Young&Free

Let's get lost in every way possible

[hi-cendie]

Budapest

[hi-cendie]

Praha, Czech Republic

1. The city is truly beautiful. There is so much history behind the city and the buildings show it well. The gothic design in the buildings are truly amazing. Kim had a great time taking pictures of the doors. 

2. The people in Prague are crazy. The city is known for its party scene so a good majority of the people we meet are there to get wasted. Whether it be a big groups of people getting drunk or just one pumped up person in the pub crawl, most people are ready for a party. The clubs were filled with drunk, pumped up people and during the day, the pubs are filled with day drinkers. 

3.  The amazing scenery when we entered the country… wow.. I’ve never seen such beautiful cliffs (aside from BC’s cliffs but these were different). The houses were colourful and spread out throughout the trees that lined the forest. The train followed the path of the river and it was astounding to see. 

4. The river had a lot of rowers in it. Looked like they were practicing for something. Might a competition or just for fun but it was the type of rowing you would see in the olympics. There are also kayakers that go down the river. 

5. The language is different! More accents now and it sounds slurry. Then again, new languages always sound a little slurry.

6. Racism is definitely more prominent here. I noticed more people starring at me and not giving me the same level of service as the locals/ whites. This was interesting to experience.

[hi-cendie]

The People. (Prague)

You know how people say: “It’s not where you are but who you’re with”? Well I couldn’t agree more with this. The city of Prague, although beautiful and life changing, was made better because of the people that we met along the way. Whether it be fate or just a bunch of random coincidences, the people we had the chance to interact with were amazing.

Lily: She slept in the bed across from Himani and I and was such a sweet girl. Because of Lily, we had the idea to stay out all night and watch the sunrise from Charles Bridge. Because of Lily, we hung out with Kim and talked about her love life and shared that we all had struggles. Because of Lily, we ran down the bridge to relieve our stress.

Drew: A fellow Canadian who goes to Mcmaster. He arrived the second day we were in Prague and was so friendly. He was an inspiration to us that it was okay to reach out to other individuals staying in the hostel. He told us about his journey: 30ish days in Europe, hammocking through cities (literally. They set up hammocks). It was interesting to hear about how spontaneous things were for him. I can’t imagine booking a hostel on the day of arrival. His journey made us rearrange our schedule for Cinque Terre/ Florence/ Venice.

Our Czech local (Nat?): She lived in the bunk on the other side of us and would chime in to give helpful advice when we discussed plans. She told us which clubs were good and suggested us not to pay for the Pub Crawl. She also helped some other people with food suggestions.

Alex: He was already Kim’s friend but we me this for the first time. It was already by chance that we were in Prague at the same time as Kim, so having Alex be in Prague at the same time as Kim is another coincidence. He was an artist and an interesting person to talk to. Because of Alex, we had the most amazing and crazy nights in Prague. He encouraged us to stay at Karlovy Lazne where we met the French people and crowd surfed…

Haider: A student from Maryland University. We met him at Karlovy Lazne and he also crowd surfed. Himani managed to find him on Linked In (LOL) afterwards and we met up to chill and party again. He was the reason we followed the pub crawl. We chilled on the bridge opposite Charles together for an hour, talking about life and enjoying the view. He inspired me to chat with people more, at bars, at clubs (if possible).

French Party People: The first group of French people we encountered. These guys were in Prague to watch soccer. We started the night at Karlovy Lazne with dancing and as we moved in, we encountered these French people. It started with only two of them, both pretty cute tbh. Then, the crowd grew. There were so many of them. About 20 maybe. One of them started crowd surfing and soon, the entire club started doing it. Yes, we did it too.

French Drinking Rugby People: While trying to find food, we came across a group of French people sitting in a little bar, chanting REALLY LOUD. We thought it was probably because of the soccer game but once we went in, the France team wasn’t even playing and there weren’t even watching the game. Two of the men welcomed us in and we sat with them, laughing about how crazy their chanting was. They were banging their glasses on the table and their palms almost turned red because of banging on the table. Due to the atmosphere, we also ordered beers and at some point, went up on top of the table and sang the O Canada. Yep.

