Poland

Krakow

Poland was cold. By cold, I mean so incredibly cold. Krakow was a cute city, especially in the old town. There were a lot of little bars and restaurants made for students and everything was so cheap. I loved that part of it. Monika and I made it to Auschwitz for a day. We were freezing. But, in perspective, we were glad that we had clothes and shoes to wear. I think the weather added to the experience of Auschwitz a bit. If it were nice weather, I don't think we would have appreciated what we learned as much. We got to go in an original gas chamber and crematory as well as the restored bunkers at Birkenau. I would recommend to anyone to go to Auschwitz. It was a real eye-opening experience. You learn about these things n school, but being there is something different.

The Castle in Krakow

Poznan

In Poznan, we stayed with Monika's cousin who was oh so nice. He took us around the Oldtown which was really nice, but still cold...and we went to a potato bar with the most delicious potatoes. The Oldtown was filled with cool bars for students and cute little shops. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much, but I still really enjoyed myself.

Verdict: Solid

I'm not in a huge rush to go back to the bitter cold of Poland, but I bet it's nicer in the summer. I would definitely have to go in the Summer next time so I don't have to bear the cold again. Its the end of March! It should be spring by now! But at any rate, from what I saw, the cities we saw were full with character and history that I would love to see more of!

Austria

Salzburg

Once we got to Salzburg, we immediately checked in and headed out to explore town. I found it very cozy, if you will. Unfortunately it was a bit rainy and we didn't get to see much in one Afternoon, but we still had a good time. We ended up hiking around where the castle was and and there were a view other sights to see in the woods as well. The views from the hills were really pretty and you could hear the sounds of cow bells in the distance. We enjoyed ourselves learning some historical facts from placards along the path. Back in the hostel, we met a few kids staying in our room and one was on her way to Vienna as well, so we hopped on a train together the next morning.

On a hike through the hills

Vienna

When we got to Vienna with our new friend Kara, we spent the day just wandering around the city a bit. Luckily it was sunny out. We saw Stephan Platz and walked down the major pedestrian strip as well. We didn't do anything much other than walk around and eat a pastry, but we still had fun exploring. Later that night we all went to our Couchsurfing host's apartment, which was a bit tricky to find, but we made it! Hanzo made us crepes and pasta and offered us wine. He was such a gracious host. He was an artist too. Most of his artwork was comprised of many tiny little circles to make one giant picture. I would never have the patience to do that. Kara Monika and I weren't the only guests either. A girl Sara from Portugal was staying as well in order to audition for a music school. We stayed up for a while and talked until we decided we were too exhausted to function anymore.

The next day, despite a late start, we ended up going to three museums. We went to the Freud Museum,  and after lunch, we made it to the Leopold art museum and the Natural History Museum that had the Bodyworlds exhibit. I loved it. The others actually lost me because I ended up exploring the dinosaur section alone. Sorry guys!

The Vienna Rathaus

Verdict: I would go again

It was so pretty in Austria and there is obviously way to much to see in a 3 day stay. I need to go again to learn more history and more about the culture. But all in all it was a very good experience. 

Slovenia

Ljubljana

The view from Sveta Ana

We got to Ljubljana a little late, but luckily it was no problem for our host. Simon came to pick us up even after the train delay. He was with two friends and they drove us to the house in which we would be staying. We ended up with our own little studio apartment. It was so cozy. We ended up just hanging our for a few hours while we watched some tennis before bed. The next day Simon and his friend Klemen took us to a mountain, Sveta Ana, which as cute. It only took us a half hour to get up, but you could see all of the city and the surrounding area on this nice sunny day. Yes, it was sunny. For once. The climb down the hill was a little difficult. I fell a few times, but Simon let us do laundry at his place. Simon then took us to the city center, which was beautiful. It was so cute and clean and not crowded with tourists, which it may have been in the high season. Unfortunately it was Saturday afternoon, so a lot of shops were closed, but we did gt to go to the Castle and see more of Ljubljana from above. It was such a lovely day. Simon had to leave us for a while, but Monika and I just ate dinner at a somewhat expensive restaurant and then walked home to meet Simon. We had a little party that night. It was really nice. Everyone was just hanging out and it reminded me a lot of the parties at home. I think Slovenia has been the most U.S.-like country I have seen so far. 1. in the way it looks and 2. the demeanor of the people. Very unexpected. All in all, I had a great time there. 

