A whirlwind trip to Amsterdam

Tags

amsterdam, anne frank, backpacking, holland, red light district, travel

So it’s been almost a year since Danyka and I took our trip around Europe and this post is the last chapter of our journey!

After the breathtaking few days we spent in Switzerland our last stop before parting ways was in Amsterdam.

Getting to Amsterdam was an interesting experience. We flew out of a small airport outside of Interlocken, Switzerland and into Amsterdam. Apparently this route is not very popular because we had a 10 seat-er plane (and that includes the pilot and flight attendants!)

After a somewhat relaxing flight we arrived in Amsterdam and took the metro to the central station to meet up with an old friend, Freddy, whose family is from Holland.

Freddy managed to get us to our hostel so we could drop our bags off before taking us out to see the city.

By this point we were so hungry that my only request was food. We wandered some of the streets of Amsterdam, saw the beautiful canals, Freddy showed us a secret garden that he had found (more like stumbled into after one too many) one night and then we finally found an Italian restaurant to grab a bite in.

Catching up with old friends is always fun. Yet always dangerous when wine is involved. We proceeded to drink a couple too many glasses at the restaurant and the night got a little away from us…

The next day I’m sure you can guess was a little painful. We really struggled to get out of bed but forced ourselves because we hadn’t seen much of the city and it was our last day. This was the day of eating. Between every activity we stopped for food… Breakfast at the Hard Rock – Museum – Snack at a Pancake house – Museum – Break for some lunch – Red Light District… Finally we were just so tired we went back to the hostel, grabbed a bunch of snacks and watched a movie. Real cool… We know!

The Red Light District was a really interesting place. I’m not sure what I was entirely expecting but I don’t think I anticipated it being such a big large area. I felt uncomfortable walking down the narrow streets with the lights above the door windows – Not because I have any judgement on what these girls are doing but because I felt like it was their job and here we were as tourists walking through like it was a museum or something. We actually went into a museum that showcased what it was like for the girls in those windows and it made me think twice about walking down those roads again.

On another note, one of the highlights of Amsterdam was our stop at the Anne Frank House Museum. I’m pretty sure every kid in North America has read Anne Frank’s Diary growing up in school. I know I was saddened and fascinated by her story. So seeing the place her family hid in before they were taken was quite a weary experience. The door hidden as a bookshelf, the small rooms they stayed in all day and night… It was quite haunting. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting!

So that was Amsterdam. A short and sweet trip but I would definitely love to go back some day and see more of the city. Next time, I will try to not drink as much wine (no promises though!)

With Love,

CW

It is what it is

Tags

backpacking, family, fondue, friends, gimmelwald, gondola, hostel, interlocken, lauterbrunnen, mountains, murren, schilthorn, swiss alpes, switzerland, travel, views, village

I have been nervous yet excited to write this blog post since the very beginning of this journey. Our time in the magical villages outside of Interlocken in Switzerland was by far the most special part of our three week Europe trip. So, that being said, this blog might have a different tone than you’re used to.

After an exhausting few weeks on buses, trains, planes and everything in between we were beyond excited to get to Switzerland where our plans consisted of marvelling in all the glory that is the Swiss Alpes. Okay, there were a few other things on our to do list, but I’ll get to that later.

After a lost train ticket, 5am wake up call and 4 quick train rides we made it safely to the adorable village of Lauterbrunnen and our perfect little family run hostel.

Now, some of you may wonder how on Earth one finds out about a place as small as Lauterbrunnen. Well, let me tell you a little story…

Many, many years ago a beautiful young woman from New Brunswick and a charming young man from British Columbia met at the Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald, Switzerland (which is just a gondola ride up the mountain from Lauterbrunnen). It was in this perfectly quaint little Swiss Village that they lived, adventured and ultimately fell in love.

Why is this relevant to us you might ask? Well, that lovely couple was actually Danyka’s parents. And they did in fact meet in Gimmelwald many years before while they were both backpacking and staying at the Mountain Hostel. Danyka’s parents have been like second parents to me. They truly are some of the most amazing people in the world and I feel so fortunate that they have been so welcoming and kind to me all these years. So since the beginning planning stages of this European adventure we always knew that this was the one place we couldn’t miss.

Arriving at our hostel that afternoon we couldn’t have been more excited to get a room with a little loft where we would sleep. It was like our own private little apartment (minus the fact that it was just beds…) there was a picturesque window that looked out on the village and alpes that surrounded us. It was perfect.

That first night we headed across the street to the Oberland Restaurant where we proceeded to have the most amazing cheese fondue I’ve ever had… Seriously, it was like heaven. But better… And then the next day we geared up in our warmest attire, went to the store to stock up for a picnic and then hopped on the gondola to see where all that magic first happened.

Danyka had been looking forward to visiting the Mountain Hostel where her parents met pretty much her whole life, and I have to tell you, it was a pretty amazing thing to be a part of. Sadly, the hostel was closed for the winter but we did have the greatest little picnic outside with wine to commemorate the experience.

