so the last part of october was spent on a ten day vacation! we went to Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Hungary. it was super tiring, but so much fun. not very many people get to travel europe with their best friends, but i do! so i feel so lucky to be here with McCall and Madi.
FRANKFURT//
so Frankfurt was the first city we went to. we left our apartment at 3:30 to get to the airport. i was so sleepy and way nervous that i wasn't going to get enough sleep, but everything was fine. we got to Frankfurt around 11, but couldn't check in to our hostel yet. so we dropped our bags at the hostel and went and got lunch at a yummy italian place called vapiano's! after that, Madi, McCall, Rebecca, and I went in to old town while the other girls went back to the hostel to rest. their old town is super small and isn't really technically an "old town" because their original one was destroyed during the war. so this one is basically just for tourists. i'm really glad we went though because they were having some kind of dog show/convention and there were dogs EVERYWHERE! me and madi were freaking out! i wish carly and soph could of been there because we all love dogs so much. it was so much fun to see all of them! and they had a whole booth for pitbulls and had a whole bunch of pits around it and it made my heart so happy and made me think of Lady the whole time. after that, we went to their lock bridge which was so pretty! it was so long and filled with hundreds of locks! at the end of the bridge was a huge flea market. it was basically a huge community garage sale. people had the most random stuff that they were selling. Rebecca ended up buying a really pretty painting though! but it was really fun to just wander up and down that street. after the market, we went down to the water and watched all of the ducks and swans. as we were walking back to the hostel, we saw a birkenstock store and my heart pretty much stopped. we had to go in. yeah, that might have been a mistake. they had arizonas for only like $65. i couldn't get myself to buy them right then, so we went to the hostel so i could think about the decision. and i couldn't stop thinking about them, so basically i had to go back and buy them. i ended up buying 2 pairs. oops! i bought one pair of arizonas and a pair of kinda strappy sandals. but buying 2 pairs was cheaper than buying one pair of arizonas in the states!!! MY HEART WAS SO HAPPY. i asked the girl why they were so cheap and she told me they were made there in Germany! after that, we went back to the hostel and i was just trying to figure out how i was gonna pack 2 pairs of shoes for the next 9 days in a full backpack. but don't worry, i made it work!
on sunday morning, we ate breakfast at the hostel because it's free! those are the best kinds of hostels. we left the hostel and we were walking down the street and they were having their city marathon! so we watched that for awhile and it was fun to see. we went to climb the church tower so that we could see the whole city. it was so pretty! you could see the division of old town and the city. it was kind of a cloudy day so it was hard to get pictures, but it was so pretty to see! after that, Madi, McCall, and I headed to the zoo! we were originally looking for these japanese gardens but got lost (oops)! but it was okay that we got lost, because we found the coolest park! it had this zipline thing that we played on for quite awhile. europe definitely wins at parks. america's parks suck compared to the ones here. after we came to conclusion that we weren't going to find the gardens, we just made our way to the zoo. it was HUGE. we spent most of our day there! they had so many animals and it was really fun. after the zoo we went and got dinner and just headed back to the hostel. we played cards and waited for the other girls so that we could go get on our night bus to Prague. i really liked frankfurt!
how cute is she???
look, i was the only one from st. george!
a little piece of home in germany
PRAGUE//
wowowowow prague. so many heart eyes at this city. no pictures even do it justice. it was unreal! the city is pretty indescribable, it's something you have to see for yourself. it's definitely not a city that you can see in 2.5 days. i want to come back with my mom and sisters!
so we got there early monday morning and had quite a walk from our bus station to our hostel. but luckily when we got to our hostel, we could check in right away! we got settled and then Madi, McCall and I went up to the Prague Castle. that place is HUGE! we didn't see all of it. the cathedral was absolutely breathtaking. i loved it so much. while we were on the castle grounds, we stumbled upon a toy museum so we decided to go in. they had some really old, antique toys. they also had a huge collection of barbies! it was fun to see. we also ate a famous czech dessert called
trdlenik's. they're so good! they're like a cylinder shaped cinnamon roll. sooooo yummy!!! later that night we met up with one of madi's friends, adela. we went to family home evening in the branch here and it was so much fun! and i'm also pretty sure i met my future husband, but idk. after that, we went to a pendulum that over looks the whole city and it was so nice to see it in the dark.
on tuesday, we went in to old town and explored that area. we found different areas of the city that were really cool. we went to the john lennon wall which was fun to see. we also found a bakery that i fell in love with! if you know me, you know my love for bakeries. they had yummy croissants and the best hot chocolate ever. it was so cute. we went to the dancing building, walked along the water, and just enjoyed each other's company. it really is so much fun to be able to travel with your best friends. i still feel like there was so much more to see, so i can't wait to come back! the next morning, we headed to vienna. and we may or may not have gone to that bakery again before we got on the bus (oops).
