where have I been?
1st weekend: January 24-26 Barcelona/Vic
We arrived in Spain after flying from Texas (Friday night) -> London -> Barcelona (Saturday afternoon). We then took the Aerobus to our hotel for the night. We checked into our room before we headed to explore the city and find a dinner place. We started walking and stumbled upon a café where we decided to grab some appetizers. We ordered a meat plate and this restaurant’s version of a caprese salad that had the most delicious mozzarella I’ve ever tasted. We did some more walking and then ended up at a little restaurant that had very authentic Catalan entrees. After a long day of traveling, we decided a good night’s sleep was best, so we headed back to the hotel. The next morning, we woke up and got ready for our day. We grabbed coffee and breakfast at a recommended café (El Fornet). We decided to do another unplanned day of exploring the city by foot. We found many places that we’d like to visit when we come back to Barcelona on our last weekend abroad. After exploring, we gathered our bags and took an hour and a half train ride to Vic, Spain. Vic is where we are doing our student teaching! We arrived at our living space for the next three weeks and decided to get settled in before heading to dinner. Swade, Hailey and I then did our usual of just starting to walk and explore our new little town to find a dinner spot. We found a pizza shop in the City Center Square. After another full day, it was bedtime!
2nd weekend: January 24-26 Florence
Florence, Italy was as perfect as I had imagined it would be! I have always wanted to go to Europe, but specifically Italy! Hailey and I flew from Barcelona to Florence very early on Friday morning in order to fit in as much stuff as possible. During our weekend we visited the beautiful city's monumental spots, tasted the yummiest of food (check out my 'Tastes of Europe' page to see), learned a little bit of Italian and much, much more! It was too short of a weekend but that just gives us an excuse to have to go back in the future! I am ecstatic to have scratched traveling to Italy with my best friend off of my bucket list this weekend!
HAILEY AND I THOUGHT WE COULD GO W/O OUR COATS THIS DAY.
THIS IS WHY WE ARE PICTURED WITH THE NEW PURCHSES OF
SWEATSHIRTS THAT WRITE "FLORENCE" ACROSS!
EL DUOMO
DAVID
PALAZZO PITTI
BOBOLI GARDENS
3rd weekend: February 7-9, Lisbon, Portugal
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Lisbon, Portugal was such a pleasant surprise. I had never thought of traveling to Portugal before planning our weekend trips while being abroad. Hailey and I had heard some neat things about the city and country itself so on a whim we decided, why not spend a weekend there. We got there late Thursday night and were able to stay until Sunday afternoon. Friday morning we had a walking tour planned. We went on the tour and learned so much about the city's history, the things to eat, and what places to visit. We spent half of our day on the tour. That afternoon, Hailey and I spontaneously bought tickets for a catamaran boat ride down the Tagus River. We were able to see the city from the water which created a different view for us. Saturday, we took a train to Sintra, Lisbon to visit the Pena Palace! We got an uber to take us there. Side-note...Uber is not a thing in Spain or Italy, so this was wonderful!!!! Once we got our uber driver and explained our destination, he replied and told us we had to go see the end of the world. Confused, we asked what that meant! He explained that this was the most western point of Europe. It is nicknamed this because before America was founded, it was that that was the end of the world! We said yes and made our way to Cape St Vincent (the real name of the cliff). It was such a pleasant and beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean. After this, we headed to the Pena Palace for a tour. It was breathtaking to visit a castle that was built for a royal family in 1836. That night we went to a sushi restaurant and ordered the massive platter of the Chef's choice!
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