September 14 and 15, 2023
Mamma Mia! Here I go again... Off traveling the world.
On Thursday, September 14, 2023, I was dropped off at the Philadelphia Airport by my boyfriend Avery. I was off to travel the world by myself for the first time. While I did book this trip with the intention of being solo, you never really are solo on a tour and for that I am grateful. I booked the EF Ultimate Break Germany, Italy & Switzerland: Oktoberfest. My trip consisted of one tour guide, Roxie, and about 40 other travelers. I would say about half of the trip's travelers were solo and the other half came with a friend, sibling, or partner. In the weeks leading up to the trip, we were introduced to each other through various online communication platforms. I learned that I would be on the same flight as another solo traveling girl just slightly younger than myself. Her name was Melody, and she became the first person I really connected with on the trip. I was so thankful that I had someone to be with throughout the flying journey. Melody and I flew out from Philly together, had a layover in Frankfurt, Germany, then flew to Venice, Italy. While in Frankfurt, we added another solo traveler who was also in our tour group to our duo, her name was Kylie. Both Melody and Kylie were awesome start to finish of this trip and I look forward to continuing our friendships for years to come!
Now, back to the nitty gritty details of what actually went on during the airport journey. Surprisingly, it is not anything dramatic. Just the normal, slight delay on our first flight to Germany, oversized and overweight carryon that was forced to be checked, interrupted sleep despite melatonin gummies, some turbulence, and questionable airplane food. In case you are wondering, we had the option between meatballs or pasta with mushrooms as our meal on our flight to Germany. I choose the pasta with mushrooms, we were also served potato salad, cheese and a pack of crackers, chocolate square, and bread with butter. In the morning before we landed in Germany, we were served a scrambled egg and tomato lattice pastry and a lemon-flavored muffin, the lattice was awful, but the muffin was pretty good.
We made it to EUROPE! The airport at least... in Frankfurt, Germany. Melody and I freshened up, got food (a Caesar salad), and stressfully figured out Euros. Fun fact, Discover's debit card does NOT work in Europe, I learned this the hard way. I also learned the hard way that it is best to take out Euros in the US instead of struggling in Europe between ATM machines and airport currency exchange booths. This all kept our layover busy and before we knew it, we meet up with Kylie and boarded our next flight to Venice, Italy. This was a short flight, and we were given a small bottle of water and a chocolate square. Once we landed in Venice, gathered our things, we met with a small group of incoming travelers from our tour group and our tour guide. We had to wait a bit on a few delayed flights before we could take our private bus together to our hotel.
We stayed at Best Western Hotel Tritone. When arriving upon our hotel, I was disappointed that we were not staying in the city. The surrounding area was lacking in appeal to me but there were some conveniences nearby such as a small corner store, cafe, and a hostel with a nightclub. Once I was checked in and assigned my room, I met my roommate Liz, who was another awesome solo traveler. I settled in and freshened up before heading to our welcome dinner. I believe that we ate at Da Michele, as the placemat and wine glass suggested so, but I was a little delirious from my travels. I do not know what exactly I ate but I do know that it was good and that there are pictures below. The first course that was served to us was a beignet like small fried dough and bruschetta, they were both delicious. The second course was one that I selected in advance, tuna pasta. This course was good but a bit oily. Our last course that was served was gelato and I believe that mine was chocolate hazelnut. The welcome dinner went very well, and it was nice to finally meet my fellow travelers that I would be spending an adventure of a lifetime with over the course of the next week and a half.
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