A Mere Chance: My First Solo in Europe

2016 | Munich > Wiesbaden > Frankfurt > Berlin 🇩🇪 • Barcelona > Valencia 🇪🇸

This first-time solo traveling experience was seriously by accident, but it shaped the way I traveled from then on. My ex-boyfriend and I booked a trip to Germany and Spain together, but we broke up before the trip. We were not able to get a refund so we still flew to Germany together; we just went our separate ways from there. He took a train back home to Ukraine and I continued my solo journey into Munich.

Munich

When I got into Munich, it was nighttime already and there were issues with the metro. A kind gentleman who only spoke Spanish taught me how to purchase a train/bus ticket and directed me the right way to get to my Airbnb. I was lucky!

During my ride, I was a bit scared being in a foreign country by myself. But then something happened–a man was playing saxophone on the train and a bunch of people were inviting me up to dance. It was odd but I felt “welcomed” and all my fears went away.

Pauline (my Airbnb host from Hong Kong) picked me up with her dog Peggy at the bus stop by her home. Pauline only spoke Cantonese Chinese and German, so during our whole time together we only spoke in Chinese–I felt like I was home far away from home. Peggy came into my room to sleep with me every night, too! She asked me if I’d like to hang out in Landshut and explore a castle during my stay; I said YES!

Pauline, Peggy, and I took the metro to Landshut, where we explored Trausnitz Castle and then met up with her German friends (a couple with a son). We went to GelatOK! to get some beer-flavored ice cream together, and then visited museums and shops in Landshut. When the sun started setting, we went to a nearby fair for German Radler (half beer and half citrusy soda), pretzels, and fried fish–mmm, lecker! Honestly, my time in Munich has been a blast just from this day of adventure. Pauline also took me to the climbing gym by her home and talked about the outdoor climbing adventures that he had with her son.

As planned, I visited the breathtaking Lake Königssee, aka Germany's most beautiful alpine lake right by the Austrian border. I rented a boat and rowed my way out into the wilderness. It was so quiet and empty on the emerald-green waters in Berchtesgaden National Park. I even dipped my bare feet into the water to truly “feel” the present moment.

The next day, I decided to close my eyes and point my finger somewhere random on the metro map–it landed on a place called Herrsching. I hopped on the metro towards Herrsching and enjoyed the window scenery while passing by Oberpfaffenhofen. I ended up on a hiking trail in Herrsching and really enjoyed it!

Although I am not a fan of German cuisine, I thought to myself that I should eat it at least once while I’m in Germany, lol! I searched up a nearby restaurant called Haxenbauer. The waiter was shocked when I came alone and asked for a table for one. The next morning I had to leave Munich… I hand-lettered a thank you card for Pauline and said goodbye to dear Peggy before checking out. I was sobbing on the train ride to Wiesbaden; I had formed an emotional attachment to Peggy during my Munich stay.

Wiesbaden & Frankfurt

I met with Claudia and she gave me a tour of her cozy home; she even invited me to settle down my belongings and then go for a drink/snack with her. We had a cold beer and shared travel stories, Pablo Neruda poems, and desert crossing. I told her how I ended up wanting to go to Germany; it was because I watched that 2013 film called “Guten Tag, Ramon” on the flight back home from Japan in the previous year. What Claudia told me next really shocked me–the film was shot down the block from the restaurant we were at! OMG!

I try to social dance whenever I travel to a new country. I found a social dancing event at Park Café, which was only about a 30-min walk from the house. The people there were so friendly; I shared a few Bachata dances with this guy and he offered to get me a fancy carbonated water. He thought I was not old enough to drink alcohol, haha! It was getting late and I walked all the way back to the house, but it felt really safe in this neighborhood.

On a sunny warm day, I met with my Russian friend at the Frankfurt station. Alex gave me a tour of the Goethe-Universität and we rode on the paternoster lift aka the “Elevator of Death.” They call it this because it’s a passenger elevator consisted of a chain of open compartments that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building, but without stopping. It was scary at first, but it’s cool to be able to try this in real life! We then visited Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK) in Frankfurt, which is also called “piece of cake” since its architectural design is a unique triangular shape

That evening, I returned to Wiesbaden to meet with Claudia, her daughter, and her friends for the Rheingau Musik Festival at Kurhaus. Claudia told me that she always get complimentary tickets to these fancy classical music festivals so she thought it would be nice to invite me while I was here. She is such a sweetheart for real!

Berlin

Another train ride to the next city–off to Berlin I go! I took a long walk along the Berlin Wall, which is probably one of the biggest art canvases in the world. They say that the Berlin Wall was a form of rebellion against repression and division that the wall brought to Berliners–it’s truly a representative of Berlin’s Cold War past.

While in Berlin, I visited a low-key Russian tea house called Tadshikische Teestube, the famous BUCHSTABENMUSEUM (The Museum of Rescued Letters), the local Tiergarten Park, and Curry 36 for some currywurst!

