Barcelona, Spain

Wednesday October 29, 2014

Barcelona, Spain

We arrived in Barcelona around 10 in the morning and I went my separate ways from everyone since my parents had come to visit!! I took a taxi to the hotel I was meeting my parents in and as soon as I got there I fell asleep. After my dad finished his work we went out to Lunch and the 3 of us walked around the city planning out our next two days as my parents adjusted. The first day with them was full of a lot of food and a lot of walking around. We visited a very old cathedral and my parents bought some fancy olive oil.

Thursday October 30, 2014

My parents turned in early so I did as well but we hit the this day hard. We woke up early, grabbed breakfast and went straight to the sights. The first place we visited was the Sagrada Familia which is easily the most beautiful and interesting church/religious building I have ever been in or seen in my entire life. We spent a solid 2 hours walking around and admiring it, it is unlike anything I have ever seen before and the fact that it is still under construction after 120 years is amazing.

We spent a lot of time in the Sagrada Familia and from there went into the FC Barcelona futbol store to do a little shopping. We rounded out this day by going to the Pablo Picasso Museum...which in my opinion and my fathers is really not all that special. Sure some of his work is amazing but the rest of it, I just don't get it. It does not look very impressive and i simply lost interest after being in there for all of 15 minutes.

From the Picasso Museum we went back and got changed because my parents were taking everyone out to dinner. We went to a really cool...really late dinner. I don't understand how the Spanish do it. They eat at 9:30-10 and go out at 12:30-1 in the morning. So we all ate and drank then all the guys went out at 1 in the morning, needless to say it was a one time thing for me. All of us went our separate ways and turned in around 6am.


Friday October 31, 2014

The next morning was exhausting but it was my last in Spain. My mother made me get out of bed at 11:30 and go straight to touring. There were a few places that my parents really wanted to see so Friday was devoted to seeing and doing what they wanted to do. We ate a really good small restaurant that my dad had heard about and saw a couple stores my mom was really interested in seeing. From there we walked along the beach, my one regret, I never set foot on the beach once in Barcelona. I was next to it, feet away but I never set foot on it or went swimming. I did however, witness some really cool sand art.

We walked and ate the rest of the night, I turned in with my parents when everyone else went out and left for Riva the next morning.

Lisbon, Portugal

Sunday October 26, 2014

Arrived in Lisbon around 9:30 in the morning and went to our hostel. The hostel we were staying at was ranked 6th best hostel in the world, Lisbon Destination Hostel. We checked in, got comfortable, and set out for the day. Since we were there so early we really just walked around. We stumbled upon an Art Museum which was a really pleasant surprise and from there we went to a really cool bar over looking the water.

After the bar and museum we walked around a little more going though all sorts of different alleys and markets. The churches and quaint little Portuguese streets were something I was not expecting but it was quite refreshing after previously being in Venice and Rome.  We continued walking... slowly making our way back to the hostel. Once we got a little closer we grabbed some food, did a little shopping then went back to try and decide what to do for the night. 

We went back got changed then walked around the town, this one particular street right outside our hostel had a ton of restaurants and street performers which was a real treat. After dinner we turned in because we were getting up early to go surfing.


Monday October 27, 2014

I woke up at 8:30 to prepare to go surfing. We booked surfing lessons through the hostel so I had the ability to say I surfed in Portugal. The guy we had teach us our lesson was very cool, he had just graduated college so he was hanging out and messing around with us. He taught us and helped us for about 3 hours and it was an experience I will never forget.

After we finished surfing we explored the town we were now in because we had driven about 35 minutes outside of the city to surf. The exploring lead us back to laying on the beach for about 6 hours which was amazing...I even witnessed Russian Rugby players fight each other with dead jellyfish, it was quite a sight. From the beach we went back to the city center, sadly ate Subway then hungout for the rest of the night. 

Tuesday October 28, 2014 

Our Final day in Portugal, we rolled out of bed around 11 and made our way up to a castle that we had been able to see since the day we arrived in Lisbon. I do not recall the name but it was in a very historic area with plenty of street performers and tourists. The view from the top was very beautiful I was able to rest my eyes upon all of Lisbon.

We did one last walk around Portugal...who knows when I'll be back, grabbed some dinner then went to the train station to catch our overnight train to Barcelona!

