European highlights and lessons learned.

Alright. Alright. I know I have SUCKED at keeping this updated. Let's just say that if you were doing as much as we are doing you would have a little bit of sympathy and would have voted for sleep rather than posting blogs every other day. That and the internet is never fantastic at hostels - so you take what you can get.

Nina has officially left me :( 

Since I'm all alone in Rome, I decided to take a relax night and blog about the highlights of the backpacking adventure and lessons learned.

So, here are a few things I've learned this summer and tips for those of you who may be travelling in the future.

1. No matter what you pack - it's always too much. Minimize your life and do laundry as you go - that way you can buy pretty new things for yourself and friends everywhere you go.

2. Travelling by yourself is fun and wonderful, but travelling with a friend is so much better. Being able to share experiences with one of your best friends will be something you'll have for the rest of your lives.

3. Plan loosely, but make sure you know about transportation systems in each country. We planned to take buses everywhere, but some countries (*cough*France*cough*) want you to take the train, so they don't allow buses to take you from province to province.

4. Research and ask everyone you know about hostels in every place you're staying - most of the best hostels I stayed in were based upon recommendations and I never would have found them otherwise.

5. Trust everyone when they say that pickpocketing and burglary happens in Barcelona, Paris, and Rome - seriously, it does. Hold on to everything you own very tightly or you might just end up spending your first evening in Paris in a police station.

6. No matter how long you stay in a city - you can't see everything. Trips like this are more to show you where you want to go back someday (because I will be back someday...)

7. Even though you want to see everything - plan a relaxation day here and there, because you will get sick if you don't (and possibly even if you do) henceforth severely impacting parts of your journey in a negative way.

8. Travelling without a base/home is much more difficult than travelling with one. Having Sarajevo as a base city was great and allowed for much more relaxed and easy going travelling - being a vagabond is fun, but exhausting.

9. 10 people should never share one room.

10. Mixed dorm rooms in hostels means boys and girls - and boys snore - if you can, book female only dorms - if you're male, well that just sucks for you.

11. It's okay to not go out and party every night with all the other backpackers. You don't have to get drunk every night to have a good time and meet people - sometimes (and for us it was most times) just seeing the city and it's sites is enough - that's what you're there for after all.

12. You don't have to be a "foodie" to go out and enjoy local food in every country. Don't order American style food you can get at home unless you're super homesick - and DO NOT get American fast food (McDonald's is the devil when you're travelling)

13. Don't feel guilty ignoring the rest of the world while you travel - everything will still be there when you get back.

14. Buy small things as gifts for people - magnets, jewelry, key chains, etc. - they will still appreciate them while they won't take up your entire bag.

15. While some people may be against drinking alcohol (particularly if you come from a conservative Christian background) you aren't living by their standards - so don't feel guilty about trying local wines and drinks wherever you go. In Europe, it's a part of their culture and can be an integral part of your European experience.

16. Germany and Italy have the best food.

17. Even if you love taking pictures - you'll get tired of taking soooooo many pictures because tourists are everywhere and ruin everything.

18. That being said - tourists suck! Especially Continental Europeans and Asians (sorry to stereotype, but it's totally true). Americans and Canadians tend to be super nice and considerate about everything (as do people from the UK, generally) but Continental Europeans don't care about personal space or that they just happen to walk into your picture or talk over your video. Asian people (sorry again for the stereotypes) just take pictures of everything imaginable - I don't know why, because who really wants to see a picture of the piece of gum on the sidewalk outside of the Colosseum?

19. People in London are quite obviously tired of tourists after the Olympics - and they are quite rude because of it.

20. There are some places you HAVE to get up early for to beat the crowds - The Louvre and The Vatican being the main two.

21. Buses are cheap, generally pretty empty, and takes about the same amount of time as the train (unless you pay exorbitantly for the super fast train) - and, they often drop you off at the same point as a train would - they're well worth the reduced cost.

22. While we're on the subject of transportation, why don't we have RyanAir in the U.S.??? While they might be a pain to get to, it's dirt cheap and worth the extra effort.

