Country #78 - Ireland

The Airports

My mom and I woke up at about 3:30am this morning, making it without a doubt our earliest morning of the trip. We took a taxi to the Budapest airport (BUD) where we had to go through immigration as we were leaving the Schengen Zone. It didn’t take too long and we were soon on our first (of three) flights of the day, this one being to London Stansted (my least favorite airport, of course). The flight took about two hours, the first of which I blogged and the second I slept. When we got to Stansted we had purchased fast track passed for both immigration and security as we had a really short time to transit. Immigration was pretty simple (we just went straight to the front of the line), but security took a while longer.

The fastpass line for security was almost empty, yet somehow it seemed like almost every person in line had to have a bag go through extra screening. So we were through security in like two minutes, but along with everyone else had to wait over twenty minutes. I get it, but also there is a limit – if your systems can’t handle the extra screenings effectively then something needs to be done, and if I’ve learned anything through my travels it’s that Stansted Airport can literally handle nothing effectively. We finally got our bag (which wasn’t even checked, just randomly selected when there was already a line of twenty bags), we then grabbed a quick snack at Pret and headed to our gate.

It took a little bit to board but even longer to actually leave. We sat on the tarmac for over an hour, eventually arriving an hour late to Dublin on what was only itself an hour-long flight. When we arrived we then had three hours until our next flight instead of the four we had originally planned on. I know that sounds incredibly early, but Dublin has a different system than any other airport I have ever flown to the US from. It is called US Preclearance, and you actually go through US Customs and Border Patrol in Ireland. So then when you land in the US, you are treated like a domestic incoming flight – you just walk right out of the airport. Anyways, I had no idea how long this process would take, so we were trying to be extra early.

Exit immigration was annoyingly slow as they only had two desks open for a very long non-EU passport line while they had at least twenty EU lines open. We got through after about twenty minutes, and then had to switch terminals. We checked in to our Norwegian where this time they thankfully didn’t weigh our bags, because they without a doubt would have been overweight. I am actually amazed that we fit everything in our bags to get it back home – it was definitely a struggle, though! I got witnesses to sign for Ireland as well at the check in counter, and then we made our way to round one of security.

You have to go through security twice when flying to the US through somewhere that has US Preclearance. The first is the airport’s basic security, and the second is a TSA level security screening. I was randomly selected for extra screening today which wasn’t too exciting, but the line was actually shorter than the regular lines so I ended up finishing at the same time as my mom. The next step was immigration, which was a breeze as always for me thanks to Global Entry – I’m so glad they had it at US Preclearance! It took my mom twenty minutes in the regular line while I was done in maybe two at the most. I waited for her on the other side before we bought a few snacks and made our way to our gate.

We boarded and were off without issue. Takeoff was actually pretty exciting as there was a bunny right by the runway! That's definitely not something you see every day. Once we were in the air there were enough seats for us to move and each have an entire row right across from each other – it was so nice, especially after such a long day! When we land in New York we are being picked up in Newburgh by my Aunt Dana, and are then headed to eat dinner with my cousin Robert who is a freshman at West Point. It will be so nice to spend time with them both, but especially to get to see Robert as he doesn’t get too many Alabama visitors so far from home!

I know that I didn’t get to spend a lot of time in Ireland, which was definitely sad for me as it is one of my favorite countries that I have visited before starting this trip, but my main reasoning was that I just spent so much time here last year. I spent a week traveling all throughout the country only eighteen months ago, so of every country that I have skipped through quickly, it was one of the less painful to do that for. I’ll definitely post some pictures from my actual visit though! I spent time in Belfast (it’s in Northern Ireland, so technically the UK), Dublin, Galway, Killarney, and Cork, and it was a great introduction to just an amazing place. Some of my favorite stops were the Titanic Museum in Belfast, spending a few days in Dublin, the natural beauty of Killarney National Park, being poured rain on in Galway, and kissing the Blarney Stone in Cork. If you want to learn more, check out my Ireland guide. I had the most incredible time on that trip (I travelled most of it by train), and cannot wait to visit again in the hopefully very near future!

