A long awaited end to the Europe 2022 trip. My final thoughts on our trip, what I would do differently, and what my favorite parts were.
DAY 30: JULY 30- TRAVEL BACK TO BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
The bus from Split to Budapest left at midnight so our day started on the bus. We had a transfer in Zagreb that was a 2 hour wait so we sat in the sketchy bus station at 5am until 7:30. I fell asleep on the bench. We got on our second bus and made it to Budapest. We got lunch at the same place we got breakfast on our way out, À table. Our waiter was so nice. From there, we took a taxi to the hotel and checked in. We took naps while we waited for McDonald’s to get there. When they got there, we hung out and went to the restaurant at the hotel. It was a buffet of all Hungarian foods. It was good. Then we went back to the room, showered and went to bed feeling anxious to get home.
DAY 31: JULY 31- TRAVEL BACK HOME
Final day in Europe! Juan left at 6am that morning so we didn’t see him. The Mcdonald’s left earlier to drop off their rental car and bags. It was just me and Haley. We went to breakfast at the hotel and booked a taxi to the airport. Thankfully, nothing was delayed, got on our flight home and smoothly made it home safely! I was definitely sad that it’s over but excited to be home and not living out of a bag and getting back to a routine.
HIGHS OF TRIP
- Trip to Sintra
- Emma getting her Prada purse
- Seeing the Eiffel Tower
- Dinner at L’arte di Dory
- Mario boat day in Capri
- Boat day in Croatia
- Going out in Germany, Budapest and Lisbon
- Jet skiing in Croatia
- Breakfast in Budapest
- Breakfast in Brussels (food in general)
- Getting invited to the Navy party
LOWS OF TRIP
- Losing my bracelet and scrunchies
- Flight/travel delays we had
- Throwing away clothes to fit everything
- Emma being sick
- Baby on the plane being sick
- Getting fined in Budapest
- Anna leaving
- The heat
NEW THINGS I TRIED
- Squid ink black risotto
- Driving a jet ski
- Swimming through a cave
- Flipping off a boat
- Truffle
- Schnitzel
- Shakshuka
- Pasteis de Nada
- Kakos Siga
- Trogirski Rafioli
- Andalouse Sauce
- Kasespatzle
- Sushi Pancakes
- Ginja
WHAT I LEARNED
- Use packing cubes
- Use small luggage and pack light
- Have a laundry bag in suitcase
- Don’t bring a blow dryer
- Have multiple outlet converters
- Travel credit card is essential
- Fanny pack is so helpful
- Passport holder is nice to have
- Have a small wallet to hold change
- Comfy sandals/open shoes, no elevated shoes otherwise just need sneakers and flip flops
- Reusable/resizable water bottle helpful
- Portable charger
- Small travel hair brush
- Have apps downloaded on your phone before, makes checking in for flights way easier
- Plan outfits before hand
WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY
- Stay longer in each location
- As much as I love spontaneity: Prepare more before hand (Research, outfits, plans, excurions)
- Pack lighter and smaller
CITY COMMENTS
- LISBON
- More run down and graffiti than I was expecting
- Calamari was like onion rings
- Lots of clothing lines to dry clothes
- Places opened at weird hours, didn’t know places existed at certain hours of the day
- Fun nightlife
- Food was nothing special
- A lot of hills
- PARIS
- Busy
- Like NYC but prettier
- Harder to get around
- Eiffel tower even prettier in person
- Love ratatouille
- MILAN
- Didn’t spend enough time to know but we stayed in a nice area
- FLORENCE
- Homey
- Limited cars, calm
- Easy to walk around
- AMALFI
- Use donkeys to get things up and down stairs
- A lot of stairs
- Buildings in the wall of cliffs
- Disassociated from the real world
- Over priced and not great food
- Hot black sand
- No waves
- Had to pay 50 cents to use foot shower on beach
- ROME
- Easy transit but really spread out
- Touristy/hard to see attractions
- Dirtier
- Call arugula rocket salad
- BERLIN
- Calm
- Not touristy
- People look intimidating but are actually very friendly
- A lot of cute cafes and shops
- Broken bottles and bottle tops everywhere
- Easy public transportation, maybe free?
- Unique nightlife, night starts late and ends even later
- BRUSSELS
- Nice atmosphere
- Reminded me of Paris and Florence
- Not much to see landmark wise
- Good food
- BUDAPEST
- Amazing food
- Yummy pastries
- Good nightlife
- CROATIA
- Pretty/relaxing
- Clear water
- More old fashioned/run down look