Backpacking For One

Solo EuroTrip, here I come!

Tomorrow on Wednesday (4/6), I will head to Prague, Czech Republic. From there, I plan to go to Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic; Salzburg and Vienna, Austria; Stuttgart, Germany to visit some old friends and then Gibraltar, Spain to see Dan.

Everything is booked (flights and hostels), except transportation between cities. Hopefully I'll have time today to book most of the trains/buses to get to each place (I still need to pack!), but I'm also kind of looking forward to winging it. Who am I?

I'll be back in Bangor again on the 18th, for the sole purpose of getting my suitcase and other things I'm not taking with me for the next few weeks, and then traveling out of Manchester to go back "home" on June 20th.

Get ready, 'Murica. I'm coming for ya. Well, actually, I'm coming for my bed, TV and pets.

PS: If I get taken (and/or die in a possible bungee jumping incident off a bridge in Prague), everything goes to Cupcake and Everest.

A Day With The Doctor

I decided to do a day trip to Cardiff this Monday, the 2nd. One of the main reasons I wanted to study in Wales was because of Doctor Who, so it would be a shame to have spent five months living here and not go to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay.

Over four hours on four different trains (one way), I finally made it to the bay around 12:30pm. I wandered for a bit (praise the weather gods for it only raining lightly) before being able to do my scheduled time at 1:00pm. 

The Experience itself was really interesting. They had so many props from the show, including original wardrobe that the cast wore, different sets of the Tardis, handprints from the cast and so much more.

I treated myself to Nandos after for the first time. It's a popular chain restaurant in the UK that's known for it's chicken (it was eh). 

Even after a late lunch, I still had quite some time to kill before my 7:00pm train ride back to Bangor. I decided to go see the film Malecifient at the Odeon theatre.

Before studying abroad, I never would have gone to see a movie by myself. The horror. However after going on a cruise alone, I think I can do anything.

I enjoyed the film way more than the four hour train ride home.

PS: I have better pictures from DW, but my laptop is running low on space and I don't have much time to play around with the extra space on my external hard drive, so they will stay on my memory card for a bit.
PPS: Let's be honest, at this point, vlogs from Ireland/Scotland/other places will be edited and uploaded after my return to the motherland. 

Picnics & Campfires

Before I left for Italy and Greece, Dan and I went a couple of times to walk and explore around the Treborth Botanical Gardens. There are some really nice views of the Menai Bridge there. 

The day before I left, he surprised me with a picnic there (and a bottle of Riesling wine). We had a nice, sunny afternoon of eating and playing games with Adam, Ros, Kyle, Gill, Owen and Jack. 

On Friday (30/5), Dan, myself, Kyle, Gill, Stella, Jack, Owen and Niall all went camping at the Newborough Beach on the Isle of Angelsey.

It was about a 20 minute ride by bus, but there were some difficulties. The bus company we took was going to be no longer in service the following day due to fraud, so because of that we had to get a taxi back (and I missed saying goodbye to some of my gals). Oh well, shit happens. 

We had a really fun day and I can now officially say that I've swam in the Welsh Sea (ok, it was the Atlantic Ocean, but very cold so let me embellish a little bit). We had a little cookout on the beach, before relocating up a steep dune to set up our tents and spend the night surrounded by woods, stars and the warmth of the fire.

I love my life.

Saying Goodbyes

Over the past five months, Bangor has become my home and a few special individuals have become my family.

"Their friendship was only one aspect of their lives

 but it seemed to give meaning to all the others."

I don't take it lightly how fortunate I was to find these wonderful people within the first few days of moving here. We all clicked instantly and our friendship just worked from day one.

Considering the short amount of time we've been here, we've all gotten extremely close, and discussed how easily this could not have been the case.

What if we didn't get along and all just went our own separate ways?
What if we didn't choose to eat all our meals together? (This just seems ridiculous.)
The 'what ifs' could go on and on...

It doesn't feel real. How has five months gone by so fast?

Haz and KFC/JFK (aka Alex) were the first to leave on Monday. Mads and Emily will meet up with Haz in Turkey, but I don't know when I will see her again. Yesterday morning (Saturday), Mads and Emily left. Unfortunately, I didn't get back in time from a camping trip so I didn't properly say goodbye to them, which greatly upsets me. Then, yesterday afternoon, I said goodbye to Dan. I'm all alone in Reichel (our hall) until the 4th (short Harry and a few others are here, but it's just not the same).

It's weird being in a place filled with so many memories, without the people who helped make those memories. I can't let myself get too sad though, as there is so much to look forward to in the future. Plus, there is something so beautiful about the chemistry and dynamics we all had together.

I never want to forget (and I don't think I will) how they all made me feel, our adventures in Wales and beyond, our desire to go out to the clubs solely so we could get chips from Bella Bella on the way home, and our love of pasta.

