audreyineu

[audreyineu]

budapest 4/6-4/7

getting to budapest i knew my time was limited, i only got a day and a half there, so i tried my best to hit the ground running. arriving at the hostel i found that check-in did not begin for 2 more hours though, so that kind of stopped me, but i just used the time to get some food. using that lovely little app called google maps i found a small pizza shop called pizza manufaktura and had a hawaiian pizza (pineapple on pizza is GOOD just accept it already). i also had some cherry juice, which was really good actually. i’ve never really seen fully cherry flavored drinks outside of icees, so that's definitely something that america needs to work on. i also discovered that the hungarian word for cherry is meggy. nice. 

i still had an hour to kill after that though so i tried to go find an atm and accidentally walked into the nagyvásárcsarnok, or, for english speakers, the great market hall. it’s an actual full-blown market where people bought their groceries

like people actually came here and picked out their meats, got some vegetables, maybe some spices. it was so cool to see. yeah sure i’ve been farmers markets back home but this was fully someone’s grocery store and it was just interesting to see the difference

the upstairs part was for the tourists and had a bunch of handmaid souvenirs, sometimes the person was sitting out in front of the stall sewing the cloths like the ones in the picture (its blurry, sorry)

there was also a basement-like area and i’m pretty sure the budapest black market operates in it. i’m on a pacific rim kick right now because of the sequel (which wasn’t that good but that’s a different blog post) and if you’ve seen the first one, i really felt like ron pearlman was about to walk out of a secret doorway and offer me some kaiju bone. it was honestly kinda scary, no one was really down there and most of what was being sold was meat and HUGE fish that they kept in a really really small tank, which i’m not really sure would be considered humane? but i guess they were there to get killed so. i’ll let peta deal with that one. 

i wanted to get a picture but the guys behind the stands were very big and also staring me down every time i passed. i decided they wouldn’t like the tourist girl taking pictures of their very compact fish.

anyway, i went back upstairs and bought some cookies, isler and puszedli. isler was a cookie covered with chocolate with jam in the middle and puszedli was a kind of gingerbread muffin type thing covered in a chocolate or vanilla frosting (chocolate was the best one for me). they were both really good but i gotta give a special shout-out to the isler. 

after that it was time to check in so i got changed out of my travel clothes and tried to figure out what to do. i decided to take one of those hop-on hop-off tours, which i typically try to avoid like the plague because i’m not a fan of blatantly shouting out to a place that “hey i’m a tourist!!” but, i had a limited time and those are good to see a city quickly

i rode around for a while. now consider these photos were all #shotonaniphone7 and taken on a moving vehicle so they're not great but.. its what i saw . budapest is pretty darn cool

i got intrigued by a set of stairs looked a bit italian, so i got off on the next stop, and that was definitely the right choice. i found myself at what i think was the bud castle (turns out budapest has two parts, buda and pest separated - i think - by the danube).

to get up you could either walk up a hill or pay to take a little tram car. i obviously chose the tram car, i can walk up a hill any day

all of the museums and the castle were closed by this point (it was around 6), so i couldn’t go in, but the views from up top were stunning

so i roamed around a bit

and started heading in the direction of the stairs that made me get off the bus in the first place. i wasn’t disappointed. it was a really cool little area, and felt really romantic. being there just kinda made you happy

and because i knew how to get back home from the liberty bridge, which was about two bridges down from where i was, i decided to walk back along the river (i took an evening stroll next to the danube!! how cool!) to the bridge to get back to my hostel. 

in my room i met a really nice girl from finland, she’ll come back into the story later, and got ready for bed for what i wanted to be an early morning so i could see as much as possible

of course this didn’t happen, i had a snorer in my room which kept me up so i slept through my alarm and didn’t end up leaving until 11. but it put me starting my day at lunchtime, and i’m not gonna complain about that! i found a small little restaurant called drum cafe who were known for their lángos and goulash. their menu was a trading card display book, which i loved, and i ordered from traditional beef goulash with rice

it was amazing. so so so good. i maybe ate it embarrassingly fast considering how much food there was but it was amazing, i didn’t want to stop eating it

after that i stopped in a small thrift shop i saw on the way there in hopes of buying the shirt that was on a mannequin in the window, but sadly the shirt was “only decoration.” i did get two shirts there anyway

after i decided to walk over to the house of terror, a museum about the facist and communist regimes that held power in hungary and honoring those who died at the hands of those in power.