Czech Inn British Boys: We met the quartet at the hostel on a day they came back drunk from their adventures. We were eating amazing Chinese food and they came and tried to steal our food. The 4 of them were adorable and although I couldn’t tell if they were harmless, I loved to be around them. TK, Louie, Dillon, (i’m sorry I forgot the last one’s name). Dillon passed out on the first night and then at the pub crawl night, he strolled off on his own.. lol.. Everyone but TK helped to find him (yay friends). All not bad looking; wouldn’t mind if they came on our adventures with us.

Rogelio: Moved in on our last night and by coincidence, was also going on the pub crawl. The first thing we said when he said his name was “JANE THE VIRGIN”. He was tame at first but at the pub crawl.. omfg. He had 7 shots of Absinth and more vodka shots. Plus, he’ll be in Budapest too so maybe we’ll see each other again!

Ivy: We met her at Karlovy Lazne and she joined us as we watched the dance floor from above. She said she was from Taiwan and so happy to have met people she can dance with. She was adorable and stayed with us the whole night.

Randoms

“We have the same travel schedule” boys: Met these guys at the pub crawl and they started with: “didn’t we take a picture of you at the viewpoint today?”. Turns out, we had asked for a photo of us earlier that day and returned the favour. We compared travel schedules and it turns out, they have an insanely similar travel schedule.

“I want to marry Himani” + Brown boys crew: A giant sausage fest of boys at the pub crawl that we met while trying to go into one of the bars. They left, saying that it was dead in there. British boys. Loved Himani.

[hi-cendie]

Day 31

Our last full day of Prague consisted of a Segway tour around the city. First we met up with Anne, Himani’s online friend. We huddled under an umbrella together and waited to go into Prague Castle. The exterior of the castle was magnificent. It was giant and hosted gothic themed details. Once you turn the corner and look at the castle from the side, it’s vast size and details leave you in awe. Walking around the castle and down a pathway, the view of the city is once again seen but from a different perspective. At this point, we had about 15min to make it to our segway tour so we ran, like crazy. We ran down steps, across roads, over bridges. It was quite dramatic tbh. We made it. BUT they weren’t even ready for us! Eventually, we got helmets and rain jackets for our segway trip. We got Alex as our tour guide and after a short tutorial (b/c we were so pro, we didn’t need much training), we set out onto the streets with our kick ass seaways. We made our way over bridges and breezed past a couple interesting sites: the metronome and signifies the constant change in politics, the John Lennon wall, the statue of politicians peeing on Czech Republic. After this, we went to find food. 

During our stroll to search for cheap food, we came across a bar with loud cheering emitting from the doors. Intrigued, we stepped inside and were encouraged to stay by some of the men. We learned that this was a French rugby team and they’ve been drinking for the past 23h. They had so many chants and we joined in, having no clue what they were saying or when to say it but screaming randomly seems to work well. We got beer, just to be a part of the group and ordered food. We got up on the table and sang our anthem afterwards, which was such a rush and so fun! They banged their beers mugs on the table and clapped along with us as we sang. Eventually, they left, but not without an invite to continue with them on their drinking journey + they stole an antique helmet from the pub + they left their whatsapp number with Himani. 

We left the pub, half filled with beer but tipsy AF and headed for our meeting point with Haider. We ended up ditching the beer tour cause of laziness and decided to walk across a bridge instead. Walking a couple steps in, we saw Charle’s Bridge parallel to us and stopped to admire it’s beauty. It’s different to look at a bridge from afar and admire its details vs. being on the bridge and looking at it/ the surroundings. Himani hopped up onto a ledge of the bridge and with some caution, we joined her soon after. We spent about an hour on that bridge, admiring the water, the buildings and of course the bridge. We talked about life, found out that we had a mutual friend, laughed about our past and shared our opinions on working in the health care industry. 

