• Jada Tang

EUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️

15 days of travel with my dear friends, and 49 days of solo travel, in search of new friends, places, and adventures! Meer informatie
  • Corfu Day 2

    15 juli 2023, Griekenland ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Today was a suuuuper chill day. I spent most of it sleeping to be honest. I’m fighting a bit of a cold so I think that relaxing is exactly what I need. I slept in and then went to the food place at the hostel to get some €5 gyros which were quite good. I met up with Amber and Nieve and we went down to the beach that’s right out by my room- which is the convenient thing about where my room is. I spent our time there sleeping and sleeping and tanning and some swimming. After we washed up, we decided to go out for dinner. All of the places around the hostel are quite touristy- meaning expensive. So this souvlaki plate cost like €17 😭😭 and because they brought me water when I really didn’t ask for it. After, we went to the toga party at the on site club which was uhh interesting. When we walking in they were doing an ouzo circle (not with ouzo tho) and smashing plates on people’s heads. It was like a really intense presentation but was kind of awkward?? Idk how to explain it. And then also the club venue was too big for the amount of people in there so that was a bit awkward. Due to that, we decided to leave with a group of lovely people that we’d met, and we went for a night swim 🏊‍♀️ which was a bit chilly, but we couldn’t help it. Also, the stars here are beautiful!! The lack of light pollution makes the night sky illuminate like no other. Lots of late night chatting, and off to bed we went!Meer informatie

  • Corfu Day 3

    16 juli 2023, Griekenland ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We really wanted to go on the kayak tour today, but we dragged ourselves out of bed early only to find out that there is no kayak tour 😭😭 soo we decided to just do another beach day. We went a bit further down the beach because we weren’t feelin all of the the rocks that line the shore of the beach near our hostel. We opted for an area by some rocks, on some dried kelp which made for a squishy bed. We did lots of swimming and relaxing and whatever you do on your average beach day. Later, we went into Corfu Town for dinner, which involved taking a short bus to the other side of the island. We went to a souvlaki place, and I had chicken souvlaki. One thing that has disappointed me so far is that none of the souvlaki that I’ve had comes with rice and roasted potatoes- always fries. Anyways, after dinner we walked over to the shoreline where we could watch the sunset. On our way, we picked up some ice cream! Even though I’m not in Italy, that won’t stop me from grabbing an ice cream a day 😁! There were lots and lots of birds flying around the sky and it made for a really beautiful image to watch as the sun set on another day. When we got back to the hostel, we headed over to the bar for a little bit of dancing. The vibes were a bit off in there, but we tried to make the best of it. Spent most of the night stargazing, looking for and finding shooting stars 🌠, sharing stories, and laughing.Meer informatie

  • Corfu Day 4

    17 juli 2023, Griekenland ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    BOAT DAY BOAT DAY!!! The hostel has a boat tour that was only €36 for an 8 hour tour with lunch and some drinks! What a steal. I was really excited because I felt like I haven’t been able to see a whole lot of Greece, just what I can see and reach from the shore.
    After getting pretty much no sleep (but, I didn’t have a roommate which was nice!)
    - side note that I forgot to add was that I had originally booked a 4 bed dorm, but it ended up only being 2 bed which was awesome, because i would have different roommates each night, who would check out in the morning, and a new one coming at night- meaning that I had the room to myself pretty much until sleep time! And yeah on this night I didn’t even have a roommate which was sooooo nice- I miss having a personal space.

    Back to the day, we convened for the boat trip at 9am- which is early for me. Took a shuttle to the other side of the island, where the driver (who also owns the boat) drove like crazy, but I was asleep so I couldn’t pay no mind. We got on the boat, and once again I slept for the beginning of the ride, up until we got to the first swim spot. I jumped off of the top level of the boat which shocked myself, because I am very afraid of heights, but I knew that I would be mad at myself if I didn’t. They had pool noodles which made the swimming more leisurely. The first spot had some caves which I didn’t get to see, but the swim was refreshing nonetheless because it was getting HOT. The second spot was a rocky beach where we spent time swimming, picking out pretty rocks (which only look pretty in the water). Something that I’m sad about is that I literally saw 0 shells in Greece like whaaaat. It is what it is. At this swim spot, the crew prepared some dinner, which was honestly the best dinner that i’ve had in corfu. All of the souvlaki that I’ve had thus far comes with fries, and not rice!! But this one did, and it really hit the spot. We went to the last swim spot and then headed back. I thiiiink the route that the boat took was just around the island of Corfu, but it was headed North, so we were essentially in Albania, which is cool!!
    When we got back, I was in dire need of an ice cream so we went into the village near our hostel to get some with a girl named Iris from the Netherlands. After that, we went to our respective hostels to recuperate. Also, have I mentioned the adorable stray cats that can be found EVERYWHERE? It’s a bit sad, but they’re soooo cute.

    We then went to get some pizza and pre-drinks for dinner. We had full intention to wreak havoc in the bar tonight, but the boat trip draiiiiiined us. Me and Amber ended up falling asleep on the beach while Nieve watched us for 45 mins 😭😭 she’s a real one.
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  • Geneva Day 1

    18 juli 2023, Zwitserland ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Idk if i would even count this as a Geneva day because it was spent mainly in transport. I woke up to check out and then left my luggage with the hostel and went down to the beach with Amber and Nieve. And honestly, I slept for the entire 3 hours that we laid there LOL. After that, we had to share one last ice cream together- I got the classic, mango and lemon and it was scrumptious. We went back to the hostel where I got a quick munch, seeing as I probably wouldn’t end up eating again until the next day. I took the shuttle to the airport where I met Amber and Nieve who had taken a different shuttle. We spent our last moments together in the airport- which was nice bc I think we would’ve missed each other if we were around Corfu for any longer 😙. We said our goodbyes and went separate ways😞. Not just saying this just bc i know that they’re reading this, but it was honestly one of the hardest goodbyes yet because I spent pretty much every waking moment in Corfu with them, whereas so far I’ve been bouncing around different friends. But if there’s one thing that I’ve learned when solo travelling, it’s that it’s full of goodbyes, or see you laters.
    And so, off I went on the plane, first to Naples- WHICH WAS DELAYED BY AN HOUR. This stressed me out bc I only had a 2 hour layover there before catching the next flight to Geneva. Thankfully, my second flight was also delayed, so I didn’t have to worry about missing it- trust me, I was VERY worried. Something that was nice though was that I had the whole aisle to myself on the second flight, so I slept nicely. Shortly after, I landed in Geneva and made it to my hostel safely, for a much needed rest.
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  • Geneva Day 2

