Things I learned in 7 countries

Everyone has their own expectations of what they think Europe will be like. I know I did. You read things, hear things that make you go to Europe with your own assumptions and ideas of what it should be like. But really the only way to know what Europe (or anything) is really like is to experience it for yourself. I am going to share with you things that I learned from each country I traveled to. Take it with a grain of salt and please don't judge me for my ignorance and misconceptions about something ;).

The Netherlands

(Specifically Amsterdam)

1. Amsterdam is classy not trashy.

What two things do you think of when you hear the word Amsterdam? For me, and I'm sure a lot of people, prostitution and drugs come to mind. Just for the fact that they are both legal there. Because of this reason, I never really had a desire to go to Amsterdam (sorry to all my Dutch friends). I always just had this picture in my head of Amsterdam being a dirty, trashy city.

This is ABSOLUTELY NOT the case.

Amsterdam is a BEAUTIFUL city. One of my favorites that I visited actually.

2. You will never see as many bikes in your entire lifetime than you will see in Amsterdam.

Seriously. And this is just one bike parking area of many in Amsterdam.

3. Americans are lazy. We drive to work every morning; Dutch people bike to work every morning.

4. Dutch waffles are absolutely amazing.

I could go for one now actually.

5. The Anne Frank House is very moving. Something that you should definitely experience if you get the chance.

6. It is possible to wait in a line for a museum for two hours in the wind and rain.

7. Riding bikes in Amsterdam is SO MUCH FUN. Such an awesome culture. I loved the experience.

Germany

1. I am proud of my heritage.

Even though Germany has a history of a lot of bad things (the Nazis, involvement in WW1 and WW2, concentration camps etc.) They own up to all of it in their numerous monuments and memorials. It is like they are humble enough to show that their country was involved in many bad things and are proud to show they good changes that have undergone. Isn't that why we learn about history in the first place? This is something to be proud of :).

2. Sauerkraut is way better than you would expect.

3. The German school system has it figured out.

Did you know that Germans are required to learn three languages all throughout school? They are fluent in German, English, and French. Everything I've learned in early childhood expressed that learning multiple languages early on has so many benefits! From what little I've heard, I would send my kid to a German school :).

4. The Alps do go through Germany. This area is called Bavaria and it is absolutely stunningly beautiful.

5. The main breakfast in Europe is sandwiches. A big egg, meat, hash-browns, and pancake breakfast is pretty much unheard of.

6. While skiing, don't take a "path" instead of an actual slope to try to get to another slope. This just results in getting lost in the alps and having to be rescued by a German guy on a snowmobile. (Yes this really did happen). But that's a story for another time.

Switzerland

1. Switzerland is absolutely breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL.

Switzerland is probably my most favorite place I've ever been to. The combination of the snow-capped Alps, gorgeous lakes, and green, hilly countryside is incredible.

2. The vibe in Switzerland is just great. I can see why it is rated a great place to live. If all my roots weren't in the USA, I would most definitely move to Switzerland

3. The garden of Eden still exists.

Haha at least that's how beautiful I think Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland is.

Lauterbrunnen is literally a little village tucked between gorgeous waterfalls falling from the the Alps. It is spectacular. Pictures don't even begin to give it justice.

4. You can pay 28 Swiss francs ($28.82) for a sandwich and not even regret it. The thing about traveling is that sometimes you are so hungry you don't care what you have to spend as long as you get something to eat.

5. European coffee is fabulous.

I don't know what they do differently in America, but it sure doesn't taste the same. But the difference is, in Europe you pay 2-4 euros for one cup of coffee. Refills are not free. Whereas in America you pay approximately $1.50 for a cup and get as many refills as you want. So we have that going for us.

6. Swiss chocolate and cheese is all it's cracked up to be and more.

Seriously SO GOOD. One day I literally had a hunk of cheese and a hunk of chocolate for my supper.

7. Switzerland is worth every penny.

A lot of people complain about Switzerland being very expensive. I honestly didn't find it that bad at all. And anything that was slightly more spendy was completely worth it.

Italy

1. Italian food is not what I expected.

Maybe it was just where we ate, but I wasn't overly impressed with real Italian food. I would take a Domino's pizza over Italian pizza any day.

2. Pizza and pasta are pretty much your only options for food.

Again maybe it was just where we ate, but we were ready to get out of Italy just so we could eat something other than pizza or pasta!! I don't think we saw a single place in Venice that served anything different from pizza or pasta.

3. Drinking water is very difficult to find in Italy.In Venice especially you can't drink the tap water. There is no such thing as water fountains and bottled water gets expensive. Our hotel hosts were kind enough to give us two bottles of water a day, but even so one was sparkling water. Brayton and I had to take turns of who got the still water.

4. Italians are super nice. Whether it was our hosts, waiters, or random people we met, they were all super wonderful and friendly.

5. Rome is WAY cooler than you could ever imagine.

Whether you are a history bum or couldn't care less, DON'T skip Rome. Going to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum was one of the highlights of my trip. I was just wowed.

6. The Roman Forum is the remains of the ancient city of Rome and it is right in the middle of present day downtown Rome! Everything is in such amazing condition and it is just spectacular to visit. It's a five minute walk from the colloseum. Bet you didn't know that existed so close by. I sure didn't!

7. Do not order the arugula salad. It looks like this:

Thank goodness the waiter saw the horrified look on my face when he placed the plate of leaves in front of me and asked if he could get me something else. I eagerly agreed haha.

