Kam's Postcard

The last couple weeks have been eventful and oh so fun! From making mojitos in Paris and taking a Gondola in the Swiss Alps to spending a couple nights in Austria then flying to Rome.

The day after writing my last blog, I was set to take a train to Amsterdam to meet my friend Jada who was flying in from the states. Plans were slightly derailed as I got into a scooter accident in the AM hours on my way to the train station, fracturing my shoulder. As she was landing in the EU, I was waiting in the ER🙈 Fortunately, it was a pretty minimal break and after an x-ray and sling, I was out of there. We initially had plans to take a train from Amsterdam to Paris together, so we improvised! I repacked into a suitcase from a backpack and took the train to Frankfurt for the night to split my travels. An early train the next morning had me in Paris by 10:00am. The girl’s trip had officially started!

Jada and I spent time exploring all the “must see” tourist places, did much walking, and had a local, Jada’s kind friend Océ, show us a good place to eat. We (of course) placed a lock on the fence by the Eiffel Tower, took the infamous Louvre photo, and saw Paris through the bird’s eye view in a tall Ferris wheel. Oddly enough, two of the girls in our same hostel room happened to be from Minnesota!

After Paris, we were off to Chur, Switzerland with a brief stop in Strasbourg, France for the their famous Christmas market. Switzerland is now at the top of my list! Our hostel was an old converted prison. The prison was functioning up until 5 years ago, only being closed down in 2020! We took the most amazing train ride through the Swiss Alps, and oh my the mountains were breathtaking. Anyone who knows me knows my love for both true crime and the mountains… I was in heaven.

We then took the train to Salzburg, Austria – visiting an old castle and exploring the town. We spent quite a while chatting and meeting other travelers! After that, we were off to Munich, Germany. This was our last stop, so by this point we were both pretty worn out and let the day come as it may. We connected with a couple of people who were at our last hostel in Austria that also happened to have Munich as their next destination. One was from Ireland and the other, Australia. We then met a few other people, and decided to join them for a comedy show after a couple rounds of cards. We were under the impression the comedy show was in English. It was in fact mostly in German, so us 7 English speaking folks ended up as the butt of the joke that night😄 Later on, we explored the night life of Munich and continued meeting other travelers!

The following day Jada and I were sadly set to part ways. I made my way back to Magdeburg to meet up with Rachel, and a few hours later we were off to Berlin to catch our flight to Rome, Italy early the next morning. Upon arriving in Italy, we decided to go spend a couple hours in Fiumicino, taking in the views of the Tyrrhenian Sea. We struggled with the bus system, but eventually found our way with some help😅 Once to Rome, we visited cathedrals, stopped at historic sites, went to Vatican City and St. Peter’s Basilica, drank lots of coffee, and enjoyed the pizza, pasta, and gelato. We walked our little hearts out, hitting 26k steps on Saturday. I truly enjoyed seeing a city as ancient as Rome! 

Once back to Magdeburg, there was a couple rest days followed by an afternoon trip to Bremen, Germany (yesterday) for my scheduled tattoo appointment. Fun fact: The name Bremer roughly translates to “person from Bremen, Germany”. I’ve wanted a tattoo to represent my family name and also my travels, so when I stumbled on this tattoo shop there last month it was perfect!

All summed up, the past few weeks have been quite busy after many relaxing days my first month here. I met many other travelers including some from Ireland, Australia, Argentina, and various parts of the US. It was a wonderful experience and I’d highly recommend staying in hostels while travelling! It’s truly eye opening. I plan to write more detailed blogs about the individual countries we stayed in, so check back if you’d like more specific travel details. 

Until next time!

Kam