    19 juli 2023, Zwitserland ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    I have to start by saying that when people say Switzerland is expensive, they are NOT playing around. First, the hostels out here are the most expensive that I’ve paid for (Zurich will be 90CAD per night😭😭) I couldn’t find a meal for less than 15CHF (= 23CAD). My dinner and lunch each cost that much, and it was so sad. My lunch was a “smoked salmon sandwich” which was smoked salmon, butter, and lettuce on bread 😭😭. My dinner? What seemed like a microwave steak (which was cold when served) with some potatoes, salad, and a wedge of cantaloupe 😭😭. It’s tough out here. At a pub that I went to later, a long island was literally 30CHF (= 46CAD!!!!!) ISNT THAT INSANE. I did not get the long island btw. Sooo yeah I spent a lot of money today. Will be making as much use of the free breakfast here as I can. One thing that I will complement Switzerland on is that their water is DELICIOUS!! After drinking weird tasting water for the past month (bottled water included) this tap water is soooo scrumptious and cold and refreshing.

    So my day started with none other than the free breakfast which is nothing special, but is free 😝. After I went out to walk around and explore. I was feeling a bit groggy so I took a nap in a park LOL- but side note, everyone does that here, and I was not concerned for my safety at all. Honestly, Switzerland is the place that I have felt safest so far, maybe it’s because it’s just rich people who live here 😭 Anyways, I read a bit of my book before going to explore some more. I walked across the Mont Blanc bridge over to the old town, which is exactly what it sounds like. I did a lot of wandering before realizing that there isn’t even much to see out here. I did some research on free things to do around Geneva, and found myself in the “Maison Tavel” which is a sort of museum that documents Geneva lifestyle. It was kind of like a house, and showcased household items and furniture common to locals throughout history here. I thought it was cool, there also was like a big 3D map of Geneva at the top which was cool. After that I headed over to the next free thing, the art history museum, which I was reeeally excited for because 1. Free and 2. I haven’t been to an art museum in Europe yet!!! And i’m a sucker for art. This museum was huge and beautiful and never ending. There was soo much art, and thankfully, there were some English descriptions so I could understand some things. It was really interesting to see some of my Art History knowledge from school overlap with what I saw!! Made it even more captivating. I spend probably an hour and a half looking at the artwork, then went to the courtyard, where I took another nap in a comfy chair😭😭😭 I don’t know why I’m so tired today. After I got that sad excuse for a smoked salmon sandwich (they could have at least put cream cheese) and I walked over to a fountain to finish my sandwich. After, I walked close up to the huge water pump thing. “The Geneva Water Fountain.” It sprays the lake water up to 140 meters which is kinda wild. From certain angles it made a rainbow which I loved. After, I just walked home where I met new hostelmates- which was nice because last night I came when everyone was sleeping, so I couldn’t meet anyone. Funny thing, I had been in a group chat for some dinner and drinks tonight, and my hostelmate- Annabelle, ended up being the person that organized it! So, after a shower we went down to the place, where you have to pay 2 francs just to enter the area (main beach area). I had that sad steak an a tiny 8 franc (12.27CAD) aperol spritz, and the group headed to that pricey pub shortly after. We played some games of darts, which I really sucked at, and lost every game😭 we called it an early night and went back to the hostel.
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  • Geneva Day 3

    20 juli 2023, Zwitserland ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Today was just a bigggg lake day. I woke up and had some free breakfast then met one of the fellas from last night’s group to go to the lake. We took the little ferry across the lake as opposed to walking- since it’s included in the free Geneva transport card that you get when you stay in a Geneva hotel or hostel. It was a cute little boat ride, only 5 minutes. We were only at the lake for a short while, he had to go catch his train after a short 40 minutes. I stuck around at the lake, read my book, and ultimately took a nap on the rocks. After that, I was getting hungry, but I spent so much money yesterday that I needed to be budget friendly. I went to the supermarket to get something, anything, that was edible for lunch and ended up getting an egg, ham, and cheese supermarket salad 😭😭 it was not very delicious, but I was just trying to be smart about my money out here, cuz I still have another 3 days out here. I also got a portugese tarte, which I saved for later. I then went back to the same lake spot where I hung out with more people from the night prior, this time I actually got into the water. It was a bit chilly, but refreshing, nonetheless. It was so funny to see how the swans would swim around the lake, paying no mind to the people- but I guess it’s more their home than ours, anyways. The others headed back and I stuck around again, reading my book and then walked across the bridge to go back to the hostel. I picked up some random food- which I did not enjoy, on the way back. I showered and freshened up and then met up with the group again just to hang out and have some take out drinks by the water. I didn’t end up having my drink but just spent the night chatting. Something kinda weird about this group is that like everyone is >25 so I felt really young 😭. The company is nice nonetheless, and they didn’t treat me any different than from one another, and everyone was still very kind. We went back to the hostel and it was early, so I called Lian and Alina for a little bit since I saw that they were together. Shared some of my stories and caught up and it was so nice to talk to them because it’s been like a month!!Meer informatie