 

Though it was quite foggy we still took about a zillion pictures (don’t judge, you would have too!) and then we jumped back on the gondola and headed up to the next (and a bit larger) village of Murren where her parents had worked and hung out. We wandered around the town, went shopping, ice skating and then for another amazing dinner. After this first full day we decided to extend our stay in hopes that by Wednesday we would have clearer weather and be able to experience the real glory of the mountains that everyone had been so fondly talking about. And I am so glad that we did.

That day was probably one of the most perfect days of my life. It also happened to be January 22, which would have been my dad’s 59th birthday.

I lost my dad a few years ago to cancer, which as I’m sure you can imagine was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through. But if there was one thing my dad loved, it was the mountains. My brother and I grew up on the ski hill, learning to ski almost before we learned to walk. And that day it was as if the heavens opened up and my dad was shining down, taking it all in with us.

We took to gondola all the way up to the top of the Schilthorn (which is one of the highest peaks in Europe) and the views were absolutely breathtaking. There aren’t enough adjectives in the world to describe the beauty we saw that day. It was magical. We went to the revolving restaurant (where the James Bond movie was actually filmed) for breakfast where we toasted to my amazing dad on the mountain top.

Afterwards we just wandered around taking it all in and basking in the sunlight. Again, we took a million pictures. I think we both just wanted to remember every single moment. I think these photos sum it up pretty perfectly…

That day and those memories from Switzerland will stay with me forever. I’m so grateful that Danyka’s parents met there, that I met Danyka and that we were able to experience something so amazing together. It is something that I will always cherish.

With Love,

CW

In Loving Memory, RBW. 

Miss you always. Love you forever.

 

 

The hills are alive

Tags

austria, backpacking, church, julie andrews, lakes, mountains, movies, palace, panorama, salzburg, sound of music, tour, travel

So after an amazing day visiting the Bavarian countryside Danyka and I were just as (if not more than) excited to head to Salzburg, Austria for the Sound of Music tour.

I couldn’t wait to twirl in fields, skip across the benches in a gazebo and ogle over the beautiful mansion the Von Trapp’s lived in. Something like this…

Well, let’s just say, I didn’t quite spend the day being Maria.Again, the fog seemed to have other plans in mind and as we should all know by now, things aren’t exactly as they appear in movies. However, it was quite a cool experience and I can imagine that when the weather is cooperating, the sites are pretty amazing!

We took an early train into Salzburg and I instantly loved the city. It was beautiful, elegant and clean (which is something you come to appreciate when you travel). After a nice breakfast we met our tour guide at the Mirabell Gardens to start our tour.

First you drive around and see the bridge the children sing and dance across, the fountain Maria passes on her way to the Von Trapp family house at the beginning and the cemetery that the family hides in to escape the Nazi’s. I will never not laugh looking at the second photo below…

    

 

Next you arrive at Leopoldskron Palace (AKA: the Von Trapp house). You can’t go into the house but the tour stops on the other side of the lake so you can admire it from afar. Well, you can if there’s no fog. We could barely see it. But I kindly borrowed a photo from the tour site of what we were supposed to see. You’re welcome.

Up next the guide takes you to Hellbrunn Palace, which is where the famous gazebo now resides. I honestly have never been so excited. I wanted to run around the benches inside just like Liesel and sing “16 going on 17”. I know, I’m really cool. Much to all your dismay (I’m sure) I wasn’t actually able to do so. Apparently years before someone tried doing the exact same thing and fell and broke her leg (amateur… just kidding… kind of…) so now the gazebo is locked. You can rent the key for a whooping 300 Euro, which is done for special occasions and proposals but sadly not for lowly tour groups. Sigh. This didn’t stop Danyka and I from skipping around the outside singing anyway (I know you’re probably upset that you missed that Snapchat, I’m sorry).

Moving on.

Next you’re supposed to stop at a point on the mountain where you can see Nonnberg Abbey. I’m sure you can guess already that the fog prevented us from doing that. So I’m not going to dwell. You cannot go inside the abbey as it is still an active convent today but can visit the gothic church after hours if you’d like.

Now it was time to get out of the city and see some of the amazing Austrian views from the movie. First you stop in the Salzburg lake district where some of the picnic scenes and opening shots are taken. It is honestly so beautiful. Even if you’re aren’t a fan of Sound of Music (I mustn’t believe this to even be possible but IF…) then it’s still an amazing site to see and I wouldn’t definitely recommend it.

Before heading back to Salzburg the tour takes you to the quaint town of Mondsee where the Wedding Chapel is found. This town is so cute, with colourful buildings, little shops and of course, the beautiful church. We ended up meeting up with another girl (and soul sister) from the tour, Eileen, and had some lunch before heading back to Salzburg.

When we got back we headed over to the Mirabell Gardens (because you don’t actually see them on the tour)… This was the horse fountain from the movie that the kids skip around while singing Doe Rae Me. So of course, we did just that… I think it’s safe to say that it was a highlight of our day!

That pretty much summed up our Sound of Music tour. As I said, the fog kind of ruined our experience there but I’m sure if you have nice weather that it would have been everything we had been hoping for and something you wouldn’t want to miss. And I assure you, you don’t want to miss visiting Salzburg. It is really a beautiful city.

