Days 28-30: Lyon

Warning! Last blogpost update! Yes it is sad, but life will go on, and I still have much to tell you about from our visit in Lyon! On the 28th we woke up, and it already was looking like it was going to rain, so we decided to have a museum day. We went to the Museum de Confluences, which is a "hodge podge" museum as Matilda would call it, having many different forms of exhibits related to the arts, sciences, history, and literature. A must visit if you are ever in Lyon, here we learned about the long process of making traditional pots in Africa, to the question of where life began, and what happens when it is over. After having lunch in the museum, we headed out to try to find traboules throughout Lyon. Traboules are hidden passageways that people used to use to get into the center of the city faster so they could go to the market or get water from the spring without having to push their way through the crowds on the main streets. We did find one which had a cool staircase attached to it, and had a lion symbol guiding you along the pathway. We tried to get to the longest traboule located in Lyon's Old Town but it was closed off. So we snagged some pastries in a bakery in the old town and went back to the hotel to get ready for a fancy french dinner. The place we had dinner at, Le Bistrot Maquignons, had some amazing food, and I highly recommend trying it out. Then, because it was Bastille Day, we headed to the town center to watch the fireworks, and then headed back to our hotel. The next day we took a trip to Dijon, a small town outside of Lyon where the famous Dijon Mustard was created! We wandered around, stumbling across a large market area, and also an owl, after having our lunch. This owl (bronze plaques and arrows laid into the ground) guided us through the streets of Dijon, and allowed us to see many of its historical and contemporary landmarks. After doing this for a while, we headed back to the train station to have falafel for dinner in Lyon, before heading off to bed. The next day was our final day together! We packed up and took a train to Paris, where I then said goodbye to Matilda, as she is going back to England for her flight home in a couple days, and I headed off the Germany to visit family for another week before heading home. Thank you to all who have showed continued support of the blog even when I took my time to update it. I hope you enjoyed reading it, even when my writing style and techniques were somewhat questionable, and the pictures were not always of high standards. Good bye to you all and thank you again for allowing this blog to thrive, even in the small community of Gloucester, and wherever else you may be located around the world! 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Days 25-27: Cannes

On Day 25, we packed up and moved from Riomaggiore to Cannes by train. After arriving at Cannes, we discovered that our hotel was quite a distance from the train station, but after we got there. At least it was a good workout! Next we headed into town and had some burgers at Steak n' Shake. Then we walked down a pier where it seemed like you had to have a minimum of three floors on your yacht to dock there. After strolling around a bit longer and getting some ice cream, we headed back to the hotel. The next day we got up, took a quick look into a market, and headed to a ferry which took us to one of the islands of the coast of Cannes. It was amazing and the water was perfect to swim in. After we walked around the island for a while, exploring the interesting little nooks and crannies of this magnificent nature reserve, before heading back to Cannes and having delicious chicken burgers and subs for dinner. Today, we headed off to Lyon, our last stop together! After Lyon, Matilda and I will go back to Paris, where Matilda will head off to the UK for a couple days, and I will go into Switzerland and then to Germany to visit some of my family. But we will be doing a lot these next couple days so continue to stay tuned! Today, once we got to Lyon, we headed out to explore the city, and look for some dinner. After we wandered around we found a falafel restaurant, which had surprisingly awesome outdoor seating in its back garden. Now we are heading back to our hotel, possibly walking around a bit after to see the nightlife of Lyon. Stay tuned for an update tomorrow night, or the next day! 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 

Day 24: Riomaggiore

Today we wanted to spend the day at the beach, so we went looking for a famous secluded beach near Corniglia, one of the towns in the Cinque Terre region. So we went to find it, but of course instead of ending up at that beach, we ended up doing a very long hike up a mountain and ended up in the town of Vernazza. There was also a very nice beach so it was not that bad plus the hike was amazing! Now we are back in Riomaggiore, and planning on having some great seafood for dinner! Thats all for today!

 
 
 
 

