Home Sweet Home...

The last days of our trip were spent in Dublin and Amsterdam. We were pretty much worn-out by then so we didn't do a whole lot of sight-seeing. Dublin was awesome after the fiasco Jess wrote about. Her birthday was awesome. We took a tour of Guinness and got like 3 free pints for her birthday. That was definitely the highlight of Dublin (besides the hotel). For the last night in Dublin, we booked a hotel that was really close to the airport and offered a free shuttle because our flight was at 6am (we weren't able to stay that night in our other hotel anyways because it was fully booked). The hotel we stayed in our last night was amazing. For about the same price as the first hotel, we basically got a HUGE apartment with a great view. It was too bad we only had one short night there (we think the reason it was so cheap was because it's in a bad neighborhood kinda far from the city center...but it was fun anyways). The next day we flew to Amsterdam. We basically didn't sleep at all that night and we were exhausted! We got to our hostel fine and we were very pleased with the location (very central). Of course, we got there in the morning and couldn't go to our room until 2pm, so we went and got some brunch/napped in the lobby until then. After a nice nap and shower, we explored the city a bit and grabbed some dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. We also really just walked around and relaxed in Amsterdam as well. It's a unique and beautiful city and it was a great place to end our travels. We also met up with Laura and I's friends, Chuck and Ani, from school. They flew into Amsterdam to start their trip, so we hung out for a day. It was very refreshing to see friendly faces. That night we went to a comedy show called Boom Chicago which was sketch and improv comedy. It was very fun. The next day we left for home (luckily Jess and I had a direct flight). We were all VERY ready to go home after over 2 months abroad. What an amazing trip!

It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to...

Wow, it's been awhile. So, Barcelona was basically like Mexico...except for instead of Mexican people, there were Spanish people...soo yeah. Nice beaches, but not that nice of a city. We went to the beach for a couple hours and I got so sunburnt that I couldnt wear pants for a few days and had to buy a dress. That sucked. Also, in Antibes we had another bedbug attack...well, Aud was fine but Andrew and I were attacked. So, now it's my turn to look like a leper. Madrid was amazing! We had a great hostel with a private bathroom (very rare) and the city was really nice and much cheaper than Barcelona. We had tapas and sangria, and we shopped (of course). Then, we were going to Paris via overnight train, thinking we had a sleeper compartment with beds...so, we get to our part of the train and go in and WHAT DO WE FIND THAT WE HAVE PAID 40 EUROS FOR?!?! Chairs. For 12 hours. Chairs. So, that sucked. Worst sleep of my life. But then we arrived in Paris and it was lovely. We had some great food, saw the Eiffel Tower, etc, shopped...yada yada. Basically it was awesome, and the people were (surprisingly) really nice to us. Although this was the only place i've ever been to where people immediately pegged me as an English-speaker...and sometimes they would yell things at me on the street. Normally people think I speak German before they hear me speak, so it was a little weird.
We had to take a bus to the airport from Paris, so we got to the bus station and we ask this guy if its the right bus and he YELLS AT US and says, "your bus left 30 minutes ago! You're late! Put your stuff under the bus and get on, OKAY?!" So, we were freaking out about missing our flight for the hour bus ride, then we get there and had like 30 minutes just SITTING AROUND at the airport. So, that was stressful. Then, we get to the hostel in Dublin and I go up to the front desk and say my name and give them the confirmation number and they say, "ohhhh YOU'RE Jessica Wilson, this came for you" and they gave me a HUGE box from my Dad and Stepmom with chocolates and champagne, and then they told me that I have no reservation and the confirmation number was for a room July 17th...so I start SOBBING because I didnt want to be homeless on my 21st birthday. After about 2 hours trying to find a new hotel, we decided on this hotel right in the middle of the main street in Dublin which is really nice and fairly inexpensive, AND the guy at reception gave us free full breakfast because of what happened at the other place and because it's my birthday :)
Then we had a lot of Guinness. Then life was better. And now we're going to go to the Guinness Brewery for my birthday! Woohoo! :)

I know it's been a while since either of us blogged, sorry. So, the trip to Barcelona was LONG and we didn't get in to our hostel until around 11pm. We saw Laura in the lobby there and it was SO great to see her. We visited a lot about our travels so far that night (we had many stories swap). The next day we meant to go straight to the beach, but we ended up trying to find a swimming suit for Laura (she shipped hers home...not sure why). Since it was a Sunday in a predominantely Catholic city, nothing was open. We ended up walking around the city for a very long time before making it to the beach. When we got there though, it was SO worth it. The beaches in Barcelona are amazing. Needless to say, we all got burnt...even Andrew. In the evening, we tried to find some tapas without much luck. We went to this crappy place late at night and were not very satisfied by what was offered on a Sunday night. The next day we took a fast train to Madrid. Madrid was AMAZING. We all loved it (especially in comparison with Barcelona). We had the BEST hostel of the trip, churros and chocolate around the corner, beautiful sites, nice people, great shopping, unbelievable tapas and sangria, and some of the best gelato I've ever tasted. Madrid has it all. After Madrid, we went on an overnight train to Paris. We thought we would be staying in either a 4-bed or 6-bed cabin (hoping for a 4-bed)...and got a chair. Yes, a chair. Aparently, in booking everything, we booked a seat instead of a bed. And these were the most UNCOMFORTABLE chairs ever. We hardly slept at all. It was horrible. We got to Paris in the morning and made it to our hotel pretty easily. Since it was the morning, however, we couldn't check in. So, we left our stuff and walked around the city all nasty and smelly from not having showered yet. Andrew did his own thing while we ate an amazing brunch, saw Notre Dame and shopped. We saw quite a lot of the city and we loved it almost immediately. In the evening, we met my friend Anne, who lives in Paris, and my friend Danielle, who I go to school with but was here on vacation, for dinner. We had a lovely classic French dinner followed by some good ice cream. Mmmmm. We also saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle from by the Louvre! It was a really fun night. Today we had an amazing brunch once again, seriously, best food of the trip or close to it...I'm sure Jess will share more. Then we just kind of walked around, saw a lot of good sites, shopped, and just relaxed (although we walked A LOT). Andrew was with us this time. Tonight we met up with Anne again for a drink at this really classy place. That was a lot of fun too. Tomorrow we part ways with Andrew (unfortunately) and Jess, Laura, and I are off to Dublin!!!! We'll update you soon, love you all!

