Tag Archives: solo female travel

15 Random Things About My Trip to Europe.

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In no particular order.

1. Do not go to Eastern Europe if seeing stray dogs upsets you.

2. Bulgaria has the nicest people on planet Earth.  This cannot be stressed enough.

3.  Going through the Turkey border was so annoying that I eventually ended up having a meltdown that left me talking out loud to myself on the bus.

4. Bulgarians are either the new leaders in the fashion world and are bringing back hair crimping, or they are so far behind fashion times that the 80’s just got there.

5.  I managed to get a passport stamp for every country I visited this trip (except obviously for Vatican City).  Take THAT Schengen Agreement!

6.  Duvel is delicious.

7. I am already going through withdrawal from liters of San Benedetto Peach Iced Tea.  It is even more delicious than Duvel.  I need to find me a European who is willing to act as my San Benedetto mule.

8. The world wide web is not world wide!!  It amazed me to do a Google search in Bulgaria that pulled up a bus company that lets you book tickets online AND even pick your seats, that never once came up during the 893249837483276289463 times I did the same exact Google search before I left.

9. I packed 99.9% perfectly for this trip.  There is not one item in my bag that I did not use.  The only things I needed to buy were eye drops and a replacement for my lip balm that I lost (and found about an hour after buying a new one)

10. I hate Rome.

11.  I love Naples

12.  Capri is a very beautiful place, a natural tourist attraction.  They know this and it is reflected in the prices.

13.  Belogradchik, Bulgaria is also a very beautiful place and a natural tourist attraction.  However, they are a bit more humble and the prices do not reflect its worth at all.

14. Every person in Istanbul starts conversations by asking you where you are from.  There is also a large amount of people here who seem to have relatives that own carpet stores in Houston.

15. I wanted to do 25 facts since I was here 25 days, but I am getting too tired to type any longer.

Paris, France: Catacombs

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Today I wake up really early.  I go to McDonalds for breakfast and wifi.  One of the breakfast options is a croissant and coffee.  This is what I want.  This is what I try to order.  No one behind the counter seemed to understand me.  Pointing gets me nowhere.  I get annoyed and leave.  Around the corner is a Quick, which is like McDonalds only not like McDonalds.  I get a coffee and croissant no problem here.  They advertise WiFi.  Guess what, it doesn’t work.  The WiFi.  Guess what else?  I spilled my entire coffee all over myself.  I want to cry, I really do.  I go back to my room and decide that if this is what today is going to be like, then I am not going to try a combo of Versailles and Catacombs.   I will go just to the Catacombs to be safe.  Good thing I did since the line was way over two hours.

I walk inside and slip twice.  The first time was no big deal.  The second time, I now fear that the rest of my time in here will be me trying to not fall.   The third time I slipped, I went to grab the wall to stop myself.  Only now, we are at the skulls.  So I am grabbing human skulls and bones to balance myself, it was awful.

Later on, we get to where water is dripping and the floor is now wet.  I start walking like a 397 year old woman because I am deathly afraid of falling.

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Belogradchik Fortress, Bulgaria: The Time I Almost Got Murdered By a Bee.

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I am going to be going out of chronological order with this one but I am just dying to post about it.

Yesterday afternoon, I took a bus from Sofia to Belogradchik.  I got picked up at the bus station by the owner of the guest house I was staying at (Drakite Guest House).  For a whopping $19 usd, I had a very nice room with private balcony and a shower so big that you could take every shower I have had to so far on this trip and fit them all inside.

This morning I am up so early go to see the fortress.  I cannot wait.  I pause to take a morning photo from my balcony.

morning balcony view, belogradchik, bulgaria

Then off I go.  To get to the fortress is a very strenuous walk uphill.  Up many hills. But the walk features GOATS!!

