In the summer of 2011, I did the obligatory European trip. One of my friends was studying in Regensburg, Germany. The home of the previous Pope. It was an exciting year. I made it to 5 or 6 different countries with my Eurorail pass. I was happy that I was under 25 and could still travel with a youth pass. Luckily, I had a few friends dotted all over Europe due to my experience in Japan and was able to meet with a few people in Europe even though I was traveling primarily by myself. 

If I can remember correctly, my travels began in London and parts of the UK, mainly Hereford. It was fun, met some friends. Drank a lot of beer and cider. Was gleeful when I found out that there was something called half-pints and went through a maze. We had ice cream too!

This is the hedge maze. One of the great wonders of (Edit) England...It actually was very pretty and I had a great time. And there's a lovely Welsh man in the middle of the maze taking a photo. 

Next I went to the Netherlands, primarily Amsterdam. It was nice. Lots of canals, a lot of coffee shops. I never knew how prolific the amount of weed in Amsterdam was until I actually went there. All in all it was neat. The beaches were lovely and I saw a lot of miniature figurines, went to probably the most awesome zoo ever called Burgers Zoo. Saw snakes in jars...Which really just reminded me of Chinese liquor. Food wasn't (isn't) great in the Netherlands. Got confirmation from a Japanese girl who lives in Amsterdam today. I'm not imagining that the food is crap. But they do have some awesome Turkish foods. 

Next came Germany, Regensburg and Munich to be exact. I met up with my dear friend who I've known since I was 12 or 13 years old. We had awesome ice cream and chocolates in Germany. It was also the first time I've ever had schnitzel. Very exciting experience.

 Als my first döner. Which was also tasty and nice. Not my last döner by the way. I've had a lot more since then.

 Potato, meat and beer at the Hofbräuhaus in München. Was great fun. I got drunk off a stein of beer. Ate a lot while in Germany. 

 Had tasty dessert cakes and coffee with my lovely friend. And wonderful frolicking was done in Germany woods. 

 Also had my first real German bratwurst. 

Great time hiking in Müchen.

Copenhagen was beautiful.

 Next real food experience was of a Danish pastry with my favorite Dane. We had an awesome time with delicious pastries and the beauty that is Copenhagen. 

Back to Hamburg, Köln, Amsterdam, Limburg to Belgium. Had delicious belgian waffles. This particular one had apples stuffed inside. Was very, very tasty. Can't get enough of them waffles. 

After catching a flight from Belgium my Danish friend and I met up again in Ireland. Yes, I do end up in Ireland and London a lot. We travelled around Dublin, Killarney, Kilkenny, Limerick and Cork together. It was wonderful. We had delicious food, with delicious meaty goodness and also some rather in expensive sushi. It was nice. We also met a few characters. Notably an old gentle man that gave us a ride back to our hostel and took us to his garden. He gave us fruit there. It could've been very scary because of all my Korean horror movie watching ways. But it was nice, he had cute dogs. 

The hikes in Ireland were really breath taking. Later I travelled to Belfast myself and saw Giant's Causeway and had some delicious curry while I was in Belfast. Belfast was really, really nice. I enjoyed every minute of it. Had a real nice feeling for the city and there shops, restaurants and even hostel were really welcoming. I loved it.

If you can't tell by now, I'm a real big fan of Ireland and it's nature. It's BEAUTIFUL. Too bad the food's not great. But I had a fantastic chicken Vindaloo. 

Next I met up again with my old friend in London and we went to see Much Ado About Nothing with David Tennant and Catherine Tate and then to the Doctor Who Experience in London. It was a once and a life time experience...and so concludes my travel experience of 2011.