the recap.

The Money Exchange:

Try to get your money exchanged away from the airport and touristy areas. You will find that many of these places may advertise 0% commission, but will destroy you with the service charge. Look around at a number of places that you find and specifically ask them how much $50, $100, whatever amount will become once exchanged.

London:

Get out of the city if you can and/or have time. Figure out the tube and take it to a suburb or a smaller town or a specific destination, such as Hampton Court or Wimbledon. The city is awesome, do not get me wrong, but getting outside the touristy areas is an incredible experience as well.

Amsterdam:

This is another city center to get away from, especially the Red Light District, as much as it may tickle your fancy. After traveling around and personally talking with people from the Netherlands, we found it is not ‘real’ Amsterdam. Of course it is a tourist destination, if you think about it. Get out of the city center. Find those little markets. Get away to the museums and experience actual people. Not horned up tourists and creepers.

Berlin:

This is a great place in which to explore the city center. It has grown enormously since the fall of the Berlin Wall and there is so much to do and see. And make sure you research your hostel/hotel well before you book it. Berlin is gigantic! Be sure you are near the center of the city and not a 20-minute tram ride outside. Traveling into the city can be a drag in the morning, especially when it is raining. And explore Tiergarten, the main park, for a couple hours. It is gigantic and amazing! Also, try a döner, at a ‘hole-in-the-wall’ restaurant. They are amazing.

Prague:

It is hard to say anything negative about Prague, make it a destination. The city is just amazing. Enjoy it. Try the traditional food. Goulasch and Dumplings with Czech beer. It can do you no wrong.

Vienna:

See the canal running through the city. It is awesome. I said before, they allow graffiti artists to do their thing down there. Also, find a biergarten by the canal and enjoy a couple hours with a cold one. And find one that has sand. Awesome. Also, we recommend setting aside some time to see at least one of their many, many museums. 

 

Rome:

The biggest thing I would recommend about Rome is to bring lots of sunscreen and a water bottle. Sunscreen – for obvious reasons. Such as the Pope banishing all clouds from his beautiful skies. And a water bottle because there are fountains everywhere that you can fill them up in. Stay hydrated. I cannot stress this enough. Or if you are a serious tourist, go to Rome in the wintertime. You will have to deal with the cold, yes, but there will be no tourists!
Second biggest thing to stress is to filter the most important sites when you go. I understand that you ‘want to see as much as you can in the short amount of time,’ but seriously edit things down. Only the most important. There are millions of things to see in Rome, choose the sites that will not make your day stressful.
Also, watch the menu prices, I explained before what we found out 'when in rome...' Do not fall for their sneaky ways.

Florence:

Another city in which you should try to get away from the city center is Florence. Unfortunately, you may have to learn more basic Italian to do so, but the areas without the large groups of tourists staring at and taking pictures of everything are awesome. And, of course, keep that sunscreen and water bottle with you.

Geneva:

Go to Geneva. Make it a destination. It is fantastic. Better yet, go to Switzerland on a trip specifically. And if you are into it, get out into the wilderness. There are so many little places you can get lost at in the mountains and spare yourself from the hustle and bustle of city life. Get locked up in a mountain lodge and go skiing and snowshoeing!

Paris:

What can I say about Paris...go there! Do the most important tourist things you want to do and then leave the rest of the time to explore the city. Like Prague, it has enormous character and there is something to find everywhere. I will also say do NOT get swindled like the three of us did. Those friendship bracelet-makers are tricky. Watch the con-artists on the bridge near the Eiffel Tower try to swindle money out of people with their 'three cup and ball' game. It is amazing how sly they are with a simple movement and how people do not see their tricks when they are hurrying to get money out because they believe they have won. Very fun to watch.

Overall:

Learn the language of the countries you visit! I cannot stress this enough. Yes you can get by with speaking English in most places, but the reaction you get when you say hello to someone and ask if they speak English in their native language is so much more welcoming than if you blurt out 'do you speak English' like a tourist. Especially in France; we were expecting people to be very short with American tourists even with speaking French. Although, asking them if the spoke English in French made a world of difference and we had no problems.

There are many places to go in which to get away from the tourist areas. Try to do it as much as possible if you feel comfortable. Experiencing the actual place is so much better than seeing all the ‘sites.’ Though, they are good to see as well.
Do not rush your stay. And do not over schedule your days. Like I said above, take some time to experience the city and its character. Sit at a café and enjoy yourself. Soak up the sun on the grass in a park. Find some townies and talk with them. Find out what they do for fun.
One thing the three of us wish we had done and I dare you to try: get lost in the city one day and see what you find. I dare you.

And that is all that I have to say about our trip to Europe. It definitely went by far too quickly, most likely because we packed our days full of things to do. However, it was awesome. I would never trade that experience for anything.
I hope that everyone who has followed us around has learned something from our experience. And if anyone is thinking about planning a Euro Trip of their own, I hope this blog has helped you create your itinerary.


steinkraus.

no hostel reservation.

We arrived in Paris around 8:00 pm and found our hostel was right next to the train station. When we checked in we found out our reservation had been 'cancelled.' There was a new guy working at reception and he was able to put us in a four-man room which already had two people bunking there. So, I got to sleep on a mattress on the floor. In the morning we woke up early to sort the mess out. We talked with the lady at reception about the situation, she looked through her books, we were not recorded anywhere. She told us we would have to wait for her to transfer all the previous reservation into rooms before she got to us. Which I do not really understand considering we had a reservation booked with a down payment. When she had finished she told us 'this is very odd, but we have no more openings, we usually have a couple.' Payton and I both told her that this could not be possible as we had a confirmed reservation. She looked through her books again. Nope, nothing. I showed her our confirmation email and suddenly she was all helpful. We were able to book three more nights, again, and she had to rearrange some girls. She only booked us for two more nights initially, but we got everything sorted out. Only took two hours. Then we headed off to Versailles.