With Love,

CW

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Sleeping Beauty? You home?

Tags

backpacking, Bavaria, Castles, countryside, europe, friends, germany, Hohenschwangau, munich, Neuschwanstein, Photography, tours, travel

A couple years ago I bought a book on impulse at Chapter’s entitled “World’s Must See Destinations”. I became a bit obsessed with the book but there was always one destination that stood out: Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian countryside of Germany. So when Danyka and I were planning our trip this was my top ‘must see’.

Neuschwanstein Castle (translation: The ‘New Swanstone Castle’) is a 19th century palace located in above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in Bavaria, Germany. But what is really special about Neuschwanstein (at least if you’re a Disney fan) is that the Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland was modelled after this very castle. It’s pretty easy to see why, it’s absolutely magical.

We arrived at the train station to meet our tour guide, Blake, before heading off into the beautiful Bavarian countryside. Poor Blake. Out of the six girls on his tour, five of us were under 25 and from North America. We were very inquisitive, a little loud (okay maybe more than a little…) and all hungry at one point or another. Yikes!

The seven of us got on the train and headed off for our fairytale. We arrived in the small village and of course, all of us had to use the washroom. One interesting part of visiting Europe is that most often you have to pay 30p to use the public facilities. Luckily we pooled our resources and all managed to get into the washroom. Thank goodness!

The first stop of our tour was at the base of the Hohenschwangau Castle, which was originally built in the 12th century by medieval knights but was last occupied by King Maximilian II of Bavaria and his family. Maximillian’s eldest son, Ludwig II, spent much of his childhood in this castle where he lived a life mostly of make-belief. As he was quite isolated growing up and ignored by his father he became fascinated by fairytales, which later inspired the design of Neuschwanstein.

After learning a bit about this first castle we wandered up the hill to take a closer look. This castle is just a museum now so we skipped going in and just took a couple pictures outside. It was quite a chilly and foggy day but if you stand on the observation deck and look over to your left you can see the top of the Neuschwanstein castle through the forest.

Once we finished at Hohenschwangau we moved on and took a stroll through the forest surrounding the beautiful lake. I would definitely recommend doing this if you are to ever visit. We were the only ones of the path and it was so amazing and serene. There’s a little lookout with a bench and I could have just sat there for hours taking it all in.

After that it was time to see the castle we had all come for! It was quite the trek, but we made it! We got to the top and my goodness, was the it worth it. Such an amazing site to see. Unfortunately, Sleeping Beauty wasn’t home and the fog had started to settle around the castle, but we did manage to get a few minutes of admiring in before it was completely out of site.

The castle was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a homage to musical icon, Richard Wagner, and was a dedication of sorts to his childhood of make belief and fairytales. Sadly, Ludwig II didn’t finish the interior of the castle before his death in 1886. Because of the cost in building the castle the royal family was forced to open the castle immediately after his death to tourists to cover costs.

As the inside of the castle isn’t finished we chose to forgo a visit inside to instead take a walk behind the castle to a ‘secret’ pedestrian bridge where we could get some good photos. This was when we ran into a bit of trouble, the trail to the bridge was closed off due to weather restrictions with a big ‘CAUTION’ sign. But who listens to signs? We climbed up and around the gate and started our trek. It was definitely icy, there were a few ‘almost’-spills and three more gates to climb around but we ended up making it in one piece. Sadly, the fog has almost completely engulfed the castle by the time we reached the bridge so there wasn’t a whole lot to see. (That’s us below on the bridge…)

This is a definite must do if you visit. If you take the trail off to the right behind the castle up the hill and then left you’ll come to the Marien Brücke (Mary’s Bridge), which is named after Ludwig’s mother, Queen Mary of Prussia. However, a word of warning to those who are afraid of heights (like myself): the bridge is quite high and it can be a little bit scary! But I swear it is definitely worth it. The views of the castle are breathtaking and so is the surrounding scenery. And if I can make it out to the middle, I know you can too!

 

Overall it was a pretty perfect day. We had an awesome tour guide, met some lovely and hilarious girls and all got to live our little ‘fairytale’ for a day. So, if you ever find yourself in Munich or the surrounding area, I would definitely recommend visiting Neuschwanstein. It is truly an amazing site.

With Love,

CW

Prost! München.

Tags

bavarian, beer, germany, glockenspiel, Hofbräuhaus, hostel, munich, music, prost, ratskeller, travel

After a sleepless night on the train we were incredibly excited to get into Munich and find that our hostel was a mere 500 meters from the  train station. Like zombies we walked over to Wombats Hostel in hopes that by some miracle our rooms would be ready. Sadly, not quite… It was apparently a busy weekend in Munich and our room wouldn’t be ready until 2pm that day, which gave us a whooping 8 hours to kill until we could drift blissfully off to sleep.

We wandered around the hostel to find a couple nice couches in the common room that we could relax on for a bit. And by relax, I obviously mean sleep. We both fell asleep almost instantly, only to wake up in the middle of a room full of 16 year olds reciting their homework in German. We awkwardly got up and snuck back out to the reception area.

