Manchester

Manchester was quite fun...before arriving in the city we were scared it would be like Lyon where there really wasn't much to do.  Similar to Lyon, we chose to including Manchester in our itinerary as a way to lower our expenses.   We stayed in a nice Airbnb accommodation next to the university where our amazing host gave us a lot of tips and recommendations on how to spend our time.  We were about a 40 minute walk to town but spent the two days visiting some really nice museums and art galleries.  Things were definitely cheaper in Manchester and we enjoyed pigging out on food which was priced much lower than London.  The shopping was also great and we overall had a really nice time in Manchester; two days was a perfect amount of time!

Yayyyy taxidermy

Our Airbnb host suggested we visit this old library, and it was amazing; literally felt like walking into the set of Harry Potter
As with all the other Art Galleries and Museums in the UK, the Manchester Art Gallery was gorgeous and free!

Honestly couldn't get enough of the fish & chips :)

-M

Back to London!

My friend and I were definitely excited to get back to London as both of us love anything British, from British reality shows to British YouTubers.  We took a bus from Paris to London through the underwater tunnel and checked into our Airbnb accommodation in Southeast London. That night we took the tube into the city and took a walk along the river which was absolutely gorgeous at night.  It was a perfect start to our five days in London! We spent the rest of the week visiting museums (they were free!!!!!), checking out markets, spending way too much money on food and meeting up with friends. Even though it rained throughout most of the week, we loved every single second of it. We also spent a stupid amount of time in our favourite UK store Primark which is comparable to Forever 21 but much bigger with more selection and better prices.  No doubt about it, I will definitely be heading back to London some time in the near future!  



Museum hopping was really fun, and it was a good way to see a lot of things in a short period of time xD!


Even though we didn't go into many of the paid sites, walking around and seeing everything was exciting enough for me...Miss the fish & chips already!

-M  

Thoughts on Topdeck Southern Nomad, Luggage and other Rants

Since there isn't much activity on here anyways, here's a little digression before I post the rest of my trip. 

Thoughts On Topdeck

Before signing up with Topdeck, I had a load of unanswered questions which would have pushed me to forget the whole idea if I had not been doing the trip with my friend.  During the planning stages of our trip we tossed around the idea of a tour: either Topdeck or Contiki.  After a load of calculations we realized doing a Topdeck camping tour would better for our wallet as it was an extremely reasonable price (included food) and conveniently visited a number of places in a short period of time.  

Format
We quickly fell into a routine after the tour began.  Generally one day would be spent driving to the destination ranging from 5 hours to 10 hours.  During these rides there would be at least 2 stops, and usually a lunch break which would be a roadside picnic lunch (we'd pull out a table from the bus and go buffet style).  After arriving at the location, the follow day would be a free day which was guided by a handy map created by Topdeck pointing out some attractions and providing some handy phrases to use in case of a language barrier.  Throughout the tour some activities were included (such as walking tours), and optional activities would be offered (such as Skydiving, a cabaret show, various tours etc.). If you chose not to do the optional activity, then you could do whatever you want for the day which was great.  If you wanted, you could also stay at the campsite; and depending on which location (if there's a metro close by or not) you could come and go as you please. For the most part, the campsites were pretty far from the city, so a meeting time would be arranged so that everyone could get back home.  



Camping
I wasn't sure what to expect with a camping trip; definitely having camped before was helpful.  We were provided with tents and air mattresses which (as promised) were very easy to put together.  The tent fit the two mattresses and two bags comfortably; I would definitely suggest bringing a flashlight and a warm sleeping bag (some of the Australians who brought a fleece insert instead of the standard bag were freezing)!  

The campsites varied from place to place.  In Paris the campsite was very basic and the bathrooms were pretty far, whereas in Nice the facilities were much closer (although you had to pay for toilet paper) and patchy wifi was available.  Most of us chose to upgrade to dorm rooms in Switzerland as it was extremely cold, and we were lucky, and got upgraded both in Florence & Rome.   

Campground in Paris

Campground in Nice with the Food Tent in the back

Brave campers in Switzerland (& food tent)

Fuzzy photo of upgraded dorm room in Switzerland

Upgraded "cabin" in Florence Resort

Resort pool in Rome

Tent in Rome

I think overall, the tour worked for us because we had the chance to go back to many of the places and travel a bit more than just the 10 days.  On one hand, this type of tour is great for meeting new people and seeing many places in a short period of time.  On the other hand, I'm the type of person who wants a bit more; the chance to experience a city's culture and get a feel for the area which this tour didn't really allow for.  The way we did our trip offered both of these aspects and was definitely more cost effective than traveling on our own for a month! 