on the walk there i found a little antique market going on in an alley 

i almost bought an old hungarian swimming medal because why not, but i decided against it. there were all kinds of cool little knick knacks, but i restrained myself and began to actually walk to the museum

pictures were not allowed in the museum (i snuck one of the entrance) so i don't have any (except for the one i snuck) but the museum was increibily interesting. its one thing learning in history class about stuff that went on in eastern europe in the 40s-80s but its another to actually BE in a building where people were kept and tortured, a building where the arrow cross party (a nazi party based in hungary) and the state protection authority (the soviet secret police force in hungary) actually operated. it was. very very solemn. reading about life in that time and seeing the faces of all those who were killed. you ended the museum tour in the basement where the cells were and it was terrifying in there. maybe didn’t help that i was completely alone in the cells at that point, but it was so silent and dark and i think absolutely perfect to demonstrate how horrifying the experience would have been to be one of those prisoners. the doors to the cells weren’t even barred, they were fully solid. you wouldn’t even be able to see outside if you were shut in. every cell was solitary confinement.

so i left the house of terror and decided it was time for something a bit lighter and headed to the széchenyi thermal bath

yep, its THAT yellow building that you see in everyone’s pictures when they go to budapest. it was really nice and relaxing, though i gotta say would probably be better with a group rather than alone. i did meet some people there, but not the same as being there with friends goofing off, so i’ll have to make a return trip

afterwards i decided i’d get on the hop-on hop-off bus again since the man the first time never actually took my ticket and got some REAL hungarian lángos on my way there (if you remember i had some at the easter market in prague) and OH MY GOD was it good. the dough being freshly deep fried makes ALL the difference oh my god. literally just handed it to me out of the frier. i got it with cheese again and honestly i wish i’d just gotten it plain because the cheese took away from the dough. so, so good. it is a lot though, so if you ever get one i recommend that you get it to share

i got back on the bus and road around a bit, i really just wanted to get a better view of the parliament building

i got it for a little bit! not long enough to get a picture because i sat on the wrong side of the bus, but damn that's a beautiful building

i rode until the stop closest to my hostel & got off so i could pack up my stuff. i had a 6 am flight (i just got back to bristol as i’m writing this) and i wanted to be sure i had everything for my 3 am departure time to the airport. while packing my roommate from finland came in & we started talking and she invited me out with her and another guy in the hostel to go to one of the ruin bars called szimpla kert.  i thought you know what, we’d be out till around 2:00, why not just stay awake till i need to leave for airport and have a little fun doing it. so i booked a minibus to take me from the hostel at 3 am with another girl at the hostel and we set off to this ruin bar and 

WOW

they were playing a movie on a huge screen outside??? there was a room with a piano so people could just play music and sing?? there were so many different roms with different vibes and it was absolutely amazing . i wish i could have stayed longer! it was what every little hipster bar in williamsburg (brooklyn) is trying to be and god now that i’ve been to this bar i don’t think i’m gonna be able to go to another bar ever again 

after a night filled with singing (i WAS hanging out with two singers) we headed back at two so i could grab my bag and meet the other girl to leave for the airport and i made it with no problems. 

was i incredibly tired by the time i got on the plane? absolutely! but i had a fantastic time with some really cool people. and with that i’m back in bristol and ready to have some dinner. so i guess closing remarks? plan but at the same time don’t. let there be some spontaneity because spontaneity caused some of the best parts of my trip. also, WALK EVERY WHERE (if you can)

thanks for reading!