  • Zürich Day 1

    21 juli 2023, Zwitserland ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    I woke up, ate the last bit of free breakfast, got my stuff together and checked out of the hostel. After, I went to get my eyelashes done- and they literally suck and I’m so sad about it. Like the lady didn’t even isolate my eyelashes so they’re all in clumps and ugh idk what to even do. I just kind of have to deal with it and hope that my natural lashes aren’t ruined 😭. After that I took a tram, then a bus, to the airport to catch the train to Zürich! Check the video of the sunflower fields! 😍🌻 i finally got to my destination and checked into my hostel. I had some very sweet roommates- Emma and Aubrey who were also very funny :) i went to the grocery store to get some microwave pasta for dinner😭😭 im running out of my switzerland budget here. But it was alright, and i ate with Aubrey and Emma who interestingly made beans with toast/rice cake, lemon juice, tomato, and greens for dinner. We played some card games and they went off to bed. Later on, I met up with Carys and Madi, who I essentially booked this part of the trip for! We planned to go to a club or something, but we just ended up grabbing some to-go sangrias and chatting and frolicking all night long. We each called our moms which was super sweet <3. We stumbled upon a beautiful garden and found ourselves by the water which was really nice! We had a hilarious 3-person scooter home and tuckered in for the night.Meer informatie

  • Zürich Day 2

    22 juli 2023, Zwitserland ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    This has got to be one of my favourite days on the trip so far! It was long, but super rewarding! I had the free breakfast at my hostel, and then Carys and Madi came over to my hostel to meet! We went on this hike that my hostelmate had done yesterday- she gave me an extremely detailed itinerary of what she did, so we followed it to the T! So, she gave me a dropped pin on the map and we just walked in that direction- we stopped by the grocery store to grab food on the way, and this already took an hour 😭 we also got distracted by farm animals and little gardens along the way. And then- the hike begins. It was only about 2 hours upward, very steep, a bit difficult, lots of breaks. But it’s okay! We had a lot of butterfly breaks on this part of the trek. We would sit down and butterflies would come and sit on our hands or our heads and it was the cutest thing ever!! Besides that, this part of the hike was the most difficult part. But, there were lots of viewpoints along the way, which was quite encouraging. We also got a bit lost and confused, but ultimately made our way to the first checkpoint, which was the top of Zürich!! The view was stunnnnnning! You could see the entire city on one side, and heaps of mountains on the other. Then, we had to find the cablecar down. We were a bit confused to start once again, but figured it out, and sort of had to walk across the mountain (with little to no incline) for another 2 ish hours. This part was also very lovely, as there was lots of vast farmland and fields. We did a lot of frolicking, a lot of laying down in the fields, a lot of laughing. We kept saying that we feel like fairies 🧚‍♀️🧚🧚‍♂️!! Soon, we finally made it to the cable car and took it down to the bottom. Afterwards, we bussed over to a park on the lake which was like a little island. Me and Carys did some swimming, and I had a little nap after. Later that evening, I grabbed some microwave dinner 😭😭 because I can’t afford a proper meal in the Swiss economy. After, we met up in hopes of going clubbing or something, but we just ended up walking around and sharing a bottle of wine, and sharing stories- because none of us wanted to pay 20-25 francs for entry 😞😞😞😞.Meer informatie

  • Zürich Day 3

    23 juli 2023, Zwitserland ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    My legs and knees hurt so much today after the hike yesterday 😭😭 but you already know that im still gonna do 23,794 steps today! So the day of course, started with free breakfast, and I just had a slow morning- which was needed after yesterday’s long day. I had the chance to call some friends over breakfast- I found out that my boss keeps up with my blog sometimes and that honestly gives me life- HI WAYNE. Soon after, I went to meet Carys and Madi at the train station to bid them farewell. This was another hard, and sad goodbye 😭 especially because I know that this time it will be a while until I see them next. But I cherish the time that I got to spend with them, and I’m so happy that I booked this little bit in Zürich, and that we got to share this experience together! After, I went to get a reservation for my train later that night. Then, I walked around the city, and walked over each bridge that I saw, so it was like doing zig zags across the lake. Until, I got to the end of the lake, then I walked along the shore line ish until I was close to a grocery store. Something that sucked about today is that because it was Sunday, pretty much everything was closed- retail stores, grocery stores even. This was one of the few ones that were open. I got a budget lunch that consisted of bread, hummus, and cucumber 😍❤️. I sat by the lake and munched, listened to music, and cherished the last few moments in this expensive country. I went back to the hostel and decompressed, and also did some administrative business, sorting out some of the rest of my trip. Then, off I went to the train station! I had a pretzel kind of thing for dinner, and boarded my train. So basically, this was a night train, I had to take 2 to get to Vienna. On the first one I was literally placed across from a distressed baby 😭 so I could barely sleep cuz he kept on babbling and whining. I’m sorry but who brings like a literal newborn on a 3.5 hour train. I had a bit of a layover in Münich- which is actually where I was originally supposed to go during this time. Then, a 5 hour train to Vienna. Worst sleep of my life might I say. I have never missed sleeping in a bed more. But, I made it alive and it is what it is.Meer informatie

  • Vienna Day 1- Salzburg

    24 juli 2023, Oostenrijk ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Touched down in Vienna very sleepy at about 6:30am 😭😭 i went to my hostel to drop off my bags, but luckily my room was actually ready! So i could just go in and put my stuff away there. Surprisingly, my hostelmate was awake already- because it was too hot to sleep, so we talked a bit and then went to get the free breakfast. I’m like 99% sure that the hostels that I’ve booked for the past 3 places are a chain so all of the breakfast is pretty much the same- bread, meat, cheese, yogurt, cereal. And i’m not complaining! We shared breakfast together and she went to try and sleep again. I decided that since my train pass was still active for today, that I would take advantage of that and go take a day trip to Salzburg, where the Sound of Music takes place! The trip didn’t start off too great. I was still exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before, and I couldn’t get a seat on the train for the first half hour so I sat on the floor 😭😭😭. Don’t come at me, I was really tired. Luckily I got a seat after some people got off after the first stop. I arrived in Salzburg around noon and started walking. This is technically the first place I’ve gotten to see in Austria, and wow, is it gorgeous! The buildings are so ornate, the mountains are lovely, the views are spectacular! I walked by Mozart’s house, didn’t go in because I wasn’t that interested. I walked across some bridges, and I sat by the water eating my lunch (a chicken burger lol). After, I walked by the church which was pretty from the outside! Then I went up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress, which sits at the top of Salzburg. I went mostly just for the views, which I think speak for itself. But, since I paid I thought that I might as well see the other things. I learned about the history of Salzburg- didn’t retain a lot but the salt trade was big around there. There was also a little puppet room which was cute. After, I walked down and wandered for a bit around the Altstadt area, which is mostly just shopping. Then suddenly, a rain and thunderstorm began! Luckily I got to the train station before it got really intense. Took a sleepy eepy train back to Vienna. Then I went to the mall to get sushi for dinner- I caved. I’ve been craving it so much, and although the quality is definitely not the same as Vancouver, it will do for now. I called Kseniya ❤️ and GOODNIGHTMeer informatie