Not quite sure how to waste more time we decided to sign up for the Dachau tour that was leaving the hostel at 10am. A few minutes before the tour was set to start I decided to make a last minute trip to fill up our water bottles. I had barely open the first one when Danyka runs into the kitchen and tells me that the tour is leaving… Now.

Apparently our tour guide didn’t want to wait even a minute. We got back to reception and everyone was gone. We ran outside and looked both ways down the street but couldn’t see our guide or any of the 12 other people who had signed up. It was like they disappeared into thin air.

After realizing we were left behind we decided to wander out in search of some food. We made a wrong turn on the corner of sketchy and depressing and ended up completely lost and no where near any food. Feeling hangry (definition: grumpy due to intense hunger) we got in a cab and asked him to take us to the city centre.

This was more like it. Restaurants on every corner, cool buildings and neat little shops. After checking out one too many German restaurants without finding anything appealing (or that we could understand) we decided to have lunch at The HardRock Cafe. Now, most people would probably judge us. But sometimes, when you’re so far from home, you just want something that you know. And we didn’t regret it.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. We watched the Glockenspiel ring at noon, where all the little dancers come out of the clock (honestly, it was more creepy than anything). Then we went to the top of the Ratskeller, which had some amazing views of the city. Finally we wandered back to our hostel for a much needed nap.

Getting out of bed that evening was almost impossible. But we did it, it was a miracle! We headed back to city centre, grabbed a quick bite to eat and then set off for the famous Hofbräuhaus – an unreal beer hall in the centre of Munich.

After ordering our huge stein’s of beer we just sat an observed everything going on. It was such a cool place. Long picnic tables lined the whole place and everyone mixed and mingled with one another while the servers (dressed as Bavarian folk) came around selling giant pretzels. I really liked this place.

One thing you should know before visiting Germany is how to say ‘cheers’ in German. When our server brought over our huge stein’s we shouted “Prost”, clinked our glasses and took a sip. Now I have to say, those steins are heavy. Who needs to lift weights when you can carry one of those around all night? I don’t know how the servers carried whole trays of them – it was nuts!

After finishing our first beer we decided to switch locations to sit closer to the traditional band that was playing in the other part of the room. We found a little booth behind them and sat down when the owner of the Hofbräuhaus and a few of the musicians not playing sat down and joined us. To say there was a communication gap would be a bit of an understatement… We couldn’t really figure out what anyone was saying so we just nodded and smiled. All in good fun, right?

That concluded our first day in Munich. To be honest, our lack of sleep probably affected our feelings towards the city that day. It wasn’t one of our favourites but it was definitely an experience.

On the agenda for tomorrow, the Bavarian countryside and the Neuschwanstein Castle. I couldn’t be more excited!

With Love,

CW

 

 

Overnight trains are no laughing matter

Tags

bunk beds, florence, germany, laughter, munich, trains, travel

So, as I mentioned in my last post we decided to take an overnight train from Florence to Munich. Partially because we thought it would be a cool experience but also to save some dolla bills from not having to book a hostel.

We had a really hard time trying to figure out what train to book and what cabin to get so we visited a travel agent in Rome to help us out. She was absolutely amazing and helped us book a reasonably priced six-bed female room onboard a German National Train. However, I’m still not convinced it was our most brilliant idea…

After a long and exhausting (okay, slightly hungover) day in Florence we were incredibly excited to settle into our beds on the train and drift off into a peaceful slumber… But things didn’t quite go as planned…

First off, the corridors on those overnight trains are tiny and trying to get through them with our huge backpacks on was a challenge in itself. We ended up trying to squish through three train cars before finding our bunks.

Upon arriving at our designated cabin we open the door to find a family of four already in the room and leaving us the two middle bunks. I honestly thought it was a joke…

A train staff member (who we are going to refer to as Mister Grumpy Pants) came around and was trying to usher us into the room as we were trying to explain to him that we had specifically booked a female room. Problem with trying to explain something to someone who doesn’t speak any English is that you end up basically playing charades.

Thankfully, I really nice man who spoke both English and German came to our rescue and acted as a translator for us. Mister GP was not pleased with us at all but eventually agreed to let us in to an unoccupied room while stressing that we would be getting more roomies throughout the journey to Munich. No problem right?

We get to our cabin (if you could even call it that) and immediately burst out laughing. Mister GP clearly did not find any of it amusing… But man, was that thing tiny. We could barely navigate the room with two of us. There were a lot of “excuse me’s” and “pardon me’s” going around.

Then Danyka ditched me to go wash up for bed and of course while she’s out Mister Grumps decides to stop by. Without knocking he barges in and starts yelling at me in German (I assume he was yelling, though it was kind of hard to tell). We started again with the charades before he got frustrated and stormed off. I gathered that he was trying to tell me that we were going to be getting new roommates and couldn’t leave our things on other bunks (duh) so I moved everything under the beds before he returned.

