If you have read my blog, then you probably know by now that Europe is my favorite continent. If you haven’t, well Europe is my favorite continent! I fell in love with Europe in high school. It started when I was 15 and visited Central/Eastern Europe on a school trip. I had been learning German and doing whatever possible to prep for it, but really nothing prepared me for what it felt like to be in Europe. It was a whole new world and I loved it. I fell in love with how different it felt from home. I loved learning about the culture, the language, and the food. Now after almost a decade, many trips, study abroad, and au pairing, Europe feels like home. Every country is of course uniquely different, but every time I touch down in Europe I feel a sense of familiarity and home in the differences. Some would say I am obsessed. Yes, I have taken multiple European history classes. And yes, I will cook something I ate in Italy, Ireland, or Spain when making food. I don’t think its obsession necessarily. Like I said, its home. It is me, and not in the sense that my ancestors came from Europe, but that my being belongs in Europe. I am meant to explore the continent.
Now lets talk about what you will read about in my European travels. Europe is the only continent I feel comfortable planning my own trip to and visiting on my own. I have taken a solo trip to London and also planned an entire Italy tour after WWOOFing there last summer. I have visited friends in Belgium and Germany. I have stayed with a host family while Au Pairing in Mallorca. I have studied about in Ireland and have returned many times to travel around the island with my friends. There are no limits for me when it comes to Europe. I would do it all! You should definitely check out some of my posts to read about these incredible and unique experiences. Scroll down to read these posts, check out my country specific pages, or see my blog posts from Europe!
Ireland is obviously my favorite country because it’s where I studied abroad. I adore the culture and the landscape is unlike any other country. The people are beyond kind and I have never met anyone as genuine as the people I’ve met in Ireland It would be my number one recommendation for planning a trip to Europe. Just make sure you are planning the majority of your trip to be outside of Dublin, because the West Coast is where you will experience true Irish culture. From the traditional music scene to the aran sweaters, you can truly embrace your own Irish ancesty (which you most likely have).
2. Italy
Italy is everyone’s favorite in Europe and for a reason. The people may take a bit to warm up to you, but once they do you’ll find yourself right at home in Italy. There is also nothing like Italian food. I am a spice person, but there is something just so amazing about the simplicity of Italian food. Then there is of course all of the history and beautiful scenery to see and in experience throughout the country. Each region is very different, so if you are planning a trip to Italy, either plan to really spend some time in one region or check out a few.
3. Belgium
Belgium is a very underrated country. There is no way for me to explain the country to you by comparing it to any other place because it is truly its own thing. The people are so friendly and fun. Their sense of humor is so great. You’ll also have amazing food here with it being a country known for its fries, waffles, and chocolate (and beer I suppose). Brussels is such a unique city as well and its like experiencing the whole world is one city. I will tell anyone that they need to plan a trip to Belgium, but don’t just go for Brussels. You have to explore Bruges and Ghent as well. There is so much to this tiny country.
Europe Trip Planning
My Review of Transatlantic Airlines: What to Fly Over to Europe from The USA
My London Itinerary: 5 Days in London on a Budget
My Italy Itinerary: 10 Days in Northern Italy and Rome
Blog
How I Finally Got to Visit the Barack Obama Plaza (And the Rock of Cashel)
Ever since I studied abroad in Ireland four years ago, all I have wanted to do is visit the Barack Obama plaza in Ireland. It just never became reality because the only way to get to it was by car, and I was solely relying entirely on public transportation while I was there and each…
Now here is a place that I feel the need to tell you is not Cork. It is in Cork county, but it is not the city. I feel I should tell you this because silly Emma four years ago studying abroad in Ireland thought that pretty view of the tall cathedral, rows of colorful…
I am so excited to share new Ireland adventures with you! I recently got back from 12 days in Ireland. In all honesty I actually didn’t want to return at all. If it wasn’t for the fact that I didn’t want to overstay my welcome at my friend’s flat, I would have changed my flight…
Killarney and Limerick: Three Counties, Two Cities, One Castle
In honor of leaving for my next trip to Ireland tomorrow, here is my last journal entry for my time studying abroad in Ireland four years ago. Don’t take this to mean I won’t have more to write about Ireland. I will have my new adventures to write about, but also I have so many…
I know… why are you reading a post about my second tattoo? Sure the first one is a cool story. The first of anything is always super memorable and a great story. My first tattoo was just that! One of my friends gave me and my roommates stick and poke four leaf clovers while I…
A Day in Dingle and Kenmare: And No, I Didn’t See “Fungie”
When I studied abroad in Galway, Ireland about four years ago, my parents came over to visit me for a week. During that time they rented a car so that we could travel around a bit. My mom really wanted to go to Dingle, so we planned a weekend trip from Galway to the Cliffs…