The view of Ljubljana from the castle

Bled

We got to Bled later than expected, but we made it! All we really did there was walk around the lake in the snow, which was nice, but it would have been nicer if it were warm and sunny. The whole time, I could only think how nice it would be to go there in the summer. It was still nice to see the lake though. Maybe I’ll go back one day. 

The castle on the island in the lake

Verdict: Lovely

We had a really nice time and got to explore a city with a lot of history and character. It would be nicer in the Summer with more activities to do, but we still enjoyed our time there. I would need to go back during summer where  there would be much more to do in both cities to give a better verdict, but I think it would be even better than what I think of it now. 

Croatia

Split

We arrived in Split on a Tuesday after a long night on the ferry, which was hard to sleep on, so I was quite tired. We weren’t able to meet with our couch surfing hosts until 11:00, so we ate some breakfast and walked around in the lovely town. It was really nice. The historical part is based in the old Diacletian’s Palace. It was interesting to see all that was restored and kept up over the many years. There were little placards all around the palace that told the history of the city. When we met up with our host, Vice, he was with his friend Dino and they took us to the apartment we would be living in for the next days. It was raining at the time, so we sat and talked about Croatian history and culture for a bit when Ivan walked in and joined us. They explained that people walk in and out of their apartment all day long and we definitely noticed that during our stay. A bit later, they took us out for coffee by the seaside when it was actually sunny. WE HAD SUN! For the first time in days. We met Ante and hung around until we went to Marjan, the hill from which you can see all of Split. It was absolutely gorgeous. Later when we made it home, we met Domo (our other host) and we watched the soccer game between Milan and Barcelona and had a few drinks with everybody. These kids were great. They were all quite unique and definitely made up an interesting group of friends. 

The rest of being in Split went basically the same way. It was quite relaxing and all we did was explore the city and hang out with our new friends, who were awesome! We learned so much about Croatian culture and history from them. We learned that the Croatians are a bit lazy, we will say and that the life style is incredibly laid back. At one point we asked Domo what his plans were for the day and all he said was, “I’ll probably just lie around all day.” Made me laugh. When it was time, it was really sad to have to leave our friends. We had such a good time with them and wanted to stay longer. 

Vice, Monika and Ante on Marjan

Verdict: Awesome!

Our hosts made it a great time for us. We really appreciated it. But next time I go to Croatia, I will have to stay longer. I would love to go in summer time and just sit around on the beach all day, like a true Croatian. I’m pretty sure I was born into the wrong country, if you ask me. 

Italia!

Milan (Milano) March 4th-5th

Me on top of the Duomo

So, my friend Monika and I departed for Milan on March 4th. We took a bus to Zürich and then a train to Milan. It was a bit hard to get out of Germany with the Interrail pass. You’re not allowed to use the pass in your country of residence, but we managed. We arrived in Milan a little late and got lost trying to get to our Couch Surfing hosts house, but a nice Italian lady who didn’t speak any English, helped us out. It’s amazing what you can communicate without knowing each other’s languages. We finally made it and our host was alright. He was a little weird, but nice. We met a Korean girl and a Ukrainian girl that were also staying there. We didn’t really get to talk though and just went straight to bed. 

The next day we got up a bit early and went to explore the city. Not going to lie, it was a little under whelming. The only thing that was really cool to see was the Duomo. Other than that, it just looked like any other city. There wasn’t a whole lot of history to learn about that we found. Maybe some about the castle, but other than that Walking around we didn’t see anything too exciting, but we had a few nice pastries and stopped for a nice Italian dinner. That night we got to drink a little wine and talk with Sergio, our host, and a girl from France who was also staying the night. It was cool getting to learn more about the different cultures, which is what Couch Surfing is all about. 

