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Trip of a Lifetime

Hello again!!! I know it's been a while but I had a good reason for being gone.. I went on a two week vacation :) Now I'm back and ready to share all my experiences from the past two weeks. We were lucky enough to travel to six (!!) countries so I'm going to break this post up by country. So buckle up and let's take a look at my last two weeks in Europe.

I want to start by saying how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to go on this amazing adventure. I can't belive this is actually my life and my parents are the best people in the world for working so hard to make my dreams come true.

Okay, let's get started:

Amsterdam, Netherlands- Our first destination was Amsterdam, a place I've been dreaming about going for years. Since Cork isn't a massive place it can be pretty expensive to fly out of the airport so we decided to take a bus to Dublin and then fly to Amsterdam from there. The bus company we used is called GoBe and it was such a great/cheap option so if you are ever in the same boat I would highly recommend them! Once we got to Amsterdam it was pretty late but we still decided to go out and explore the city. I'm so glad we did because it was one of my favorite nights of our entire trip. Walking around Amsterdam for the first time was breathtaking, between the architecture of the buildings and the canals running through the city it was love at first sight. While we were walking around we stumbled upon the red light district and all I have to say about that is it's definitely a something you'll never see anywhere else. After walking around for a while we decided to get dessert at a random place we saw on the street. We ordered a waffle to share and let me tell you it was the most extravagant waffle I've ever seen. I don't really know how to explain it so I've attached a picture. The next day we went to the Heineken Experience which was super cool!! Our third day in Amsterdam was spent at Vondelpark. We got lucky on our park day because it was super sunny and warm. The park is massive and it is full of people biking, walking their dogs, playing sports and basically just anything you can think of. The fourth day in Amsterdam was spent at the Banksy museum during the day, which was such an eye opening experience, and then at night we went to an ice bar. Honestly, I was a bit underwhelmed with the ice bar, in my personal opinion it was not worth the money spent to get in. We spent our last day in Amsterdam being tourists and walking around the city trying all the food we could. Overall, Amsterdam was a dream. I loved every second I was there even though it is a very crowded city there is still a sense of old time charm that comes with it.

Berlin, Germany- Honestly, for the first couple of days I was a bit disappointed in Berlin. My family is extremely German so I've been hearing about Germany ever since I was a little girl and building it up in my head. I had misconceptions of what it would be so once I got there I was surprised by what the city actually was. Berlin was absolutely destroyed in WWII so a majority of the city is relatively new and didn't have the historical charm I was expecting. Although, the longer we spent in Berlin the more it began to grow on me. My boyfriend and I are big history nerds so we made it our goal to see as many WWII exhibits as we could. We saw the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and the East Side Gallery. Learning about WWII and the effects it had on Berlin was extremely eye opening and I truly enjoyed getting to hear about the war from the German perspective. If you are ever in Berlin I would highly recommend checking out the many museums and exhibits they have. A little bit outside of Berlin are gorgeous palaces with amazing parks that are definitely worth going to. Berlin also had amazing beer and food that I am still missing.

Vienna, Austria- Anyone who knows me knows how excited I was for Vienna. My favorite song in the entire world is Vienna by Billy Joel and I've been dreaming of the day that I could listen to Vienna while actually in Vienna. I'm not lying when I say it is one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen. The architecture of the buildings and cathedrals are some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. We went to the top of the cathedral in city center to see the entire city from above, it was breathtaking. No matter where you go in the city you can find somewhere beautiful. We walked around for hours just looking at all of the buildings. Vienna is also less touristy than I thought it would be. I wasn't constantly overwhelmed by how many people were there, it was very manageable. Another amazing thing about Vienna is the food. Just walking around there are tons of vendors with delicious food for you to choose from.

Budapest, Hungary- Oh, Budapest. We decided to take a day trip from Vienna to Budapest because they are about three hours away from each other. I ended up forgetting my passport at our Airbnb but by some miracle they let me on the bus. Then once we got to Budapest we got a little lost on the way to the Szechenyi baths. Once we finally got there I was already a bit over it. Then, I accidentally took out a lot of Hungarian money because the ATM amounts were mislabeled. Although, I will say that the baths were great. Surprisingly, they were so fun and so clean. They definitely helped to relax me on a bad day. They have tons of different baths for you to choose from so things aren't as crowded as I thought they would be. So overall, I'm not the biggest fan of Budapest but the baths are something to definitely check out.

Paris, France- I left my heart in Paris. I loved every single thing about it. I've been wanting to go to Paris since I was a little girl and I've always dreamed of seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night. So, the first night we were there I made sure that was the first place we went. You know how sometimes you build things up in your head and then you're disappointed when you see it in person? Well, the Eiffel Tower exceeded every expectation I had. It was absolutely stunning and I was just in awe of it. That night we ate dinner at a place that was near the tower so I just stared at it the whole time. Now, the Eiffel Tower isn't the only thing Paris has to offer. All of the architecture is stunning. I could walk around for days and never get tired of it. The first day we were there we did one of the toursity bus rides. But honestly it was so worth it because went to Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the Notre Dame and so much more. We weren't in Paris for very long so I wanted to make the most out of every second I was there. Our last day we went to Versailles which blew my mind. I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that people actually got to live there. It's nuts. Probably one of my favorite things about Paris was the food. I love love love cheese and good meats so if you're anything like me Paris is the place for you. We had meat, cheese and a baguette at least once a day and it was super cheap! Also, French tacos.. omg so good! Paris became one of my favorite places in the world and I can't wait to go back.

Copenhagen, Denmark- Copenhagen was the last stop of our trip and it was a perfect last stop. We were really tired of all the travelling and just over being in crowded touristy places. Copenhagen was cute and quaint with minimal tourists. It was a great place to just take it easy and wind down before the end of our trip. We were only there for about 2 full days which was plenty. The first day we went to the Carlsberg experience which was surprisingly very low key. There weren't many people there so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We also got a bang for our buck, which in Copenhagen is VERY important because it is so crazy expensive. The second day we were there we went to the Glass Market which was so cool. Basically, it is an indoor farmers market where you can buy amazing food and super fresh/organic groceries. Then, at night we went to the Tivoli Gardens which is a famous amusement park in Copenhagen. It was awesome!! There weren't as many crowds as American amusement parks so we didn't have to wait in line forever and it was a lot cheaper than an American amusement park. Copenhagen was such a cute little place that was the perfect way to end the trip.

This trip is something I will never forget and I will be forever grateful for my study abroad experience that has lead to so many adventures!

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