lindseyhewton-blog

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Seville

When we got to Seville the first place we stopped at was a pizza shop on the corner. It was surprisingly the best pizza I’ve had this entire trip. Good start to Seville. We walked to our Airbnb and met our host. The place was amazing. It had three levels including a rooftop with a view of the Seville cathedral. It was nice having our own space after cramming into a small hostel in Barcelona. We ventured out into the city and saw this huge honeycomb sculpture. I don’t think it had a purpose but it was epic. We went to a market and bought ingredients to make dinner that night. That evening we walked to the plaza and it was definitely surprising how huge it was. I had no idea he place even existed but it was one of the coolest things I had seen in all of Spain. We walked over the bridges and to the second floor of the plaza. Throughout Seville there were many Flamenco dancers on the sidewalks performing. After the plaza we walked through a park with pretty paths and trees. We walked along the river and then headed back to the Airbnb. We wanted to save money so we made a home cooked meal of chicken and pasta with garlic bread. Ally and I made a charcuterie board as an appetizer and we all enjoyed it on the roof. Dinner was delicious and we stayed on the roof until really late at night. This was definitely one of my favorite nights because we all relaxed and enjoyed each others company.

The next day I found a cafe that I heard was pretty popular and we had breakfast there. We tried seeing the cathedral but the tickets were sold out. So we went on a bike ride instead for four hours. The city was apt bigger than I thought.

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Barcelona

The first city we visited on our second 10 day break was Barcelona. Our flight was delayed so we didn’t get there until late at night. Our uber driver was very eccentric and talked to us through a phone translator on the way to our hostel. We got checked in and fell asleep right away. The next day we walked to a place called brunch and cakes for food. It was very delicious. I got an egg sandwich with a chai tea latte. Afterwards we shopped along the busy streets and walked through the food market. The market was one of my favorite sites of the entire trip. It was so colorful and hectic and full of different smells. They had seafood, juices, nuts, tapas, and a whole lot more. I noticed that vendors are definitely pushy in Barcelona compared to the other cities I’ve been. We made a stop back at the hostel and then headed out to do some sight seeing. Our first stop was a huge arch decorated with figures. We took pictures and then continued on to La Sagrada Familia. The architecture was unbelievable. It was still being constructed as it had been for the last 50 years. Tickets to go inside were sold out so we walked around the whole building and took it in. I noticed a five guys across the street! However, we went to a paella place for dinner to try something with a little more cultural value. The walk to the restaurant was long and it rained on us the whole time. But we eventually got our seafood paella and sangria. At night we went to a strictly shot bar and then went to Opium.

The next morning was a Saturday and we started the day with a free walking tour. Our guide was Billy from Dublin and she made it super interesting. I learned all about the Catalonians and their continued plight for independence. The most interesting thing I heard was the human towers that the locals often attempted. I went to take a nap after the tour and then Meg and I walked towards the water to get sandwiches. The food was awesome, the water was pretty, and a musician played while we ate. We went back to the hostel and the others headed out the Barcelona vs. Seville soccer game. Meg, Cole, Arden, and I went to an Irish pub called O’Flahertys to watch the game ourselves. We got bar food and a huge beer tower. Barcelona easily beat Seville and we headed back to hostel. That night we went to a club called shoko and stayed for a long time.

We all slept in the next morning and went to a tapas place for breakfast. We took the subway to a park with a view of the city and walked around. The boys decided to go to the giant hotel and the girls stayed at the park town. We shopped and got lunch and drinks. At 7 o’clock we had tickets to enter Park Güell and see the mosaics. It was a pretty view of Barcelona but the mosaics were just mediocre. We made our way back to the hostel and the went back to O’Flahertys to watch American football games. We went to bed early that night because we had an early flight to Seville. Before our trip I didn’t want to visit Barcelona because I heard t was overrated, but it was actually one of my favorite cities I’ve been to. Everything is very exciting and lively, the people are nice, and the weather was great for the most part. I had excellent food and saw a ton of landmarks.