Florence (Firenze) March 6th-8th

Ponte Vecchio

After staying with Sergio, we took the train to Florence the next day. When Moika and I arrived, we just walked around the city center for a while, which was beautiful. There was a lot more character to the city than in Milan. Unfortunately it rained, but it wasn’t too bad. We ended up meeting with Christiano, our Italian friend we met in Tübingen and he showed us around a bit. I barely remember any of the details he told us though. He knew way too much for me to remember. He knew a lot about the architecture and such things. After that, we were able to meet up with our Couch Surfing host, Marco who was awesome. He was really chill and down to earth, very calm and kind. His apartment was awesome too. Not too big, not too small. We kind of just went to bed after showering though. 

Thursday, we got up a bit early and headed into town, got some breakfast, and then explored the south side of town across the Ponte Vecchio for a bit. THEN for lunch, we had this stuff called Lampredotto. Lampredotto is specifically the fourth stomach of a cow, cooked in some special way that I don’t know and has a spicy kick to it. I didn’t really want to try it at first, but then I said, “why the hell not?” I’m glad I decided to have it. It was delicious. It was probably the fattiest meal I have ever eaten and the texture was almost that of a clam, but it was so good. I don’t think I could eat it every day, but I could definitely appreciate it here and there. After lunch, we took the very scenic route to the Basilica on the south side of town across the river. The view was beautiful, and so was the building regardless of the rain. We hung out there for a while and then headed back into town and went to the Galileo museum, which had a bunch of old instruments used for calculations in astronomy and cartography. They had various other instruments and experimental apparatuses they used for physics research. It was a pretty informative place, I’d say. I learned quite a lot, but apparently not a lot of people know about it, especially compared to the larger museums in town, such as Academia, which we went to the next morning. But later that night, we missed the bus stop for Marco’s apartment and had to walk quite a way to get back. But Marco was understanding and he made us delicious carbonara and bought us cake and we talked until midnight! We learned about Florentine culture and some legends about the area. So cool. 

Early Friday morning we got up and headed into town to see Academia, which consisted of mostly religious artwork from the middle ages and Renaissance periods. “David” by Michelangelo was inside (the heart of Academia) and it was really cool to see. There was so much detail put into it. There were some other statues made by people I didn’t know of, but they were still nice to look at. After that we ate lunch with Marco on his lunch break and then went back into town to see it in the rain. We went inside the Duomo and wanted to go to the top but 7 Euros wasn’t worth it in the rain. We then explored some more in town and at the Palazzo Vecchio (the Medici family’s old place) until we met up with Marco and he took us to this place called “Kitsch.” Probably a derivative of the word kitschy, which this place was. It was a bar with an all you can eat buffet. Apparently there are two in town. I had a glass of wine or two and started talking with a Ukrainian girl, Natalia, who was studying movie make-up artistry in Florence. It’s crazy the people you meet and what you learn from them. We all got a long really well. I tried to speak a little Russian with her, but I could only remember a few things. : / After Kitsch we went to an Aussie bar and we got free champagne because it was Women’s Day. So that’s a thing in Europe I would like to bring back to the U.S. When Natalia had to go, we walked her to the us and then went to a Club for a drink and a dance and had a good time. A lot of Italian music from the 70s was played. Great choice. We finally made it back and passed out at 3:00. But thanks to Marco, we had an awesome time in Firenze!

Duomo in Florence

Rome (Roma) March 9th-10th

Roma Antica

Boy, did we luck out in Rome! It was an awesome experience thanks to our Couch Surfing host, Francesco. The first day we were there he and his roommate Alessandro made us some tasty pasta and we drank some beer right when we got to his apartment which was so nice. They were so hospitable, right off the bat. They were super friendly and funny and had a lot to say. After our lunch, Francesco took us to Roma Antica, where the Colosseum is and some other fun ruins to look at. He took us around to the Spanish steps and a little of just walking and touring around. We grabbed a drink at a little on-the-go store and talked about what his thoughts were on some cultural aspects in Italy. 