Luggage

The luggage situation for our trip turned out to be quite interesting.   In the beginning, both my friend and I fully intended to backpack the entire way.  Backpacks were suggested for the camping trip; as they were easier to fit into the bus, and in terms of going up and down stairs it definitely seemed beneficial.  At the same time, the fact we were traveling longer made me less enthusiastic about carrying a backpack; especially with another carry on bag which I'd have to put on my front.  In the end, with the sleeping bag taking up a lot of space, I chickened out and switched all my stuff into a mid sized suitcase last minute.  My friend brought a huge backpack which worked out well for the tour, although it meant she had to repack everything over and over.  Once we left the tour and headed out on our own, it meant we had to get from the train/bus/plane to our accommodation by public transit or by walking.  This also meant a lot of pain and agony for my poor friend.  While I suffered walking up the never ending stairs, I made sure my suitcase was no more than about 35 pounds until we reached the last two countries on our itinerary.  My friend on the other hand had to carry a huge amount of weight walking from place to place.  In the end she found a set of trolly wheels in Barcelona which we used and secured the bag to bungee cord making life a lot easier.  

So suitcase or bag?  I'd definitely go for suitcase.  As long as you pack light in the beginning, suffering up the stairs is nothing compared to the amount of suffering endured when walking 20 - 40 minutes with a giant backpack (trust me, I carried my luggage up 6 flights and still didn't regret a thing)!  



Rants
Airbnb was a great way to save money, a lot of our accommodations were about $40 CAN a night, which means $20 CAN each (cheaper than the hostels).  The review system and security measures used by Airbnb made me feel more comfortable using the service, especially after I was able to correspond with the host.  The hosts were overall fantastic and the accommodations were exactly what we expected based on reviews and pictures provided on the site.  Definitely a good experience; especially since everyone we stayed with was around our age!  

So all in all, I'd say mission Europe was a success.  My friend and I definitely learned a lot along the way, and discovered that we travel really well together.  We managed to not hate each other after 35 days of eating, sleeping and living together which I have to say is surprising seeing as we had never tried living together before.  I don't think I would have changed anything about the trip - sure we made some mistakes and had to get out of some sticky situations (which are too embarrassing to publish online) but in the end, it's all a part of the experience. 

-M

Back to Paris!

After two days in Lyon we headed back to Paris where we stayed in an extremely small studio apartment located literally 5 minutes away from the Sacre Coeur (at the bottom of the never ending set of stairs).  The kitchen and shower in in the same corner of the room so a person could literally take a shower and cook at the same time.  We spent five days in Paris visiting the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, shopping and eating way too many macarons.  Although we were extremely lucky to have our own kitchenette, we definitely consumed way too much baguette for our own good.  Unfortunately it rained for most of the week; luckily we decided to visit the Eiffel Tower the night we arrived - the one night it didn't rain! One thing I definitely like about France (as well as London) is the super connected metro system - definitely puts Toronto's TTC to shame!

-M

Lyon

Lyon....well uhm, what can I say about Lyon?  Don't go on the weekend is my one and only suggestion.  As lively and exciting the city was on Saturday, Sunday was the complete opposite which I guess is common in France.  Nevertheless, we were a tiny bit bored in the city which was a shame as we were quite excited to add Lyon to our itinerary.   We arrived on Saturday at 6am and arrived at our Airbnb accommodation located right in the heart of the city between some shops on the main shopping strip.  We spent the day seeing the main sites from the high lookout point by the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière to visiting the Parc de la Tête d'Or (unfortunately arriving after the free zoo closed).  Sunday was literally dead; most people we saw on the streets went to church, ate baguette and then spent some family time in a park - great for families, super boring for traveling.  Either way, Lyon seems like a gorgeous place to live, maybe not the best place to visit on a Sunday.  

The traboules in Lyon were really cool to see.  I had heard about the secret passages before, but I couldn't figure out how to get in (although they're public during certain times, they're still within residential areas).  Finally I shadowed a couple tour groups which got me into the main ones and then I ended up pushing on a lot of doors...mission accomplished! ;)

-M

Barcelona

After a few days in Rome we headed out to Barcelona via Ryanair bright and early.  The flight was the cheapest optional, and I soon found out why.  The flight attendants spent the entire flight trying to sell us various things from food to maps (thank goodness I fell asleep; the crying baby close to me also deterred the sales people).  The Airbnb place we stayed was literally right in the center of the city which made it very convenient for walking.  We fell in love with Barcelona the minute we got there; the whole vibe was more laid back and extremely chill.  We had no language barrier (which I was nervous about) as practically everyone spoke English, and things were a tiny bit cheaper than the other parts of Europe we visited.  The shopping was great, we visited the Picasso museum as well as some of the famous Gaudi building and went to the food markets everyday.  Barcelona is definitely on my list of places to visiting again!

In love with Tapas!!!

We tried to visit all of Gaudi's buildings while we were there; some were under construction but the ones which weren't were amazing.  

The beach was gorgeous and the people making sand art were hilarious!

-M