venice heat

Italy. The last stop on my European adventure and the last place I will be talking about on this lovely little blog. This is a country I have been wanting to go to for as long as I can remember (which was then enhanced by watching The Lizzie McGuire Movie, When in Rome, and Under the Tuscan Sun). Apparently my trips became heavily based off what I have seen in movies. We started our Italy tour in Venice. With all of its winding streets, boat taxis, and never-ending canals it was kind of a given that we had to go there. 
We spent the majority of the time lost in the mini streets of Venice. But that was kind of the beauty of it all - minus the fact that I don't think I have experienced hotter weather. Mix that with walking around all day equals girls who just want to sit and eat gelato. So that's what we did. 

the start of an obsession

My cool friends

a different sort of day

So catching up on all of the things I did in the last months of my time in Europe seems to be taking much longer then I anticipated. I hope you stick along for the ride because some of my favourite places are still to come. But for now here is more on Munich. 

Our last day in Munich started off differently then the rest. The three of us woke up relatively early for a tour of the Dachau concentration camp. Located in the middle of a town, it is hard to believe that a concentration camp was placed there, and remains there as a visitation sight. We spent a majority of the day learning about the happenings of this specific camp, why it was built, and how its story ended. The day feels like a blur now. There was so much to absorb, and all of it was hard to both imagine and grasp. Despite being a depressing tour all three of us felt as if it was necessary to go on while in Munich. And I am so glad we did. 

But then the day turned around. It got a lot happier with the help of some wonderful new friends and a few litres of beer. The Bavarian lifestyle knows how to cheer someone up.

We actually met Brett, Christian and Ben on the tour at Dachau and spent the afternoon/night trying out different beer gardens, running through fountains, and eating one of the most delicious meals ever.  

the meeting point

My June adventures started off with a stop in England. After making the journey from Paris to London, I met up with Mel. For anyone who doesn't know who Mel is she is this sometimes cool girl who I live with in Kingston. Just kidding, she's never cool (I love you Mello). We hadn't seen each other in over 4 months so we were both looking forward to being reunited.

We spent the next 3 days wandering around the streets of London and perusing the various districts. I showed Mel around the places that I had previously been, and felt were necessary to see and then we saw a bunch of things that I wasn't able to see the other times. 
It was the perfect way to start off our trip. Plus, reuniting with friends is the best.

Beauty London weather

London Eye

Abbey

Legit fan

St. Pauls Cathedral

St. Pauls

Trafalgar square

Harrods

Spice girls anyone?

Hyde Park

Reunited

the beginning of my final travel adventure

My second Eurotrip is in full swing. I met up with Mel a few days ago and we have spent the first little while exploring London. As I have mentioned before I absolutely love this city. I love the vibe, the sights, the accents, and the history. I took her around to a few things that I had done the last time I was here (Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey) and we did a bunch of things I hadn't gotten to do yet (Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Tower of London). My favorite was the Tower Bridge, aka the one that stars in the spice girls movie. I have been wanting to see the bridge since I saw the movie (aka when I was about 8) and I can now finally check that off the list.
We met up with Sarah a couple days later and spent a bunch of time in Hyde Park enjoying the fantastic weather and catching up on each others lives. It has been so great to finally see these girls after so long. It is always nice to know that you can fall right back into a friendship after being apart.
our next destination was Munich which I was very excited to revisit after how much fun I had last time. I was read to hold that litre mug and eat a pretzel. xo

the next step

My time in Scotland is over. After the tears fell, the goodbyes were had, and the last drinks were drank we all went on our separate ways. I am going to miss everything about Glasgow and the people I met there (well maybe not the lack of recycling but that could just be me). I learned so much over my four months on exchange - living in a new country, travelling, meeting new people and discovering things about other cultures. It was a once in a lifetime experience that I will be eternally grateful for. 
But now it is on to the next adventure. I am currently in Paris with my mom, brother and grandma and will be here for the next few days. After that I am meeting up with two friends from home that I will be travelling with for three weeks (I will share a bit more on that later). For right now I am going to reminisce a bit more about my time in Glasgow. Here are a few photos from our last nights in Scotland.