Lucky for me (or not) I booked a nonstop flight from Portland to London. Hopefully I’ll be able to shed the travel nerves, catch some sleep and finish up some last minute changes to the itinerary!

With a window seat, this travel kit and the whole row to myself I’m off!

After a long flight I was happy to walk around & find my way to the train station and on to my hostel.

After checking in to my hostel I scouted out a \240local coffee shop (surprising, I know!) for a caffeine boost before heading to Tate Modern, a modern art museum, on the banks of the River Thames. On my way to the museum I walked by The Tower Bridge and over the London Bridge!

The museum was both incredibly uplifting and FREE! Unfortunately I arrived late in the day and only had an hour to wander around - despite this I covered a lot of ground & hopefully I’ll find time in the next couple days to head back again.

After the museum I stumbled upon St Paul’s Cathedral on my way to the historic Trafalgar Square via DOUBLE DECKER BUS!

St Paul’s Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral

To round out the night in true British fashion I popped into a pub for a pint o bitter (for you Dad!) and fish ‘n chips with mushy peas on the side!

Whew - it’s been a long day! \240Goodnight!

The sun came out briefly & I wandered around the grounds of St James Park & Buckingham Palace \240before taking a long stroll through Hyde Park en route to the Princess Diana memorial foundation - which wasn’t as monumental as I had imagined!

Princess Diana memorial fountain.

Next I made my way to Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. Sadly, both Westminster Abbey and Big Ben were under construction and wrapped in scaffolding but I snapped these shots anyway!

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben all covered up!

Next up was a Japanese, vegan ice cream shop I had heard about a while back called Yaki Yaki - I was tempted to get the sweet potato coconut but after a taste I opted for plain ol vanilla.

Vegan soft serve with gluten free waffle cone!

I continued on my walking tour and headed to the theatre district and then back to the River Thames for a short river cruise to the Eye of London.

Eye of London.

And I’m officially beat! Total miles walked today: 10.4miles!

Top secrets location of the Crown Jewels!

Lady armor!

Not a statue.

After working up a good appetite walking around the Tower of London, I walked over to Boroughs Market for some coffee and pastries! The open air market has all sorts of stalls selling street food from all over the world plus British specialties.

Monmouth Coffee Roasters

Chocolate croissant!

This photo doesn’t do these meringues justice - they were the size of a softball!

After tempting myself with all sorts of sweets I headed back to my hostel to pick up my backpack and stares the trek to London’s Euston station to catch my train to Manchester!

My train info is up there somewhere - I’m getting the hang of reading these time tables.

I’ll be meeting up with Amanda in just 2hrs!

Caitlyn & her boyfriend

The whole gang at Lyme Park!

The whole gang after dinner at Janet’s.

Afternoon tea with the girls in Manchester at Richmond Tea House!

Janet’s garden

Janet’s garden

Shibden Hal in Halifax

A proper afternoon tea at Betty’s; Sarah’s first ever afternoon tea!

York

Betty’s!

View from the front steps of our hostel in the Lakes District!

As seen on our hike up to Helm Crag

As seen on our hike up to Helm Crag - the summit offered 360 degree views!

Town of Grasmere in the Lakes District

William Wordsworth’s (famous poet) Dove Cottage in Grasmere.

Cathedral of Norte Dame - After the fires we weren’t allowed inside as they are still completing renovations.

Jardin du Luxembourg - an enormous garden in the middle of the city. There were lots of chairs placed around the gardens by the city to sit and read or people watch!

Jardin du Luxembourg

Yummy French bakery!

I don’t know how the French stay so thin with all the bakeries!

The Lourve - Mona Lisa is in there somewhere!

The ionic Eiffel Tower!

Joan of Arc statue..

View from what is said to be one of the most beautiful balconies in Europe.

Chemin de la Corniche (the official name of the balcony)

Canal-side view of the balcony above

More sweets! This eclair was delicious!

We explored the streets & visited the Grand Place and the ‘little boy peeing’ statue that has gained regional fame here!

Grand Place before the crowds; essentially a large central cobblestone square surrounded by enormous historic buildings dating back to 15th century.

‘Manneken Pis’ = little boy taking a leak. So weird.

Next up was a quick visit to the Belgium chocolate museum where they offered plenty of samples and educated me on the art of making smooth, creamy Belgium chocolate.

After spending the morning in Brussels we hopped on a train to Antwerp, Belgium just 45mins away.

Antwerp train station

Antwerp is a port town and also full of cafe-filled cobblestone streets and medieval heart.

We visited Musuem Plantin-Moretus which houses the worlds oldest printing press as seen above and location of the first industrial printing works dating back to 1550s.

After wandering around Antwerp we headed via train to a similar small Belgium town called Bruges. Bruges is known for its fairytale like cobblestone lanes and canals. We spent the night here, went on a couple walking tours to learn of its history and enjoyed a Belgium beer tasting session!

