lessons learned

in traveling for two months around europe, i gained some wisdom that i would like to pass on.

• make sure you know which airport you are actually flying to.  frankfurt is not the same as frankfurt hahn.  and then you have to take an hour smelly bus ride to get to where you were supposed to be.
• if you must get cash to leave the airport, get only as much as you need for the bus to town and then use a different atm once you are in the city.  airport atms have an awful conversion rate.
• if a turkish "cellular phone store" tells you they don't have what you're looking for before you even ask, it's best to keep moving.
• street performers are people too.  stop and have a chat with them.  on a lonely day where the only language spoken is german, you might find some indian dance performers that only speak spanish and it's worth it to stop and talk to hear their story.
• don't have set in stone plans.  if you fall in love with a place or meet people you want to spend more time with, be flexible enough to stay another day or two.  or however long you want really.
• train stations are actually pretty safe...because there are always police walking around.  especially in paris, they're paranoid there.
• if you see a pretty picture of a bike on the ground, do not walk towards it.  in fact, stay as far away as possible from it.  or a dutch person will start yelling at you while simultaneously attempting to run you over with their bike.
• no city in holland is pleasant to walk.  rent a bike.  and don't go injured making this impossible.
• sometimes strangers are nicer than the people you thought you knew.
• if you must stay in a hotel, pick a small one so you can bargain down the price.  otherwise, stick to couchsurfing and hostels.
• go with your gut.  if a situation is bad, you know.  and have a backup.
• on that note, don't be afraid of the night.  just be aware of your surroundings.
• don't ask for anything extra in paris.  for instance, if you order a quiche, don't expect a fork too.  that would just be ridiculous. (this is sarcasm)
• be able to read maps well before your trip.  or learn fast.  you'll get a new one in every city and subway.
• if a local offers you a tour of their city, take it.  they know the major things and the little local spots you wouldn't get to see on a guided tour.
• take chances.  a road trip with strangers who may or may not speak your language well could turn out to be one of the best experiences of your trip.
• live like a gypsy for at least a few days.  you'll meet cool people and it's way more fun in numbers.  it'll also make you appreciate those crappy hostel beds and showers.
• the beaches in barcelona at night are good for meeting drug dealers (whether you want to or not) and watching drunk people come out of the clubs at 04:30.
• talk to people on the trains if you can.  you might meet someone who will give you a tour of google zurich, people from your own city, or you might meet your new favorite travel friend from australia.
• on that note, in case you don't meet anyone, always have a book handy.
• the beaches in the french riviera are made of rocks, not sand.  be prepared.
• monaco is a good day trip.  no, you cannot talk your way onto a big yacht.
• go on pub crawls.  seriously.
• try local food.  especially escargot in paris and gelati anywhere in italia.
• if you're injured on your trip, at least make the most of it.  the sympathy card can be played well and get you past lines and into first class seats.
• don't take a bus in rome, ever.  it's a complete waste of time and not a pleasant experience.  also, the metro doesn't actually take you where it says it will in rome, you'll still have to walk.
• see the fontana de trevi during the day and at night.  it's worth it to go twice.
• detouring a day just to chill at the beach is a great way to take a break.
• if someone invites you to come hang out for the weekend, do it.  especially if it's a pair of ridiculously fun army boys from texas and new york.
• spend more time in switzerland.  it's beautiful.  and even more fun when you have a super awesome host like i did.
• go early to oktoberfest if you don't have reservations.  and take it slow.
• keep any valuables you bring to big, crowded places (like oktoberfest) inside your clothes.  don't even bring a bag if you can help it.  they will get stolen.
• eat the food at oktoberfest.  it's not like normal fair food that sucks, this fair food is delicious.
• if multiple people can vouch for them, take a ride with someone you just met.  riding in a sweet new audi from berlin to prague is way more fun than a train.
• be friends with the people who work at the hostel.  they know the city, they're incredibly fun, and they're great people.
• if an italian is cooking your food, order italian.  even if it's in prague.
• do walking tours of the city.  it usually knocks out everything you want to see.
• buy food from shady shacks.  you know it's legit.
• again, if someone offers you a place to stay to hang out, take it!  they're probably awesome and super fun.  and helpful and kind.  and a good translator.  and if they're extra nice they might take care of you when you wind up in a cast and crutches in a foreign country and bring you nutella.
• wheelchair service through the airport rocks.  you get to skip all the lines and take all the shortcuts.
• bring a swiss army knife, it will come in handy almost every day.  don't put it in your carry on.
• if you ever feel uncomfortable telling someone you're american, then just say you're canadian.  only canadians will be able to tell the difference.
• you will meet a load of australians and kiwis if you backpack anywhere.  is anyone even there to run the places?
• brisbane is superior to sydney and melbourne. 

well those are the main lessons learned from eurotrip 2011.  i hope that i didn't scare anyone too much gallovanting off on my own across the ocean.  but now i'm back and working....so i can save up the money for the next trip!!

