Day 23: Europe Conclusions/Rankings

Europe Conclusions

PSA: We had an amazing time, these are just some observations we made :)

- Everyone smokes

- No ice in drinks at restaurants 

- No free refills ("We'll give you a refill for you have to pay for it.")

- No splitting the bill at restaurants (we got really good at doing this ourselves)

- Every building is older than our country

- We like European food, but only when it's fried 

- Have to pay to go to a public restroom

- To-go boxes are few and far between 

- Almost everyone is at least bilingual 

- No dryers

- "Wifi Zone" signs on restaurant doors does not, in fact, guarantee wifi in the restaurant 

- It is not uncommon to see a couple at the table next to you making out 

- The first level of a hotel is often labeled level "0" or even "-1"

- Construction. Everywhere. Mainly on the most important buildings of every city, though. 

- No, I do not want to buy a selfie stick

- Restaurants bring you bread, but don't tell you until you get the bill that you are paying for it 

- When you get a water, coke, etc. out of a fridge to buy, it's not cold, it's just not warm. 

- No we are not sisters.

Emily's Rankings

1. Salzburg, Austria

2. Mykonos, Greece

3. Grindelwald, Switzerland

4. Prague, Czech Republic

5. County Clare, Ireland

6. Siena, Italy

7. Dublin, Ireland

8. Bern, Switzerland

9. Athens, Greece

10. Rome, Italy (however, I love you, Vatican City)

Mari's Rankings

1. Siena, Italy (a bit biased ;)

2. Grindelwald, Switzerland

3. Mykonos, Greece

4. Salzburg, Austria

5. Prague, Czech Republic

6. County Clare, Ireland

7. Bern, Switzerland

8. Dublin, Ireland

9. Athens, Greece

10. Rome, Italy

Thanks for following our European adventure! We can't wait for the next one :) 

- Em J & Mel

Day 22: Athens, Greece

That's a Wrap!!! 

Can't believe this day is here. We spent our last day today in Athens! We started out the morning by heading to the Acropolis. Here, we saw some amazing views and, of course, construction on the Parthenon. 

After this, we had (our final European) lunch that ended up lasting about two hours. Instead of taking something off our ticket because of such a long wait, we were given two shots (we didn't ask nor were we mad). They were a special Greek liquor...it tasted like a tree. 

Then, we made our way to the Parliament building where we saw the changing of the guards. 

Then, we walked around aimlessly for about an hour before deciding that we needed to do juuuust a little more shopping. After we shopped for about 45 minutes, we headed back to the hostel for a quick break before dinner (you'd think we would be used to these long, hot days by now).

For dinner, we searched for over an hour for a restaurant recommended to us by Taylor. After never finding it, we sat at the closest restaurant and ate our final European meal. 

Check out the blog tomorrow for some European conclusions and rankings. This will be comin' to you live from our 6 hour layover in Philly. 

Until then, we dream of cheeseburgers, Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches, and free ice water during meals. 

- Em J & Mel

Day 21: Mykonos to Athens

The Final Countdown

To update you on our stay in Mykonos, we were in fact beach bums the entire time. 

Other than that, we went to the Old Port each night for dinner. We splurged on gelato every night :) yummy. 

After a really long flight (25 minutes) we made our way to Athens, our FINAL stop! 

Stay tuned for deets on our jam packed last day tomorrow! 

- Em J & Mel 

Day 18-20: Mykonos, Greece

No Wifi, No Blog-i 

Greetings from paradise! We have made it safe and sound to Mykonos, Greece. After we checked in to our beautiful hotel, we learned that the wifi works for everyone except those with Apple products, even more specifically, from the U.S. Of course, we both have iPhones. 

So, we will not be blogging until we get to our final stop on Tuesday. Don't worry, you won't miss anything. We are just going to be beach bums for the next few days. 

- Em J & Mel

Day 17: Rome, Italy

Last Day in the Dome (St Peter's Basilica)

We spent the majority of today in Vatican City. We started off going through the Vatican Museum and making our way to the Sistine Chapel. 

Then, after a quick bite to eat, we made our way to St. Peter's Basilica. 