  • Vienna Day 2

    25 juli 2023, Oostenrijk ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    You know the drill. Start off the day with free breakfast. But after I was stumped a bit, I had planned to have a big walk around the city day, but it was raining!!! But after some online research I came up with the perfect idea- museum day!!!! I love art museums so it was perfect. I went to the Albertina Museum which is like a palace and an art museum! I spent like 3 hours here LOL but there was just so much to see! There were 3 art exhibitions and then also the palace-y area. So obviously I went to look at all of them. The first was about a performance artist who created art that revolved around feminism, perspective, and other artsy stuff haha. The second exhibition was about allegory and historic reference in more scholarly art from the past. And the last exhibition was a whole collection that included some paintings from Degas, Monet, and Picasso! And then lastly was the Albertina Palace section which was very very opulent. The walls were decorated with silk, the finest marble, grand chandeliers. It was crazy to think that a family used to live here! After, I went to Bitzinger which was a little stand right outside of the museum. I got this cheese sausage thing which was pretty mid, but not bad. At this point the rain had stopped, so I walked around the main city- which is quite large! And very beautiful. The architecture here go craaaazy, the buildings are all so beautiful. I walked through a park which had a very sad canal….. After that, I had signed up for a walking tour so I went to meet the group by the Opera house. The walking tour was nice, the guide offered a lot of knowledge on the history of different landmarks and things around the area. We saw lots of sights, and learned lots of things. Something that she mentioned was that there’s an open air film festival that’s currently happening. So after the tour, I went with two girls- Marieke from Holland and Maddie from Australia, to the film festival! There were lots of food and drink stands- I got a very overpriced pork schnitzel, and we ate our food. We watched the film which was like an ice skating dance fairytale kinda thing? The plot was not very linear and I was quite confused. There were english subtitles though which was nice, but I was just lost at where the story was going 😭😭. We didn’t stay for the whole film, and I went off back to the hostel.Meer informatie

  • Vienna Day 3

    26 juli 2023, Oostenrijk ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    My day did not start off too well…. After free breakfast- and smuggling some food for lunch I set out to go to the Schonbrunn Palace, which has a huge garden that I planned to explore. So basically it went like this- I haven’t been buying public transit tickets, thinking I’m all sneaky. But apparently not because I got a FAT €105 FINE TODAY…………. (= $158 CAD) I was soooooo rattled. But it really is my own fault because literally everyone- people I’ve met and the friends from home- have told me stories about getting fines for trying to evade public transit fares. But no one that I’ve met has gotten a fine more than €60…. I’m gagged. But I guess this is the full Euro experience. I’ve decided that now it’s a funny story because I can’t keep putting out negative energy thinking about it. It’s already happened so its FINE…… just the most humbling experience ever.
    Rant over.
    I went to the palace and it was huge! And so was the garden. I walked around for a little bit- walked up to the main part and then around the botanical garden. To be honest, I was still feeling upset about the fine😭😭😭 I couldn’t enjoy the stroll in the park because all I could think about was the stupid ticket. I left and then went into the main city to do something else that would distract me. When I was exiting the station I was met with a super nice girl, Leni, who was fundraising for something but we just ended up talking for a while. It was such a concise interaction- because she was working technically, but it was so meaningful because I haven’t met many people in Vienna thus far. I got her contact, although I was leaving the next day. After I went to a traditional Viennese coffee house- which is noted to be a large part of Viennese culture. I settled for an apple strudel, and it was quite scrumptious. The interior of the coffee house was quite cozy and welcoming. After, I decided to do some retail therapy to make myself feel better, so I went to Zara and bought a cute crochet style skirt. I feel a bit better now. Then I went to the large church to go see the inside and it was graaaaand. The churches here never fail to exceed my expectations. It was a big one! After that, I headed back to the hostel to take a nap. Random side note, it was super windy and cold today which sucked because I only have one pair of pants and one longsleeve and I was still chilly. Anyways, the highlight of my time in Vienna came next. I went to the Vivaldi Four Seasons concert at the ‘Karlskirche,’ a church. I had walked by the church a couple of times on the outside but couldn’t bring myself to pay to see the inside so this was the perfect medium. Anyways, this concert was definitely one of my favourite moments in Europe in general. The performers were amazing!!! Especially the lead violinist- you could see how passionate he was, and see the music course through his body in his performance. You might think that watching people play the violin and cello would be boring, but when I was watching him- and the cellists, they truly embodied the music that they were playing. It was magical. And the church was soooooo beautiful too- it was the perfect evening. After the concert, I went to go eat that sausage thing again and stumbled upon what looked like a big party outside on the balcony of the museum? I just stood by while I ate because it was by the sausage place. After I finished eating, I headed on back to the hostel.
    And at the end of the day, the ticket didn’t even matter.
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  • Budapest Day 1

