This exploration is a reflection from a year ago exactly. My cousin/travel partner and I sporadically decided over Christmas 2016 that we would take a European adventure. We set flight alerts to fly in and out of Germany, but we would travel by train to other countries and had some time to piece together our itinerary. By February a flight from DC to Munich was just over $500 (it costs more for me to fly home for Christmas). We didn’t think we’d get a better deal, so we booked them. With further research and excitement flooding our heads, we settled on the Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, and Italy. Doing my best to recap our travels to 5 countries, this post may be a little longer than others, as I want to share as many details as possible in case any of you readers want to pick up and do it yourself.

Before we begin, I’ll note how we afforded all of this. I use Skyscanner to search for flights and set alerts, so I’m notified when they increase and decrease. Is it the cheapest flight search? – maybe not, but it’s very user friendly and I like it. After researching train tickets in advance, we read in multiple places that those fluctuate, and it would be smarter to buy day of (which was true). Our train tickets ranged from $20 to just over $100 for our most expensive. Next came lodging, our first night we stayed with my cousin’s college friend who is currently living in Germany, so that’s where we began. We considered Airbnb’s, but luckily my other cousin (travel cousin’s sister) has a family and friends discount with Marriott through her employer – we capitalized on this for our entire trip. In terms of excursions and touristy sites, many were free. We were also surprised how much cheaper food and beverages (minus water) were everywhere.

Our shortest trip was to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Technically this was a layover from DC to Munich, however we had a full day, so we left the airport and went out to adventure. Between my trek from Austin to DC to Amsterdam – I was a mess. After getting our bearings straight and deciding food was first. We went to a nice little café on the river, next to the Heineken factory. Can’t go to Amsterdam and not have a Heineken. This was also where I learned you must pay to use the restroom… Ok, different. Truly, we kind of got lost in this city just wandering around. We started in Dam Square that eventually led to Dappermarkt, which is a street market – imagine a United States’ farmer’s market on steroids. I should also note that Amsterdam is a very bicycle focused city – I’m talking thousands, everywhere. We walked along the Amstel River, eventually blindly walking into the Red-Light District. Even during the day this area is just like the rumors one may hear – I can only imagine what it would be like after dark. After escaping the advances of many, we found a pub for lunch, just in time to run in from the rain. The best fresh squeezed orange juice I’ve ever had. I hope to revisit this city again one day, where I’ll have more time to explore all it has to offer, but in the meantime, it was a great prelude.

Landing in Munich and getting to Central Station, came our first experience with the train system – it didn’t go well. This was our only language barrier we ran into. The person we asked at the station thought we said Hamberg instead of Amberg and we were headed the wrong way… People on the train again couldn’t understand us pronouncing the difference. We got off the train, my lunch was seasoned with a dust storm from another train going by and I brushed my teeth on the train tracks. I’d been up for over 30 hours now and I was bringing nothing to the table to help. It was beginning to get dark and panic was setting in with my cousin. We finally made communication with her friend who got us going in the right direction and decided to pick us up at a different train station that was closest to us. Bless. We arrived at their home and I’ve never been more grateful for a spread of vegetables, meats and cheeses. It was everything and more. Then came the hot shower followed by a bed.

We slept in until 9am that Sunday, had another wonderful breakfast prepared by the hosts and then came our tour of Amberg. This town is just like a children’s fairytale book. It is the culture that nothing happens on Sunday – it is a day of rest. So, the town was mainly deserted as people stay home. We went to the train station to go into Regensburg where a festival was happening – the best way to describe this would be Oktoberfest meets state fair. A fun day and my demise. We rode rides and played games like we were teenagers again, eating genuine German food. The steins of beer overpowered me. I had been sober 45 days before this trip, just on a cleanse and wasn’t prepared for those German beers. They got the best of me… in every way possible. We made it home and passed out. We were to leave Monday morning by 7am for our train into Prague, so I was a struggle bus. It was about a 3-4-hour train ride to Prague and I slept the first half. Got that out of my system – moving on!

