travelling tales

As promised, here is some more travel tips and pictures in a little Europe ‘through the looking glass’ 🙂 I’ve not been able to edit David’s pictures as well as the ones taken on my canon slr, so please excuse the change in brightness and saturation etc.

We stayed in a range of different accomodation during our month away – and for us it was a mix of Hostel International, privately owned hostels and also apartments. We booked them all through Hostel World, and Hostel Bookers. It took a lot of time and research, and trawling through reviews and doing so many comparisons but in the end it was worth it! We were happy with all the places we stayed in, so if you are planning to go anywhere in Europe from our itinerary list then let me know – I could definately recommend a place to sleep and good places to eat/see 🙂 Now, onto the main tips (coughLESSONScough) we learned on our month away travelling…

1. Sightseeing – arrive early!

Me and David have both went to Paris on different occasions before this trip. When I went, it was summer and busy and I was in Disneyland so didn’t get a chance to really explore Paris. When David went, it was winter and it was really quiet. Well, with us going just then at the height of summer – it was totally mobbed! The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, The Catacombes, and The Louvre all had queues stretching for hundreds of metres. And we thought we had arrived at these places reasonably early!

So best bet is, if there is a certain sight that you are absolutely dying to see (and by see I guess I mean go in, not just wander around outside it like we did :p ) then you really need to get there SUPER early – for it opening, if possible! Either that, or bring a packed lunch and a fold out camping chair… because you are going to be waiting a while.

I’m not sad that we didn’t end up going up The Eiffel Tower, or for a wander inside the Louvre. There was so much of Paris that we wanted to take in, neither of us wanted to spend 3 hours of our day queueing. I know it’s a place that I will certainly be going back to, so no worries or regrets there 🙂

2. Home comforts are expensive

The stress of travelling sometimes makes it easy to give into home comforts, like British cereal, McDonalds, and of course the beloved starbucks! Fair enough the euro rate is pretty crap at the moment, but indulging in the old favourites from back home is much more pricey in Europe than what it is in the UK! I’m not tight when it comes to money, and yes we did give in a few times but seriously, I could have died at the Starbucks at Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, when I saw how much my usual drink cost. Meh! 🙁 So, lesson learned was don’t give in to the easy option (un big mac s’il vous plait!?) You’ll save much more money – and feel more culturally satisfied in the long run – by going off the beaten track and venturing where the locals go. This latte and cake from a tiny little cafe called Cacao, in Slovenia, was well priced and so yummy, and well worth not actually being able to read anything on the menu 🙂

3. You don’t need to spend tonnes of money to have fun!

In Interlaken, Switzerland, I literally could have blown my life savings on outdoor sports. Paragliding, canyoning, bungee jumps… you name it. The amount of stuff you’re able to do there was just mind blowing. I would defo love to go back to Switzerland in the winter with my snowboard, and maybe dedicate an actual trip to ‘extreme sports-ism’ :p So, we just opted for hiring bikes for the day and it was so much fun!

5 hours and a very sore arse later, we stumbled upon this field of horses.

They ovb don’t speak english, I was trying my hardest to make them come over!

*pondering*

Yasss! Haha. We got to see so much more of Interlaken by bike than what we would of by foot. It didn’t cost us much, and we had such a good laugh. My bike had a little basket which held our lunch and munchies for the day 🙂 sorted!

 4. Don’t get burnt!

Yeah, just don’t. Or your purse will be 15 euros lighter from buying aftersun and aloe vera, and you will look like this:

Look at my chest 🙁 Not cool! This was in Croatia, when we were at the beach. I did try to be really careful and we wore suntan lotion every day, even in the cities, but by the time we got to the coast my peely wally skin just couldn’t cope with the heat.

It died down after a few days, but all it did (apart from severely damage my skin, of course) was make it bloody sore rubbing against my clothes, I had to stay out of the sun and we missed another day at the beach! Which is a bit of a bummer when you’re only in a certain place for a little amount of time and you have a set out plan for what you want to do each day. So, don’t get burnt, or ill/severely hungover, and you will be dandy 🙂 easier said than done.

5. Don’t hesitate to engage with the locals and their culture/language

Yes, its daunting, and yes, as Scottish born and bred I feel completely ashamed when I venture off to foreign lands that I can’t indulge in the language properly. So many people in European countries speak such strong English, its easy to get caught up in the luxury and comfort of speaking our native tongue. However, if you really really try to make an effort wherever you can – be it a hello, thank you, or goodbye – the locals really do appreciate it and I feel like you get so much more out of the place and whatever situation you are in. I was rocking the francais in Paris, and with a few polite words an old french local at Notre Dame gave me a piece of special sponge like bread, and showed me how to get the birds there feeding out of your hand 🙂 A little effort goes a long way!

