Adventures in Londontown

We took advantage of our Eurail passes and traveled by train from Zurich to Munich. We had planned it so that we would arrive in Munich just in time for Springfest -- Munich's much smaller version of Oktoberfest.  We arrived early on a Saturday morning and the weather was beautiful.  We dropped our stuff of at our Air BnB and then headed to partake in the festivities.  We got off of the subway and followed the crowds.  Initially, I was a little bit underwhelmed; we had arrived at a gigantic dirt lots with acres of tables and vendors set up.  It seemed that they were selling anything and everything that they didn't want anymore -- namely old clothes, shoes, and household knick knacks.  Eventually, at the other end of the lot, we noticed some large striped tents and fair rides.  We made our may through the maze of vendors and ended up in what resembled a large-scale version of the Patton Middle School Fair.  Families walked around eating ice cream, and pretzels and trying their luck at numerous games.  

The scene was completely different when we stepped off of the path and into one of the springfest beer tents.  Hundreds of people sat at long picnic tables, anxiously awaiting their next steins of beer.  Some brave souls (presumably overly drunk study-abroad Americans) stood up and attempted to gulp the entire 2 pints of beer while everyone around cheered.  If you were too slow, you got booed.  If you finished fast enough, the band at the front of the tent played music and everyone cheered.  Many people were dressed in lederhosen and other traditional german outfits.  After about 2 hours I was ready for a pretzel and a nap!

I'm glad the first day we arrived the weather was warm and sunny, because on our second full day it was rainy, cold, and cloudy.  When I visited Munich in middle school, we went on a bike tour of the city.  It was the perfect way to see everything in a short time.  However, we had to change our plans.  Instead, we did our own beer hall tour.  Over the course of the day, we went to 4 different beer halls!  We started at Hofbrauhaus, which is probably the most well-known beer hall worldwide.  Next, we went to Augustiner Keller -- which is know for its beer garden.  It was pretty underwhelming because we had to sit inside due to the weather.  We also visited Paulaner and another Augustiner brauhaus.

Hofbrauhaus from the outside

Augustiner Keller from the front gates

Some traditional bavarian dish...

On our third and final day in Munich, we walked to the BMW headquarters which were right near our Air BnB.  Again, the weather wasn't too great and we didn't have time to go back to the center of town.  We headed to the airport early -- a great decision.  It turns out that there's a beer hall in the airport called AirBrau that actually brews its own beer!  2 pints and 2 pretzels later we were ready to head back to London and start eating some fruits and veggies for the first time in about a month!

Part of the Beemer headquarters

Two days in Zurich was plenty; not necessarily because I was sick of being there, but because it's an impossible city to tour on a student budget. 

Beautiful views from out of the train windows en route to Zurich

More awesome views

Lake Zurich 

The first night we walked from our Air Bnb (near the central train station) to Lake Zurich and into Old Town. For dinner, we chose a traditional Swiss fondue restaurant because it seemed like a "must do." The 30 CHF (about 34 USD) pot didn't seem toooo pricey to split between the two of us. Except - that's what they charged for each of us. Our food budget for the entire trip to the city was swallowed in a measly pot of melted cheese.  After dinner, we walked up to the Lindenhof and got to see some beautiful views over lake zurich. 

Our $65 pot of melted cheese.............

On our second day we decided to join a free walking tour. The concept is that the guides work solely off of tips. My first experience with this was good and I'd definitely consider partaking in these in other cities. After the tour we went to Sternen Grill, the most famous sausage stand/restaurant in the city. We grabbed a beer and strolled along the lake and enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful weather. 

UBS and Credit Suisse headquarters at the end of the Bahnofstrasse

Views over Zurich from the Lindenhof

Sternen Grill

Lake Zurich 

Our tour guide had mentioned a famous chocolate shop only found in Zurich called Sprüngli. We stopped in for a mid afternoon snack; its claim to fame is a macaron-like confection call a luxemburgerli. 