GOATS! Belogradchik, Bulgaria

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Paris Day One – April 29, 2013

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I woke up in Brussels, Belgium about thirteen minutes before my alarm went off.  I was still tired but it’s getting better.  Shower, repack, head to Brussels Midi train station to take a Thalys train to Paris.  I board the train and someone is in my seat.  Not only is she in my seat, she is completely settled in.  It looked like she had some manual, a lot of paper, a calculator, highlighter, pen and phone all out.  She appeared to be working very hard.  I’m not sure how she had the time to get all of that out since the doors had opened two minutes earlier, but there it was.

I stand over her, she doesn’t look up.  I say “You are in my seat.”  Nothing.  Again, louder “YOU ARE IN MY SEAT!”  She looks up and says something in a language I don’t understand.   I put my ticket in her face and point to the seat number.  She repeats whatever she had originally said that I didn’t understand the first time.   Someone trying to pass by tells me “She is willing to exchange seats with you.”  Oh here we go again.  No.  I have the window seat.  I chose the window seat.  You could have done so just as easily.  But no, you decided to take my seat.  This is so obnoxious.  Not even the part about wanting to switch seats.  The part about getting all settled before even asking.  This is disgusting human behavior.  So I make it clear, NO.  She then has to gather up all her stuff and get out of my seat.  Ugh.

I passed out as soon as the conductor checked my ticket.  I woke up in Paris.  Today’s walk to the hotel is three minutes.  Get this.  I do not get lost not even one time.  Not even for one block. I found it no problem.  I am psyched!

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Brussels, Belgium – April 28, 2013

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My original plans for Brussels were:  Get Starbucks, check into my hotel, go to the Atomium, come back and have a nice quiet night in my room to recover  from Groezrock.  Then I could fully start the vacation portion of this trip well rested.

Yesterday, I had taken my camera out to use it for the first time this trip.  I discover that the LCD screen on my camera was cracked.  Are you kidding me?   We can probably assume this happened during the flight of death with the SCREAMING kid.   Oh, did you miss that rant?  Here you go.

But I will take the blame for this one.  It is the second time I have done this.  The last time was just in September.  So this seems to be new recurring problem in my life.  Hello idiot, buy a camera case.  So I now have to buy a new camera.  Oh how I did not want to do this at all.   I don’t like buying anything without insane amounts of research.  I don’t like spending money on new things when I can fix the old things for under ten bucks. I don’t even want a new camera at all.  I LOVE my camera. This was going to be a very painful purchase.

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Another Quick Picture Post: Sarajevo, Bosnia

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Sarajevo is a very bi-polar city.  As you are walking around, you see many beautiful buildings, such as this one.  It is the Sarajevo Academy of Fine Arts, housed in a former church:

academy of fine arts, sarajevo, bosnia

Beautiful, right?  In fact, it is so beautiful that you may have overlooked this bridge in front of it:

festina lente loop bridge, sarajevo, bosnia

Festina Lente bridge.  It is so freaking cool looking.

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Quick Picture Post: Capri, Italy

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Have you ever seen the episode of The Simpsons where Lisa becomes a vegetarian?  The family starts out at a petting zoo.  A lamb walks up and they all “Awwwwwwwwww” it.  Then a smaller lamb comes up and the “AWWWWWW” gets louder.  Then the third….and then when the poor first lamb returns, they have seen so much cuter that Homer “Get out of the way YOU”s it?

Capri Island is that petting zoo.

First you get off the boat and you are at the Port of Capri.  Oh wow!  Look at this!  You take like fifty pictures, it is so beautiful.

capri island, italy

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Pick Pockets at the Eiffel Tower

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So I consider myself to be a bit more street wise than the average human being.  So when planning a trip to Paris, I had the whole security thing to consider.  Yes, the internet is full of people who have been pick pocketed in Paris.  But surely that would never happen to me.  But then I keep thinking about my sister.  She was obsessed with the Eiffel Tower.  I mean OBSESSED.  It is all she ever talked about.  Every trip I took to Las Vegas would have her begging me to bring back something Eiffel Tower related.   She talked about this stupid tower ALL THE TIME.