I'm sure there are more I'll come up with as soon as I post this, but for now I'm going to relax, watch a movie, and go to bed so I'm fully prepared to enjoy my last day in Europe. 

Now, please enjoy some of the highlights of the summer...


Street performances and free concerts/dances in Prague.

Wandering castle grounds...everywhere.

Salzburg and the Sound of Music tour.

Fulfilling a lifelong dream to see Chateau d'If.

The Palace of Versailles and the Hall of Mirrors.

Picnicking in front of the Eiffel Tower (minus the being attacked and have the iphone stolen part of it)

Seeing the statue of Nike in person at the Louvre.

Watching the sun set over Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower while sipping champagne.

Street performances in Galway, Ireland (seriously - look at all those instruments)

Staying in a 300 year old cottage in idyllic Ireland.

Watching Nina try and hate Guinness in Ireland.

Visiting the Cliffs of Moher.

Taking a double-decker tour bus in London.

Seeing Buckingham Palace when the Queen was home.

Taking a "Jack the Ripper" tour through the East End of London.

Getting freaked out by the "Jack the Ripper" tour in the East End of London.

Sipping cocktails and watching the sun set over London from a fancy high-rise building.

Being goofs in the Tower of London...

Going to Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station.

Picnicking in London while watching the Paralympic Games on the big screen.

Having a fantastically amazing day out in London complete with cocktails at a bar with a secret entrance.

Visiting Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany (even if it was under construction and I was super sick)

Venice.

Buses - buses - everywhere...

Shopping til we dropped in Firenze (those are all my bags - seriously, I think Nina had one small thing inside one of my purchases...)

Visiting the square in Siena and seeing the houses of the 9 Lords of Siena.

Visiting Tuscany and a beautiful organic Villa.

Wine and balsamic tasting...

Then having the most AMAZING meal I've ever had in my life.

Seeing and visiting the Colosseum in Rome.

Vatican City complete with a guided tour through the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel and then seeing St. Peter's Basilica and Square.

Throwing a coin in the Trevi Fountain.

Travelling all of Europe with my best friend and both of us surviving :)

I'm going to miss travelling Europe and seeing all of these amazing sites, but I'm very excited to finally be coming home. See you soon America - very, very soon.

Kim's Guide to 1.5 Days in Prague.

Nina and I have just arrived in Marseille, but I figured I should take some time and post about past locations that I hadn't had a chance to talk about...

So. Prague. I only had a day and a half - which isn't much time, but it was fantastic.

My overall impression of the city was that it was...eclectic. There were some amazing experiences I had here, but there were also some very odd things that I encountered.

I met a very nice Chinese girl (Pei) on the way to Prague - we were staying in the same hostel, so we wandered around together for a little while that evening upon arrival.

Which leads me to my first piece of advice - wander. You should do this in every city, but Old Town Prague is a lovely place to get lost. 

Stop whenever you can to watch street performers. I'm from a small town, so to witness such a disparate number of performances all across the city was both relaxing, inviting, and is encouraged for all future travelers.

He is amazing...

Make friends with Petr - he just might let you play the water glasses (some of you know this is a lifelong dream of mine - so I was very excited!)

If you are only there for a short time, spend it in Old Town Prague. It's full of life, history, and beauty. Carefully pass off your camera to people to take pictures of you throughout the city - look for the bright orange/salmon colored shorts in this photo to find me - it's like Where's Waldo Prague style.

Go up into the steeple during sunset - the view is gorgeous and you can see all of Prague bathed in the beautiful, warm sunset coloring.

If you feel you must, stop to watch the Atomic Clock in the town square. It's one of the things Prague is known for, but it really wasn't that exciting...

While you're waiting, wonder how this man managed to get the prime location under the clock. Also be sure to look around and watch the crowd's reaction to him - it's much more entertaining than he is.

Stop to take in the beauty that is Prague.

Head over to Charles Bridge (unmistakable with the throngs of tourists heading that way and the statues lining its entirety). Watch the remnants of the sun setting over the castle from here. 

