A Recap On 2020

 

2020 had been a year to forget, a year with ups, but mostly downs, it has been awful and I seriously hope that 2021 will be better. I haven't written on the blog in a while because I do not believe I should encourage travel in such times. Even though 2020 was terrible, I was able to go on a few adventures, I visited 5 new countries and all of them were fantastic. It also gave me the opportunity to visit some amazing places in Scotland, 2020 was also a triumph for Scotland as our national team had beaten Serbia to reach the Euro, the first international tournament since 1998. I look forward to going to the first Scotland game of the Euro in 2021. 

I started off last year by flying to London to see my sisters and I had a simple day to myself in order to do a bit of sightseeing. I have to say, there is a lot more I have to see in London and I should stop going to the same places every time. Then my first flight of the year was from London to Budapest and I spent a decent few days there looking around the Central-European city. The unmissable thing to do in Budapest is to pay a visit to the baths and be warmed up in the freezing winter. By chance I also met a ton of Brazilians who happened to be visiting Budapest and I got to practice a lot of my Portuguese. 

Then I took the bus over to the Slovakian capital of Bratislava, it is no-where near as dynamic as Budapest, however it has a fantastic castle and old town. If PPPeter has taught me anything, it is that the best of Slovakia lies outside of Bratislava.  

Then it was back to uni and after watching some strange South American films, debating political ideologies, drinking with friends and an away-day in Perth, it was time to go on another trip. It was my first time in Portugal, ever since I fired up Duolingo to start learning Portuguese, I had been gagging to visit Portugal. Lisbon is a brilliant city and possible one of my favourites in Europe. The Alfama district is amazing to walk around, the food is wonderful, they are passionate about football and Sintra is not to be missed. Faro, however is nothing to write home about, it's a town with nothing in it. I definitely want to return to Portugal, the city of Porto I hear is better than Lisbon and there are some incredible beaches. 

 Unfortunately, this was when things would take a turn for the worst, it was when coronavirus became a word you would hear everyday and everything that meant anything to me had gone. There was no-more uni work to be done, there was no football, no pubs and no international travel for the foreseeable future. Despite that, it inspired me to get on my bike and explore Glasgow and I even cycled all the way from my house to Loch Lomond and back. 

Then in July, I finally got away from Glasgow for the first time since March, I went to the Highlands for a bit and it gave me so much peace. I truly appreciated the privilege to climb Corbetts and bask in the incredible scenery which Scotland has to offer. Then things took a turn for the better as I was able to finally travel, I had painstakingly planned a one month Eurotrip, there was so much thinking about how it could go wrong yet I just went and had a blast. 

I spent a good few days with my grandparents in North Berwick before going to Italy and I have to say North Berwick is a great place to visit if you are going on a trip to Edinburgh. It is a very nice seaside town with nice beaches. Then I took a flight from Edinburgh to Naples, it was a tiring day and a crazy experience, however the most difficult part was walking from the airport to my hostel, the traffic was like a game of Frogger. 

It was a chance to finally have a beer in the sun and of course it wouldn't be a trip to Naples without having some incredible pizza which was only 5 Euros, Domino's have been mugging you off this whole time. I went to the ruins of Pompeii and Vesuvius which are two of the most incredible places which Italy has to offer. During my lift to Vesuvius, I was humouring everyone in the minibus with my broken Italian and then I headed back to Naples ready to hit the bar. The Naples nightlife was insane and of course I had to eat pizza as a great drunk food. 

      

Then I visited the other Italian cities, Rome is quite amazing, however there isn't much apart from the Roman Ruins and it's like sauna in the summer. Sadly, the tourist sites are full of rude scammers and the police do nothing about them. What is true is that there are some amazing eateries in Rome, you just need to look for them, the carbonara and lasagna is amazing. Florence is an incredible city with fascinating history, an incredible cathedral and thankfully less scammers. Finally, there is Milan, the city which my Italian friend says is 'shit,' however, I think it has great public transport and decent pubs. What is true is that Milan doesn't have a huge amount of things to see and sadly the San Siro was closed. Milan has a huge amount of designer shops if that's your thing and the Vittorio Emanuele and cathedral are definitely worth seeing. 

After a night bus journey, I went to the amazing city of Ljubljana, it might be my favourite European capital and Slovenia is probably one of the best countries I have been to. It also gave me a taste for the Balkans which is now a part of the world I really want to visit. Ljubljana is a very simple city, but it is also stunningly beautiful and clean, the riverside cafes and bars are great places to hang and not to mention an incredible castle. Lake Bled is also a must visit, however, it is quite an expensive place to visit. What I have to say is that trying Balkan food like cevapcici was amazing and I honestly wish I could have some right now. 

I then took the train across the Julian Alps towards Salzburg, it's a great little city to visit and you have to try the schnitzel. After that, it was time to go to Germany, I spent a few days in the Bavarian capital of Munich which is full of amazing palaces, museums and also has a big city feel just like London. Then I took a very long bus journey over to the German capital of Berlin. I expected Berlin to be a drug-infested shithole, however, it is actually a vibrant city with fascinating museums, great food and if you are interested in Soviet history, then Berlin is a must. You have to remember, that for almost 50 years, most of Berlin was part of the communist GDR. 

 Then finally, I went to Poland, a fantastic country I had wanted to visit as every Pole I had ever met has been sound. When I came to Warsaw, it was nothing like what I had expected, almost everyone in Scotland thinks that Poland is a nasty place full of nazis. This image is extremely unfair and I found Warsaw to be an amazing city. It is extremely modern, looking like Chicago, however it has an old town with a cool palace and a great place to have pierogi. I think pierogi is one of my favourite foods now, if you haven't had it yet, try it. One of the reasons to visit Poland as well is that you can visit a gun range and for reasonable prices, you can shoot guns which you would only really see on COD. 

I then finished my trip with Krakow, a great city, however, it isn't out of the radar of obnoxious British tourists. Krakow had some amazing places I got to explore like the castle and the incredible streets of the old town. Then I got to feast on the wonders of Polish cuisine, eating pierogi and sausage until my stomach couldn't take any more. 

Then it was time to go back home and because I happened to have spent 2 days in Austria, I had to self-isolate for two weeks. But once it was done, I went on a great hike in the Arrochar Alps. As all my uni work was online, I did not go back to Stirling and then went up north for a week. I finally got the chance to go to the Isle of Skye for the first time, one of the most sought after destinations in Scotland. A definite one for the bucket list and once I got back to Glasgow I haven't actually left Glasgow since. 

I spent a lot of time focusing on my studies and walking my dog. Finally as the year started to close, I went on an incredible trip to Glencoe with some incredible views in the snow. 

I hope that 2021 will be a year to remember and that the pandemic will be something that we can forget, I am definitely looking forward to the Euro and will not take my next adventure for granted.