awful. I found a way to cut the lines and get a ticket to Guildford.. BUT it was a bus that didn't leave for 45 minutes. Then I got lost on the way to the bus and I was feeling awful still. After I finally found the bus, it took forever to get home... then I had to walk with all my stuff uphill to get to my flat from the station. I was exhausted when I got home, but ended up going next door to Aubree's flat for Roast Dinner (even though I couldn't eat the meat part of the dinner). This week was the best and worst. Monday and the majority of Tuesday was dedicated to essays on essays on essays. Tuesday was the anniversary of my adoption day and it was difficult knowing I won't be celebrating it with my family and not seeing them until June 26th. ): But I still had fun after turning in my essay. Weds was the worst, because we had an early class followed by me needing to run last minute errands before Adam and my bus that night. I went to town with my friend, Laura, and got a lot of much needed supplies for my trip. Then Courtney, Adam and I went to this Student Exchange Pizza Party with Aubree and Jessika. It's where us as incoming students got to talk to the outgoing students from Surrey who will be studying abroad in UCF in the fall. Not necessarily UCF, but universities in America, as well as other universities around the world. Afterwards, I quickly packed and got ready before the biggest journey begun.

SPRANNNGG BREAK 2014:
Weds night, Adam and I left Guildford for London Victoria Station. We took an overnight coach from London Victoria to Paris. I fell asleep for the majority of it, thankfully. We arrived in Paris kinda late (between 8-9 am) and headed straight to Disneyland Paris. We managed to check in/ leave our luggage before heading to the Disneyland Park. By the time we actually got into the park (for free), it was around 12:30/1 pm. We had an AMAZING time. We rode everything that was open in Fantasyland and we rode the important rides in Discoveryland/ Frontierland/ Adventureland. We critically analyzed everything. Our cast member discounts are insane! We get 25% off instead of 20% off, and we can get discounts on the food within the park which we can't even do at WDW. We could go inside the castle and explore, which was super cool. SPACE MOUNTAIN 2 > SPACE MOUNTAIN & DISNEY DREAMS > DISNEY WISHES! Soooo great! We also watched the "5 o'clock" parade, which was spectacular. Some things were a little disappointing, but I loved everything about being there. We, of course, had to ride the Carousel, since I work at that attraction in WDW. There were problems.. of course, it's the Carousel. But it was such a great experience! After the park, we went to Disney Village to explore. We turned in early though, because we were so exhausted from the 24 hours + of non stop traveling/ on-the-go-ness. The next morning, we accidentally slept in, missed our comp breakfast (we were staying at Hotel Cheyenne), and started our day way later than planned. We went into the Walt Disney Studios park, where we had a great time going on Rockin' Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror (which is so different), Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride, another version of backlot studios tour, and rides that don't even exist in our Hollywood Studios. We got a lot done in the 4 hours that we had in the park. We went to Disney Village again to go into the World of Disney shop to get souvenirs before our character dinner in Cafe Mickey. Our character dinner was relatively cheap.. Literally 16 Euros for my meal with green tea... AND it was a character dinner. We went back to Disneyland park to see Disney Dreams (fireworks show) again before leaving to go to Rainforest Cafe for dessert and then to go back to the hotel.

Today:
We woke up and rushed to check out and get our comp breakfast.. We headed to the actual city, where we found our hotel, dropped off our stuff and headed to the Eiffel Tower. We didn't get to go up it- yet- but we still saw it and walked around the city. We went to Arc de Triumph and walked down to the opalesk thing on the other end of the street. We walked even further to see the Louvre, but it was unfortunately closed by the time we got there. We saw a lot of random sites and somehow managed to walk on the most expensive street as well. Always. We grabbed lunch earlier at a cute cafe and felt relatively Parisian. Well we have 2 more full days in Paris before heading to Brussels! Courtney is joining us on Monday, before we continue the rest of our planned Eurotrip!! Can't wait for whats in store!! It's just gonna be a tiring month! Oh and we're no longer going to Scotland at the end of our Eurotrip in the beginning of May. We have to finish another essay due by May 5th and also we realized how exhausted we'll be at the end of the month, so we decided to postpone it... Although, I might not be joining later on, because I've already been and this month is burning an abyss in my wallet.

Laura, Mike, and I during Gabby's birthday celebration

First telephone booth photo since starting the program

Bergen, Norway

The view from Mt. Ulkriel

Same as on top (Emma, myself, Courtney and Adam)

Church in the woods

Tower in Bergen

Pic of me and the girls (Indi, Kiri, Aubree, Jessika and Laura) on my Adoption Day 

Disneyland Paris Castle

I'm so happy to ride the Carousel...

Walt Disney World Studios

Disney Dreams

I thought I couldn't become more of a broke college student... #woops

I decided to wait a little bit- not as long as before- to write my third post, because there were two very fun filled trips that I had been on since I last wrote!

THE JOURNEY BEGINS:
I definitely broke a few firsts over the last 12 days.. I flew alone within Europe, stayed at my first hostel, figured out how to maneuver through a different country with a different language, took the ferry from mainland Europe to London, and many more experiences. I left for London that thursday- the 13th? I was able to stay with my aunt and she took me to the coach that would take me to London Luton Airport. My flight was very early on Friday, so I ended up staying up all night at my aunt's and leaving her place at like 3:30 in the morning. I was very surprised that getting through security literally took 5 minutes and that at 4:30/5 in the morning, everyone in the airport had a beer in hand.

