Amsterdam

Guest blog by Emma Courtney http://www.emma-courtney.com

 

It's the last day of our backpacking portion of the trip, and we had most of the day to spend in Amsterdam. 

We spent the morning walking around exploring, and in the afternoon we took a boat tour which was nice. We really enjoyed doing that, as it was a fun way to explore Amsterdam and see everything from a different perspective. We found a nice cafe for lunch and tea overlooking the water and a cat came and hopped up on Chris' lap and slept there for over an hour, which was very cute! We walked past the Anne Frank house and saw the line up was probably a few hours long so we decided not to do that and learned we should have booked it in advance if we wanted to see it. Before 3:30 they allow online bookings and after that it's at door ticket purchase only (of course it was just after 3:30). 

Right now we are at the airport ready to head to London. We are relaxing for a day, and on Monday heading to the Lake District to relax and hike. We have had an amazing two weeks travelling around many different places but we are definitely looking forward to being in England for the next 5 weeks, and not moving around so much!

BRUGES AND BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

Guest blog by Emma Courtney http://www.emma-courtney.com

 We had a beautiful sunny day in Brussels and enjoyed walking around enjoying the atmosphere. 

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Starting from the train station, we walked to the cathedral, Grand Place Grote Markt, and saw amazing views from the Palais de Justice, walking back up to the Palais Royal and Federal Parliament. We had lunch in the Grand Place Grote Markt and later enjoyed Belgian waffles in Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert. Brussels was very beautiful, we really enjoyed our day there! Finally, ending the day by travelling to Bruges where we will have a day to explore, as well as some relaxing!!

 

Bruges was beautiful! We enjoyed relaxing and walking around the little streets and canals. We had breakfast at a tea house where we had Belgian waffles, trying them for a second time. The waffles we had in Brussels were somewhat crunchy you could say, so I thought maybe they over cooked them, therefore having to try them again - and they were the same. Later we were talking to people who recommended another place and they were amazing! I ended up having two. Also, the person working there said there are two kinds of waffles, Brussels waffles which are long and crunchier or the other kind, which are soft and delicious. We also enjoyed lunch and dinner in the main centre, Markt, staring out at the beautiful buildings including the Belfry of Bruges. Finally, we went to see the old windmills and went up into one and saw how they worked and a got a view over the town. Really lovely experience! From Bruges we head to Amsterdam for the day before hopping on the plane to England. 

FÜSSEN, GERMANY

FÜSSEN, GERMANY

Guest blog by Emma Courtney http://www.emma-courtney.com

 

Today was the absolute perfect day. We caught a horse drawn carriage up to Neuschwanstein castle, and took a tour around the castle - the paintings and everything were gorgeous! 

Following, we hiked around the area, convinced that even though the bridge was closed we would find the perfect view and we did! We hiked right under the bridge - above the gorge/waterfall. After we had schnitzel for lunch, and started walking towards the Tegelbergbahn, which is where you can get a gondola to the top of the mountain. First off, the walk from the castle to here was so beautiful with snow cap mountains all around! When we finally got to the Tegelbergbahn we went on this bob sled ride through the mountain which was a lot of fun! Then we caught the gondola to the top where we enjoyed a cup of tea with hot apple strudel. Such an amazing day to celebrate two years together! 

We decided we didn't need two days in Füssen so tomorrow morning we are heading to Munich early and might make some adjustments to our travel plans from there!

 

If anyone ever plans on visit the castle I definitely recommend going early. We did a 9:55 tour and any later would have been too busy. We also had to get there by 8:15 to get tickets. The ticket office was insanely busy when we left the castle later. Also I really recommend doing the gondola ride up the mountain. Both the castle and the view from the mountain combined are one of my favourite memories! Plus the tea of course (surprisingly not pricey for being on top of a mountain!) Absolutely amazing memory!  

PLITVICE LAKES AND ZAGREB, CROATIA

Guest blog by Emma Courtney http://www.emma-courtney.com

Zagreb has been a different kind of adventure than Budapest, but we've still really enjoyed it! 