Upon eating at a Thai restaurant, the owner started a conversation with me since I was by myself. He told me that the piece of tin roof that’s in the restaurant holds special meaning to his upbringing in Thailand; he remembers hearing the raindrops hitting the tin roofs back in his country. He also hooked me up with their homemade spicy sauce (it was VERY spicy but good) because I’m Asian too, lol! He explained that Asians can handle this spice but the European, not so much! After my meal, he sent me off with a napkin-folded lotus flower. I am feeling like the universe has been sending me signals through the form of lotus flowers (dried lotus root in Pauline’s house, the napkin lotus flower from the Thai restaurant, and later real lotus flowers on a pond where I would get brunch).

Oh and I found another latin social! It was at Havanna Berlin and I got some Salsa dances in while in Berlin. I was just hanging out by myself and the Cuban bartender hooked me up with special drinks on the house.

I was invited to a “breakfast for vier” from mein Berliner. We rode the metro with “ein gutes Bier am Sonntag” and squeezed into a photo booth that developed film (so cool)! Mein Berliner took me to the airport via bus and I was so late for the flight. Luckily, the flight was later than me, lol!

Barcelona

My next stop (which unknowingly became my last stop) was Barcelona! I got lost and a female solo traveler walked me to the destination. She said, “I know how it feels to be lost by yourself in a city you’ve never been to.”

When I got to my Airbnb, there were fireworks nearby–what a sight from my balcony. Will, the dog that lives at this place kept coming into my room to hang out even though his owner scolded at him. I don’t mind it at all; Will is such a cutie pie.. I miss Peggy though. Every night, I would fall asleep with my tall balcony windows opened, letting in fresh air, distant chatting/cheering from Bar Nito across the street, and street lights. It didn’t bother me at all. I actually enjoyed it for some reason.

I explored the city, trying foods, museums, and parks. For food, I had breakfast at BonaTapa, churro snacks at Granja La Pallaresa (well-known vintage spot!), and even Chinese food at Kai Xuan (spicy!). I wandered about and walked through La Boqueria Mercat, which made me think of the markets in Mexico. Museu Picasso was a must-see so I was there learning about the life story of Pablo Picasso and appreciating his works of art at the fancy museum. Then I stumbled upon this Erotic Museum of Barcelona, much like The Sex Museum in NYC. Every visitor here got a complimentary glass of wine to sip during the gallery experience.

Another fun place I found was Parc del Laberint d’horta, which had a human-sized maze! I was in there and at some point started to give up–I thought I was going to be stuck, haha! I made it out at the end though. Afterwards I got a reservation to see Park Güell, an almost make-believe landscape designed by the Catalonian architect, Antoni Gaudi. The park is the home to Barcelona’s mosaic lizard (El Drac) and many other mosaic animals! In the evening, I went into Vall Barcelona for some tapas and wine. A guy came in with freshly grown tomatoes and offered it to everyone, cut and prepped/seasoned with love. How nice!

It was time for the famous La Tomatina festival. I took the bus at the plaza around 2am and arrived to Buñol, Valencia. The Sangria party started at 8am and there was a huge crowd of people from around the world. All the houses and shops were boarded up with plastic so they don’t get tomato juice splashes on them.

Something scary happened here. I had to desperately use the restroom but it was not available and I had the thought of just doing it on the spot. There were no “hiding places” neither. I walked over to some locals and asked if anyone would let me use their restroom. A somewhat suspicious man said “Yes, come with me.” I had a bad feeling about it..

I was a bit tipsy and he let me into his house; I went inside the bathroom and it looked like a Saw movie scene (dirty restroom with broken porcelain pieces). I was freaked out and couldn’t think clearly. After using the restroom, the man tried to convince me to stay and have coffee. I lied and said I had friends waiting for me outside. Internally, I was thinking to myself, “If this was became a kidnapping case, I just realized that no one knew where I was exactly. I didn’t tell anyone my plans/location.” After some back and forth, he finally gave up and unlocked the door to let me out. Whew! It was a close one–I thought this was where I was going to die.

Things only got worse from there on. The tomato fight started around noon and after some fun, I realized that I dropped my phone and 50 euros. It was no where to be found. Luckily, a firefighter from PA befriended me and on the bus ride back to Barcelona, he offered to help me get back to my Airbnb. When we arrive to the plaza in Barcelona, he paid for a cab for us to go to his hostel lobby so that I can use his phone to find my Airbnb address. Then he got me another cab so that I can go back to that Airbnb. He saved my life; I got back to my Airbnb safely.

At this point, I had no way to contact my family so I went to the nearby internet cafe to login to Facebook, lol. My next stop was supposed to be Granada (South of Spain), but I didn’t know how I was going to make it there without my phone for Airbnb communicatoin, directions, information etc. So, I decided to just book a ticket back home the same day. Until next time, Spain!