Highlights of My Most Recent Travels!

I figure it's about time that I start up this blog again. Although I didn't post my most recent travel writing blogs on this site, I'm going to pick up where I left off with those. They're posted on my Facebook page.

On my most recent trip abroad I traveled to Germany, Spain and Italy. I had an amazing time and the trip rejuvenated me. Since I stopped sending out emails about my experiences halfway through, I've decided to post a list of highlights.

The list is in no particular order. I'll try not to make the list too long.

Germany - Frankfurt and Berlin
Frankfurt
*Twin reunion with Paloma and Greece reunion with Lindsay.
*Eating lox and bagels with my sister at her small kitchen table situated in the hallway of her Frankfurt apartment.
*Ice skating for 30 minutes on Christmas evening in Frankfurt.
*Working out nearly every day I was in Frankfurt at my sister's beautiful gym full of people.
*Diversity. Having someone not believe Paloma and I that we weren't Turkish.
*Nutella cereal for dessert!
*Snow.
*Making dinner with my sister like old times.
*ISF - the international school Paloma works at. Almost wishing I loved teaching so I could live and work there and travel during the MANY breaks they get!
*Drinking and dancing at LIFE (a club) on a Wednesday night.
*Relaxing while Paloma worked.
*Eating bbq chicken nachos and drinking a strawberry margharita with AFTER 8 MINTS on my last night in Frankfurt.

Berlin
*EF reunion with Franka.
*Christmas markets, gluwein (mulled wine), BIG pretzels and sauteed mushrooms.
*The most AMAZING shwarma outside of Israel. Huge thanks to Franka for knowing the best Egyptian place in Berlin!
*History.
*Contrasts - there was a huge menorah in the middle of a plaza in Berlin.
*Franka's cute, Ikea apartment.

Spain - Barcelona, Sanlucar La Mayor, Sevilla, Granada, and Malaga

Barcelona
*Speaking Spanish even though the dialect is Catalan.
*The great hostel on Pl. de Gracias.
*Eating patatas bravas and drinking sangria.
*Shopping at my favorite European store, Bershka. I bought a Spanish style bohemian shirt. I haven't worn it yet but I will!
*Afternoon picnic on the pier.
*The curves and colors of Gaudi's buildings.
*Taking photos at Parc Guell (Gaudi's famous park in Barcelona).
*Afternoon naps and late nights.
*The hole-in-the-wall cava bar = pechuga de pollo sandwich (2.50 euro), cheap rosado cava (1 euro something) AND a BOTTLE of cava for 2.10 Euro! **Cava is similar to champaigne
*New Years Eve = walking along the beach of Barcelona with my sister and our friends from the hostel, opening a bottle of the AMAZING cava every hour, on the hour. Joining the multicultural masses at Pl. Catalunya for the countdown and attempting to partake in the Spanish custom of stuffing grapes in the mouth for the last 10 seconds. SEEDS.
*Falling in love with Barcelona.

Sanlucar La Mayor
*EF reunion with Javier
*Javier's cozy house and his loving parents!
*Home cooked meals - thanks to Javier's mom. Everytime we entered the house it was meal time!
*Warmth. Literally - they had circular heaters UNDER every table!

Sevilla
*Moorish architecture.
*Wandering the streets with Javier and his two friends.
*Plaza Espana in all its glory.
*Umbrella photos.

Granada - La Alhambra
*Arches, tiles, stone and engravings.
*Picnic lunch on a bench looking out at a courtyard.
*Javier's med school friend Nestavo.
*A confirmed love of Arab architecture.
*Traffic jams and moving 1 mile in 1 hour through the streets of Granada with Paloma and I controlling the music in the back seat with the ipod hooked up to speakers. Javier singing the California song as he sat in the driver's seat.

Malaga
*Asking for ticket info. in Spanish.
*The sandwiches that Javier's mom made for the bus ride and delicious oranges from Javier's tree.
*Stuffing our backpacks in lockers at the Malaga bus station and darting through the streets to check out the sales at the mall that happened to be open on a Sunday!
*Arriving at the airport in Malaga unsure if it was where Ryanair departed from. Realizing it was the right place and then being too early and then nearly last in line.

Italy - Treviso, Venice, and Rome
Treviso
*Via Lingua Corinth reunion with David.
*Realizing I'm not a fan of Italian espresso at the cafe in the supermarket in Treviso.
*David's posh, modern apartment.
*Dealing with my dislike of cats.
*Eating two main dishes at a restaurant in Treviso.
*The lit up streets of Treviso.
*Saying Grazie.

Venice
*Trying not to take the same photos I took last time I was in Venice.
*Seeing a cat on a leash.
*Visiting the Jewish section and buying a present for my grandfather for the first time - a glass figure of a Jewish old man.
*PIZZA
*Realizing I can only handle so much of certain people/things.

Rome
*UCLA journalism reunion with Silvia!
*The gross hostel across from the train station that we didn't want to spend any time at.
*Wandering the streets on a Friday night looking for a busy place to eat and ending up at an empty restaurant eating pizza.
*Waking up early to beat the line at the Vatican Museum. Paying only 8 euro.
*Getting nauseous while looking up at the Sistine Chapel.
*Speed walking the streets of Rome to see everything in a day. Taking photos of streets and piazzas, the Castel Sant' Angelo, the Trevi fountain, the Colloseum, the Pantheon, and the bridge.
*Silvia's friend Leon, the English teacher/baker.
*Trestevere at night - aperitivos! We bought drinks and got FREE appetizers!
*A CUTE bar/restaurant with couches and chandeliers.
*Wearing everything I brought and still being cold.
*Listening to vendors trying to figure out which language to speak to me. Italian? Spanish? French? English?

*Watching "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" on the plane ride from Frankfurt back to the states, and CRYING!

*HUGE thanks to Paloma, Lindsay, Franka, Javier and his parents, David, and Silvia for opening your lives to me on this trip! Thanks for the fun times, the food and the bed! You are more than welcome to come and visit me.Wherever I am!

I am addicted to traveling. I love adventures and I love wandering the streets in foreign lands. I think I'll take a break from Europe for now. Hopefully my next trip will be to North Africa or Latin America. No clue when that'll be. I want to live abroad again but for now, I must finish my masters degree at SIT. Eventually I will live in another country again. Until then, I will focus on helping others experience other cultures in far away lands.