After an awesome spring break, everybody on campus seems to be itching for summer. But, nobody should be more excited for more time off to hang out, have fun and travel than the girls who had what seemed like the most exciting spring break.Â
Winthrop students Mary Kierpiec and Angela-Faith Thomas went abroad to tons of European cities for the 10-day spring break and had a blast!
Angela told Her Campus at Winthrop more about their trip! Check it out!Â
Tell us about your spring break?
One of my roommates, Mary, and I backpacked across Europe for 10 days.
When did it begin?
One of our friends, Maria, is studying abroad in Florence, Italy this semester. One day, last semester when Maria, Mary, and I were talking about it, Maria suggested that we come visit her. At first, we took it as a joke, but then we realized that it was possible. The more we started talking, the more we started flushing out where exactly it was that we wanted to go.
What places did you go visit?
We had a 12 hour layover in New York City so we explored the city for a few hours. We also had an 8 hour layover in London, so we explored that city as well. We saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the London Eye in a couple of hours. Then, we went to Rome, Florence, and Venice in Italy; Paris, France; Amsterdam, the Netherlands (sadly, we were only there about 24 hours); and we road-tripped Ireland. The main cities that we hit in Ireland were Dublin, Galway, Cork, and Kilkenny.
What did you eat?
In New York, we got kebabs off of a food cart. In London, we got a sandwich at a shop next to the London Eye; the UK is really expensive so we looked for the cheapest option. In Italy, we ate so many carbs: pizza, pasta, and paninis. We also made sure to get some gelato.
In France, we made it a mission to eat crepes and macaroons before we left; we skipped out on the escargot because, again, we were trying to do this trip as cheap as possible. Amsterdam was a city full of amazing food: all day breakfast, pizza, french fries, and waffles with so many toppings. I made sure to get fries and dip them in mayo because that’s kind of the Dutch thing to do, believe it or not!
I also got a waffle topped with nutella, strawberries, and whipped cream. In Ireland, we had to stay in the Dublin airport for two nights, and they had a cafe with a full Irish breakfast so I had that for two mornings. Once we got the campervan, we grocery shopped for our road trip. We had ham and salami sandwiches, rice cakes, and a cereal called Weetabix that we put bananas and honey in.
What interesting places in the cities did you visit?
In Rome, we saw the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the ruins, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. We also went into the Vatican and (we’re pretty sure) watched the Pope deliver a church service. We couldn’t see him, and it was all in Italian, but we’d like to think that it was the Pope.
In Florence, we walked around the Duomo Cathedral and we saw the Piazzale Michelangelo which had an incredible view of the city. In Venice, our hostel was right on the canal which was great. In Paris, we saw the Arc de Triomphe, walked down the Champs Elysees, saw the Eiffel Tower, and the Notre Dame.
We were going to go to Versailles, but our train ended up breaking down mid-trip so we just made our way back to our hostel in order to catch our flight that night. We also found the “Iamstergram” sign in Amsterdam. In Ireland, we saw castles, the Cliffs of Moher, and just driving around was beautiful on its own.
How much planning did it require?
We (mostly Mary) planned the order of what cities we were going to, and our flights from city to city. Besides that, there was not that much planning done prior to the day of. We would kind of wake up and decide what to do that day and if it worked out, that was great. If not, we found something else to do.
Why did you chose Europe?
When we originally knew that we were going to Italy, we automatically thought about France because we knew it would be easily accessible. We all had an interest in Ireland and it so happened that they way it worked out, we would be in Dublin for St. Patty’s day. We also figured that Amsterdam would be cool so we fit it in as a day in the middle of our trip.
How would you and your friends describe this trip?
I asked Mary and she said she would describe the experience as “mountain top.” I would say that this trip was a series of happy accidents that made for one heck of a good time. We barely slept the entire time, but it was so worth it. I think doing it the cheap way was a great experience for us to have in our 20’s, and I am so thankful that we were able to have this opportunity. None of take this blessing for granted.
Sum up your spring break in one word.
Unbelievable.