Venice!

Ciao Bella!

My 4th destination on my spring break was Venice!  It was a very relaxing and beautiful 3 days.  Karissa, Erik, and I probably walked around the entire city in those 3 days but we also had a chance to visit another island nearby.

On our first full day we decided to go over to Lido and spend some time on the beach.  The water taxi took about 30mins since there was no bridge.  The water was very rough but very nice.  When we got to Lido we laid out in the sun for a while and enjoyed the warm but not too warm weather.  We probably hung out there for a few hours before we decided to grab a quick lunch and head back to Venice.  Thanks to the ride to Lido we actually circled all of Venice on the water taxi.  Venice was the smallest city we visited.  After showering and cleaning up we decided to just walk around the city some more.  We decided to eat out for dinner and we had some good pasta and delicious wine.  Of course for dessert we had to have some gelato.  We probably had gelato at least once a day if not twice.  

Our second day we headed to San Marco's square, where we visited the Basilica and walked around the canal some more.  We stumbled upon a random Vivaldi Museum with lots of old instruments and sheet music.  There were alot of Churches but nothing as grand as we are going to see in Rome.  Although it's hard to top Rome when it comes to churches.  We walked around more then we have in any other city.  Venice wasn't filled with a whole lot of attractions but it was a very beautiful city.

There are actually no cars in Venice.  But there were alot of boats...and bridges.  Venice has over 400 bridges!  I felt like I walked over half of them in my 3 days.  It is also a very crowded city in the big sections.  Lots of street vendors and there is not alot of room for walking.  We would be walking down a road and all of the sudden it would end into a wall.  Lets just say there was alot of back tracking lol.

On our final day, again, we just enjoyed the beautiful city for free lol.  Our flight was in the late afternoon but we had to take a bus out to the airport so we headed out around 3pm for our final destination on our trip....ROME!  

Venice was our vacation during our vacation.  Not as fast pace as the rest of our cities but still beautiful and fun.  I definitely had a wonderful time in Venice!

Barcelona, Spain

Greetings from Barcelona!

2nd city in Spain and 3rd for my spring break trip.  Barcelona was filled with some of the most unique and creative architectural works I've ever seen.  I was happy to explore the city and enjoy all these amazing wonders.  

Sadly, my time in Barcelona was not filled with good weather.  It rained off and on the 3 days I spent there.  I have been lucky to have wonderful weather so far on my trip and the rest of my travels I was just as fortunate. 

We arrived very late to the city so we woke up later then usual.  We decided to start the day by 

just walking around and seeing what was near our hostel.  We were lucky that one of Gaudi's 

famous buildings was right around the corner from where we were staying.  This house was my favorite of all in Barcelona, Casa Batilo.  I did not go inside the house however; far to expensive.  I still got some great photos of the exterior.  We walked to Barcelona's Arc de Triomf and the part across

 from it.  The park had a grand fountain but it was under construction at the time so it was mostly covered up.

After some time at the park we went to Port Vell and walked around some more.  Of course it was raining the most on our first day!  Ugh!  At the port they had two big museums and lots of boats.  The coolest thing we saw was a monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus with him pointing out to sea.  

We left the Port and decided to head to the famous Sagrada Familia.  This cathedral will be the

 pride and

 glory of Gaudi in Barcelona.  Gaudi designed this building in the very late 19th century and into the 20th century.  Due to many setbacks from money to fires Gaudi was not able to see his masterpiece complete.  It won't be finished until 2022 at the earliest.  Even still under construction the Sagrada Familia was the coolest piece of architecture I've ever seen in my entire life.  Every piece was so detailed and unique I spent a long time just staring up.  The high vaulted ceilings inside were breathtaking.  I have decided to make an attempt to go see the building after it is complete.  This was the only building we paid to 

get into.  I just couldn't pass up the opportunity.  

We decided to take a break during the day to go back to the hostel to dry off and change.  We headed back out after some time had passed and the rain had stopped.  Our last stop for the day was to be Gaudi's Parc Guell.  Only a small part of

 the park is filled with some of Gaudi's designs.  The rest was never completed.  I was just so awe struck by Gaudi's work.  It's just so different.  I can't think of any other way to describe it!  I wish I could put up all my photos.  

Day 2 was not as filled with exploring but we still had a full day.  It was not raining yet so we decided to head down to the Port again and to go to the Aquarium that day.  Apparently it is the largest aquarium in Europe.  As we walked down Barcelona's narrow alley ways we stopped by a cathedral in the center of the city.  It had a beautiful courtyard but is badly in need of repair.  My favorite part of wandering is when I stumble upon some of the cities most popular sites without even trying.  The aquarium was very impressive and lots of fun.  It was however filled with many children.  The trip was worth it just to see the coolest fish I've ever seen!  It's called a

 sunfish and looks completely flat.  Sailors thought it was the reflection of the moon in the water.  But that leaves me to wonder why they named it the Sunfish instead of the Moonfish.  Anyway, here is a great photo of it!  After the aquarium our last destination for the day was the Musica Catalona.  We tried to take a tour but they were closed and we even went on our last day but it was Easter Sunday and they were still closed. 

Our last day we had a midday flight so we didn't have a chance to really do anything that day.  We just walked around some more before heading on the subway to the airport.

I loved Barcelona and really want to go back one day!  The next point on my journey was Venice. 

I've been back for over two weeks now and I've been studying hard for my finals, exercising, and enjoying my final month with my friends here.  I have my first 2 finals on Wednesday!  Wish me all luck!

Love - Erica