Stories of exciting times abroad and the "you had to be there to believe it" expressions were merely a different world that I wouldn't experience anytime soon.
But I was wrong.
The year 2014 turned out to be quite the traveling one. Living in Madrid made everything so possible, so close, and so cheap. As many of you know, Ryan Air is a blessing, providing budget flights to many destinations in Europe and Morocco, and we definitely took advantage of it.
So much so that our trip consisted of four cities in three different countries. First on our destination was Eindhoven, in the southern part of the Netherlands. Wishing to see snow once there, we were granted our wish right away when our flight was delayed because of a snow storm. After getting our shoes wet in snow, and getting lost a little bit, we eventually found our hotel: Crown Inn.
Why Eindhoven? Because of the Van Gogh-Roosegaarde Bicycle Path close to Niemen. Unfortunately for us, the snow we wanted to see eventually made the path invisible, and hard to find on a late day.
However, Eindhoven was magical, and quite lovely. The small town feel was the best part about it, and the snow capped it off nicely.
On to Amsterdam. We arrived the 27th after taking a train there from Eindhoven. At first we were really excited for the city: the history, the internationalism of it, the food, all of it. We stayed just 10 minutes from the center in Diemen. We got a deal staying there than in the center.
So much to do in Amsterdam. The museums, the streets, the bikes, the diverse food, the Red Light District and the drugs all allure people to this city every year. But to us, it was not as special as we have heard countless times.
Yes, it is a great city, and yes, it has so much history. The architecture is fascinating, and the central station is quite the example. Also, Anne Frank's house and the City Archives bring you back to the city's history and its dealings with foreign invaders. Despite Amsterdam not meeting our expectations, we are set on coming back.
Hamburg was our first visit to Germany. I was really excited. Again, the history tells you so much about a place, and Hamburg definitely has it. However, the weather really hampered things for us, and the time of the year - New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Being from Florida didn't help us either, and the wind constantly cut through our clothes when we tried to go outside. And when we did, most things were closed - quite the bummer.
Just as Amsterdam, Hamburg has great architecture, especially around the Town Hall area. Since the days of the German Confederation in the late 1800s, Nazi Germany, West Germany and unified Germany today, the city of Hamburg has reemerged to now compete with Berlin in hosting the 2024 Olympic Summer Games. Whoever wins will go against US cities - may the best win! (though there are some reports that Hamburg dropped its name from the national competition)
Lisbon, oh Lisbon. Already tired and wanting to go home and be with our cat, Hendrix, Lisbon never disappointed. The weather definitely helped, and our hostel as well. Be My Guest is a new hostel in Lisbon that is cheap, friendly, super clean, and overall fantastic. Meeting with Couchsurfers, getting lost in the old parts of the city, running into cats and visiting Belem were small jewels in our trip there.
Portugal definitely holds a special spot for us. Back in June 2014 when we went to Porto and fell in love with it, Lisbon again confirmed that Portugal is a cheap, warm and great traveling destination for everyone looking to get away.
So am I a traveler now?
I realized I always was, although I didn't notice that the excitement of finding a clean bathroom, a cheap grocery, laughing over something dumb, meeting new people, trying to speak a different language (and at the same time making a fool of yourself) is what a traveling, ever-learning soul is about.
Thank you Shannon.
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