European Adventure =D

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Jul 1

And the adventure ends :’(

“Better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times”

Figured it made sense to end the blog with the same quote I started it with. Except this time there’s so much more meaning behind it for me!

This trip has been talked about for about 3 years. It was always something we (André and I) were going to do, but it was never set in stone until last year. We started officially planning at about the end of the summer in 2011. Thats when we started planning out what cities we wanted to see and how our route was going to go. I can assure you it changed quite a few times before we finalized it, haha. And of course along the way there were changes and surprises. Playing it by ear is the funnest part. But we are both a little too anal to have left the whole trip up in the air haha.

In the end it was completely worth every dollar spent, every mile walked, every scratch and bruise, every night of no sleep, every blister, every minute!
This trip was everything I hoped for and so much more. This experience is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. I suggest to anyone who has ever thought of traveling to Europe, go and do it! If you’ve never thought about it.. Still go and do it! The amazing places we saw and most importantly, the memories we made, are irreplaceable.
I’m tearing up while writing this (no surprise there since I’m a cry baby anyways lol) because I feel like I’m leaving a piece of me behind (My jacket in Venice for one bahaha). But honestly, it’s hard to accurately describe your emotions after an experience like this. I’m very grateful for even having the opportunity to live out one of my dreams. And everyone should do the same, if there’s something you’ve always dreamed of doing, go for it. If money is what’s keeping you from doing it (and I know that’s the case for most of us) just remember you can’t take your money with you in your coffin! Sounds morbid but think about it hahahaa..

Thanks to all of you who have been following the blog! It means a lot to me that you were interested in our journey :)
I might post again a few more times after I go through all our pictures and videos. Maybe we will do some sort of recap, just to help you guys not to have withdrawals you know? Bahaha..

But again… Thanks for keeping up with us fulfilling one of our dreams =D

Posted 10 months ago

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Jul 1
Day 18 - Frankfurt Friday June 29 We took a train from Berlin to Frankfurt in the late morning. It was our last train ride :( We arrived in Frankfurt around 7pm. The city reminded me slightly of Boston with that small/big city feel. The historic center is adorable with the old fashioned houses. We ate at one of the restaurants there and I had the server choose something for me that is “typical” here. So he brought me something not on the menu lol. It was pork in some sort of gravy and these balls that looked like potato meatballs, but I still don’t know what they were haha. It was all delicious though! Me and Andre reminisced the entire time during dinner. Going over our favorite and least favorite places and foods. Our most memorable experiences, funnest cities, etc. We will type up a final resume with all these details. It might help some of you planning a trip, and it’ll be fun for us to remember everything nonetheless haha. Tomorrow morning andre has his flight back to brasil at 10am, and I have mine back to Boston at 2pm. I still can’t believe it’s already over =O

Day 18 - Frankfurt

Friday June 29

We took a train from Berlin to Frankfurt in the late morning. It was our last train ride :( We arrived in Frankfurt around 7pm. The city reminded me slightly of Boston with that small/big city feel. The historic center is adorable with the old fashioned houses. We ate at one of the restaurants there and I had the server choose something for me that is “typical” here. So he brought me something not on the menu lol. It was pork in some sort of gravy and these balls that looked like potato meatballs, but I still don’t know what they were haha. It was all delicious though! Me and Andre reminisced the entire time during dinner. Going over our favorite and least favorite places and foods. Our most memorable experiences, funnest cities, etc. We will type up a final resume with all these details. It might help some of you planning a trip, and it’ll be fun for us to remember everything nonetheless haha. Tomorrow morning andre has his flight back to brasil at 10am, and I have mine back to Boston at 2pm.
I still can’t believe it’s already over =O

Posted 10 months ago

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Jul 1

Vídeo from day 17 - Madonna concert

Don’t go for second best baby, put your love to the test!
Hahahaa we crack ourselves up…