It was...AMAZING. 

After that, we had an awesome dinner catching up with our friend from high school, Parker, and her fiancé! 

Now, we are packing and ready for our sixth and final country! 

- Em J & Mel

Day 15 & 16: Siena and Rome, Italy

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite

First of all, we apologize for all those who were expecting a blog post last night. We've been a little preoccupied; we had a small "bump" in the road. 

The past couple days have been mostly traveling, yet still eventful. 

Yesterday, we traveled from Rome to Siena, where Mari studied abroad. After being in the loud and hectic Rome, we were eager to get to the quiet and quaint Siena. However, we spent most of the evening last night in the laundromat. Two words: Bed. Bugs. 

We spent many hours, euros, and giggles/tears trying to figure this situation out. All of our clothes are now clean and we are in a new hotel, so hopefully we are in the clear, despite the 100 "bumps" that we have on our bodies. 

We debated on whether to post a picture of our bites, but decided it was too much. S/O to whichever hotel, hostel, or Airbnb who gave us this lovely critter. 

Tomorrow, will be a much more exciting day. We will be going to the VATICAN!!!! 

- Em J & Mel

Day 14: Rome, Italy

"Let's walk on that side of the street, it's shaded."

Today we woke up eager to see the sights of Rome! After breakfast, we went straight to the Colosseum. In order to skip a little bit of the line, we bought tickets in front of the Roman Forum and went through there before the Colosseum. 

 

We have never been so sweaty in our entire lives. We decided on our lunch destination based on the plethora of fans they had running. Thank goodness our room has AC!!!

Then we made our way to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi "Fountain."

(Selfie on the Spanish Steps)

You may be wondering why the word "fountain" is in quotation marks. Well, we got to the fountain annnnndddd...

...there was no fountain. It was a major letdown. 

Then we made our way to dinner to celebrate the BIRTHDAY GIRL! Today is Mari's 22nd birthday! Cue '22' by Taylor Swift. The highlight of the dinner was when the servers sang Happy Birthday in Italian and the candle kept blowing out. 

We're off to Siena in the morning! More Rome to come at the end of the week. 

P.S. We walked a total of about 12 miles today...

P.P.S. We were dripping sweat everyone one of those 12 miles. 

- Em J & Mel

Day 13: Bern to Rome

AIR CONDITIONING

Another very unexciting travel day. We traveled from Bern, Switzerland to Rome, Italy! 

When we arrived to our hostel, it was stationed out of an Internet and laundry service...We were pleasantly surprised that this ended up being the nicest hostel we have stayed in. We both got (don't judge) teary eyed when he told us that our room has air condition (pictured below). Doesn't take much to please us :)

We have already eaten lasagna (Emily) and ravioli (Mari). Can't wait for more! 

That's all for now. 

- Em J & Mel

Day 12: Bern, Switzerland

Not So Lazy River

This morning started out with free breakfast (that we plan on stuffing in our bag before our train tomorrow). Then we made our way to mass in the most colorful church we have ever been to. 

After church we made our daily Starbucks/wifi run. Mari got another Java Chip Frappuchino. 

From there, we headed to THE AARE RIVER!!! Such unexpected fun and a huge adrenaline rush!!!!! After you jump in the river, you float rapidly downstream until you want to get out. We did this 4 times. 

Then, we came back to our hotel to shower and find a restaurant in our price range. If this tells you anything, a McDonald's happy meal is almost $10. We might have had one yesterday. 

After dinner we went to watch the "sunset" in a rose garden overlooking the city.  We think the receptionist at our hotel (who is not completely fluent in English) confused sunset with sunrise. We didn't see a sunset, but we saw great views of Bern, Switzerland. 

Now, off to Rome in the morning! 

- Em J & Mel

Day 11: Bern, Switzerland

Breathtaking Views & Smelly Shoes

Today was an AMAZING day!!!! We started out the day by eating more croissants for breakfast, yummy. From there we boarded a train to Interlaken, Switzerland. After another train and cable car, we had the best and prettiest hike of our lives. 

We're about to fall asleep, but this is the jist of this day that we will never forget!!! 

