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EUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️EUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️
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EUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️

kesäkuuta - elokuuta 2023
15 days of travel with my dear friends, and 49 days of solo travel, in search of new friends, places, and adventures! Lue lisää
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  • 64jalanjäljet
  • 14maat
  • 66päivää
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  • MatkaajaEUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️
    Päivä 12

    Bonnieux Day 1

    30. kesäkuuta 2023, Ranska ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Travel day!! In which i dread greatly. Unfortunately the train that the group booked was sold out by the time that I got to it, but also i saved 50 bucks on a reservation so it’s alright. My first solo train ride! Which i slept and scrapbooked for most of it. 7 whole hours 😭😭. First was a 3 ish hour train from Barcelona to Cerbére, which lies right at the border of Spain and France, then a 4 hour train from there to Avignon. The original plan had been to stay at Ailish’s family home for our time here, but unfortunately there was a microscopic spider issue so it was no longer suitable to stay in. However, we got to get a tour of her village and of her home as well! It was BEAUTIFUL! And her neighbour had majestic horses (which i took 1 billion photos of) and beautiful farmland. One of her neighbours helped in giving us a place to stay for the night, which was hot (most of the places were built in the 11th (?) century, so they don’t have air conditioning). So many wild cats around that are soooo cute. For dinner, we shared some pizzas with her parents, which was sooo yummy. Oddly, most of the town closed early since it was a chilly evening so it was a struggle to find somewhere to eat, but i was more than satisfied with what we got.Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaEUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️
    Päivä 13

    Bonnieux Day 2

    1. heinäkuuta 2023, Ranska ⋅ 🌬 24 °C

    Had a nice sleep in, and started the day off with a game of hearts and I shot the moon and won!! We then went to meet Ailish’s neighbour, who is a local cherry farmer. We learned about his crazy cherry machine called the Cherry Vision 2, which stems and sorts cherries by size and colour by taking 7 images of each of them. Super cool. We then went back to the town of Bonnieux for lunch where I ate a croque monsieur. After I had some yummy lavender ice cream, and we walked around the town and went up to the highest point where you can see all of the farmland and lavender fields! While waiting for the grocery store to open we shared some wine, and then once is was we spent time with the cute grocery store dog! After we went back to Ailish’s for a short while before heading over to our other accommodation which we will be at for the remainder of our stay. Her parents hosted a lovely Canada Day dinner party, and then we went to one of Ailish and her sister’s friends’ place for her birthday party, and headed home later in the night.Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaEUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️
    Päivä 14

    Bonnieux Day 3

    2. heinäkuuta 2023, Ranska ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    Today was not eventful whatsoever. Slept in and spent the day in the sun by the pool. One thing I will say though, is that the mosquitoes out here are RUTHLESS!!! I’ve gotten bit 10 times already, since arriving yesterday!! Watched 4 weddings and a funeral (the movie) and off to sleep i go 😴😴😴Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaEUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️
    Päivä 15

    Bonnieux Day 4

    3. heinäkuuta 2023, Ranska ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Woke up with crazy hair and had some pain au chocolat for breakfast. Spent hours at the pool soaking in the sun and the last moments of being in an Airbnb for the next 6 weeks! We made a stop at the grocery store, where Ailish’s dad gave me great lessons on every aisle and food that we picked up along the way. We went back to the town of Bonnieux (we’ve been staying in Avignon) to go to the evening artisanal market and I bought a little pocket of lavender for the road to keep my company. We stopped by the Babicki-Moore home one last time to pick up some things and then made our way back to the rental. We made orzo salad for dinner and had long chats over aperol spritz’, rosé, and champagne to end the night. Doing some last minute packing now to get ready for the road…… and the solo trip commences!!!!Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaEUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️
    Päivä 16

    Milano Day 1

    4. heinäkuuta 2023, Italia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Travel day 🤮🤮 woke up after like 2.5 hours of sleep and got a ride from Slaylister (Ailish’s dad) to the train station in which I mentally prepared for the next 8 hours, and 1.5 months for that matter. I took the TGV (speedy train) from Avignon to Lyon (1 hour), then a train from Lyon to Genève (2 hours), and lastly a train from Genève to Milano (5 hours). You know, they charge you to use the bathroom at the train stations?! I paid €1 to use the toilet. Once I got on that last train, it was so nice, for about 4/5 hours of the last train, nobody was sitting next to me, so I had spaaaace, but a lovely old man did sit next to me for the last hour but he was very sweet. But oh boy, the views on the last train ride was to DIE FOR!!!! The train ran in between the mountains, so the views were insaaaaane!! There are lots of pictures included.
    Once I actually arrived in Milan, it was hot, really hot. Being me, I didn’t feel like paying for transit so I toughed out the 22 minute walk to my hostel, where my back soon became drenched in sweat. After a nice shower, I went to get some pizza and sat in the park with my hostelmate, Joanne, who is an about-to-be-policewoman from Hamburg, Germany. We got eaten alive by mosquitoes, and then went to get a drink at a cute outdoor seating restaurant, where I tried a hugo spritz. We walked around for a bit then went home for the night, im POOPED!!!! Now it’s raining, lighting, and thunderstormy out😵‍💫    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaEUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️
    Päivä 17

