3 amazing countries, 2 overnight buses, 1 big group

--- Americans Abroad during Independent Travel Week ---

Prior to this summer, I’ve been to three countries my entire life. In this one week, I traveled to three new countries. Doubtful, worried, and incredibly excited, ten of us narrowed down the cities to visit and bought our transportation two weeks before the scheduled independent week. Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague, the ultimate Central Europe trip was planned in the small communal room of the pension as all ten of us squished to click “confirm” for our flights and buses. Amsterdam, the most photogenic and expensive city, was our first stop and initial testing point of our friendships. Ten of us crammed in one small hostel room, one block away from Red Light District, Amsterdam met the hype of all the pictures you see online and the stories you hear. I felt like I was living in a dream when I biked to the outskirts of Amsterdam next to the canal and beautiful countryside scenery. ( I woke up from that dream when I fell off and almost died, but it’s okay.) An 8-hour overnight bus with no working bathroom took us to Germany’s capital. Berlin’s Reichstag Building blew us away with the architecture of the dome and the double helix that was accompanied by the interesting audio tour that gave us insight on all the historical and important buildings in the city. Another overnight bus took us to our last city, Prague in Czech Republic. From exchanging to a new currency, crowns, to staring at the astronomical clock with all of the other tourists, Prague was our last destination where we finally had some time to breathe during the week. We ended our trip with a 6-hour layover in Barcelona, where we slept next to the moving walkways at the airport. Yes, we might have been a little greedy with the countries and cities to visit in that one week. But no, I do not regret a thing! Even though quite a few of us almost died (Michelle on the bus ride to the airport, me falling off the bike, Sully on the bus to Berlin, and everyone being dehydrated and exhausted with no clean clothes all week) and we probably didn’t sleep on a bed majority of the nights, we did make it back in one piece! So yes, it was 3 amazing countries, 2 overnight buses, 1 big group, and a successful independent travel week!

- Julia

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