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Salzburg

This weekend Ellie and I travelled to Salzburg, Austria. We arrived late Friday night and walked all the way to our hostel through the city. Of course I stopped for Subway along the way. When we checked in we yhung out at the hostel bar and got complimentary cheese and apples with our wine! We woke up pretty early the next day to meet with our Salzburg/Sound of Music bike tour. Our guide was from Michigan and Israel and was really interesting. He brought his speaker and played the flute. He showed us important city landmarks and a bunch of locations from the movie. I saw quite a few women dressed in drndl type outfits throughout the city. We stopped for a break at an annual market fair and I ate bread with gooey cheese on top. I carried the speaker in my bike basket through the country road but then an old lady yelled at me so I turned off the music. After the tour we hopped on a bus that took us to the Untersberg lift. It was a little expensive, but the cable car ride up and view were definitely worth it. Ellie and I ate cashews at the top and enjoyed the view. We hiked a little and stared out at the Alps. We caught the last cable lift down and headed back into the city. We picked a random Italian restaurant to eat dinner at which was surprisingly really good. I got pumpkin soup, beer, and pasta. We hung out at the restaurant for probably 3 whole hours and then walked back to the hostel. Our roommates were already asleep so we had an early night as well. Sunday morning we packed up our stuff and headed out to Lake Fuschlee because Michale Gavin and Adryan recommended it. We took a bus and walked down to the edge. There was a trail that wrapped around the whole lake but we had to catch a bus in an hour so we just picked a spot under some trees by the lake. The water was super blue and there were many people hiking/walking along the perimeter. We took some pictures and then went back to the bus stop. We rode it to the train station, took the train to Linz, and then finally a bus back to Prague. This was definitely one of my more relaxing trips, but also one of my favorites. Salzburg was probably the prettiest location I’ve visited so far.

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Munich

This weekend we made our way to Munich by train. We did plan on seeing the city, but our main pull was to attend Oktoberfest. We arrived in the afternoon and immediately went shopping for our dirndls and lederhosens. It was a tad stressful because it was a hot days and the stores were filled with hundreds of people shopping for the same thing. We eventually picked our outfits and headed to the original Hofbräuhaus house for some beer and giant pretzels. Amrita joined us and we went to our airbnb. That night we took it easy because we had a long day ahead of us. Michael, Gavin, Adryan, Cole, and Amrita went out in the city for some drinks and of course Subway. The next morning we woke up before the sun rise to hop in line for the festival. Arden made us all breakfast burritos to go and we went out in the chilly weather. Waiting in line was pretty painful but he hours passed and they opened the gates. Sprinting to the tents was madness. People were falling and getting stepped on, I’m surprised we even found a table. I tried to take everything in as we panicked to pick a tent. There were thousands of people dressed up and frantic and there were food stands lining the streets. We all settled down and enjoyed our Oktoberfest experience. The bathrooms/police people were insane. Most of us had to take a nap in the middle of the day, and when we woke up we were all feeling very energized. We made our way back to the festival but couldn’t get into any tents so we got food and went on a ride. We left and found a hotel to warm up and dance for a little while. Then we ended the night at a hookah bar (and Subway) in the city. Our train wasn’t leaving until late afternoon on Sunday so back to the festival we went! This time we slept in a got to go into a bunch of the different tents to get a more well rounded experience. I had a 50 cm hot dog for breakfast and ordered a cheese platter for lunch. We heard the prosím song probably a dozen times. I had a very fun weekend and I hope I can return to Oktoberfest sometime soon and share the experience with more people. I think I enjoyed The city of Munich more than Berlin even though I only saw a little of it. It had more of an authentic German feel to it (which was probably because of the festival atmosphere that surrounded everything).

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Berlin

This past weekend I took a bus to Berlin, Germany.  The countryside out of the window of the Flixbus was very pretty, and we stopped in the town of Dresden for a short layover. We arrived around 2 PM and checked into our hostel, which was spacious and had a restaurant/bar on the first floor.  After walking around some shops, we had our first meal of poke bowls. Then we took an Uber to the Berlin wall which separated the East and West sides of the city. The paintings were very diverse and interesting. Later that day we met up with one of Meg’s friends studying abroad in Berlin and went to a pizza/pasta restaurant for dinner.  I accidentally ordered a giant pizza which wasn’t sliced - I could only finish half and had no place to keep in at the hostel. At night we went to an expensive club and didn’t stay out too late because we had big plans for the next day.

