Category: August 2018 – Europe

Interlaken

Posted on Posted in August 2018 - EuropeLeave a comment

This was one of our favorite cities so this is going to be a long one.

Day 1

Prior to heading to Switzerland, many people had told Courtney and I that it is expensive. As I’ve found that people say that about every city that isn’t in Central/Eastern Europe, I was kind of apprehensive regarding how true this was going to be. When we arrived, we did not have any Francs and could only buy a bus ticket in cash. Our hostel was a 20-minute bus ride from the train station, and the bus only came once an hour (the train station was in Interlaken and we were staying in Iseltwald). Unfortunately we barely missed the bus. Thankfully some British girls were heading to our same hostel and offered to share a cab with us.

Upon arrival, I couldn’t believe how beautiful this place was. I’m talking about pictures that you buy to hang on your wall or find in nature-themed calendars. As we would walk trough the streets, I couldn’t believe that this is an actual place on earth. And although we have many pictures, they really just can’t capture what it was actually like to be there. See below for reference.

So our first night we were going to buy some food from the hostel reception. But then we went into the kitchen and found a basket of free food (mostly pasta) and decide to cook some of that instead. Since there were only 4 burners and 4-5 people were cooking dinner, we were going to have to wait. Then, the girls we shared the cab with were cooking pasta and offered us some. So we ate with them and made some friends!

That night, as we were heading to bed, Courtney couldn’t find her key to open her travel lock. As her wallet, passport, computer and other things were in the locker, this was kind of a problem. After not finding the key, we came to the conclusion that it was locked inside. However, the desk was closed and it could’ve in the kitchen, which was also closed, so we’d have to wait until morning.

Day 2

The next morning I awoke to the sound of a saw on metal. Yes, Courtney had locked the key inside her locker and had to saw it open. Thankfully the hostel was very safe and she didn’t have to worry about her stuff being unlocked.

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 went for a long hike to a waterfall that was in the next town over, Giessbach. There isn’t really a lot to say about this, other than that it was just gorgeous. Also, it was cool to walk through some of the smaller Swiss towns in this area.

When we got back, we ate a small lunch in preparation for the chocolate making class we had signed up for at Funky Chocolate Club. Then we headed into Interlaken to wander around. We ended up doing some shopping and stopped at a great bar called The Barrel. Right when we walked in, the bartender asked us if we’d like to try a beer they just got in stock. It was brewed locally, and the brewer was sitting at the bar. It was delicious. They had a great selection of beers, including a lot of IPA’s (my personal favorite). We ended up having two drinks there and heading to the chocolate class tipsy.

We were apprehensive about doing it, as it costed 70 francs (about $70), but it had great reviews and figured it would be worth it. It definitely was. We learned a lot about chocolate, were taught how to temper it and even got to make three of our own bars to take home. If you ever head to Interlaken, this is a must-do. Just make sure you don’t eat a big meal close to it because they give you essentially all you can eat chocolate. You can find the website to sign up HERE.

When we got back to our hostel, we made some dinner and started on one of the two bottles of wine we had bought. After making dinner we found our British friends in the dining room, also enjoying a bottle of wine. We ended up sitting with them and finishing four bottles between four of us (yes that is one each so we were quite intoxicated). The amount of wine consumed led us to a late-night dip in the lake around 2am. We got super tight with the two girls, Becky and Grace. Becky keeps telling me that I need to come visit her in the UK, so that might just have to happen in the coming months.

Day 3

The next morning our friends left and we slept in instead of the early morning hike we were planning (again the wine’s fault). So we headed into town and took the funicular called Harderbahn to the most amazing lookout point.

Side note about funiculars : Despite their name, I do not find them fun. They are actually quite scary. However, as I decided to go to school in the mountains, they are a reoccurring mode of transportation. They are like a tram/train that go up the side of mountains.

Aside from how expensive it was, Interlaken is one of my favorite places I’ve visited. With the constantly cool, fresh air and mountain views every way you turn, I am not sure how it could be any more amazing.