I AMSTERDAM:
By the time I got to Amsterdam, took a train to city centre and walked to the hostel where I met up with my friends Gabby and Robin, it was already 10:30/ 11 in the morning. We walked around the city and grabbed breakfast/ lunch, a pastry then headed to the Anne Frank's Museum. That was so surreal. Being able to walk around where 8 people hid from the Nazi's back in the 1940's was insane. The actual bookcase that was used to hide the annexe was still there as you were about to walk up the stairs.. The windows in each room were blacked out so you couldn't see the light- just like it would have been for the Frank's and their friends. The rooms were empty- minus the posters on the wall in Anne's shared room with Fritz Pfeffer. Seeing the house is definitely something one must do when going to Amsterdam. Afterwards, we continued walking and ended up going back to our hostel to nap. The rest of the exchange students came with our university's school trip at night and we met up with them after we had gotten dinner. 3 of my friends and one of the guys staying in mine, Gabby and Robin's hostel room decided to go to the Red Light District at night and that was INSANE. I did not expect that the prostitutes were actually IN windows seen by pedestrians on the street. Being there at night was an experience... See I thought they were mannequins, so when I noticed one of the women moving, I freaked out. We walked around the district and my friend Indi and I went into the museum of prostitution, where we learned more about the district, as well as the horrors of sex trafficking. We just kept walking around the city centre afterwards with our friends and headed back to the hostel before checking out Dam Square.

The next morning, two exchange students and myself went to the Heineken Factory, which was so awesome! We got to tour the factory, take awesome pictures, a personalized Heineken bottle, and got two free pints on beer! That actually took a lot longer than I thought it would take. Then we hung out with friends and just walked around some more.. I've gained an irrational fear of bikes while there... I literally got hit by one at one point. -__-

Gabby, Robin and I left late that night on an overnight bus to return to London.. The coach bus was nice and we drove through Belgium and France before hopping on the ferry to get to the UK. We arrived by like 7 am Sunday morning, and thus begun another journey. I had to tube to Waterloo station, before taking a train to Guildford. THEEENNNN, I had to walk my happy butt to my flat before showering and passing out to be able to get prepared for Dublin.

ST. PATTY'S DAY IN DUBLIN
And thus begun another 4 am journey (Monday morning) to Dublin. I went with Courtney, Adam, and 3 other friends. We got to Dublin pretty early, but by time we got food, made our way to our hotel (IN BFE- Christoph and Caitlyn got to stay city centre), and then found a way to the city, it was about noon. Adam, Courtney and I only stayed until about 5pm. We all saw the parade, had lunch and got to see an authentic Irish pub. Drinks are EXPENSIVE. Not kidding... But I successfully had Irish Guinness and Irish Whiskey. The next day, the three of us had to wake up really early to make our way to Cobh, Cork and Blarney Castle. It was a day long tour, which was great because we saw the countryside! Cobh was the last port of call for the Titanic, so obviously, I had to see their Titanic exhibit. I attempted to kiss the Blarney Stone, but a) I was really dumb and didn't realize what it was and b) I felt like I'd fall out of the castle if I moved my body any further down to reach it. After a long day, we met up with our 3 friends in Dublin, before heading back to the hotel, and went to the famous "Temple Bar" in Dublin. That was just so cool. AND WE SAW A BUILDING THAT HAD GREEN LIGHTS PROJECTED ON IT FOR ST. PATTY'S DAY! The last day- Weds- we went on a hop on/ hop off bus around the city before heading back to the airport. When we finally got home, I think we were all so burnt out..

ANNNNND WE'RE BACK
Class Thursday went pretty well, and I hung out with a lot of different people afterwards and we all went to Channies. This past weekend was also really, really chill. We ended up not going to London for Emma's birthday, but we had cake and watched Vampire Diaries. I'm taking her to a birthday lunch today because she's the best. This was the second official weekend that I've stayed in Guildford, and it was lovely. I loved relaxing (and procrastinating). I caught up on all of my hulu shows and sleep. I went for a few runs this past couple of weeks as well.

Oh, we also figured out the transportation for or Eurotrip this April. Adam and I are leaving a tad bit earlier and going to Disneyland Paris, but here's the plan:

Paris -->Brussels --> Amsterdam --> Berlin-->Prague-->Vienna-->Salzburg-->Munic--> Venice/Milan (Courtney is going to Milan, while Adam and I go to Venice) -->Florence (alltogether again)-->Rome-->London/ Guildford--> Roadtrip with our flatmates to SCOTLAND!

WHAT'S NEXT?
- Gabby's birthday @ Casino
- Norway this weekend with Adam, Courtney and Emma
- The pleasure of writing two more essays
- SPRANG BREAK/ EASTER VACATION (one.month.long)

PICTURES:

Panorama of Amsterdam

Anne Frank's House (only pic I could even take)

Pretty self explanatory

Scott, Derek and myself at the factory

Robert, Courtney, Adam and myself at the parade

Courtney and myself at the parade in Dublin

Courtney, Adam and I at the "authentic" Irish Pub for St. Patty's Day

Cobh, Ireland. That is where the passengers of the Titanic would get on the tenders to board the Titanic at it's last port of call.

Courtney and I outside Blarney Castle

Attempting/ Pretending to kiss the Blarney Stone