This trip to Europe for the past two weeks with my mom has been so much fun and really just the best time. I travel by myself so much that it was so nice to have someone to share things with, even if only for a little while! Solo travel and travel with others are just so different but I love them both so much. One of the best aspects of this trip was that we visited many places that I had been before, so I was able to share my favorite things from those places, but then we also did so many new things and visited even those places that I had been before during an entirely different time of year. The Christmas Markets were an amazing part of our trip, and I highly recommend you take a trip to Europe to see and enjoy them. My favorites markets were Helsinki and Prague, my favorite street lights and decorations were Amsterdam, Helsinki, and St. Petersburg, and my favorite light show was hands down in Brussels.

It was truly just the best and it is a bummer to be going home, but at least we are headed home for an exciting few weeks around the holidays! I’m very glad to be home for Christmas with my family and both of my extended families before setting off again at the end of December. Also, fun side note, I am now officially 40% done visiting every country in the world!!

78 countries down, 118 to go.

Country #77 - Hungary

The Fisherman’s Bastion

It’s a sad day as it is the last day of my trip with my mom through Europe. We had a full day in Budapest, Hungary though, so we definitely finished on a high note! We began the day with breakfast at our hotel, Fraser Residence Budapest, before taking the great public transit in Budapest over to Buda Castle. Inside Buda Castle we visited the Hungarian National Gallery for about forty-five minutes. It was really cool because almost all of the art was Hungarian and it covered Renaissance to Modern art. Afterwards we headed outside to watch the changing of the guard. It was definitely unique and I’m really glad we saw it. There were about ten men doing a drill with their guns to a snare drum.

Afterwards we walked over to Castle Hill where we first visited Mátyás Templom. Mátyás Templom is a beautiful and very unique church that is one of the highlights of Budapest in my opinion. It is so intricate both inside and out, and I love how inside you can climb to the second level and go through a small museum. When we finished at Mátyás Templom we then did Fisherman's Bastion which was right next door. The architecture of the interesting structure that is almost synonymous with Budapest is fantastic as art the views out over the city from it. We walked along it before then buying a few souvenirs on our way to lunch.

For lunch we ate at one of the best restaurants of my trip thus far, 21 Hungarian Restaurant. I want to thank 21 so much for sponsoring this meal of my trip! It was an absolutely perfect meal. I started off with some yummy (and, more importantly, warm) hot chocolate. We had bread to start with a tasty local spread. Next, we shared a goulash and man it was so good. Like we could have stopped there with our meal and been more than satisfied! We kept going, though, and our main courses were exquisite. I had wiener schnitzel and my mom had chicken paprikash, though we definitely shared with each other. Mine came with creamy mashed potatoes that were so buttery and good.

We were absolutely stuffed by the time we finished, but we ordered traditional Hungarian sponge cake for desert anyways. It was a good call because it was so tasty and a great way to finish off our perfect meal! 21 Hungarian Restaurant not only had great food but a great location (right by Fisherman’s Bastion) and a really cool asthetique as well. Thank you again so much to everyone at 21 - we had excellent service throughout our meal and could not have asked for a better lunch!

After lunch we took the bus over to walk along the water from the Chain Bridge and see the Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial, which is dedicated to those who were shot into the Danube during WWII. It is a really unique but very well done memorial, and you should definitely visit if you ever find yourself in Budapest. From there we walked to the famous Hungarian Parliament Building, which truly is one of the most intricate and beautiful buildings. We decided against visiting inside, though, because it was really quite expensive and there wasn’t another English tour for an hour. Our next walk was to St. Stephen's Basilica. On the way there we passed two of the cutest puppies playing together in a park and it was just really a cuteness overload.

We arrived at St. Stephen's Basilica and found the first of two Christmas markets we would be visiting today set up outside. We went in St. Stephen's Basilica before doing the market to give ourselves plenty of time to shop. It is a beautiful church and the inside is so beautiful and intricate. The exterior is also the perfect backdrop for a Christmas market, and made the market all the more enjoyable. We visited all of the stalls and bought a few souvenirs before making our way to a second Christmas market located at Vörösmarty Square.

