My final week in Europe- Netherlands, France

So after my journey from the northern countries, I headed towards my last stops, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Paris! I even spent a whole day in Disneyland Paris! before finally ending my trip and flying home to Canada

I visited a friend in Utrecht and this was the view walking around town.

In Amsterdam, the Grasshopper is one of the more famous places to go

but I didn't have time to go on this trip.

East meets West with a fallen wall- Germany

So I made my way from Prague to Berlin where I stayed at the St Christopher's inn. It was an amazing hostel where one day I spent all day with friends I had planned to meet up with and then the next day spent meeting new friends. I saw a lot of things in Berlin but by far my favourite thing I saw was the East Side gallery of the Berlin wall! I had plenty of food my 2 days spent here and I highly recommend the free tour from the NewBerlin tour company, very informative and the tour guide was amazing! Next stop: Copenhagen!

 

Some old fashioned German currywurst (it's like bratwurst but with curry) and it was delicious!

 

For lunch I had some German pork goulash which was surprisingly really filling.  And I didn't even mind the heaping amounts of red cabbage in it too.

One of the many beautiful artworks at the East Side Gallery, of the Berlin Wall.  This is actually the biggest outdoor gallery in the world and really believe it!  It was such a beautiful walk with so many inspiring works of art.

This one is one of my favourite works on the gallery.  I love the use of colour and lines to form such a distinct piece of art.  And this was just a bit of it, the actual work stretched out much longer than this! 

It's time for a Northern adventure! - Denmark, Sweden

Once I said goodbye to Berlin it was off to Copenhagen and Stockholm! The 2 countries were so amazing, the people, the culture, everything I experienced in those 2 countries made such an impact on my trip.

This is the ice-cream I had in Copenhagen!  It was good but it was no Italian gelato.

I found this really great cafe in the old town of Stockholm.  It was called cafe art and you

had to walk downstairs and in this cellar like cafe and it was simply lovely.

Architecture in Copenhagen was really unique and this was one of the many examples of them. 

In Stockholm, mooses apparently are a populat tourist item, and since 

one of my closest friends love mooses I had to take a photo of one!

Czeching Prague out! - Czech Republic

After saying good bye to my friends parents in Vienna, I was off to Prague! It was a 5 hour train ride to get there, and I stayed at the Czech Inn for 3 nights. The funny thing was that the first day I was there it was 29 degrees and hot! But the next day it settled back to a regular 18. I was fortunate enough to know a friend who was staying there at the time, so I met up with her and she showed me around for the next few days. Prague was a lot smaller then I imagined (at least old Prague) but a lot more exciting, there was always something to do and all the food you can eat!

Some traditional Czech food; Pork with bread and this potato, sauerkraut, bacon mixture.
It ended up being so filling! and sadly, I think I broke out because of the pork :(

The fancy brunch I went to with my friend.  The place itself had a Victorian meets funky style
with a club and lounge in it too!  But the food was delicious!

Not to sure if its a Prague thing, but this is deep friend pineapple with honey, and whip cream.
So basically a few of my favourite foods to eat!  The deep fried part along side the warmed pineapple added a unique flavour to the dessert that I didn't expect.

One of the many types of street food I had here.  This is a "cheeseburger" or cheese in a bun.
Basically, it's a piece of deep fried cheese in a bun with lettuce and mayonnaise.
Defintely quite delicious and really flavourful and filling.

The Hills are alive... - Austria (and Hungary)

So catching the airplane in the morning from Athens I arrived in beautiful Vienna, where I was lucky enough to be able to stay at a friend's place. Now her parents were the most hospitable, sweet people I have met on this trip, and they really helped me navigate Vienna. I spent a good 5 nights there, but I did manage to make a day trip over to Budapest as well. I found Vienna to be such a lovely city with so much culture and history, and I realized along with London, Dublin and Rome that Vienna is a city I could imagine myself living in for a little while. Unfortunately, because I was so enchanted by the city, I didn't get a lot of photos on my phone (but I took plenty on my cameras). So with that disclaimer, enjoy!

Look at how the cloud formations really create depth to the statue. I've taken many photos like this on

my trip.

The backdrop of the stage of the Opera during intermission.  It was quite the sight to see!

The stage and live orchestra for the Sound of Music!  The funny thing was that everything was
in German (even the songs!) but I still manage to follow it all.  It was simply amazing! Well done actors and
musicians!

It's all Greek to me - Greece

My next stop on my adventure was Greece! Now I must say Greece was very different to what I was getting used to back in Italy. The weather, people and language were pretty much nothing like I have been used to, yet I found it to be such a lovely place. My itinerary for Greece looked like this: arrive in Athens by plane, spend a night, then ferry off to Santorini for 4 nights before coming back and sleeping in the airport. I know it wasn't enough time to see and experience everything but I am fairly confident that I will be back some day, to explore more of the islands.

The hills in Oya (a village in Santorini)  When I think of Greece, this is what I think of.  

Did you know that the Sisterhood of Travelling pants were filmed on Santorini? and in

this particular part of the island? I actually rode a donkey to get to this village because I arrived at port just below.  The donkey ride was not what I thought it would be at all, but definitely worth the 5 euros.

