We waited downstairs in the lobby for him the next morning but he never showed, called it! We explored the city on our own, hit the market and the museums and it was a good time! One of the girls we were with was a grad student taking classes online so she left halfway through our expedition to finish an assignment. We decided to grab some sandwiches and hit the beach to eat since it was so hot and lovely out before live music and drinks later that night.

We made it back to the hostel at about 16:00 and we were all pretty exhausted. We walked a ton. Oh, and I found the coolest vintage clothing store and I was so sad I couldn’t shop there. They had a bunch of cool flannels, sports crew necks, and Fresh Prince lookin neon track jackets. I’ve had to limit myself to window shopping most of this trip. If I go into a clothing store the odds I’d buy something is pretty high so I have to take deep breaths and walk past cool stores, telling myself one day I’ll be back with empty suitcases to just shop.

*Pop up note: I love clothes and am sad that I traveled light and couldn’t bring my closet with me. Well I’m glad I traveled light because it’s been convenient, but it’s been a struggle seeing people dressed in cool stuff and me just rotating through five outfits in every city.

We went to our rooms and met back for wine downstairs at 19:00 with our new friends and made more friends. This time a couple from Australia and a solo Canadian traveler. After hearing Nate and I talk about American football and the NBA once we started talking to them the couple said let us guess, you guys are American?! We all laughed and it was good fun. We all sat around and talked a couple hours before hitting the bar for a drink and live music. The city was so amazing at night. Nightlife in every city has been amazing. Culturally it’s just different in Europe. Everyone goes out at night, restaurants are open late, clothing stores too, not to mention it seems like bars and clubs don’t close.

We invited our new friends to come with us. The Canadian came but the Australian couple had an early train and wanted to shower up before they left. There were so many bars with music to choose from that we didn’t know where to go but we finally settled on a place. We all had a beer and talked more, laughed a lot, and enjoyed talking about each other’s travels. We decided to go to this other bar but it was the weirdest place I’ve ever been. Huge outdoor seating area and then inside it was dark and loud like a club but not a single soul was dancing. Everyone was sitting down or just standing there. We hung out there for a bit but we got hungry and decided to grab a bite on the way home and just hit sheets.