Not even 5 minutes later he comes back with a female employee, who also didn’t speak any English, and they both tried to act out what I had already figured. So I naturally got right into the game and used some impressive miming skills to let them know I understood. After that he took our passports (sketchy right?) and left.

Once the drama was over Danyka returned and we crawled into our beds. Immediately after laying down we both burst out laughing again. This was just too funny and we were just way too tired.

The rest of the night was a frustrating blur. The beds were too short and the room was uncomfortably hot. The train lurched to a stop every hour and we left the light on for the roommates that were supposed to join us, but never did. Needless to say we didn’t get much sleep that night and definitely weren’t laughing in the morning. I think we ended up becoming Miss Grumpy Pants…

Looking back it was definitely an experience I’ll always remember. But to be honest, I think I’ll steer clear from booking overnight trains in the future… The really are no laughing matter.

With Love,

CW

Florence in a day

Tags

backpacking, bridge, cathedral, florence, friends, italy, michelangelo, pasta, ponte vicchio, travel

We couldn’t very well travel to Italy and not at least take a short stopover in Florence. Danyka’s brother insisted that we would love it, and was he ever right! Though I have to say… I wish we had been able to stay forever.

Florence is one of the most romantic cities I’ve ever been to. So it’s only fitting Danyka and I visited together (ferris wheel rides, candlelit dinners and all that other stuff we have a tendency to enjoy… it’s okay, we are worried about our future love lives too…)

Moving on… We decided to take an early morning train from Rome to Florence, spend the day in Florence and take the overnight train to Munich. So we got straight to work as soon as we got into the city and set off to explore.

Our first stop, Piazzale Michelangelo, was recommended by our awesome travel agent. The square was built in the mid-1800s in dedication to the famous sculptor, Michelangelo (duh). And I have to say that it showed off absolutely stunning views of the city. We were in awe and in true C & D fashion took a billion photos there. In all fairness, you probably would too.

Next up it was time for lunch. We wandered back down to the city centre to find a good lunch spot. After randomly selecting side streets we ran smack into Florence Cathedral, also known as Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The cathedral had some of the most interesting and beautiful detailing. It was unlike any other church we had seen (and trust me, we saw plenty!) This photo doesn’t even do it justice.

It was a bright and sunny day so we chose a little Italian restaurant close by and sat outside on the patio. When ordering our server convinced Danyka to stray from her favourite pasta dish to try this ‘delicious’ fancy pasta. It ended up looking like this:

No further explanation necessary…

After lunch we went into the cathedral to look around. The inside wasn’t incredibly exciting and was a little bare to be honest but I did get to light a candle for my pops, which is a tradition I have when I go in any new church. For those who have travelled with me they know I have a fascination with churches and so for the past few years every time I’ve gone in one I light a candle in memory of my dad.

Following our venture in the church we got gelato (obviously) and wandered the streets of downtown Florence before heading over to Ponte Vecchio. This famous bridge spans over the Arno river in the middle of Florence but is famous for having shops built all across it. It was actually pretty neat and of course, gorgeous (I’m going to have to find some more synonyms for beautiful…but it really was). I think it was especially enchanting at night with all the lights reflecting off the water.

Our last stop of the day was for dinner at a another little Italian restaurant. By that time I had just about had enough of carbs (never thought you’d hear me say that hey?) So I decided to order a caesar salad instead… Poor life choice. It was absolutely terrible and I just couldn’t eat it. Not wanting to be rude I did what any normal adult would do: I put my napkin on my lap and tried to subtly brush the salad onto the napkin and then disposed of it in the bathroom. Danyka was on patrol duty to make sure our server didn’t notice… True team work right there.

Though we didn’t have long in Florence we absolutely loved the city. I now understand why everyone that goes there gushes about it, there’s just something so special about it.

After an early morning and a long day we were quite excited to get on our overnight train to head to Munich, though the ride was not exactly what we were anticipating… But that’s a whole other story. So, until next time…

With Love,

CW

What dreams are made of

Tags

colosseum, europe, friends, gelato, italy, rome, spanish steps, st peters, trattoria, travel, trevi fountain, vatican

I have been dreaming of visiting Rome since I was a little girl and the Lizzie McGuire movie came out (hence the title of this post for those of you who live under a rock). Then I grew up a bit and fell in love with Roman Holiday and was even more excited about the prospect of visiting one day. I think I live in la-la-land sometimes…

Although we only had three days in Rome we managed to see quite a bit and really fell in love with the city. What’s not to love about pasta, wine and gelato? Nothing, that’s what.

Rome was a dream. I could go on forever about how wonderful it is but I’ll try to refrain and tell you about my top 10 favourite experiences in Rome. Ready?