Fairytale forests and fruit chocolate cakes. Great rolling hills and grandfather clocks. I love talking about the different regions of Germany because we have an idea of what is Germany but we don’t know why. Yes pretzels are German, but that is Bavaria and so is Oktoberfest. Yes there are remnants of the Cold War,…
Are you ready for this one? This is a travel story I have been really excited to share! And that’s not because I have anything really crazy to share, but because Connemara is the epitome of Galway. You will know why as you scroll to see my pictures. County Galway has two parts to it…
One of my favorite travel stories is the one that shaped me the most as not only a traveler but as a person. That is when I traveled to Germany (flying alone for the first time) at 17 years old. For some that doesn’t sound so absurd. Many kids fly alone. And then there are…
Low lie the Fields of AthenryWhere once we watched the small free birds flyOur love was on the wingWe had dreams and songs to singIt’s so lonely ’round the Fields of Athenry Maybe you have heard the song before, but maybe you haven’t. If you haven’t look up the Fields of Athenry right now before…
My last day in London was spent with no plans other than exploring Notting Hill and Camden! Well so I thought. I had a plan, but things never go to plan. For one, I stayed up too late, so I didn’t get going as early as I thought I would. Then there was the rain.…
London is very well known for its museums. While there are a lot of great museums that are quite expensive to visit like the Tower of London and the Churchill War Rooms, there are a lot of amazing free museums as well. I didn’t take advantage of these free museums enough. I obviously visited the…
This is the moment you have been waiting for: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, The Parliament Building, the Guards, the London Eye, and the Thames! This is my third day in London and the day I spent explore the Westminster area of London as well as Greenwich. I really wanted this to be my first day…
If you haven’t caught on, this is my next post in my London series meaning this was day two out of five in London as well as my first full day in the city. This was one of the days I had planned out very specifically so that I could do everything I wanted. The…
My first day in London was what I considered my bonus day. I had planned out everyday pretty extensively, but I wanted to have this first day be pretty flexible since I wouldn’t know how tired I would be. It turned out that I actually slept pretty amazing on the plane so I was able…
Tapas! Sangria! Churros! Musíca! And Plaza Mayor! This is Madrid, the heart of Spain! I will always advocate for the sub cultures of any place, for instance, the United States also speaks Spanish, Irish culture is more than anglicized Dublin, Mexico has its indigenous languages, and Spain is also Catalan, Mallorcan, Basque, Galician, and so…
Once upon a time there was a girl who decided to study abroad. She went to the magical Galway where you can drink a pint everyday and never face the consequences. After a night of enchanting celtic music and meeting some Irish lads, she visited the Cliffs of Moher… yeah, I am definitely glorifying it…
A Stop in Dresden: A Destroyed City Rebuilt and Redefined
There’s a place in Eastern Germany where you can step back in time. Here you will find palaces, baroque arches, and grand cathedrals. Its not a big city, but it isn’t a small town either. The people rush by yet everything seems to stand still. It is the capital of the land that the Saxons…
What do you think of when you think of Ireland? Maybe you think of Dublin and sitting in temple bar drinking a Guinness. Maybe you think of the rolling hills of Munster and the funny accent of Cork. Maybe you think of the Troubles and northern Ireland. Or maybe you think of traditional Ireland along…
Visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau: Reflecting and Applying the Experience
This is a post I have been putting off because I want it to be just right. How do you write a travel blog post talking about visiting Auschwitz, without glorifying it? I think it is important to bring awareness to such a horrible place with a tragic past, because it was life changing. The…
A Day at Lake Constance: A German Vacation to Meersburg
Let me tell you about my love for lake culture. I think it is the only thing that keeps me in Minnesota, because trust me during those long winter I wonder what it is all for. But then summer comes around and I get to sit next to the lake in the sun everyday and…
This is a very special post because not only was Germany the first country I ever visited, but this stop in Berlin on my first trip to Europe when I was 15 was my very first experience in a new country. Everything was so new and exciting. I am really excited to look back through…
Let’s rewind to nearly two years back to the Fall of 2023. I was an au pair in Mallorca, which you should definitely check out some of my Mallorca content because Mallorca is an island not many Americans consider when going to Spain. After, about a month there I had my first weekend trip planned…
The part that is so fun about reminiscing about my first trip abroad so that I can add the stories to my blog is going back to my travel journal and seeing how 15 year old me wrote. I thought I had personality in my writing now, but young teenage me was something else. For…
This one was a tough one to write because even though I am writing about the gift of the gab, I do not have the gab to write about my day in Cork. It was about 3 1/2 years ago, so I am really mad at myself for never journaling about it or writing this…
