Backpacking June21st-July 2nd

June 20th   Paris-->Amsterdam

It was sad departing with my parents in Paris because we were both nervous, anxious, and ready to start backpacking. Our first stop on our trip was Amsterdam. We took all the metros to get to the train station--got on the right train--and successfully made it into the city center. The only thing is we didn’t know how to get to our hostel. We find out that we have to get on tram #1 and headed for the #1 marked track. Little did we know about 15 minutes in that we were on train #12. That was a rocky first start but we quickly found the right train and made it to our hostel. Opening the front door to the hostel and seeing 60 steps to go up is a backpackers worst nightmare but we made it up and checked in. They didn’t accept credit cards so I had to use all my cash that my parents JUST gave me to pay for the hostel leaving me broke. our hostel, needless to say, was pretty gross. We shared a room with 6 other people. Three of them being guys and a old lady. It was quite the party. That day we went into the main square and had lunch at “Bulldog” which turned out to be a really nice hostel, and continued to eat there again on our trip it was that good. Tired from traveling we walked around, rented bikes for a bit and decided to call it a night because neither of us could keep our eyes open. 

June 21st 

I woke up that morning hoping my parents thought of me as soon as they got home and put money in my account. No luck. Thank god Molly had plenty of cash to spot me. We went shopping for the day, went to the Anne Frank house, the Heineken factory, and the “I am Amsterdam” sign. We had a busy day but had to because we were off to London the next day. The Anne Frank house was surreal seeing the actual place where she was held for years. That book is the next on my list to read. The Heineken factory officially turned me into a Heineken lover. It is really going to be hard returning to the states and not being able to drink until December :(. But the tour was really interesting finding out that the beer over here is way more natural because the United States add preservatives. That night we decided to go to a bar that was completely made out of ice. It was probably the coolest thing I have ever seen but it was so cold in there we had to wear full on snow gear so that was kind of odd. Being at the bar is when I realized I didn’t have my wallet :O I was sure it was at the hostel--but when we got there it wasn’t there and I had a minor panic attack. We went back to the restaurant, “The Bulldog” and it wasn’t there, losing hope I started o call my mom to start canceling my credit cards. She convinced me to call the reatuarant one more time, when I did it turns out that they did have it. Crisis Averted. Life was good. After that we decided to go straight to bed so we can get up early to head for London.

June 23rd  Amsterdam--> London

We arrived to the London Airport and had to take a train to the bus that we took for an hour then that dropped us off at the tube. We from there had to take the Tube that eventually landed us a block from the hostel. When we finally got to the hostel we got so excited. This hostel was a recommendation my one of the girls in the house so I had high hopes. Walking in, the 24 hour bar on the first floor was a great first impression. The rooms were a bit bigger, and the bathrooms were an upgrade. Getting there in the middle of the afternoon, we decided to do the bus on-off tours which really shows you the city if your there for a short period of time. Getting a feel for the city, and falling asleep to the sound of the tour guide, we went home showered ( which was MUCH needed) and went out to dinner. When we returned we decided to stay down in the bar for a little bit. The bar is open to the public until 11pm then it remains open for only the residents of the hostel. This is the night we met a lot of our friends. About 9 guys were there for a convention in London for their paint balling company. Not only did I meet these guys but also alot of the people that work with them that decided to come for happy hour at our hostel. I met people from Poland, Wales, and even South Africa! It was so cool meeting the people that we did. This is also the time that we met Andrew. Andrew is from Pennsylavania but moved out to Los Angeles to work for Sony Pictures. He just recently quit and decided to go backpacking by himself so he decided to tag along with us. 

June 24th

Andrew, Molly, and I all started off the day at the London Tower...after eating fish and chips for lunch that was so good!. This is where the Kings and Queens once lived before Buckingham Palace. Here we saw the torture chambers, crown of jewels taht almost look fake they are worth so much, and learned about how people lived back then. This is the day we took a boat tour that was a package with our on and off bus tour and got pictures in front a big ben. Successful Day! 

June 25th

Molly and I went to the Piccadilly market and decided to meet up Andrew at the square for lunch. Little did we know there was a Jesus fest going on--we had entertainment while we ate. We went into the Musuem that is located there and looked at art. I was not having it due to the louve, orsay, vatican, and all the other grand museums I have seen. This one just didn’t do any justice but Andrew was loving life there. We walked to Buckingham Palace from there and saw where the queen lives, snapped some shots, then peaced. After having a hearty Subway dinner we went to the green man for happy hour and then never left. It was sad leaving Andrew, who became such a good friend, and all the other people at the hostel...until we found out that half of them lived in Dublin! With no phone we made tenative plans to hang out.

June 26th  London--> Dublin

Having a late start in the morning--it did not start of the travel day good. We lugged our back packs all the way to the tube and the tube never came...Cutting it close to the departure time we decided a taxi would be best. We told the taxi driver to put the pedal to the medal and get going! He got us there in like 8 minutes and we threw money at him and darted for the train station. We bareley made our train but we made it. We took a train to Holy, Head then had to take a fairy to Dublin’s port, then take a bus from there to the city center, then a taxi to our hostel. This trip took from 11:15 am- 7:45pm at night. I was a little worried about this hostel because like Amsterdam’s, this hostel was in perfect location, and. cheap. We got there and this hostel was very contemporary and perfect. Located right in the middle of Trinity College and Temple bar a.k.a like the best location. Room for 8 people but this one had its OWN bathroom. I about cried for joy when I saw this one. Sooo tired from the trip in we had dinner then went right to bed. 