After our free hostel breakfast of mediocre fruit and sandwiches, we stored our backpacks in lockers and made our way to the Lollapalooza festival. It was a little uncomfortable taking public transportation in our festival outfits but there were a few other people dressed for the concert as well. We entered the gates and walked into the venue, which was where the 1936 Berlin Olympics had taken place.  It was way more massive than I expected.  There were paintings, food stands, stages, and massive crowds of people everywhere.  The people were definitely more mellow at Lollapalooza than they would’ve been at an American festival.  All of the acts I saw were good, but my favorite was Years and Years, who I had never even heard of before the festival. For dinner I ordered a Falafel sandwich from one of the Mediterranean stands. The day went by too quickly and we were back in our new hostel rooms by midnight.

Sunday was a day filled with monuments and history.  We slept in a little bit and then headed towards a large park with a ton of sights to see around it. First we stopped by the memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe. Underground was an entire history of the Holocaust and a bunch of stories about different families who suffered.  There were copied notes on display that were found in the Jewish ghettos or concentration camps that depicted the horrors of what the Jewish people had to go through.  It took a long time to read and look at everything, and I’m really glad we experienced it, although it was depressing. We then walked to the Brandenburg Gate.  We wanted to walk up the Reichstag building but the line was long and it cost money so we just observed. We started to get hungry so we entered the park and found a cafe called Tiergarten. We had a lot of ethnic food on the trip so far so we were pleased to see that many authentic German dishes were being served.  I got sauerkraut and a vegetarian pretzel dish with a beer called Radler.  Ally, Isabel, and I got gelato for dessert and ate it on the lake near the cafe. Our final stop was at Checkpoint Charlie, who looked shockingly young for his popularity. We hit the souvenir shops then made our way back to the hostel before boarding our bus. Overall, Berlin was a cool city but it did sort of remind me of an American city.  This is because most of it was destroyed in WWII so they rebuilt the city in a modern style.  It was still fascinating, but compared to the most recent cities I visited, it didn’t seem as foreign to me.

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Amsterdam

I spent my first three day weekend in the incredible city of Amsterdam.  I don’t think I could’ve possibly squeezed in any more experiences during my time here. We arrived Thursday night and got situated in our hostel, then started to explore. I got frites with pesto mayo as a late night snack. There are a ton of little snack places all around the city, with things like waffles and nutella/ice cream and churros with sauce. The next morning Ally and I got up early and tried dishes of small pancakes with bananas and chocolate.

Friday was an extremely busy day. We began with a free walking tour of the city and learned about its history involving trade, the canals, its religious tolerance, and the Jewish population. During our break the guide told us about a bike tour of the countryside later on that day so I bought a ticket, but no one else in the group wanted to go so I flew solo.  It was nice to walk around the city alone for awhile.  I noticed that many tourists flooded the streets - only about half of Amsterdam’s population is authentically Dutch. The biking tour was interesting. I met people from Canada and the U.S. and got to talk to our tour guide Kendra some more. We took a ferry to north Amsterdam and biked past a windmill, farm animals, and a country club.  Towards the end we went to a new brewery called Oedipus. On my way back to the group I met a Russian woman in one of the shops.  She was friendly and told me a little about her life. I know it can be uncomfortable to be on your own in a foreign city, but I’ve found that I always have unique experiences when I’m by myself.

Shortly after, we embarked on the long walk to the Heineken Experience tour. I was definitely tired from walking and biking all day, but I’m really glad I went.  We learned about the history of the company, how the beer is brewed, and most importantly, how to drink it. We got two free drinks at the end and got to watch a band play covers of American songs.  American music is all over Europe. It was still a little light outside so we headed towards the “Iamsterdam” sign.  The sunset over the canals was beautiful. Everyone was in a good mood. We got there and climbed all over the sign and got our pictures, then went to a restaurant that had a steak/fries/salad/drink special for 14 Euros! Amsterdam isn’t too expensive, but it seemed like it was compared to Budapest and Prague. At night we walked to Leidseplein which is a square full of clubs and bars. On the way home we stopped at a snack place and I got a waffle with white chocolate, snickers, and whipped cream.