Finally, she is going to Paris.  She is going to the Eiffel Tower.  She is so excited.  Flash forward about an hour after she gets to Paris, and I get a voicemail I can barely understand because she is crying and choking.  She tells me to call her back, does not leave a number or a hotel name.  I had to break into her email to find the confirmation.   Turns out, she did get to the Eiffel Tower.   As soon as she got off the plane.  And she got pick pocketed and was now broke in Paris.

I know my sister pretty well.  She doesn’t like to pay attention to anything.  She carries ginormous purses that are never closed.  I don’t necessarily want to blame the victim here, but these things did cross my mind.  She swears that she was super careful.

So now my turn to go to Paris comes.  I don’t want to do things like carry a money belt or whatever.  I want to just go.  I am street savvy, I can do this.  But in the back of my mind, I can’t stop thinking about how stupid I will feel if I am robbed.  I picture the conversations.   My sister saying “I told you so”.  So I buy a money belt.  But I still don’t want to use it.  So I compromise.  I head for the Eiffel Tower with only 5 euro on me, in a change purse.  I leave my wallet back at my hotel.

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Quick Picture Post: Live From My Terrace in Naples, Italy

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This was just way too good to not share immediately.

I am a budget hotel kinda gal.  Always have been, always will be.  Every now and then a budget hotel will surprise me.  Today is one of those days.

I get to Sweet Sleep Bed and Breakfast this morning and my room is not ready because I am too early.  I am brought out onto the communal outdoor terrace, where I am stunned at the view.

sweet sleep bed and breakfast, naples italy

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TODAY I AM GOING TO EUROPE

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guide books

Woo hoo I am going to Europe!  Oh I am so excited.  As an extra special send off, I am spending my last day at work during “Bring Your Kids to Work Day”.  No please, never bring your kids to work. Ever.

My finalized itinerary is as follows:

Belgium – Sleeping in Geel for both Groezrock Fest and the pre-show, which is in Ham, Belgium. So excited for this.  I will also have one night in Brussels.  I wanted it to be Ghent but I waited to long to plan this out and I simply didn’t have the time to research it.  Until I quit my job and travel forever, I will keep my Type A personality and never be able to travel freely without over planning.

Paris – I never wanted to go here.  Now I am and oh hey, I’ll be there on a Monday when things are closed and also on May Day when things are closed.  Grade A Type A fail.

Naples – I will be going to Capri, Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii.

Rome – I am excited to cross the line into Vatican City and add it as another country I’ve visited on my list.  It’s not cheating. I swear.

Bosnia – Sarajevo and Mostar.  I may take a train one way between Sarajevo and Mostar as I’ve read it has really beautiful scenery even if it takes a lot longer than the bus.

Serbia – Sigh.  After doing and redoing and doing and redoing and (insert more and more and more doing and redoing) this part of my trip, I am settled.  I am going to Nis.  I want to be in Nis so bad.  It just took a while to get it to fit.  I would like to thank my new laptop and its installation of Free Cell for working my brain to be able to solve the puzzle of how to do this.  I am getting a partial overnight train ride on here.  That’s a cross off on my “List of Things I Want to do So Badly in Life”.

Bulgaria – Oh so excited for this part of my trip.  I knew NOTHING about this country when I started planning this trip.  Now I know everything.  I will be in Sofia, traveling to the Rila Monastery, Veliko Tarnovo and the place I am most excited for on this entire trip – BELOGRADCHIK.   Let me post the picture again!

061_001_Belogradchishkakrepost.jpgI can not wait to have my own picture to post.

Then last stop, Istanbul.  I still have no idea how to get there.  I have so many routes printed out.  Nothing is clear at all except that at one time, there was a train from Veliko Tarnovo to Istanbul.  It may or may not be running due to construction. It may or may not leave at 23:04, 23:28, 00:04.  There is also a bus…maybe.  It may be run by Matpu or Oz Batu or maybe there’s two, one by each company.  What time do these buses leave?  Damned if I know.  Matpu shows schedules from Plovdiv, not Veliko Tarnovo.  Oz Batu doesn’t exist on the internet.

So that’s that.  I can not wait!