Travel through Europe

My first major solo trip was to Santander, Spain. It was also the first time I got on a plane alone, and to make it not boring, I planed to hitchhike home from there, via France, Italy and Slovenia.

The reason for the big trip was that I had a freind from Colombia in Spain who I met online. It was the perfect opportunity to meet her in person. We spent 3 days together in Santander, then I set off for home.

Unfortunately, the adventure did not start well. On the bus from Santander to Bilbao, my wallet was stolen/left behind with all my money and all my documents and bank cards except my passport. I was despaired and my phone was already running low when I noticed this. I asked a barman to charge my phone for me, some girls were helping with the translation at the counter and after learning my situation they offered me that I can stay at their place for the night.

First, I went to the police to report the incident, from where the police willingly offered to take me to the address I had received from the girls earlier. In fact, not only did they take me home, they also rang the doorbell and left only after making sure I was safe. To this day, I can't get over this experience. How easily I got through such a difficult situation thanks to the selfless help of strangers. They also helped with the money problem. They gave me 100 Euros without knowing for sure that I would pay it back.

Thus, Bilbao forever etched itself in my memory. The next stop from here was Toulouse, where I was hosted by an Erasmus friend from Budapest. I managed to hitchhike from Bilbao to Biarritz quite quickly. First, young university students picked me up in a minibus, then a brother and sister, who were in their 30s took me to Biarritz. Here, however, I run out of luck. I spent the whole day waiting for a car, there was only one candidate who would have taken me to Bordeaux. In retrospect, I should have jumped at the offer, but I didn't know how hopeless my situation was. Before it got dark, I decided to give up and walk to the nearby airport where I could spend the night and take the bus to Toulouse in the morning. My plan had only one mistake: the airport was closed for the night, so I spent the night in front of the entrance. It was reassuring to know I wasn't alone in this. We didn't speak to each other, but I think she was also grateful that she didn't have to spend the night here alone.

My days in Toulouse weren't boring either, sightseeing during the day and a bit of fun in the evening. I met three foreign guys. Among them was a Canadian, an Iranian and a Briton. I approched them when I heard that someone was finally speaking English. Later, I met the Canadian guy even in Budapest, when he continued his journey there.

Hitchhiking started quite well from Toulouse again, but failed again at the italian border. A young guy took me all the way to Marseilles, from there an older lady took me to Fréjus, and from there I got to Nice after a short trip, but from Nice there were no more cars. Another big walk and bus ride followed. I took a bus from Nice all the way to Padua, where I also visited an Erasmus friend.

I jumped from Padua to Venice and got a little tired of hitchhiking, so I bought bus tickets to Hungary with a transfer in Ljubljana. I walked all day long in Venice and then continued my journey to Ljubljana on a night bus. My plan was to walk around the city until morning, but Who could imagine that?!, I stumbled upon an ESN party, although they were already at the end, so it was by no means a big party, didn't even have time to getting to know each other.

In the morning I walked up to the mountain above Ljubljana, only to see nothing because of the fog. I had breakfast in a cafe and got on the bus to Budapest.