Eurotrippin for Spring Break

This was by far the most amazing Spring Break I've ever had in my life. I managed to cover 5 countries in 10 days with some really awesome people. 

Map of my Spring Break

First stop: Brussels, Belgium

Grand Place

My very first stop on my Spring Break was Brussels, Belgium to see one of my very best friends from Clemson who is studying there. I left Rome Friday afternoon. Once we got to Brussels, my phone wasn't working (shocker.. thanks Italy) so it was absolutely impossible to find my friend. After heading to the wrong hotel AND the wrong train station, I finally found her. That night we headed to a place called Delirium, and it was like Clemson took over Brussels. There was a concert that weekend in Hasselt, just outside of Brussels, and all the study abroad students come from all over to go. And apparently all of them head to Delirium the night before.

Laura and I eating Belgian waffles

On Saturday we got up and went to see the 'sights' of Brussels. Coming from Rome I was panicking about being able to fit it all in..... until I realized there's only about two sights in all of Brussels - the peeing boy statue and Grand Place. We started by getting Belgian waffles (YUM) and heading to Grand Place. It was absolutely gorgeous in my opinion. Then we went to the peeing statue and there was a ceremony going on in his honor. Brussels absolutely loves their peeing man statue, that's for sure. After our hour it took us to cover all of Brussels, we headed to window shop at a couple places. Then we went back to the town where Laura is living to get ready to head to Hasselt for Sensation (the concert).

Us at Sensation White

SENSATION

We had to take a 2 hour train to get to Sensation, but the concert was SO much fun. In typical European fashion, it lasted until 6am. At 6am, we got back on the bus and headed back to Laura's apartment so I could get back and get my stuff before heading to the airport for my flight to London. We got back to her town at 8am, and the next train wasn't until 10:00. My flight was at 12:30..... so I ended up having to sprint through the airport. I got to the checkin at 11:55 when I was supposed to be there at 11:50, so I had to talk them into letting me check in and I couldn't check my bag. They ended up having to hold the airplane for me, too. It was a hugee mess, but at least I made it!

Second stop: London, England

London Taxi

I finally got to London around 3:00 on Sunday. I was EXHAUSTED since I still hadn't slept since the night before. I headed to the hostel where my friends were all staying. We went on this trip with Bus2Alps, but I got there late and missed the tour in London. It was okay though because I've been to London a couple of times. Once I got to the hostel and grabbed some food, I passed out until my friends got back. That night we headed to a restaurant and got fish and chips. Since I don't like fish, I got some kind of pot roast type thing and MASHED POTATOES. I was so happyyy. After that we just hung out at the bar at the hostel for a little bit before heading to bed.

Chipotle

First white mocha in Europe

On Monday we went to the market in London and explored some of those shops. On the way to the market I stopped and had my first Starbucks white mocha in 3 months!! Oh my gosshhh it was amazing! The market was really cool because it had a little everything - food, clothing, antiques. They were all divided into different sections. After the market we went to Chipotle for lunch! It took absolutely forever to find it and I had pretty much given up hope when we finally ran into it. It was SO GOOD to have some food from back home. I hadn't had Chipotle before, but I was so beyond excited to have something I recognized from home that wasn't just McDonalds.

After that my friend Alex was super nice to go with me back to Big Ben, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, and a couple of other places they had gone on the tour the day before so I could get my pictures. I kept trying to find the place that we used to stay when we'd go to London when I was younger, but I couldn't find it. After that we headed to the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, and the London Bridge. Who knew that the London Bridge would be so anti-climatic. We all thought the Tower Bridge was the London Bridge until someone cleared up the confusion. 

Big Ben

London Eye

 That night Alex and I headed on a Jack the Riper tour. It was so freaky because it led us to a couple of the places where the murders had happened and we got to hear the entire story of everything they know. Once we were done with that, we headed back to the hostel and drank some wine before meeting up with our friends. We ended up meeting this couple at the bus staton that had the CUTEST pitbull ever. Then when we got to the area our friends were in, we couldn't find the bar they were at so we asked one of the guys who has the bike that drives you around, and he gave us a free ride to the bar! It was so much fun. Then we hung out there for awhile before heading home to the hostel.

On Tuesday we woke up early and headed to a bagel place to get our first bagels since being in Europe. Yummm. Then we went to a really cool exhibit from WWII. Dad, you would've loved it! They had all the original papers and advertisements, and even had a room you could sit in to hear what the people in London heard every night. It was so intense, and so interesting. Before leaving London we stopped at Tower Bridge and went to the top for some pretty views of the city. It was so strange seeing all the modern buildings in London when I was used to only having old buildings in Rome. After that we hurried back to the hostel and headed to our next stop - Paris!

Sally, Christina, Alex, Monet, and I on Tower Bridge

Third stop: Paris, France

Alex, Christina, and I at the Eiffel Tower

I was really impressed with Paris. I pretty much expected to get there, see the Eiffel Tower, and be ready to go. But I really enjoyed hanging out there and the atmosphere in Paris. The first day we got to the hostel pretty late from the train from London. We grabbed some dinner and decided to head to see the Eiffel Tower at night. It was SO PRETTY. We went up on the platform and drank wine, ate crepes, and watched the twinkling Eiffel Tower show. It was such a nice break and time to relax on a VERY exhausting Spring Break. Once we ran out of wine and finished our crepes, we headed back to the hostel for a good night of sleep before our tour the next day.