We took the train out to Versailles and got split up from each other. I went to look to make sure we were heading in the right direction and when I came back I saw that the train we needed had arrived. I jumped on and yelled at Payton and Keith...only Payton got on. So, we waited for Keith at the next station and were reunited. At Versailles we waited in line to get tickets and found out that we did not need to wait to get tickets to the garden. Those tickets could be purchased in the gardens. Awesome. Wasted some time. Got our tickets and headed in.

We walked around the Orangery, all of the Bosquets, the formal gardens, and the fountains. Which were on! They were having a fountain spectacular that day - I recommend going when they are doing this. It is so much better seeing them on. Then we headed towards the Grand Trianon where Payton and I left Keith to head out to the end of the Grand Canal. Random side note: from the Chateau it takes a hour to walk all the way out there. It was tiring. Walked back to get Keith and found him under a tree. Headed towards Le Petit Trianon, but decided not to go in since we were very tired and sunburned. Got on the train again and headed back to Paris.

We got off the train at the Eiffel Tower and assaulted her with photos. We decided to wait in line to see if we could get tickets for tomorrow and ended up going up right then. Walked the stairs up to the second level and walked around there a bit reading the history. Then headed up to the top. We got up there and took some more pictures and, since it was so close to sundown, decided to wait for the sun to set. It was a pretty cool view. Keith got some gross, expensive champagne. Then headed down before the crowd and stopped at the restaurant to get food and beer. Delicious, and reasonably priced. Realized it was pretty close to the turn of the hour and ran down to catch the hourly glitter show. Got some more photos and headed back to the hostel.

Walked to Notre Dame in the morning and saw the HUGE line to go in and agreed that if we would be waiting in a line, we would rather wait for the Louvre. Waited in line. Watched the maintenance people pressure wash the algae in one of the fountains. Got sprayed by the pressure washer. Very refreshing. Finally got in and bought tickets. Went to see the two temporary expos of Lorrain and Rembrandt then headed to find the Mona Lisa. You would have thought she was a live nude the way people crowded around and attacked her with their flashing lights. Saw some other paintings. Headed to the inverted pyramid. Did not see Mary Magdeline. Then we left and headed up the Avenue des Champs Elysees toward the Arch de Triomphe. Photos photos photos. Then got some dinner at a fancy restaurant; true to style, not very good. It tasted like my salmon came from a can. Bleh! Then we headed, to Keith's joy, to watch Kung Foo Panda 2. Keith wanted to see it the entire trip, but it seemed like it was never out in any of the cities or there was not a English showing cinema. Excellent movie. I recommend see it. And the 3D was actually pretty good in Paris. After the movie was over we headed back to the hostel to crash.

Slept in. Felt incredible.

When we got up we headed to Montmartre to see the Basilique and the 'supposed' market. Did not find much of a market there, Katie. But before that we stopped at the site of Le Bastille along the way. There is just a monument there now, and the Opera House! Which is pretty cool. When we got to Montmartre we got swindled out of  €10 for a lame friendship bracelet. They are pretty cool, but certainly not worth €10! I was thinking it would be about €2. But 'hakuna matata,' as Payton's swindler kept on saying. After getting swindled we headed up the hill and went inside the Basilique. Walked around  little bit and went in a bunch of shops. Skipped on down to Montmartre Cemetery and ran around there for a bit. Then headed back towards the touristy area and bought some souvenirs. Then we decided to head back to the Champs Elysees and saw another movie. X-Men. It was okay, what would be expected from the fifth movie in the series. But what really got me was the fact that they changed their own story-line. Pretty lame. After the movie was over we headed back towards the hostel and saw the French version of The Highline. It was pretty cool. Saw a pizza place and order some pizza for dinner. It was gross. So, we headed back to the hostel and slept.

The next morning we slept in again and got packed up. Checked out of the hostel and headed to grab some breakfast/lunch and chilled in a park for a bit. We had our dessert in the morning again, because most places around the hostel did not have appetizing looking desserts. Keith had rhubarb pie, Payton had a apricot pastry, and I had chocolate chip short bread. All bought from a small shop, all delicious. Sat around and people watched for a bit then headed to the train station. Played some cards to pass the time. Then said our goodbyes to Keith before heading up to catch our train back to London. Keith was heading to Madrid and elsewhere to visit some of his old roommates.

Payton and I got back to London and headed to King's Cross Station to see if we could go to Hogwarts. Apparently we are true muggles as we could not find platform 9 3/4 anywhere. Lame! Checked in at the hostel and headed out to grab some food. Grabbed some last minute souvenirs on the way. Had delicious food again and headed back to sleep because it was going to be an early morning for us.

Arrived at the airport in the morning and had to check in via Virgin Atlantic's very unusual check in system, which did not work. Were told by a very rude lady that our bags would have to be checked because they were obviously over the allowed weight and would not fit into the luggage baskets. The baskets they had set out for people to see if their luggage would fit was so small I am sure my backpack would not fit into it. In any case, checked our bags and headed to the gate to get on the plane. Found out that we had somehow gotten Premium Economy seats and were pampered the whole way home. It was awesome. Watched a lot of movies. And arrived safely back in Chicago.

That is all of the trip. Although, I am still going to post a recap of where we went and what we learned. So stay tuned if you want. Otherwise, thanks for following us around Europe.

steinkraus.