This past semester, fall 2017, I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain. The thing I was most excited about during my time in Europe was being able to travel around to different countries. When it came time to plan my trips, I realized it was not as simple as I thought it would be. I heard it was easy to pick a destination at the beginning of the week and fly out Thursday or Friday. However, I was very wrong about that. While travel is cheaper around Europe, it takes planning to get the best deals. Below are some tips and things to watch out for that will make traveling much easier and more affordable.
• Plan Ahead! One of the biggest things I can stress is planning ahead. It will make everything much easier throughout your time if things are planned out. I planned almost all of my trips, and booked them, in early September. I did most of the traveling in late October through the beginning of December. Laying everything out at once allowed me research when the best time to go certain places is and be able to see everything I wanted to see.
• Flights: The cheapest flights are at the most inconvenient times. Budget airlines are great, but in order to get a good price, usually the flights are very early or really late. Sometimes the trains do not run early enough to get to the airport before your 6am flight. To get to the airport you will need to get and Uber or taxi. Another thing that I have heard a lot of people running into is flying into the wrong airport. Many times, budget airlines do not fly into the main airports. Make sure you double check which airport your flight goes to, so you do not get stuck an hour outside the city you are trying to visit. The budget airlines are also strict about bag size and charge a lot of your bag is too big. My advice is getting a large backpack, because I never saw a flight attendant check the size of a backpack.
• Hotels: Finding a place to stay is another challenge I faced. I would not recommend hostels, since there are so many other options. The couple times I used Airbnb it was a pleasant experience, especially when we had multiple people traveling together. Booking.com was the website I used for most of my trips. After booking 5 trips you get a discount on all other trips! Plus, there are plenty of reviews, so you will know what you are getting. I found that splitting a hotel room with one other person gives you some privacy and more security for your things. Compared to a hostel, splitting hotel room is the same price and gives you more peace of mind.
Traveling is one of the main benefits of studying abroad. Experiencing all the new places and cultures will open your eyes, and make you think differently about the world. Getting to your destination can be tricky, but if you plan ahead and know how to get from place to place you will be able to relax and enjoy!

Here I give to you is the pros and cons of a few countries/cities that I visited in on my time abroad from Kentucky. To start the list off let’s discuss…

Munich, Germany

Munich was the first place I visited, and I wish I hadn’t gone here first because I feel like I would’ve appreciated it a whole lot more if I had already known what to expect out of a European city. Anyways, Germany, as my impression from spending about four days here was that it was very car centric, which I loved because of my love of cars, and extremely overcast, like the Netherlands. While in Munich some friends and I stayed at an Airbnb of a nice man. My only remark with this Airbnb stay is that the beds were impeccably comfortable – Europeans don’t know that they really sleep on cardboard mattresses every night. However, the main reason we went to Munich was for Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest, honestly, was everything I hoped it would be and more. The best way to describe it or even try to compare it to is the Kentucky State Fair. All the guys are dressed in Lederhosen and everyone is walking around with a beer in hand on a big plot of land with massive beer tents on all sides with a carnival with rides in the back of the place. Everyone I met on that excursion was extremely friendly and wanted to share life stories with – which at this point all I had to say for myself is that I had just arrived by train from the Netherlands. Additionally, downtown Munich was gorgeous with dozens of historic buildings and the royal gardens with lots of art galleries. Overall it was a 10/10 trip I wish I could go back and do again – mainly for the Bavarian food.

The Netherlands

Moving forward, I feel that its important I talk a little bit about the Netherlands, which was my home country while I was away. The Netherlands is extremely friendly but gloomy country. It is always raining or way too windy to walk with overcast skies. However, I was lucky enough to have a flat about 25 minutes from the beach in The Hague. At the beach there was a pier with an oversized Ferris wheel, a dozen restaurants on the actual beach and several more food and clothing stores on the boardwalk up and down the coast. When I first arrived in August, the beach was heaven. Additionally, getting to and from the beach was a breeze. I had bought a second-hand bike as my transportation for the four months that I was going to be there but the actual trains and street cars that were within the country were very accessible. I wouldn’t say that they were cheap compared to other countries I visited like Slovakia but for the price it wasn’t bad. During the week I would occasionally take the train 25 minutes up to the capital of Amsterdam to explore everything the city had to offer – it was a lot. The Hague, where I was staying, is more residential and Amsterdam is a big tourist trap most of the time. I would also go southeast to a city called Rotterdam to party with friends at concerts or bars which was fun since the young people scene wasn’t great in The Hague – lots of older people. Overall, I loved the country and loved calling it home.