Sprungli: the famous chocolate/confectionary store found only in Zurich

The Luxemburgerli -- very similar to macaroons

We stayed overnight in Como - one of the towns the borders the famous Lake Como - on our way to Switzerland. However, upon arrival, we realized that the town of Como was not, in fact, the town made famous by a-list celebs and European high rollers.  The town of Bellagio (presumably around where George Clooney has his house) was 2 hours away by ferry. Next time I decide to visit a lake I will make sure to research exactly how big the lake is....

We spent the afternoon walking around the town and lake, and then we took a tram up to the top of one of the town's mountains at sunset.  The views were incredible.  

Tram ride up the mountain

I am happy to report that we had a decent last meal in Italy. A caprese, margarita pizza, and carafe of red wine. 

Aperitivi before dinner 

We woke up the next morning to board a train to Zurich. Within one stop we had entered over from Italy to Switzerland. Swiss police officers and drug dogs started sniffing down the aisles of the train. I guess that's their border security...

The train ride was beyond beautiful. We started along Lake Como with mountains in the background and then travelled through the Swiss countryside where the alps overtook the backdrop. 

We arrived in Cinque Terre, a string of 5 towns on the northern coast of Italy, via train from Florence. We found an Air BnB in the first town - Riomaggiore. Upon stepping off the train in Cinque Terre, it felt like I was in a movie; there were breathtaking water views from every angle and the streets were steep with slanted steps and narrow paths. Getting our luggage off the train, through the streets, and up the stairs to our place was quite a scene. Our place was awesome!  Each of the three floors had only a single room with a tiny spiral staircase connecting all of them. The top floor had amazing views of the water. Unfortunately, the weather on the first day wasn't great, but we grabbed pasta at a to-go place in town (amazing) and ate it by the water. We spent the rest of the day to checking out the other towns and making use of our Eurail passes!

The view from the train!

Narrow, stone streets

Central street in Riomaggiore

Lunch: Take-away pasta and a beer

The sea at Riomaggiore

The town of Riomaggiore

View from our Balcony

Sea views from another town

On the second day, we all went into the town area to get ingredients for breakfast. We cooked a delicious meal back at our place then headed out for a hike. Cinque Terre is known for its hiking trails and people come from all over the world to experience the breathtaking views. Unfortunately, most of the coastal paths were closed. We took the one that was open and in 2 hours we were at the next town. As we were beginning our descent down the mountain, we came across a tiny little stand. There was a man selling homemade limoncello and wine from his vineyard -- which was right behind him. 

Views from the hike

The Limoncello man!

More hike views

Relaxing by the sea

A town from above

We cooked both nights in Riomaggiore. Each afternoon we'd grab pasta, cheese, meats, wine, and bread at the alamantari and make an awesome meal. We would enjoy a glass of wine and some meats, cheeses, and breads while watching the sunset from the balcony and then make a late dinner.  The last night was Tims birthday so Elizabeth also got some cake :)

MMM...

Meat & Cheese & the sunset

Beautiful sunset views from our balcony!

We arrived in Venice around sunset via train from Rome. The view upon stepping out of the train station in Venice was surreal.  The roadways were water; there were no cars, only boats. We stepped on a water taxi, enjoyed 15 minutes of sunset views, and then arrived at our hotel. A few steps after hopping off of the boat was the hotel entrance. 

Views from the water taxi

Gondolas!

Our hotel!

I remember that one of the first things I said when we were riding along the canals was that it seemed like it couldn't be a real city; that it was more like Disney world. Venice is definitely the most unique city that I have ever seen. 

Walking around the city (which is all that we did!) was an adventure in itself. Alley ways that seemed deserted turned out to be main passageways lined with store fronts.  Some streets led directly out onto canals -- you had to make sure you were following a road that led to a bridge over the canals.

