Hi everyone!
With all of the traveling, I have been extremely busy so it was hard to blog. So, this is to catch you up!
October 5-10: I met up with my mom in London. I have been before but I wanted to try and love the city as much as everyone else does because my first experience was just average. I had the London pass for 3 days which came in handy as far as visiting everything went. I saw all of the major attractions and I loved it! Unfortunately, the last night there, as we were walking to the hotel, my mom fell and broke her hand. We spent 4 hours in the emergency room (which wasn't very clean) but didn't have to pay anything in the end. I guess that's the trade off with having universal healthcare.
October 11-12: I flew to Paris and stayed a night with my mom and showed her the Eiffel Tower but we didn't have much time together. My boyfriend flew in on the 12th and that began my next adventure!
October 13-19: Over about a one week time frame, we went to Brussels for 2 days, Amsterdam for 2 days, and Paris for 3 days. Traveling a lot was rough but totally worth it. My boyfriend had never been to Europe before so we wanted to see as much as possible. Here are some things I learned:
1. Only pack enough clothes for a third of your trip ( I packed for half and it was too much).
2. Go on as many Sandeman free tours as possible! They are amazing!
3. Leave yourself enough time between trains, buses, and planes for unexpected things to occur (my bus had a 2 hour delay).
4. See as much as possible, but be sure to get a good nights sleep EVERY night.
Brussels was a great city, I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Amsterdam was quite unusual (legalized prostitution and marijuana). Paris is Paris and it was great however you need to know some French and just try your best or the locals are kinda mean.
Today, October 20, I dropped my boyfriend off at the airport and I was so terribly sad. I think this is the first time I've actually felt homesick but I'm still good :)
I'm currently sitting at a train station waiting for my second train and then I'll be back in Vichy! Unfortunately, only for the night. Then, off to Barcelona tomorrow. I'm slightly regretting not taking a break but I know it'll be worth it and it's only for 11 days. I can do it!
Later,
Hillary