The street lights around Vörösmarty Square were so pretty and much more plentiful than throughout the rest of the city (there were lots throughout the city but this area wa especially well decorated). There was a cool light display on one of the buildings in the square, and we spent a good amount of time shopping through all of these stalls as well. Once we finished shopping we had a great Hungarian snack for a light dinner, as we were still stuffed from lunch, called a langos. Our langos (and what seemed to be the most basic offering) was basically a funnel cake covered in sour cream and shredded cheese and boy was it good. Someone needs to start selling them at home because I would definitely buy them! We also had mulled wine to drink which was good but more importantly warm.

After eating we walked back through the market and then took the metro back to Fraser Residence Budapest. It was relatively early but we have to be up at 3:30am tomorrow for a very early flight to start off our crazy long day of travel to get back home. It was a great last day of the trip, though, and a really perfect day spent seeing Budapest!

77 countries down, 119 to go.

To learn more about Fraser Residence Budapest click here.

Country #76 - Czech Republic Day 2

The Castle

Today I woke up to the quite unexpected (but very exciting) news that Doug Jones had won the special Senate election in Alabama, which was a great start to the day! We packed up our things and stored them in the Miss Sophie’s luggage lockers before heading to the restaurant for a very nice brunch. I had fruit, an omelette, and sausage, and it was all so tasty! We then made our way to the tram stop which we took towards Prague Castle. It took about twenty minutes to get to the base of the castle area, and we then had to climb the large hill to the top.

Our first stop (after figuring out how to buy tickets - I’ve never seen a museum not take credit cards) was to head inside of St. Vitus Cathedral. St. Vitus is incredible both inside and out, and we were sure to take tons of pictures. The gothic architecture is stunning and the stained glass was striking, quite literally as the sun was shining right through it. After St. Vitus we walked through the Prague Castle area that is open to visitors. It is really amazing how old the building is, with parts of it dating back to the 1500s. No pictures were allowed inside, unfortunately! We made our way to St. George's Basilica next, which is much smaller and very different from St. Vitus, but is beautiful in its own right. It is very understated but has some really unique architecture.

The last stop on our ticket was the Golden Lane area which is basically just a street filled with cute buildings and shops. We picked up a few souvenirs and gifts before heading to our last stop on Prague Castle, a classical concert performance in Lobkowicz Palace. My mom really wanted to see live classical music while we were in Prague, and this ended up being a great one-hour performance by a flute, piano, and viola. The performance was really good and it was set in a fantastic room as well!

After finishing our visit to Prague Castle we worked our way back down. We stopped by St. Nicholas Church but didn’t go in as we didn’t particularly want to pay, were running out of time, and I had been in on my previous visit to Prague. We then walked up Malá Strana (a popular street) where we each bought a small piece of glass. Before crossing the Charles Bridge we made sure to stop by the always colorful and inspiring Lennon Wall. We then crossed over the beautiful Charles Bridge, which offers arguably the best 360-degree view of Prague, before taking the tram back to Sophie’s Hotel.

We grabbed our bags, caught an Uber to the airport, and after a thirty-minute drive and moderate wait at security we bought some great Czech Republic chocolate as well as a snack to hold us over until Budapest. It was quite an annoying ordeal boarding the plane because Taylor Swift tickets went on sale literally the second we were climbing the stairs onto the plane. Luckily my dad was able to try and buy some from home, and we eventually succeeded (thanks again to my dad for the help), it was very stressful especially since I missed the presale while I was on the ferry to Russia. Anyways, it all worked out, and the flight was very short to Budapest, Hungary.

When we landed we took a taxi to our hotel, Fraser Residence Budapest. We were given a one-room suite with an incredibly huge balcony, full kitchen (even with a washing machine), and tons of space! It’s a great room and I cannot thank Fraser Residence Budapest enough for sponsoring this night of my trip! We decided to stay in, rest, and enjoy the room before we have a whirlwind last day of our trip spent exploring Budapest tomorrow!

76 countries down, 120 to go.

Read about my first day in the Czech Republic here.

To learn more about Miss Sophie’s click here.

To learn more about Fraser Residence Budapest click here.

Country #76 - Czech Republic Day 1

The Spires

Today was an early morning departure from Brussels. We took an Uber to Brussels Midi train station where we took a twenty-minute train to Brussels Airport (BRU). When we arrived the airport was super crowded which was likely due to almost half of the flights this morning being cancelled due to snow. It wasn’t a ton of snow, but apparently, it was enough. We were lucky, though, because we boarded our plane without issue and took off only a few minutes late. We watched an episode of Stranger Things on the hour and a half flight and before we knew it had landed in Prague!

