Before spring break even started, I went to Barcelona for a Mumford & Sons concert with my bestie from home, Tiffany! The concert was SO AMAZING. M&S is definitely one of my favorite bands, if not my ultimate favorite, so this was a dream come true for me. Tiffany and I waited in line for a few hours and ended up really close to the stage....everything was so perfect!
After the concert we stayed up the rest of the night to catch our early flight back to Oviedo (where Tiffany is studying). We spent the next day seeing the city, and the following day we all had to be at the airport for early flights. That day I spent around 15 hours traveling-airport time, airplane time, train time, etc. I finally got back into Swansea for one day of preparation before my 3 week spring break began!
Our first stop was Spain. We spent 3 days in Madrid and 3 days in Barcelona. Madrid was pretty great--I got to spend the whole time with my dear friend Shea from back home, who is student teaching in Caceres. We did normal sight-seeing, took a day trip to Toledo, and enjoyed siestas and tapas! The one bummer was that I got pick-pocketed...but now I'm a more conscious traveler! In Barcelona we also did the basic sight-seeing, touristy things. We went to the beach, climbed up Montjuic, and saw a lot of Gaudi things!
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| Day trip to Toledo |
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| Gaudi house in Barcelona! |
After Barcelona we went to Milan for a day. It was rainy and miserable there. I shall say no more. Venice was next, where it was also quite rainy. We had difficulties finding our camping site (yes, we camped in Venice) in the rain, and we were all pretty wet, crabby, and tired our first day. BUT, on a bridge we ran into my cousins two friends who she was traveling with---we knew we were in Venice at the same time, but weren't sure how we could meet up. I guess a chance encounter is the easiest! Shelby wasn't with them, so I got to go back to their B&B and surprise her...SO much fun :) The next day I decided to leave my group to go to Murano and Burano with Shelby and her 2 friends. We had such a great time, and I'm so glad that I got to spend that time with Shelb. We went to Florence for one day after Venice, and it was by far my favorite city in Italy. It was so beautiful-the weather was great, the sites were amazing, and the gelato and treats were so yummy! Rome was next, and we were there for 3 days. We saw so many sites in Rome and we were constantly being tourists that it was quite overwhelming. It was so neat to see the old ruins and think of the great people who used to walk around where we were. Sometimes it's kind of weird to think of places as how they used to be, and to think of how people used to live there, but I love doing that with almost every city I visit.
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| The Duomo in Milan. Can you see how much rain there is? Literally POURING the whole time. |
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| Pretty houses in Murano |
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| In Florence atop the Piazzale Michaelangelo |
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| Colosseum! |
After Rome (this is 2 weeks into our trip) we went to Brussels for 2 days. While it was cold there, it was quite possibly one of my favorite places. The food there was delicious--the whole time we planned our day based on what food we would eat. We had plenty of chocolate, waffles, and french fries (did you know they originate in Belgium?!). YUM! Luxembourg was next, where nothing exciting happened and we spent most of our time relaxing in our hotel room, watching tv (a luxury we haven't had since we came to Swansea).
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| Yum! |
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| Double yum!! |
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| This is what we did in Luxembourg.. |
Our long trip ended with 3 days in Paris. They were definitely exhausting, and the usual travel tiredness was multiplied tenfold by the fact that it was the last stop of our journey and we all were ready to be back in Swansea! We saw the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Notre Dame, and many other sites. We also went to Versailles for a day. Overall, Paris was nice, but definitely didn't live up to my expectations. I guess I'm one of the people who didn't like Paris (you either like it or you don't) but I think everyone should still go there if given the chance!
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| Yay! |
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| On top of the Arc de Triomphe |
I was SO GLAD to be back in Swansea. It is so strange how it has become home to me so quickly, and when I get homesick, I get homesick for Swansea. What a great place to call home :)
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