    27 juli 2023, Hongarije ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Travel dayyyy. Luckily it wasn’t too long of a train tide. Well first, I had my free breakfast, and made sure to take extra for the road. While I was waiting for the train, I called Lauren and we caught up which is nice as always 🫶🏻 and then off I went to the train. I had to catch a metro first, and then the actual train to Budapest. The metro train was a bit late so it was leaving me with 10 minutes to find and catch the train. In moments like this I think about how much Ailish would hate to be travelling with me right now- cuz she’s always on top of being somewhere with a reasonable amount of time to figure things out 😅. The train ride started out…. Interesting. This train was quite nice and spacious! But there’s this thing where you can get a seat reservation for the train if you want, but you don’t have to. So obviously I didn’t. But the issue is that people will reserve last minute and then I have to move seats. Anyways, so some man came to take my seat so I just moved in. Suddenly he’s actually a literal creep and is being all like “I lost my phone and wallet and everything can you help me” and I feel literally trapped because I’m on the inside. Obviously I didn’t help him- I wasn’t being mean he’s just not the kind of person that you help- like, he didn’t even have a train ticket to be on the train, I’m pretty sure he was just trying to scam people. There were other things that he said that I didn’t like, but luckily 2 guys from the table across from me had moved to sit in front, and eventually the guy pissed off. Their friend moved into the weird guy’s seat, and I ended up chatting with them for the rest of the train ride! They were a nice group of friends from Scotland and they gave me lots of recommendations for things across Europe. Funny enough, two of them went to Vancouver for an exchange semester and they loved it! We laughed lots and I got to know them a bit. Even though the train ride started out weird, it ended up being my favourite train ride yet! The strangest of situations will always bring people together. More on that later.
    So I touched down in Budapest and walked for about 25 mins to my hostel. The first glaring truth is that my hostel sits on top of a bar so I came to realize that it was gonna be noisy. It’s all good though, I got ear plugs. I settled in my room and took a short nap and just some time to lay and decompress because idk why, that train ride drained me. After, I decided to walk out into the city just to check it out. First of all, I didn’t even realize that Hungary has a different currency, and I was really confused because everything looked like it was measured in altitude (350ft = 1€). I went to the inner city area, down to the river that separates ‘Buda’ and ‘Pest.’ I was standing, looking out at the water when suddenly a girl comes up to me and asks for a tissue because her makeup is running into her eye. We start chatting and I find out that she’s a local that lives here, her name’s Anna, and she’s about to meet her ex at the moment 😱. Suddenly I’m giving her relationship advice, and we’re talking and laughing but then we’re interrupted by her ex arriving to see her. We exchange contact and plan to catch up tomorrow!! After, I walk down to the water to catch up on my Vienna FindPenguin posts hahaha and then I walk up and over the bridge to watch the sun go down. I walk back towards my hostel and go to get some food because I’m starving! The reception lady at my hostel recommended this fast food italian place and it was quite delicious. I had “Cacciatore” which is like chicken paprikash with mascarpone and grana padano. Also did you know that paprika was invented in Hungary? After dinner I went back to the hostel where I met all of my roommates! It’s a room of 8, so there were quite a few groups. I ended up going out to the club with 3 girls from Spain from my room. I didn’t drink because I was honestly so tired, but I thought that I might as well check out the club that all of my roommates seem to be raving about. It’s only a 4 minutes walk away which was so ideal. We danced for a little bit but I ended up heading back after an hour cuz I’m tired. GN!!
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  • Budapest Day 2

    28 juli 2023, Hongarije ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Slept in today and I went to the grocery store to buy some ham and cheese for sandwiches cuz I still had bread and cucumber from Switzerland lolll. Went back to the hostel to make some sandwiches and chatted with an Aussie who’s actually moving to Whistler in a few months! What are the odds? After that, I went down closer to the Inner City because I had booked a walking tour. The tour covered a lot of the history of Hungary and took us to many of the main sights and sites. In the tour I saw the main church, which was stunning- I love the little sculptures of people that are in the roof part. After, the tour ended near the parliament building, so I went over there to look around, it was also stunning. After that, I walked over to the Buda castle, which is on the other side of the river. The castle area is like a whole district that sits atop a hill. I didn’t go inside the castle, but there was a garden, a balcony type thing, and then the entire district to just walk around and explore! The views here were amazing and you could see the entire Pest side of the city! After walking around for quite some time, I walked back over the bridge to Pest to meet with Anna (the girl from yesterday) and we went to a pretty traditional Hungarian restaurant. I got Pork with mushroom sauce and potatoes, and she got cherry and raspberry soup- which I’ve never heard of! They were both cold soups, the cherry one had some cinnamon in it and the raspberry one was quite tarte. And I tried some and enjoyed them both! I didn’t expect anything like it haha! After, I went back to the hostel to rest for a bit before going out with some of the girls from my room! I really got along with a girl named Carmen from the Netherlands! It’s just too bad that she was leaving the next day :-(. We went to the same place as I went the night before, and this time I got to see more of the club and omg its HUGE!! It has 6 different rooms with different kinds of music, but theres also like chill rooms that aren’t for clubbing and outdoor spaces idk it was massive I’ve never seen anything like it. And also it was packed like a can of sardines too it was crazyyy!!Meer informatie

  • Budapest Day 3

    29 juli 2023, Hongarije ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Slept in for a bit and then made myself a sandwich for the road! I went to meet Anna again, and I decided to go to a vintage art market around the city centre, that was recommend on yesterday’s tour. First, we stopped by some cute bookstores and stands- where I couldn’t read much because most of it was in Hungarian… Soon we actually made it to the market, and there was lots to see! Different jewellery, collections, crafty things, the list goes on. I got myself a cute little pair of earrings, and Anna got a couple of things herself. You know, Anna’s company is lovely nevertheless, but let me tell you, it is so nice to have someone with me that speaks the local language 😭😭😭. Hungarian is a particularly difficult language too. Anyways, after the market, we got some ice cream, of course. After that, we went to a thrift store, where I didn’t end up getting anything but found lots of cute things along the way. After that, we walked over the bridge to Buda and just walked around and went to the mall. We said our goodbyes and I walked back to the hostel. 4 of the girls from my hostel room and I went to get Langos which is like fried bread with sour cream, cheese, and I got Hungarian sausage on it too. It’s apparently a traditional Hungarian street food! It was very greasy, but was good! We sat in the park and ate it, then went back to our room. I had some downtime to figure out the rest of my trip, because I’m suddenly planning to go to Scotland now 😼 surprise! Anyways, we had to go out for my last night in Budapest!! We started out all together, but I ended up sticking with a girl named Estel from Copenhagen who I got on well with!! We ended up losing everyone, but had lots of fun together! She’s really into techno music, and usually I’m not at all, but I didn’t mind it this night! Once again, it’s sad that I had to say goodbye to her so quickly, even though I’d just met :-(

    Also attached at the end is a picture of my hostel haha it’s like the bar part and then up on the balcony is where my room is.