audrey

[audreyineu]

vienna 4/3-4/5

when i got to vienna it was HOT!!!!!! HOT boys and girls!!!!!! i got off the train .... i was actually SWEATING it was so hot. youu gotta realize i haven’t had weather over about 45 degrees in MONTHS (fahrenheit! you celciusers chill out) so this really, really excited me. i packed shorts and i was FINALLY gonna get to use them. so, first thing i did was take a shower and change into some shorts

after getting changed and looking at myself in the mirror happily bc it was warm enough to wear SHORTS i decided to head to the prater, an amusement park in the middle of vienna. they have a ferris wheel there that has survived from the early 1900s which notable because of the destruction WW2 caused. it’s also, dare i say it, more notable because it appeared in the orson welles film the third man, and i, like many others at abingdon high school, was a partaker in mr. bottelli’s humanities class where we watched said film. i had to go, if not just for bill bottelli

the ferris wheel was really cool, if not just because it was so old and you never really see machinery like that anymore. it also had some good views of the city and the theme park itself which made me want to explore it more while i was there. some of the rides just looked ridiculous, and after my exploring and i can confirm that an austrian amusement park is maybe the most horrifying thing i’ve ever seen. 

PLEASE view these next few pictures. they’re just some creepy faces i saw around the park. now, yes, some of them are your typical really bad amusement park statues but.. there was a little square i guess you would call it where people would sit and relax and it contained some statues that felt like they came from the darkest depths of guillermo del toros brain. 

you’ll know when you see them.

get ready

YEAH

after exploring some more i came back to the hostel and took a walk through the nastchmarkt, a famous market that just so happened to be across the street from my hostel. it was pretty cool, there were people selling spices, vegetables, and meats as well as your standard tourist fare. gotta say though, i’ve never had people so aggressively try to sell me stuff in my life. one man continued to yell lady at me as i walked away and kept motioning me to come towards him if i looked back. didn’t work on me, and honestly, i doubt that tactic worked on anyone. definitely needs to get better marketing strategies

they do have a lot of cool restaurants along the edge of the market though, and some really good gelato

so i headed back to the hostel and TRIED to write the prague post, but as i’ve said before the wifi was just not having it

the next day i headed to the belvedere, an old palace that was converted into an art museum. 

 the museum had an exhibition about gustav klimt and GOD that guy was amazing. the small little details with metallics in his paintings... wow. it was so cool to see up close. i attempted to get some pictures of it but they just don't do the paintings justice. if you have an opportunity to see any gustav klimt painting, ESPECIALLY one in his gold period, GO

im gonna put some close-ups next. LOOK at that detail my dudes

there were lots of other cool pieces there as well, but i don’t wanna flood you with paintings. 

the castle did have some gardens though and i guess that there's a major issue in europe with a fear of a weird hybrid alligator-dogs because i saw statues of these dudes back at versailles as well. definitely not some art history explanation for this, its a real fear they have

after that i walked over to karlskirche

that’s the outside, what sets it apart i think are the pillars. i’ve never seen a church with them before.

here’s the inside

they were doing some reconstruction and restoring the dome, so that meant visitors could go up the scaffolding and get a really up-close look at the top of the dome. it was MUCH higher up than i anticipated! i made the mistake of looking down once i got to the top and i gotta say, please do not do that if you get the opportunity to go up to the dome of a church. 

still though, it was really cool to be that up close with a painted church dome. can’t say its something that i’ve ever done before!

it was still nice in vienna, so i walked over to a park that had a mozart statue in it (i can’t find the name of the actual park anywhere), bought a “doner box” (this basically just a kebab in a box), and sat down against a tree. it was good to relax and the park was filled with people. there was even a guy practicing hula hoop tricks in one corner

from there i walked to my favorite place on the planet, the rathaus. the german word for town hall is rathaus, and this is maybe my favorite thing in the world. imagine going to work every day in the RAT HOUSE. amazing!

anyway, they looked like they were either setting up or taking down a market out front, so i decided to leave and come back the next day to see which it was. (this picture is from the next day, the thing at the bottom was the market i was coming back to and BOY was i right in doing this, you’ll see later)

at that point my phone was nearly dead so i decided to come back to the hostel & did some laundry (exciting stuff!!!!)

