Many Days, Many Journeys

I haven't been doing the best job at keeping up with this traveling blog...clearly i've been a little too busy exploring the world! :)

Oh what an adventure it has been! So many great memories, wonderful people and spectacular pictures! So, where shall I begin? Hmm... here are all of the places outside of Barcelona that I have 

Andorra:

At the end of January, I went on a ski roadtrip to Andorra (which is a country, by the way!). We got there right in the middle of a big snow storm which was awesome!! I bought a ski jacket, pants and gloves and then rented ski equiptment at the mountain. Vallnord Mountain has 3 peaks varying from wicked easy slopes to upper immediate slopes... nothing too difficult in comparison to Lake Tahoe or Vermont skiing atleast. All powder, great conditions! Oh! And I tried hot wine for the first time! Pretty delicious... It tastes like hot cider.


French Riviera:

I went to Nice, France and Monte Carlo, Monaco (which is also a country!!) with an American tour group called EuroAdventures and a few friends that I met in Barcelona. All Americans and go figure I show up with the only 3 boys as we met up with 30+ girls from Rome and Florence. Oh what a great weekend! 
We saw Benny Benassi (who was surprisingly old and pretty terrible live...). We saw their version of the Carnival which was WICKED cool! While fighting the hangovers, we wandered far and wide around the city of Nice. 

One the most beautiful day, we took a quick train ride into Monaco. I saw the castle where Princess Grace Kelly lives. What a beautiful town! Very small and within the valleys of the mountains at an astonishing port filled with huge yachts. One of the yachts had a helicopter! What the heck?? Also, I am proud to say that I gambled and lost 10 euros at the famous Monte Carlo casino at a game of blackjack. Beginners luck was nonexistent for me that day.

We met some cool kids on this trip which reminded me of what a small world we live in. One of the girls said her parents fell in love at my fathers bar! Another kid knows a few of my elementary school friends! and 2 of the girls go to UCF with me! 


Rome and Tuscany, Italy:

This past weekend I went on a vino, pasta and pizza expedition with two friends that I've met in Barcelona-- one of them from Germany and the other one from NY who studies wine! So a perfect combination for a well organized vino trip! We took a tour bus around Rome, took jumping pictures in front of the St Peter's Basilica, gazed at statues and paintings for hours, ate a bunch of amazing foods, drank a lot of wine and ran all around the inside of the Coliseum. 
 On the nicest day of the weekend, we went on a wine tasting trip with a group called Bus2Alps to Tuscany. In Tuscany, we toured a wine cellar in
Montepulciano (where a scene from Breaking Dawn was filmed!) and sampled a variety of wines and cheeses. "Montepulciano is known for its surrounding vineyards, where delicious red wines are produced from the Sangiovese grape." Then we went to Montalcino for a wine tasting and vineyard tour. And yes, I may have brought a bottle or two or three home with me to reminisce on...

What's Next??

This weekend I am going to Brussels and Bruges in Belgium. Next Weekend is my spring break (which is not nearly as wild as done in the States...) and I will be going on a Meditteranean cruise with a group of friends to Tunisia, Italy and France. After that is my birthday and my mother will be visiting me :) I'm super excited to show her around Barcelona and go to Paris, Venice or Florence with her! 

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” 
― Ernest Hemingway