That night, we followed Haider to a pub crawl. The initial plan was to join the pub crawl but after some tips from a fellow hostel mate, we decided that it was more worth it just to follow the pub crawl around town. Kim came along and we headed on our way to find a place to start the night off. After failing to catch up to the pub crawl twice, we eventually found them at a bar/ club. Outside the bar, we ran into a group of British Indian boys and started a conversation about our fantastic British accents, their wish for us to join them in a hot tub and their dorky pub crawl tshirts. After meeting some people at the pub crawl, the entire group paraded out of the club to head to the next location. It was quite intriguing to be in a group of drunk young adults as a (mostly) sober person. Just being around drunk people made me feel drunk and before you know it, we were strolling down streets, saying hi to everyone and singing songs. We met a bunch of different people (including the boys that took our picture) and headed to the next bar. At this place, it was bumpin’ with good music and vibes. The British boys from the hostel (TK, Fergie, Louie, Dylan) were dancing in close proximity and were fun to have around. Dylan drank too much (again..) and was taken upstairs to be taken care of. We ran into the crew upstairs and ended up sitting with them and chatting for a while. Took some pics and laughed about stealing Chinese food and snapchats. Finally we headed to Karlovy Lazne to end the night, during which we ran into the British Indian squad again and Himani got proposed to. Lol. The night came to a close when we went onto Charle’s Bridge to watch the sunrise one more time but this time it was hella cold. The wind was blowing quite strongly and the temperature was low but we suffered through it and stayed to watch the sunrise at 4am. 

[hi-cendie]

Day 29 + 30

After going back to the hostel for a little while, we got ourselves prepped up to go out! Nicole’s squad suggested that we would go to either Roxy or Cross Club so we settled for the option that didn’t have cover. It was a hyped up night. We were hoping to find a venue with great music, party people and cheap drinks. Unfortunately, when we arrived at Cross Club, it was empty. This may not be a big deal normally b/c throughout the night, it gets more packed and the place gets more lively but this place didn’t have the right music for us. Perhaps it was the fact that we were in Europe and they like to listen to “interesting” electronica but it was definitely not our scene. The first thing that happened included a terrifying trip to the bathroom that resulted in a lady rushing in and screaming at us to leave the bathroom “NOW NOW NOW”. Talk about a terrible welcome. The next 30min included a search for wifi/ data signal and looking up alternative places to go/ deciding if we should leave or not. Eventually, we decided to hit up the 5-storey club near Old Town and picked ourselves up out of that booth we were seated in. Regardless, Cross Club had interesting decor and a unique vibe I’ve never experienced before. Just looking at all the decor was a good experience I guess!

Strolled in the dark with the squad (Cinmani + Alex/ Kim + Nicole squad) —> took the tram to Karlovy Lazne and sang Drake songs with Alex —> bouncers said it was "dead in there” —> walked to Charle’s Bridge and hung out in the dark for a while —> Nicole’s squad decided to go home b/c the night didn’t work out the way we planned and it was 2am by this point —> Alex, Kim and Cinmani walked back to Karlovy —> suddenly, a large line formed

We spent a long time trying to figure out if we should just go home or pay the cover to get into this club. Then Alex said something that made Himani hesitate: “This could be the best night of your life”. Unsure of our decision, we went into the line and holy crap, are we glad we did. The night ended up being a perfect level of crazy. Music was good, we got onto a platform, we danced with a giant group of “harmless" French men. We crowd surfed. We met Haider and Ivy, two amazing people + some people from Montreal. Ended the night by having a heart-to-heart talk with Kim and running across Charle’s Bridge while watching the sunrise. We eventually got back to the hostel at 6am..