    I slept at 5am…..
    Meer informatie

  • Prague Day 1

    30 juli 2023, Tsjechië

    After a solid 3 hours of sleep, the day started off with kind of a stressful train ride… it was a “reservations only” train but, I waited until I was walking to the train station to get my reservation. Unfortunately they didn’t sell them anymore because it was too close to the time that the train was leaving….. but I was already walking there sooo I was getting on that train. It was a lot of moving around- people telling me that i was in their seat which is fair 😭 but I made it to Prague after the 7 hour journey. After that was an additional 30 minute walk to the hostel, which went through Old Town, which is like the main village. I felt so stupid walking around Old Town with my big backpack😭😭 but I made it. My hostel is actually in an elementary school that was turned into a hostel for the summer. Seems sketchy, but I promise it’s not, more interesting than anything. Everyone was kind of sleeping when I went into my hostel room, so I didn’t really meet anyone. At this point, I was starving so I needed something to eat. A bahn mi place caught my eye while I was walking to the hostel so I decided that I neeeeded Vietnamese food. I found a small restaurant that had some cheap Pho and it was delicious, exactly what I needed! Especially with the recent cold weather. I continued to walk around and explore the small shops that lined the Old Town and came to the Charles Bridge for sunset. It was funny because I kept turning around to walk back into the town, but then I would look back and the sunset got better, so then I would go back to the bridge again. The bridge- and the old town was super super busy and lively! People were playing music on the bridge, artists and merchants selling their work, it was touristy but cool. When I finally did turn back, I went to get a trdelnik which is like a chimney cake- actually a Hungarian dessert, not Czech. I was wanting to try one in Budapest but didn’t get the chance! Honestly, overrated, but I had to do it! After, I just went back to my hostel for an early night in, and much needed rest.Meer informatie

  • Prague Day 2

    31 juli 2023, Tsjechië ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    I made sure that I had an ample amount of sleep last night, because I was exhausted from the lack of sleep yesterday. So I woke up a bit later, and made some mushroom soup for brunch. I also drank some Emergen-C because I swear I feel sick again. I swear I’ve been sick for pretty much this whole trip which is annoying 😭. But between sleeping in hostels and going clubbing, the germs are bound to get to me somehow, but I don’t let it hold me back! Anyways, after I walked around the area near my hostel, and stumbled upon the Senate building which had a large garden, and an interesting ‘Dripstone Wall.’ After that, I walked into the Old Town to find some food. The Asian food cravings were really getting to me, so I went down to eat some Chinese food and good sweet and sour pork with rice. Actually it wasn’t that good, it was alright but wasn’t the most flavourful. After, I joined a free walking tour where I met Sophie and Julia who are two girls from London. Our tour guide was really amazing and insightful and we walked around the Old Town and Jewish Quarter. After the tour, I walked back to the hostel to take a nap. After, I met up with someone that I’d met back in Zürich for dinner and we had beef goulash with bread dumplings (which is just bread) and rabbit with spinach and potato dumplings. The goulash was actually sooooo delicious and the beef was so tender- gotta be one of my favourite dishes that I’ve had yet. After, I went back to my hostel where I met some of the girls from my hostel for pre-drinks in our schoolroom kitchen 🫡🫡. Julia and Sophie from earlier came to meet us as well and we went to this nightclub called Duplex. The music was good, but it was really really pushy inside and there were too many men- hence the pushiness. But we made the most of our night and didn’t head home too late 🕺🏻🪩Meer informatie

  • Prague Day 3

    1 augustus 2023, Tsjechië ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Started the day off with a cheap baguette sandwich that was quite delicious- it had like chicken, caramelized onions, blue cheese, it was so good! After I went to the Dalì and Mucha art exhibitions, and they were great! It was funny that I’ve always really admired Mucha’s work, but didn’t realize that he was based in the Czech Republic! I was just gonna see Mucha’s but ended up going to see Dalì’s too which I’m super happy about because it was super conceptual, absurd, and interesting, whereas Mucha’s was more beautiful, decorative, and plain (? For lack of a better word?). After that, I had signed up for another tour, this time of the castle district, and I’d signed up to be at the same time as Sophie and Julia! It was a long 3 hour tour that went over the Charles Bridge, the church and castle in the castle district, and more. The castle was huge! Most ppl think that the church is the castle but it’s just inside. We watched the ceremony of changing of the guards which was cute i guess. The area overlooked the entire city which was quite stunning. After, I walked through the district a bit, and actually went inside and in between the castle walls where there were some little shops. After, I walked back down to the town and went to sit by the water for a little bit, and I went by Prague’s most narrow street. Then I went to meet that friend from Zürich for dinner, we got sandwiches- mine had Prague ham, pickles, and dijon mustard. We went to a park that was supposed to have a nice sunset viewpoint but there wasn’t really any view hahahahha. I walked on back to my hostel and stopped by the Astronomical Clock to watch the ‘show’ that occurs at every hour. Later, I went to meet Sophie and Julia and we were gonna go get drinks. However, we could not find a decent bar for the life of us, and Sophie was feeling ill. So she’d gone home, and Julia and I got a takeout drink and wandered around the town!! I swear Julia and I have the same ironic humour because she is hilarrriousss!!Meer informatie