Prague was easily one of my top 3 favorite international cities I’ve ever been to, I cannot wait to return. We stayed in Prague from Monday to Wednesday, so we had a couple full days to venture around. We saw the Old Town Hall, Old Town Hall Tower and the Prague Astronomical Clock – this is also where the city hosts their Christmas markets. I can only imagine how beautiful it is during the holiday season. Our walk across the Charles Bridge, led us straight to the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral, which we toured. After these festivities, we had the most beautiful lunch on the river where we had a bottle of wine, two waters each, an appetizer and our actual lunch’s – all for $40. I was blown away by how much cheaper everything is in Prague. Following lunch, we did what I wanted to do most, and we went to the infamous John Lennon Wall. Following this we got ice cream in cones made from donuts!! Why this hasn’t taken off in the United States, I’ll never know. As we continued our exploration of Prague, we also saw the Basilica of St. George, toured the Museum of Communism (I personally didn’t know the rich history of Prague and WWII), and went to U Medvidku Beer Hall so we could try X-Beer 33 (the strongest beer in Europe/also thick like syrup).

Vienna, Austria was our next destination. Although we would only be here for 2 days, it was important for us to squeeze in as much as we could. I think what surprised us the most is our hotel room was legitimately across from a palace – casual. We decided to start this city by going first to Schonnbrunn Palace, this palace was breathtaking. The gardens, architecture, absolutely all of it. And the biggest bonus is the Schonnbrunn Zoo is right next to it. Not only do my cousin and I love animals, this is also the oldest zoo in the world, so we felt we had to go. In addition to that bonus, when we left the zoo and came back out to the palace, the Phil Harmoniker was setting up for an event. Though we didn’t hear them play for the event, we were able to stay and listen to them practice. Incredible. Walking through Heldenplatz, we saw St. Stephen’s Cathedral and many other buildings and palaces – what was most interesting about Vienna was the buildings all implementing teal and gold accents into the architecture.

Following Vienna, came Venice. My absolute favorite – hence why one of my 2018 goals was to learn Italian. I have every intention of returning to this country and my hope is to be fluent. And what a treat we had when we arrived. The Marriott Venice is on a private island (this was our splurge city), so we boarded a private water taxi and headed over there. Upon entering the hotel lobby, I immediately spotted Giorgio Armani – so my thoughts went to ok, it’s that kind of place. It was already into the afternoon, so we changed into our bathing suits to go and lay by the rooftop pool and enjoy some wine and a meat/cheese spread.

After soaking up some Vitamin D and snacking, we showered and ordered our water taxi to head back into the city for some exploring and dinner. Throughout this trip it should be noted that we traveled via the Grand Canal for all of it. I mention this because if you look up things to do in Venice, this is on the list but I’m not sure how you’d visit Venice and not at some point be on the Grand Canal. Anyhow, our first night had us venturing into Saint Mark’s Square, where St. Mark’s Basilica and Campanile di San Marco are also located. Many articles and blogs will tell you to get lost in this city and I couldn’t agree more. We wandered with the day light we had left and stumbled upon the Torre dell’Orologio until popping into a local’s restaurant for some red wine and fresh pasta.

Venice was the city we chose to spend the most time in and it was well worth it. Other beautiful sights to see were the Rialto Bridge, Bridge of Sighs, Santa Maria Farmosa, and Doge’s Palace. We were also touristy and did a Gondola Ride – well worth it, our guide even sang to us in Italian. Aside from staying in Venice, we took a day trip to Burano Island, where the island is painted with bright rainbow colors and they’re known for their creative arts. We each walked away with multiple purchases.

Our last night in Venice was textbook perfect. We went to another local’s restaurant where we feasted on wine, appetizers, entrees, and dessert. The staff liked us so much, the next thing we knew they were bringing us limoncello shots. Even without counting this kind gesture, I can absolutely say that every restaurant staff member we encountered in Venice was genuinely amazing to us.

After saying goodbye to my favorite city, we boarded what would be our longest train ride back to Munich to spend a few days before flying back to the United States.

We arrived in Munich that evening and even though we had just left Italy, surprisingly Munich is known for it’s pizza, so that’s what we had and prepared the details for the rest of our trip.

The next morning was our hardest day of the trip, emotionally. We bought our tickets and went to Dachau Concentration Camp. As incredible as it is to see with your own eyes and stand where history took place, it’s very taxing. Without giving a history lesson, one thing I learned was that the Dachau camp was the first concentration camp created and the last to be liberated. We watched actual footage of the liberation, we saw the gas chambers, replicas of barracks, and many memorials that have since been added to the site. World War II is something that has always captivated us, as both of our grandfathers served; therefore, the holocaust was important to us and visiting a camp while there was at the top of our list.

From here on out our goal was to see as much of Munich as we could and finish our trip strong. We conquered Marienplatz and Angerviertel, saw St. Paul’s Cathedral, and enjoyed our last German beers at Augustine Keller Beer Garden. I was surprised how modern Munich is compared to the other cities we had ventured to, the unexpected cost to use the bathroom, the looks we got for ordering so much water, and the food portions were wild.

