It would seem that traveling can be compared to getting a tattoo. Once you start, you just can’t stop. (That’s what they say, anyways.) (Although, I got my first and only tattoo 3 years ago and would be completely okay if I never got another one). Anyways. I totally understand the travel books that claim, “You can’t see Europe in one trip”. You really can’t. … Continue reading Bitten By The Travel Bug.
All of our lives, McDonald’s has basically had a bad rep. One could probably lump most of the fast food chains into the same bad rep pool, but since McDonald’s is the most popular, I guess it has the worst name. Movies like “Supersize Me” probably didn’t help matters much. Before the trip to Europe, I only ever went to McDonald’s for the coffee. (I admit it, … Continue reading Europe 2013: Say what you will about McDonald’s. But it saved our backpacking butts.
Hard to believe we’re in our final European destination: Greece. We finally pulled the shorts and bikinis out from the very bottom of our backpacks. It’s a wonder they weren’t dusty–sitting down there for so long. Our first impression of Greece is the overall friendliness–even to tourists. The bus driver from the airport offered to bring us right to our stop, and then an older … Continue reading Europe 2013: Relax. It’s Greece.
We ate a lot of gelato in Europe, especially during the four days in Italy. Because it’s basically everywhere. We feel like we got to the point where we could judge a gelateria based on appearances. Which we were taught never to do while growing up. We did it anyways. (Sorry, Mom). After about 30 scoops of gelato between us, we noticed a trend. In … Continue reading Europe 2013: Gelato 101. From Italia.
Venice is like another world. It starts when you take a water bus from the airport. And then there are boats everywhere. Boats for absolutely everything and anything. Ambulance boats. Police boats. Firetruck boats. Mail boats. Subway boats. Taxi boats. We even saw a hearse boat. Boats, boats, and more boats. It’s incredible. We didn’t stay directly in Venice. Instead we stayed on the island … Continue reading Europe 2013: And then we ended up in Narnia. Also known as Venice.
Paris is beautiful. From what we packed into two days, anyways. In just two days, though, we somehow managed to visit the Eiffel Tower no less than three times. We’re suckers for Le Tour Eiffel, it seems. On our first day, we rode the Metro to the Notre-Dame, and slowly made our way to the Louvre, the Champs-Elysees, and eventually the Eiffel Tower. The next … Continue reading Europe 2013: Paris in a Blur. Avec des Macarons.
Why didn’t anyone tell us how delicious the food is in Germany? In all of your defense, however, we stayed with a friend of ours–a local– so he knew the best places already. Which makes it easier being a tourist–he pretty much did the hard part of already weeding out the not-so-great eats. (We eventually had to confess to Patrick that we had McDonald’s. We … Continue reading Europe 2013: Rick Steves, can you publish a German Food Tour Guide?
I guess it’s called a ‘comfort zone’ for a reason, haha. Our three days in Germany will be spent with a German friend in Dusseldorf. In hindsight, we should have printed off a basic map, or at the very least asked our friend Patrick for directions, haha. Oops. Without a map or wi-fi, we basically did what we could while exploring this morning–we traced our … Continue reading Europe 2013: Trying not to get lost in Germany.
Bicycles absolutely, one hundred percent, run the streets in Amsterdam. It could potentially be hazardous for a pedestrian if you’re not paying attention. Walking around at any given time, you’re sharing the streets with trams, mopeds, cars, and thousands of bikes. We’ve also seen scooters, horses and carriages, and one chic on rollerblades. You’re supposed to be paying attention, but it’s hard when there’s just … Continue reading Europe 2013: If I were a Bicycle, I would move to Amsterdam.
I think Amsterdam was our very first taste of culture shock. Trying to take the right train when everything is in Dutch, for example. We pretty much had no choice but to ask for help, haha. Lord knows we don’t want to board any more wrong trains. The first thing that grabs your attention? Cannabis. All over the place. Totally geared towards the tourists, but … Continue reading Europe 2013: Dear Amsterdam, You’re a Little Odd. We like it.
Jess & Jana 