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Jul 1
Day 17 - Berlin continued Thursday June 28 It’s our last day in Berlin and our second to last day in Europe! :( We spent the morning at the East Side Gallery (a big chunk of the Berlin wall where artists painted cool murals). This was awesome to see, the mural of the 2 men kissing was taken from the famous photograph; this is probably the most famous mural. We also went to the Topography of Terror today (site of the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS during the Nazi Regime; it is now an outdoor museum) At night we went to the Madonna MDNA concert at the O2 World! It was so much fun! The crowds are definitely different, we were in the general admission section so we got pretty close, but nobody really jumped or sang! We were 2 of the few crazies singing and dancing lol. We had a blast :) Hj Vimos o east side gallery que é uma parte do mural de Berlin que continua de pé. Varios artistas pintaram e fizeram murais. É muito legal de ver. Tambem fomos no Topagraphie des Terror que é aonde era os buildings centrais do Gestapo e SS Durante o tempo dos Nazis. A noite fomos no show da Madonna! Foi otimo! Muito divertido! Mas eramos 2 dos unicos pulando e cantando! Quase ng cantava e dancava gente! Mas foi muito bom!!

Day 17 - Berlin continued

Thursday June 28

It’s our last day in Berlin and our second to last day in Europe! :(

We spent the morning at the East Side Gallery (a big chunk of the Berlin wall where artists painted cool murals). This was awesome to see, the mural of the 2 men kissing was taken from the famous photograph; this is probably the most famous mural.
We also went to the Topography of Terror today (site of the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS during the Nazi Regime; it is now an outdoor museum)
At night we went to the Madonna MDNA concert at the O2 World! It was so much fun! The crowds are definitely different, we were in the general admission section so we got pretty close, but nobody really jumped or sang! We were 2 of the few crazies singing and dancing lol. We had a blast :)


Hj Vimos o east side gallery que é uma parte do mural de Berlin que continua de pé. Varios artistas pintaram e fizeram murais. É muito legal de ver. Tambem fomos no Topagraphie des Terror que é aonde era os buildings centrais do Gestapo e SS Durante o tempo dos Nazis.
A noite fomos no show da Madonna! Foi otimo! Muito divertido! Mas eramos 2 dos unicos pulando e cantando! Quase ng cantava e dancava gente! Mas foi muito bom!!

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Jul 1
Day 16 - Berlin continued Clockwise from top left: -Doener Kebab (my favorite food in Berlin- Thanks Natalie for the suggestions!) This is actually a Turkish dish and it’s similar to a gyro, but 10x better. You find a Doener Kebab stand on every corner. -Berliner Dom (Cathedral), and you can see the tv tower in the background -Fernsehturm (tv tower in Alexanderplatz) -Checkpoint Charlie (one of the 3 checkpoints JFK had ordered to be built along the Berlin wall)

Day 16 - Berlin continued

Clockwise from top left:
-Doener Kebab (my favorite food in Berlin- Thanks Natalie for the suggestions!) This is actually a Turkish dish and it’s similar to a gyro, but 10x better. You find a Doener Kebab stand on every corner.
-Berliner Dom (Cathedral), and you can see the tv tower in the background
-Fernsehturm (tv tower in Alexanderplatz)
-Checkpoint Charlie (one of the 3 checkpoints JFK had ordered to be built along the Berlin wall)

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Jun 30
Day 16 - Berlin Sightseeing :) These were taken at the Brandenburg Gate. It’s amazing to see old images of it and then to see it in person. Google some classic images in front of the gate. You’ll see what I mean. These men dressed up as soldiers were hilarious! We have a video of when I was taking pictures with them haha.. That bottom picture with the little green man, that’s the East Berlin ampelmann. Don’t know what an ampelmann is you say?? Apparently it’s the little men on street lights that tell pedestrians if they can cross or not. It translates to “little traffic light man”, haha. This little guy in the picture is the East Berlin ampelmann and these cute images are everywhere! This picture was actually right in front of the ampelmann store haha.

Day 16 - Berlin

Sightseeing :)
These were taken at the Brandenburg Gate. It’s amazing to see old images of it and then to see it in person. Google some classic images in front of the gate. You’ll see what I mean.
These men dressed up as soldiers were hilarious! We have a video of when I was taking pictures with them haha..
That bottom picture with the little green man, that’s the East Berlin ampelmann. Don’t know what an ampelmann is you say?? Apparently it’s the little men on street lights that tell pedestrians if they can cross or not. It translates to “little traffic light man”, haha. This little guy in the picture is the East Berlin ampelmann and these cute images are everywhere! This picture was actually right in front of the ampelmann store haha.

