Tag: sightseeing

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a day in LDN

My mom and I finished our trip with a day in London. Since our flights home were out of London we decided to put a day in between flights (we flew from Barcelona back to London, with a day before our flight home). Yes, a little unorthodox, but I’m so glad we did.

The day started with a walk along the south bank (my fav thing to do in LDN) to borough market for some yummy treats. We sampled the most amazing scotch eggs, sweet potatoes fries, smoothies, brownies and cookies the size of our faces (yes, again).

From there we headed, via the tube, to Regent’s park. There are so many parks in the city and I had yet to visit Regent’s. I think what sets Regent’s park apart is the beautiful rose garden.

Never in my life have a seen roses so big and so perfect. And in so many colors! It was amazing to walk around and see all the different types, each as beautiful as the next.

After stopping to smell the roses, literally, we headed towards Notting Hill area. I’ve yet to see it and I’m obsessed with the movie. But, we never made it because we decided to make a stop at Kensington palace instead.

Boy did we have a field day…we decided to view the exhibits because the palace has a lot of outfits wore by the queen, her sister and princess Diana on display. But also got to visit the quarters of the various monarchs that resided there…that’s where the fun started…

To be honest the whole time my mom and I were like 2 snickering school girls making immature jokes throughout. We couldn’t stop laughing and now we swear the monarchs spirits are haunting us.

Anyways, after we had our fun we headed towards Knightsbridge to do some shopping. We finished our day with dinner at Harrods overlooking the Egyptian escalator. It was pretty cool.

A bittersweet moment to know that the next day we’d be heading home and leaving a place I’ve come to love so much. But I know it won’t be long before I’m in London again!

^our yummy scotch eggs & sweet potatoe fries



cheers.

~meesh


^one of the things that had my mom and I laughing about at Kensington palace 🙂

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costa brava 

We spent our last day in Spain in the Costa Brava region which is just north of Barcelona along the coast.

The first town we visited, Lloret de Mar, is your quintessential European tourist coast town. Hotels line the beach and there are people in swimsuits everywhere. My mom and I enjoyed our time there just sitting on the beach looking out at the water. The views were spectacular. 

From there we boarded a ferry that would take us to the next town Tossa de Mar. Wow, can I just say wow. The views of the coast from the ferry were breathtaking. I was mesmerized just watching the water hitting the rocks. I loved taking it all in.

Once we got to Tossa we did a short waking tour of the old part of the town, the tour took you to the highest point in town and the views all along the way were incredible. It was all just so calm, peaceful and beautiful. After the tour we enjoyed lunch with a view of the water. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon with exploring town, indulging in gelato and taking in all the views, aka me snapping about a million photos.

Even the views on the bus ride back to Barcelona was a site to see. It offered a different view of the coast, small winding streets and houses in the hills. 

Costa Brava was by far the best place we visited while abroad. If you’re visiting Barcelona take a day to go north and visit, it won’t disappoint.



cheers.

~meesh 

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sagrada familia

Before I get in too deep with this post I’m giving a little history lesson about the Sagrada Familia for those you don’t know what it is…

Antoni Guadi is Barcelona’s most famous architect of the modernism era. He is the mind behind Park Guell, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila and the Sagrada Familia. And the Sagrada Familia was not only his dream but the city of Barcelona’s dream . It’s a modernism basilica featuring ornate details and once finished will have 18 towers. The key thing to note is that although construction started in 1882, construction is still not finished. Funds for construction are raised through donations and it’s forecasted to be complete in 2026.

Although not entirely finished you can still visit the inside which is complete. So after or morning tour my mom and I headed to over becasue our tickets were for that afternoon. Even just looking at the outside is a site to see, ever detail is meticulously thought out and all together it’s just breath taking…

I guess I didn’t know what to expect from the inside becasue I’d only ever seen pictures of the outside. And when I walked inside I think my jaw might have hit the ground. I’ve been a lot of European churches and basilicas and I have never seen anything like it. It wasn’t stuffy and dark like I’d expected, it was bright, colorful and airy. It had a completely different vibe and I loved it.

This inside has a more simple feel as compared to the outside but again the attention to detail is incredible. And, I’ve never seen stained glass create such color and light within a space.

While there my mom and I also had the opportunity to go up one of the towers. We chose the towers on the Nativity side. So basically a lift takes you up to the viewing area and bridge that connects the to towers, which was really cool and we got some great views of the city but then it was kind of creepy because you have to take the stairs down and it’s pretty dark/cramped. After we got down my mom and I needed a little breather because it was pretty intense. I mean don’t get me wrong it was a really cool experience but just wish we knew what we were getting ourselves into beforehand, haha.

Moral of the story is if you are in Barcelona you must go visit the Sagrada Familia.



cheers.

