Short adventures.

I recently finished a 9 day trip on my own. I really have to say it was one of the best trips I have ever taken. I went to Belgium,Denmark and Czech Republic. I have to say though, I planned a trip that went way beyond my expectations. I had an amazing time. I thought that I would spend more time alone honestly, reflecting and just getting used to being on my own. That was far from the truth. I was very lucky to meet several wonderful people on my trip. I am so grateful to all the people I met, and shared conversations with. Learning about other people and having them share their time is something I really am truly grateful for.

The first place that I went was Brussels, Belgium. I decided upon Brussels for many reasons. One of them being well chocolate. I love chocolate, and of course waffles. But there is so much more to this city than that. It is literally bursting with life and is so incredible. I was lucky enough to stay close to the Grand Place. I got to go explore the city at my own pace and see the mixture of cultures. Brussels is truly a gem. There is so much to do there, and I believe I only tapped an ounce of the surface area. I went to Brugge too. This city so lovely, no wonder it is a UNESCO historical site. It was rather cloudy though, and my tour only gave me a short glimpse of the area. I met a daughter and father traveling together there. We shared the tour together and had a wonderful time conversing. I had a wonderful time to say the least.  On the way back I met another person. She was from singapore! We decided since we were both on our own we would do dinner together. This turned out to be an adventure hahaha. We got cat called by almost every waiter in a door that we passed, which was hilarious. The next day was equally cool, as we did some sightseeing together too. Later on when I went to this pub called homemade near the grand place. There I met an amazing and interesting couple from Canada. They are spending a year doing their honey moon and making it a honey year. I think that is a superb idea personally. Their names are Colin and Janine. They live in the Netherlands as their base, and travel about. They were kind enough to invite me to visit them sometime, which I hope to do in the near future. I really have to say I enjoyed my time there a lot. I saw the Renee' Magritte Museum, the Cartoon Museum and Hotel de'Ville. I even saw the famous Mannekan Piis.

The next place I traveled was Copenhagen, Denmark. Given the fact my flight was delayed and I only really had a full day there I had quiet the adventure at the Brussels airport. I met a fabulous guy from Malmo, Sweden and another amazing guy from San Francisco. The guy from San Fransico, whose name is Andrew was a true expert on Copenhagen! Luckily he volunteered to help me find my way around from the airport to the city center of Copenhagen. He  had great tips and stories that he shared with me. It turned out that Andrew was a great person to meet when it comes to food information, because he is a personal chef in Brussels! He had great food advice on places to eat in Copenhagen. I  was so excited to meet someone who knew about Copenhagen's food scene, and really understood it. The other guy from sweden, whose name is Evaen was really interesting to talk to as well. He lives in Malmo, which is one the most technologically advanced cities in northern Europe! So cool. I  ran into a dear friend of mine on the street, which was ironic! We hung out the next day. I guess I look rather Danish and many people liked my accent. I was told several times to just keep talking. It was interesting, and it had great benefits too. I got all kinds of awesome discounts, including a tour a almost no cost! I was really glad for the tour, because I had been walking quiet a bit and was excited to have a bus to ride around on. I really enjoyed Copenhagen, as it is very easy to get around and the people there are really friendly. I really liked that they had Nachos everywhere I went too. I was so excited to have REAL Spicy food after living in Germany the past 6 and a half months.

Lastly I went to Prague, Czech Republic on what was probably the scariest flight of my natural life. I realize that it was budget airline, but it felt like I was in a pop can being shook about. This was not a good way to start my day thank you very much. I was a tad apprehensive about Prague to be honest. I chose the city on a whim, and the fact that it has such a rich history. Being a former east block country, it was really interesting to see for me. I had never been to a former east block country so it was really a different experience for  me personally. I stayed at what was a stunning hotel for a very low price, and I was really amazed by yes, the architecture. It was almost untouched during world war two, so the architecture is stunning. Prague is teeming with a rich history and equally interesting residents. I stayed near a bus station called Florenc near Old Town. Florenc is not the prettiest area of Prague, but the hotel Designhotel Elephant was probably the most beautiful thing about it. The interior is very modern and gorgeous. I loved it there to be honest. It was my favorite hotel that I stayed at the entire time I was on my trip. The old town area of Prague is breath taking, although swarming with tourists.

 I was able to do a tour of the Kings route and Charles bridge. On this tour I met 4 lovely ladies! Three were from Montana and the last from England. I really enjoyed talking to them and we had lunch together. The one woman from England invited me to visit her ! I am so excited, and I look forward to venturing back to England sometime soon. One of the other ladies is traveling around Europe and ran in the Prague Marathon that was going on the Saturday I left. I wish I had had more time to hang out with them, because they were just so fun and interesting.

I know I use the word interesting alot to describe the people I met, but truly I dont know how else to describe them. I feel incredbibly blessed and thankful for all the wonderful people I met on my adventures, and for all the help hotel staff gave to me. I as well am thankful for the strangers on the street who helped me, find my way and gave me useful insights.  This was one of my greatest adventures and I am so glad I went off on my own. I wouldn't suggest this type of adventure to everyone though. It takes a lot of planning, patience, trust and self knowledge to accomplish this type of travel. Only do it if you want to learn how to be confident in yourself, are able to handle anything that comes up and willing to trust your gut so to speak.  That said I have grown as a person on this trip to and learned so much about myself. It really woke me up to how wonderful humanity is, and how beautiful it is to share time with people.