Eurotrip with Willie: Paris, France

Our final stop on our Eurotrip was Willie's favorite city; Paris. I was excited to see this city of love and all it had to offer. We arrived around dusk at the train station Gare du Nord. We quickly found that the area that happened to be on the way to our hostel was a very scary part of the city. We decided to see what our hostel was like and we quickly decided we didn't feel safe in this area AND the hostel. So we ate the money loss and scurried out in search of a new hostel. Fortunately, we were able to find a hotel which was booked but booked a different hotel for us. Finally, we found an amazing hotel in the nicest area of the city. After that whole debacle, we were ready to explore in the morning.

We decided to take our last walking tour in Paris. We met at the San Michel statue across from the Notre Dame. We learned a lot on the tour, as per usual with these tours. One of my favorite parts of the tour was the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), which was built by Henry the fourth. All along the bridge, there are faces which are supposed to depict the King's friend's drunken faces. We also learned about the significance of statues in Europe. In a statue in which the horse is rearing, the person riding the horse died in battle; if the statue of the horse had all feet on the ground, the person died a natural death; if the horse has one front leg up and one back leg up, it means an unnatural death. These were extra details that were really making us understand European art. We also walked through the Louvre complex, up to the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. 

Willie and I at the Louvre.

The bridge of locks, so romantic.

I'm excited about the Louvre.

The drunken faces on Pont Neuf.

Memorial for Henry the fourth.

Hey, I found the Eiffel Tower.

Willie and I at the Eiffel Tower.

Arc de Triomphe.

The other best part about this city was definitely the food. We were able to get macaroons and crepes and Willie was able to get escargo. We had an amazing time in Paris with our friends from school as well. One of our friends lives in France and the others were staying with him. It was phenomenal to see familiar faces. For our last morning, we went to the Notre Dame and walked around. Finally, we went to see Voltaire's grave which Willie really wanted to see. 

Banana and Nutella crepe!

Very happy.

The cutie and I in front of the Louvre.

Macaroons gallore.

Pistachio!

Chocolate.

The Australian bar in Paris.

Benji and I at the bar.

My two boyfriends.

Notre Dame.

Beautiful side of Notre Dame.

Pantheon; Voltaire's grave.

Sacred Heart.

Eurotrip with Willie: Amsterdam, Holland

Amsterdam was by far my favorite city in our trip. It may be because we took an amazing free walking tour with one of the best tour guides ever, but who knows. We arrived to our hostel, which used to be an elementary school, which was different. We decided for our first night, we would go to the Heineken Experience in downtown Amsterdam. It was a museum-like set up and we had a few of these amazing brews at the end of our tour. 

"Welcome to the World of Heineken"

You can tell I like Heineken.

Free samples.

The old horse carriage.

For our first morning, we decided to go on the free walking tour through the city. Coming into Amsterdam, we had preconceived notions about the city of sex, drugs and rock and roll. But this walking tour helped us understand the city much better. Our tour guide told us that Amsterdam was about two things: tolerance and money. We learned that this city was very tolerant of lifestyles that may be looked down upon in other societies, such as the sex workers in the red light district. Although I don't agree with this profession, the law enforcement in Amsterdam makes every sex worker register with the town hall, and pimping is completely against the law. These women rent out a window themselves and set their own rates and hours. But Willie and I were still very uncomfortable walking in the red light district because it's such a different atmosphere.  Not only does Amsterdam employ tolerance of professions but they also had the first gay marriage in the world. 

Some funny art in the ground.

The canals and the typical Amsterdam-ian houses.

Graffiti in the Jewish quarter.

Fun Heineken bottles.

The Amsterdam sign.

Floating flower market.

Throughout the whole city, there are hidden churches because of the laws that made Catholicism illegal for many years. There was also a Jewish quarter which had recently been abandoned because the Nazis took the Jews during the second World War. We also went to see the building in which Anne Frank lived in secrecy for two years while the Nazis controlled the city. This city has so many different aspects that make it what it is today. Besides being completely historic, Amsterdam is a beautiful city, with the canals and the floating flower market. It was definitely my favorite city.

Eurotrip with Willie: Prague, Czech Republic

I had been anticipating my visit to Prague for quite a long time. We arrived and quickly found our hostel, although were confused if it was ours because of how nice it was. It was by far our cheapest hostel and by far the nicest. We arrived in the late evening, so we checked in and got a drink in the bar (more like a club) downstairs. We were very excited to explore the next day. Similar to Vienna, the architecture in Prague was absolutely gorgeous and we found ourselves simply exploring for most of our time. The most famous things we saw were the Saint Charles Bridge, the Prague Castle and the Astronomical Clock.

The famous astronomical clock.

Saint Charles Bridge.

View of Prague.

Prague Castle complex.

Cathedral within in the Prague Castle.

Beautiful buildings in a huge plaza.

More architecture.

He's so pretty.

Prague!

This city brought out our social sides, as we met some great people, not only in our room but around the city as well. We ended up walking around the city with a Colombian and a German, which proved to be pretty fun. We explored the rest of the city's clock towers and took advantage of the free laundry service at our hostel before we headed to the train station to make moves towards Amsterdam.

Eurotrip with Willie: Vienna, Austria

Next stop: Vienna. This city was on my list as far as places I wanted to visit in my life. Right away, when we got off the train, I knew I was going to love it. The buildings were all so beautiful and epitomized the "European" look. It also helped that our hostel was located in one of the nicest areas in the city. Getting there in the evening, we decided to just get dinner and map out our plans for the next day. The next day, we started at the Shonnbrunn palace, the old stomping grounds of the Hapsburg royal family (if being extremely wealthy and powerful can be considered 'stomping' of course). This palace was elegant, with hundreds of glamorous rooms and an immense garden area in the back of the estate.

The front of the Shonnbrunn palace.

Fountain in the courtyard.

The garden (with the great construction in the middle).

View of the Shonnbrunn Palace.

The Gloriette.

At the top of the Gloriette, over looking the city.

After seeing this amazing royal mansion, we walked to the center of the city in order to see other historical buildings, such as the Hofburg palace and the Parliament building. We found that a lot of Vienna was beautiful buildings that to be honest, we had no idea of their significance. We basically wandered around in awe of the entire city for our two days there. Here are some pictures of the exploration. 

Parliament.

Saint Stephen's (under construction, of course).

Hofsburg palace.

Gardens.

Beautiful rose garden.