unexpected twists

i was very unmotivated to blog at the end of the trip due to my streak of bad luck so bear with me while i try to finish the stories.  left berlin with alberto from plus prague and we drove the 5 hours (that was supposed to be 3 but thanks to the gps we got lost).  but that let me have 2 extra hours hanging out with alberto in his beautiful audi so that was fine by me!  first day in prague i went and bought a third camera, a cheaper one this time.  the store was so confusing because you had to use three different machines to place your order, no people, and it's all in czech.  which makes no sense whatsoever to me.  after that i went on a shopping spree to get a bunch of stuff i needed, including a bag from the market, a bigger bag from h&m, and an awesome leather jacket from pimkie.  and maybe a few more little things :)  the rest of my time in prague i saw the castle, did the walking tour of the city, saw the astronomical clock (which is wrong by the way, it was built based on the idea that earth is the center of the universe), saw a fashion show due to it being prague fashion weekend, went out with my favorite italians, and went on a pub crawl with some people from the hostel.  all in all, not a bad time in prague.  it was pretty laidback and filled with great new friends.  

left prague to go to vienna and found johanna on the platform.  really easy since a) she saw me first and b) she was wearing an aggie shirt!  met up with her friend arnold after dark and went out for cocktails at some fancy place.  it was really really nice, nothing like i've ever been to before.  the next two days i went to schoenbrunn palace and arnold gave me a walking tour of the first district.  i've got to say, vienna is a huge city.  we only walked around the first district to look at stuff like the university, city hall, the theatre and opera house, and different museums, and it took most of the day.  that being said, vienna is really pretty.  all the buildings are somewhat unique but all elegant.  schoenbrunn was a beauty all on its own, including tons of rooms trimmed in gold paint, wonderful chandeliers in every room, an enormous garden, neptune's fountain, and the glorietta, which we climbed to the top of to get a view of the whole city right around sunset.  not to mention i had two great people as my tour guides!!  later that night we went out to volksgarten, this club full of businessy people and lawyers.  they had awesome lighting on the walls and ceilings that kept changing colors, video screens everywhere that either played the music video for the current song or some other medley of figures that went with the beat.  sadly drinks were ridiculously expensive and i wasn't really feeling up to the price.  but all in all things were going fairly well up until bad luck decided to strike me one last time.

going inside from the patio area, there is a step.  someone had left a fully intact glass bottle on this step.  i had the misfortune of finding it, and consequently fell face first onto the cement.  trying to regain composure and dignity (impossible at this point), i tried to jump up and rush inside.  tried being the key word here, but once i attempted to put any pressure on my left leg, a wave of terror ran through me.  it was the same feeling, if not worse, than when i injured the right leg, the one i've been recovering from since before the trip even started.  so i hobbled into the inside corridor and stood for a minute.  obviously looking bad because some girl came up to me and asked if i needed help.  she helped me get back to the table where joey was sitting and at this point i looked pretty bad.  my knee was bleeding and tights were torn on the knee, my face was streaked with makeup from crying i'm sure, and i just looked rough.  after taking off the left shoe, we could see how swollen the ankle already was after just a few minutes.  got some ice to hold on it and after about ten minutes i decided the hospital was needed, the pain was too bad and i knew something was wrong.  so joey and arnold helped me out and us girls took a cab to the hospital closer to her apartment.  after doing some x-rays they determined i would have to go to the other hospital, the one closer to where the club was in the first place.  so we get another cab to UKB and joey wheels me up to the doctors.  thank goodness she was with me and she's such a good person, because without her taking care of me and translating and putting mean reception ladies in their place i don't know how i would have survived!  the second place did more x-rays and tests and determined i had partially ruptured ligaments in my ankle.  great.  so they put a cast on it.  my first cast, so i guess something to kind of brag about.  i got lame european crutches that require a ton of upper body strength, of which i have none, so i guess i will be building it up in the next few weeks.  also got the bad news that i would have to do medication injections in my leg for a week...those of you who know me well know that i am terrified of needles, but after a few times it gets easy.  you'd be surprised at what you can force yourself to do when it's the lesser of two evils.  anyway, we both go home, extremely tired, and i was blessed to get lots of sweet treats from johanna the next day for brunch (cinnamon buns, sweet bread, nutella, etc).  arnold was nice enough to host me the next day at his apartment since joey had family coming in.  he was sick so we both mainly just sat around until he drove me to a hotel near the airport the next day.  

luckily i got traveler's insurance right before i left.  i almost didn't purchase any because i figured well i'm already injured, what more could happen?  well, apparently anything can happen.  they were nice enough to take care of me and approve getting me an earlier flight home.  it was depressing to have to miss closing weekend of oktoberfest with charlotte and chris, but i wouldn't have been any fun anyway with my inability to climb stairs well or even get anywhere.  since i had my cast and i'm at risk for blood clots, i got to fly back business class on  KLM (you know you're jealous), so at least i had that going for me.  when i got back my mom was waiting for me with flowers from my mamaw, and for the last few days i've gotten to lay around on a big couch with my leg propped up.  i'm sad that my trip didn't end how i planned, but that's life and at least i got to spend more time with johanna, because she is such an amazing friend.  i've learned that things don't always go as planned but if you make the most of it and keep smiling, things will always be ok.  and that's the end of the trip, people!!

look out for the next post, which will be funny and real tips on traveling everywhere i've been :)  this is not the last entry!  off to my check up on the ankle, wish me luck!