June 27th 

We woke up early and decided to do the on/off bus around Dublin. Here we got off at Christs church, St. Patricks basilica, and the Dublin Castle. After we did the sight seeing all day, we made an appearance at Doyle’s bar. After buying some souvenirs, we were walking home and ran into our friends from the London hostel on the street. What a small world. He invited us over to dinner to their “mansion” for dinner, we accepted but were a little skeptical was his definitions of a mansion was. Their house is owned about their paint balling company and actually was REALLY nice. We had dinner there, and had a few drinks and headed home. One of them played a guitar so we sat outside and listened to him play on their patio that overlooks their golf-course. They are cool kids and will be my excuse to come back and visit Ireland again in the future :)!

June 28

This is the day where we did everything that we didn’t get a chance to do. Because we did the Heineken tour in Amsterdam, we decided to do Jameson whiskey tour over Guinness so we get a different setting. Here we met a guy that lives in Manhattan, and went to West Point traveling alone. He was so nice but considering we don’t have a phone--never saw him again. We shopped around O’Connel street and this is where we ran into our paint balling buddies selling on the street. They were so funny and the people loved them. They would say things like “Ever wanted to have a chance to shoot an ex-boyfriend? Now you can!” It was enjoyable watching them. We had dinner at Elephant Castle in Templebar where we had 25 wings! Being in Ireland 5 years ago, I remember the food being a lot better this time around. I think being in the city center had a lot to do with it. We really couldn’t do anything this night because our shuttle for the airport was at 3:30 am. Never book a 6:15am flight. Awful choice on our part. Our plan was at 6:40am which put us in Barcelona at about 10am. Then we had to take a train that took us to the metro. I found that trains are a lot better choice in the long run. They are longer than planes but from a train station you can catch a taxi where an airport can be more than an hour away from the city. Anyways, by the time we reached our hostel it was about 1pm. This time we splurged and got a room to our selves with our very own bathroom. It was so nice. By the end of the trip we were not happy about sharing and locking our luggage every night. We did not do much this day due to the colds we both got and just needed a rest. We had a very nice dinner but that was about it for this day.

June 30

We went into the city and did yet another bus tour to see the city of Barcelona. Some how we ended up at a mall by the beach but I wasn’t complaining. After seeing the rest of the city, we went home, changed, and went out for a nice dinner. After we returned to our hostel we met more people staying that were really nice and hung with them for a while until we were tired then we headed to bed.

July 1st

We woke up, went to breakfast which consisted of toast and cereal, what all hostels serve, and sat with out new friends. They were from Germany, Amsterdam, and Denmark. We made plans to go to the beach and spent all day there. It was beautiful. There was a breeze, it was nice and hot, and we just listened to the Denmark guy, Paul play music all day long......well until 3:00pm, the time we had to head back to the hostel to get our things and catch our flight :( We had to take a bus to the Airport in which we made successfully and hopped on a flight from Barcelona to Rome where we had to fly out due to our Study Abroad agreement. 

July 2nd

I am currently sitting here at the 24 hour bakery writing this whole blog because I didn’t have time to do it during the trip. We flew from Barcelona at 7:00pm- Rome 9:00pm. Now we are pulling an all-nighter so we will be able to sleep on our 10am 10 hour flight back home to Chicago. I want to go to bed so bed right now, but I know I will regret it so we are trying the best we can to stay awake. I can’t wait to land in O’Hare and Mom and Dad and finally get to turn on my phone!! The little joys in life. 

A taxi driver in Dublin told me this and it is so true: Traveling is a joy but at the end of the day there’s no place like home. 

Things that I have learned while backpacking:

It’s great having smaller groups--you make more friends. I was in Rome for way longer and never made as many friends as I did when I was in a city for only two days. Even with my parents you never really get to know people on a level where they will join you in your plans for the next day.

Hostels--I will always ALWAYS get a room for only the number of people that I am traveling with. I am done dealing with rude people shhing me when I am trying to pack in the dark for my 3:30 am shuttle to the airport. I will only stay in a hostel again if I can’t afford a hotel. 

The love of pop--All over Europe that have Coke, Coke-Light, Fanta, or Sprite. I like the United States for the 2394080 types of pop they have on any given day for any mood that your in. I miss mountain dew and expect mom and dad to bring me a case when they pick me up from the air port. 

The love of cats--They are everywhere! I loved it. When I was eating in Amsterdam a cat came up and sat on the chair next to me. I was in heaven. 

Coffee--In hostels the lack of (they only had instant. ew) and the little cups that are served everywhere that cost so much. 

The amount of traveling that I want to do still int he future. I want to go everywhere! Meeting these people and hearing about their country just makes me want to go!

How much I hate public transportation with a backpack. Having a humungous backpack is bad enough but  hitting people on the buses, and metros is not fun.