recently had the wonderful opportunity to go to Europe for 8 days. It was a whirlwind trip, full of amazing sights, being extremely tired, some good French fries and creating art in the Jardin du Luxembourg.
Jardin Du Luxembourg
The thing about travelling long haul for the first time is you never know what to expect. I went with a tour group which was fantastic, because had I not I would not have gotten to experience art in Paris, to experience Versailles, or to experience the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. We also went to perfume museum in France where to say the least I was in heaven, we saw a pick pocketer get taken down outside of the Notre Dame and I got to experience the streets of Amsterdam (and by golly I loved it there, kind of want to move there now). This trip was by far an adventure, it was jam packed like the Amazing Race, from tulip gardens to Vimy Ridge to the extremely overpriced mall in Paris I feel as though I got a wonderful tourist experience that I signed up for.
I cannot describe how the vibe of countries change, Europe is a different place, there is no concept of time, all of the buildings are stunning and people are so fashionable. I think my favourite moment was seeing the women on their bikes in Amsterdam wearing their straight out of a magazine clothing and just riding along without a care in the world.
However, I wanted to tell you a few things I learned about myself during this trip.
I like to have a single room. Plain and simple. Nothing further needs to be stated.
I love touristy things but I also love free time. Versailles was amazing, tours are my jam, but I also like to wander. Since our trip was tightly planned (which I am a personal fan of) there wasn’t a whole ton of free time. However, one of my favourite places was Flanders, Belgium. We got some gelato, and I had some time to myself so I got to wander and go shopping, pick some makeup you cannot get here in the Canadas.
Essence stand in Flanders. LIKE HOW
I like Canadian plumbing. Not going to lie folks, we encountered some pretty sketchy washrooms. And I mean sketchy. Like the toilet seats aren’t big enough and their toilets also don’t fill up? And they smell odd, kind of like when you haven’t flushed your toilet in awhile but all the time. This doesn’t speak for everywhere we went, but it was an interesting aspect of culture shock I didn’t think I would have. However, this was a small price to pay for such a wonderful adventure.
I want to travel more. Aye there’s the rub. I want to travel but travelling costs money? Okay, so here is what I learned. My bank account is almost empty, there are hidden costs in travelling so OVER BUDGET for things like food, drinks, bathrooms (be sure to have small change on you cause most public washrooms, at least in Paris, cost money to use). BUT despite my bank account being almost empty my heart couldn’t be more full. Its cheesy, but its true.
Amsterdam is a definitely a place I want to go back to. On my travel wish list is London, Scotland and Budapest! Hmmm perhaps the next trip 😉 Where do you want to travel next?
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