Posted 10 months ago

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Jun 30

Day 16 - Berlin

Wednesday June 27

I love this city! It’s incredibly modern (certain parts and buildings look like something out of the Jetsons lol) yet there’s sooo much important history here. It’s amazing to see how a whole city rebuilt itself so beautifully.
To start off, the people here are obnoxiously beautiful haha. Women and men literally out of GQ -__- lol. Not only beautiful, but everyone is super friendly and helpful.
One thing that has completely baffled me during this entire trip.. EVERYONE speaks English (about 95% of the people we interacted with), and usually another language as well, besides their native language of course. It’s unbelievable..
In Germany especially, everyone will say they speak “just a little” English, but then they’ll have a full conversation with you! I found this amazing…

Estamos AMANDO Berlin! A cidade é super moderna (certas partes parece que veio do jetsons rsrs) mas com muita historia importante!
Pra comecar, as pessoas daqui sao LINDAS! Homens e mulheres direto da tv gente rsrs.. Nao sao só bonitas, mas simpaticas tmbm!
Uma coisa q me surpreendeu muito aqui na Europa foi que TODO mundo fala Ingles! Pelo menos 95% das pessoas com quem a gente conversou falava Ingles e mais outra lingua (sem ser a lingua deles é claro). Achei isso muito maneiro!

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Jun 30
Day 15 - Arrival in Berlin Tuesday June 26 The train ride was about 6 hours so we arrived in Berlin at around 10pm. I started trying some new foods as soon as we got on the train obviously haha. That’s the picture of what looks like breakfast sausages. Then at the train station I tried some currywurst, that’s the picture of what looks like cut up hot dog. That’s pretty much what it is, but covered in ketchup and curry. The train station is phenomenal by the way (picture up top), I can’t tell if it’s a giant shopping center or a train station lol. We took a taxi to the place we were staying. We rented a room in an apartment through airbnb. Our host was really nice, but I’m not sure I’d do this again. You share the kitchen (which we didn’t use) and the bathroom with whoever lives in the apartment, so it gets a little awkward, especially if they have a bunch of little rules, which this one did lol. Nonetheless it was a great experience, and the apartment was super nice (picture of it up top) and in a cool neighborhood. Chegamos em Berlin meio tarde na Terca dia 26. A estacao de trem é um espetaculo, parece um shopping center! Logico que ja comecei a experimentar as comidas alemãs na hora q entrei no trem né? Kkkk e quando chegamos na estacao provei mais um pouco. Provei 2 tipos de salsicha. Gostei mais da currywurst que é a que parece hot dog cortadinho. É quase isso mesmo só que coberto de ketchup e curry. Alugamos um apartamento Em uma area bem legal e o ap era uma gracinha (foto em cima) mas n sei se alugaria quarto assim denovo nao. O dono mora la entao vc divide o banheiro com ele. Ele foi gente boa mas tinha umas regras meio chatinhas rsrs.. Exemplo: homen tinha q fazer xixi sentado, n podia fazer em pé kkkk.. E outra: nao podia deixar cabelo em NADA.. Achamos q talvez ele tinha alergia a cabelo rsrs.. Imagina eu com essa cabelaiada?? Apavorada sempre olhando pra tras pra ver se cabelo tinha caido… =O

Day 15 - Arrival in Berlin

Tuesday June 26

The train ride was about 6 hours so we arrived in Berlin at around 10pm. I started trying some new foods as soon as we got on the train obviously haha. That’s the picture of what looks like breakfast sausages. Then at the train station I tried some currywurst, that’s the picture of what looks like cut up hot dog. That’s pretty much what it is, but covered in ketchup and curry. The train station is phenomenal by the way (picture up top), I can’t tell if it’s a giant shopping center or a train station lol.
We took a taxi to the place we were staying. We rented a room in an apartment through airbnb. Our host was really nice, but I’m not sure I’d do this again. You share the kitchen (which we didn’t use) and the bathroom with whoever lives in the apartment, so it gets a little awkward, especially if they have a bunch of little rules, which this one did lol. Nonetheless it was a great experience, and the apartment was super nice (picture of it up top) and in a cool neighborhood.