More gondolas

Outside of St. Marks Square

St. Marks Square from above

View of the canal from Realto Bridge

Venice from above

  The food was great, but not as delicious as Rome. There was more of an emphasis on seafood. One day for lunch we had a awesome pizza though.  And the gelato... Ohh the gelato. We yelped the best gelato in Venice and found a gourmet shop with homemade flavors. SO good!

Delicious pizza in Venice

this. gelato.

The same day that my parent's flew back to the US from London, Ryan and I hopped on a plane to meet his family in Rome.  After the 2 hour plane ride (complete with a much needed nap), we took a train into the center of Rome to meet Ryan's parents and little sister, Sam.  We were truly spoiled by another week of being with our parents -- the hotels we stayed in were unreal and the food was mouthwateringly (is that even a word?) good!

On our first night we had dinner then walked to Trevi Fountain to throw a coin in. I didn't realize that I was supposed to throw it over my right shoulder (gosh, unfair to lefties!) and threw the coin over my left solder.  Oops!  Hopefully I'll still be returning to Rome one day! 

Trevi Fountain!

Oops wrong shoulder!

On our first full day in Rome, we got up and met a private tour that the Collins had arranged.  Although our guide was very quirky, he was extremely knowledgable about the history of the city and I learned more about Rome then I even thought I could in one day's time.  Other perks of the tour guide were that we were about to skip all of the lines to get into the Vatican -- which would have been about 3 hours long!  We saw the Vatican museums, Raphael rooms, Sistine Chapel, and St Peters Basilica. After a quick lunch, we walked to the Pantheon, though the Forum, and around the Colosseum. It's incredible to think that some of that stuff is well over 2000 years old. 

Inside of Vatican City

St. Peter's Basilica

The Vatican

Rome!

Inside the Colosseum! 

The Colosseum

The Roman Forum

That night, I had the BEST Carbonara that I've ever had in my entire life (granted, the first time I even tried Carbonara was in Rome... but STILL).  It was amazing and it was at this tiny little family-owned restaurant called Da Tonino that I must return to one day.  

The next day, we walked around Trastevere, and then got to go into the Galleria Borghese. The gallery was formally a private collection owned by none other than the Borghese family.  Some of Berninis most famous sculptures were on display along with some of Caravaggios best known paintings. It was one of the most fascinating museums I've been to all trip, partly because of the Renaissance Art History class that I took

View over Roma

mmm quatro cheese pizza in Trastevere

Villa Borghese

Appetizer spread at our last dinner in Rome

My parents arrived on a Friday and I only had 1 full day to show them around London before departing for our next city.  I tried to squeeze in as many sites as possible; we walked around Regents Park and to Camden, got AWESOME burgers at Camdentown Brewery, had beers at Euston Tap and Calthorpe Arms, walked around Covent Garden, went to a speakeasy in Soho, and saw Portobello Road Market on a bustling Saturday

Our first meal was at my favorite brewery/burger stand: Camdentown

Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill

Enjoying the good company and a good cocktail on a sunny Saturday

We left in the afternoon for Paris and arrived about 3 hours later via train. We strolled through Montmartre, checked into our air bnb, grabbed some cheese, wine, and a baguette and enjoyed our views of the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Couer, and rooftops of Paris. 

The views from our Paris flat!

Our second day in Paris we explored the louvre, walked along the Seine, saw the Champs Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe and then made our way to the Eiffel Tower.  I was proud of my mom for facing her fear of heights to make it up to the top to see the spectacular views of Paris. 

On our last day in Paris, we decided to sign up for a bike tour of the grounds at Versailles. We caught a train out to the town (about 30 miles outside of Paris) grabbed bikes, and spent the entire day learning about the history of Versailles, the French monarchy, and the eventual revolution.  We had stopped earlier in the day at a market to grab wine, saussicon, cheese, and a baguette. Although the entire day was chilly, the sun appeared for just enough time to sit along the ground canals and have a little picnic. The tour ended with admission into the actual palace. It was so spectacular; every ceiling was painted with a detailed mural and everywhere you looked things were plated in gold. 

