Vienna: Horse Ballet and the Hapsburgs || Travel Diary

Imperial Hofburg Palace

(Travel Day 22)
The German name for Vienna is "Wien" so "Wienerschnitzel" literally translates to Vienna-Schnitzel.
Wien wein = Vienna wine.

Day 1:

When we arrived in Vienna we had to hurriedly check-in to our hostel before heading out again for the evening local "Walk and Fork" of Vienna. This process proved a little more awkward for us than most, as we were staying at a different hostel than the drop-off point. Chris volunteered to (literally) run up to our hostel and check us in, while I waited with the rest of the group.

On the "Walk and Fork tour" we saw the inner city sights with a local Austrian man called Holst (who has a great accent, but this also meant that he was a little hard to understand.) The architecture around Vienna is gorgeous! Lots of large grand buildings and statues scattered all over the city.

Český Krumlov: Staying in a 500 year old house, and a Castle illiusion || Travel Diary

Travel Day 20

We left Prague early in the morning to start making our way to Český Krumlov.

Day 1:

Prague: Pub crawl, John Lennon Wall and Trdelník || Travel Diary

Day 1: (Friday)

(Travel Day 17)
We arrived in Prague and walked to our hotel, which was different from the Busabout assigned hostels. Honestly, we got there and thought we were in the wrong place. The lobby looked far too fancy for what we were paying, surely we must be in the wrong place? Nope. Our money went a long way in the Czech Republic, getting us a nice hotel room for the price of a hostel. Complete with apples on our pillows, much healthier than the usual chocolates or mints.

Dresden: Eastern Germany without all the tourists || Travel diary

(Travel Day 15)
Dresden was our second German city we visited, and was quite different to Berlin. Dresden also suffered heavily from bombing during WWII and still shows a lot of the damage. 90% of the city centre was  destroyed in 1945.

The day we arrived Chris was feeling quite sick, probably with the same cold I had in Amsterdam. So our first half day was quiet. I took a walk around by myself, did laundry and all those other necessary chores while he took some time to rest.

Our second day in Dresden was much more eventful. We hired cute mint coloured vintage bikes with baskets for €8 each. Totes worth the extra cuteness in my opinion. We took them for a spin along the banks of the River Elbe.

Berlin: Ampelman and Currywurst at the Wall || Travel Diary

 

(Travel Day 12)

Welcome to Germany - a new country, with a new language to master (or decipher in our case)

On our way to Berlin, we stopped in at Check Point Alpha (AKA the Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing). This was the first but not the last remnant we would see of the Soviet influence on this country. We were able to walk around the interrogation and inspection rooms, and see uniforms and memorabilia of those who experienced it first hand.

This was one of our longest busrides we took through Europe. To mix it up between the on bus movies and handy information about Germany and travels, we were treated to a Busabout Bus Pub Quiz. Chris and I paired up and together won the quiz. Our victory prize was a large bag of Gummy Bears, which we promptly shared around the rest of our bus mates.

Amsterdam: I Amsodam Sick || Travel Diary

(Travel Day 9)
My first impressions of Amsterdam were that it was wet. Wet, wet, wet. We arrived at the Busabout drop off point at 8pm, 3 hours late due to unusually dense traffic. As we were staying at a different hotel, we then had a long and cold trek across town, first visiting the wrong hostel with the same name then finally arriving at our hotel half an hour later, soaked to the bone and exhausted from the day. Needless to say we didn't do much sight seeing that evening.

The next morning we went out and got ourselves an "I Amsterdam" card which included lots of free entries and public transport around the city.

Bruges: It's a fairy tale town || Travel Diary

(Travel Day 7)
Welcome to Belgium. A land best known for two of my favourite things: chocolate and beer. This was our first official Busabout stop and it's still my favourite historic town we saw.

Paris: Getting an Eiffel of the city || Travel diary

(Travel Day 5)
I absolutely loved Paris, but getting there was another story. I can't honestly say that our bus ride from London to Paris was a pleasant one. Yes, it was cheaper than the Eurostar but man were we under prepared. A casual 9 hour bus ride with NO stops. Yes, they had a toilet on board but we had expected at least one food and water break along the way. Nope! Not this time honey.

London: An introduction to England || Travel diary

(Travel Day 2)
Jet lag? What jet lag?

I woke up at 6.15am the first morning of being in London, not half bad considering I had done a 180° on my body clock, day switched into night and vice versa. This suited me perfectly, as we were having an early start on the commuter train to central London.
This particular train was comically crowded. I'm talking, squished right up against perfect strangers, definitely breathing the same air.... awkward. Luckily it was the most congested train we experienced, so it set the bar high.

A tale of two long haul flights || Travel diary

Hi friends,
I have so much to tell you about our two months travelling around Europe. It was such an incredible experience, one that will stay with me for a lifetime. We travelled to so many places; each with their own history, culture, and lets not forget the food. All the while, meeting new friends and making memories. As I sit down to write of our travels, I am listening to the seagulls call and bask in the summer sun, on the south coast of England in Brighton.

Every good story has a beginning, so lets start there....