Madrid is a great city for eating small plates of food, taking naps in parks, and spending an afternoon between Barcelona and Lisbon. Read about the essentials if you are in Madrid for just a few hours here.
Read More
Returning to Barcelona for my fourth time, I show Nico my favorite places to eat and things to see in this vibrant city. With visits to La Sagrada Familia & Park Güell. Also starring much needed Mexican food and French toast.
Read More
Nico and I take a train to a tram (that doubles as a funicular) to a train to one last train in order to arrive in Zagreb and eventually take a bus to Plitvice Lakes National Park, one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.
Read More
Nico and I take on Venice by conquering creepy hostels, seeing beautiful sites, and eating the most amazing fresh pasta. With visits to the Rialto Bridge, the Canal Grande, and an expensive gondola ride.
Read More
Now on our own, Nico and I eat fast food, struggle with security gates, break bottles of wine, and hang out in a really cool market. With visits to the Duomo di Milano, the Navigli district, and multiple train stations.
Read More
The last stop with the whole family during "Second Europe" was at Lake Como. We stayed just one night but had a whole day to explore the scenic lakeside (and look for George Clooney, of course). After arriving, we all decided to stretch our legs by walking around the lake. We had lunch just at a little cafe on the shore. Later in the day, we took the funicular up a hill to get a good view of the lake. It was a scenic ride up but at the top I couldn't find a good area to tak
Read More
Accommodations In Munich we stayed in a VRBO (like AirBnB). We had our own basement unit to ourselves, which was much nicer than it sounds, so wipe that image of a dark, mildewy room with a pool table out of your mind and replace it with this: a well-furnished flat, sunken a few feet into the ground, lined with high wi
Read More
The drive from Italy to Austria was a beautiful one. Our cars wound through lush, green hills speckled with chalets. Our destination was the quaint town of Innsbruck, which my mom suggested for the itinerary having visited it before on a college trip. She remembered it being a very cute town, which is exactly what it is. We stayed at none other than the Best Western in Innsbruck, which actually turned out to be quite nice. It had, what I'm calling, the "Alps aesthetic" on the
Read More
As we drove from Tuscany to Innsbruck, we decided to make a scenic detour and visit Lake Garda. The lake is nestled amongst the Italian Alps in Northern Italy. Lake Garda is I
Read More
If I thought the Cinque Terre was hot, I was in for a rude awakening when we arrived in Tuscany. This was the second stop on my family vacation/couples backpacking trip through Europe. We drove from the Cinque Terre and arrived in Castlefiorentino, Tuscany where we stayed at a beautiful Villa for 4 nights. Villa The Vi
Read More
"Second Europe" began with a flight from SFO to Milan. The trip was aptly named for being the second time I traveled in Europe in 2015. In fact, Second Europe began only months after the first Europe trip ended. I'd like to take a moment now to appreciate how truly #blessed I am without sounding utterly sarcastic. In a
Read More
There are few things better than a road trip with friends. And, being back in the US with some greatly missed friends (and boyfriend) a road trip was the perfect medicine for a dab of reverse culture shock. This adventure started in Utah, where I was visiting Nico (the boyfriend) who was finishing up his internship in Park City. We were joined by a few friends (Robbie, Kristen, and Macy) who were road tripping from the LA area and planning to pick us up and drive to Denver to
Read More
Saying goodbye to my Basque home is by no means easy, especially when a new adventure arises, reminding me that there is so much more to see and do in this amazing place. Experiences I will never be able to carve out the time for. The second of May will always be a dear memory in my heart. It was the day I traveled down the Basque coast by car with Unai, my local friend (always find a local friend, always). This particular trip took us from San Sebastián to Bilbao. So, we did
Read More
I was very excited as I boarded the train because I knew this trip was going to be very different from the other travels I'd had during my study abroad. I was going to meet up with Dad and Barb and head to Granada. Traveling with parents is very different than traveling on your own or with friends. First of all, the standard of living is much better because, well, Dad has a steady income so we will be staying in a hotel, not hostels, and eating out at nice restaurants. Also,
Read More
You don’t realize how cheaply you’ve been living until your dad and his girlfriend come for a visit and you don’t know what restaurants to recommend. Other likely scenarios: he frequently uses the words “pintxos” and “tapas” interchangeably and usually in the wrong regions of the country, he tries speaking Finnish with waitresses whose politeness masks her confusion, your heart is more full because you get to share a place that has grown very important to you with someone you
Read More
Spring Break: City 6 of 6 Hostel Allison and I left Prague and met up with some of our group in Budapest. We stayed at Wombats hostel, which was pretty large scale and I believe it’s a chain. It had a kitchen and a bar with plenty of space to hang out. I think this is great for meeting people. The bedrooms can be kind of awkward because people are either sleeping or changing, this is why I love it when a hostel includes a space to be social. If I remember correctly, we got a
Read More
Spring Break: City 5 of 6 Hostel After Berlin, Allison and I split off on our own to Prague while many of the others from our group went to Switzerland. We stayed at Hostel Santini, which I’m pretty sure used to be a hotel renovated into a hostel. It had a great location just down the hill from Prague Castle and close to the Charles Bridge. A great thing about this hostel was that even though we signed up for a room with about ten beds in it, the room was actually divided int
Read More
Spring Break: City 4 of 6 Hostel In Berlin, we stayed at a hostel called the Cat’s Pajamas. It was a very hip hostel and well-priced. The rooms were very modern and clean. Each bed had an outlet and a light. Since we took an overnight bus, we arrived at the hostel before check-in, which kinda sucked because all I really wanted was a shower and a nap. The lobby of the hostel was nice though and Allison and I relaxed there for a while while we waited for the rest of our group t
Read More
Spring Break: City 3 of 6 Hostel We took a bus to Amsterdam, which I will point out is my least favorite way of traveling. It is pretty uncomfortable especially if you are taking it overnight. The only way to make it more comfortable is if you snag the back seat and lay out across 3 seats. You can easily fit two people in this position comfortably. The downside to this is that if the bus starts to fill up, someone might wake you up for a seat. Put a sweatshirt over your face
Read More
Spring Break: City 2 of 6 A Day in Belgium The second stop on our Spring break trip was in Bruges, a city that I have also been to before (which is why I knew we only needed a day here). We stayed at Hostel Lybeer, which was a nice hostel close to the town center. It had a small bar and a couch area. There was no elevator and the winding staircase was narrow and steep but we managed to haul our bags up to the top floor without falling all the way back down. The staff that wor
Read More