The Hostels

So as you all know I have been traveling around while I am over here which can explain my lack of updating, I have been very busy. This passed weekend I took a trip to go hiking in the Cinque Terre (five hills) of Italy which is located along the coast, so that means hiking and beaches-it was awesome.The weekend before last I took a trip to the French Riviera which included Nice, France and Monoco (which is the second smallest country in the world and home to the Monte Carlo). The trips were totally different from each other. I was hoping to see someone famous while I was in France but I didn't. Just BMW's for taxi's and people parking their yachts to go in and gamble. They had to be famous I know it.  Then when I was in Cinque Terre it was a little more my style, we hiked and lounged on the beach and the town we stayed in (Vernazza) had one street. With a grand total of two bars, one grocery store and a restaurant. It was super cute and beachy though, I loved it. Anyways I kind of feel like in all my updates I left out a major part of life over here and realize your all probably wonder where I stay when I go on all these trips.(And I say where I stay, not where I sleep, because most weekends involve little to no sleep these days)

But regardless, I have stayed in some of the coolest places in Europe. People in Europe, especially study abroad kids love to stay in hostels. And they are by far the weirdest concept ever now that I look back on it. Most of the time the hostel has been converted from a school house or monastery which makes it strange to begin with. The hallways are always confusing and sometimes lead the nowhere because all the building in Europe seem to be tall and skinny and they convert it from something else and give up trying to fix it. But these hostels are basically dorm rooms built for anywhere between four and ten people. 

In the French Riviera...all the beds look like this most of the time

And they always have a bar on the bottom floor and most of the time they give you breakfast for free which is a bonus.

Kind of  a hang out room at The Flying Pig in Amsetrdam

Bar at Beluschi's in Berlin

Of course, after being out for the night it's always interesting to come home to a bar in your building/temporary home for the weekend because someone that doesn't actually work for the hostel is always making friends with the people who do work there and then "guest bar tending" or giving away free things to the other travelers. It would never work in the states because someone would probably be suing someone by now but they run pretty smoothly  over here and breakfast is amazingly always out on time. They are all around quirky and have weird names and weirder decorations but are always a good time... and they're cheap. Everyone who stays there is basically under 25. And if they're not then they're definitely creeper so we stay far far away. Sorry-no parents allowed.

Please... I would love to know who put this place together....

But sometimes we are able to find cheap rooms at other places which kind of still ends up being just as weird even if its not a hostel. Sometimes, like our "Albergo"(hotel) in Venice, its just some little Italian man and lady and they own 6 rooms. So they live in one and rent out the other five and then give you a roll and coffee in the morning and call it a hotel.
I kind of like these places because they like having young kids so they want to know all about what we're doing there and study abroad and so one. And then this passed weekend when we were in Cinque Terre was when I realized I really need to explain these places. We stayed in a Pension (whatever that even means) and it was hysterical. First of all we rang the buzzer to get in and we walked in to a basement/foyer area and there where little kids toys everywhere! Tonka trucks, bikes, soccer equipment....We were blatantly in a residential place and I thought we were about to move in with a family for the weekend So we follow the signs that say our "hotel" name and go all the way to the top to check in. The little lady shows us to our room which is in the attic but it was really nice and quaint.

A bed, sink, and bathroom next door-not too shabby!

Our only window, but worth it

 Anyways, we ended not living with the families.....they lived on the first, second, third and fourth floors and the renting rooms where at the top. But that did mean we had to go all the way up and down this tiny tiny staircase(on the right, I made Nicole pose on it specifically for this purpose).

My roommate as we leave to go hiking..

Look at how tiny it is! Anyways, each time I went away and stayed somewhere different it just kept surprising me! Something interesting was always happening so I wanted to give you an idea of some of the funny things I saw each time I checked into one of my temporary weekend homes. This kind of stuff would never fly in the states, that's for sure....I hope everyone had a Buona Pasqua! (and enjoyed their ham, turkey and broccoli-cheese casserole because in typical Italian fashion-I had pasta!)