    Milano Day 2

    5. heinäkuuta 2023, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    31,000 steps today. Enough said. I walked and walked and walked and sightsaw and did all the things today! One thing about Milan is that every building is an art piece- the architecture is a sculpture in itself, it’s beautiful. My eyes were never on the ground. I saw many ‘palazzo’s’ which were just nice buildings- but every building was a nice building. I went into the church of San Gregorgio which was smaller, but the thing about churches here is that they are filled with sculptures and artwork, it’s literally a museum.
    After some of that, I walked through two parks- one of which had a water turtle home which was so cute. After more walking, I met up with one of my hostelmates- Blanca (who’s birthday is also October 6th😆) who is an 18 year old girl from a small town in Germany (she said it takes 8 minutes to walk across the whole thing). We had some pizzas and then parted ways. I went to use the toilet next door, just to find that it would not be a toilet…
    After, I went to see the Sforzesco Castle, which honestly, was mostly ugly. After, I headed over to the main attraction, the Duomo Milano Cathedral which was big and beautiful. There were insane sculptures and stained glass images, each of which told stories of rich history. Now, I’m not really Christian, but I could really appreciate the the art and craft of the church. The pictures do not do it justice whatsoever. Fun fact, it took about 600 years to complete. Also- i did my university course registration in the church LOL
    After 8 hours of walking, I felt that it was time to head back to the hostel. I met my new hostelmate- Aleksandra, from Estonia, and three girls from Paris, in the kitchen. Blanca very kindly made me some pasta for dinner, and everyone else was making pasta too (is this a disgrace to Italian food?!). We shared wine, music, and stories until we got kicked out of the common space at 12am. We had the bright idea to continue our antics and try to find a bar, but Milano is a DEAD CITY, and everything closes so early. We went as far as to bus to the lone club that is open til 5, but there is no way that im paying €25🙄🙄. After searching for a motive for about 2 hours we gave up and headed home.    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaEUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️
    Päivä 18

    Milano Day 3- Como!

    6. heinäkuuta 2023, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    At this point, I kind of felt like I saw everything that Milan had to offer, saw all the sights and all the big things. So, I decided to take a day trip out to Como and see what it’s all about. Now, I booked my train on the morning of, and left my hostel at 11:25. My train was at 11:43 and it was an 18 minute walk (not including the time it takes to navigate around the station and find the platform. So i RAN, to the station, and probably looked ridiculous. There was no time to spare, and I made it onto the train with 2 minutes to departure 😭. After a quick 40 minute train, I arrived. It was raining this morning, but luckily the storm subsided by the time that I got to Como. First stop was food. Naturally, I looked up “best cheap food Como” and landed upon a sandwich shop called Passion Como. My experience was amaaaazing! It was a family run build-your-own sandwich kinda thing and it was so good! I was greeted at the door by Danny, the 9 (?) year old son of the owner and I went for a prosciutto, spicy tomato sauce, artichoke, mozzarella panini. And it was amazing. Danny was also amazing, and we chatted lots about bugs, the dirty lake, and video games. A1 marketing for having him at the door. I even felt inclined to get myself an aperol spritz because I was so happy to be at this sandwich shop!
    It was a pretty chill day spent strolling, admiring the scenery. I took photos for other families, individuals, peoples and was heavily praised because apparently i am a great photo taker LOL😎. I got some gelato- strawberry and lemon, which was so refreshing, and just walked around the town of Como. Later on, I took the funicular up to the town of Brunate, which was a 7 minute ride. To be honest, up there wasn’t much, just like, rich people houses. But the view was amazing, you could see Lake Como and all of the neighbouring towns! There was this one church up there, which was creeeeepy. I don’t know what it was about it- the music playing when no one was there, the excessive artwork, idk. The art was extremely beautiful though and I could appreciate it, but it was so overwhelming, the amount, that it was kinda scary. After a bit more exploring in Brunate, I headed back down the funicular and made my way back to Milan. I stupidly forgot to charge my portable charger so by the time I made it back to my hostel I had 1% to spare 😝. I got some pizza again for dinner, and later drank wine and went to go dance with some new friends from Paris- Véra, Catherine, and Irene :))    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaEUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️
    Päivä 19