6. Explore the shops 🙂

Ha, enough said! Poor David was dragged around for hours, but I was determined in each city to find some good shops and I’m glad I was so persistant! I’m very fond of skate/surfer brands such as DC, Roxy, Volcom, Burton etc, but they’re really hard to track down in the UK (Well, Scotland! Cornwall has always been my go to for such brands) In Vienna we stumbled upon an awesome shop called Rag, and I got a couple of cool tshirts and a giant paul frank purse – which has done me awesome for my petty cash and invoiced etc at work! 🙂 I noticed that Gem from Gem Fatale’s Style Blog did some seriously cool shopping when she was in Paris. She was mentioning areas and places to shop that I had no idea about 🙁 So sometimes wandering works, but sometimes its worth researching before you go if there are vintage shops, malls, flea markets and stuff that you really want to visit. Because chances are, they’re probably gonna be a little bit off the tourist track.

7. Dress for the weather

Ha, a very obvious one. But seriously, living out of a backpack was hard going and you really do need to cover all weather eventualities!

Cool air in Munich – rocking the tee that I bought whilst in Vienna

Warm evenings in Berlin – a very last minute borrow from David’s sister Amy! When I say last minute, I literally mean as we were walking out the door lol. So glad I had it in the end 🙂

A denim shirt – my life saver. Hardly ever needed ironed, went with everything, and was much more suited and hardwearing than a cotton shirt or cardigan. Best and most worn item I took!

Plain shorts and more detailed tee’s from Topshop became my usual outfits. Good shape for a suntan without exposing your shoulders or chest too much, kept me cool, and could easily add leggings to for a quick change for dinner in the evenings.

Investigating the sales over there – I bought this sleeveless denim shirt and polka dot dress (which you can’t really see) for 10 Euros from a shop called Pimkie! There were stores in many of the places we went too, and it kinda reminded me of New Look. With awesome sales 🙂 Score!

8. Do your research before you go

Like I mentioned a couple of tips above, if there is anywhere that you are CERTAIN you want to go to, google them before you go. So you know the metro stop or general area that it’s in. I made the mistake of not doing this with the two main places I wanted to go to in Paris, Sephora and Laduree. Luckily, there were Sephoras everywhere! And my lovely boyfriend took a blogworthy picture while I was having a wander 🙂 Please excuse my chub arm and horrible hair angle – not too flattering haha thanks David 😉

Finding Laduree on Champ Elysees actually took longer than I expected! There are little mini stalls in a few of the malls, but this was the branch I was determined to go to.

We queued for a good 25 mins inside – hence the slightly sweaty and starstruck look haha. Was so worth it though 🙂

David didn’t ‘get’ why it cost 11 Euros for this tiny little box. And believe me, I could have bought a much bigger box! But once he tasted one of the mini macaroons I think he knew why 🙂 Major yum!

The rest of our shopping in Paris wasn’t so successful – I didn’t stumble upon any cutesy vintage boutiques or places that I was dying to blow the rest of my money. Lots of it was designer and overpriced and I’m just not that much of a fashion snob to properly appreciate it 😉

From Sephora I got a little neutral shadow set with browns, metallics and a nice cream base. As you know I’ve been working on my smoky day eyes for a while now, I’m getting the hang of it a wee bit more (thanks to the gorgeous Emma at MAC!) So here’s what I’ve been wearing daily made out of my Sephora pallete.

9. Kiss and make up

1 week on holiday is considerably different to 1 month. We had differing opinions, got on each others nerves, and wound each other up something awful but at the end of the day we also kept each other safe and sane and laughed lots every single day 🙂 I feel like a long trip can be make or break for friendships or relationships – just like living together can be. Make sure whoever your travel partner(s) are, you know you can be honest with them. You both know that you are going to see each other every hour of every day through the highs and lows, and that any anger you take out on them isn’t personal – they are your travel buddy and the closest thing to you for the trip!

(David knows that I am right 99% of the time, and I KNEW he would love the mini macaroons!)

After a month of seeing me at my best and worst, and facing some long journeys and stressful situations, I think a boy who can leave a note like this for me on our second last day, and take a picture while I’m sleeping is certainly a keeper ♥

Ayden x