Fall Break: Delightful Dublin & Mediocre Milan

Although I was sad to leave behind the familiar comfort of my family in Madrid, I hopped on a plane to Dublin to meet up with my friends. All 6 of them had already traveled to London and Paris during the first half of the break and were waiting for me to join them in Ireland. After my short, very bumpy flight, I went to my amazing hostel (across from the Four Courts government building) and saw my friends. We all went to the famous Temple Bar and had an amazing time.

The next day, all seven of us woke up early and took a tour of Dublin's country-side. Along the journey we got to see landmarks that appeared in a couple of famous movies. Although Braveheart was suppose to take place in Scotland, it was filmed in the beautiful green hills of Ireland. We also got to see a bridge that was in the movie P.S. I Love You. It was an amazing tour but, unfortunately, it was pouring down rain there. When we arrived at the P.S. I Love You bridge all the girls wanted to take a photo in front of it. But, like i mentioned before, it was raining buckets outside and no one else on our tour was brave enough to venture outside the warm bus. But all the girls from my group wanted this photo desperately and we hopped out of the car. Somehow we convinced Ricky to come out and snap a shot of us. The photo turned out so hilarious. None of our eyes were open, the smiles on our faces were very strained, and one of my friends umbrellas was turned inside out. It was worth going out in the rain just for that photo.

When everyone cleaned up from our adventures in the Irish countryside, our whole group went to a really good restaurant called "The Church". "The Church" was previously a church that is now converted into a restaurant, bar, and club. Ironic, right? The night before we met two really nice Australian guys, who happen to bestudying abroad in London, and they joined us for dinner at "The Church" as well! The food was delicious and the people were wonderful. It was a perfect night that i will always remember.

The next day everyone just wandered around the city for a few hours and then had to catch a flight to Milan. The airport we flew into wasn't exactly in the city of Milan. We first had to catch an hour bus ride to get to the city. When we finally got to the city center, we had to find our hostel. Our hostel advertised itself as close to center but it in fact wasn't. After taking three different metro stops, getting lost in the outskirts of the town, and then walking up five floors of stairs, we finally got to our run-down hostel. The elevator was covered in dust and reminded me of the ride from Disneyland called Tower of Terror. I found it hilarious and i am glad i only had to spend one night there. The next day we woke up and then explored the city. Originally, we were going to travel to Milan to see the Last Supper by Da Vinci. Unfortunately, there was a two week waiting list to get tickets! It also happened to be pouring rain there as well. Jodie and I ended up just sitting at a local cafe in the Duomo's square. We enjoyed a warm cup of coffee and had a great long talk. The two of us sat outside, under a heater (of course), for over three hours. After our bad luck with the Last Supper, this event made my day.

When I finally arrived back in Florence, I truly felt like i was at home. After sleeping in many different places and beds, it was nice to get back to something comforting and familiar: lovely Florence.

Fall Break: Beautiful Barcelona & Marvelous Madrid

After many weeks spent in Firenze, my school granted us students 10 days off to travel. Unfortunately, we had to take midterms before. But after several days of intense cramming sessions, and of course a little bit of fun as well, I made it to my fall break! During my vacation, I traveled to Barcelona, Madrid, Dublin, and Milan. It was one big amazing and fun-filled trip that I will always remember.

I was very lucky to be accompanied on my trip with my family. It was so nice to have a little piece of home come to me.  It was very refreshing to be surrounded by the people you love the most and it was also very enjoyable to share experiences with them in Spain. 

After meeting up with my parents and my sister, we all explored the amazing Catalonian city, Barcelona! We meandered down the busy, bustling street of Las Ramblas. There was everything from flowers, pet birds, to “street performers” (I like to call them people who dress up in creepy or rather funny costumes who ask for money). After admiring all the attractions of Las Ramblas, all four of us ventured into the crowded and vast outdoor food market, La Boqueria.  La Boqueria has over 300 stalls selling various types of spices, fruits, vegetables, candies, and meats. All the colors of each of items on display were so distracting to me that I could barely absorb it all. If I wasn’t being herded by the massive throngs of people, or by my sister, I am sure I could observe the market all day.

While my family and I were in Barcelona, we went to many museums and ate amazing food. I particularly enjoyed the Picasso Museum. The Museu Picasso had 2,500 pieces of his work from every stage of his life; from the early age of 9 till his death. I was amazed at how Picasso at such a young age could create masterpieces. I was blown away at his pure talent and thoroughly impressed. I especially find it interesting that he was rigidly trained in painting and drawing as a kid but as time went on he expressed himself in such a relaxed and simplistic way. Some would say Picasso’s techniques and art regressed as he aged but I believe he wanted to grow beyond normal societal constrictions of what art should look like. Picasso pushed the boundaries art and I admire him for that. 

Another museum we went to was Funacio Joan Miro. This modern, funky exhibit held many of Miro’s bizarre and fascinating sculptures, rugs, and paintings. I found it interesting that Miro found freedom through simplicity and minimalism. His unique style of expressionism and surrealism was very different and intriguing to me. Although Miro’s artwork is not my favorite, it was nice to understand more about his perspective on life and his inspiration behind his odd art style.

My absolute favorite artist that I encountered during my break was Antoni Gaudi. I loved how his work was integrated all throughout Barcelona. You could glimpse his work in the architecture of apartment buildings (La Pedrera), parks (Parc Guell), and cathedrals (La Sagrada Familia). His talent and technique of blending color together was amazing. Gaudi’s multicolored mosaics and La Sagrada Familia was remarkable.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed the art of Barcelona, the food was something I have never experienced before and it was very tasty. I had never properly tried Spanish cuisine and now I love it. The one dish that made the biggest impression on me was a dessert called “crema Catalan”. It was a nugget ice cream surrounded in a thick sauce of chocolate topped with a special catalanian cream. It was amazing, even thinking about it now is making my mouth water.

After Barcelona, my family and I hopped on a plane to Madrid. One of the first things we did was visit the Prado Museum, which holds art by some of Europe’s most famous artists: Velazquez, Goya, and Raphael. While in Madrid, all of us also visited Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia was a more modern and housed Picasso’s famous Guernica. The huge painting by Picasso was a lot bigger than I expected and its subject was very melancholy.  

My favorite site in Madrid was the Real Jardin Botanico, or in other words, the Royal Botanical Garden. Apparently, this massive garden contains over 10,000 different plants from all over the world. I loved the diverse mixture of exotic, tropical, and native trees, flowers, and bushes. I was especially obsessed with the flowers and enjoyed taking many photos of them.

A highlight of Madrid for me was their churros con chocolate. This little afternoon treat, or dessert, consists of hot chocolate that is companied with fried strips of dough. I have noticed that hot chocolate in Europe is quite different than hot chocolate in the U.S. Unlike home, this warm drink is basically made of chocolate that is melted down into its liquid form with barely, if any, milk. When the hot churro is paired with the bitter sweet chocolate it is amazing and very rich.

Spending time with my family for the first half of my break was so wonderful and nice. Traveling with them was such a good way to start it all off and I am so glad I finally got to be with them again.