Uno: (Like what I did there? Counting in Italian…I’m pretty cool…) The Colosseum. This historical amphitheatre was the first historical stop on our tour of the city. When we arrived we were quite disappointed as the entire one side of the building was under construction… But it really didn’t end up mattering! We decided to book in with a tour to get the full experience of the place and it was definitely worth it. I’m pretty sure I have a photo from every single angle of the inside of that thing…

Due: The Yellow (AKA: Our Hostel). It was probably my favourite hostel of our entire trip. The staff were super duper friendly, the bar was a blast and the location was perfect. Just a few blocks from Termini station we had all of Rome basically at our fingertips. Our second night after dinner we decided to have another drink in the bar before calling it and ‘early night’… Good one. We ended up meeting some of the most amazing people and stayed out until wee hours of the morning before making plans to meet up the next night. Needless to say we were all a little worse for wear the next day…

Tre: The Trevi Fountain. I know it seems like an overrated tourist attraction but it was actually so amazingly beautiful. The detail in the statues was amazing and seeing all the different people form all over the world taking turns throwing their change over their shoulder to make a wish… Well, it was pretty neat! We tried to take a photo of us throwing our change over our shoulder (throw it with your right hand over your left shoulder) and though Danyka was an ace, I managed to block my face in every shot. It took about 5 tries for me to actually get it. I’m special.

Quattro: San Crispino. This little gelato shop was just a quick 2-minute walk from the fountain and had some of the most AMAZING gelato I had every tasted. And trust me, I’ve done the leg work. The New York Times has even raved about their stuff so you know it’s gotta be good!

Cinque: The Spanish Steps. With gelato in hand we wandered through the streets from the Trevi Fountain to the Spanish Steps. The steps themselves weren’t that exciting but I loved the artists that all set up at the top. They had some pretty breathtaking prints and I honestly wanted to buy them all! The view from the top of the steps is also unreal. Although, a warning for anyone visiting: there are men that roam the steps with roses and will tell you that you are ‘beautiful’ and all that jazz and will proceed to give you roses, insisting they don’t want money but just think you are so ‘bello’. Then they offer to take your photo and proceed to stalk you around the stairs asking you for money. Long story short: don’t accept roses! This isn’t the Bachelor.

Sei: Trattorina Tritone. After our first full day in Roma we wanted to have a nice dinner out. After reading a bunch of reviews we found the cute restaurant we had passed earlier that day. It had beautiful lights and vines all over the front so we decided to try it out! (we had a tendency to choose places to eat that had pretty lights on the outside… And it actually always turned out really well!) This restaurant was so perfect. Our waiter was so funny, the food was AMAZING and there was live music too. But the very best part was that our waiter sang while he grated our parmesan. It was the greatest. We spent 4 hours there drinking wine, chatting with the servers and enjoying WAY too much food. Probably one of the best meals we had!

Sette: The Sistine Chapel. You hear all about this Apostolic chapel and see so many different photos but being in there is something entirely different. It was truly incredible. Especially the ceiling that has a ‘3D’ effect to it. The ceiling is what has made the chapel so famous. Painted by Michelangelo in the early 1500s there really are no words describe it! And for those who don’t know, you’re not supposed to talk or take pictures in the Chapel, for respect purposes I would imagine. Well, not everyone is very good at listening… There was a young Chinese man standing in the back of the Chapel taking photos with his iPad (subtle right?!) and our tour guide went over and told him to stop. Apparently he didn’t understand her and proceeded to take photos. When the guards came over he started yelling at them. Quite the experience… Then we got to see him practically dragged out of there… I have to admit, I was a little amused!

Otto: St. Peter’s Basilica and the Cupola. Now I wish our tour of the Vatican had taken us into the Basilica because we ended up being left on our own and I had really wanted to learn more about the history, but oh well! We wandered through the cathedral for a while before paying to go up the Cupola (the dome on top of the Basilica). You can pay 5 euro and walk all 500 and some steps or you can take the elevator and walk 320 steps. Well, we were in rough shape after a night out with our hostel pals so we opted for the elevator. Let me tell you, those 320 steps were enough, we almost died! It probably didn’t help that we were running up the stairs to catch the views before the sunset. If I could suggest one thing to do in Rome, this would be it. It was absolutely breathtaking. I was speechless. I can’t say enough about it, just go and see it for yourself. You won’t be sorry!

Nove: Our awesome new friends. As I mentioned our second night in Rome we decided to have a drink at the bar when we met two brothers from Australia and got to chatting. They were so nice and funny! Shortly after sitting down two girls that were going to school in Galway, Ireland joined us – one Irish and one American. These were honestly some of the nicest and funniest people I have ever met and we made plans to hang out the next night. Even though I struggled with some brutal hangovers from this crew it was definitely a highlight of our trip!

Deici: Sharing it all with Danyka. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience and to share it with my best friend (really more like my sister) was truly a gift (not to get sappy or anything…) We got to experience my ‘dream city’ together and it is something I will cherish for the rest of my life.

So that was Rome. Absolutely a dream come true. And although I didn’t find my Pablo (again, Lizzie McGuire Movie reference… I’m sorry) I loved the city so much. It was everything and more than what I had expected.

So, until next time Roma (and there will be a next time).

With Love,

CW

Luck of the Irish

Tags

backpacking, beer, blarney, castle, cork, drinks, dublin, europe, friends, guinness factory, ireland, Photography, temple bar, travel

So after an amazing time back in Canada for the holidays I was lucky enough to have one of my best friends come back to Europe with me. Danyka is my sister from another mister and we had been planning a three week backpacking trip for the past few months and the time was finally here!