  • Berlin Day 1

    2 augustus 2023, Duitsland ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    I woke up bright and early because me and Julia were going to go watch the clock show- even though I watched it yesterday, the clock has been like a big joke between us and is a huge cornerstone of our friendship. It honestly felt like cheating on Julia, that I went to see the show the day before. So I packed all of my things and went to the clock for the 9am show. We went delirious for the show and it was amazing when experienced together. After, we went to eat some waffles for breakfast, I got a ham and cheese one and it was quite delicious. And then I said my ‘see you later’ to Julia and off to the train station I went. Just making it in the nick of time- except my train ended up getting cancelled. Okay…. So I waited for the next one which was 2 hours later, not a big deal. What was a big deal is that all the people waiting for the first train were also doing the same thing, so the train had like double the amount of passengers, and everyone was crowded in the hallway for the first three hours…. Once the train got to Frankfurt, they announced over the speaker that everyone had to get off unless you had a seat reservation. But I didn’t want to do that, so I saw that one of the nearby cabins had an extra seat, so I kindly asked the group of boys from Mexico in there if I could sit there. And then I had a seat for the rest of the ride 😇! After the train, I went to my hostel, which was unfortunately kind of far out from the city centre. Something funny about Berlin to me is the little dude that’s in the crosswalk sign (pictured). When I got to my hostel, I’d met a woman from Italy named Valentina and we’d decided to go explore a bit and grab some food. She’s a strength and conditioning coach, which is funny cuz I’m studying kinesiology! We got some cheap currywurst for dinner, and walked around central Berlin, seeing some of the sights. After, I met up with two of the guys from the train and we hung out and grabbed some food to eat- I had an overpriced pizza, the toppings were kind of random, but it was quite yummy.Meer informatie

  • Berlin Day 2

    3 augustus 2023, Duitsland ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    Today was so unproductive and I felt like I didn’t really do anything because I felt brain dead for some reason 😭. Basically I woke up, went to the grocery store to get some pastries to eat for breakfast, and I went to meet a walking tour. So i’m an hour into this tour and I realize that I’ve retained 0 information and I haven’t been paying any attention so I decide to sneak away from the tour. After lots of contemplation on what to do next, I buy the Berlin Museum pass because it’s a great deal! Except all of the national museums that I wanted to go to are fully booked for the remainder of my trip…. I didn’t think that one through. But there are other museums on there to visit, so I went to the Jewish Museum (which is free without the pass…) and spent some time reading on the history of the persecution of the Jews. It’s not a fun museum, but holds a lot of historical importance. After, I went back to the currywurst place and had another sausage. And then, I went to the thrift store because I need more pants/longsleeves!! There were actually so many cute things but I ended up leaving just with one oversized pair of pants. After this, I went to the grocery store to buy some junk food because I was feeling snackish 😁 and I stumbled across a korean fried chicken place so I grabbed a rice bowl for dinner. Man, I miss rice. After that I went home to do laundry. Stupidly, I forgot to turn on the dryer before i left the room, so I had to stay up an extra hour even though i was sooo eepy 😴😴😴Meer informatie

  • Berlin Day 3

    4 augustus 2023, Duitsland ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    This morning I set off to go and see the East Side Gallery, which is like an open air art gallery on the Berlin wall that formerly separated East and West Berlin. Some of the artwork reflected the tension and despair of that time, and some is just some goood artwork!! It was super cool to see, and the weather was nice for the walk as well! After I’d walked along the gallery, I went over to the Anne Frank Museum. I actually never fully knew about what had happened to the family so it was super interesting. After that, I went to eat a bahn mi, then I went to another museum which was called the Germäldegalerie, which is an Art Nouveau museum. There were so many huge paintings, a lot of the them were portraits or allegorical paintings. I stayed there for a while- it was a huge gallery! Then after, I walked over to the nearby Tiergarten, which is a park. There was a nice pond that I sat and eventually napped by. Then, I walked back towards the city and passed by the Brandenburger Tor, which I’m not really sure what it’s purpose is. I also walked through the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. I went to find some food and went to a chinese restaurant and got some dumplings. Sadly they were not soup filled. And then I realized that I left my water bottle at the park so I had to walk all the way back to the park, then I made my way back to my hostel. And that’s a wrap on Berlin!Meer informatie

  • The Hague Day 1

    5 augustus 2023, Nederland ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Set out early to take a loooong train to The Netherlands. The vast majority of this day was spent on trains, first a 6.5 hour train from Berlin to Amsterdam, then a shorter, 52 minute train to The Hague. Travel days really take it out of you, despite the fact that you’re just sitting for an extended period of time- and even sleeping too. So, I had actually gotten a hotel for my one night here, which was actually the best thing ever!!!!! I didn’t realize how much I needed it- privacy, my own space, a NICE space. (BIG SHOUTOUT TO UNCLE PETE❤️❤️) It was amazing, even though I barely got to spend time in the room. So, I spent a short hour getting ready and showering- and also calling Ailish 😁 and I left to go and watch the NDT summer intensive open night!! For context, Emma has been doing the intensive here in The Hague for the past 2 weeks (which is a huuuuuge deal and honor- which she rightfully deserves) and on the final day they have classes that you can watch, and a performance. For one, it was so nice to see a familiar, friendly face after a month of strangers, and two, so amazing to watch Emma dance and partake in such an amazing achievement!!! She is so amazing and I’m so happy for her 🥹🥹🥹. After, I went to eat pasta for… breakfast!!! I hadn’t eaten all day- despite a little waffle and an orange- because I’d been on the train all day, or crunching time to make it for the performance! So I was starving, as it was 10:30PM. The pasta was sooooo good though, maybe extra good bc I was so hungry. It was raining so hard after dinner 😭😭😭 so windy, and so cold. I went back to the hotel, and talked with the receptionist for a bit, who’d given me some good recommendations for The Hague and in Amsterdam! I’d wanted to catch up with Emma and hang out but the travel day rlly got to me, and I had a big fat sleep. IN MY HUGE BED IN THIS BEAUTIFUL HOTEL ROOM!!!Meer informatie