the next day i started off by going to something called the schmetterlinghaus, which was an arbatorium was filled with butterflies. let me tell you, some of those butterflies weren’t afraid of anything. i almost got hit in the side of the head by one at least a couple of times. but still, so cool to see. the only time i ever see a butterfly is when the monarch flies across the screen on a dollywood commercial, so i was cool to see them all so up close

also, i have to mention, by this point my camera had died and i, of course, had forgotten the charger, so all pictures henceforth are #shotonaniphone7

after schmetterlinghaus i walked back to the rat house and man was i surprised with what i found: a mini wine festival! there's an area of austria called styria and they're known for their wine, so you know i had to take a walk around and have a taste for myself. now i know next to nothing about wine, so i can’t actually tell you if it any of it was actually good or how fruity the bouquet was or whatever, but the ones i had i enjoyed

before i left i stopped and bought a sandwich called a steirer-burger and if you ever have one DO NOT inhale while eating because the spicy mustard WILL go into your nose and you WILL start tearing up. whatever buzz i felt from those glasses of wine was gone real quick because after my inhale taking a bite GOD it was like snorting a pepper

the festival was fun though! there were other venders selling crafts and bands playing in traditional south austrian clothing. one guy had this cool sideways trumpet! maybe that's a normal instrument, but i certainly had never seen one

when i left there i walked over to the manner chocolate shop and ended up finding a church that i had wanted to go to instead. i saw it from the top of the dome at the karlskirche. it has huge mosaics, i guess would be the word, on the side but i couldn’t find it anywhere googling it so i have up on it. luck was on my side though!

you could take a little elevator up to the top and it offered some awesome views of the mosaic (still not sure if this is right) on the side and of vienna in general

after i left i walked over to the hofburg palace just to see it before i left, and then headed back to the hostel to pack up my stuff for another early train. i was prepared though this time & made it to the station with time to spare!! i got to budapest at around 11 on the 6th, & that’s coming next! :)

[audreyineu]

prague 3/31-4/2

when i arrived in prague it was rainy and freezing cold, i had gotten off the tram too early so i had to walk through it carrying my incredibly heavy bag (which im pretty sure is giving me awesome arm & leg muscles), and because i was holding the bag i couldn’t also hold an umbrella.. needless to say when i first got there i wasn’t the happiest camper.

BUT, i did an easter market near my hostel so i once i put my bags down and dried off a little i grabbed my umbrella and went over. i bought a piping hot keilbasa in a bun and when i say piping hot i mean it. i bit into it too quickly and ended up burning the roof of my mouth to the point where it blistered. but it was really tasty so in the end i say it was worth it

with that i retired to my hostel and wrote the other two blog posts, and luckily the next day was much nicer. while trying to navigate to a cafe to have breakfast i got distracted by a pretty builiding and decided to walk towards it instead and walked straight into a bigger and better easter market located in the old town square. in the center there was a decorated tree, which i’m guessing is czech tradition because they were at every easter market that i stumbled upon. they even had a petting zoo with TWO goats. one was trying to eat a bucket

and there wasn’t an easter bunny, but they had this thing

& the best thing about a prague easter market is all of the food. at this one i got a pastry called a trdelník (don’t ask me how thats pronounced cuz i have no clue), which is a “spit cake” - rolled dough wrapped around a stick and put on a spit roast and then covered in sugar, cinnamon, and sometimes walnuts

i got one filled with nutella & gotta say not enough nutella. im a nutella girl, when i say gimme some nutella i mean really GIVE ME some nutella

after a while of walking around i tried another bit of the street food, this time a hungarian dish called a lángos. its deep fried dough with some toppings. i don’t know what the traditional toppings are but this one had garlic butter, cheese, and ketchup and it was delicious, but honestly i love anything with garlic

from the market i began my walk to the charles bridge. it was beautiful, like everything else in prague

there were vendors and bands lining the edges of the entire bridge, theres even a jazz band called ‘the bridge band’ that play there every day. there was also a man dressed as chewbacca just standing at the entrance to the bridge

i feel like i could really make up some deeper meaning about this image it feels like an art piece to me. i could totally see it in moma, so i’ll keep you updated on how that goes

