A lot of extensive research and planning went into making this European graduation trip work. We had to figure out where we wanted to go, how to get to there, where to stay, and what we wanted to do while we were there – all for NINE different cities! However, despite all the research we did, the biggest thing it boiled down to is that it’s hard to fully explore and appreciate any one place when you only have a day or two. That was the nature of this trip, and we knew that going into it, but in the moment it’s a lot easier to realize what you’re missing. For the most part, things went mostly according to plan, but unsurprisingly we missed out on some things and realized things we would do differently if we had a redo on this trip.
I will say that looking back at my notes to write these posts, I was surprised by how much money we spent on flights to and from the US. I’ve since taken other trans-Atlantic flights for significantly less, and think we probably should have looked around a bit more or waited a bit longer before buying our flights. I have a compulsive need to have everything scheduled as far in advance as possible, and in this case, when it came to flights, I think it came back to bite us.
SPAIN:
I can’t really think of much we would have changed during our time in Spain. We were in Madrid strictly because that was the easiest place to fly into to get to Santander, and didn’t have any pressing needs to see any particular thing or place while we were there. Like I said in the original post, going to Santander was really only so my friend and I could visit our host families from our study abroad, and because I wanted to show off what I consider my Spanish hometown to Ashley. I could have done a little bit more research into remembering what restaurants and bars I liked and where they were, but that was a very minor thing.
Also, stand your ground against the people who are trying to scam money off from tourists. For the most part, if there’s someone in the middle of a plaza or other central area, whether they’re dressed up as something and either trying to get you to take a picture of or with them, or trying to take a picture with you, or if they’re excitedly “giving away” pigeon food, they’re almost always going to want to get a few Euros out of it. And they won’t stop pestering you until you give them something. It’s best to just avoid them, or walk away without communicating if you’re approached.
ROME:
The biggest change I would make to what we had planned for Rome was to have actually bought Vatican tour tickets ahead or time, or at to have at least planned for the cost. The tour was very well worth it, but we hadn’t realized we needed tickets or how much they would cost us. Of course, it would have been nice to see the Trevi Fountain for what it’s supposed to be and to make our wishes, but construction is obviously not something that we can predict or plan around, so that makes it’s way on to our list of things for next time.
VENICE:
Honestly, we just flat out overbooked ourselves and ran out of time while we were in Venice. Granted, part of that could be attributed to the amount of time we spent wandering the streets and pretending we weren’t lost, but still. We had pre-purchased tickets for a narrated canal tour, and it came down to do the tour or get to the airport, which has an obvious answer. I also wish I had done more research into parts of the city that aren’t on the main island. I could have easily spent an entire day on Murano watching the glass blowers work (although Ashley would not have put up with that), and being able to get over to Lido and having the opportunity to just spend a bit of time relaxing on the beach would have been nice. You live, (you get lost), and you learn, and Murano has also worked it’s way on to my list for next time.
PARIS:
I don’t have a whole lot to say about Paris – I think what we did while we were there worked well with the time we had, but I think we would both agree that we could have spent that time in another city that we would have enjoyed more. This was definitely us trying to balance what to do on a cliché sprint trip through Europe to check all of the boxes and what we would have actually enjoyed most.
AMSTERDAM:
Amsterdam was one of our shorter stops, but one we both wanted to make sure we did because of our Dutch heritage and roots. Another half day would have probably been enough for us to feel like we did everything we wanted to, namely to explore the city a little bit more, and for Ashley to visit the Heineken museum.
IRELAND:
While we overbooked ourselves in Venice, we were still able to do a lot of different things. In Ireland, we just didn’t give ourselves enough time. We would have loved to have been able to spend more time in Dublin, especially exploring the shopping and bars on and near Grafton Street. A lot of that could have been fixed by arranging our flights a bit better so we would have had an afternoon and/or evening to do some walking around the city instead of arriving at 9pm. We also tossed away a lot of time by making the decision to bus to and stay closer to the Cliffs, when it would have been better to look into a day trip from Dublin, as there was a surprisingly small amount of things to do very close to the cliffs, even in regards to hotels and restaurants. Our hotel right near the cliffs was also quite expensive, and we ended up having to rent a “private taxi” to get to and from several places when we were there, so a day trip would have put us ahead cost wise as well. The most disappointing thing about our Ireland planning was, of course, that we had bad weather and didn’t actually get to see the Cliffs of Moher. Had we not been on such a tight schedule, we could have easily figured something else out and gotten there the next day, but for us, the next day was in London.
LONDON:
I don’t think we would change very much about our London itinerary either. We had plenty of time to see the highlights of the city and further explore what we wanted to, even despite getting stuck in a city-wide labor march. If anything, I would have liked to visit or get a tour of the Tower of London, something I haven’t done either time I’ve been there.
While writing this, it struck me that I really wouldn’t have made any major changes to the time we spent in places I’ve already been. This makes sense – why would I do something that didn’t make sense if I’ve already learned it didn’t make sense? Hopefully reading this post and series of posts about our Euro trip can help prevent you from wasting valuable time when you’re off exploring the world!
