If You're Going to Eastern Europe, Be Sure to Wear a Flower in Your Hair

Summer’s almost here and everyone’s making plans. Some may be thinking of travelling.

I had the pleasure of backpacking through Europe two summers ago all by my lonesome self. It was literally the best experience of my life and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. Through relaxing train rides and entertaining tour guides, I learned a lot about myself and what I truly want out of life. I want to share some tips for those of you who are contemplating getting away from it all, spending a few weeks or months to explore new scenery.

I will start by suggesting buying the cheapest plane ticket to any European city. I personally bought a ticket to Bucharest, Romania (with a transfer in Amsterdam via KLM Airlines) which came out to be $900.00 but hopefully there are cheaper tickets than that if you look really hard.

After spending some time with family in the beautiful Brasov, Romania, I met with a travel agent who hooked me up with a Eurail Global Pass. I spent around $500 (euros) to be able to take trains all over Europe for a whole month. I did pay extra to reserve a seat on every train, which in retrospect was a bad idea because there were plenty of empty seats everywhere, so I should have saved my money!

I have to mention that the trains in Germany, Deutsche Bahn, were the most enjoyable.


The trains were very clean and spacious with extremely comfortable seats. (Note to Romania: you could learn a thing or two from these guys! Please take care of your trains, they can be a pain to ride!) Not only was the staff extremely friendly, the riders were also very helpful. I met this one old man who lend me his phone to make a local call to a friend of mine in Stuttgart. On another train ride from Berlin, the group of people I shared a cabin with invited me to the train's restaurant and bought me a delicious dinner. Danke schön!

Most people assume from all those horror movies that backpacking alone and staying in hostels is going to be this scary, unpleasant experience and that all the people you will meet are out to get you. That is not the case at all. Come to think of it, I never really had any disturbing encounters with anyone. Well, except for this sketchy, old, Italian man I shared a room with in Berlin who kept asking me where the brothels were. What about me exactly screams brothel goer?!

By far, the best hostel I visted was the Wombat in Vienna.


You may not notice it, but the Wombat is the blue and yellow sign on the left.

Ever since I fell in love with the film Before Sunrise, I’ve always wanted to visit Vienna. It has a stunning, clean interior with a lounge area, computers with free internet, pool tables and a bar in the basement. When you check in, the receptionist hands you a voucher for the bar. It’s location is perfect; just around the corner from the city’s main train station. The rooms are kept tidy, each with several bunk beds, lockers and spacious bathroom. I went there unannounced and there were a ton of beds available, so no reservation needed. At the time, breakfast was free but according to their website it now charges you $3.50 but you get a lot of variety to pick and choose from.


There I am, biking in Vienna, one of the only cities I visited that had bike lanes on the road! I am a major advocate of that. You are able to rent bikes from a few locations around the city. I paid $12 (euros) to bike for a whole day.

Another city I highly recommend visiting, not just because the hostels are cheap and clean is Prague. I stayed at the U Melounu. It was a long cab ride from the train station but definitely worth going the distance because it was a gorgeous area with a spacious courtyard to eat, play cards, suntan, what have you.


The breakfast was free but plain: toast, coffee, cereal. The front desk has plenty of cigarettes, beverages and snacks for sale all day and all night. The rooms were much bigger at this hostel than the previous ones I stayed in. There were bunk beds as well as single queen size beds with ridiculously comfortable blankets and pillows. I love my pillows real fluffy!

I desperately want to go back to Prague and potentially live there for eternity because there’s never a dull moment in that city. Although the language is hard as hell to learn, the people are kind and just want to have a good time. There is so much to explore. I ate at a lot of affordable cafes. I drank in the most interesting bars – a lot of them are underground, because they used to be bomb shelters in the Second World War. The overall aesthetic and atmosphere was amazing, unlike any bar I’ve been to in Ontario.


That was one of the restaurants in Old Town Square I ate at with other nomads. Unfortunately, the quality of the photo is terrible and the fact that I forgot the name of the place is even worse.

There was a ton of museums and exhibits to check out while in Prague, like the Kafka museum which I think attracted the most tourists, the Mucha museum for those art lovers and various other galleries that showcase up and coming artists of the Czech Republic. All are found near the infamous landmark Charles Bridge.


Charles Bridge: where everything wonderful is on the other side

One of my favourite things I stumbled upon while in Prague was this bottomless well of books at the Prague Library. Called "Idiom" by Matej Kren, it has two mirrors on the bottom and top of the piled books, therefore when you look down it gives you the illusion of a never ending well. If you’re a literary nerd like I am, you will find this fairly fascinating, especially when you can spot some of your favourite novels in the structure.

There was a ton of clubs to hit if you’re waiting to bust out your robot moves. I recommend stopping by the Karlovy Lazne Dance Club. It’s got five floors, each blasting a different genre of music, so you can never get bored.



I could sit here and write a novel about all the fabulous European cities to visit but perhaps I will save that for a rainy day. I have to keep reminding myself I am a journalist, not a travel agent. Although I’m sure the combination of the two will make for one stellar career.

I just hope everyone realizes there is so much life beyond our backyards!
Happy traveling!