Europe Trip 2009

Destination: EUROPE, somewhere!

Winter of last year, while residing in my tropical homeland of Brasil, my father called me from the States (where he lives at with my mother and older brother) with the bright idea to offer me a once in a life time opportunity to travel abroad to Europe... Sounds great right? Well you are correct, it was a great offer, but what's the catch? Because if something sounds too good to be true, its because it is too good to be true. I mean, we are not financially set that we can afford to go on a sweet get aways for 40 days in Europe, but whatever my dad had in mind for me was up for grabs, and I was jumping high to grab it....  I mean, what could be that bad, or going to Europe? Of course I take it, Book it now, I'm ready!

So he did... and ugh what clothes should pack? where will I go? who should I invite to go with me? Are questions I asked myself. Well, turns out the trip was only granted if I agreed to go alone, as a backpacker, and I had to leave the next day" ... Wait? The next day? Yup, I had just one long night to pack.  I think my dad missed the memo, that this time in Brasil was summer, and as a tropical country its HOT as pig right now and I had no clothes for winter.... so how can I pack a suitcase for a winter destination, when I leave TOMORROW... I'm going to FREEZE... but freezing at that moment in time was the least of my worries, because at the time I was going through a tough break up and all I wanted to do was risk it all and travel to see if the love could possibly evaporated in French air :)

I left November 5th, 2009 around 7am with an AirFrance flight to Rome, connecting in Paris.... and thank God for friends, I was once best friends with a Romanian girl in High school: Carlotta happened to have moved back to Rome 5 years ago, so I contacted her and stayed my sweet time in Rome with her, as my own personal tour guide, along with her Italian roommates who made me feel right at home, by feeding me pasta and bread every day and wining me at night taking me out. Seven days in Rome was great, I got to go see and go everywhere I wanted, including the tourist spots and local places. I wish I could have stayed longer but I knew I had a long trip ahead of me, with 33 more days of traveling to go, and no plans, no idea whats so ever what to do where to go, how to get there and where to sleep after I leave the comfort of a friends home.... The only thing that was for sure was my plane ticket back to Brasil on December 10th departing from PARIS.... Well with my iPhone at hand, only working via wifi, I was able to download some handy apps that I figured would help me along my jorney, which one was the iRAIL, which showed me all the trains and iRail schedules and times with prices... another one was HOSTEL app, which you could do hostel reservations with just a click.. and another was the  MetroTransit app that was meant to work underground in subways without the need of wifi, so i could easily know all the metro-lines around town within that city limit. This app definitely made me feel like a local. It was simple as choosing what train station I was at, and where I wanted to go. and BAM

Off to Venice I go... rolling my big suitcase over rocky dirt roads, hopping in and out of Trams to ROMA TERMINI. where I took a night train to Venice, that took about 13 hours to get there. It was my first time experiencing... well pretty much everything that was happening.... The train was just like in the movies, but less comfortable they make it seem on the big screen.

Made it to Venice around 5 am, oh cute Little Island that is shaped like a FISH.... How beautiful you are, never though I would've ever made it to Venice this soon in my lifetime, especially not alone. The city screams love, it is so romantic and beautiful there and there were water taxis, and gondola rides.  I stayed at a Hostel called "A Venice Fish" located right in the Venice Island, just 5 minute walk from Piazza di Marco... At this hostel I met many travelers from around the world, who were also traveling alone for the first time... This was my first taste of what it felt like to be in a hostel, and my first thought was that it was kinda dirty, and too rowdy for my taste... There was only 2 large rooms and 1 bathroom. Each room had about 20 bunks.. and the rooms were divided into female and male rooms.... But only one bathroom? Oh No! I would have to make sure I wake up with the birds to get a chance to shower before noon....and that is if I even get any sleep with 19 other females nearby.

A Venice Fish Hostel Entrance

Well fortunately at this hostel I made a lot of friends, it was an awesome first hostel experience.  We were a pretty cool group of travelers, I don't know if its because Venice is such a small island or because the hostel offers free home-cooked meals at breakfast time and dinner time, only for 2 hours, served in a long wooden table located in the living room, that we all became so close friends during our stay. Well after four days in Venice was enough, I even got to explore the a whole other island; Murano, which is an island next to Venice...  Then I was ready to get to the train station and move on to my next destination, which is Vienna known as Wien, in Austria..... and from there on I will post original e-mails that I wrote while on my trip to a close friend of mine, updating her in every little detail as possible.... So enjoy my trip..... and who knows... maybe you will learn a thing or two :)

Ciao*Ciao*