First glimpse of an icon

One of the beautiful things about Europe was that anywhere I went there was something iconic to see. Some cities are full of iconic monuments, buildings, movie locations and homes of famous people. In Other places, the city is the icon.
I was so lucky to see some of my top personal 'must see' icons.

In Greece it's hard to go anywhere without seeing something spectacular. Of course, what takes the cake is the Parthenon/Acropolis in Athens. On top of a hill watching over the city, massive and somehow unrealistically old and quite amazing to see in person. Greece offers plenty more to see then this though. I think my favorite thing to see, and something I could spend all day looking at was the Sea. The Mediterranean is a gorgeous color, beautifully clean, not to cold to swim in and just generally amazing.

Italy, like Greece, has something around every corner. The best corner to turn is the one that leads you to the coliseum. The only thing to be said for the coliseum is wow. Honestly though, I think I was wowed by pretty much everything in the city of Rome. St Peter's Basilica, the view from the dome, the Vatican museum and especially the Sistine Chapel. Wow, Incredible.



Not everything can be as big or old as these things. Some things are small and modern but still incredibly exciting. The Sound of Music glass gazebo in Salzberg was one of these things and the peeing boy statue in Brussels was another.

Both Amsterdam and Copenhagen are icons in themselves. You don't need to go see anything specific because the cities themselves are so special. (Not to say they don't have things to see. Can you say LITTLE MERMAID!!!!)

Speaking of cities, I think the top 2 in Europe would be London and Paris. I got to see both and experience what they had to offer, and they offer so much. Big Ben, Eiffel, Louvre, the tube, Disneyland.. Harry potter studios...

You cannot deny the fact that Harry and Mickey are iconic, all over the world. Why? Because they are awesome! 

Switzerland and Austria

              2 of my favourite places along the way. Lucerne, Switzerland and Salzberg, Austria.

Switzerland was such a beautiful place, very expensive, but quite beautiful. Lucerne is a charming city surrounded by mountains and wrapping around a lake. The old city has quite a romantic feeling to it. I would imagine that it being near Christmas time helped with that. All the bridges over the lake have so much character and most have twinkling lights. Some even had garlands. Swimming around the bridges were white swans, at either end were sweet old buildings and right in the middle of the bridge picture below was a shop. Do you know what else was great? Chocolate shops. Everywhere.

Salzberg, Austria takes top 3 for favourite places without a doubt. It has the same sweet romantic charm that Lucerne has, but it had more to offer at the time of year I visited. Most notably the Christmas market and The Sound of Music tour. I'm a sucker for pretty much anything Christmas related so the market was right up my alley. Gifts, decorations, mulled wine, delicious sweet treats and sausages.. It even smells like Christmas! The sound of music tour is something to be done at any time of year and shouldn't be missed, though with a little research and a good map you could easily save some money and do the tour yourself. Salzberg was also our first castle, and castles are always good.

The people in both countries were friendly and helpful. After being in Greece for so long and then in Italy, these 2 countries offered a more "western" feeling and felt much closer to home.

I would absolutely visit again and very much hope I get the chance to at some point.

The next adventure

Here we are. Time to start something new again. "Big kid" things.

1. Get a new job, preferably one I like.
2. Find an apartment.

I guess my first step is to update and send resumes.. I hate that part. Why can't we just sit in bed and BAM, jobs find us.

And on the note of starting things. I have to start running again... HOW am I supposed to run in this!?!!!!

European travel; first time

Hello lovely people! It's been so long!!

I decided I wanted to share a bit about my trip in general. Not so much what I was doing or where I went, you know that already, more so about the general experience.

First of all, if you have never been to Europe go now.
Seriously.
I'll wait here while you pack.



Ready?

Ok, moving along.
Travel in Europe was an amazing experience. I think it was particularly good that I went in having never been anywhere significant on my own and having never been outside Canada and the USA. Every country has something new and exciting to offer. Food, culture, music, landscape, icons...

In my 5 total months away, including airports, I was in 13 countries and 32 cities (if I had have included train stopovers that number would increase dramatically).

Lets start at the beginning.
When I started planning my trip I listed out all the places I wanted to go and highlighted specific things to do and see while there. This isn't for everyone, but it helped me make a plan, budget and timeline. And really, if you have your heart set on seeing something and it doesn't happen, that sounds like a damn good reason to go back again!
One point that I approached badly was packing. Instead of packing for the traveling parts of the trip, I packed for the living part. Bad choice. I think if I could pass on advice to someone wanting to travel it would be to pack light. As light as you can. No, "I might need that" or "I could use this", it should be more like "I DO need this and I will use it". To be clear, this was a backpacking trip. If you get to travel Europe in luxury and someone else will carry all the luggage for you then this doesn't apply.

Lets move along again, shall we?
As soon as I landed in Amsterdam it was culture shock. Having previously only been in Canada (not the french dominant parts) and USA, I found it really tough not being able to talk to anyone or read any signs, directions, schedules, etc.. Fortunately I was able to get used to this quickly and realize that most people speak at least a little English, especially in airports, train stations and anywhere touristy.

As far as the actual traveling parts, the train was generally pretty enjoyable, ferries suck and taxi's should be avoided.
The train is kind of fun. You get your own space, you can walk around, no need to stop for bathrooms or food like when  you are in a car because everything is on board. As for prices, it will always vary depending on the country you are traveling in or where you are going to. Chad and I purchased Eurail Global train passes which we found to be well worth the money. You select how many countries you want to travel in, how much time the pass is good for and how many days within that time frame to be able to use the pass. My pass, for example, was good for 15 days within 2 months in 23 European countries. The beauty of it is that 1 day is midnight to midnight so you can take as many trains as you want within that 24 hours and it will still count as only 1 of your days. Another great thing about the pass is that it isn't just for the train, it is also valid on some ferries, buses, metros and trams.
By far, my least favorite part of my trip was the time I spent on ferries. If you know me well you probably know that I get motion sick really easily and because of that, ferries are hell. Prior to this trip I can only recall 1 other ferry ride and it was okay so going in this time around I didn't know they would be so bad. Different ship, different season and weather... should have thought of that... Anyway, all but 1 of the 8 ferries I took abroad were not good.
As for taxi's, I only say they should be avoided because I just generally don't like them (even at home) and because I'm convinced they are all trying to rip me off. A much better method is public transport. The buses and trams were great and quite easy to use and the metro, particularly in Athens, is fantastic. On top of being easy to use these methods are very inexpensive. A+

For now that is all. Look for more soon. And pictures!
xoxo