I posted a bunch of pictures from my trip to Europe a couple posts ago but thought it'd be nice to share a bit about this adventure. I went to five different countries on my own and had the best experience I've had in a while. I had the fortune of meeting people and learning from their experiences. There were sometimes where I struggled to find places but I never felt hopeless. There was always a way to get through it and move on. The language was not a barrier to me even though it was hard to find people that spoke English or Spanish.
Most of the people I found at hostels were also traveling alone just like me, and that was
right there one thing we had in common. Travel the world.
It is definitely a magical experience. Not only you meet other people with completely different background but you get to see beautiful places. This experience was an eye opener to me since it made me realize that there is a world out there, literally.
The countries I visited were, Stockholm (Sweden), Rome, Florence, Bologna, Venice (Italy), London (England), Madrid (Spain) and Paris (France). All these places in 20 days.
Rome (Roma in spanish) was my first stop. I loved the food and enjoyed walking around the streets and just observing the people. There was a restaurant just across the street from the hostel where I had the best pasta, pizza, pastries and espressos. I shared my hostel room with other girls,. One from Argentina, Texas, and Canada. We went to see Pope Francisco on a Wednesday and visited the Vatican museums. We went to Piazza Spagna where there are a bunch of shops just like any other mall. I got the goosebumps while walking through the old rock-like pavement streets and buildings with rustic balconies.
I always thought that Italians were very tall and white with big noses but I saw people of all types. But again, I went during a popular time of the year where there are visitors from around the world. This makes it hard to generalize the idea of the type of people we think we will see.
I spent 3 days in Rome and then I took a train to Florence and had the opportunity to make a quick visit to Bologna. This two places in just 2 days and then I took a train to Venice, that was rough!
I visited some friends in Bologna and went to a few bars. These two places are very beautiful and I wish I had spent more time there. However, I was able to walk around downtown and had time to enjoy a great Italian meal. I was lucky to have friends in Bologna and actually hung out with locals that also took me around the city.
Venice was another great city where I spent another 2 days. I met an awesome lady from Argentina. It took me less than a minute to become friends with this girl and we took off from the hostal and walked around the whole city. We went to the islands of Murano and Burano. Murano is the island where the typical murano glass art is made and Burano is famous for its very colorful buildings. There aren't many tourists in these islands but I guess thats something that we both liked since it was quite and very calm. We bought ourselves an espresso and a typical European candy (toffe-like candy) and sat by the shore to enjoy the view.
That same night, we got back to the hostel, grabbed a beer from the bar/lobby and sat outside to enjoy the awesome night in Venice. My next stop was London and luckily, my Argentinian friend had just visited London. She gave me a bunch of advise on how to get around the city, specially the metro. Overall, Venice was a great city to visit and will always think of it as the fantasy land that floats over water. Its a lovely city.
Next stop was London. I stayed in one of the most crowed areas in London, of course, downtown! I was steps away the metro, big shops, bus stops, restaurants, bars. It was great. I was out during rush hours and noticed the incredible outfits of both women and men. They all dress up so nice and neat. Im guessing, business, marketing people? perhaps a few engineers? not sure, but I loved the vibe and how focused they all looked as they walked to work. My room at the hostel was full of girls from all over the world. It was me plus other 9 ladies. I met a couple girls from Canada and a lady from Cancun, Mexico! wooho!! finally somebody from Mexico. I was so tired at night that I didn't have the opportunity to hang out at the bars and I regret it so much. The bars looked so cool, kind of like pubs, which here in San Diego there are plenty of them, but a pub in London is definitely a different story.
Next stop was Madrid. Ohh Madrid. This city was probably the best stop out of all the cities I visited. As soon as I stepped out the metro station, I was standing right in front of the opera building and I couldnt believe how beautiful the city was. Even the air I breathed, everything! It all felt so good.
I walked to my hostel and realized that the view from my window was the royal palace! I did so much and slept so little during the 3 days I spent in Madrid. The first day as soon as I got to my room I took a long nap followed by a nice dinner with myself. Then, I decided to go on a walk and met a nice guy from Poland. We then joined the hostel's pub crawl and met other travelers. The following day I met this awesome tour guide from Poland and we became such good friends that after the tour, her and I walked around Madrid and she took me to the famous museum and the train station to watch the turtle pond. After that, we went to some tapas restaurant close to La latina and enjoyed a typical Spaniard meal with really nice beer. That night I joined her pub crawl and had a really fun time with her and all of the other travelers. Fortunately getting lost in Madrid was not a problem since my first language is Spanish. The following day and last one in Madrid was great. I walked and walked so much,. went to the city market, visited churches and decided to relax since I was completely exhausted after a continuous sleepless trip.
I headed to Paris
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