Chegamos em Berlin meio tarde na Terca dia 26. A estacao de trem é um espetaculo, parece um shopping center!
Logico que ja comecei a experimentar as comidas alemãs na hora q entrei no trem né? Kkkk e quando chegamos na estacao provei mais um pouco. Provei 2 tipos de salsicha. Gostei mais da currywurst que é a que parece hot dog cortadinho. É quase isso mesmo só que coberto de ketchup e curry.
Alugamos um apartamento Em uma area bem legal e o ap era uma gracinha (foto em cima) mas n sei se alugaria quarto assim denovo nao. O dono mora la entao vc divide o banheiro com ele. Ele foi gente boa mas tinha umas regras meio chatinhas rsrs.. Exemplo: homen tinha q fazer xixi sentado, n podia fazer em pé kkkk.. E outra: nao podia deixar cabelo em NADA.. Achamos q talvez ele tinha alergia a cabelo rsrs.. Imagina eu com essa cabelaiada?? Apavorada sempre olhando pra tras pra ver se cabelo tinha caido… =O

Posted 10 months ago

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Jun 29
Day 15 - Amsterdam (last Amsterdam post I promise) Tuesday June 26 We had a late afternoon train to Berlin today and got to spend part of the day in Amsterdam. So we spent it drinking before noon at the Heineken Factory lol. We did the Heineken experience tour which was actually really cool. I don’t even like Heineken but at the factory it was delicious :) Tivemos mais uma manha livre para aproveitar em Amsterdam, entao fomos para a fabrica da Heineken. Foi muito legal, eu nem gosto de Heineken mas na fabrica ela tava uma delicia!

Day 15 - Amsterdam (last Amsterdam post I promise)

Tuesday June 26

We had a late afternoon train to Berlin today and got to spend part of the day in Amsterdam. So we spent it drinking before noon at the Heineken Factory lol. We did the Heineken experience tour which was actually really cool. I don’t even like Heineken but at the factory it was delicious :)


Tivemos mais uma manha livre para aproveitar em Amsterdam, entao fomos para a fabrica da Heineken. Foi muito legal, eu nem gosto de Heineken mas na fabrica ela tava uma delicia!

Posted 10 months ago

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Jun 29
Day 14 - Amsterdam continued These pictures are of the rest of our day and night. Funny story: andre put on fb that he was in Amsterdam and a friend of his from brasil ended up being here as well! She was staying at a hotel literally 10 minutes away! That’s them in the picture.. can’t get over how small this world is! But after bumping into a friend from college in Prague.. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised lol. The late night food here is definitely fries haha and in most places I saw them on the menu as Belgian fries. :) waffles are big here too.. They’re everywhere, super delicious but Brussels definitely takes the cake on this one! Mais fotos de Amsterdam… Essas fotos sao do resto do dia.. Acredita que o Andre encontrou uma amiga do Brasil aqui?? O mundo é muito pequeno messsmooo! Ele colocou no Facebook que estava aqui e ela viu e estava aqui tmbm! Vanessa, foi um prazer te conhecer! Pena que foi por tao pouco tempo! Estou esperando a foto de nos 3 ta? Rsrs

Day 14 - Amsterdam continued

These pictures are of the rest of our day and night.
Funny story: andre put on fb that he was in Amsterdam and a friend of his from brasil ended up being here as well! She was staying at a hotel literally 10 minutes away! That’s them in the picture.. can’t get over how small this world is! But after bumping into a friend from college in Prague.. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised lol.
The late night food here is definitely fries haha and in most places I saw them on the menu as Belgian fries. :) waffles are big here too.. They’re everywhere, super delicious but Brussels definitely takes the cake on this one!

Mais fotos de Amsterdam…
Essas fotos sao do resto do dia..
Acredita que o Andre encontrou uma amiga do Brasil aqui?? O mundo é muito pequeno messsmooo! Ele colocou no Facebook que estava aqui e ela viu e estava aqui tmbm!
Vanessa, foi um prazer te conhecer! Pena que foi por tao pouco tempo! Estou esperando a foto de nos 3 ta? Rsrs

Posted 10 months ago

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