Roma (said with an Italian accent)!!! It has quite easily become one of my favorite cities in the world. While I will say that Cinque Terre was my favorite stop on this trip, Rome is a close second. There is just something about it that is hard to explain. I didn’t think I would like…
When you think of Italy, what do you think of? Probably the Colosseum, maybe vineyards, definitely vespas driving along the coasts, and more likely than not the Leaning Tower of Pisa. As I have said before, when planning my trip there were a few nonnegotiable. I absolutely was going to go to Rome to go…
I am going to be completely honest for a second. Lake Como is kind of the reason I went to Milan. Basically my entire trip was planned around water, except for maybe Rome and Pisa. I grew up on a lake, so I have always felt myself drawn to water. Sometimes I even do it…
You know how sometimes you end up doing the things you say you will never do? I have had that happen quite a few times in my life. I said I would never work in a school, yet here I am working as a substitute teacher. I said I would never get a tattoo, well…
We all have some kind of impression of Milan. After Rome it is probably the city we know best in Italy as Americans, whether that is for its role in fashion or cars. For me Milan was a place I felt like I had to go to, but I didn’t want to spend a lot…
For years, when asked about my bucket list, the only thing I was able to say was “to go to Venice”. Maybe it sounds basic, but as a history lover, a romantic, and a girl who loves the water, Venice sounded like a dream. I had never really had the opportunities to go to Italy…
An Afternoon in Modena: Beyond Ferrari and Balsamic
It was just an average day last Tuesday. I got up, changed, ate breakfast, and started watering the plants. I had no expectations for the day other than maybe washing some clothes and cleaning my room. That’s when my hosts told me that they’d be going to Modena to do some shopping, so they’d be…
Located in Emilia-Romagna next to the border with Tuscany you can find the little town of Fanano tucked away in the mountains. With only a population close to 3,000 it reminds me a bit of my own small town back home. They definitely know when you are not from here because everyone knows everyone. I…
I am starting to realize I talk a lot of Germany, which is odd because I never lived there like some of the other places I have been. I think its because it holds a special place in my heart as the first country I visited, the first country I flew to alone, and the…
Now Dublin is a city I haven’t spent nearly enough time in. I have been through numerous times because that’s where the airport is, but I have only truly spent a singular day exploring it beyond our stop for lunch and sour squirms on our way to Kilkenny. Sadly I didn’t get to do many…
Last summer when I visited Germany for the Eras Tour, I also made sure to spend a day actually exploring Munich, since my time in Munich would only be limited to the fews hour that is the Eras Tour. My friend had to work during the week so I took those days as an opportunity…
72 Hours in Romania: A Spontaneous Trip to Transylvania
I am going to tell you a story about the most spontaneous and adventurous trip I have taken, but first if you can, I want you to put on my Romania playlist so you can be transported to 2021 Romania with me. It all began on a maybe not so average Thursday evening, since there…
So once upon a time when I was 10 years old, I was gifted my first Taylor Swift CD for Christmas. I listened to that thing all the time. It became my first and my forever favorite Taylor Swift album. Loving it was RED! Soon I was going to my first Taylor Swift concert during…
48 Hours in Zurich: First Impression of Switzerland
Zurich, Switzerland was a little bonus on my big European trip. Ten day in Belgium and ten days in Germany was the the plan until I discovered it would actually be cheaper to fly out of Zurich than Stuttgart or Frankfurt, so why not travel another two hours by train (the same it would be…
I think I have to start this by asking you: have ever seen Derry Girls? If not google it right now. Ok have you looked it up? Now then let’s start the story. Derry Girls was a show I discovered back when I was 17. It was still the time where Ireland was just a…
Have you ever dreamt about the Irish countryside? That idyllic picture of rolling green hills and a little cottage separated from the rest of the world. Spending the days baking bread and the evenings at the local pub. The only tasks are milking the cows and tending to the sheep all while drinking a cup…
Day 1 I was looking out the window. I couldn’t stop. The beautiful Tatra mountains laid before me. Castle on the Hill was on repeat through my earbuds. I took in each beat as I took in each detail of the landscape. I took a picture in my mind of rolling rivers, the fresh green…
48 Hours in Prague: Finding Myself in the Czech Republic
Prague is my favorite city in Europe, maybe even in the world. It has enchanting Romanesque architecture and cobblestones streets. The city transports you to a different time. Everything about the city, the landmarks, food, and people, make you feel like you have entered the 16th century. This underrated European city holds a special place…
Strasbourg!! One of the most unique places I have been to. It isn’t French, nor is it German. The city is in the Alsace region of France. This region was constantly fought over in history. One century it is French and then another it is German. In the 1600s the territory was conquered by the…
Last spring on my trip to Frankfurt we spent a day in Heidelberg. I found out that I would be going there a few months before my trip. I never heard of the city, so I immediately googled it. I looked at all the pretty pictures of the streets and the castle. As I looked…
The Journal of Wanderlust 