7 cities, 10 Days, & 1 Backpack

**It has taken me so long to write this post because I was trying to figure out the best way to write it without boring my readers. I am trying really hard not to ramble on, while also writing about my entire experience.**

Oh the things you can see with a Eurail Pass & a backpack.

I randomly had 10 days within my semester with no classes so 2 friends and I decided it was time to explore more of Europe. We decided we wanted to see as many cities as possible within our 10 days. There are pros and cons to this travel mentality.We understood that we would be moving fast and that we would not get to fully experience each place, but we also knew we had a very flexible schedule. We knew we had to leave for Zagreb, Croatia on October 30th and return to Zagreb by November 9th. The time in between was very questionable. After much consideration we came up with the following itinerary:

Vienna, Austria                                                                                                          
Prague, Czech Republic
Berlin, Germany                                                                                              
Amsterdam, Holland                                                                                               
Bruges, Belgium                                                                                                       
Paris, France                                                                                                           
Munich, Germany

After repacking about 5 times I finally fit everything into 1 backpack…after 10 days that 1 backpack turned into a backpack, a purse, and 3 shopping bags. My one argument for the extra shopping bags is that we bought winter clothes which are very bulky…

Vienna, Austria                                                                                                         
Vienna is a city full of history, but it wasn’t a city that appealed to me very much. In our short time there we visited the Museum Quarter and Schönbrunn Palace. We also found H&M and Forever 21 (keep in mind we do not have any retail stores in Dubrovnik, so we were in heaven). The highlight of my time in Vienna was walking through trails of colorful leaves and actually being able to play in them.

Prague, Czech Republic                                                                                                 
I never thought I could fall in love with a city on a rainy day, but Prague proved me wrong. The Gothic architecture, the St. Charles bridge, the Prague Castle, the John Lennon Wall and the sunset over the Vltava River were all fabulous! We ate the most delicious lunch in the oldest medieval tavern in Prague. Just imagine the taste of grilled bacon wrapped plums and rotisserie chicken. We also tried local goulash, which was just alright. Our train to Berlin was at 4:00 AM and the hostel was nice enough to let us hangout in the lounge until we had to leave for the train station. When we got to the train station around 3:00 AM we were informed that our train was delayed until 6:00 AM. Our only option was the sleep in the train station for 3 hours until it was time to leave. Well my friend Tom got very comfortable sleeping on the ground so he pulled out his eye mask and fell asleep right away. My friend Makenzie and I on the other hand were a little ashamed to be sleeping in the train station so instead we stayed awake and counted how many people stopped and stared at sleeping Tom. Eventually we all fell asleep and woke up to police men shaking us asking if we were homeless. It was a very interesting experience and definitely one for the books.

Berlin, Germany                                                                                                         
I was told that in order to experience Berlin correctly, you must experience nightlife, which we did not. We wanted to split the long train ride between Prague and Amsterdam so we figured why not spend the day in Berlin. It was really cold and rainy. We went to a local festival and tried mulled wine, which is a warm red wine mixed with spices. At the festival there was a big snow mound so Makenzie and I decided it would be fun to go tubing down it and we were right! Later that day I met up with my friend/mentor Jess who was in Berlin for a conference. She introduced me to her friends and we ate at the most delicious Indian restaurant where we all ordered way too much food. I’ll have to go to Berlin another time and spend a couple days exploring what the city truly offers.

Amsterdam, Holland                                                                                           
Amsterdam was my favorite stop during the trip. No, not for the reasons most people think of when they picture Amsterdam. It is a chic and beautiful city with so much to experience. The canals, hundreds of bikes, and awesome buildings made it hard not stop and stare at the landscape every where we walked. We were thankful enough to be able to stay with a friend of a friend who had an awesome apartment walking distance from everything in the city. He cooked us a fantastic dinner and let us taste a bourbon that was as old as us. We also visited the Anne Frank House which was as moving as expected. Our friend Tom went home while, Makenzie and I continued out journey across Europe. When it was time to head to the train station we walked through the Red Light District, but it was during a football game so the windows were all empty. Upon arriving to the train station we realized the train we needed to take to Bruges required a reservation, which we did not have. Eventually we figured a way around the system by using local trains, which gave us an extra hour in Amsterdam. Within that hour we were able to have one last adventure.

Bruges, Belgium                                                                                                        
Bruges can be described as the Venice of the north. It is a very cute quaint town with a lot of personality. Since our train schedule was revised in Amsterdam we did not arrive in Bruges until 2:30 AM. It was raining and the city looked like a ghost town; we were the only 2 people walking down the streets. We arrived to our hostel only to find that the front door was locked. After about 45 minutes of knocking on the door, ringing the doorbell, and calling 3 phone numbers we finally gave up. We continued walking down the empty streets and found 1 hotel that had its lights on. Parkhotel, a 4-star hotel, ended up saving us for the night. At this point we were definitely living for the stories and not our wallets. Even though we were only there for a short time it was nice sleeping in comfortable beds and having hot showers. The next day we spent hours exploring the streets and taking pictures of all the cool houses with different color doors. The little boy below was making fun of us for one of our photo shoots so he decided to jump in and pose against the door for us. Our day in Bruges ended with a Belgium beer tasting. When we asked for the menu we were handed a thick book and hardly knew what to do with it. In the end the waitress suggested we taste the different beers on tap, which included 2 beers that were only brewed in that bar. We agreed that the coconut beer was the best.