London, UK

Finally, I wanted to briefly touch on my five-day excursion to London with one of my good friends because I feel like Americans are obsessed with British people and I want to shed some light on it. Don’t get me wrong I don’t want to throw shade at the British I had an amazing time while I was there; however, London is overrated. Everything in London is geared towards tourists and the prices reflect that in the food and all the activities to do. That being said, there is so much history and amazing culture to be seen in this large, dated city. The three biggest things that stood out to me was the Shakespearean theatre. The theatre was not original, but it was close to it since it is made from sticks and stones – literally. Additionally, the art scene in London is nothing like I have ever seen or experienced before; and, I don’t get impressed easily when it comes to art. The art galleries are impeccable, and free, and there’s an ally tunnel with tastefully done graffiti everywhere that’s done by artists and it’s just insanely beautiful but also comedic. Anyways, the last thing I thought was amazing about London is the fact that you could take a boat down the river as public transportation – like what??!

Hope you all enjoyed the very short reviews of just a few places I went to this past semester.

Europe was a game changer. Yep, everyone says it, but boy is it true. Honestly, it’s totally cliché but the world outside of the United States is uniquely different. Even between differing first world countries there’s a change – this was, in my opinion, one of the more important lessons I learned while away. I can distinctively pinpoint that my trip to London, UK was the trip that I learned this. London feels like America. Everyone speaks English and is rudely passive aggressive. And, London has the Arlington, Virginia American favorite of Five Guys in the city center with Starbucks at every other corner – America, am I right?! Yet at the same time, it wasn’t my perfected version of living and growing up in the United States. If you talk to the locals, you can identify that either you can’t understand their speech either through accent or dialect of English speech and the morals are significantly different. Which can be said about Nederland but with my five-day excursion through London it hit me that I loved the truly European culture of students living at home till they graduated university, taking public transport everywhere, and plane tickets being under one-hundred euro round trip because it was uniquely not America. However, if there’s anything that stands out to me since arriving back to the United States is that I never want to see the small amount of clothes I brought abroad with me ever again. Frankly I could burn them and be extremely happy. Elizabeth drills it into you that “YOU NEED TO PAIR DOWN EVERYTHING YOU BRING WITH YOU.” And yes, I distinctively remember sitting in a room the semester before I left as she’s dripping it into our ears and everyone freaking out. I was not freaked out to this point due to the fact that I have been traveling around the states since before I can remember pre-k. But, for some reason Elizabeth got to me this morning…might’ve been finals looming over me and having to put down security deposit for my European flat. However, personally, all stress aggravators aside, I would beg to differ. The exchange rate currently is not kind to United States students and as such is more expensive to buy things once you get over there. Yes, bringing two checked bags and a carryon is annoying but your wallet and sanity will thank you later. Another factor that stands out to me since arriving home is do not exclusively hangout with people also from your home country. I saw it happen in different programs; and yes, they had fun, but they had a completely different experience than I who had friends from all different continents other than North America. To be honest the only people I hung out with from North America were the people I went to Nederland with – hey y’all! However, no matter how much I moan and groan about the difficulties of being an expat, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I have been in Barcelona for three weeks now and have been having the time of my life. I seriously don’t want to go back. This is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to and the weather is amazing (sunny and 60 almost every single day). Whenever you move to a new place you learn a lot of things about that area and the people there, and that increases by 10 when you live abroad, even if it only is for four months. So these are the things that I have learned thus far and my handy tips (about Barcelona specifically).

