Now here is a trip that was really really really on my bucket list. I've seen soooo many videos of towns in the South of France, and I finally got to see a handful of them!! When people think about the South of France, they probably think of the biggest city, Nice. However, my friend and I decided to stay in Antibes, which was about 20 minutes away from Nice by train. Much cheaper AirBnB's and overall definitely a calmer vibe. It was my favorite town of all the ones we visited and staying there was definitely the break I needed from being in big cities for so long. The first day we got there, I may or may not have tricked my friend into walking 4 hours to the coast spot I wanted to see...haha oops. All jokes aside, the walk was brutal but we got to see so much of a beautiful town and got some exercise in!! I also got to swim in the ocean for the first time in months and it was amazing. This was probably my favorite day of the trip. In the following days, we visited Cannes, Nice, and Monaco. All were about 15 minutes away from each other by train and so easy to get to. Cannes, home to the famous Cannes film festival, definitely gave off rich vibes. Everything was very posh, their shopping street was endless, and people were everywhere. It honestly felt a bit like Waikiki in the main city, but it was nice to be able to soak in the sun by a real beach after so long. Also had some of the best risotto here, and ate outside on the cutest patio like a true European. The next day, we finally made it Nice. The water here was insanely blue, it was surreal. I wanted so badly to swim, but we were on a time crunch so unfortunately I couldn't. We explore the Old Town and the famous market, and just enjoyed more time in the sun. Later in the day, we made our way to Monaco, which is in France but is also technically it's own country. Here is where the real opulence was. We saw insane cars, a port with the biggest yachts I think I will ever see in my life, and experienced how the rich live.
0 Comments
It is important to note that Dublin is not in the UK (although other parts of Ireland are weirdly enough), but the title worked so I just went with it. Keep reading to learn more about of my favorite trips that I took while abroad! DublinDublin was one of my absolute favorite cities I visited in Europe. Everything from the culture, the city itself, and the people were amazing. I wish I had more time there and to explore other parts of Ireland. If there's anything you should experience when in Dublin, it's the pub culture. There's a pub on just about every block with live music, good drinks, and an amazing vibe. We visited the iconic Temple Bar and had the best time listening to the live performers with everyone else. The good mood is contagious! Other than this, my other highlight from the trip was taking a day tour to visit the Cliffs of Moher and the city of Galway (Galway like Ed Sheeran's song Galway Girl). When I say it was a day-tour, I mean it was allll day. We had a bright and early call time of 6am, and rode a bus for three hours to other side of Ireland. It was 100% worth it thought because the cliffs were breathtaking, and seeing the Ireland countryside was also so special. We also stopped for lunch in the cutest little pub in the middle of nowhere. It was definitely an experience I'll always cherish! EdinburghOhhh Scotland. What a charming city full of so much life and energy. Very similar to Dublin but definitely with it's own distinct vibe at the same time. Our time in Edinburgh was overall pretty chill. We ate lots of good food (had some of the best Pad Thai here surprisingly), explored the quaint streets, and spent a lot of time in the sunshine at the many parks everywhere. One of my favorite experiences here was visiting Dean's village right in the city. It was the cutest little town, with a lovely walk along the river. It was so peaceful and the sun was out which made it all the better. I wish I had more time in Scotland to visit the Highlands, but I guess I have reason to go back now. After a full month of no travel, I was ready to get out of Copenhagen for a bit so for my week of Spring Break, my friends and I made our way to Vienna, Budapest, and Prague! ViennaIf there's one thing I have to say about Vienna, it's how beautiful every. single. building. is. Just walking around the city was such a treat because there was so much to look at. We were also there right before Easter, so there were adorable little Easter markets around literally every corner. We spent a couple days in Vienna, visiting palace after palace, and garden after garden. Everything was gorgeous but I found it funny how some gigantic, monumental, castles were just smack dab in the middle of otherwise very normal areas. Overall, it was such a culturally heavy city that was amazing to experience. Also forgot to mention that we took a day-trip to Bratislavia, Slovakia from Vienna too. Their Old Town was so quaint, and I had some of the best goulash (hearty Hungarian soup) here. BudapestBudapest was probably my favorite of the three cities we visited during this week. The pace and overall vibe just made me feel very comfortable. Our AirBnB was also gigantic for such a good price, one of the perks of traveling to relatively cheaper countries. I would say my top highlight from Budapest was the thermal baths. The city is famous for them, and it was so cool to experience an authentic Hungarian past time. These thermal baths were essentially just gigantic bath houses with pools of various sizes and various temperatures. We mostly spent time at the outside ones, and it was amazing since it was heated to perfection while the air was cold (the sun was out thought, it was amazing!). We also did a night river cruise, which is a must do when in Budapest. You get the best view of Budapest's iconic Parliament Building all lit up from the water. It was beautiful! PragueThe last city we hit was Prague. I'm not going to lie, Prague was probably my least favorite of the three. Whether this was because I was tired from traveling so long, or that all three cities were actually very similar, or that the weather wasn't great while we were there, Prague really didn't stand out to me. Regardless of that, I still had a lot of fun exploring and walking around. I will say I probably has the best scrambled eggs of my life here, and everything was really cheap!