  • Amsterdam Day 1

    6 augustus 2023, Nederland ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    So today I’d actually spent most of my day in The Hague. I woke up and checked out of my hotel, but left my bags. I went to take a walk to the Schvenigen pier, where, a seagull had taken my breakfast out of my hand…… after, I walked along the beach for about an hour. It was chilly out but the beach was still so nice to see. After that, I walked through the Statenkwartier neighbourhood which houses lots of unique architecture. The houses were very very cute to see. After that, I took a tram to the centre to find something to eat- and I went to find some Surinamese food, as per the recommendation of the hotel receptionist! And it was honestly the most delicious meal that I’ve had on this trip! Surinamese food is “a complex blend of Indian, Javanese, Chinese, Dutch, Jewish, Portuguese and Native Amerindian influences.” I had this pork sandwich which also came with like this spicy ginger paste. Delicious. That’s all I gotta say. And cheap too! After, I walked over to the Binnenhof plaza where I saw De Ridderzaal which is like this castle palace kind of thing. Then I walked around the water towards the Lange Voorhout which is an L-shaped street that ended up housing a cute vintage market where I bought some jewelry! I finished my time in The Hague off with a stroopwafel- this particular place was also recommended to me by the hotel receptionist. I love stroopwafels, i think I’m addicted. The rain began to pour very very hard, and that wrapped up my time here, and off I went to Amsterdam.

    I arrived in the evening, and tell me why the hostel was set up like this (2 twin beds pushed together). There was also a bunk bed, but both of those beds were taken so I had to settle for the single beds. I was notttt gonna sleep next to someone else, so I did a little renovation and moved the beds apart LOL. This hostel was actually so nice and modern looking, I wish I took a picture of the bathroom cuz it was so nice. Later on, I went to eat Thai food for dinner with my hostelmate, Emma, who’s a chemist from California! I got like a spicy coconut milk chicken soup and some veggie loempia. Yummy! After, we went to go watch the pride closing party, which was like a big drag show type of thing which was cool, but to be honest the music wasn’t very upbeat which was a let down. We’d met up with a pair of brothers from New York who were also staying in our hostel, and we went to a bar down the red light district. Then we finished our night off at a karaoke bar which was super fun! We sang Locked Out of Heaven and Counting Stars 😎.
    Meer informatie

  • Amsterdam Day 2

    7 augustus 2023, Nederland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    I took it slow this morning, and started the day off with some thrifting. I still felt like I didn’t have enough “warm” clothes so I was on the hunt for some. I walked to a thrift store that was 20 mins away and left with a new pair of jeans, a longsleeve, and JORTS (which I’ve been on the hunt for!) I was very happy. I dropped my clothes off back at my hostel and took the metro to the Albert Cuyp Market which had lots of different stands. I went to get some Dutch pancakes, which are just little pancakes, but they were cute. I went for lemon and powdered sugar. After that, I went to a bead store where I got some really cute charms and some earring thingies so that I can make some earrings! I went to a nearby park for a little bit, but not long. I met up with my other hostelmate, Benita who is from Australia! And we went back to the market to get some more food and look around. We had this like potato, feta, spinach crêpe, some fries with picalilly (which is like a pickle-mustard sauce?), and some more stroopwafels of course. We also went to a vintage store where I bought a really cool belt! After, we wandered around and looked at lots of the super cute house boats, many of which had luscious gardens and plants. After, she had to go to a boat tour, so I continued to wander around. I walked across many canals, and just took the rest of my day at a leisurely pace which was so nice. I went to look at this movie theatre which was designed in an art nouveau style which was cool- didn’t watch a movie but I just wanted to check out the inside. After I went to a restaurant called Waterkant, which was a recommendation for Surinamese food. But they didn’t have sandwiches at that time which made me sad, but I got this korean-glazed cauliaflower which was quite delicious, I wished it was friend chicken. I was still hungry after so I still went to find a Surinamese sandwich at another restaurant. Just to find out that they also don’t have sandwiches at that time (which was really, really disappointing), so I settled for some noodles. After that, I headed to the central station to take a tram back to my hostel.Meer informatie

  • Amsterdam Day 3

    8 augustus 2023, Nederland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Today was super awesome! I woke up and went to this coffee and vinyl shop called Black and Gold, which was recommended to me by that receptionist in The Hague. It was the cutest and coolest shop! The vibe was so cool and the worker was so cool too! I just got an oolong tea and read the Korean Contemporary Art book that laid on the bookshelf and sat in the little nook and drank my tea. I chatted with a couple who was from Edmonton! And they gave me some recommendations for London. I talked with the barista as well who told me about more things to do in Amsterdam, and Rotterdam which was my next stop.

    After, I went to meet Matty and Camille who are 2 girls that I know from Vancouver, that happened to be in Amsterdam on a day trip! I met them at the Rijksmuseum, but the line was too long to go in. So, we looked and walked around some vintage shops and then we went to our boat reservation! We drove the boat down the canal, more in the less touristy area so it was less cramped on the canals. It was soo nice, although the weather wasn’t necessarily the best. However, of course, at the very end, a plastic bag got caught on the propeller, so then our boat got stuck! And we were literally like 2 minutes away from the port. But luckily, Matty and Camille’s friend was able to call the boat service to come and help us and we made it back to shore! After that, we checked out some more vintage stores, and then grabbed some Lebanese wraps for dinner and they headed back to Germany, which is where they were staying.

    After this, I just walked all around the city til it got dark, got another stroopwafel of course, and then headed back to the hostel. I then met some girls from my hostel to go to Techno Tuesday! I honestly don’t like techno music LOL, but I felt like i haaaaad to go of course!

    I really enjoy Amsterdam. Something about it seems so liveable- I could see myself moving here or doing an exchange here or something. Besides the weather which has only been rainy, I like it here. Everyone moves at a slower pace, everyone just seems so chill, but also friendly! And also it’s so beautiful!
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