the other side of the bridge was just as beautiful

i feel like im using beautiful too much but prague is just . its beautiful. i love buildings. do i know anything about buildings or archtiecture other than remembering the word flying buttress? nope. but i love me a good building, and pragues got tons of em

after walking around a bit i went to the john lennon wall, because well. the people reading this know me. of course i went to the john lennon wall (i had a small beatles obsession for a few years, its still there. may or may not have listened to the beatles exclusively for a year. it happens)

most of the actual john lennon stuff had been covered by other artists but it was cool to see anyway

after that i headed back towards my hostel for a quick dinner and then went on a pub crawl with a couple girls i met from new jersey. there were people from all over the world there, i met a couple german dudes that broke out into john denver’s take me home country roads upon hearing i was from virginia. i was shocked and probably didn’t stop talking about how excited that made me until we moved to the next bar but how cool is that!!

the next day i went to the spanish synagogue, and god guys this thing is beautiful (theres that word again, i’ll try to use a different one next time)

i love that the glass is patterned with the star of david as well

i went to the jewish cemetery afterwards

i’ve never seen a cemetery just so. full. there were barely any spots between the headstones, i’m honestly not sure how all the bodies fit n there unless they were buried at varying depths

after i walked back over the charles bridge to go up to the prague castle. the walk up included lots of stairs and got a burn going in your thighs but the view from up top was definitely worth it

i couldnt figure out how to get into the actual castle,or at least where to buy a ticket, so i just walked into the cathedral or maybe the castle?? (who knows. not a lot of signage haha) either way, the stained glass windows were amazing (look didn’t use beautiful)

i walked back down after that and on my way back i got a trdelník with ice cream,

saw some people demonstrating how their abs are far superior to those of the rest of humanity,

(seriously, no wire or anything. that dude on top must have had like a 40-pack)

and found a museum dedicated to czech filmmaker karel zeman. my phone and camera were both about to die at this point so i have no pictures to offer, but it was a cool museum. the guy was a “master of special effects,” particularly with puppeteering. he designed and shot his live-action jules verne films to look like book illustrations, it was really amazing. he has two jules verne films if i recall correctly, definitely at least look up a screenshot

after that i got back and packed up my stuff. i had an early train, which meant of course that i hit snooze on my alarm and told myself that i was awake when i truly wasn’y the next mornig when it was time to catch that train. needless to say i was running late and a little bit stressed. i dont know if my uber driver sensed that and was trying to comfort me but at one point when we were across the highway (or something like a highway??) from the train station he looked very intensely at me in the rear view mirror and said theres the train station. i was fully convinced he wanted me to jump out o the car and go run across the busy highway and i didn’t really know what to do so i just kept staring back at him in the rearview mirror until traffic started moving again. he broke the eye contact and went back to driving, but i still am not really sure what was going on there. i ended up making the train! im convinced that my arm and leg muscles are gonna be huge after this trip withal the sprinting carrying this huge i’ve done

and so began my time in vienna, which is coming next

[audreyineu]

sorry!!

to anyone who may be following this, the wifi at my hostel in vienna wasn’t great & wasn’t cooperating with letting me upload pictures to my posts. i’ve just gotten to budapest the hostel wifi is a lot better so i’ll be posting my prague & vienna updates tonight!! thanks :)

[audreyineu]

berlin 3/28-3/30

berlin! the wonderful world of germany where the word for hungry is hungrig! don’t ask why i that makes me so happy because i don’t really understand it myself. anyway! i got there at 9 pm (was supposed to get there at 7), and spent about two hours of my five hr train ride from karlsruhe, germany to berlin sitting on the floor because there were no seats. this didn’t damper my mood though, if anything it gave me an excuse to put off essay writing because i didn’t have a plug to charge my computer, and then another when i got to the hostel because 9:30 after traveling all day is simply too late to be doing essay work.

