Espana

BARCELONA, SPAIN

Hostel’s are much different than how we American’s imagine them. This particular one was huge, bright, clean, had sitting areas and many amenities.  In fact, each one of our rooms had large patios that overlooked the courtyard. Needless to say, staying at hostels was much better than I anticipated, thank goodness!

Barcelona is a giant city that has multiple attractions and I tried to cram as much of those experiences into my time there. I began exploring the city in the Gothic quarter, taking a tour of the architecture and winding roads and alleyways. In these alleys are the tiniest cafes and shops, but the owners are so kind and welcoming that you can’t help but jam yourself in with other strangers to enjoy an espresso.

Sacre Familia Cathedral was the crème de la crème of the gothic style architecture. The detailing on just the outside will make your jaw drop. I can’t even begin to describe the unbelievable skill that went into creating this ornate building.

There is a market off of the main street that is unlike any other that I’ve seen before. The variety of fruits, the vibrant colors, the hustle and bustle of the patrons. If you ever make it to Barcelona, do yourself a favor, find this market and get yourself some fresh fruit!

A few of us went to explore the famous Parc Guell. When first arriving it looked like we were about to walk into Hansel and Gretel’s world, because a few of the buildings looked like they were made of candy. But that was just the beginning of this gigantic park, there were multiple pathways that spiraled upwards towards other castle like buildings covered in mosaic tiles, caves created out of stone and various lookout points.  Along our journey to the top lookout points we passed many street performers, but interestingly enough they all used different instruments (strings, harmonica, guitarists, didgeridoo, flutes, singers).  At the very top of the park there were extremely rustic stone steps that lead to a cross overlooking the entire city of Barcelona. It was a bit dangerous, but the view was worth it.

After our climb to the top of Barcelona we decided to grab lunch on the beach. A city on the water, with culture, history and delicious cuisine, what else could you ask for?

Oh, that’s right, you could ask for a Spanish Guitarist, Flamenco dancers and Sangria! Which is exactly how our group spent our evening.  

The dance of Flamenco is extremely serious with fiery passion. The crowd gets involved by shouting “Ole” while the dancers use props as their skirts, fans and castanet’s to add variety.  After watching the incredible show, they taught us some moves and we danced all night long in true Spanish style.

Long overdue European adventures

LONDON

After an eight hour flight into Heathrow, I took the underground to my hotel near Russell Square. With only a day to see London I briskly walked around looking at some usual sights. Soon into my exploring I noticed a few things, firstly, everything seems smaller and more narrow (roads, hotels, benches, public transport). There are also a plethora of trees in London, which came as a surprise to me, in fact I later found that they have more trees per resident than anywhere else. The diversity in London also caught me off guard, I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it was a melting pot of cultures. It reminded me a bit of Chicago. After my exploring it was off to meet my Contiki group, my family for the next month. 

Early the next morning, and I mean 5am early, we all piled onto our Coach bus, our new home. We then drove to White Dover Cliffs and took a ferry across the English channel to France. 

FRANCE

Paris: Our first night in Paris we all went to a restaurant to have famous French cheeses, escargot and Champagne then we made our way to the Effel Tower to watch it sparkle. The following day we were on our own in Paris exploring the sights (Effel Tower, Cathederal Notre Dame, Arc De Triomphe,  Catacombs, Champes Elysse). We ate crepes and baguette hotdogs from street carts and macaroons from a sweet bakery.  That night the entire group went to go see a show at the original Moulin Rouge, it was not what I had expected, but it was interesting, to say the least.

Beaujolis Wine Region: We stayed at Chatau Criox overlooking the vineyards, absolutely breathtaking! Peaceful, quiet and beautiful. A few of us went exploring in the nearest town.

Nice, France

Nice: Up there on my favorite stops. It was a city on the beach, the had antique markets and cozy cafes.

Monaco: Yachts, money, casinos, more money and yachts and fancy cars. 

Monaco

All you need is LOVE

I tend to limit my media intake because I find myself just becoming saddened by the awful stories out there. Whether it be negative political rants, public shootings, family members killing each other or protests all over the globe; they all break my heart. I often find myself asking, "What has this world come to?"  Violence, hate, destruction, terror. These are the things our children are all too familiar with.    Nobody really has an answer on how to stop it, but the first step is loving each other. I am aware we all can't go over to the Middle East and just start hugging people, but start small. Start by loving the people in your life, smiling at strangers, being polite, appreciate the things that you have and think positively. 

Life is short, fill it with love.