Paris

Posted on Posted in August 2018 - Europe, FranceLeave a comment

Alright so I’m a little behind here, since I actually went to Paris a couple weeks ago. Honestly, to me, this is a hard city to write about visiting because I just feel the city to be a bit underwhelming. It might just be that I first went to Paris when I was in Europe for the first time and thought it was amazing, but after traveling more, it’s lost its luster a little. However, I did get to meet up with Courtney, my travel buddy, here. After a little bit of a rough morning, which involved a missed train due to an open bar the night before, we met up and caught the metro to our hostel.

For this stop we chose to stay at Generator, as we heard it was a very social. However, I am not sure it is social in the aspect of making friends if you’re traveling solo. They have parties most nights, especially on the weekends. So if you’re going to Paris with your friends to party, I’d recommend this hostel. In the end, we were glad we chose this spot to stay, as it was really close to the metro.

While in Paris, we took the metro everywhere. Most of the large attractions are just far enough away that the walks between are a bit long (30-40 min average). In addition to all the attractions to see, like the Eiffel Tour, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and the Louvre, I’d recommend spending some time in Montmartre. We did a walking tour through this part of the city and learned so much (find information about it HERE). This tour was especially great because it kept us off of the main drag near Sacré Cœur, the basilica in this quarter of Paris. This is probably one of the best walking tours I’ve ever done and will probably do it again when I bring my parents and boyfriend to Paris later this year.

Here are some photos from Notre Dame de Paris. The star that I’m on in the middle is something you stand on to signify that you’ll come back to Paris one day.

And some photos from the walking tour and other sights in Paris

Our tour guide also gave us some tips, including a great lunch place, and told us to head to the Louvre in the evenings on the days it’s open late. When we went to the Louvre, we actually entered through the metro station, which was really nice because it seemed less hectic than the last time I went and entered from the pyramid. While you could wander the art museum for hours, we were there for about an hour and a half. We just focused on seeing some of the most famous pieces, as well as my favorite painting, The Raft of the Medusa by Eugene Delacroix. It’s kind of a weird painting but has a very interesting story behind it. I’m not one of those people who takes excessive pictures of art so you can look it up for yourself (you’ll find a better quality one than I’d take anyways. I do have a photo of myself outside the Louvre and the Mona Lisa crowd below though.

While Courtney and I weren’t particularly comfortable going out and drinking at night in Paris, we did decide to have a few drinks at a beach area close to our hostel and then a couple back at our hostel. While in the hostel bar, I ran into a guy named Cam who looked very familiar from my university in Wisconsin. When I asked him where he was from, he immediately recognized me from a club we were both in. And then a french women sat down with us and started talking. After speaking with her for a few minutes, I discovered she had lived in my hometown as a child, which is CRAZY. Most Europeans I have encountered don’t know where the big city, Milwaukee, is and I live about 45 minutes outside of it. It is crazy how small the world is sometimes.

That was our last night in Paris, and then we were off to Interlaken, Switzerland. Paris was great, but we were really looking forward to a quieter city where we could do some hiking.

Lille

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Wandering the city

I arrived in Lille and immediately was excited to be in a city where I could communicate in people’s first language, rather than needing them to switch to English. After getting to my hostel and dropping my stuff off, I wandered the city to see the local cathedrals and buildings that were notable. The hostel had given me a local-made tourist map made by USE-IT (if you ever see these in a city, they’re always good. There’s an app that I used in Prague that was great, they just don’t have many cities on the app). Sadly, most of the city was closed as people were on vacation.

One cool place that I did find that was open was called L’Impertinente which was a tea and gâtal (cake) shop. The food was amazing, but I am not sure how much English anyone there spoke. I only really interacted with people in French and was treated very kindly. It isn’t like Paris, where people will respond to you in English more often. I honestly spent most of my day eavesdropping to give me the confidence to actually talk to people in French.