1. “Coffee” in Spain and a lot of other places in Europe is served in a cup that is comparable to a dixie cup and a lot of people will drink five of them a day.
2. Always be on the lookout for “specials”. A lot of restaurants that aren’t located in the super touristy areas have deals like coffee and a croissant for one or two euros. They will also have lunch specials during the week that include a drink, entrée, and dessert (or something of the like) for 9-11 euros, and if you see it for more than that they are trying to rip you off.
3. Walking really is the best type of transportation. I love walking around this beautiful city that I am temporarily living in and enjoying the sun shining down on me. On my walk to school I get to go by the Sagrada Familia which literally never gets old to look at. Most of the time if I were to take the metro it would only save me a couple of minutes, and I would miss all of the views; plus, walking is way better for you.
4. Spanish is not (really) the primary language of Barcelona. I did my research before I came here and knew that a lot of people speak Catalan as well as Spanish. What I didn’t know was that many people prefer the Catalan language to Spanish, and how important it was to learn a few phrases.
5. The media way overplays the “conflict” going on over here. Yes, the people of Catalonia would like to declare their independence from Spain. Yes, there are demonstrations once or twice a week. What they don’t tell you is that these demonstrations are not violent. They consist of big crowds getting together with their Catalonia flags and chanting through the streets. These people love this city and would never do anything to harm it. If there is any violence happening for their independence, it’s happening in Madrid.
6. Citymapper is a life saver. I learned of this app after a couple days of being here and it’s better than google maps. It has all the possible ways of transportation in multiple different cities, and gives you a million different ways of getting to one place. It has saved me a couple of different times from getting miserably lost (at least in Barcelona, it didn’t work as great in Paris).
7. They REALLY do not like tourists in Barcelona. They even have a special name for them (guiri). A lot of people I know have had run ins with the locals where they get glared at on the metro or a passerby mumbles something at them in Spanish, but if you stay out of their way, try to blend in, and not be the typical “American” you really don’t run into any problems (at least I haven’t).
8. They absolutely love it when you speak Spanish to them. I’m pretty bad at this just because I am self conscious about my Spanish, but I have been making myself speak it more recently and you can tell how much they appreciate it. Some people will even thank you for trying to speak their language, even though its covered by a terrible American accent.
9. Rarely anything is free here. You seriously have to pay for water and bread. It’s because a lot of people think the tap water is gross (although perfectly safe) so they serve you fancy bottled water. Usually whatever they give you for free (if anything) is something you wouldn’t expect. One time I got served giant chunks of parmesan cheese.
10. Last but not least, go somewhere new every day. Whether it’s walking down a new street you haven’t before or going to that little café you’ve been dying to try. Whenever I do this I never regret it because I get to experience more and more of beautiful Barcelona.

All of this doesn’t even come close to everything I’ve learned, but it’s just a couple of insights to give anyone who is reading this something you might learn. It is crazy to think about how much I have learned in three weeks, and how much I am going to learn in three months, especially since I am going to be travelling all over. I honestly can’t wait to see what my future has in store for me.

Until next time

Lauren

I have officially been back in the U.S. for a month now and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little depressed. When I first arrived in Madrid the culture shock was a huge blow to me and now that I am back in the U.S. the same culture shock is hitting me, just from a more familiar angle. During my time in Madrid, the city, the culture, and the people became my home. I enveloped myself in the Spanish way of life, I made tons of Spanish friends and was treated like family by all of them. I worked on my language skills and became a much better (not fluent) Spanish speaker. I really fell in love with Spain. In this blog post I will talk about the things I treasured most while in Spain, and the things that I will miss the most.

1. The People

There are really no people like the Spanish people. The people are so warm, yet straight forward. I was treated like family by all the friends I made and by default, all of their friends and family too. Once you are let into a Spanish friend group, you are there for life, they are very loyal and loving people who include you in everything and really make you feel like a member of the family. I spent a lot of my time in Spain with Madrileño’s (people from Madrid) and they really opened their arms to me. I had many friends that introduced me to their friends and family and I really built myself a huge network of friends and family in Madrid. I keep in touch with all of them and they desperately want me to come back (I also want to go back). The people in Spain, not just Madrid, are amazing people and if you can conquer the language barrier you will make life long friends in this country.

2. The Culture

The culture of Spain is great. What other culture has siestas in the middle of the day? None that I know of. The relaxed culture of Spain is great. I love and miss how casual and relaxed everyone is in Spain. Everyone moves at a slower pace it feels like and people just enjoy the moment. I miss waking up around 10, getting ready, going out and getting some juice and a croissant, walking around the city and stopping in the little tapas bars for a bite to eat and a beer, and then moving on all at my own pace. No one will rush you in Spain and everyone seems to be happy with what they are doing at the moment. The art in Spain and the street performers are another great part of the culture. Spain is a beautiful country.