We started Saturday by eating breakfast at a place called Bake My Day. I got a peanut butter/banana smoothie bowl and an iced latte. It was delicious but expensive. We all withdrew some money and ran some errands before starting our day at Vondelpark.  The walk was far but definitely worth it. We sat next to a pavilion in the middle of a little pond. I eventually went on a walk and sat in front of a huge fountain with a lot of open space and people sunbathing. It was a really nice escape from constantly being in hectic cities. After a few hours we made our way back into town to rent our boat.  Peter, Michelle, and Raya bought food and wine from the grocery store and we all embarked on the self guided boat ride. The ride was unbelievable - probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced.  The perspective of the city and canals from inside the tiny boat was so much more impressive than from the street. Everyone in the group was having fun and admiring our surroundings. We played music from our speaker the whole time and waved at people along the canals. I was sad when the two hours ended, but appreciative that we decided on doing that at all. After recollecting at the hostel, six of us went to an Irish pub for dinner.  We drank Heineken and reflected on how much fun the day was. Later on we walked around the city some more and hung out at a lounge cafe called Lost in Amsterdam.  Then me, Ally, and Adryan walked through the Red Light District which was like nothing I’d ever seen before. We ended the night with getting yet another waffle (mine with Nutella and KitKat ice cream on top).

Everyone in our hostel woke up late so we rushed to the airport. I can’t believe we managed to make our 10:55 flight but we ended up boarding at around 10:48.  One of the more stressful memories from the weekend, but still a memory. I couldn’t really decide if the locals were friendly towards tourists or not because there are so many “tourists” living in and visiting Amsterdam. I would like to come back here in the future with friends/family from home and show them what I experienced.

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Week One Prague and Budapest

My first week in Prague was definitely one of adjusting.  Of all the things I had to get used to - food, apartment, transportation - my main adjustment was to being uncomfortable.  It isn’t easy living in a country where people don’t speak your language and aren’t eager to help out. Thankfully we had people like Andrea and Professor Krusova to help us for the first few days. Our first adventure was to the Charles Bridge and the John Lennon Wall.  It was super crowded with tourists because we went in the afternoon but still impressive.  I know I will come back at least a few more times when less people are there. After walking around the city we stopped for gelato (olive oil and basil) and went to a beer garden before our group dinner. I had schnitzel for the first time. Since that first day I’ve become more comfortable with accepting the fact that the locals can tell we are American and aren’t thrilled about it. I know a little more about restaurant etiquette and interacting with people who don’t know English very well.  I’ve started to say “Hello” and “Thank You” in Czech when I can.  I know I’m going to have to spend a few weekends exploring the city and hanging out with Andrea before I’ll feel really confident being able to navigate my way through Prague by myself.

For my first weekend trip, me and a large group took a train to Budapest.  I didn’t really have any expectations because I’d never heard anything about the city, but it was way more fun than I expected. We experienced some minor setbacks on the train ride down, but when we got there everything settled.  Our Airbnb was in a great location and I got to try chicken paprikash for my first meal which was delicious. Afterward we exchanged our money, and all 15 of us went to this alleyway full of outdoor bars with lights hung over the street. I noticed that Budapest is more high energy than Prague has seemed, maybe there are more tourists there.  But people on the street were loud and raucous just like us Americans.  Motorcycles and sports cars were racing down the streets.  It seemed like more people knew English in Budapest than Prague.

The following day we started our morning with a hike up to the top of St. Stephen’s Basilica.  The architecture was fascinating and I wish we had a guide to explain to us the history of the structure. The view from the top was unbelievable. I’d never seen a city so massive without skyscrapers towering in the middle.  Everything looked so pristine and modern, even though these building that make up the city are probably pretty old.  We had a long lunch at some little bistro and I got to try Amrita’s gnocchi. We then walked to Matthias church but only saw the outside.  Many brides and grooms were taking wedding photos before the view by the church.  We then trekked 2 miles to the famous Szechenyia bathhouses. Everyone was so happy there and we explored the cold, hot, and whirlpools along with different saunas. After grabbing a quick dinner we went on a pub crawl and left the next morning. I could definitely see myself working in a city like Budapest in the future, or at least coming back to visit. If every weekend is going to be this exciting then I’m really looking forward to all of the trips that are to come!