We decided to take an Uber into the city because, having been to Prague before, I knew it was going to be quite the hassle to take the city bus into town on such little sleep. It’s definitely doable, but just not today. The ride took about thirty minutes and our nice driver from Bulgaria dropped us off at our hotel for this stop, Miss Sophie’s! The charming boutique hotel is located in the heart of Prague and we were greeted so warmly upon our arrival. Thank you so much to Miss Sophie’s for sponsoring this night of my trip! My stay was absolutely fantastic. Upon check-in, our room was not quite ready yet so we sat in the restaurant to plan out our day before heading out for our first stop - lunch!

We ate at a cute hamburger spot in the heart of Old Town Prague called Fat Cat Brewery. I was starving and had a super filling chilli cheeseburger, along with some nachos and fries to share. Like I said, I was starving. It was a nice break before setting out and seeing the city for the rest of the day. First up was to walk through the famed Old Town Square and see the Prague Astronomical Clock. The clock is cool (but nothing to get too excited about) and the square was especially great because the Christmas Market was going on! We had a great time walking through all of the stalls and seeing tons of mouth-watering trdelnik everywhere. We were so full, though, so it’ll have to wait until tomorrow!

After walking through the stalls and letting my mom stop and take tons of pictures of the square we went inside of St. Nicholas' Church which sits on the north-west corner of the square. It was beautiful yet very compact so it was a very quick stop. From there we then walked to get a closer view of the iconic Church of Our Lady before Týn before walking to The Powder Tower. The Powder Tower is really cool because it is one of the original city gates and you can climb up to the very top for an awesome view out over the whole city! My mom tried to get out of it at first, but she was definitely glad she did it - the views were amazing and so worth it! Also, as far as climbing towers in Europe goes, I have climbed much higher and steeper - it was not bad at all.

Our next stop was to walk to the Spanish Synagogue. I had attempted to visit on my last trip to Prague but it was randomly closed. This time it was thankfully open! It was a beautiful synagogue and definitely one of the most interesting spots in town, especially when coupled with the entire Jewish Museum ticket (the best option for seeing the Spanish Synagogue). After visiting the beautiful structure and reading the exhibits inside we then headed towards synagogue number two before making our way to the Jewish Cemetery. It was a unique layout for a cemetery; the graves were almost stacked one on top of the other as were the tombstones. It was a very interesting visit and I really enjoyed learning so much about Judaism in the Czech Republic. The last two stops of the museum were another synagogue and a museum on funerals. It was a great part of the day and I’m glad I was finally able to do it all!

After finishing our visit to the Jewish Museum we then walked to Rudolfinum, a beautiful building that serves as a music hall. Our last stop of the day was to look out over at the Charles Bridge which we will be visiting tomorrow. We then took the tram back to Miss Sophie’s where we snacked on the lovely welcome basket (chocolate, champagne, nuts, bruschetta) and finished season two of Stranger Things before calling it our first really early night of this trip. It was a super early morning but a fantastic day. We have a few more hours in Prague tomorrow before heading to Budapest!

76 countries down, 120 to go.

Read about my second day in the Czech Republic here.

To learn more about Miss Sophie’s click here.

Country #75 - Belgium Day 2

The Rain and The Christmas Light Show

Today I fought off my better judgement and slept in longer than I had intended. While half asleep I told my mom to go to breakfast by herself and woke up two hours later at 11am. After a busy week, I think I definitely needed the extra sleep before day two in Belgium! Once I got up and ready we grabbed some free hot chocolate downstairs at ibis Styles Brussels Centre Stephanie. We walked outside to board the tram which is when I first saw the beautiful snow that had fallen overnight. Our tram stop turned into quite the spectacle when the tram had its path blocked by a car that had parallel parked too far into the tram lane. The tram had not yet reached our stop but we watched all of this unfold down the street. After about five minutes of honking at the car a large group of people got off of the tram and somehow pushed the car towards the curb enough for the tram to get by. Like I said, quite the spectacle!

