Spring 2025 Travels
My goal was to travel to at least ten countries... I exceeded that by going to thirteen countries during my three months abroad!
Here is a brief overview of my travels and some of my favorite cultural experiences, from the food I tried to my favorite museums.
Dublin, Ireland
My first solo-ish trip was to meet my cousin, Kait, in Dublin! One of my favorite things we did was the Guinness Storehouse tour, where I learned how to correctly pour a pint of Guinness! We went to Trinity College, the National Leprechaun Museum (learned a lot about Irish folklore), St. Patrick's Cathedral, and explored the Temple Bar area. I ate my favorite food EVER here: shepherd's pie!
Barcelona, Spain
I'll admit: Spain was not high on my list of countries I wanted to visit. But, I am so glad I went! The people in Barcelona were so kind and I fell in love with the architecture, cute dogs, and sunshine. It was really cool to see Gaudi's work in person, and I ate the best gelato ever at DelaCrem. We weren't here for long, but I would definitely go back to Barcelona one day!
Edinburgh, Scotland & the Scottish Highlands
Scotland was the #1 place I wanted to visit, and we came here for our long Valentine's Day weekend! In Edinburgh, we did a cheese tour, saw all ton of Harry Potter fan sites, and toured Holyrood Palace. Going to the Scottish Highlands has been on my bucket list since I was in middle school, so we did a day trip to see spots like Glencoe, Fort Augustus, and Pitlochry! This was one of the best days of the whole semester. We tried whiskey ice cream, took a cruise on Loch Ness, and fed carrots to hairy coos. What an amazing weekend!
JMU UK Excursion
After midterm exams, JMU took us on a week-long trip to multiple cities across England and Wales. In London, I went by myself to see Jonathan Bailey perform in Richard II... and it was one of the best performances I've ever seen! Bath was my favorite city on this trip because of the kind people and all of the interesting things to see. We had afternoon tea at the Abbey Deli, toured the ancient Roman baths, took the waters at the Thermae Bath Spa, and relaxed by the Royal Crescent. Oxford was a fun place to go to as well; my Harry Potter fangirl heart was obsessed with New College and Christ Church.
Stockholm, Sweden
After not seeing them for almost two months, my family met me in Stockholm! One of my favorite parts about this city was the colorful architecture in the Gamla Stan area. ABBA has been my favorite band for years, so going to the ABBA museum was a bucket list item completed for me, and might have been the whole reason I wanted to visit here... We also participated in the Swedish tradition of taking a "fika," which is a part of the day where you slow down, relax, and maybe have a coffee with a sweet treat. Cardamom buns are a new favorite of mine after this trip! This was the perfect city to explore with my family, and I'm counting down the days until we come back.
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
One of my semester goals was to have a train travel weekend, so my roommate and I went to Luxembourg! I was excited to practice my French in a different country, and it was especially helpful in the National Art & History Museum (nothing was in English). I loved the vibes in the Ville Haute area, and the lookout points on the old fortress walls were beautiful. One of the places we ate at was called Grupetto Café, which is where Pope Francis stopped for coffee just a few months prior!
Trier, Germany
We spent a few hours exploring Trier, the oldest city in Germany. It was so cool to see Roman ruins, a medieval town square, and Gothic cathedral all in one city. We ate at a Mediterranean restaurant and I tried Weinschorle, a German wine spritzer. I also learned that there's a drugstore chain called "Rossmann," so I got my family some souvenir hand lotion, contact solution, and a tote bag. It was refreshing to have a weekend where I visited a smaller city that could be explored in one day instead of a huge capital city.
Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
We had a short but action-packed day in Amsterdam! I was so excited to try poffertjes (Dutch mini pancakes) and they definitely lived up to the hype. I enjoyed shopping at the Albert Cuyp Market and seeing real houseboats on our canal cruise. My favorite part of the day was the stroopwafel cooking class! I made two stroopwafels from scratch and they were delicious when they were warm. Despite almost getting hit by dozens of bikes all day, I would love to come back to Amsterdam and explore more neighborhoods.
Vienna, Austria
We spent our last free weekend singing Billy Joel songs in the streets of Vienna, and I had a blast. A lot of our time was spent at the Schönbrunn Palace and frolicking in its gardens. The architecture here really blew me away; I could have wandered around the city for a whole week. I tried apple strudel and Wiener schnitzel, and both were 10/10! After this trip, I haven't been able to listen to "Vienna" by Billy Joel without being flooded with amazing memories from this weekend with my friends.
JMU EU Excursion
After final exams, the last week of the program was spent on a bus traveling around France! We visited a champagne producer in Reims and got to go into the cellars, which was awesome. We spent Easter Sunday in Geneva, Switzerland and had a family dinner in Lyon, France that night. Lyon quickly became one of my favorite cities I've ever been to; the Italian roots were evident, the people were very nice, and the food was outstanding. We ended our week in the best city in the world: Paris! I had visited Paris two years prior, but I got to see a lot of new places this time around. I finally went inside Notre Dame, and I loved strolling the streets of Montmartre. This week was the perfect way to end such an amazing semester!