My Most Memorable Experience

A flashback to one of my many adventures in Wales.

Across the Pond | My Study Abroad Experience

From January to June, I was lucky enough to call Bangor, Wales "home". Here's a glimpse into all my adventures and the magical life I lived there (apologies for the lack of sheep in the video) with some wonderful new friends. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. 

Better Late Than Never

If you feel like wasting 30 minutes and watching what I did over Easter break, here you go:

Coming soon: montage video.

Back To Reality

My whole experience feels surreal. The past five months feel like a dream (that I've unfortunately woken up from). 

I've been putting off writing this because 1.) I don't know where to start and 2.) summarizing my trip means it's actually over (and being home is already making me sad enough). 

After two trains and two planes (and struggling with way too much luggage - seriously, just call me bag lady), I arrived back in Baltimore on Friday, June 20th (insert sad face here). 

I've officially been home a week and four days (I'm counting). Upon returning to the homeland, not only did I experience severe jet lag, but had to ask my mom what side of the road we drove on. The dogs were thrilled to see me - the cats, on the other hand, gave me the cold shoulder for a few hours. 

Studying abroad and living in the UK has always been a goal of mine, and while I can now check both off my bucket list...I'm not ready to be back in the States, hearing only (well, mostly) American accents and not being told I'm pronouncing words incorrectly (e.g. aluminum, oregano, etc.) is killing my soul (dramatic, yes). I already want to go back (and wish I had missed my flight and worried about being deported later). 

I can't even begin to explain how much this entire experience meant to me, from the wonderful people I met to the beautiful countries I visited - I really lived. 

I made great, life long friends. Out of all of the people I met, these three girls became family to me. The amount of time we spent in our kitchen together - eating Ben & Jerry's in the middle of the night or dancing/singing during lunch/dinner (we basically ate all our meals together, totally not needy/weird) - made my time abroad 1000x better than I ever could have imagined. 

They were always there for me and their friendship (and the fact that most people didn't seem to care what I was doing with my life) really made me question how much some of my friends back home actually cared for me. But, these gals though, they're awesome and I love them.

I know I'm not the same person that left in January. I hope people will see a positive change, but I'm not too concerned if they don't. I know I'm different (and for the better) and that's all that really matters.

A year or two ago, I don't know if I would have backpacked around countries completely on my own - but, now that I've done it, I know I can do anything.

This past weekend, I stayed at my sister's place in Philadelphia to watch her cats (and have a holiday/vacation away from my house) while she was in Ireland. My mom asked after if I felt afraid about being alone - I don't know how, after being away for five months and doing all that I did (and almost being 23), I could be afraid of spending a weekend alone in Philly. It just seems silly.

I've become accustomed to doing what I want, when I want - now that I'm home, I'm concerned I will lose that freedom and independence I gained while abroad. I realize it's different in the sense that I can't just walk down the street to the nearest pub for a couple of pints (also, I can't do this because I'm completely broke), but still. 

New(ish) goals: graduate in May 2015 and get a job in the UK (hey, London, I'm lookin' at you). Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

PS: I will finally be posting my Ireland/Scotland trip and a few other vlogs within the next week on here.

Backpacking, Bier Gartens & Baby Dolphins

Even though I had traveled to Italy and Greece by myself, this experience was going to be a bit different. I wasn't on a cruise ship, so it was my responsibility to get myself from point A to point B (in one piece, preferably). 15 days, 6+ cities, 4 countries.

There are pros/cons of traveling by yourself, but at least I can say I've done it (multiple times). Also, I now know the Manchester Airport like the back of my hand.

Prague, Czech Republic (4-7/6)

I got in quite late my first night, so besides going out to quickly get money exchanged, I didn't see much of the town. The next morning, I decided to go on another Sandemans free walking tour. As I was staying in "Lesser Town", on my way to the tour, I had to cross the Charles Bridge. The roads weren't as confusing as Mykonos, but I still had my handy dandy Google Maps out. The tour started in the Old Town Square, right under the Astronomical Clock.  We learned that Czechs celebrate not only their birthday, but their "name day" - there are 400 names to choose from when naming your newborn.

We walked all over Prague, visiting sites including: Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, Wenceslas Square, St. Nicolas' Church, House of the Black Madonna, Powder Tower, and more in the Old Jewish Quarter - we passed by the six synagogues and cemetery. The tour ended by the Rudolfinum and Manes Bridge, where we learned about the WWII uprising and how it was believed Hitler wanted to save Prague from destruction because he planned on living there later in life.

After the tour, I went back to the Old Town Square to see the Tim Burton exhibit. All of his drawings/paintings/inspirations were on display and I became inspired to create more. Later, I found the John Lennon Wall - it was cool, but I expected the wall itself to be much bigger. 

On my third and final full day in Prague, I wandered off to find the Prague Castle. I somehow managed to walk into the background of Czech car commercial and had to sign a release form incase my face appears in it. After an interesting start to my morning, I paid to climb up the St. Vitus Cathedral, where I saw spectacular views of the city and castle. That afternoon, I went to the Karel Zeman Film Special Effects Museum. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the Tim Burton exhibit. 

On a side note: the food in Prague - there are no words. I ate so well, which may also be why I'm broke. Money well spent, right?

Cesty Krumlov, Czech Republic (7-9/6)

Originally, I wasn't going to stop in Cesty Krumlov - but due to limited availability at hostels in Austria, I had to alter my schedule. The town itself is quite small and seems to be a big tourist attraction for kayaking/canoeing (which would have been fun to do if I wasn't alone), but I'm glad I went.