Paris, France                                                                                                                     
Paris wasn’t originally on our itinerary, but we somehow made our way there. I did not have very high expectations for Paris, which I think was for the best. Paris kind of reminded me of Rome with all the tourists and big monuments and museums. We were planning on staying in Paris for 1 night, but because of our poor planning with train reservations we ended up spending an extra night there. Paris didn’t appeal to me for the typical tourist attractions, but instead the delicious cuisine and interesting people I met along the way made Paris one of my most memorable stops. My favorite part of Paris was definitely exploring Montmartre and all it had to offer. Also, finding Chipotle on our walk to the train station was sadly one of the happiest moments of my trip.

Munich Germany                                                                                                         
We only had a 5 hour layover in Munich, but we explored as much as we could. Since it was Sunday everything was closed except for a couple restaurants. We decided to act like the locals and enjoy some Munich beer. When we walked into the restaurant we thought everyone would judge us for wanting to try Munich beer so early in the morning, but every person in the restaurant had a stein in front of them. The bartender was from New York and helped us enjoy our short time in Munich by explaining everything Munich had to offer that we were unable to see. Although I didn't truly experience Munich, the parts that I saw were awesome and I am really excited to visit again in the future.

Prettiest cities: Amsterdam, Prague, Bruges                                                               
Best food: French onion soup (Paris), local sausage in Vienna                                      
Best drink: Zwettler (Vienna)                                                                                        
Coolest Cafe: Cafe in Montmartre, Paris                                                                            
Best train ride: Zagreb> Vienna and Munich>Zagreb both had beautiful views            
Worst train station experience: Sleeping on the floor of the Prague train station         
Best hostel: Regent Hostel (Paris)                                                                            
Favorite item purchased: Scarf from Amsterdam                                                      
Where I want to go back to: Amsterdam, Prague, Munich                                       
Where I will least likely will go back to: Vienna

Within 10 days we visited 7 cities and 6 countries. We ate as much food as possible and saw as many cities as possible. I had an amazing time, but I will probably never do a trip that fast ever again. I now know that I would rather truly experience a city than just check cities off the list.

A Spontaneous Trip to Montenegro

The most memorable moments in life are the moments unplanned

Originally I was supposed to be going to Skopje, Macedonia and Sofia, Bulgaria this weekend, but when I went to the bus station Thursday night to get the bus to Skopje I was told no such bus exists. Most of my friends were going to Rome this weekend and I had a 4 day weekend so I figured I'd travel to some cool places alone. So on Friday morning I went to the bus station to find a bus that was leaving and I hopped on a bus to Podgorica, Montenegro. I was told Podgorica wasn't the nicest of cities, but I figured I'd go somewhere inland to experience something a little different and different is exactly what I got.

The bus ride to Podgorica was beautiful. We rode along the coast and through the mountains and saw the sunset. But once the sun was down the sky was pitch black. The bus arrived in Podgorica around 7:30PM and of course I got lost walking to the hostel. I love staying in hostels because it gives you the chance to meet he most interesting people and boy did I meet some interesting people in Hostel Podgorica.

The typical first conversation between fellow travelers is "Where are you from?" "What city did you come before here?" "Why are you in (Insert current city)?" "Where are you going next?"

I was staying in a 5 bed mixed room and there were only 2 other beds occupied. They were 2 guys from Moscow named Nikita and Elias. They explained to me that they are from Moscow, but their families are part of a very small community that has their own language and own culture. They then explained that they are came to Montenegro because it is a better place than Moscow and they hope to stay there forever. They said they want to start some kind of "society"...I didn't ask for details because I didn't think it was in my best interest to know. They then pointed to some animal bones that were lying next to the bed. Originally I thought they were just some decoration from the hostel, but turns out they found the bones at the Albanian border (yes, I took a selfie with the bones when they left the room). While they seemed to be hiding some details of their journey and their background they were super nice and very engaging. They asked me questions about the United States and they even asked me my opinion of the NSA. I tried to keep all my answers as neutral as possible. Before we went to sleep Elias reached in his pocket, pulled out a Russian Ruble, and tossed it to me telling me to remember my new friends. In return I gave him a Croatian Kuna. While my new "friends" were definitely hiding something, they made my visit to Podgorica worth it. It was a very quite and boring city so in the morning a caught the first bus to Kotor.