after having a nice conversation with some of the people in my room, i went to bed and woke up the next morning ready to see some historical sites. and i gotta say this, berlin is unlike any european city i have ever been in. i said in an instagram post that i have never seen a place so perfectly embody the spirit of the 1980s, and its true. this place is filled with history but it doesn’t feel old. there are few old buildings or monuments, at least that i saw, and i assume this is because of all the destruction caused by world war 2. nevertheless, it was beautiful in its own way. and, as a person who loves the 1980s vibe, it was perfect for me.

my first day was spent walking around trying to see all of the historical monuments - the brandenberg gate, the reichstag building, the berlin victory column, gendarmarkt, the memorial to the murdered jews of europe, and my personal favorite the berlin cathedral.

between the gate and the column of victory there were expansive forests (parks?) with walkways through them. i defintley got lost in one on my walk back to the gate, but it was worth it. sure it was freezing but it felt really cool to just be strolling through a forest in the middle of berlin

the next day i dedicated to see some museums. my number ones to visit were the modern art museum, the checkpoint charlie berlin wall museum, a wall memorial, and, though its not really a museum, the east side gallery. all were really cool, but the east side gallery has to be my favorite one (if you could consider it a museum). but lets get into that juicy detail that i love so much.

first of all, in berlin, the tram and subway are both FREE. just get on and it’ll take you anywhere. take note new york! & my first stop was the wall memorial

below the memorial there were hanging plaques outlining the rise of the nazi party, and while im trying to keep a light-hearted vibe on this blog i would be remissed not mention the magnitude of the horrible acts committed by the nazi party. its absolutely shocking, still, and acts a reminder of how much work is still to be done today so that history doesn’t continue to repeat itself.

but lets get back to light-hearted stuff!

after the solemn visit to the wall i tried a berlin delicacy, the currywurst

i gotta say, it was amazing. i’m pretty sure it was just chopped up sausage with ketchup and curry seasoning on top though, so i’m hoping that i can recreate it at home

i next headed to checkpoint charlie, which was the “american sector” of berlin i was surprised to find! i might have learned that once in apush, but if i did i don’t remember (i’m sorry mrs. smith)

the museum there was really cool, what i found most interesting were the different ways that people in east berlin managed to escape or smuggle themselves out. though i gotta say if you go yourself don’t splurge on the photo pass. i did and it was pretty pointless, no one was there to make sure you didn’t take photos so you could basically so anything you wanted. it did feel cool to have a wristband on that said photo allowance though, felt like i was a member of the press

next was the modern art museum, which was cool. they had an exhibition on a british artist named eduardo paolozzi, and i now have a new pop-art love.

from there i walked for an hour to the east side gallery, a large section of the berlin wall that was painted over by many artists from all over the world. and if i gained anything from this experience is that if you go to a new city and want to actually SEE that city - walk. just do it! those 60 mins spent walking across berlin are what made me truly start to love the city. sure i could have gotten to the gallery in 20 mins if i had taken public transport, but i also would never have gotten to see the parts of the city i did.

how cool is all that!! and i would have never seen it if i didn’t walk. so just, if you can, make the walk to the places you want to go in a new city. it really makes a difference.

and at last i made it to the east side gallery before i had dinner at hackescher markt

thats only a small part of two of the murals, but they were two of my favorites. 

and with that i conclude my berlin post. i arrived in prague today so (hopefully) expect an update on april 3rd!

[audreyineu]

paris 3/27

alrighty folks, get ready for a whirlwind of detail. my philosophy in story telling is to try to get every last part of the story in so you can live the experience just as much as i did. does that make for very long-winded posts? maybe so. but i’m gonna write it that way anyway!

my time in paris was short-lived, but it was fun. i started my day walking around aimlessly showing people in shops a picture of a padlock hoping one of them had one so i could lock my bag up in my hostel. eventually i found it, and i learned the french word for padlock! strong emphasis on the learned, i no longer remember it.

after that i took an hour & a half long subway ride to get to the palace of versailles. getting to the exact train that took you to versailles was somewhat confusing, luckily there was an old man with an accordion that took it upon himself to direct me and the rest of tourists to the right location. with that, i was on my way

the palace was something i had always wanted to do but never did, and apparently everyone visiting paris that day felt the same way.. i waited in line for four hours before i got in

now you might be saying to yourself “audrey why the hell did you stand in line for four hours in the rain to see versailles?!” well its simple - i paid 30€ for it and sat on a subway train for and HOUR and a HALF! also, i really wanted to see all the gold.