"may the best of your past be the worst of your future"
this is the trdlenik!
the wifi password is the same everywhere
they also had a gingerbread museum, and if you know me, you know how excited i was about this
VIENNA//
okay, so we got daylight savings before anyone in the states, so the sun was setting really early here. we got to vienna around 4:30 and the sun was already setting! we checked in to our hostel and it was so nice! we had a private room and bathroom just for the 7 of us. we were really hungry after the bus ride, so we went down the street and got some mexican food. i got a burrito and it was really good cause i feel like i'm always craving mexican food. after dinner, we just came back to the hostel because we were all pretty tired from the bus ride.
the next morning, we ate breakfast at the hostel and then headed out for the day. we went to a palace that was HUGE. it was a family's "summer home" that had 1,441 rooms. it was so big you couldn't even fit it in one picture. it was insane. i'm going to have a home like that one day. after that, we went in to old town, except they don't really have an old town. vienna was very commercialized. they had BEAUTIFUL buildings and architecture, but it was all filled with high end shopping. we wandered around and went in to old buildings and churches. later that day, we walked through a market that was in the middle of a central square. i love markets like that. they were selling fresh fruit & veggies, spices, and flowers. stuff like that makes my heart happy. that was basically our time in Vienna! we only had one day there. it was a stop in between prague and budapest!
BUDAPEST//
we got to budapest in the afternoon, and Madi, McCall, and I decided to walk from the bus to our hostel for some fresh air. it was a good choice. budapest has kind of a weird vibe to it. i loved it so much. we got to our hostel and the sun had basically set. we rested for a little and then headed out to see the city at night. i have honestly never seen something so beautiful as the parliament building all lit up. it was so amazing. along with that, all of the castles and other buildings and bridges were lit up too. it was such a pretty city to see at night. we walked along the water and laughed with each other. we headed back towards to our hostel and stopped to ride the ferris wheel that over looked the whole city. it was so pretty!! like come on, how lucky are we to be together in budapest?
the next morning, we woke up and went to the yummiest little cafe for breakfast (another cute place that made my heart happy)! we had american pancakes and hot chocolate. it was super good. and everything was super cheap! i don't think we paid more than $6 for a meal the whole time. after that, we headed up to castle hill. it was such a nice day! i was wearing one of my new pairs of birks :) castle hill was HUGE! we didn't even see it all. it had a pretty castle, a huge cathedral, and really pretty old buildings. and you could also over look the whole city. it seemed to go on forever. we spent most of our day there, but didn't even manage to see all of it. budapest had really pretty buildings everywhere. really pretty pastels and a lot of different colors. AND the leaves hadn't fallen there yet so we got to see all of the pretty leaves! they were the most perfect leaves ever. one thing i noticed about their churches was that, they were much darker than the other ones we had seen. i'm not really sure why, but i found that kind of interesting. the sun started to set so we headed back to our hostel. it was halloween and we didn't really want to be out at night that night. so we stopped and got a pizza on our way back and spent the night playing cards. it was such a good night that i got to spend with madi and mccall. i honestly got so lucky with them.
the next morning, we walked to a different part of town to Hero Square. it was more of a residential part of town and i loved it so much! it was an area that i could see myself living in. i loved it so much. the sky was so blue that day and the leaves were so perfect. i loved that day. it was so fun to see the different part of town and to just be wandering the city.
in a couple weeks, i'll be in amsterdam with Madi and McCall. i'm so excited! i'm so lucky to have this opportunity to travel all over Europe, but i'm also so lucky to have been raised in the States. we're honestly so blessed. this is my last full month in vilnius and it's a bittersweet feeling. i can't wait to kiss and hug my family, but that means i have to kiss and hug Madi and McCall goodbye and that breaks my heart. i don't like thinking about it. but here's to the next 37 days.
xoxo,
ann