    Florence Day 1

    7. heinäkuuta 2023, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    I was very tired when I woke up this morning but off i go to the train! Today I made sure that I gave myself a good amount of time at the station, and boarded on. Slept thru the whole ride, and arrived around 12:30. I went to the hostel to drop off my bags because I couldn’t go to my room until 3. I went to get some food and again, of course searched “good cheap pasta florence.” Because i actually hadn’t gotten any pasta since being in Italy! I came to this quaint, decorated restaurant for lunch where it was €10 for bread salad, truffle mushroom pasta, a glass of wine, and water. It sucked to be honest. The noodles were thick and kind of hard, more like shanghai noodles. Idk i didn’t really enjoy it. I walked around for a bit but it was sooooo hot. Like 32°C. So I had to hide from the sun, back in the hostel. But I checked the weather app and it’s only getting hotter, like up to 38°C so i better suck it up. Back in the hostel I met one of my roommates, Jin, a 19 year old from South Korea who is headed to the military in September! We bonded over being Asian LOL. After a nap we went to get dinner, where the portion was so small😭. But we were sat next to Abellan, a Spanish man who has been living in Florence for the past 3 months to complete his Master’s! We shared our meal together and had lots of laughs and conversation. Got some good local suggestions as well! Unfortunately he couldn’t stay long because he has to submit his masters thesis (?) on Sunday. We caught a glimpse of the sunset before heading back to the hostel. Later we went to buy some wine but they apparently don’t sell alcohol past 9pm. We had to go to one of those little markets and paid €15 for a bottle…. 🙄😞😭. We met a group of many people downstairs by the pool bar area and headed to a club called Red Garter, which actually was also a recommendation from Abellan! Made some more friends there who were from the States. In the end, the night was something…. IYKYK.Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaEUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️
    Päivä 20

    Florence Day 2

    8. heinäkuuta 2023, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    After a much needed sleep in, i set out with honestly no plan. But something that I’ve realized is that it’s much better to plan, so that I can accomplish more in the day. Anyways, I followed the big dome thing and found myself at the Duomo Florence Cathedral. And that was crazyy it was huge and beautiful and amazing. Decided to check out this famous sandwich shop- All-Antico Vinaio. It’s like a focaccia sandwich thing with like truffle cream and it was huge! And yummy, although to be honest, it was difficult for me to stomach any food after last night😭 also I accidentally bought sparkling water today instead of still and i was so mad cuz i hate sparkling water. After this, I went to get some gelato and it was soooo good. This and the sandwich shops were both recommended by Ailish, so I trust them. But I got mango and lemon, and something about the mango one was soo smooth in texture, it was delicious. I’m gonna go back tomorrow. I kind of just wandered around for another couple of hours and stumbled upon the Palazzo Vecchio (Florence town hall) and the Loggia dei Lanzi (a gallery of statues!). It was craaaazy and even more so that I wasn’t even looking for it, just found myself there. My favourite is definitely the one holding the ripped off head. After this, I went back to the hostel because my phone was dying, and I was dying of heat. I napped for a little while, and then met Cole, a dude who does business consulting, who I’d met last night in the hostel, and Kira, a biomed-psychology student from Florida (originally, Richmond, Virginia 😆) who typically takes 8 courses a semester- not right now, but shes over in Florence on an exchange semester. We hung out for a bit, drinking wine by the pool bar area and then moved up to the roof terrace which had lovely views! We then decided to go eat dinner at a restaurant that was suggested by two guys we met downstairs and it was yuuummmyy. We went family style and shared a steak, some carbonara, and wild boar pasta. Went to quickly check out the market across the road and called it a night from there.Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaEUROPE 2023 🗺️🎒🛩️
    Päivä 21

    Florence Day 3

    9. heinäkuuta 2023, Italia ⋅ 🌙 31 °C

    It was a very relaxed day. It was soooo hot so I couldn’t really bear to walk around and do sightseeing. I met up with Cole and he was with 3 girls from Cincinnatti- Emily, Maddie, and Rheme, who are graphic design students taking a trip together. We went to the market where we got some food. I went for asian food LOL because I’m just missing it so so badly. It was alright, and of course would not live up to the Vancouver standard. It was reeeeeally hot today, got up to 38°C….. to make matters worse, the pool from our hostel was closed. We went to another hostel to use their pool which was much nicer anyways, and was on the rooftop. We hung out there for a while and cooled down in the pool which was much needed. After that, we had to bid Cole farewell because he’s heading off to Rome. We dropped him off at the train station and then hung out in the pool area and rooftop terrace of our hostel. After a little while, I said goodbye and went back to my room where I met my new hostelmate. After, I was going to watch the sunset at the famous lookout, but there was no way that I would make it in time, because it’s a 45 minute walk, and there was 20 minutes to sunset. So instead, I stepped outside and followed the sunset to see where it would take me, and I found myself in this lovely little park that had a pond in the middle. They also had a small fair kind of thing going on, with Italian comedians(?), drinks, and food. I grabbed some delicious gelato (which was only €2.80 for 3 flavours!!) and watched the show, which I completely did not understand because it was in Italian. After that, I went back to the hostel where I went to heat up my leftover sandwich from yesterday. While I was doing that I met some of the sweetest Aussie girls- Madi and Carys (pictured), who I hung out with for the night, meeting some other friends- Georgie, Saran, and Rosie, who I ended the night chatting with.

    Feeling grateful and happy about how kind and open so many of the people that i’ve met on this trip have been!! 💗    Lue lisää

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