The next day was recovery day. We woke up past noon and got ready to go out. Our breakfast was a trdlink and we walked around the Jewish Quarters and Old Town Square. The most important aspect of this day was the fact that we took a break to watch “Finding Dory” as it was the premier day. I got ham and cheese flavoured popcorn. What. Didn’t even know that was a thing but I loved it!! European things… Ended the night we buying some cheap Chinese food and finally speaking mandarin after weeks of not having anyone to speak it with.

Back at the hostel, we made some new friends: Drew, the 4 British boys. Drew chatted with us about his travels and his hammocking experience. The 4 British Boys came back drunk and stole our Chinese food. And of course, we ended the night with Jane.

[hi-cendie]

Day 28 (Part 2)

Stolled across Charle’s Bridge and had to stop multiple times to admire the view. The houses across the bridge looked like they came out of a fairy tale: red roofs clustered together on a uphill slant. The water below, although not the cleanest, glistened in the sun and hosted paddle boats, tour boats and “just for fun” boats. There were parts of the river that would dip down,the water would run like little waterfalls. 

What was better than that amazing bridge was going to the other side and strolling through the little streets. There were inclines throughout the city but the beauty of the buildings and the lack of tourists in the more isolated areas made the city feel like the perfect getaway. After climbing and climbing, we arrived at the gates of Prague Castle. Just before the gates. we were able to see the most amazing view of Prague. The little red roofs, the river, the bridge, everything.

After sitting in the grass and resting our legs, we walked down the hill and tried to find a restaurant to eat at. Eventually found a random restaurant and got some “authentic Czech food”: Goulash! 

[hi-cendie]

Day 28

Prague (Part 1)

5:45am we got up —> headed to Central station using Amsterdam’s tram system —> successfully got onto our 7:01am train to Berlin —> found a seat w/o reservation easily —> napped, ate, listened to music and made videos for 6+ hours —> woke up and decided that it would be good to check and see when the train arrives —> realized that our stop was next —> rushed to pack up all of our stuff and got off the train —> tried to ask the DB staff if this was the right place to transfer to a Prague train (language barrier = no concrete answer) —> all good! We were at the right place —> dragged our suitcases around Berlin - Spandau and looked at some apartments with German flags —> couldn’t go any further so we chilled in the shopping centre and bought Pide, water, KFC —> got back onto the train to Prague (success!) —> found a compartment to squeeze into —> a nice old man helped us put our luggage up —> had a very comfortable train ride —> the other passengers in our compartment left and we had the whole thing to ourselves —> truly ecstatic, we turned on the music, spread our legs out and enjoyed the rest of our ride —> entering Czech Republic, the scenery was amazing —> Took the train through beautiful Czech => arrived at Czech Inn and met up with Kim => Old town square (met up with Nicole + friends!) => went into Hamleys toy store => walked around old town => ate a Trdlínk => played with bubbles 

[hi-cendie]

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Some of the buildings tend to be slanted. The windows are tilted and it makes it look like the buildings are melting.

The flowers along the canal are beautiful. They’re well kept and add a splash of colour to the brown buildings of Amsterdam

A lot of the buildings have rooms that are downstairs. Their basements are utilised as if they’re first floor rooms.

Some doors are so small! Just shoulder width wide. I wonder how they get couches or furniture past those tiny doors. Maybe there are companies that specifically specialize in that? The doors are probably to cater to the fact that the buildings are so narrow and close together. Not exactly like the London buildings however. London had buildings stuck together that looked very similar. In Amsterdam, the buildings were narrow and stuck close together but each one looked different.

There are a lot of explicit novelty items. For example, lots of characters with minimal clothing on (like Peter Griffin haha). They also have crazy pictures with explicit sex images or cannabis themes. We saw a picture of drugged up Mona Lisa.. ugh...

Museums galore. I’m guessing it’s probably because of the tourism industry there. Here’s a list of the crazy “museums” we saw: condoms, tulips, cheese, Van Gogh, Rijks, cow, sex, prostitution, erotic, Anne Frank, clogs

Biking is popular in Amsterdam! Although, in the main city, there weren’t too many bikers b/c it’s so touristy. However, the wonderful people we met on our taxi ride told us that most people bike and that when it’s school time, there are special people needed just to regulate that! Crazy but awesome.