Happy 4th of July to all our friends at home!! 

- Em J & Mel

Day 10: Salzburg to Bern

2 Croissants and 2 Bagels

Today we were stricken with the travel blues. We made our way from Salzburg, Austria to Bern, Switzerland. 

When we arrived to our hotel, they informed us that there was no wifi or air condition. PANIC. Normally, no AC wouldn't be awful, but considering its in the upper 90s here it's pretty awful. Hopefully we will survive. 

After we checked in, we made our way to Starbucks. This was the first place we went after arriving where there was both food and wifi. We mooched off their wifi, Emily ate two croissants and Mari ate two bagels. We left feeling pretty satisfied. 

After that, we went the Old Town for a little while just to check it out. We stopped at McDonald's just to get a drink and we were quickly reminded of how expensive Switzerland is. A medium drink is $4.15 and a snack wrap is over $13. We may starve here. We got a quick view of the city and then came back to our hotel. We were able to purchase wifi for a small fee, so we decided it would be worth it. 

Another boring travel day for you! Hopefully we will have something more exciting tomorrow. 

Here's a quick glimpse of the park/river 

- Em J & Mel

Day 9: Salzburg, Austria

WHERE ARE ALL THE DANG BIKES? 

Here was our plan for the day:

-shopping

-lunch

-bike ride

-dinner

-mint chocolate chip ice cream that we have been craving since we got here

Here's what actually happened:

We left our room this morning and made our way to Getreidegasse where we went souvenir shopping. Molz and LJ, you can thank us later ;) 

On this street, we also got to see Mozart's birthplace. 

After we spent most of our morning there, we started to look for bikes to rent. We have never been to or seen a place where more people are riding bikes. We assumed it would be no problem to rent some, right?! WRONG. 

We had decided to get bikes in town before lunch so we could bike back to our place to save time. When we finally found the bikes, the rental machine malfunctioned so we had to go back later. 

After lunch we headed back to the bike place where the machine was working again! It was only then that we found out it would cost around 30€ for us to rent bikes...not worth it. 

Instead we took a bus and then walked down the most beautiful tree-lined street to get to Schloss Fruhnburg, the front of the house from the Sound of Music. 

Then we strolled back to the bus stop, walked back to our place, then made dinner. 

After that, we were SO excited to walk back to town to get our mint chocolate chip ice cream. When we got there, it was closed..........we had to settle for 'cookies' and 'salted peanut butter' ice cream. 

In summary, we walked 10 1/2 miles today and still weren't able to accomplish everything on our agenda. However, it was still a great day in Salzburg! 

- Em J & Mel

Day 8: Salzburg, Austria

Confirmation: the hills are definitely alive with the sound of music

This day was a day out of our dreams (a day Emily has been dreaming about her entire life)..........THE SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR. 

PSA: if you don't like the Sound of Music, you should just stop reading. See you tomorrow. 

Our first stop was the lake and mountain view, plus the backyard of the Von Trapp family house. The house in the picture below is not the one from the movie (the picture of that will come tomorrow-that house is 3 miles away). Imagine the difficulty in filming! The scene where Maria and all the kids fall into the lake from the canoe was shot in multiple locations. For instance, when you can see the lake in the background in the movie, it is at the location pictured below. When you can see the house in the background it is at a location 3 miles away. Confusing and lots of editing!!!!! 

Next, we headed to the gazebo where the famous "16 going on 17" scene was filmed. 

Then, we took about an hour drive to see the church where the wedding was filmed. Along the way, we were taken aback by some of the amazing Austrian views. 

Then we headed to the Mirabell Gardens where multiple scenes from The Sound of Music were filmed (Do Re Mi song, Maria skipping through the archway). Below is Emily reenacting some of these moments from the movie. 

 

Her personal photographer (some girl named Mari) is still waiting for payment. 

After we spent some time channeling our inner Maria, we headed up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. 12 euro lost, beautiful views gained. 

Then we had pizza for dinner...Mari picked the 5000 mushrooms off of her pizza. 

Salzburg is quickly winning over our hearts. We can't believe tomorrow is our last day here. 

- Em J & Mel