Une Vie Compliquée: traveling

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Traveling in Europe. Suggestions?

Soll ich nach Deutschland gehen, oder nicht? Das ist die Frage....

I'm leaving on my first official travel break this weekend. I'll be flying to Vienna, Austria Saturday morning with Jacqui and staying there for 3 days. Afterwards, we will be taking the train to Budapest, Hungary and staying there for 3 days before flying home. It looks like it will be lots of fun, especially since I have never been to those areas of Europe before. We'll be staying in hostels during the trip and doing the whole "wander around and find something cool" thing while in these cities so there's also a little bit of mystery in all of this. No matter what, I'm going to approach all of this with an open mind and see what this trip has to deal to me.

Now, back to my original question: Literally two weeks after I get back from Budapest, I have another week-long travel break which I have yet to work out. Some friends want to go to Madrid for the week, but I have some friends coming in to Copenhagen who I have to meet. Plus, I'm looking for more of a short break since I miss just being able to stay home and relax in the silence of an empty house. So, instead of going for an entire week, I'm considering going somewhere on my own for a few days and spending the rest back here in Denmark. Berlin is currently my top choice - I can currently get some very cheap flight to and from Berlin (about $80 round trip) and a very nice hotel for about $200 for 4 nights, leaving me plenty of extra for food and any shopping/sightseeing I want to do. But I still am not sure about anything. Does anyone have any suggestions for some relatively affordable places to go to in Europe?

I'm looking to do 11/10/12 until 11/14/12 which is a Saturday to Wednesday. Most of Europe is in their off-season so hotels are cheap in general and flying is decent on Easyjet and the like. My budget is around $400-$500 in total, flight, hotel, and food and such included.

A city where I can understand (or at least somewhat understand) what's going on would be preferable, though I'm open to anything. I speak French and English fluently and my German can get me by in a pinch.

So, any suggestions or even advice would be greatly appreciated.

Vielen Danke/Merci Mille Fois/Thanks a Bunch/Tusind Tak!

JP

Glossary

Some people I mention in this blog:

Maria - My best friend since kindergarden, I know almost everything about her and she about me. She was the first person I came out to and has been the rock ontowhich I go to when things get rocky in life. She's the only person I can actually speak completely open and frankly with. I don't know what I would do if I never met her all those years ago.

M - A girl I became friends with freshman year of high school, we've become very close friends and continue to be to this very day. We are surprisingly similar personality wise and value each other's opinion very highly. I can talk freely to M almost as much as I can with Maria. She currently attends an ivy-league university up north; I'm really glad we met all those years ago and can only imagine how my high school years would have turned out if we never met.

Miss X- Foodie, blogger, photgrapher, one of my best friends, and someone who can have a delightfully dry sense of humour. We met early on in high school and have been friends ever since. We often go on adventures accross NOVA with our little circle of friends which are occasionally recounted here on this blog.

Christine- Friends since we could barely ride half the roller coasters at theme parks, Christine is a magical being who is one of the few people I could and would talk about anything with for hours on end. She's currently spending much of her time in NYC though we still see each other very often. Her dramas sometimes make my drama seem like childsplay.

Mark -A former dorm mate, and now former crush. He came out as bi to me and Maudry one night which he has been increasingly comfortable with. He's tall, has short brown hair and used to play football. He's ambitious and looks to make a big impact in the world of Politics in the future. I have had a crush on him and we've gotten together a few times. I thought our relationship could have been something more, but in the end it will end up staying as a friendship. I hope only the best for him.

Liz - One of best friends at school. She's funny, charismatic and is someone who I can tell almost anything to. She's friends with Maudry, Mark and is part of the first floor crew who I love and frequently visited during my freshman year, we're still great friends today.

Matt - My now former love, hate, drug, everything. I met him back during my Sophomore year and the crush I developed on him that stuck for the longest time. He's tall, has brown blond hair and the rare but desirable "serious but funny" personality that makes me melt. He also has probably one of the best smiles of any guy I know. He was one of the captains of my high schools cross country team. For quite some time I've tried to end this obsession over him but everytime I seemed to make progress, I'd relapse. He's a great guy but in all liklihood he's straight.

Southern Charm (aka SC) - A guy on the crew team who had moved up from Florida during my senior year. He's charming, tall, and slim with brown slightly wavy short hair. When I first met him I got the thought that he might be gay, a thought I quickly suppressed. Since then, we had become pretty good friends. My friend Jess has a crush on SC. One evening on a car ride home, my friend Dutch told me she thought that SC might be gay, something I had repressed in my mind for months, but was pushed to the front of my mind again. He's now a freshman and is study engineering and comp sci in university.

Ben - A guy I had the pleasure of knowing for one of the best weeks of my life during a cruise over the summer. He's a bit shorter than me but was also a senior who runs cross country. We got to know each other pretty well and had many conversations during that week that I will probably never forget. He has brown hair and the most beautiful light brown eyes. I'm pretty sure he's straight but i couldn't help but get the feeling he could have been bi. He's mostly in my summer 2009 posts.

Dutch - My friend who I met during my junior year on the crew team. She's a fun great person to be around and is someone I could talk about anything with, especially during the private car rides back from practice. We both know of all the crew drama that goes on.

My Family - A network of people who I love with all my heart despite their nuances, quirks and often ridiculous practices. Apart from my mom, I haven't told anyone I'm gay and probably won't for a while. They're not ready for that and don't need the added stress.

Various Single Lettered Friends (L, T, K etc)- Friends I got too lazy to actually come up with an alias for (I gave up after five, how sad haha). They are usually someone from my close group of friends some of which I have come out to. We have a very mutually supportive relationship that fosters great bonds between us as a group.

**Names Changed to Preserve Anonymity**

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Traveling in Europe. Suggestions?

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