When we went back to his apartment, we had the most epic night in Rome. We hung out with him, his roommates, and some other friends. We ate pasta and drank some wine. We learned a drinking song to be sung basically while you chug your drink that goes along the lines of “Lapillapo, Lapillapo, Lapillapo, etc...” until you finish your drink and then something else in Italian that I didn’t understand. It was awesome to hear all these guys speak in Italian with such gusto. I’m so used to German it was a nice change for once. So we hung around for a bit and talked until they took us to a bar somewhere in town and had a great time. We had some interesting conversations and all around fun. We took some crazy pictures to prove it too. We didn’t get back to the apartment until pretty late/early and I only slept for 5 or so hours before we got up to explore Rome. 

Sunday was an adventure too. Monika and I went to the Vatican, which wasn’t really my thing, but totally hers. It was really pretty though. We then got lost, and then we got lost again. We kept ending up at the same places, we had already seen. And although the day started out nice, it started raining. Real hard. Thunder and lightning with some cats and dogs thrown in there, but were some real troopers. We were determined to find the Trevi fountain. And that poor poor map that we used, and Monika’s poor umbrella; both hot messes of a map an umbrella by the time we found the thing we were actually looking for...It took us about 3 hours to find in the pouring rain. We then stood there for about 10 minutes took a few pictures and left. #Anticlimactic? Because it was raining so hard, we may have gotten a little wet, but by a little, I mean drenched. One day later, my shoes, pants, and sweatshirt still weren’t dry. Ugh. But we finally got back and went out with Stefano and his friend to a pub in the neighborhood they live in, had a drink or two, and I ate some delicious carbonara...again. We sort of watched the soccer game between Rome and Florence and had some good conversations with Stefano and Frederico. It was really sad to leave them the next day. We had such a good time with them. 

The Vatican from afar

Verdict: Excellent!

Despite Milan not being up to par with Florence and Rome, I had an all around great time. I met so many cool people, I learned a lot from them as well as the cities, and got to see so much, even if it was mostly rainy. One thing I will complain about though is the fact that a lot of public restrooms don’t have toilet seats...it can be a little uncomfortable : / But the food was great, the wine was great, and the people were great. I will say that the next time I go that I will have to stay longer to see everything. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you definitely can’t see it in a day. 

February

So, not too much has been happening this month. Just finishing up school work for the end of the semester. I have to write a paper for one of my classes by the end of the month but then I'll be off on a 4-5 week trip I'm currently planing through, Italy, the Balkans, Austria, Poland, Northern Germany, the Netherlands, and France. Can't wait to post about it.

Stockholm!

Stockholm has been my favorite city thus far. It was an adventure of epic proportions. The city was absolutely beautiful and was so much fun. I went with my friends Jordy and Maddie and explored the city for 3 days. The first day we went to a couple of cool restaurants and had a few drinks and hung out in the sauna in our Hotel in Oden Plan. 

The view from our hotel room

On one of the days we were there, it was -18 Celsius which is about -1 Fahrenheit, so we stayed inside for the most part and went on a little shopping spree. Sweden's not as expensive as I thought it would be. It was way cheaper than Switzerland anyway. 

Stockholm Center at night

And on the Sunday we had a day of tourism. We visited the old town, Gamla Stan and saw the Swedish Royal Palace and the view of the rivers. We even went to the World's largest IKEA and ate Swedish meatballs for lunch. After that we saw an exhibit of David LaChapelle's photography at a photography museum. And of course after that, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Oden Plan, ate some burgers, had a Sam Adams and watched the Superbowl playoff game between Atlanta and San Francisco. Way to be American...

The Swedish Royal Palace, Kungliga Slottet

My friends and I found that because we spoke German we could understand a bit of the written language, not to say we know Swedish at all other than "tak" which means thanks and "baste" which means sauna, but we could figure some of it out. I also found that the people in Stockholm were super friendly and hospitable. I would recommend anyone to go there!