Madrid, Spain

October 24, 2014

Barcelona/ Madrid, Spain

After 4 weeks of Management classes it was finally time for our second 10 day! This trip we were flying too Spain and going from there to Portugal. Me, Brendan, Jack, Casey, Tyler, Christen, Drew were all going together. We finished our exam on Thursday so Jack, Brendan, Tyler and myself flew our early Friday morning. We landed in Barcelona around 1 and went straight to the train station and got on a train to Madrid. Once we got to Madrid we settled in walked around and all fell asleep early after a long day of travel.

Saturday October 25, 2014

We got up early in the morning and hit the streets. The plan for the day was to explore, meet up with Drew and Christen who flew in that day, watch the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona soccer game in a bar, then take an overnight train to Portugal. We walked all around the city trying a vast amount of tapas and visiting all the historic sights...one of the coolest being the Palace in Madrid.

We saw the Palace, met up with Drew an Christen, hit an Irish Pub for the game then went straight from the bar to the train station for our over night to Portugal.

Rome, Italy

October 17, 2014

Rome, Italy

With the exam finished we hit the road for Rome where we would be meeting up with Jacks' older brother and two people from the Lugano trip. We made it into Rome about around 5 checked into our hostel and planned our what we wanted to do for the night. Some people didn't want to go out so me, Jack, Brendan, and Jacks older brother went to a famous brew house where we met our friends from Lugano. I've never been too a brew house before and it was quite a sight too see...about 25 taps all for 6 euros. We stayed at the Brew house until around 2am then Jack, me, and his brother started the walk back. Rome at night is absolutely beautiful.

We went into a Kabob shop, I've never had a Kabob before and it was delicious. After the Kabob we finally got back to our hostel and turned in. 

Saturday October 18, 2014 

Being in Rome we all got up extremely early because we really only had one full day there. We found a free walking tour given by an American which was fantastic and he took us to every major site and he ended right before the Vatican so we could go in. 

The Vatican was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my entire life. Walking into St. Peter's Basilica was one of the most breathtaking moments I have experienced. The sheer size and history too think about is amazing. I spent about an hour walking around looking at all the statues and paintings and taking it all it. 

  After the Basilica we got in line for the way up to the Sistine Chapel, the Chapel was nothing like what I expected. It was beautiful but it was different than anything I envisioned.  Security guards stand there and walk around to make sure people do not take pictures of the Chapel. When we finished with the Chapel we grabbed food then went back to the hostel to prepare for our Bar Crawl.

Sunday October 19, 2014

We woke up and went to the Colosseum for one last final stop before we got on our train. We skipped the line because we found a place to buy tickets that no one else knows about. The Colosseum was magnificent, and true wonder of the world. After the Colosseum we went to the train, another great weekend in the book.

 

Venice, Italy

Friday October 10, 2014

Venice, Italy
The plan for the weekend was Venice, Italy. A group of 9 of us had all decided to go to Venice together and we booked cabins at a campsite about 20 minutes outside of the actual city. We arrived at our room around 5pm checked in then hoped on the bus into the city. Venice is exactly what you would expect but at the same time its different. We all walked around trying to familiarize ourselves with the water taxis and getting across the canals. We grabbed dinner at a cool little pizza place down a small alley.  The main city of Venice was relatively expensive but where our cabin was located was one of the cheapest supermarkets I had been too since being abroad.

The dinner was okay, the idea of french friends on the pizza sounded better than it tasted in this circumstance. After dinner we walked around a little more then went back to our camp ground for the night.


Saturday October 11, 2014

We got up relatively early because we wanted to see as much of the city as we could. We were on the bus by 9:30 and in the city by 10. The play for the day was to walk around and see all the sights then catch a water taxi to the island of Murano which is where the Venetian hand blown glass comes from.  We walked around all day seeing the massive church which takes up what seems like half of the Island. The idea of Venice sinking is beyond true, they have man made board walks because the water comes up so high.

 

After walking around more we all caught a water taxi to the island of Murano and watched a Master glass make blow a few different glass figurines in a matter of minutes. 

We watched the master glass make finish then headed back to the water taxi and finally made our way all the way home. The plan for the night was to go a "nice dinner" because that's what the girls wanted, ended up being another terrible mistake. The food was terrible and grossly over priced. I ended up going to Burger King afterwards. From the terrible dinner we went to a casino that we had free entrance too with the purchase of our water taxi tickets. I was able to turn my luck around on the roulette table. I finished my gambling, cashed out then caught the last bus home for the night and turned in.