Days 20-23: Salzburg and Venice

On our first full day in Salzburg, we slept in a bit, and then went out looking for breakfast. As we were walking, we came across a small cafe called Richie's. The espresso's were excellent but we could not have been more surprised at the quality of the food we ordered. The pasta and wrap were both amazing and very cheap, which made it even better! After, we decided to explore the old town of Salzburg. We walked through little markets, getting some giant pretzels, and even found a store where Matilda got her first dirndl, a traditional German/Austrian dress. After, we tried to get to the castle, but apparently, even your walking all the way up, its still an expensive entry fee, so we ended up climbing half the way up and then going back down. After, it was getting late, so we went to have dinner, and then headed back because we had some big plans the next morning. The next day, we woke up early, got dressed, and then got picked up by Wolfgang from Salzburg Adventures, who brought us to the top of a mountain to go paragliding! If you have never gone paragliding, it is 100% worth the time and money. We had so much fun gliding across the mountains of Salzburg, even though Matilda landed in a tree on her first takeoff (she was fine though). After, we were kind of late to the train we were supposed to take to Venice, our next destination, but we found another train that got us there at approximately the same time. When Matilda and I got to Venice, we got lost trying to find our hostel, but eventually we did find our way to the hostel, which is located on a small side street coming from another small side street. It ended up being a very nice place though, sheltered from the loud nightlife. After, we went and got dinner, and then headed off to bed. The next day, we went to explore the maze-like city of venice. It was beautiful and there were old shops and small restaurants hidden around every corner. We wandered over the winding canals and tried to get lost in the narrow alleys. For linch we stumbled on a restaurant called Oglio, and we had a cheap but delicious lunch of squid ink tagliatelli and spinach tortellini. After lunch, we decided to keep wandering the streets because that turned out to be the best way to explore the city. Then we took a quick break, showered up, dressed up nice, and went out for dinner, where we came across a place called Osteria Ruga di Jaffa. The food we had was incredible. Never have I tasted such good Spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams). Matilda had the gnocchetti alla busera. The gnocchi were fluffy, and the slightly spicy sauce with shrimp complemented the pasta perfectly. With full bellies and smiling faces, we ventured back out to find gelato and soak up the atmosphere of the city at night, before passing out in our beds when we got back to the hostel. The next day, we took a train to Riomaggiore in The Cinque Terre region of Italy. If you ever go to Italy, this region is a must visit! It is amazing, all the small towns right next to the ocean, cheap but amazing take away food to eat down by the water, and wonderful, warm, swimming conditions makes this place practically perfect. After spending our evening getting delectable street food and swimming, we headed back to sleep and get ready for our tunneling adventure the next day!

** currently the wifi is not strong enough to upload pictures so I will upload them as soon as I get a better connection!**

Days 17, 18, and 19: Prague

After arriving in Prague, we had dinner at some interesting places and then went to bed. The next morning, Matilda and I decided to spend the day more or less exploring Prague, so we took the metro to about where the Charles Bridge is and walked around there for a bit before deciding to hike up a mountain to where a mini Eiffel Tower is located and Prague's very own rose garden. We passed by an "enchanted cavern" with an  odd exhibit of art but we were unsure what type of enchanted it was. We had lunch at Pastar, which was given a very high rating, but not as impressive as we expected it would be. From there we wandered around, eventually finding Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock. Matilda and I did want to see the Prague Castle so we headed up, but it was later and all the exhibits were closed, so we decided to come back the next day. After encountering a sudden surge of rain and a quick coffee break, we headed out to find dinner, and then headed back to the hostel. The next day we went to a different sector of Prague, the more residential and local area, to find a market where apparently they serve very good Bun. It took a bit, dredging through the wilderness of a park, the winding isles of a thrift shop, and a cranky grandmother, but eventually we did come across some amazing lunch and ice cream. Then we headed towards Prague Castle and took a tour of it, the cathedral in the castle, a dungeon, the torture room, and a couple other interesting places. After we went back and had dinner at a classy burger joint, and then traveled down to the river and walked around, finding a very interesting looking building, and a nice little park. Then we headed back to our hostel because we had to get up early to catch our train. Of course, sleep did'nt really happen to come that easy this night because some person decided to turn on all the lights in our room for a couple ours around 11pm but we did manage to get up today morning and make our train to our next destination, Salzburg! The train ride was very long but we had a window we could open so we were able to hang our heads out the side and watch the world go by. When Matilda and I arrived, we made our way to the hostel, and so far just had some sushi for dinner. Thats all for these past couple days! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Days 13, 14, 15, and 16: Berlin

On Day 13, we thought it would be a good idea to go visit some museums! So we went to the famous Museum Island of Berlin and went in a couple of the museums there, including the DDR Museum and the Altes Museum. Exhausted from our museum tour we went to Kaufhaus Das Westens, a famous, incredibly vast, German supermarket, especially famous for its incredible food court. There we had our lunch and explored it a bit longer before coming back home for dinner. The next day, we decided to try to find some more small markets and Lia and Matilda wanted to go shopping so we went downtown and found a market, which was somewhat interesting but relatively small. After a couple minutes of walking around we went to the other market, had some lunch, and headed back home for dinner. The next day we headed over to Potsdam, renting some bikes out before heading in to explore this amazing city. We found a small street with many little interesting shops, where we also then had lunch, and then found an amazing garden/park with the Potsdam Castle and an old windmill which you could go to the top of and see exactly how a windmill works. After, we headed back for a last dinner with the Hechts before going out to explore Berlin one last time. The next day we said goodbye to Lia as she headed off to the airport for it was her time to head back home, and hopped on a train to Prague, our next destination.