I got to travel to Europe this summer!
My dad had a few conferences he was attending, so I tagged along and did a little bit of solo travel too while I was on the continent. I went to Paris and Strasbourg in France, then Trier, Cochem, Berlin, Regensburg, and Munich in Germany, and lastly to Vienna, Austria.
My wardrobe for this trip was pretty simple, since I didn't have much room in my suitcase, and I also didn't bring a petticoat. Honestly though I think that everything I wore looks fine without it, and having fewer pieces did make me try a lot of coordinates I wouldn't have done otherwise so I enjoyed that creative exercise. I brought one OP, four JSK's, a skirt, and a couple blouses- which, if they all match, makes a lot more coordinates than you think! It's part of what I enjoy about taking a trip, the 'capsule wardrobe' aspect of packing, and then seeing how many different outfits you can get out of just a few pieces of clothing. It's fun trying to pick out things that will all go together in any combination. I'm not really forced to be that creative with my wardrobe when at home (I tend
Also, most of these photos I took myself- my dad was usually busy with work so I did most of the 'touristy' parts of the trip on my own, along with the entire Vienna leg, and had to get pretty creative with coord photos since I didn't have a tripod either (too heavy/bulky). I had to get creative sometimes with balancing my phone as a camera using my bag but it generally worked out okay!
For anyone considering solo travel in Europe, in lolita or not- I highly recommend it. It's beautiful, I love every trip I've taken here, and on both trips where I've worn lolita I haven't really had any issues. I just wear leggings and a sweatshirt on the plane, don't pack a petticoat to save space, and honestly people mostly left me alone or just said nice things. Sometimes there's a rude person trying to take your photo without asking but it's not that bad and honestly, I get the same at home too. If you're a lifestyler you're used to living in lolita already, and if not then I think it would be a fun challenge!
Also- apologies in advance for the low photo quality, I'm working on fixing that!
In Paris, I went to Angelic Pretty on my first day actually- our flight was overnight and we arrived at CDG in the morning, I changed in the hotel bathroom because our hotel room wasn't ready yet, and went to the AP store event!
This was really cool to see, even if things were a little awkward because the girl at the door of the event didn't realize I was wearing Angelic Pretty and I had to show her the dress label... I don't expect someone to know every single AP dress but it still made me feel awkward because I wasn't wearing a print like the other girls. I do wish I'd been able to do a more OTT coord, but I was only able to bring a few dresses on this trip and none of my AP print dresses would really have fit with the rest of my trip wardrobe. Unfortunately I didn't have the room to bring a dress I wouldn't wear more than once.
The other lolitas at the meet were really nice though, and it was so nice to be able to practice my French too! I feel like I didn't do too bad all things considered.
I wish they'd let us take our own photos with their photobooth... I feel like their photos really didn't always turn out so well, and they didn't take several to let us pick one ourselves. There's several pics in the album where people have their eyes closed even! Yikes. I'm not a huge fan of mine either, my face is really red because it was super hot and I was feeling embarassed and I don't really like my expression... oh well. I have other photos from the day that look cuter, I think.
The catering was pretty solid, the desserts and drinks were pretty good but they really should have had more water and maybe one savory thing available in my opinion, especially for a summer event (with no AC!) a couple ice water dispensers in the other rooms would have been amazing.
I walked around the city and got bubble tea, dinner, and visited a Kinokuniya with a couple of the other lolitas afterwards which was SO fun, honestly. They were great to talk to and being able to meet lolitas from around the world was amazing. Sadly I wasn't able to do any lolita events while I was in Germany, but on my next Europe trip I'm definitely going to look into if I can time it with a meet or other event!
The Cluny medieval museum and Nina's were other new experiences for me in Paris, and I really enjoyed that- especially the medieval museum, the tapestries in there were just incredible. Also, I bought a red maxi pad headdress from AP Paris, that ended up going really well with my wardrobe on the trip- I've worn it a ton since then, too. Definitely one of my best purchases this year!
More Paris photos, from different days:
After Paris, the next stop was Strasbourg. It's a really beautiful city, with a delightful historic district and an incredibly beautiful cathedral. I like to climb to the top of cathedrals or similar structures whenever I can, the view over the city is just incredible!
Trier had some really beautiful Roman ruins and an old Roman gate, one of only two this far north- but outside of that I don't think I'd want to visit again. It's actually the only place on this trip I feel that way about, but my dad is really into Ancient Roman history (and Greek, and just history in general, my whole family is history nerds- my mom studied history [specifically medieval and the crusades] in University) so it was more of a stop for him. We did a morning bike ride out of the city that was really nice, though.
I did a day trip to Cochem to see the castle, and it was so fun- the castle is absolutely charming, along with the historic village, and there was a funicular that went to the top of the 'mountain' on the other side of the valley that had an amazing view over the valley, vineyards, and castle.
I didn't do that much actual climbing in this dress, but I did want to get some pictures out on the cliff in it!
I've been to Berlin before as well, and to be honest I liked it a bit better on the last trip- I think the place we stayed at was nicer, and I had more time to appreciate the city. The museums were still incredible, though! It's interesting to come back to places and really feel how much you've changed, in comparison to such things like cathedrals that remain the same throughout our lifetimes.
I convinced my dad to come with me to the top of the Berlin cathedral, too! Another spectacular view of the city.
Regensburg is another fairly small town, with some cool historic buildings. There's an old town hall that's really beautiful, and had a really interesting tour, and I also went to the top of the bridge tower (starting to see a pattern?) which was very fun-
I was the only person there, so I had all the rooms and the view of the rooftops to myself which felt really special. I like the photos I took up there a lot too, even though I feel like in some of them you can really tell I'm dying of the heat.
I mentioned earlier that Trier has one of the only remaining Roman walls this far north... well, it turns out the only other one is actually in Regensburg! I just happened to stumble onto it walking back to the train station. Very cool coincidence!
A lot of my dad's family lives in Munich and he spent a lot of time there growing up, so this city is pretty special to my family. We stayed with some family friends which was really nice, too. Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay super long, just one night, but we visited the but we visited the Lenbachhaus art museum which I liked- I've been here before years ago, and the bright yellow museum really stuck out in my memory.
I took a train to Vienna right after we saw the art museum and my dad stayed in Germany. The Stephansdom was amazing to see and actually explore (there's two towers you can climb! So I made up for no climbing in Munich lmao).
The Belvedere is another favorite, it's definitely more of a palace than an art museum in my opinion but it's really beautiful, and I love the grounds.
I also got to visit the Albertina, and see Durer's hare illustration.
I'm obsessed with rabbits, so getting to see this in person was amazing! I bought so much hare merch :3
This was in the theater museum. Yes, I tried to slide down the banister haha
I ended my Vienna trip with a classical music concert in a church, which was really beautiful. I also had dinner at the oldest restaurant in Vienna! (or at least they claim to be; it's called the Griechenbeisel).
I'd love to come back to Vienna, I had a wonderful time and found the whole city very beautiful with lots of interesting cultural things to explore.
