Well, as I said before I knew I’d be posting this blog in the USA, but I’m finally excited to recap

Well, as I said before I knew I’d be posting this blog in the USA, but I’m finally excited to recap my eurotrip 2k17 with my roommate Maddy!! It feels weird to blog now that I’ve been back home now for about 10 days, but I guess I can pretend I’m still gallivanting around Europe with little to no worries :)After I finished up work at the bank, Maddy and I set off on our adventures. First stop was Prague, then Salzburg, and our final stop was Munich for Oktoberfest!Prague~Prague was absolutely lovely the second time around. I had gone while studying abroad, and I always said I would love to come back because it truly is like a fairytale. We did a lot of walking around to see the amazing views of the city, the stunning castle, the Charles Bridge, and the famous John Lennon Wall. I remember it was a little chilly and rainy at times, but other than that, we had a great hostel location and met some really nice people on this trip. Besides the fact that the currency was so bizarre to us, (100 Czech krona was equal to about 4 euro), we managed to find some great places to eat with pretty cheap deals (Maddy had a handy convertor app on her phone for us to quickly check)!Salzburg~Okay, Salzburg takes the cake I have to just say that to start. It was most definitely my favorite stop. And, conveniently it was where we spent my 24th birthday! Wow, what a day. It was 70 degrees and sunny, what more could I ask for? Maddy and I started the day with a nice meal and ICED coffee (not as common in Europe as it is in the USA…thankfully I’m back in Dunkin territory now!) After we filled our bellies, we started the trek up to Hohensalzburg Fortress. It was quite a steep hike, but the views did absolutely not disappoint one bit. The views of the city and the alps from all around the castle were unreal. I couldn’t get over it. After hiking back down the hill, we spent the rest of the day exploring the city, which is home to Mozart’s birthplace. They also had some lovely gardens and some ideal people-watching spots along the river. We finished up the day with a traditional Austrian meal before calling it a day. 10/10 birthday for sure!Munich~Finally, we headed to Munich for the infamous Oktoberfest! Again, I had been to Munich before when I studied abroad, ironically at the time of Springfest (a smaller version of Oktoberfest). This one was a much bigger thing. It was so packed and a much larger deal than Maddy and I had anticipated. Honestly it was like a massive carnival with huge beer tents everywhere. We actually camped out in tents for the 3 nights we were there as part of a travel company. It was definitely an experience…but I don’t think I would do it again. Let’s just say Maddy and I were more than ready to get out of that campsite on our last day. But overall Oktoberfest was a blast - we met some awesome people and went on some fun rides, too! Prost (German for cheers) to an unforgettable time!Once we returned from our trip, we had a little over a week to enjoy ourselves in Ireland, relax, and get all of our things packed up and ready to go! We did have one more exciting event  to look forward to, though. Maddy, Kieran, and I had bought tickets a while back for a Third Eye Blind concert in Dublin, which was so amazing. Tickets only cost 25 euro and were so close to the stage we couldn’t believe it! Maddy and I were in our 90s music glory days and Kieran was very much enjoying it as well!!I also went down to Waterford for a few days to see Kieran’s fam one last time before I headed home. Definitely going to miss going down there, especially down in Tramore and being a five minute walk from the beach, but I’ll be back I’m sure!!So, my year abroad has come and gone and I can’t really believe it. I’m finally adjusting back to the Eastern time zone, using the dollar, driving again, and all of the other little parts of American culture. It’s a very bittersweet feeling after being over there for a while having settled into a routine and all. I am so grateful I was given this opportunity - as much as it had its ups and downs - I wouldn’t trade it for anything!Thank you to all for following my adventures, I really hope you enjoyed it even if I was sub par at keeping it updated on a regular basis!On to the next chapter now!!Slainte to that!-VS -- source link

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