Visiting Other Cities in Europe

                Last week we had our Toussaint Break and I set out to visit other places in Europe. I traveled by myself but not because I was trying to make a statement. I simply wanted to see a few other cities and none of the people who would do something like this with me were here. Rather than feeling sorry for myself, I decided that this was an opportunity I couldn't pass.  Early in October, I started figuring out where in Europe to go, how I would get there and where I would stay. Armed with Europe on a shoestring, a eurolines 15 day pass and hostel reservations, I set out to discover Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin and Prague. In the end I learned a lot about cities, navigating places as a tourist and what to do and not do while travelling.

            I am very glad that I chose these four cities because they were different from each other yet I could see what role history played in shaping these places. It was great to get to Brussels and see that life seemed to move at a slower pace compared to Paris. I also noticed that they had skyscrapers, not to the same level as some cities, but they definitely allowed them. I quickly moved from the bus station to the hostel without getting lost and didn't have a hard time moving around. I never had a GPS on this entire trip so being able to read maps and figure out where I was going was very important. In Brussels, I made sure to stop at Matongé, an area that has African hairdressers, restaurants and other services catering to the African communities in the city. I enjoyed some African fast-food and talked to a lady who wanted to know why so many Americans have guns.

After leaving Brussels I headed for Amsterdam on an inner-city train that kept making me change. This wasn't too bad except the signs start appearing in Dutch and I couldn't tell you what they said. At one point, I asked the lady sitting next to me where the train was headed and thankfully, I was in the right place. Since she was headed the same direction, she was able to help me out. I learned some important lessons regarding the location of your hostel. It’s nice to get one in the center of the city and if you can’t, try to make sure the one you get is near a metro or bus stop. It’s also kind of important that you know how to get to the hostel from the metro or bus stop. I guarantee you that walking around for half an hour trying to figure out where you are going after a four hour train ride is not what a vacation is all about. Here again, I learned about the kindness of others and that you might need to ask multiple people for directions before getting anywhere. In Amsterdam, I wasn't on my own but instead with a friend who was able to get us around. Here I could just relax and enjoy my stay.

I left Amsterdam on a ten hour bus ride to Berlin. Other than the fact that the bus driver only spoke German and I was afraid of being left behind at a rest stop, we got to Berlin smoothly and ahead of time. I was in Berlin for two days and definitely had more time to enjoy the city. I took a free tour so I could see the highlights of the city and then spent the rest of the time walking around. Berlin is a city that’s been shaped by its history and as I read somewhere, the architecture reflects the different national governments and the projects they took on. The public transportation system is excellent! The line I was on started running at 4 am and went until midnight or 1. Most of the signs were in German, but it was easy to buy your ticket and figure out the system even as an English speaker.

My last destination was Prague and I couldn't have chosen a better place to end my trip. Even though having a map didn't help me navigate the old streets and the metro machines only accepted coins, Prague is a beautiful city! Walking around the city, I loved seeing all the buildings showcasing different architectural styles. I was simply amazed by the churches and how beautiful they were on the inside and outside. Getting around the city wasn't too bad even though I didn't speak a word of Czech. The only bad choice I made was not realizing that 14 hours on a bus from Prague to Paris was probably not a good idea. In the end, I stuck through it and made it back in one piece. I will share some of my photos from the trip in the next posts.

Before I end this post, I would like to cover one thing that kept coming up as I moved from place to place. I have been raised to go after my dreams and make them happen. I don’t set my limits based on my race or gender and I definitely don’t let people try to let me I can’t do something. It was so interesting to talk to people and have them ask what exactly I was doing, roaming around Europe by myself. It could also be that since I am short, they thought I wasn't legally an adult. Usually I explained to them that I was majoring in Urban Studies and since we talk about cities and different types of cities, I wanted to visit these places for myself.  In the end, I could see why from their viewpoint it seemed strange that a short Congolese-American woman who spoke no Dutch, German or Czech was traveling on her own, but it reminded me that I had this opportunity to travel and I wasn't going to let anything, including being on my own, stop me from making it happen.