Human pyramid by the Louvre pyramids

View of the Pont Neuf bridge from the Pont des Arts bridge

During our tour we went to Notre Dame, the Pont Neuf bridge by Henry IV, the Pont des Arts bridge (where the last scene of Sex and the City was filmed), the Louvre with its pyramids, and Place de la Concorde (where the guillotine was during the French Revolution and where the fountain is that was in the last scene of The Devil Wears Prada). Everything was so beautiful and elaborate. It was so different than what I expected. And I was SHOCKED at how huge the Louvre was. I knew it was big, but I didn't realize how big. It's actually so big that it would take you 80 years to see everything in the Louvre. After the tour we headed back to the Eiffel Tower to see it during the day and climb it. I had NO idea how huge Paris was until I got to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was GORGEOUS. That night we headed on a pub crawl in Paris with our group and I ran into who else but Meredith Caldwell, who was my neighbor freshman year at Clemson. She is studying in Rome too, and she ended up being on the same pub crawl that I was on. Such a small world! 

    

Versailles

Monet and I by the gardens in Versailles

The next day we headed out for day in Versailles. Versailles was BEAUTIFUL. It was so huge and elaborate and I just couldn't even imagine what it must have been like to actually live there. I was in complete awe. Once we finished walking through all the gorgeous rooms, we headed out back to the gardens and laid by the lakes for awhile in the gardens. It was so relaxing in the sun. We were able to spread out and just lay in the sun for awhile. During this semester moments where we can really just relax are very rare, so we have learned to really savor them.

Loving Paris

Christina and I with our Longchamps

After that we headed back to Paris and went back to the Eiffel Tower (for the third time, we were kind of obsessed...) to take some pictures in front of it. Then we headed to the Longchamp store so Christina and I could buy Longchamps in Paris. We got to the store and there was a line outside that was roped off. After standing in this line, you had to stand in another line to pick the color you wanted. Then after this line, you had to stand in ANOTHER line to pick up your bag and pay for it. It was such a long, drawn out process. After that we headed back to the hostel. That night I was able to go meet up with Matt Washburn, my friend from Clemson who has an internship in Paris for the semester. It was so nice to see a familiar face! He took me and 2 of my friends to a couple bars. One of them had a live band, which neither of us had seen since we left Clemson. We spent a lot of the night dancing to that band, which was so fun and refreshing because it felt like we were back at Clemson again. We even got the rest of the bar to dance with us! We headed back pretty early because he had to get up for work and we had to get to sleep to be able to get up for our 8am train to our next stop on our journey - Amsterdam!

Fourth Stop: Amsterdam, Netherlands

So on Friday morning we woke up and found that one of our friends Monet was gone. She wasn't at the hostel, and we ended up having to leave her in Paris to head to Amsterdam. We were absolutely petrified all morning because she didn't have a phone and we had no way of reaching her. It was SO scary. We finally heard from the hotel as we were getting on our train that they saw her and she was heading to the train station. We were all SO relieved, and she ended up catching a train right after us!

After that scare, we ended up in Amsterdam. Amsterdam was SO much different than I imagined it would be. I am in love. With it's reputation, you would expect it to be gross and dirty, but it was actually beautiful. It was such a cool little town with such a unique personality. I am absolutely in love with it, and would actually love to even live there one day.

Christina and I in the giant shoe

Red Light District with Old Church in the background

Hunter's Coffee Shop

When we first got there, we got some food then headed on our tour. Our guide was hilarious and really set the tone for our time in Amsterdam. We started in Dam Square, which was right by our hostel. Then we headed down the Red Light District and past the Old Church. It cracked me up how the church was right next to the Red Light District. Our guide explained that this was because the sailors would come in lonely from the sea, go to the Red Light District, then go straight to the church to repent their sins. It used to be a super corrupt system because they would just pay the priest to forgive them, so the church was making a ton of money off of all the sailors going to the Red Light District. 

Skinniest house in Amsterdam

Anne Frank's House

After that we headed down some of the other streets, across the widest bridge in Amsterdam, and by the skinnest house (which was TINY). We finished at the Anne Frank House, and all of us went in after the tour. The Anne Frank House was probably one of my favorite things I've done in Europe. With my interest in World War II, it was INSANE to actually see where Anne Frank lived and the areas she had described in her diary. I was in absolute shock. They had all the pictures still up on her walls in her room and they even had where Anne Frank's parents had marked how much their kids had grown. It was incredible seeing something that made World War II so real, instead of just something in our history books. I also was extremely interested in it because I went to Auschwitz and Berlin with my mom when I was in 8th grade. I've seen where it ended, so seeing the Anne Frank House felt like the last piece of the puzzle for me. After the Anne Frank House, Monet had gotten to the hostel so we went to go meet up with her. That night we just hung out at the hostel and had a chill night. We all passed out super early, but it was much needed.

Alex and I at the IAmsterdam Sign

On Saturday, our only full day in Amsterdam, Alex, Christina, and I went to the Heineken Museum and the IAmsterdam sign. The Heineken museum was really interesting, even though I'm not the biggest fan of Heineken beer. It was cool to see how it all began and the entire history of it, plus we got free beers at the end. We also got our typical pictures at the IAmsterdam sign. After this, we headed back to the hostel to meet back up with our friends. That night we headed out to explore some more of Amsterdam and ate DELICIOUS Chinese food. It was such a cool city, I could've stayed there forever and really wish I had more time there.

Fifth Stop: Naples, Italy

Pizza in Naples

On Sunday, Sally, Christina, and I woke up super early to head to the airport for our flight to Naples. We were exhausted and broke from a long Spring Break, so we absolutely hated Naples from the second we got there. The people were gross, they were pushy, and they were all eying us like they were going to pickpocket us. We also forgot to bring any maps or guidebooks of the area, so we didn't even know where to start. We ended up moving our train time up to earlier and went and got pizza and headed back home to Rome within two hours. Luckily we only went to Naples because it was cheaper to fly to Naples and take a train back to Rome than fly into Rome.