People seem to stare at you more. As if Asians are a rare occurrence? Or perhaps it’s the combination of a Chinese person with an Indian friend.

Dutch people are friendly-ish. It’s a hit or miss really. Talked to some people who were great and taught us a lot, but for every one of those, there was someone else who preferred to not have tourists in their town.

Beautiful canals that were lined with lights. When they’re reflected off the water, it’s truly beautiful.

[hi-cendie]

Day 27 (Part 4)

Walked around the Red Light District and came across the Hemp/ cannibas section —> found a Vietnamese restaurant and enjoyed Pho.. finally! —> ate insanely fast —> speed walk to next attraction —> Amsterdam Ice Bar —> had the first drink in the regular bar —> Himani discovered she likes “Sex on the Beach” + I got “Amsterdamned” —> put on jackets and gloves and prepared for a journey across the seas of Norway and Denmark —> entered the -10 degrees room and danced with randoms —> had our Heineken beers in a glass made of ice —> chilled, literally —> had vanilla flavoured shots —> froze our toes off and left, tipsy AF —> attempted to find a nose piercing location for Himani —> failed and took refuge inside a McDonalds —> went back to the hostel, still tipsy AF —> sent some postcards home —> tried to go to the hostel bar/ club but it was too empty —> decided to go to the Red Light District again, but at night this time —> ventured into Amsterdam at night and was rewarded with beautiful lights lining the bridges, reflecting off the canal water —> lights lined some buildings in the larger areas —> RLD ladies were gorgeous in their rooms and impossible to miss —> also saw creepy boys “shopping”.. —> looped into and out of lanes, looking at ladies —> wondered why we saw no males? —> saw delicious waffles and disgusting looking pizza inside shops (European late night snacks) —> walked back to the hostel, cautious b/c it was so late —> packed up and sleep at 2:30am, preparing to wake up at 5:30am..

[hi-cendie]

Day 27 (Part 3)

Walked towards the Royal Palace and Dam, a square with a beautiful building, a bunch of pigeons and the location for popular events —> ran into a pile of pigeons (literally a pile b/c there were too many to fit standing next to each other —> sat in a giant clog —> saw cows on the ceiling —> walked by Anne Frank’s house —> found a “condomerie” that sold the craziest things —> learned that clogs are still worn in more rural areas (good for fishing communities b/c you can slip them on and they’re easy to clean) —> walked to the Red Light District —> the ladies. —> saw the infamous windows and wasn’t sure how to feel about the situation (mesmerised or uncomfortable?) —> visited the Museum of Prostitution —> sat in a window and tried to get passerby’s attention (we got 1.5 people to be intrigued!!!) —> learned about what the industry is like and how these girls get into this occupation —> read a bunch of crazy sexual confession (people accidentally drinking their bf’s pee, having sex in crazy places etc) 

[hi-cendie]

Day 27 (Part 2)

Discovered a Tulip museum, a cow museum, a Van Gogh museum and of course, the cheese museum —> tasted some of the best cheese I’ve ever had (Nettle, a dutch plant that would normally cause rashes if touched but when boiled, makes for a great spice in cheese. Cumin, which tasted like a lamb skewer/ indian food and we bought some —> learned about how cheese is made and then discovered the most amazing dress up backdrop/ props —> took over the photo area and captured a crap load of pictures with cheese, cheese hats, dutch hats, dutch shirts and of course, clogs —> built ab muscles due to laughing nonstop for 20 minutes —> got a lot of weird looks from people but hey, who cares? 

