A Very Lucky Girl

We arrived in Nice on Monday evening around 8 PM and quickly located our hostel just two blocks down from the train station. We checked into Hostel Baccarat  and a very kind man that we think was the owner upgraded us from our 10 bed dorm to a private room at no extra charge. After the day we spent dealing with the train delay in Paris our voyage was looking up! We rode up in the world's smallest elevator, tossed our backpacks in the room, and marveled at the attached private bathroom before heading downstairs in search of food.We stopped at the front desk again to ask for a map and restaurant suggestions. The nice man drew a line down the main street and told us to walk all the way down it until we reached the restaurants. We thanked him and headed out into the nice Nice night.  After taking a couple of wrong turns we found ourselves on the main avenue, but couldn't see a hotbed of lights and activity at the southern end. Instead, we stumbled into the nearest Mcdonald'...

My sister-in-law and I recently returned from a 13 day adventure around Europe and I couldn't think of a better avenue to share our experience. We both received a multitude of questions of how we planned, executed the plan, and saved $$ for the plan. Do you sense a "plan" theme? Stay tuned, not very much actually went according to plan once we were in motion.  Jordan and I talked on and off about making this trip a reality, but it honestly came together fairly spontaneously. Jordan ordered her passport in January and we booked our trans-Atlantic flights in February, with only about 2 months to go. We decided on April 19th through May 1st, strategically celebrating Jordan's 23rd birthday in the middle! Once dates were selected, destination decisions were made. With this being Jordan's first out of country trip (and her very first flight!), I wanted her to pick most of the places. I had 2 places on my wish list: Nice, France and Budapest, Hungary. After stud...

We went from Schloss to Schloss on this particular morning! After Schoenbrunn, we found our train to Salzburg and dropped our packs at the Salzburg station for safekeeping while we explored unencumbered. Through a very scientific decision called "which way should we go outside the train station," we randomly picked left and hit jackpot.  Schloss Mirabelle was only a few blocks down and her gardens were just as stunning as Schoenbrunn.  I couldn't tell you much about the history that you wouldn't learn from Wikipedia, considering most of the informational signs were in German.  After Schloss Mirabelle we found a tourist information point and got a map. Even with it, we still managed to get lost quite a few times. LDL had researched a funicular to one of the nearby peaks where we thought it might be fun to recreate the Sound of Music. I'd been practicing my yodeling.  Unfortunately, we discovered the funicular was closed during the month of April. Obviously...

On our way to Vienna I wracked my brain to remember the song I just KNEW mentioned the city. I had my aha! moment after we had checked into hostel Ruthensteiner, one which I highly recommend! My only complaint is that the light turned off on me in the bathroom EVERY TIME. But this didn't happen to LDL or Gibby so who knows what I was doing wrong.  Anyway, the song is "Vienna" by Billy Joel and we made our way through the streets alternately singing the tune. Our time in Vienna didn't start out so happy...and I blame the ATM machine for that. I arrived with only 10 euros left over from my February trip to Ireland so I knew I needed to withdraw more. I typed my usual information into the machine and waited for my money. It spit my card back at me, but no money. I was convinced the machine had eaten my euros and refused to leave it until I found out for sure. LDL let me use the data on her phone to check my bank balance and I learned for some reason the transaction ...

Our first order of business in Poland involved a swift change of clothes in the airport restrooms. From there I assumed my role as Keeper of the Map, train timetable wizard, hostel booker, and general OCD planner. You'd have to ask Laura and Kylie if it got annoying ;) I asked the information desk how to get to Auschwitz and she pointed behind me to a giant sign saying "Directions to Auschwitz." Oh. Poland 1 Taylor 0. We found an ATM and money-ed up for the country. I took out 250 zloty, the equivalent of 82 USD, and rejoiced at the prices of Poland.  The language barrier was immediately a struggle, but after some issue we found the correct bus to take us to the city center where we would catch a second bus to Oswiecim, where the concentration camp was located.  On our journey to the camp, I couldn't help but think of the others who had come before me on trains to the very same place. But they didn't come armed with maps and money. In fact, they didn'...

10 countries. 5 currencies. So many different languages. My head is still spinning and I may possibly need another nap before I write any more words.  It feels like I've been gone from Dundee for years, but at the same time the 23 days passed in the blink of an eye. Before I fully comprehended what was happening I was on a plane in Denmark heading to London and tomorrow I'll be on a bus to Dundee. The greater European adventure of my semester abroad is almost over. It seemed like it took ages to get here, seeing as I've been planning since November. But it finally came to fruition on a chilly night in early April when Laura, Kylie, and I ventured into the unknown.  It's hard to believe it's really me who went to all of those places and had so many amazing experiences. It feels as if I've woken up from an exotic dream where I watched someone else do everything I've always wanted to do. But no. It was me. I walked the dusty streets of Auschwitz and saw ...

Planning is both my escape and the bane of my existence. I always want to know what exactly is happening when and my philosophy on timing is: if you aren't early, then you are DEFINITELY late. With that being said, I've already started mapping out my attack on how to conquer Europe during my three week spring break in Scotland. Because if I don't do it now, then I'll be behind! And let's be perfectly honest, researching train times and castle tours is far more stimulating than writing the last final paper hanging over my head. My spring break begins on March 30th and runs at least until April 20th (depending on when my exams start) and I've made a rough sketch of where I will be traveling during those 21 days. I purchased my Eurail pass ($700 well spent I hope!) so this adventure is happening, whether I'm ready or not. I plan to travel from Dundee to Edinburgh to get to the airport after my classes. I may stay a day or so there just exploring castles and ...