8. The Amalfi Coast is not in Naples.

This was probably the most disappointing realization out of anything. Thinking that the Amalfi Coast was in Naples, this was the only reason I wanted to go to Naples in the first place. Naples didn't end up being that great. It was just a very large city with a lot of gangs and poverty. But we stayed at one of the best hostels (shout out to Hostel of the Sun in Naples!) and made some amazing friends. We also got to visit Pompeii which was literally a dream of mine since I was 8. So those two things made Naples worth it :).

9. The train doors in Italy close very very quickly.

I learned this the hard way as Brayton and I were leaving Pompeii. Some lady asked me a question and I turned my head for two seconds as Brayton got on the train. Before I knew it the doors were closing and I was reaching for Brayton's hand desperately. It was like a movie scene as we are both reaching for each other as the doors slam shut, almost taking my arm with it. Within seconds, the train is gone, taking Brayton and leaving me behind. I could hardly believe it! I ended up having to wait 30 minutes or so until the next train, and Brayton and I met back up in the Naples train station a while later.

10. Motels can be cheaper than staying in hostels.

We stayed in a hotel for 50 euros a night (25 each). And honestly, sometimes it's just nice to have a room to yourself.

11. If you wear five layers and take an hour to smartly pack you can sneak the enormous backpack on as a carry on.

France

1. The Eiffel Tower is absolutely stunning. It is just SO beautiful!! I now know why it's such a big deal! And did you know it sparkles at night? Seriously so cool. I couldn't stop looking at it.

Oh and the beautiful sunset helped as well.

2. Chinese food in Europe is a lot different than in America but very delicious. We actually ate Chinese twice while we were in France :b.

3. Expect to be gone for 3+ hours when going out to eat.

Going out for dinner is expected to be a very very relaxing, chill, and sociable time in all of Europe, but especially France. I'm all about relaxing while going out to eat, but after 3 hours, my impatience kicks in and I'm ready for the dang check! Though we tried, neither Brayton nor I could wait long enough for the waiter to bring the check on his own time. We asked, "Check please" every time.

4. Ask the locals where they would recommend to eat.

This way you will find less expensive yet high quality places to eat.

5. Showers can be so tiny that you have to turn the water off just so you can shampoo your hair.

6. You could spend three whole days in the Louve and still not see everything. It is huge.

SLXLM

7. "Let it Go" from Frozen is overplayed in Europe as well as America.

I learned this as I witnessed some chap trying to make a few bucks singing his version of the Frozen song with a portable speaker system and a microphone right outside the Palace of Versailles. It was quite humorous as we watched a policeman pull up and make him stop singing lol.

Spain

1. Spanish food and Mexican food are two COMPLETELY different things.

2. Spain knows how to party.

Clubs clubs everywhere. Most people don't go out until at least 11:00 pm and partying goes on until 6:00 am! Alcohol is also pretty cheap.

3. Of all the countries I went to, Spain was the one that spoke the least amount of English. Good thing that's the one language I know a little bit of.

4. Ibiza is the party capital of the world, but not during off season.

I went to Ibiza because of the beautiful beaches (and I was not disappointed). Of course, I was also curious about its party reputation. I quickly found out however, that any time other than tourist season (which is in summer), the island Ibiza is kind of dead. You can tell it gets absolutely huge with all the empty shops and closed restaurants. I also had great difficulty trying to get to one part of the island to the next because of the bus system. Because it was off season, the buses were not running on "regular" schedule. The bus stops were all in Spanish and very confusing to understand. I ended up wasting several hours waiting for buses that didn't come.

5. And not gonna lie, I didn't even know Ibiza existed until I heard the song "I Took a Pill in Ibiza" by Mike Posner.

6. The island of Ibiza is a lot bigger than I thought.

I tried to find the famous sunset beach Cala Conta and failed miserably. My hostel host told me to take the bus to Sant Antoni. After hours of waiting and trying to figure out the bus system I finally made it and thought to myself, "Oh I'll just walk to the beach." Eleven miles later and I was still 4 miles away (and the beach was across a mountain). So if I was missing something, please let me know because I still don't understand how that works... But I gained a friend in the process and we enjoyed a nice libation on a different beach (minus the sunset).

7. Hostels in Spain and especially Barcelona are THE BOMB.

I stayed in two different hostels in Barcelona (shout out to Hostel One and Sant Jordi Rock Palace!!) and they were just the best. The staff was AMAZING and the activities they provided were SO MUCH FUN. Sant Jordi was by far my favorite, offering 3 euro all you can drink Sangria and 5 euro supper and beer. Each night the staff took us all out to the clubs as a group -- which was wonderful because I wouldn't have experienced this otherwise, being on my own at this point. I made so many friends and it was just a blast.

Ireland

1. The Irish drinking stereotype is a lie.

I was under the impression that Irish people really knew how to drink. I figured they could really hold their own since they have such a reputation for drinking. Well all I saw was Irish people young and old getting sloshed and very sloppy. I saw people passed out on the dance floor, fights breaking out, and a lot of stumbling. And everyone was done by midnight. Not very classy Ireland.

2. Irish food is absolutely amazing.

Honestly some of my favorite food I had in Europe was in Ireland. Between cronuts, burgers, and meat pie I was in heaven.

3. Segregation is still a very serious and real thing.

In Northern Ireland there is literally a wall (ironically called the Peace Wall) that separates the Protestants and Catholics. Catholics live on one side and Protestants on the other. They are only a few feet away from one another and have never talked to their neighbors. Many, many people have been murdered because of the hatred between the two religions. It is very troubling and sad.