Streets of Bruges

Canal in Bruges

Hilltop windmill close to our hostel.

Parting shot of one of many canals.

The weather was perfect - this photo was taken out of a window in the modern art museum.

The city has many green spaces and little traffic/pollution. This photo was taken on our way into the Ban Gough Museum.

Bike parking at the main train station! Biking around the city is the main source of transportation for residients of all ages. Cyclists out number cars here 3 to 1 and thus the city center is very quiet and clean. There’s a multitude of dedicated bike lanes that weave all over the city often getting you to locations faster than a car, bus or train.

My trusty bike as seen on the 5-minute free ferry that brought us to/from the city sights.

Small Dutch village outside of Amsterdam.

On our first morning in Amsterdam we rented road bikes and headed out on a 40- mile ride weaving our way through the countryside to the water and windmills and then furiously back to the city in time to visit a museum before closing.

Mile 20-something.

Mile 10-something. Not pictured are the gale force winds!

Last stop on the ride was certainly worth it! Windmills but no tulips (good excuse to come back in the Spring!).

My coffee came with a business card talking about its origins - how fancy and pretentious!

After a leisurely breakfast I biked over then the modern art museum which is always more interesting to me than 18th century paintings - but it looks like with Mona Lisa here I got to see a little or both. Haha!

The border wall irony 🙄

The ‘ball cave’!

After leaving the modern art museum I biked over to to meet Sarah at the Anne Frank Huis in Amsterdam where we had reservations to tour the museum. The tour was both informative and sad to be reminded of the horrors of the Holocaust; especially the toll it took on children.

To lift our spirits we took an afternoon cruise through Vondelpark; a large city park that was built only for the wealthy initially but is now open to all.

River Danube running through the city.

St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and opened in 1137! That’s old!

Day two in Vienna:

On Saturday we took the train to the outskirts of town to visit the hillside vineyards called Heurigen which means ‘wine tavern’. There were 5-6 small taverns all within walking distance so long as you are able to walk straight uphill - whew! It was a feat but we made it and enjoyed a much needed rest break in their lounge chairs!

Our first stop was the Prater; an amusement park that’s home to this giant old ferris wheel. It offered really great 360 views of the city.

Vienna from up high.

Hundertwassen Village & Museum; Hundertwassen was a quirky Viennase artist & architect who designed unconventional buildings & outdoor art all around the city (and Europe). It was fun to discover his art work in different places all around the city.

Vienna is known for its coffee house culture dating back to 1685. The traditional coffee houses are somewhat dimly lit, have marble table tops, international news papers on wooden dowels and serve coffee & pastry. Waiters are quick with good service and customers are known to linger for hours reading & writing; lap tops seemed like something that would get you kicked out!

Classic Oktoberfest beer hall

Beer hall from the outside

It was not what I imagined...yes, there were Germans in traditional lederhosen & dresses, crowded beer halls, giant mugs/steins of beer all in a Big E carnival like atmosphere. So weird.

There’s a roller coaster behind that bratwurst stand!

I decided I should have at least one beer to check Oktoberfest off my list. As I was drinking my beer and people watching I met a two travelers from LA & Guadalahara, Mexico (Elena & Manuel)who asked me to take their photo. We quickly started chatting about travel and became fast friends. We shared a couple more beers & went out to dinner nearby. Interesting and really kind people - we’ve even exchanged phone numbers & Instagram info to keep up on each other’s travel.

I made it back to my hostel by 9:30p and called the day a success!

No photos were allowed inside the castle but plenty of trails around the castle provided beautiful views of the castle and surrounding area.

Füssen sits on the border of both Austria and Switzerland. Incredible views of the Alps are seen from right in town and in & around the castle. I loved the fresh mountain air and scenery so much that I spent most of the day hiking and stayed the night at a small inn in town.

Yes, that’s a pretzel for lunch in my hand!

View across from the guest house!

Wiener schnitzel for dinner!

Cobblestone lanes of Füssen!

Gates to Old Town

Altstadt (town center/square)

The Schloss (castle) Heidelberg sits on a hillside overlooking the river. Across the river is a 1.5 mile long walk (names Philosophers Way) that takes you up another hillside for great views of both Heidelberg & the castle.

The steep hike was worth the views!

For dinner I had read about a Thursday night ‘street food’ market in one of the new, trendy neighborhoods. It was very ‘Portland’ (or maybe it was very Berlin!). Anyway, the food was great - I ate at an Indonesian stall & had bao filled with tempeh with lots of spices and finished with a Berliner pastry dessert at another stall! All for just €6.50!

Brandenburg Gate

Holocaust Memorial

Checkpoint Charlie

Great plant store & coffee shop!