3. The Public Transportation

This is a practical thing that I will miss The transportation over there is just amazing. Being able to get anywhere quickly and efficiently at relatively low cost is something that I definitely took for granted and missed when I arrived back in Louisville. The United States, especially Louisville does not have great public transportation systems. Louisville only has the TARC bus system, which in my opinion is not very efficient. We do not have subways here either. In Europe, not just Spain, subways and public transportation is amazingly quick and simple. Trains, buses, and trams run very often and are usually very simple to figure out. I got used to being able to walk to a train or hop on a bus at my convenience while over there, and i is something that I miss a lot here in the States. In Louisville, having a car is almost a necessity and it is very difficult to get around with out one. This was not so in Madrid, I could get anywhere I needed to go by using the public transportation and walking on foot

There are many other things I miss about Madrid and Europe in general, but these are the top 3. I encourage you to go travel abroad as well and find the things that you love most about different cities and cultures!

After choosing your destination to study abroad, it’s important to finalize the decision on whether you want to travel throughout Europe, or stay in that specific country. With Madrid as my destination, this was a difficult decision considering how versatile the country of Spain is. Since I had other friends studying throughout Europe and Madrid has such a central airport, I decided exploring outside was the way to go. Here are a few tips if you choose this route:

• Plan a little ahead:

A common misconception is that it is super cheap to travel everywhere. Yeah, it is compared to traveling throughout America since you are going to a different country… but tickets can be up to $200 which can add up if you plan to travel 3 times a month. I would suggest to book tickets at least a month ahead.

• Transportation:

I would suggest to do some thorough research on different modes of transportation. From country to country, use the budget airlines such as Vueling, Ryanair, easyJet, Wizzair, etc. Be careful with this though because they often charge more for big/extra bags. Just be sure to check the requirements. The Renfe train is great to use throughout Spain. Even busses are a safe option. I ended up taking a bus from Venice to Rome for just 20 euros!

• Accommodation/Baggage

Pack light!! While abroad, it’s best to learn the art of minimalism. You don’t want too many things because there might be times where you are sightseeing with your baggage on you. With you living situation, check out hostels.com. You can find hostels with the best reviews and best prices. I highly recommend this option because it’s a great way to meet people, especially if you are traveling alone. With that being said, make sure you lock up everything at all times (unfortunately my friend got her laptop stolen at a hostel). Hostels will also usually be extremely resourceful. They include information on all the popular sights in including tickets and transportation to and from as well as restaurant recommendations. They also have baggage storage options in case you leave the destination after check-out time.

Overall, it’s extremely important to do plenty of research to have an efficient, affordable and enjoyable experience in a different city/country, especially if you are there just for a weekend.

I spend ten days in London during Christmas and New Year Eve. UK is great and it’s different from USA. The following information I will talk about some travel guides to you.

First, when you come to UK, the voltage in Britain is the same as that in EU countries, which is 230 volts. But you need to prepare a conversion plug, British plug’s shape is different from USA.

Second, if you spend more than two days in Loncon, you can buy the London Pass, it includes more than 70 attractions you can go for free, such as Tower of London, Thames River Boat Cruise and Westminster Abbey. It will help you save a lot of money. In addition, all of museum are free in the UK. For convenience, you should buy oyster card which is the transportation card in London, single ride to take subway is 2.4 pounds and 1.5 pounds to take bus. London divides into many zones, but most of attractions are within zone 1. No matter how many times you take the subway or bus, deduction of up to 6.8 pounds a day within zone 1 and zone 2. It’s very expensive to take taxi in London, but I am not sure the price, because I haven’t took taxi when I was in London.

Furthermore, there is a question in the UK. How to tip in UK? European countries are not mandatory tip. In general, it’s not uncommon to tip in the UK. Some restaurants have ‘Service Included’ on the bill, so there’s no need to tip.

There are lots of delicious food in the London. So you don’t worry you will hungry. If you come to UK, you should try the afternoon tea, there are many flavor of cakes and tea you could choose. When you dine in, it will be expensive than take away. For example, you buy a cake and take away, it only spends 2.95 pounds. Or spend 4.25 pounds to eat in the café.