[hi-cendie]

Day 27 (Part1)

10am wake up time —> said good morning to our British roommates from Wales—> walked to the Rijks Museum —> IAmsterdam sign —> found the huge hoard of tourists surrounding the area —> sat down with our bucket pastas and enjoyed the remaining 2nd half of it —> still too much pasta and kept it for a third serving —> ventured onto the sign with just a little struggle (D for Himani and E for me) —> found a gift shop, which turned out to be for the Van Gogh museum —> realised we didn’t need to pay for any museums b/c the gift shop was a good preview of the actual museum —> found a quaint garden, featuring artwork from a Roman artist —> it started to rain —> walked towards Jordaan —> enjoyed the beautiful canals and scenery Amsterdam had to offer —> entered a church —> lit a candle and place it on a piece of artwork known as “The Burning Bush” (in relation to Moses leading the disciples and gaining motivation from this bush. The bush, rather than burning up, kindled the fire) 

[hi-cendie]

Day 26

Woke up just before 8am (damn these early mornings) —> finished packing/ cleaning —> said goodbye to our apartment —> made our way to Central Station and got onto our train —> thought “Holbæk is probably just the Danish translation for Hamburg right?” —> super excited to go to Germany —> train was broken so we didn’t leave the station —> found out were were on the wrong train anyway —> Hamburg train left without us —> very nice lady at the ticket office got us tickets not he next trains to Amsterdam + free coffee/ tea coupons (Tak!!) —> loitered in MacDonalds and used their wifi to book hotels and contact people —> arrived at the right platform at the right time (success)

Got onto the train with some struggle + entered the wrong compartment —> had to go against the current to find our seat —> sat nice to a nice Montreal Doctor —> talked about medicine and school —> mom and daughter came to say they had the same seats booked —> we stayed b/c we were there first —> ticketmaster told us we were in the wrong compartment and were sitting in 1st class right now (opss sorry) —> tried to stay in the seats anyway —> got kicked out (lol) —> awkwardly shuffled to our seats —> had to kick some people out of them b/c they didn’t have the reservation —> met two nice Swiss girls on their way home to Switzerland —> started transitioning into a nap —> was told to get off the train —> thought it was probably for border crossing/ passport control —> walked up a flight of stairs and found out that the train docked on a ferry!? —> WTF? Train on a ferry on the ocean?! —> Stood on the ferry, mesmerised —> started to chat with a Dutch man who was eating fries/ chips with a pile of mayonnaise —> chatted about travel, school, European things —> got lost in a “duty free” store —> made our way back to the train as we docked at Germany —> actually took a proper nap this time —> arrived in Hamburg —> #proud that we finally made it

Bought Currywurst —> dragged our suitcases and all the food we brought around the city —> heard crazy Germans cheering for the upcoming Turkey soccer game (honking horns, cheering while walking) —> saw the Dutch man we met two more times —> got too tired and couldn’t drag suitcases any further —> bought a pastry and a pretzel (German snacks?) —> couldn’t confirm if we were at the right platform for our stop —> Himani ran around like a crazy person asking/ confirming —> got onto the train and stood at the side waiting for people to pass and get to their reserved seat —> noticed that there was some fuss between passengers —> turns out, the train made a mistake and double booked some seats (two people made reservations for the same seat = one person wouldn’t be getting a seat) —> the train was crazy full and people were sitting in any space that was free —> met a couple people who chose to sit close to our area of refuge —> MHD (marijuana hat dude) and a couple nice ladies —> MHD chatted with us and explained to us what was going on and we laughed about the situation —> I jokingly suggested that we should sit on the luggage racks and he did it. —> I joined him on the other one and after a while, Himani switched places with him —> said goodbye to MHD and we stayed at our luxurious spot for another couple of stops —> naps were taken and food was eaten in those spots —> butts couldn’t handle it anymore and we found proper seats —> the train was delayed by 20 minutes and the transfer time to the next train was only 9min —> missed our Amsterdam connection —> assumed that we would probably be sleeping in the train station that night —> went to the DB help desk —> was joined by 3 other people who were also trying to get to Amsterdam —> DB told us that they would get us a taxi to Amsterdam free of charge —> we cheered —> took a 3h road trip with 3 strangers —> amazing trips and great conversation —> learned about the Netherlands and their daily routines + school + renewable resources —> got to Amsterdam Centraal (no, I did not make a typo) —> took a taxi with Theodora to our hostel —> arrived at the hostel at ~1am and got the keys to our room —> entered and there were two guys there, ready to sleep —> couldn’t find the bathroom in the hallway —> turned out the bathroom was inside the room LOL —> passed out, reflecting back on the crazy day we had

