One big overarching post

Hello all! This project got the best of me when the end of my European travels came about and I became more busy. I figured I would give an overarching post to catch up to now so that I can finally strike this item off of my to-do list. All of my photos are updated so feel free to see those in the photo galleries!!

Copenhagen, Denmark

I stopped my last post right before I got to Denmark, so I guess I start here. I visited Pearl while she began her study abroad and stayed about 20 minutes metro ride away from her dorm in a camping-themed hotel called “Urban Camper”. Pearl and I like to just see what’s around so we spent time checking out local techno clubs and meeting a lot of new people as she was gaining her footing in her new temporary home. I got strep throat, got medicated, and fell off a bike… twice. Was pretty bruised up for a while. I had a lot of fun, though! I actually met up with a friend I had met in Sevilla, Spain, and spent an afternoon getting to know her childhood friend who lives outside of Copenhagen. Pearl and I went to Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park in the city, and had the best time. We sat by the water, caught up, and really just spent the week rekindling what friendship we had missed out on during the year of us not talking. Then I packed up and went to Ireland!

Ireland

I had a few stops in Ireland. My first was to visit a college friend, Spoorthy, in Limerick at her Graduate School. She was also just getting her footing, so we spent a lot of time walking and looking at as much as we could. It was a pretty boring place, but we did go on a school tour through Spoorty’s program to see the Inisheer Islands and Cliffs of Moher. VERY surreal and beautiful. We spent the day walking the entirety of Inish Oirr of the Aran Islands and revisiting potato famine plots. I also saw some cows very close up! Once finished with Spoorthy for the weekend, I headed to Galway and Dublin. Just a couple of nights were spent in either city, but I enjoyed the dreary weather and accents.

Budapest, Hungary

I flew out of Dublin into Budapest and checked into my hostel for a week and a half stay. This was probably where I ended up doing most of my sightseeing. I took a walking tour, a boat tour with traditional cuisine, and visited cultural sites in my free time such as the famous bath houses. Although I was alone the first day, I met friends from my dorm room and we pretty much spent the entire week doing everything together. I was able to show them to cool vintage shops I had found on my first day, and we visited plenty of local markets and bars. Szimpla Kert is one of Budapest’s ruins bars (it was built in the ruins of an abandoned building! There were plenty of hole-in-the-wall areas of the bar with live music, different themed bars, and a kitchen.) My initial plan with coming to Budapest was to find my way into Eastern Europe as I got closer to my final stop - Croatia. It ended up being one of my most culturally enriching spots.

Croatia

I got into Croatia by bus and spent a couple of days in Split. There I met up with my friend I met in Budapest- Amy from Australia. She showed me around the local market and we saw some GOT filming spots. It was a short-lived couple of days followed by a beautiful bus ride into Dubrovnik. I think I mentioned it in a past post, but I applied and got a job working in a hostel in Dubrovnik for a month. This, I knew, was my last stop and where I would come home from. My first couple nights were very intimidating, but I quickly became friends with my coworkers and found my job to be especially fun! I basically would spend my shifts either watching Breaking Bad and waiting for laundry to dry or leading nightly groups from the hostel on bar crawls. Dubrovnik is home to one of the best-rated techno clubs in Europe, so I spent a lot of time there before the season ended. I loved being able to show people a part of the city that not many would come there to do- party! Another fun spot I had to frequent for work was Buza Bar. It’s a cliff-jumping spot that is also a bar. They built the bar into the walls of the Old Town and on the side of the cliff- it makes you feel like a bit of a mountain goat. In my last week of being in Dubrovnik, Pearl came to visit and meet all of the people I would text her all about. We met some new friends along the way as we always do.

Naturally, problems arose and I had to change routes on the way home, so I ended up flying into Chicago and taking the Amtrak back to Omaha. In Chicago, I stayed with Pearl’s mom for a few days and spent my time relaxing and adjusting to the time change. Once I got back home, it was time to get into the groove of things again. There’s a lot that, in my opinion, made it a bit hard to jump to the next thing right away, so I’ve just been rolling with the punches. 

I went on a cruise courtesy of Aunt Sue (thank you very much btw) to Honduras and Mexico. I also have been making much-needed trips to friends. I visited one of my best friends, Sage, in Louisiana for her birthday and went back to Boulder to see some of my old friends and stomping grounds. Side trips have also happened, but are not as notable.

Coming up I had a road trip planned to California to see another one of my friends, Chris, graduate. I’ll be with his family, his fiance (and my friend, Madison), and my friend Parker!

I hope and plan to move from Omaha in the summer after Johnny graduates and I get back from California. Where to is unknown, I guess it’s just wherever a job takes me. We’ll see.

I’ll update ya when I have something to update! Toodaloo!

Liv