I'll likely see Emsy in the States soon and someday I'll go to Australia (I have three very good reasons to), but it's going to be hard to not have them in my every day life. It's rare for me to consider this many people all my best friends, but they are. I truly love them all so much (#lel).

A Week of Gelato, Olives & Hummus

I'm quite an introvert at times, so I do enjoy my alone time, but spending nine days (seven on a cruise) by yourself, is not something I would suggest to most. I think I can easily do nine days alone, anywhere, that's fine...but being stuck on a ship where people can clearly tell that you're traveling solo, that's just weird.

With the amount of time I had to be in my own head, life epiphanies were basically happening every other day.

Venice, Italy (15-17/5)

With some issues (my plane being delayed due to strikes in France and falling in a water bus), I made it to Venice!

I absolutely fell in love with this place. There is something so quaint and romantic about all the canals and bridges. I really enjoyed exploring on my own, being able to do what I want when I wanted.

Also, I took a really information tour (shout out to 'Discovering Venice' tours) and saw all the main sights - San Marco Square, San Marco Basilica, the Doge's Palace, Bridge of Sighs, Ponte di Rialto bridge, etc. A previous Bishop had passed away, so they were setting up the square for his funeral the following day.

We set sail from Venice on the 17th and had a lovely view of the Grand Canal while departing!

Kotor & Budva, Montenegro (18/5)

I took one of the ship's excursions today - a four hour bus/walking tour of "seaside resorts of Budva and Kotor". I had preferred to go on a high speed blue cave adventure, but it was cancelled.

I didn't retain much from the tour guide, minus the fact that Montenegrin people are apparently very lazy (as she repeated this fact several times). Apparently under their Commandments, they "eat, drink and siesta".

Besides that, I learned that Budva is the oldest town on the Adriatic coast and Venetians had a strong influence on Kotor and the surrounding area. The area, especially the mountains, was spectacular (but I didn't think there was anything special about the place driving between towns).

Corfu, Greece (19/5)

Today, I explored on my own and didn't do any excursions (but did pay to take the bus service in to the center of town). We were dropped off near the Old Fortress, so I decided to pay the €2 and see what was inside. I ventured up to the Acropolis/lighthouse and then back down around the sea walls and church. There was also a cafe with free wi-fi, bless.

I left the fort to go do a bit of shopping down all the different alleyways. Somehow I also found the "New" Fortress. The last bus shuttle went to the ship at 2:00pm and it was 1:00pm and, due to my directionally challenged mind, I was lost in Corfu. With the confusion due to the time change that morning, I panicked that it was actually 2. It wasn't and I made it back to the ship in one piece.

Piraeus (Athens), Greece (20/5)

Learning Greek 101:
"Kalimera" - Good morning
"Yassou" - Hello

Athens was probably the place I had the least interest in visiting, so I booked a tour to make the most of my day (and not get lost).

On our way to the Acropolis (duh), we learned that the city was named after Athena. Athena and Poseidon both wanted to rule the city, but Zeus declared that Athena's gift of wisdom would be more valuable to the city's inhabitants.

We passed a building they used in the 2004 Olympics, before walking up the Acropolis to see the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion and the Propylaea. The Acropolis was built during Greece's "Golden Age" (5th Century BC).

We also saw the Dionysos and Odeon Theaters, the National Garden, Panathion Stadium, Parliament Building, Hadrian's Arch, the University, Temple of Zeus and more.

Mykonos, Greece (21/5)

I planned on today being a day of solo exploration, shopping and enjoying the sun. It was a bit more windy than I was expecting, but, overall, probably one of my favorite stops on the trip (maybe because of all the white buildings with accent colors or maybe because of the friendly stray cats).

In on the first few shops I went into, the owner (?) was overly friendly. He wanted me to take off my sunglasses, told me I had beautiful eyes and held my hand a bit too long. On the plus side, he showed me Mykonos sights on post cards that I needed to see while there.

I found the thatched windmills he had mentioned. They were built in the 16th century and used to grind wheat. Also, I ate a meal on a seaside restaurant. By meal, I mean I had iced coffee, hummus and a banana/chocolate crepe. Heaven.

Kefalonia, Greece

Today we docked in the Argostoli port and I took the "Melissani Cave and Agios Andreas Monastery" tour. Making our way to the cave, we stopped in the fishing village of Agia Effimia and passed the beautiful Myrtos Beach.

When we arrived at the underground cave-lake, we learned that it was transformed by an earthquake, which caused part of the tavern roof to collapse. In the turquoise waters, the only thing that resides are eels (so no swimming for moi).

After a day at sea, we docked back in Venice, I got on a plane (and then train) back to Wales. I could have easily continued my time in Europe (minus the fact I had no plans at the time), but I wanted to go back to the UK to have one last week with everyone and say goodbye.