in the end, i think it was most definitely worth it. i ended up meeting a girl from california (swetha if you’re reading this hello i hope your week in paris was amazing!!) and together we went through the palace. and oh my god guys. this was the place. every ceiling - EVERY CEILING - in that place was the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen. i would die for the ceilings in versailles, happily, any day of my life. beautiful.

the gold accents in almost every room??? OH MY GOD. and don’t get me started on the hall of mirrors. everyone already knows that its beautiful but.. wow guys. that thing is absolutely stunning.

also, yes i took a mirror selfie in it

after the palace swetha and i grabbed some hot chocolate and desserts from agenlina, the cafe at versailles. we shared an eclair and another dessert that was lovingly dubbed “the brain”. i can’t remember what is was now, but whatever it was the most delicious brain i’ve ever had

after that we traveled out to the gardens where i met the most beautiful man on the planet, Frog Man

i don’t know what he is, why he exists, or what he’s supposed to represent but i can tell you this; i love him.

in all honesty right now there is nothing more funny to me than a man with the head of a screaming frog

we then decided to try and find a secret bar that was described as “lynchian” and had an apparently very tasty absinthe-based cocktail called the laura palmer. as fans of twin peaks we really wanted to go but needless to say we did not find it. but not for lack of trying!! swetha even called the hotel that it was supposed to be a part of - no answer. we couldn’t even find the hotel, not to mention the bar! i’m halfway convinced it’s not even real. if anyone ever finds le tres particulier let me know. i’m not resting till i find it and i WILL fly back to paris.

nevertheless we still went to a couple bars until we ended the night in a restaurant that was weirdly only playing eminem tracks. but i guess if you’re gonna give me a croque monsieur at 1 AM i can’t really complain.

with that swetha and i parted ways (hey again if you’re reading this!!!) and i retired to bed ready to catch my 10:45 train to berlin... the story of which is to come next!

[audreyineu]

day one - revisited (orig. posted 3/26/18)

this was originally posted on blogger but i got annoyed that i couldnt play with the theme without paying - so here we are! nothing against you blogger.com i just like some customization & i like it for free! but anyway - here is a post from about a week ago. 

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my dear mother suggested that i start a travel blog for my two-week solo trip across the great european union, so here I am. 

i figured i’d give a little run-down of my day, i'm not really sure what i'm going to be doing with this blog yet, no real concrete ideas about how the posts are going to be formed, but i'll figure it out as i go.

anyway -

today was spent mostly on buses. actually, today was spent entirely on buses. i woke up bright and early at 6 AM after staying up until 2 AM to finish the latest season of it's always sunny in philadelphia (it was worth it). after deciding that i didn't want to be awake yet i came to the conclusion that my hair would be fine if i just dry shampooed it and decided against a shower and for another 30 mins of sleep. eventually when i did leave i embarked on the first of my three bus rides today. from there my day was basically spent catching a bus to a location where I would then catch another bus until eventually, i ended up in paris. and let me tell you what, going through customs on a bus takes much longer than you would expect it to, or at least longer than I expected it to. i did get a new passport stamp though. it's the small things. france also has these road signs that instead of saying the name of a landmark like a cathedral there's a drawing of it. it's really cool looking. i don’t know how help it is but french highways definitely look a lot more edgy than any American ones I've ever been on.

i wanna have two quick special shout-outs before i finish this post though. first is to the bus in london that goes to tooting station. i’m a child that still laughs at fart jokes apparently because seeing the word 'toot' in big letters across the bus made me laugh for longer than I'm willing to admit. second, shout out mr french guy sitting next to me on the bus to paris. i have no idea who he was but we seemed to have this unspoken agreement that we were allowed to face away from each other and kind of use the other person to lean against. i gotta say, it made my 8 hr trip much more comfortable. me and my back thank you mr french dude.

well, i'm not sure what else to say. that’s all for today. see you later!