Europe Tour with Gapforce

One of my many favourite memories of the trip was being in Florence. To begin with we stayed in a wonderful old house just outside the main square. I shared an apartment with the girls which included a balcony with a lovely view of old stone houses and cathedrals. I spent the day wandering around the city, walking across the Ponte Vecchio bridge, finding little shops ran by locals and accidentally ending up at the Boboli Gardens where we wrote in our journals or relaxed. After having dinner in the evening we decided to climb a hill where we watched the sunset over the beautiful city.

As a sort of introduction to Europe, this trip was fantastic. I had tons of fun and learned a bunch everywhere we went and got to know myself a whole lot better.

Being able to have all the travel and lodging planned already was a blessing. It meant that I had the time to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with the freedom we all had in each city. I loved exploring with the group, but some days I just needed to take advantage of the opportunity to go off by myself and do whatever I wanted to do and have some time alone.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this trip to someone looking to step out of their comfort zone and discover Europe.

The past 25 days have been a life changing experience. I got to see so many cities and countries and I got to meet so many new incredible people. As a recap, I started off in London where I met Terry, Ben, Zoe, Hannah, Josh (aka Joey), Shannon, Lung-Hou and Megan. We travelled to Paris, Barcelona, Monaco & Nice, Florence, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam and back to London. We shared so many adventures and new interesting experiences together. The real truth is that there was a little tension towards the middle/end of the trip because when you spend 24 hours every day for 25 days with the same 8 people, you see them for who they really are-you see them at their best and at their worst-rather than for who they wish you to see. But looking back now, here at home, I already miss them all because I was with these 8 people, and only these 8 people for 25 days across the ocean, far away from the comforts of home and my family, sharing these mazing experiences with them. From getting lost in Paris with Zoe; the train ride from Paris to Barcelona with Terry, Ben and Josh; being on the brink of heat stroke in Nice and Ben running to get me water; spending the stressful day in Rome with Hannah; wandering the alleys of Venice with Hannah and Lung-Hou; the long late night chat at the hostel in Berlin with Terry on his birthday; the evening I planned my day in Amsterdam with Megan; exploring London with Zoe and Lung-Hou; and finally saying goodbye to everyone at the hostel where we started. Along the journey I have also made many friends not on the trip. The first was Peter who I played cards with and talked to in Barcelona, who we met in Rome, Vienna and Prague again as he was there the same time we were; Lou in Venice at the hostel who tagged along and watched fireworks with the rest of us; Nicole and Monica who I met at the hostel in Prague and then spent the next day with exploring Prague; Matt, Danielle, Jeff and Ronan who I played cards and talked with at the hostel in Berlin; Keaton and Jackson who I met while waiting in line for 2 hours at the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam and who walked through it with me. Thank you to Lauren for organizing this whole trip-it was an amazing experience and I hope to actually meet you in person someday! Thank you to everyone on the trip and to all the people I met along the way for making this an amazing experience that I’ll never forget. A special thanks to Terry for everything he’s done on the trip-gotten us to trains and hostels, stopped me from getting heat stroke and overall made the trip the best I could have hoped for! I enjoyed travelling, spending time with and getting to know you Terry over the past 25 days, I already miss you and our deep conversations very much and hope to see you again very soon! I am happy to be home now, but I miss everyone very much and hope to meet you all again someday soon. I love all of you very much and wish you all the best! Until next time.