It has rained almost every second of our time here in the past two days! The first day we relaxed and explored Zagreb and found a sweets festival going on nearby with many little booths of sweet treats as well as live music. 

Today, we went to  Plitvice Lakes National Park, one of two national parks in Croatia I've always wanted to visit! I was a little disappointed with the weather being so rainy but we made the best of it! We arranged a bus ride with our hostel, and had about 3-4 hours in the park. We walked a few km through the park and saw amazing waterfalls and nature throughout. It was a great experience! Plus because it was such horrible weather, it wasn't too busy - or at least as busy as I've heard it can be. Many great memories, photos and very wet feet! 

Next we're heading to Munich and Füssen, Germany!

Budapest #budapest

BUDAPEST

Guest blog by Emma Courtney http://www.emma-courtney.com/2016/05/madrid-in-five-hours.html

 

Budapest has been an amazing stop on our backpacking trip! We have had two beautiful days here and managed to see everything - even some things twice! 

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Despite the weather forecast, it only rained yesterday afternoon and evening and by that point we had already seen a lot. We bought a hop on hop off bus tour with a few different routes so we were able to get off at tourist attractions and learn a little history about Budapest. Day 1, we managed to cover the castle district, and see beautiful views from Fishermans bastion, one of our favourite attractions of the day. We also did a boat cruise allowing us to see Budapest from all angles. Day 2 we spent the morning at The Széchenyi Medicinal Bath, definitely a memorable experience from the trip. We were able to try different baths at different temperatures as well as enjoying the outside baths. The rest of the day we spent exploring the Városliget (city park). We have loved every minute in Budapest and would definitely come back again! Next we are off to Zagreb, Croatia!

Madrid in five Hours #madrid #spain

MADRID IN FIVE HOURS

Guest blog by Emma Courtney 
http://www.emma-courtney.com/2016/05/madrid-in-five-hours.html

Today we are starting the next leg of our trip where Chris and I are backpacking on our own! Today we flew from Santiago to Madrid, and spent 5 hours exploring the beautiful city! 

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We started at Cibeles Palace and Palace of Linares, continuing to Alcalá Gate, where we entered into Parque del Retiro and enjoyed walking around. We relaxed by the Estanque del Retiro (Retiro pond) with the monument of King Alfonso XII as well as viewing Palacio Cristal. We were also able to see a few other beautiful attractions that the city has and really enjoyed the short amount of time we had. We are now back at the Madrid airport waiting to our flight to Budapest! I will keep posting updates for this portion of the trip. 

Backpacking in Europe #backpack #europe

Guest Blogger:  Emma my daughter :)

http://www.emma-courtney.com/2016/04/backpacking.html

Photo from topten.ph

The next part of our trip we are backpacking - with just a daypack!

I wanted to keep things simple, and get the backpacking feel within a short time period. We are hitting a few countries in only a short amount of time, and I am really excited.

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After finishing the Camino de Santiago, we will fly to Madrid, and have a layover of about 8 hours, part of which we will explore a little (not really planned, but why not!?). From Madrid, we will be flying into Budapest, where we will be spending a few days.

From Budapest, we are taking the Eurail to Zagreb Croatia, where we will be visiting Plitvice Lakes National Park - something I am really excited about!

The next stop on our Eurail trip is Munich, and then taking transit to a small town called Füssen, where we will spend a few days exploring Neuschwanstein Castle and the Alps. Then travelling back to Munich, exploring for the day, and then continuing on the Eurail to Bruges. Spending the day in Bruges enjoying all the chocolate and then finally, heading to Amsterdam for the day, flying back to London.

Now, this isn't your typical Europe trip because we have both already done a lot of touristy areas, and I thought it would be nice to travel to some new areas and do a quick pass through. We basically picked a few things we wanted to see or places we wanted to visit, and went from there. The timeline is because we had 12 days between the camino and when we were meeting in London to head to the lake district to hike.