Now let me tell you, trying to ‘see’ Europe in three weeks is a challenge, but we managed to make it to 8 – yes you heard me – 8 countries in 21 days. (You can go ahead and be impressed now). These next few posts are going to recount our amazing adventures as we navigated some of the most breathtaking countries either of us had ever seen.

Now I’m a planner. I have an agenda that I keep everything in – A friend in University asked me if I even scheduled pee breaks in there… (I don’t, in case you were wondering…) So I was going to ‘live on the edge’ and we were only going to book our first two stops. Go me, right?

First stop: Dublin.

Arriving in Dublin I didn’t really have too many big expectations. The only things I really had on my list of to do’s were the Guinness Factory (clearly I have my priorities straight) and kissing the Blarney Stone (to get some of that Irish luck you hear so much about). Other than that I was pretty open to whatever experiences Dublin wanted to give me… And boy did we have some experiences.

We got into Dublin early Friday morning and immediately dropped our bags off at Issac’s Hostel, where we would be staying in a mixed dorm for the next two nights. Now, I’m fine sharing a room with guys, gals… anyone really. But of course, we get bunked up with a Backstreet Boy. This guy used SO much cologne that we thought we were going to die from the fumes. The one night he came in and spritzed himself 42 times! Who does that?? It’s called a shower buddy…

Anyway… Back on track.

We headed out and did my favourite thing to do in any new city: bought tickets for the tacky red tourist bus! I know most people think they are lame, but it really is a great way to see everything and it also works great as your public transportation!

The first stop we got off at was for the Dublin Castle, which I didn’t even know existed but was pretty neat. We had tea and took #selfies in the obscenely large mirrors that decorated the place before heading back out in search of Saint Patricks Cathedral.

Our last stop that day was the Guinness Factory. It was awesome. Mostly because entrance came with free beer. We wandered around the 5 floors of the place pretending to be really interested in what makes up their beer before getting to the tasting room. After that we finished off in the Sky Terrace bar where we took in the city lights while enjoying our free drink.

Saturday was by far the best. We got up bright and early (a reoccurring theme on this trip as you will later learn) and headed off on our tour to Blarney Castle. I was really excited about this because the past summer I had seen photos of my Grandma and her friends kissing the stone and after she passed away I was excited to follow her footsteps.

We stopped in the adorable town of Cork on our way to the castle and we wandered through the market and took a random ferris wheel ride in the middle of the city. For those of you who don’t know Danyka and I, we have a weird obsession with taking romantic ferris wheel rides together… I’m not sure why.

Getting to the castle was magical. It was a beautiful day;  the grass was misty from the overnight rain and there was a subtle fog that surrounded the base of the castle. It was really neat being in a castle that old. Only the partial stone walls remained and I had to constantly remind myself that people had once lived there.

Once we had wandered through the downstairs room we started the trek up to the top where we could kiss the stone. Now, I’m incredibly impressed that my 80-year-old Grandma was able to climb those stairs. They were so narrow and there were a lot of them! When we finally reached the top I was totally out of breath (I counted that as my cardio for the day).

Now, kissing the stone was not at all what I was expecting. You have to lean back over a hole hundreds of meters above the ground, which they do not tell you in the visitor guide. They really do make you work for that ‘good luck’. Naturally, I was terrified. I made Danyka go first and then after whining and panicking I leaned back, gripped the guy for dear life and kissed the stupid stone. I probably contracted some kind of disease from the millions of people that had gone before me.

Fun fact: kissing the Blarney Stone is the most unsanitary tourist attraction in the world, in case you were wondering. 

Our last stop on the tour was Cobh, which was the last port that the Titanic departed from before sinking. By the time we made it here we were both so tired, hungry and cold that we just found a little cafe and had a cup of tea.

After sleeping all four hours on the bus trip back (another trend you will notice with me and transportation) we ran back to our hostel to change before meeting my flat mate Dan and his girlfriend, Kelly, at Temple Bar.

Temple Bar is the trendy area of Dublin and also the name of a famous bar. We walked in and could barely move… The place was packed! We managed to find a seat on the heated patio and got some drinks. We had a great last night in Dublin enjoying each others company, making fun of Dan’s ‘Hunter Hayes’ impressions and drinking Guinness – just like the Irish (they actually drink Guinness, right?)

Then it was time to say goodbye to Dublin. To be honest, after the rain, wind and cold that engulfed us on our last day we were pretty excited to head off to a warmer destination.

See you soon, Roma!