Feet hurting from walking all day, I headed back to the hostel to check in and shower in time for 7:30 welcome drinks (always take advantage of a free drink). You can see some of the beautiful sites of Lille below!

The locals show me the evening

During welcome drinks, I befriended some other travelers who were planning to head to some of the local bars. However, when we were sitting in the bar Gastama, which was attached to our Hostel, some locals sat down at the table next to us. In Lille, everyone is very friendly, especially after a couple drinks, so they started chatting with me. They were very confused as to why an American would ever come to Lille, but once I explained that I knew French and it was a nice stop between London and Paris, they just wanted me to see the city. So I joined them and left the other group of travelers.

The night that followed was one that is a dream come true for someone who studies French for 10 years with a professor from Lille, then proceeds to have a job speaking with Quèbecois for a year (their version of French is extremely hard to understand compared to that of northern France). We were popping between French and English all night. We went to a kind of throwback bar that played clips of old TV shows and played songs from the 80’s and 90’s in both English and French. Then we went to a jungle-like bar, and finally my personal favorite was La Pirouge which featured a very strong rum drink called Zazou which is about 85% 118-proof rum with some lemon juice and other mixers. Thankfully this was our last stop and I had only had a drink or two prior to this. The drink was delicious.

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London

Posted on Posted in August 2018 - EuropeLeave a comment

Why I was happy to be flying solo

London was the first city I ever travelled truly alone. And I could not have enjoyed doing so more!
The city is known for its free museums, such as the British National, the National Gallery and the Tate Modern museum. I am not sure I would want to drag anyone else through the hours I spent enjoying the paintings and art at these places.

In addition, the hostel I stayed at, Hostel One Camden was great for solo travelers as everyone who worked there wanted to get to know you, encouraged you to partake in the activities, and were always around even if they weren’t working a shift. They led an excursion every day, provided dinner every evening, and took us to a bar in the area every night. With all these things happening, I didn’t really feel like I was alone there. If you are going to London ever, I HIGHLY recommend staying at Hostel One. In addition to all this, they had a happy hour for guests every night from 7-9pm where drinks are 20% off (drinks in London are expensive so this is a great deal, not to mention Raf the bartender is great).

Day 1 : Jet lag and beyond

When I first arrived, I pushed through the jet lag to drop my stuff at my hostel in Camden and then wandered down to the Camden Markets. It was a beautiful day to wander the stalls and grab a bit of food. From there, I took the underground to British museum and forced myself to walk through the rooms containing the Rosetta Stone, the Easter island head, and the remains of the Parthenon.

Day 2 : Lots of Art, Rain and Beer

The next day, some people from my hostel decided to go to the Tate Modern Museum. We were going to go to Hyde Park, but it was raining pretty much all day, making this impossible. After lunch they went back to the hostel and I headed over to the National Gallery to enjoy some classical and post-impressionist paintings, such as those by Van Gogh, Titian, Cézanne, Vermeer, Seurat, Monet and more. I must have walked at least 10 miles that day because after the Gallery, I wandered up to Buckingham Palace and down to Regent Street. This street is the 5th Ave of London, meaning it has all of the high-end retail stores. I finally got back to my hostel around 7:30pm, just in time for a drink and dinner.

The bar we were headed to that night was an Irish bar called O’Neill’s Soho. We ended up having a smaller group of about 8 of us and had to take a bus for about 20 minutes to get to Chinatown (yes, there is one in London!), where the bar was. The beer there was fairly-priced, it wasn’t too hard to get a drink, and the music was great. After getting drinks, we walked upstairs to dance, where we discovered that it was actually a live band! We proceeded to have quite a few drinks each and when the bar closed around 1:30 or 2, we wanted dumplings (we were in Chinatown after all). Sadly, all the dumpling places were closed and all we could find were fries. We had a lively bus ride home as the Dumpling Crew. Shout out to Ana for taking us to such a great bar and for a fun night!