All in all, this nearly 2-week European Escape with my cousin was a blessing. Not only did it bring us closer together, I got to see more of the world I long to see, fell in love with Italy, and can’t wait to plan our next international trip.

“You only get one life. It’s actually your duty to live it as fully as possible.” – Will Traynor

Swimming Monday through Friday from eight to five in the education field, I am fortunate enough to also receive a ‘spring break.’ For the first time in eight years, I did not spend it with my friend group – I decided solo or with others I was going to explore somewhere new.

I set my flight alerts on to multiple destinations and monitored the increases and decreases in price. Mid-January the price to Portland, Oregon hit a number I was comfortable with and booked the flight without blinking an eye.

Luckily a friend from college lives in Portland – Hello, friend, give me all the recommendations. Places to go, things to see, where to eat, where to stay, etc.

I immediately called my cousin/travel partner and offered her to join me on this adventure. Then it was settled, I’d get the rental car – she’d book the Airbnb. Similar to our European Escape (coming soon), I took on the duties of creating our itinerary.

Next was the countdown. We couldn’t wait.

My flight arrival was after hers (her luggage was lost). By the time I got to the house (we stayed in the Alberta/Mississippi district), we were both starving. We decided to head down to our district’s version of downtown and to our first Portland meal at Por Que No? The line was out the door – must be a good sign! The first thing we noticed on the door was the sign below (later to be spotted in all stores, bars, and restaurants). We were mesmerized with how inclusive this city was just in the first hour. Outside of the restaurant hung a rainbow flag, a Black Lives Matter sign, other signs supporting DACA and the Dreamers; these are just to name a few. It was incredible. The food and staff were just as amazing. I had sweet potato tacos with a home brewed purple tea. After dinner we walked down the street and stopped at local brewery, StormBreaker Brewing. Again, such wonderful staff and great beer. We went over the rest of the trip’s itinerary and then returned home to await the arrival of her luggage. With time differences, we’d been up for 24 hours and I struggled to remain awake with her – I failed. When I awoke the next morning, my thoughts were, “well I hope the suitcase delivery man didn’t murder her.” Great news, all was alive and well.

*As these adventures start, please note that all parking in Portland is parallel parking. Great.

We started our day at Tasty N’ Sons for an amazing brunch. Brunch here is more of a tapas environment, so we enjoyed chocolate potato doughnuts, sweet biscuits with a blueberry compote and whipped cream (still swooning), potatoes bravas with an over easy egg and aioli sauce, and the hangtown fry which was oysters with all the breakfast fixings.

After brunch, we headed into the woods for a short (long) hike to see the infamous Witch’s Castle in Forest Park. We were stunned how active the trail was to get to the castle and the number of runners running on these thin trails that one slip in the mud would send them barreling down a mountain side. The Witch’s Castle was definitely a tourist site to see and gave us 90’s Hocus Pocus kids a great sense of spook. From the hike down and back up a mountain, next came something a little more leisurely. We decided to head to the Rose Test Garden. Pictures of this garden were breathtaking – well, wrong time of year. Garden was dead… zero life. We considered going to the Japanese Garden or the Lan Su Chinese Garden, but we found out there was a fee associated with entering those and after the Rose Garden, we decided to keep going.

*It should be noted that Portland has a huge Asian past and culture. It was very interesting to learn more about this.

Multnomah Falls was only 40 minutes away, so we made our trek out there. A beautiful drive along the Columbia River the whole way, led us right up to the waterfall. In fact, when we got there, we were trying to figure out how far we’d have to hike until we looked up and it was directly in front of our faces. Breathtaking.

We thought we were headed to the SE Wine Collective (12 wineries represented) for lunch and a wine tasting, but we took a different turn and ended up at a different wine shop. Still had a wonderful tasting with bread and cheese spreads – even walked away with a few bottles.

At this point, we were within walking distance of House of Vintage, which I read about online and knew it was on Hawthorne Street – a great shopping location. House of Vintage turned out to be enormous and truly too much to look at, so we decided to instead walk up and down the street and stop in local stores and purchased some treasures.

Back to our districts version of downtown, we popped into a local pizza place that had a Zebra statue outside, where we enjoyed some fresh slices and local brews. After that we then went and had ice cream. I of course went for the lavender and honey hybrid. Two of my favorite things. Sunday would be an early morning, so perfect way to end the night.