With Love,

CW

Acting like ‘children’ in Glasgow

Tags

cathedral, foodie, friends, glasgow, restaurants, scotland, travel, uk

Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, is home to the GoMA, People’s Palace, Glasgow Cathedral and evidently a few sketchy people. In our short 3 days in the city my friend, Diana, and I were able to see breathtaking sights, experience amazing cuisine and even went clubbing in the basement of a church. And although there were a few interesting incidents that left me a little baffled, Glasgow moved to the top of my list for ‘favorite city in the UK’, so far…

We arrived in the city early Friday morning and immediately caught the express bus going into city centre. As I was taking in the beautiful scenery passing by, Diana was watching the GPS on her phone as we got further and further away from our hotel… turns out our hotel was the opposite direction about half an hour outside the city. We got off the bus at the first stop and found a café to sit in while we figured out our lives. Luckily, Diana pulled off some impressive acting to our original hotel and we were able to cancel and rebook one closer to the fun. Thank you, Diana!

After dropping our bags off at the adorable Merchant City Inn we went out and wandered around the city. Checking out the GoMA before making our way to the Willow Tea Rooms. This famous tearoom was unreal. From the décor, to the scones to the plethora of tea options, I was in tea-heaven.

With no plans that night we wandered around Merchant City and found a cute Spanish restaurant called Pancho Villas to eat dinner at. We then proceeded to Bar 91 for some drinks where we met a lovely middle-aged couple from the city. They were telling us of their experiences in Cancun that past spring when they declared: “you Canadians sure can drink!” Sadly, this isn’t the first time we had heard a statement like this…

The next day we were up bright and early to get some more sightseeing in.  We walked over to the Barras Market, which is supposed to be famous. Now, I’m not sure if someone was joking when they said this or if we just missed the good stuff but it was more like a garage sale than a vintage market…we gave it all of 5 minutes and then headed off to see People’s Palace.

Lord Rosebery opened people’s Palace in 1898 for the people of Glasgow, specifically those who were living in poverty in the East End. Today it is a museum about the city but definitely designed more for the kids…so naturally I had a great time there.

After having our fun in the palace it was time for a much-needed pint of beer so we crossed the park to WEST Brewery. Shortly after sitting down and ordering a drink we started chatting with a presumably friendly man at the bar. He bought us another beer and a glass of whiskey (not my favorite combination) and started telling us about himself and the city. We told him we had reservations at this famous restaurant that night and he proceeded to recommend to us different dishes that he had tried there the night before. Prior to leaving we agreed to meet up with him for a drink after dinner so he could show us around Byres Road and Ashton Lane (the trendy area of the city).

Before heading back to the hotel for dinner we stopped by Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis Cemetery. The Cathedral is stunning. It’s not overly glamorous like some churches in Europe but its gothic architecture is super neat and definitely worth seeing. As well as the Victorian built cemetery, Necropolis, which has some of the most incredible tombs and statues built within its walls.

Next up was dinner at the famous Ubiquitous Chip restaurant on Ashton Lane. And it’s no wonder it’s famous. The ambience is breathtaking; with brick walls, cherry blossom trees and twinkling lights, it feels as though you’ve stepped into magical woods. The service was incredible, the food was to die for and wine was superb. And fun fact: we ended up getting our entire £200 meal for free, yes you heard me right – free! But this was when things started to get a little weird…

First: Nothing that the guy had suggested to us was actually on the menu, and seeing as how he had been there the night before it seemed highly unlikely that the menu had just changed

Second: Diana gets a Facebook friend notification from him with a message saying that we must have gotten our phone numbers mixed up but he was looking forward to seeing us…We had never given him our last names… (Facebook creeping at it’s finest?)

Third: We go to leave the restaurant and he comes running out of the pub next-door yelling “ladieeeeees”, we proceed inside with him and see that he’s being hanging out there alone waiting for us

Forth: We’re inside and talking to him with another lady and he keeps going on and on about his life when the lady turns to Diana and says “he’s full of [insert inappropriate ‘s’ word here]

Diana then proceeds to put on some more impressive acting and gets us the heck out of there. As we are leaving the bartender follows us out to see if we are okay and tells us that the guy seems off. The bouncer offers to kick him out but we decided to just go into the crowded bar across the street. Sadly, not quite the end…

The bar ended up being too crowded so we chose the one next to it and went in. We had barely stepped inside when we hear again “ladieeeeeees” … our ‘pal’ comes over and tells us he’s going to get us drinks. That’s when Diana looks at me and in a no-nonsense voice says, “run!”

We booked it out of the bar and across the street into another bar and hid behind a corner. Of course, two minutes later he finds us and proceeds to spend the next five minutes yelling at us and shouting, “you act like children” whilst making wide sweeping motions with his arms and practically spitting on us. Not wanting to set him off like a lion on its prey we avoided eye contact and just kept nodding our heads. Finally we said “sorry, we just want some time alone” and with another “you act like children” he stormed off.

I’m happy to say that our night got exponentially better from there! We made friends with a group of normal guys from the city and they brought us to a sweet club in the basement of a church. We danced until the wee hours of the night like we had all been friends for years before dragging our tired butts to bed at 5am.

It’s easy to say that Glasgow was quite the experience: breathtaking sights, amazing cuisine and like I said, evidently some sketchy people. But for the one sketchy guy, we met at least 8 really lovely people and I think it’s safe to say our overall experience was pretty amazing.

Now I need to take my “child” self to get some homework done.

With Love,

CW