~meesh

p.s. Also not super happy with the pictures here becasue it really doesn’t do it justice…might do a post with more pictures soon

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barcelona three

Day 3 started out with a morning bus tour of the city. The difference between this tour and the hop on hop off was that we got a live tour guide and we got to do some fun activities…

What we also didn’t know about the tour was that it included a ride on the Teleferic of Montjuic (so we got to go again) and a visit to the Spanish Village, which I’ll get to in a bit.
The tour started on the busy Barcelona streets, weaving in and out of different neighborhoods. Our first stop was at the Olympic Village where my mom and I had our first chance to go down to the beach and dip our toes in the water. We also got to see a lot of older folks enjoying the beach.

From there we headed up to Montjuic where we got a history lesson about the Montjuic castle that we had visited our first day and then got a chance to ride the Teleferic again and enjoy the views.

Then we headed to one of our favorite spots in Barcelona, the Spanish Village. The Spanish Village is basically all of Spain just condensed down into a “mini village.” The buildings inside feature architecture from each of the regions in Spain and house shops that feature the food and wine of Spain along with handmade items like fans and blown glass.

It was like this little hidden gem that we didn’t even know existed before the tour and my mom and I picked up some really cool handmade items like fans (which are super popular there). I think if we had time we would have spent the whole day there just going in and out of the little shops.

Our tour then finished with a walking portion through the gothic quarter of the city. We’d been there before but it was nice to get some context and learn about the area’s history. Plus I’m a big fan of walking tours because I think the best way to see a city is on foot.

Once our tour finished we headed back to the Sagrada Familia….which I will go into detail in the next post.


^^tbt to when my shoes where this white

cheers.

~meesh

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barcelona two

The next morning we headed out to conquer Park Güell…the thing is, no one tells you that you have to get your tickets in advance and that you then have a specific entrance time…same goes for the Sagrada Familia. Also, no one told us that you can purchase tickets online ahead of time…Sooooo after we walked all the way to Park Güell and bought our tickets to go inside that afternoon. We then somehow walked from there all the way to the Sagrada Familia only to find out that couldn’t get tickets for the next day in line, you have to get them online…

At that point I was exhausted from walking and so pissed off that we couldn’t just go and see things as we pleased. It took a lot of the fun out of traveling and just became a pain in the ass because we wasted a half a day just figuring out how to “sightsee” in Barcelona.

After that debacle we got on our hop-on hop-off and got to relax and see a lot more of the city, that we hadn’t the day before. Woah, is Barcelona huge…the guide on the bus was listing all of the things you could do in different areas of the city and it was like you could easily spend a week there and still not see/do everything.

At that point we were starving so we picked up baguette sandwiches on our way back to Park Güell …I only mention the sandwiches because 1. they were incredibly delicious (pic to come) and 2. it reminded my mom of when she traveled Europe back in the 80s with my dad. …And so we proceeded to spend 20 minutes trying to recreate a photo in which my dad was eating a sandwich, only instead it was of me eating a sandwich. No, the photo did not turn out…

Okay, so we finally got into Park Güell and….don’t get me wrong it was really really cool/unique but it just wasn’t what I expected. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that my only reference point to Park Güell was how it was portrayed in the Cheetah Girls movie…but still. It was just a lot smaller than the vast openness I had expected.

After that we enjoyed the hop-on hop-off bus some more before doing some shopping around the gothic quarter, getting dinner and calling it a night.

cheers.

~meesh 

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barcelona one

For anyone that followed along during my study abroad travels then you’ll know that my favorite way to travel through Europe is by train. It only seemed fitting that as we traveled from Madrid to Barcelona that we did so by train.

We arrived in Barcelona in the early afternoon and both my mom and I were eager to get to the water, after all Barcelona is a port city. So we dropped our bags at the hotel and headed out to find the water. Our hotel was near Las Ramblas, the major street that takes you to the port so that’s where we started. We stopped for some lunch and sangria and then soon found ourselves at the water’s edge. 

What better to do at that point then get on the water? So we boarded a ferry that takes you around the port and the nearby beaches. The views were stunning all around, though a bit windy it was worth every penny. And, we even got a little show as we passed by one of the many cruise ships and got mooned by one of the vacationers.

After our boat ride we (and by we I mean me) decided to head up towards Montjuic which at the top you’ll find Montjuic castle and gardens along with the Olympic stadium and a bunch of other things. Man did I put my mom through the ringer on the hike up there…I don’t think either of us where prepared for the climb, but luckily we took the Teleferic de Montjuic (aka cable car) the rest of the way up which offered incredibled views of the city and sea. 

Once at the top we explored the castle until it closed and then headed down towards the Font de Montjuic to see the water/light show. On our way down we stopped at the Olympic stadium and got to see some of the plaza and arenas where the 1992 summer games where held.

Finally we arrived at the Font de Montjuic eager to see the magic fountain show, we grabbed some ice cream and settled in to await the show, which doesn’t begin until it gets dark….so here we are waiting and waiting and it’s getting darker and darker out but no show…we waited some more before we finally called it quits and headed in for the night.

Once I got wifi back at the hotel we were able to find out the show only takes place Thurs-Sat, of course we were there from Sun-Wed and of course would not be able to see the show. I guess that’s just a reason to go back someday…

  

cheers.