Blue Star Donuts was our first stop as we headed out to the coast. Per a recommendation, Cape Kiwanda State National Area was our destination. The most beautiful drive and just the right amount of time for us to talk and catch up on everything. My favorite. Cape Kiwanda was unreal, truly incredible. We got there by 9am, so the only other people out there were the morning surfers. One thing I immediately noticed was the lack of sea shells, instead near and far between were perfectly smoothed small black rocks. Pelican Brewery sits right there on the ocean and stole our afternoon lunch appetites.

Driving down the coast towards Depoe Bay for our whale watching appointment. The Pacific coast is something that should be on everyone’s bucket list. We saw pictures of the previous sightings and were told just the day before there had been two whale breaching’s. The odds were in a favor. Once we were out 3-5 miles, we followed two whales for about an hour. It was unbelievable. I hope to do this again one day. Patience and warm jackets are key.

After our whale watching excursion, back in the car to head back up the coast to Cannon Beach for a sunset and dinner. If you’ve seen the movie, The Goonies, you’ll recognize the giant rock at Cannon Beach. We arrived with about an hour to go until the sunset, so we enjoyed the beach and the great weather we were told we brought with us. We watched the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, dancing around this rock. Simply stunning. Instead of our original dinner destination, we just went into the Town of Cannon Beach and ended up at the Sweet Basil Café. We were wet and cold at this point – red wine was our goal. Quoting my cousin, “I want to be sweating when we leave here.” This was easily my favorite meal of the trip. A veggie tortilla soup, followed by a mushroom and polenta with fresh veggies dish. I could eat it again every day. After a full day of coastal travels, we headed back to Portland to call it a night.

Monday morning took us back downtown to start our day at Voodoo Donuts, right across from the infamous Keep Portland Weird sign. The best blueberry cake donut, anywhere. This is when I kept our itinerary very open for us to have a free day. Followed by pictures with the giant Paul Bunyan Statue; we considered the Oregon Zoo (nah), doing the Portland Underground Walking Tour (more of that learning the Asian history) – but it only had a 2pm timeslot open… (nah). After a brief walk back down our districts’ downtown and pit stop for coffee at Jory Coffee, we decided to drive out to Mount Hood; a potentially active stratovolcano in Oregon. It was crazy to think the day before we only drove an hour west to the coast and here we were driving an hour east into the snowy mountains. We saw Mount Hood after an almost ‘run out of gas’ moment, and it was more breathtaking than a pictures’ justice.

From there, we drove to Naked Winery in Hood River, Oregon. Being the two people, we are, we made friends with our sommelier who in addition to our requested tasting, allowed us to also try their house specials. After our time there, he pointed to a bridge out the window about a football field away and said on the other side was the state of Washington if we wanted to go, he could offer some more recommendations. Well, you don’t have to tell us twice. We were in the car headed for Washington.

Unfortunately, some of the places he recommended were closed that Monday, but we were able to frequent a brewery and try some Washington beers and go to a restaurant for some loaded Washington tots.

The night was still early so on our drive back to Portland, we stopped at Pine Street Market. A place that offers multiple food business all in one giant dining hall. Pizza and ice cream again won us over. I’m seeing a trend here. From there, we went to Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider for a flight of his ciders. Delicious. His two originals, were by far my favorites.

Tuesday morning came, and I had to take my cousin to the airport. The infamous Oregon rain was back. I started with an acai bowl downtown and walked to Powell’s Book that kept me dry and busy for the next hour and a half.

Despite the rain, there was still more I wanted to see outside. So, I headed to the Redwood Grove Hoyt Arboretum, to take in the Redwoods. After some time imagining how old they were and if anyone could wrap their arms around one, I decided to head to The Grotto. This is a destination of trails with Catholic figures made into nature. I’m not Catholic, but still found it incredibly peaceful and stunning all the same. I then tried my first vegan restaurant, Bye & Bye. It was phenomenal.

I spent the rest of my afternoon, walking around and taking in more of this city. I went back to the house and packed my bags, so I wouldn’t have to later that night. I made my way back to StormBreaker Brewing, where I tried a couple more of their home beers and chatted with the staff. I took a new book with me, and as I sat there reading and reflecting on this city and trip – I was overcome with an unusual feeling. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I was where I was supposed to be. Friend from college and I were then able to meet down the street at Ecliptic Brewing for some dinner and other local beer. It’s always great catching up with an old friend and seeing their success in life. I thanked him for all the recommendations and shared that this city had captivated me.

Following our departure, I went home and prepared for my morning flight. The flight home was filled with new books and a sadness of leaving this unbelievable city and state. Until next time, Oregon.

“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it’s lethal.” – Unknown