It's funny how a simple question to a couple strangers can turn into a friendship. There were 2 girls sitting in front of my on the bus to Kotor and I asked them where they were coming from. That question led to a conversation that was held for the entire bus ride. Lily and Stella are both studying abroad in Paris and were headed to Kotor then Dubrovnik.

Once I arrived to Old Town Hostel Kotor the guy at reception asked me if I was only staying for 1 night and when I confirmed that statement he laughed and said "you know you're going to stay for more than 1 night, right?" I laughed, grabbed my keys, and dropped my bags off in my room. Kotor is almost like a smaller version of Dubrovnik. It has a small Old Town and is on the sea. I explored the city for a while and then decided to climb to the fortress at the top of the mountain before sunset. The fortress is 1350 steps up to Castle of San Giovanni (St John) that offers a fabulous birds-eye-view of the Old Town.

The next morning I packed my bags, returned my keys, and before my bus took off I went with Lily and Stella to try out a highly recommended local lunch joint. What we thought was going to be a restaurant turned out to be a butcher shop with a grill inside of it. The owner asked us if we were hungry and if we ate meat. Both answers of course were YES! Within minutes the man brought us 3 plates of deliciousness. The flavors were like nothing I have ever tasted before.

During our wonderful meal Stella and Lily were discussing visiting Budva for the day. Budva is another coastal town not too far from Kotor. I decided to miss my bus and explore Budva with them. I went back to the hostel, asked for my keys back, and dropped my bags off again. Nikola was right and I ended up staying a total of 3 nights. He even tried to convince me to stay a 4th night because the hostel has a deal when you book 3 nights you get your 4th night free, but I had to leave the 4th day to make it to class. Budva was was a nice town, but it was very small. We spent most of our time sitting on the beach listening to Russian tourists sing songs and play guitar.

 That night the hostel cooked dinner for all the guests and it was a very tasty free meal. During dinner I met Alan Isaacs. I know I have said that I already met the most interesting people, but everyone I meet is worth describing as the most interesting. Picture a bigger version of Bob Marley, with mannerisms that remind you of friendly people from he Caribbean. Alan was actually born and raised in India and currently lives in Thailand. He is one of the best story tellers and most insightful people I've met. One thing that mostly stuck out to me was his passion. Over dinner we asked him what he does back in Thailand and he put his fork down, looked up at the table with a huge smile on his face, and said "I am a writer." His face lit up with excitement like I've never seen before. Most people I've met while traveling either hate their job or just quit and are traveling on their time off. His emotion was contagious and you could see the entire table had a smile on their face. When I commented on how nice it was to see the joy in his face he told us "Happiness is not doing what you like, but it's liking what you do." When I left the hostel I gave Alan my smiley bean, which is a bean that is supposed to remind us to not forget to smile in our everyday life. Alan is someone who spreads happiness wherever he goes and even though I love my smiley bean I knew I could get another one.

 My last day in Kotor was spent on a north tour operated by the hostel. It was 8 of us from the hostel with a tour guide in a little van driving up north to the Durmitor National Park. On the drive through the mountains one of the main roads was closed so we had to take a detour. This detour consisted of us driving over small cliffs and driving past cars coming the opposite direction of us. Keep in mind the roads are very narrow so when we had to pass other cars we were centimeters apart. Living in Florida we don't get to experience the excitement of seasons and leaves changing color, so I was loving every second of the beautiful colorful trees along the way. After about 3 hours we started arriving at different points throughout the tour. My favorite stop was at Devil's Lake where the shore of the lake was a light green color and towards the center got dark blue.

 While we were driving we noticed an interesting house that our guide said he never noticed before. It was built with rocks and tree trunks. He said that for the past couple of years the house was covered and he thinks its because the owner didn't want people to see it until it was finished. We all happened to get out the van to take pictures of the house at the same moment the owner drove into his driveway. He invited us all in to explore his newly built home. While he didn't speak any English our guide was able to translate for us and you could see in his face how proud of his home he was, especially because it took him 3 years to build by himself. When we walked into the house his little puppy ran up to us and we all fell in love. His children and wife were very confused as to why 9 strangers were entering their home, but we all warmed up to each other. When we left the house the family invited us to stop by for coffee on our way home. Everyone in Montenegro were so friendly and hospitable. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop by the house again.

Our last stop of the tour was at the top of a mountain that overlooked the entire area. We were able to see the Tara River Canyon, which is the deepest river canyon in Europe. It's bright turquoise water next to the colorful fall tree was a stunning sight.  Sometimes we must do risky things to get great pictures, even if that means standing on the edge of a cliff and making sure we keep our body weight forward so we don't fall.

After 4 very interesting nights in Montenegro it was time to catch an 8:30AM bus to make it back to Dubrovnik in time for my 12:30PM class. During the ride back to Dubrovnik we drove along the coast through the clouds. It was unreal.

It's funny how things work out. A trip to Skopje and Sofia turned into an adventure around Montenegro. Beautiful scenery, delicious food, and interesting people seems to be the trend around Europe. And people wonder why I never want to come home....