~meesh 


 

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madrid day one

Before this trip I had never been to Spain before. So the only pretext I had was what I had learned about Spain in my Spanish classes all throughout school. And my main takeaway from class was siestas and sangria. Shout-out to Professora Thoms, hope you are well and drinking some sangria rn.

Anyways I didn’t really have many expectations for Spain like I did for Paris or for Rome (still mad about the trevi fountain incident). And when we arrived in Madrid I was blow away. First off I had no idea that Madrid is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, cue people everywhere. Secondly the style of buildings and overall architecture is so unique in comparison to other European cities.

After arriving, we headed out to explore the city, and at the top of my list of things to do in Madrid was to row boats in the park and get some chocolate and churros. First stop the park….the Parque del Retiro is a mix between all your favorite parks, it has classic French symmetry, but also lots of trees, a palace and a conservatory and a pond for rowing boats, as mentioned before.

If you couldn’t tell already I was very excited about the boats. I feel like everyone I know that has been to Madrid has rowed boats in the park and I was so excited. It was literally the first thing we did when we got there because I couldn’t wait. I will say I got a little nervous because I don’t have any prior boat rowing experience and there were fish in the pond and I’m deathly afraid. There was a brief moment in which I almost said no to rowing boats but tg I didn’t. I wasn’t a very good rower but I certainly would not call myself the worst…but my mom might lol.

To be completely honest this was the highlight of the trip. I loved every minute of and it did not disappoint.

We laid low the rest of the day enjoying the double decker hop-on hop-off bus and the sun.

But, our day wasn’t complete until we had our first taste of sangria. And after just one sip we were hooked, we enjoyed our sangria and paella in the Plaza Mayor. And I think we’d both agree that our first day in Spain was a success.

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cheers.

~meesh

p.s. separate food posts & flickr albums are to follow 🙂

 

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a look back

A complete list of all the places I was able to visit during my study abroad:

Austria:

Mondsee, Salzburg & Vienna

Belgium:

Brussels

Czech Republic:

Prague

England:

Bath, Harrogate, Ilkley, Leeds, London (4x), Liverpool, Scarborough, Sheffield, Stonehenge, Stratford-upon-Avon & York (2x)

France:

Paris (2x)

Germany:

Berlin

Greece:

Aegina, Athens, Hydra & Poros

Hungary:

Budapest

Italy:

Cinque Terre (Vernazza & Monterosso) Florence, Milan, Pisa, Rome & Venice

Ireland:

Dublin & Galway (Cliffs of Moher)

Luxembourg:

Luxembourg City

Netherlands:

Amsterdam

Poland:

Auschwitz, Birkenau & Krakow

Scotland:

Edinburgh

Switzerland:

Zurich

Vatican City

Wales:

Conwy

I wasn’t able to make it to Spain or Portugal so I’m looking forward to making that my next trip across the Atlantic. And later this week I’m going to be doing a reflection post on the whole ‘study abroad’ experience so it should get pretty deep, lol.

Cheers.

~meesh

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one for the books

It’s been exactly one month since I left for my eurotrip around Europe. And, don’t worry I’ve been writing everyday so that I can share my experiences and some funny stories that happened along the way. But, before I do that I wanted to take some time to reflect on what it was like living out of one bag for a month and always having to go go go.

I’m not quite sure how long the longest vacation I’ve taken was, but I know for sure I never been gone from my home, in this case Leeds, for an entire month. There was much anticipation for this trip as to what it would be like, what we would do, what we would wear, where we’d stay, how we’d get there and if there would be any issues along the way. I’m glad to report that we had no major problems or issues along the way. No missed trains, no stolen passports, and relatively few major injuries aside from an allergy to Italy, a lost toe nail, a smokers cough and a muscle spasm that lead to a fall.

Of course there were many things I learned along the way. Living out of one bag you start to care less about your appearance or the slight smell that just sort of stays with you. You begin to wear a slight variation of the same outfit everyday because you realized you weren’t realistic in your packing and you develop a makeup routine that takes less than 5 mins to put on even though you brought your entire makeup bag. There were also a few things that had to get left behind in the end including my beloved combat boots, my hot chocolate stained scarf, a pair of leggings and 3 tank tops because having enough space in my bag was a luxury I could not afford

Let me tell you, traveling for a month straight is hard…it’s no Sunday morning stroll in the park. And, yes there were many times when I wanted to just get on a plane and fly back to Leeds because I was so exhausted. But, I know I’m strong and I just had to keep telling myself (and my mom had to keep telling me) that not only did I/do I have the strength to see it through but also that it’s a trip of a lifetime. And, it really was.

It was a month full of adventures, surprises and the excitement that came from going one place to the next. Yes, there were times when I felt weak and discouraged…. but together, the four of us, we carried each other through….whether it be from laughing uncontrollably for minutes over nothing in particular or having a dance party in our train car, it was these moments of relief that kept us, or at least me, going.

I can’t wait to begin to share my experiences from each place with you all & check in later to see a list of all the places I visited on my month long eurotrip. x

Cheers.

~meesh

And bonus, I finally figured out the whole flickr situation so my Ireland photos are finally up see them here and here.

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