After a full month of travel in February, I decided to stay in Copenhagen for the month of March for a variety of reasons: 1. Finals for some of my classes were coming up so I had to focus in on school 2. Get to know Copenhagen more 3. Spend more time with the friends that I don't travel with 4. Make more memories in an amazing city!! With these goals in mind, my March was very busy but so much fun at the same time. As you'll see in the pictures, I did some things that I'll never forget about including going to a Lewis Capaldi concert, experiencing Copenhagens iconic pastries, and living in snow for the first time! In addition to this, some of my most prominent memories have to do with my classes. Since two of my class were only for Quarter 3 (meaning they end in March instead of May), I had two finals to worry about. One was a 10 page paper that I had to write in 3 days, and the other was an oral exam based off a group paper I'd been writing with two of my friends for the previous month. If you don't know was an oral exam is, it's basically a 1 on 1 interview with you and your professor while they interrogate you about your essay and other class content. The 10 page paper was a doozy, but manageable since I was working with a couple of my friends too. The oral exam on the other was probably the most anxious experience of my entire time abroad. It was terrifying waiting to be called in, but ultimately, everything worked out and I actually did surprisingly well. Anyway, that's a little glimpse into what the education system was like in Copenhagen, at least at Copenhagen Business School. This calmer month allowed me to really settle into my life in Copenhagen. I created weekly routines with my friends, and got a lot more comfortable with my surroundings. By the end of the month, I truly felt like I had a home in Denmark, which definitely has made the rest of the experience a lot easier. From this, one of my biggest pieces of advice would be to really cherish spending time in the city you choose to study abroad in. Of course, you're going to want to travel every weekend (and if you still choose to do this, you'll make amazing memories regardless!!), but not traveling for a bit will really let you feel like you have a life in another city. For my final weekend of travel in February, my 2 friends and I made the trip to Germany! We visited two of the country's major cities, Hamburg and Berlin. HamburgWe took the train from Copenhagen to Hamburg, which took about 5 hours. It was actually my first time traveling on a train for this long, and let's just say I much prefer it to flying. The seats are way bigger and more comfortable, and it's just a less stressful experience overall. It does take 5 times longer, but I think it's worth it. As for Hamburg itself, we were only there for half a day before heading to Berlin. I'm not going to lie, I didn't like Hamburg too much. It was still very cool to see another city, but I don't think I'll be returning. I also don't think it helped that it was extremely gloomy the entire time we were there. BerlinAfter an almost 2 hour train ride, we got to Berlin bright and early around 9am. Sadly, it was also gloomy here but the rain held out long enough for us to see everything we wanted. We visited the Brandenburg Gate (Napoleon and Hitler walked through it :0), the Memorial for the Murdered Jews, Checkpoint Charlie, and some remnants of the Berlin Wall. Needless to say, it was crazy to see so much history being preserved in such a modern city. We also visited the Jewish Museum on our first day which had some very sobering exhibits about the Holocaust, and the stories that came from it. On our second day, we visited the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp for majority of the day. We booked a tour so our guide was able to give us the full rundown of all the tragic history that happened there. Being where so much death has occurred was sobering, but it was important to learn about it while we were there. Once we got back from the tour, we explored the city some more and actually witnessed a Pro-Russian protest in the city center. Pretty crazy. We then ended the day with a traditional Bavarian meal made up of proper sausages and beer. We went home that night well-fed and ready to return to Copenhagen.
|
AuthorRead about some of my experiences in Europe and some tips and tricks about studying abroad! |