I want you all to know it was worth as many stars as I can give it. Great trip, great people, great experiences. All around great.
First off, though.
What is EF Ultimate Break? You may have seen ads on places like Facebook or Instagram of this group that has a map and pictures of things like buildings or gorillas or something of that sort. It talks about affordable travel for solo (or group) travelers ages 18-29.
-What do they do? Everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything. All I've had to do was sign up, pay money (with convenient payment plans), and show up. They take care of plane tickets, transportation, rooming, breakfast, guides, and so much else.
I highly recommend EF especially if you're someone like me who stinks at planning and much prefers just handing over money and being told when and where to show up. To me, it's 100% worth the price.
So I signed up for this trip within the week of returning from my Belize trip with a few of the people I went to Belize with. We had a couple of discount codes that we used on it (since we had just returned from a trip, we could use the the repeat code and a few others). Normally I probably wouldn't have chosen a European trip in winter (because the cold and I don't get along), but I was not going to pass up the opportunity to create a messenger group called "Are EUROPE for another Unbelizeable adventure?" Like I was so proud of that title there was no way I'd be that clever for any other place.
New Years in Paris: Amsterdam, Paris, London December 26-January 5
Months slowly tick by and I worked diligently on figuring out what exactly one wears in cold weather. It was more of a struggle than it really should have been, but oh well.
December 26th rolls around and there I am: packed, ready to go to the airport, determined this will be the first trip I figure out how to vlog on (or about). I get in the car and get to the airport with relatively little traffic (thanks, Ma, for driving me!). Security was a breeze to get through. I was so excited, even if I was 3 hours early for the flight (which was also going to be one of the first few to arrive in Amsterdam) but I didn't get pulled aside for security. I generally get pulled aside for extra security. I don't know why it's just a thing. I don't even make the machines beep, but still, it was exciting to not be pulled aside.
I find a good spot to sit at the gate and begin to creep on everyone on the facebook groups' profiles. For a good 15 minutes I was sitting there minding my own business, plenty of seats open, and when I looked up I'm surrounded by people. Not because there are only a few seats left, but I guess I just found the good chair (I don't know why there wasn't very good signal, nor was there a charger -- but of the 30 people within the area, 25 of them were in seats right next to me).
It was then I decided I needed to start my drinking for this trip at the airport. So I gathered my stuff, careful to not hit the sleeping infant's stroller, slowly enough so I didn't step on the crawling toddler, and backtracked to Ruby's Diner to have my very first Bloody Mary (It was a Sriracha bacon bloody Mary and it was very good).
Kevin, a friend from high school who also went on the trip, showed up to Ruby's and we caught up a bit before finally making our way back to the gate. Where we were informed the plane was delayed because something was leaking and they needed to find us a new plane.
At this point, we ended up meeting up with two others of the group and had a drink together.
Overall, the flight was delayed 2.5-3 hours. I tried to do a vlog video explaining what was going on, but since it was like one of three videos taken it didn't seem like a huge deal to add.
But we do eventually get on the plane, where I meet but don't really talk to the other two people from Houston. I tried to sleep on the flight, but only really dozed off a few times.
On December 27th, we landed in Amsterdam! Our flight wound up being the last to land and so as a group of six, we had to take a taxi to our hostel to meet up with everyone. Thankfully, we weren't the last to arrive at the hostel, someone who had arrived earlier got on the wrong EF bus.
Once we get there, since we can't check-in, we stored our luggage. I hung out a little bit with two of the three people from Belize (since Greg wound up not being able to make it), not much though. I did learn that Ashleigh left her bag on the bus (which becomes a fun story later on). Then we all as a group learned how to us the tram system they have.
From there we walked around like a large group of tourists (seriously, there were 43 of us), grabbed a few souvenirs, ate a few waffles, drank some coffee, and a few people went looking for some coffee shops.
When we could check into the hostel, we went back and did so, then got ready for our welcome mixer.
This mixer was different than the one from Belize in a lot of ways, mainly though we were all separated at different tables (which is part of why I'm glad I sat by a group of people I hadn't met yet) and there was no icebreaker game. No one really knew what the food situation was going to be like since the itinerary said "get to know fellow travelers over drinks and light appetizers" but let me tell you, at our table it was the perfect amount of food. I don't even know half of what I ate but it was all delicious, especially what I dubbed the gravy balls (they were fried on the outside but had the taste of gravy on the inside) and the chicken kebabs (even if these were super messy).
After the mixer, the groups split. Some people went back to the hostel, the rest of us went to the Red Light District. Obviously I was one who stayed out. We wandered as a large group for a bit, then shrank down and then joined back up. At this point in the night, everyone decided it was time to try out a sex show. So everyone crowded in one building that was for a peep show.
I was at the back of the line with a group of guys and they decided they wanted to find somewhere else. Since I wasn't too keen on peeping on anyone undressing or whatever the rest of the group was going to be watching, I went with them.