Audrey

Wine is cheaper than water? Ok!

Ok, so Jess basically covered Fussen...it was awesome. The next morning we went to Munich. We checked into our hostel, which was nice, ate at a cool small street restaurant place (delicious gyros...) while waiting for our laundry to dry. Next we went to Dachau, the memorial site to the concentration camp. It was eery and sad, and unfortunately we were only able to be there for about 30 minutes before it closed. So worth it though. In the evening, we walked A LOT (surprise, surprise) and went through the biggest city park in Europe to a biergarten called Seehaus (by Carrie Taylor's recommendation). It was really fun. Jess and I had a liter of beer each with a pretzel and some fries. SO good. We had some really good laughs and conversation, met up with Andrew then eventually found our way back to our hostel. The next morning we left for Antibes, France. This day was to be a travel day...and it was. Italian trains suck we decided because the German trains are super nice and extremely punctual, while the Italian trains are never on time and made us miss 2 connecting trains. Long story short, we didn't get into Antibes until almost 1am (it was supposed to be 5pm) and we had to take a taxi to the apartment we were supposed to stay in. We met our host, Romain, and he let us in and showed us around. Romain's a really nice young french guy who studied computer science in school and now works for an IT company nearby. We basically crashed and slept in the next day. Jess and I leisurly made it downtown and to a beach by mid-day. After getting a bit fried, we tried to find lunch. Little did we know, nothing is open after 3pm for lunch. This one restaurant, however, let us eat cold salads. It was SO good. The salads were very filling and we really needed the produce after eating nothing but bread on the train. After lunch and some shopping, we headed back to the apartment to meet Romain and Andrew for the evening. We decided to go downtown for a late dinner (about a 40 minute walk), which was fun. We had REALLY good local food at a very reasonable price. It of course took about 3 hours, and we didn't leave the restaurant until after 11:30pm, but it was so worth it. This morning we slept in just a little and started our laundry (we haven't had much luck thus far). Jess and I headed downtown again and just sort of walked around to get a feel of the city. We had a great lunch and a nice conversation with a German couple. Today was much hotter than yesterday so we kind of took it easy. Tomorrow morning we head off to Barcelona, Spain and meet up with my friend, Laura from school. Barcelona means more beach time...YAY!!!

Also, I only had €4, my student ID, and my camera...which was out of battery

Seriously, where are we?

Okay, so after Vienna we headed to Munich...or so we thought. As we pulled in to the main train station in Munich Andrew informed us that we had to get on another train for a "surprise" and wouldn't tell us where we were going. I was pretty sure he was taking us somewhere along the lines of a concentration camp. After a two hour train ride we ended up in Fussen, Germany. It was POURING and freezing cold, so we ran to our hostel and got completely soaked. By this time Audrey and I were really confused as to why we were there, but then we saw the view. There are three huge castles in the foot of the alps surrounding Fussen, at the end of the Romantic Road. One of these castles was the inspiration for Disney's Cinderella castle. We took a bus up to the castle, it was still freezing and raining, but it was AMAZING! I can honestly say it was the coolest castle i have ever seen in my life...and I've seen some castles in my day. The only word that can describe it is mystical. It was so cool. So, then we walked back down from the castle and found out that we had missed the last bus going back to Fussen. Great. There seemed to be a trail with signs and it said it would be about an hour walk, which was fine. So, we started off on the trail, went past this big lake with Swans, and it was all very beautiful...but the signs stopped pointing to Fussen. Since it had been raining all day there were puddles everywhere and some of the paths were flooded, so we were all freezing, wet, and hungry...IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS. We had also picked up a girl at the castle from Michigan, and she needed to get back to Munich that night...and it was getting pretty late. So, finally we came across a german family...the ONLY germans in germany who didnt speak english. But they had a map! I pointed to the direction we were heading and said, "Fussen?" the mans eyes got really wide and he said, "Nine!" and pointed in the exact opposite direction. At this point we had been wondering for about an hour or so... So, we followed where they said to go, climbed up a mountain and then down again, and suddently we saw civilization! We were in Fussen...then we left Fussen...then we got back to Fussen...then we found a Chinese restaurant...and we ate A LOT. They actually openned the restaurant for us, which was really nice... we really must have looked desperate... So, everything was fine.

Vienna is FABULOUS

So Jess basically said all that we did here except that today we saw an amazing palace and walked around the sweet sweet gardens. That was awesome. The pride parade yesterday was definitely the highlight for me because it was SO different and unexpected. It stormed really bad last night so we unfortunately had to stay inside. Also, we slept with the lights on all night because we are so paranoid about bed bugs, lol. With good reason. There were none as far as we could tell. Vienna has a ton of culture and things to do. We didn't even see a lot of the city. I definitely wanna come back here some day. Tomorrow we are off to Munich which I here is super awesome but extremely touristy (as if the places we've been already haven't been...right...). So, we'll see. It should be a good time no matter what though!