The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to catch an early train to Brussels. When we got to the city center around 9:30am it was almost empty and only about 25% of the stores were opened. We decided to grab breakfast, log onto wifi, people watch, and wait for Ryan to arrive in Brussels from Prague to meet us. Although Brussels is relatively small, I loved the quaint feel. There were chocolate shops and Belgian beer cafés lining every street. The weather was so nice that around 1pm we sat down in the sun and ordered some Leffes. Because we were in Belgium, it was imperative that we try an authentic Belgian waffle. We ordered ours topped with chocolate, ice cream, and strawberries -- HEAVENLY.  Before heading back to the train station to head to Amsterdam we had some beers at Delirium, a huge network of bars with tons and tons of different world beers on tap.  Overall, Brussels was great. I think spending a full day in the city was just enough :) 

We arrived in Amsterdam late at night and went straight to our place. It was awesome -- a modern and spacious flat overlooking the river Amstel. We got to sleep and woke up the next morning to walk into town. We had signed up for a bike tour of the city.  It last around 5 hours and couldn't have been better; we biked past all of the major sites in Amsterdam including the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum (our Dutch tour guide made sure we pronounced the G as an H), Anne Frank House, Vondelpark, and the red light district. The next day, we woke up early to get in line to see the Anne Frank house. Although we arrived before it even opened, the line was long and we had to wait 45 minutes. We had the rest of the day free to try Dutch pancakes, venture into a coffeeshop, walk around Vondelpark, see the red light district (scary by day!), and walk through the Rijksmuseum. Our short stay in Amsterdam was unbelievable, I can't wait to return!

The last week of March coincided with my last week of classes -- eeeeek I'm finished classes for junior year!  I turned in 3 essays and completed a marketing project/presentation.  In the UK, students get an entire month to study for exams before the actual testing period begins.  For us, its the entire month of April.  Full-time students are examined on a yearly basis, meaning that in May they will sit and take exams for classes that ended in December of last year.   Some of my flat mates are studying for 8 exams! Since I'm only studying for 1.... and I just found out that it's on May 22... I've decided to take advantage of these next months to travel.

Last Sunday, Ryan and I flew to Barcelona.  I was looking forward to feeling the warm, strong sun on my face and strolling around in some spring clothes.  Of course it was raining and colder than London when we arrived. Our second day was a lot nicer but still definitely not beach weather! We tried to hit as many of the big sites as we could in the short time we were in the city.  I felt like an old tourist when we climbed onto the open-top "Barcelona Tours" bus.  Here are some pictures from our short stay:

Bread with a tomato EVOO and Spanish Jamon ... to DIE for.

Famous cat statue in El Raval: "The Raval Cat"

In front of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia 

El Raval .. our street.  Our balcony looked directly over the square!

Parc Guell

amazing Blackberry mojito at a dinner place we found

We stayed in Barcelona for 2 nights and then boarded a train to Madrid early in the morning.  One of my best friends (and roomies) from school is studying there! Unfortunately, it's one of her worst weeks for school work and tests so I only got to see her one of the two nights.  On the first day, Ryan's friend Max gave us a tour.  Madrid is such a beautiful and historic city.  What really struck me about Madrid was the stark difference in culture between Spain and some other European countries.  The Spanish are so leisurely -- they still take siestas and around 3pm on a weekday you'll see businessmen and women enjoying beers and sangria at an outdoor cafe.  As Max said -- it's no wonder their level of unemployment is so high! No one wants to work!

In front of the Royal Palace of Madrid

Plaza Mayor

View over some of Madrid around sunset

Mercado de San Miguel 

El Tigre -- you buy one drink and they serve you bunches and bunches of tapas!

Finally saw Madels!! Missed her so much