Our first actual stop of the day was Église Notre-Dame au Sablon, a stunning gothic cathedral. I really liked the inside because even though it seemed similar to many incredible churches that I have had the opportunity to see before, it had a few really unique qualities. I loved that it was lit almost entirely by natural light through the giant stained glass windows, and there were also some very unique sculptures that I’ve never seen in a church before (e.g. a giant wooden boat). After taking in the church we headed across the street to walk through a beautiful park that we had just happened upon, Jardin du Petit Sablon. It was full of cool statues and my favorite part was the really cool bushes. If you didn’t know bushes could be really cool, Brussels will definitely show you they can be.

From Jardin du Petit Sablon we then walked to the Royal Palace of Brussels. It was on this walk that we realized the beautiful snowfall was going to turn to gross mush sooner rather than later and that we would be dealing with it, plus what was now rain, for the entire day. It was quite dreary, indeed. The Royal Palace, though, was exceptional. It was beautiful and filled with more beautiful gardens. It’s an actual palace so you can’t visit but that was okay because it was stunning just to see from the outside.

After the Royal Palace we had a longer walk to the European Parliament. This was a last-minute addition to the day once we realized that both the Royal Museum of Fine Arts and the Musical Instrument Museum were closed - but I am so glad that we visited the European Parliament instead! Our first stop was a tour of the parliamentary chamber. There was an audio guide that offered information about how the parliament and its proceedings work, and it was super interesting. Afterwards, we visited the Parliamentarium, the official visitor center for the European Parliament. It was really one of the most interactive and unique museums that I’ve ever visited!

When you enter you get an audio guide that works with the native languages of every EU member country. You then use your audio guide throughout your visit to tap it on different interactive exhibits to either learn more via audio or to activate the exhibit to use it interactively. There were so many cool exhibits, from learning about the formation and addition of the EU to learning about how the EU works and learning a lot about its citizens. It was such an informational visit (especially as I’m obviously not from the EU) and was very well done as well - oh, and it was free, too!

After the Parliamentarium we took the metro to St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral. It was another beautiful one! It’s similar in style to Église Notre-Dame au Sablon, but also quite unique as well. I enjoyed the different Christmas displays set up inside from cultures from all around the world - it was fascinating! It was also a nice respite from the literal pouring rain at this point. Our next stop was to walk through Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, which is a sort of outdoor/indoor mall - it’s basically an outdoor shopping center that is opened at the ends but covered at the top, and it is so pretty, especially with the Christmas decorations.

Our final stop of the day was the area around Grand Place and Town Hall, arguably the most famous spot in Brussels. When we walked up there was music playing, and it turned out to be the music that goes to the absolutely incredible Christmas lights display! Lights on the buildings all around the square are linked to music (it was traditional Christmas music as well as Christmas songs by Sia). I have never, and don’t think that I will ever, see Christmas lights that top it. Not only are the buildings themselves some of the coolest you’ll see in Europe, but then they have an incredible light show on top of them! I’ll add a video so you can see for yourself.

We only saw the very end before we walked around the buildings and the Christmas market that was all around the area. My mom bought a few ornaments and we enjoyed walking through the stalls before we headed back to the Grand Place to see the entire Christmas lights performance. It was 15 minutes of mind-blowing lights and music and I highly recommend you visit Brussels just for the light show if you are ever in Europe around Christmas. After the lights we were completely drenched through our clothes and freezing, so we ate at a really cute little restaurant right on the square, called La Brouette. We had a seat by the window so we had such a cool view (and saw the light show once more from inside an hour later). I had a hot chocolate, a chicken puff pastry, and a really yummy traditional apple and ice cream dessert. It was a really great meal to end the day on.

Our last stop was to see the famous Manneken Pis statue, otherwise known as the Peeing Boy. By this point, it was snowing again, and snowing hard. Luckily it was only a five-minute walk from the restaurant, and we took a short look before getting on the bus to head to the tram to then head back to ibis Styles Brussels Centre Stephanie. It was such a great, but very wet, day! We saw a lot of Brussels, learned a whole lot about the EU, and really appreciated all of the Christmas spirit that Brussels had to offer. It’s time to head east for a few days, though, as we are headed to Prague early in the morning!

75 countries down, 121 to go.

Read about my first day in Belgium here.

To learn more about ibis Styles Brussels Centre Stephanie click here.