Baklava.  It was so good! with so much honey, Winnie the Pooh would have day!

It's nice being on a beautiful beach, without millions of people!  Perissa beach.

I'm on a boat!  This sailing boat was my main source of transportation during one of the days I had in Santorini

Having fun in the Red Beach!  See that rock in the distance? Well, that's my rock, I have claimed it by swimming all the way there through that cold, rocky water.

My attempt at practicing some yoga during my trip.  See how lovely my form is?  

This was the view from the ferry on my way to Santorini from Athens.  The 7 1/2 hour ferry was pretty long I must say.

3 days, 8 gyros.  It was THAT good! plus it was really cheap, 2 euros and right beside my villa? 

Done deal.

Just took a photo of this on my phone for my own uses. (It came in handy)

I met up with friends one day and we rented ATVs to transport us all over the island

Now these shoes I had gotten back in Vancouver (and were fairly cheap)

They had surprisingly lasted me 2 whole months of backpacking before they finally gave up.

I sadly had to part with them in Santorini. *moment of silence*

Oh well, more room to buy new ones!

This is the path from my villa, Stelios Place (amazing, full recommendations) to the Perissa beach.

It literally took me 1 minute to get to the beach and all the food places.

Hey, that's me!  I'm smiling at you because I get to ride this wicked thing all day, all over the quiet island.

These were custom made sandals I had gotten in Athens.  The guy was so cool, he literally grabbed my foot to adjust the straps perfectly.

The view of one of the beaches in Thirissia (An island near Santorini)  I had lunch there after my tour's sailing boat had dropped us off after swimming to a hot springs

Mambo Italiano! - Italy

I am pretty much behind on my blogs so hopefully I can catch up on all of it now! So after my adventures in the South of France, I turned my sights on Italy, one the countries I had been wanting to visit for the longest time. Here's a quick schedule of what my two weeks looked liked in this beautiful country: 1 night in Milan, 3 nights in Verona, 3 nights in Florence, 1 day in Pisa, 3 nights in Rome and finally one nights in the Rome airport. They were all really great to see and I could write so much about each of the places, but wouldn't everyone rather see pictures?

My first (but not last time) riding a Gondola, it was quite pricy but it was definitely worth the experience in Venice

Probably the most famous site in Rome- the coliseum, beautiful weather too!

Casa de Juliete (Juliet's balcony) in Verona, there were so many people there! luckily I was tall enough to take this picture making it look empty

Me, just relaxing beside the waterways in Venice, it was definitely a change to not see roads with cars but see canals with boats

My last night in Roma, I found this lovely restaurant near Piazza Novana,  its called Cucina&Cantina and I highly recommend it, not only for the food but for the ambiance!

Just my little adorable jar of Nutella I found wandering the supermarket in Rome

So I met Adam in Florence, and the sisters Marissa and Arielle in Nice, and somehow we all coincidentally met up in Roma on my last day

This is Pisa, and the tower leans... a lot! It was quite a sight actually to be up close to it

Fancy dinner in Florence, appetizer; calamari with avocado, tomato and butter

This is called a tartufo, apparently its a famous type of gelato found in this one place in Rome 

(it was black truffle flavour!) 

This is a map of Pisa, just to show you how big it is

The coliseum in Verona, a lot smaller than the one in Rome but at least it had seats!

Walking around all of Italy, its hard not to buy bottles and bottles of wine when their at such a reasonable price

To pair with all this wine, little appetizers (which were all so flavorful)

The train station in Milan was so BIG!

That's me! wearing the Venetian mask that I bought.  It reminded me of a wolf like creature, almost.

Just stunning, you really have to be there.

The famous ceiling painting by Michaelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, I could have stayed there all day 

When I think of Verona, this is what I think of...

Just some more wine with my meal.  I honestly had wine with every proper meal

The lovely sunset in Florence, almost reminds me of home

The Trevi fountain, now I managed to go here everyday because it was that amazing! 

(Just don't mind all the tourists and don't forget to throw a coin in the fountain)

The Duomo in Milan is apparently the biggest in all of Italy!

Just some lovely appetizers to pair with wine in Venice

Part of my fancy dinner in Florence; main course, seafood pasta

Doesn't it look amazing? Gelato here literally blew my mind! I had in two weeks about 4 scoops of it a day!

What a fancy dinner with friends in Florence

Inside St. Peters Basilica.  This was such an amazing experience that made the line up worthwhile

More gelato! This time Merengue and Nutella 

(Doesn't it look just like a heart?)

Just casually sipping some wine in Florence at a local market

Vatican City- enough said.

My diet in Italy consisted of pasta, gelato, pizza, gelato, paninis and more gelato.  

This was just one of the many pizzas I had.

Found this in a store display in the Milan train station.  A picture's worth

a thousand words?  Well, this one has travelled a thousand miles!

In my Milan hostel, I stayed in a 24 bed dorm!  It was insane!  So many people,

in and out all night.  Luckily I was only there for one!