The first day, I just found a park and read for a majority of the day. The next day, I went on another free tour (Wiseman) - we walked around the castle and courtyards, Castle Tower, Renaissance Town Hall, Former Jesuit Hall of Residence and Seminary, Bears' Moat (there are actual bears, but we didn't see any as they were hiding), Cloak Bridge, St. Vit Church, Plague Column, former Rosenberg's hospital and more.

The town is very picturesque and seems to have undergone many changes from various rulers and styles, such as gothic and baroque.

In other news, Czechs don't seem to understand what cider is, but they make bangin' iced coffee. Another thing I've noticed is that even with language barriers, you can generally understand what someone is asking or telling you through facial expressions and gestures. 

Salzburg, Austria (9-11/6)

I arrived in Salzburg quite early. To make the most of the day, I paid €9 for a walking tour of the city (which in retrospect was not worth it). I assumed we would be walking all over the city, but we stayed in one little section. We started off in the Mozartplatz, went to the courtyard that held the residents' fountain, Domplatz, Kapitelplatz, and then made our way over to the festival halls.

Afterwards, I (deservingly) treated myself to a pretzel the size of my face before heading over one of the many bridges to lead me to the Mirabell Gardens. The gardens were beautiful, so I sat there for a bit.  

On the 10th, I took a tour out of Salzburg to explore the famous Eagle's Nest, the Berchtesgaden Salt Mines, and the bavarian mountains around Lake Konigsee (the King's Lake). 

To get up to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, we had to take multiple buses, walk through a tunnel and go up a historic WWII elevator. I can't even begin to explain the beauty I saw when we arrived at the top. There are no words - I was in awe and I still am. Can this be my own personal vacation spot? 

At the salt mines, we rode a train, went down two wooden slides and took a boat over water in the mines. I wish I could remember more specifics, but sadly, I was listening to the audio guide in Czech for a bit before realizing I could change it to English...yeah, there's something wrong with me. 

Lake Konigee was beautiful, but we didn't stay too long. To be fair, at the point, the tour was going on about seven/eight hours and I was exhausted. 

Vienna, Austria (11-13/6)

To be completely honest, I wasn't a huge fan of Vienna. I'm not sure if it was due to the heat (I felt like I might perish) or how big the city was or being creeped out - but 10/10 would not go back. After checking into my hostel (which was near Westbanhof - but still felt a thousand miles away from most things), I went to the Naschmarkt. While walking through the market, I had a man come up to me to ask if I was American and traveling alone (first time I felt unsafe being by myself). To make matters worse, at lunch, I ordered a margherita pizza with "pepperoni" - I actually got peperoni, which is peppers. So unfortunate.

On my second day, I went to the Hofburg Palace and did the "Silver Collection, SiSi Museum and Kaiser Apartments" tour. I learned all about Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth (SiSi). After, I walked around and explored the Burg Garden, Volks Garden, Parliament, Rathaus (City Hall), Burg Theater and St. Stephans Dom. 

Ludwigsburg, Germany (13-15/6)

I haven't seen Max or Lukas since they visited me in the States in 2011 - it would have been a shame to be near them and not stop in to say hello! When I arrived, Max's parents (who speak very little English) had prepared a little brunch for us (pretzels!!!) Lukas came over and the three of us walked over and did a tour of the Ludwigsburg Palace (we saw 73 rooms in total). After, we went to a bier garten - which led to more bier gartens. It was a great day of catching up with old friends and drinking (a lot of) good, German beer. 

The next morning, a bit hungover, Max and I went into Bissingen, a nearby town. We walked around and ate lunch there - I had maultaschen, which was delicious and, according to Max, a very Swabian dish. When we were done, we picked up Lukas and went to a nearby palace (not sure of the name), where we walked around the lake. That night, Max, Lukas, Lukas' girlfriend, Ada, and myself had a BBQ at Lukas' house. Delicious (even though Max burnt some of it, haha). 

Gibraltar/Spain (15-18/6)

When I landed, Dan surprised me at the airport. That afternoon, we went out with his Uncle, Grandad and Uncle's friends, which was really fun. I'm not sure if I've ever had snake bites (beer & cider mixture) before, but I've now had a lot of them.

The next day, we packed lunch and went to Palmones Beach. From the beach, after the clouds dispersed, we had a great view of the Rock. The water, which was quite blue, was a bit chilly at first, but we managed. That night, we walked to a duck pond and then relaxed at home.

While in Spain, Dan is working for a Dolphin Tour company, so the following day, we went out on the boat. We saw a bunch of dolphins, even babies! So cute.

Afterwards, we ate lunch in the town square and then headed up the Rock, where we soon came across a few Barbary Macaques (monkeys). We first stopped to explore the Moorish Castle. 

Inside St. Michael's Cave, they were preparing for a light/music show later that night. The  cave itself was amazing, but even more so with all the stalactites lit up in different colors - changing with the beat of the music.

We headed back down the Rock via the Mediterranean steps, which were quite steep. The views were out of this world - across the sea, we could faintly make out Africa (Morocco). 

On our way out, we stumbled upon the Pillars of Hercules. We ended the night playing on a blow-up water obstacle course off of a beach. Overall, Spain was perfect and it was great to see Dan one last time before heading home.