[hi-cendie]

Malmö, Sweden

1. The people are amazing. They were so nice and loved to help us. Although, we did hear that the northern countries are slightly racist, the people we met were super nice! It was such a nice break from the Americans we were around for the past couple of weeks. 

2. The people have darker, more brown hair than people in Copenhagen. Also, less people tend to speak english, though that may have been because we were in a smaller city.

3. Ikea. Is. The. Shiz. Love it. 

4. We went to fairly small town but it was a nice, less busy town. Less tourists, which was nice. 

5. The buildings were more “blocky” and modern. Less architectural details.

6. Poppies grow like weeds?

7. The prices are cheaper than Copenhagen.. like the rest of Europe. 

8. They like to say Hihi or Hello Hello. Double everything! 

[hi-cendie]

Day 25 (Part 3)

Entered the “palace” and visited the gift shop —> turned the corner and discovered that there was an entrance to a museum —> sneaked in (thought there was an entrance fee?) —> the exhibit was based off of the interaction between animals and humans —> took a short nap on some rock cushions found the aquarium and searched for the animals in their habitats —> found the Turning Torso at a closer view —> saw a chocolate building and “ate it” —> took the train back to Copenhagen —> visited Netto one last time to get snacks —> packed + cooked all the food in the fridge (no joke. we had a whole bag of waffles, pasta, sandwiches) —> packed/ cleaned all night long (3am bedtime)

[hi-cendie]

Day 25 (Part 2)

Walked back towards the train station —> took a picture of the Turning Torso —> arrived at the main city —> attempted to find the information centre, failed —> sat by a port/ canal and Himani sketchily put on her contacts —> visited “Little Square —> tried on clogs for the first time —> walked to a nearby church —> crashed a wedding —> saw a marathon and waited for all the runners to pass —> walked through the cobblestone streets to Malmöhus —> crossed through a park and saw our first Dutch style windmill 

[hi-cendie]

Day 25 (Part 1)

Woke up early to go to Sweden —> stood at the bus stop for ~30min —> another family joined us and were equally confused about why the bus wasn’t coming —> they asked someone local to translate for us and we learned that the bus doesn’t run on Saturdays.. WHAT —> confused, we went to ask someone what our options were —> took a 5A bus to the airport (no train b/c we don’t have the right zones so we sneakily took the bus instead. Muahah, Vancouver transit zone tricks came in handy) —> got to the airport and bought train tickets to Malmö/ Malmø —> walked down and greeted two nice police officers checking passports —> realized we were too early and another nice security guard told us we could go upstairs and come down later —> tried to find a cheap-isn souvenir shop in the airport but failed —> boarded the train to Sweden! —> crossed the bridge that we’ve seen so many times in the distance when we were at the beaches —> saw the wind turbines closer up! —> decided last minute that we would get off at Hyllie —> rushed off the train and quickly got wifi to check that we were right in getting off —> showed our passports again (fences were put up; felt like a chill boarder crossing) —> saw a UFO building —> discovered that poppies grow like dandelions in Vancouver: they’re a weed —> pretended we were at a Poppy festival while walking down an empty highway towards Ikea —> saw a Jack Rabbit/ mini Kangaroo/ rabbit type animal —> arrived at Ikea and got extremely excited —> may or may not have caught the attention of the locals with our dancing and squealing —> had amazing meatballs + cake + mousse from Ikea —> talked about life as we walked through —> laid down on all the beds