Have a seat and watch the street performers here, as well. We were lucky enough to see some amazing cellists.

When it starts to become late - head back to the hostel. On the way make sure to take in the "Ballet on the Water" from Charles Bridge. It will be on your right back near old town - there are different kinds of performances here nearly every night and there is generally a group of people watching that you can join.

Get up "early" the next morning. Early being a subjective term here, because to me that means 7am but to people staying in hostels it generally means anytime before 11am/12pm. Have some breakfast and head toward the castle. This particular picture is of the cathedral - the castle is being renovated and is covered in mesh - therefore, it is not photo worthy at the moment.

Be sure to enter the gorgeous Cathedral St Vitus - I strongly encourage purchasing the ticket that allows you to go into 5 or so of the sites - I think it's regularly 250 Krns, but for students it's only 125 - from what I understand the more expensive one isn't worth the cost. The lesser ticket allows you into the cathedral, castle, Golden Lane and a couple of other places.

If you're travelling a lot, you're going to be seeing a lot of cathedrals and castles, etc. Choose one particular thing to focus on in each place - I've chosen organs. I will collect pictures of organs from all of the cathedrals and look over the lot of them when my travels are over.

With the lower end ticket, you get to walk throughout the cathedral rather than solely in the front of it to see all of it's beauty.

I received word that my grandmother had some pretty significant health concerns right before going into Prague, so I lit a candle for her in St Vitus and said a prayer.

Explore the castle and Golden Lane - lament over the fact that you can't spend $100 on these and bring them back for your brother.

Bring a lunch with you and find the courtyard of the Lobkowicz Palace Museum at the bottom of the castle complex. Every day at 1pm they have a classical concert in the museum, and by sitting in this courtyard you get to appreciate the music without having to pay for it. There is also wine tasting here if you desire to partake in that.

Best of all, it's shaded and rather empty - so you can beat the heat and the crowds.

Find a place to cool off. It was 90+ degrees while I was in Prague, but I managed to find these lovely sprinklers. I stood off to the side of the lawn (because you're not allowed to step onto the grass) - it offered a nice cool off every 10 seconds or so :)

Look for a good place to set up your camera for a self-timer shot. Wandering around the other side of the castle there are less tourists, so this becomes much easier.

As previously mentioned - it's hot. Therefore, I recommend choosing one of the many museums in Prague and spending the hottest part of the day exploring it. I chose the Czech Museum of Music. It was lovely and had little stations for you to sit and listen to different songs featuring the different instruments. Another added benefit to this museum was the fact that it was empty - apparently the Museum of Music doesn't have much of a draw from the general populace.

Be sure to have a special "photo ticket" to take pictures inside the museum - otherwise a mean Czech lady will yell at you and then follow you around the rest of the museum.

When it cools down enough to head back outside, seek out more street performances. Be sure to tip a little bit when you stop to watch and take pictures/video.

Stop to explore Charles Bridge. There are some very interesting religious statues and more locks - this time on a religious something on the bridge.

There are also many little places to purchase trinkets and souvenirs on the bridge. Many times you can meet the person who actually crafted the piece of jewelry or art or whatever. These make great gifts - especially for birthdays and Christmas (then you don't have to shop when you get home - you're going to be broke at that point anyways...)

Take a little trip over to Havelske Market located on the street with the same name. It's not far from the center of old town. It has some little shops as well as fruits and veggies for a snack.

Wear comfortable shoes! I cannot stress this enough! There is cobblestone everywhere in Old Town Prague, and thick soles with good arch support will save your feet.

Yes - this man is in Prague. One of the eclectic things I mentioned earlier.

As are these works of art. Quite eclectic...

If you're going to stay at a hostel, stay at Sir Toby's! It's outside the city center, but easily accessible by public transportation. The people who work here are amazing and there are a bunch of other travelers passing through for you to meet.

Be sure to make the most out of your last bit of time in Prague. Wander the streets at night. Explore. Shop. Make new friends. Listen to the rhythm of the city and get lost it it.