Which is how I wound up being the only girl in a group of six (maybe seven) that got into an actual sex show. I was also given a penis shaped lollipop as we entered the building. It was exactly what you would imagine it being, so I'm not going to explain any more than that.
Afterwards, we wandered through a few more bars and I wandered right back out of one because it was crowded and someone with a creeper vibe grabbed my butt. So one or two of the guys and I went to the casino near by. I watched people gamble, was given plenty of water from the guy in charge (who was super nice to me, found me a chair to sit in and everything).
Everyone else left except for myself and one other guy so I hung out there until he was ready to leave and we made it back to the hostel without anything scary or exciting happening, stayed up pretty late talking in the the hostel lobby/hangout area.
The morning of December 28th seemed to come way too soon, but I got up and got moving. We had our walking tour with people from the area and got to choose between three people. I went with the writer. It was amusing, but nothing terribly memorable was said. Here are a few pictures from that tour.
After the tour, we went to find food. And since everyone just seemed to be standing around debating while I was getting hungrier and hungrier, Ashleigh and I started walking and others joined us. We stopped outside this little Italian place that was right across from a dessert place that had some swell looking macaroons in the window. It was perfect! Lunch and a snack right across from each other.
I got a chicken wrap and a glass of house red.
It was delicious, with a hint of spiciness that just kept me wanting to eat more. Like just thinking about it makes my mouth water in want of more.
Once we finished eating with everyone, Ashleigh and I went to go and get Ashleigh's bag from the bus driver in a different city.
We met with the tour director and he told us where we were going and how long it should take to get there. (Amersfoort -- 1 hour there, 1 hour back.)
I made a joke as soon as we sat down that we were going to get lost and sleep through our stop. In hopes to avoid this, I set an alarm just in case we both dozed off at about a time I figured would be good to wake up and get off the train.
We slept through our stop.
It wasn't as we thought an hour away, but rather only thirty minutes away. SO we freak out on the train for a little bit until the line completely stops and the conductor, ticket-checker guy comes up and tells us we need to get off. We are freaking out at this point and ask him what train we should get on to get us where we want to go.
We get on the wrong train. Thankfully, we realize this sooner rather than later and get back off of it. Then ask the lady at the kiosk for help. When she tells us what train, we run over to it thankful that it was there. Only to realize it was the wrong train and we needed the one that was showing up next.
Eventually though, we DO get on the right train, we DO get to Amesfoort, and we DO get Ashleigh's bag. We did hang out there for a little while on our own. There was a calmer feel to Amerfoort than Amsterdam, if only because we were about to get run over by bikes every ten seconds and there weren't nearly as many people there.
We managed to get back to Amsterdam without any trouble.
That night, while most of the group went to the sex show I had gone to the night before, I declined to go again and hung out with Kris and Larkin while they met up with Kris' cousin. It was an interesting night, I tried a few new beers. One of which was incredible. Too bad I've no recollection of what the beer was. I think Kris has record of it, so I'll have to get in touch with him and ask. I was informed that I missed out on that night's show because one of our group got called up on stage.
We end up meeting up with the rest of our group at some point and I meet a lot of new people. Including a Canadian who's also a Parisian Chef. His name is Nate. (There were also some named Niccolai, Danny, Mattias -- he actually spelled his name for me, and Stash -- Stash is Russian.)
Our group adopted Nate (or forced him to hang out with us) for the rest of the night. After some fries and regrouping, we decided it was time to go home. So we walk most of the way home and I'm there trying to give my new friend Nate a hug goodbye when I turn around and everyone has vanished.
Apparently my Guardian Angels were with me, because I (drunkenly) start walking in the general direction I thought the hostel was in and pretty quickly I can hear my group (they were the loud drunk Americans pretty hard to miss). So I catch up with them and we make our way back to the hostel. I also apparently sent a few mildly terrifying Snapchats.
This night, I stayed up talking with someone else, similar area but completely different subjects. I mean, it's not everyday I get to talk to a history teacher so that was cool. Although when we went to bed, my head hit the pillow and then a few of my roommates started doing their hair. This was also the first day on the trip I did not take my allergy medicine, which wasn't the smartest idea.
December 29th began without any sleep. I really should have slept some, but at this point I was still running strong on just vacation energy (plus I was still somewhat drunk from the night before). We went out into the countryside and went to a cheese factory, clogmakers place, and a windmill.
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| That scarf left fuzz on everything. Like I'm still getting it off my clothes. |
It was very very cold. Although the day was long and enjoyable, I didn't take a lot of pictures. Plus after getting back and eating, I was ready to go to sleep. After some games of Giant Jenga, of course. It was our last night in Amsterdam, but I didn't mind sleeping that night at all.
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| Yes, I did steal someone's picture of me playing Giant Jenga because I could (Thanks Kevin for taking it) |
The next day we went to Paris.
I was going to put all of this in one blog, but I think it'll serve better to split it into a blog per city. So next time, I'll tell all about our trip to the City of Love.
Until then,
Shelby
