Month: August 2019

Finally, the end of the trip. Paris, the city of Light. Paris is one of the cities that I would definitely go back to at some point. It is chock full of interesting history.

I visited almost all of the more famous destinations that one might think of when visiting Paris. The Arc de Triomphe,

The Eiffel Tower,

Notre dame, to what extent I could after the fire,

And of course, the catacombs.

Notre dame was a sad sight to see after the fire. It was fenced off, so I couldn’t get too lose to it, but it still felt like a lot of history had been destroyed in that fire.

The catacombs were really cool. All those millions of bones, just sitting there beneath the Paris streets.

The food in Paris was good as well. I was running on a pretty tight budget, so I didn’t go to any expensive restaurants, but there was a falafel place called L’as du Falafel that made some amazing food.

And then, it was time to return home at last. At this point, I was about ready to go home, I had spent a long enough time in Europe.

This was an awesome trip. I am very glad I had the opportunity to experience Europe like I did. Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend international travel to anyone and everyone. You don’t have to spend five weeks backpacking around Europe, but just experiencing a culture outside of America was an experience I wouldn’t give up for anything. To all those who made it to the end of this travel log, thanks for traveling with me. Farewell for now.

-Stuart Tomlinson

After visiting Munich, I decided to head to Amsterdam. However, I had to make a detour to Berlin first to pick up my hat, which I had left at the hostel there.

After finally arriving to Amsterdam, I found that it was raining. This was one of the first times it had rained on me, which I suppose is fitting given Amsterdam’s affinity for water.

Another thing Amsterdam is famous for is bikes. And that truly is an accurate stereotype. Bikes are everywhere in Amsterdam. I rented a bike one day, and the experience of riding around was very different from any other biking experience.

They also deliver things on bikes, riding these “cargo bikes”. I had never seen these vehicles before, but they are all over in Amsterdam.

I visited a museum in Amsterdam that had lots of famous paintings, like the Van Gogh in the first picture, as well as some more unusual pieces of art, like this porcelain violin.

Lastly, if any of you are ever in Amsterdam, I suggest visiting Winkel. Their apple pie is the best I’ve ever had.

After leaving Prague, I headed to Munich. This trip was by bus instead of train, but it was still covered by my rail pass, so I didn’t mind. In Munich, I stayed in Tent City, a hostel comprised of large tents with up to 100 beds i each tent. The atmosphere was great there. Within 30 minutes of arriving I was already playing volleyball with some fellow travelers.

On a more somber note, the reason I visited Munich was because it is so close to Dachau, a concentration camp built by the Nazis.

Visiting Dachau was certainly a memorable and moving experience. I am glad I visited Munich and got to see Dachau with my own eyes.

On a lighter note, Munich also has a beautiful garden that I spent several hours wandering around.

After leaving Berlin, I had pretty much finished visiting all the places I had on my list of must-visit cities. After some deliberation, I decided to head East to Prague next.

Prague is the capital city of the Czech Republic.

It wasn’t my favorite city that I visited, but it certainly had its cool parts. There was a mirror maze near my hostel,

And that cathedral in the first picture had some beautiful stained glass windows.

On one of the bridges across the river, there is this sculpture:

I don’t know what Jesus is doing with Hebrew lettering around him, but it strikes me as strange.

There was also this cool clock:

I never found out what the bottom face was for, but both were functional.

On my last day in Prague, I came across this group of really good street performers playing instruments and covering popular songs.

That about covers it for Prague. I went to Munich next.