Washington DC Day 1

Tags

travel, wanderlust, washington dc

My sister and I successfully survived our first trip together!! We recently returned home from a long weekend in Washington DC. It was my first time going but her second time. She low-key hated it when she went the first time so she was looking forward to going and making happier memories that didn’t include being with a group of 50 eighth graders in matching colors.

We started our trip by going to eat dinner at a friend’s apartment. It was nice to get to meet this group of girls that I’ve been communicating with on Facebook for the past few years! It was a wonderful way to spend our first evening in the city.

Friday morning, we hit the ground running. I’ll just foreshadow a bit and tell you we walked over 40,000 steps and nearly 19 miles on this day.

We started with a tour of the Capitol. Our guide was a young man from Wichita Falls! Neither of us knew him, but it was neat to have him be from here! Because our tour was early in the morning, we got to the National Mall before it got crowded. This allowed me to get an AMAZING photo of the Capitol with no one in it.

After the Capitol, we went to see the Library of Congress. We hadn’t planned to see it, but the Capitol had a tunnel connecting the two so we decided “Why not! Let’s be spontaneous!”

We walked through the Botanic Gardens also, but were a bit disappointed that there weren’t many flowers. We kind of rushed through that and I think would have skipped it if we had known it was just greenery.

After the gardens, we headed to the Natural History Museum. I was a bit disappointed. After seeing museums in London and Paris, I expected more from our museums. Especially from the building itself. In other countries, the building is a part of the museum. It’s beautiful and extravagant and massive. At the Smithsonian, it was just a building that houses the artifacts. I thought the London Natural History Museum was much better. We didn’t spend a lot of time here. Maybe two hours, including lunch.

We visited the National Archives next. We had tickets for a few days later but plans changed and we weren’t able to keep them. We decided to see what the line looked like and try to go in. There was no line! I was afraid we would be waiting over an hour like the internet said was likely. We waltzed right in! There was a bit of a line in the Rotunda where the Charters are, but still not bad. I wish we could have taken pictures of the Declaration and Constitution, but I understand why we couldn’t.

We visited the American History Museum last. It was probably my favorite museum we saw. We spend a while in this museum since the exhibits were so interesting and so interactive.

We walked around the monuments a bit before dinner also. We had to go to the hotel and check in to our trip at a certain time so after that, we had dinner at Old Ebbitt’s Grill (GO THERE IT WAS AMAZING) and then walked through the monuments again as it was getting dark.

By the end of the day, we had over 40,000 steps and over 18 miles. I had blisters and our feet and legs hurt so much! It didn’t feel like we had walked that much though. I doubled my busiest day from London but it didn’t feel like it at all.

Day 5: A Cambridge Adventure

Tags

cambridge, england, wanderlust

Today, we took another trip out of London. This time, we went to Cambridge! (Not Massachusetts)

We spent most of the time wandering the naturey parts of the city. We took a collegebacks punting tour on the River Cam and that was so fun. Our guide told us about all of the colleges and bridges. He also told us that Stephen Hawking still teaches at Cambridge! 

After punting, we went towards King’s College where we found out that the grounds were closed due to exams and graduation. We were still able to visit the chapel though so that was exciting. 

We had a lot of time left after the chapel so we once again ate fish and chips. We had passed a botanic garden on the way to the river earlier so we decided to return there and walk through it. They were having a plant festival so we got to see a bit more than normal!

We took an earlier train back to London than we had planned but that allowed me time to take this photo: 

I paid £20 to skip a massive line and be next to take my photo. We would have been in line for an hour! I got a lanyard that said VIP, a Hogwarts Express ticket, and a printed copy of my photo along with a digital copy. 

Now we are sitting in a Starbucks wasting time until closer to 6. We have dinner reservations before we see American in Paris tonight. Brazilian food!! Seeing American in Paris and eating Brazilian food all while we’re in London. Makes me laugh!

Tomorrow we will be taking another daytrip away from London as well as meeting up with some friends who are also on a “holiday” as the Brits call it. It’s so hard to believe tomorrow is our last day in the U.K. before heading up north to Scandinavia! 12 days left until we come home! 

[Late] Europe Adventure: Berlin

Tags

berlin, eftour, europe, germany, travel, wanderlust

That awkward moment when you realize this was supposed to get posted LAST summer. Like 2015. Whoops.

Late, but not forgotten, Berlin 2015. Berlin will mostly be a photo diary as I no longer remember the small details of the day.

From what I recall, we only spent one day in Berlin. We arrived via a sleeper train from Munich and got straight to sight-seeing. It was mostly a driving tour so I didn’t get many photos and the ones I did get aren’t that great. The next morning, we flew out to head home.

Brandenburg Gate

 

Europe Adventure: Salzburg

Tags

austria, ef tour, europe, travel, wanderlust

This has been in my drafts for months. I guess I never published it. Oops. I have several I never published. They’ll be out soon.

We took a day trip to Salzburg, Austria  on one of our last days in Europe. Salzburg is where Mozart was born and also where Sound of Music was filmed. First though, we stopped at the salt mines right next to the city.

View from next to the salt mines

 

We had to put on jumpsuits before we could go into the mines.

Inside the mines, we saw machines that the miners would use and took a few slides to get deeper quicker. There was even a ferry that took us across an underground lake.

After the mines, we took a Salzburg tour. Our guide was a sweet old lady who knew everything about the town. She told us a lot about Sound of Music and Mozart, because I guess that’s what they figure Americans know about.

Julie Andrews danced here!!

And here!

This is where Mozart was born.

She also danced here. This was the Do-Re-Mi fountain.

Austria was just beautiful. I don’t know that I’m desperate to go back, but I’m so glad I got to mark it off of my list.