I suppose all good things must come to an end, and 9 days left of living in Europe certainly qualifies as "the end". We have been all over the continent (sometimes more than one continent) and have had some great food and some horrible food, some great weather and some crappy weather, some bizarre memories and loads of fun ones. A post is forthcoming about what I've learned about different cultures and myself while living here, so this one is dedicated to the fun stuff: where all we've been, which places I loved and which places I wasn't crazy about. And we're off!
First, a few basics.....
Countries Visited (excluding Spain) and in no particular order:
Portugal
Germany
Italy
France
The United Kingdom
The Netherlands
Belgium
Morocco
The Czech Republic
Romania
Sweden
Finland
Denmark
Estonia
Russia
Total including Spain: 16
Cities Visited in no particular order:
Utrera (hometown represent!)
Sevilla
Madrid
Barcelona
Ronda
Zahara de la Sierra
Alicante
Cabo de Gata (San Jose)
Almeria
Bunol
Valencia
Malaga
Cadiz
Bilbao
Pamplona
Granada
Cordoba
Italica
Punta Umbria
Gibraltar (okay, it's UK)
Nerja
Morón de la Frontera
Arahal
Benalmadena
*The cities above are all in Spain*
Lisbon, Portugal
Lagos, Portugal
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Lisse (Keukenhof Gardens), The Netherlands
Paris, France
Brugge (or Bruges), Belgium
Brussels, Belgium
Dusseldorf, Germany
Munich, Germany
Warnemunde, Germany
Koln, Germany
Kiel, Germany
Marrakech, Morocco
London, UK
Rome, Italy
Padua, Italy
Vicenza, Italy
Venice, Italy
Prague, The Czech Republic
Bucharest, Romania
Transylvania (Brasov), Romania
Copenhagen, Denmark
Stockholm, Sweden
St. Petersburg, Russia
Helsinki, Finland
Tallinn, Estonia
Total: 50 (13 were capital cities)
Favorite Travel Sites
1. Lonely Planet (for food recommendations): www.lonelyplanet.com
2. Skyscanner (for flights): www.skyscanner.com
3. Booking.com (for hotels): www.booking.com
4. Hostelbookers.com (for hostels or budget options): www.hostelbookers.com
5. Ryan Air (for cheap flights): www.ryanair.com
6. Trip Advisor (for up to date restaurant websites): www.tripadvisor.com
7. Renfe (for train travel in Spain): www.renfe.com
Now begins the fun part!
Top 10 Favorite Cities
2. Sevilla, Spain
6. Rome, Italy
7. Padua, Italy
9. Cabo de Gata (San Jose), Spain
10. Paris, France
Top 10 Favorite Spanish Cities
1. Sevilla
3. Ronda
4. Madrid
5. Cabo de Gata (San Jose)
6. Granada
7. Cordoba
8. Barcelona
9. Bilbao
10. Cadiz
Top 10 Cities for Food
1. Rome (duh), Italy
2. Munich, Germany
5. Sevilla, Spain
9. Madrid, Spain
And now for my NOT so favorite lists...
Top 10 Least Favorite Cities (I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for some of these)
1. Almeria, Spain (nothing to do in the city itself)
2. Kiel, Germany (see above)
3. Malaga, Spain (food stinks)
4. Venice, Italy (expensive and confusing)
5. Helsinki, Finland (not a whole lot to do)
6. Bucharest, Romania (kinda sketchy)
7. Tallinn, Estonia (pretty but nothing really to do)
8. Pamplona, Spain (let's not even go there)
9. Mararkech, Morocco (had a blast but it was dirty, and I had horrible stomach cramps for 2 weeks)
10. Nerja, Spain (beautiful but I was sick the whole weekend)
Top 5 Least Favorite Cities for Food (at least what I'd ordered)
1. Malaga, Spain
2. Nerja, Spain
3. Venice, Italy
4. Cordoba, Spain
5. St. Petersburg, Russia
I think it's a good thing that I could only come up with 5 cities whose food I wasn't crazy about!
And now for some random lists!
Festivals and Cultural Events We've Attended/Participated in
Oktoberfest 1.............. and 2
Sevilla's Semana Santa Processions x2
The Festival of the Nations in Sevilla
Attending a Barcelona futbol game in Sevilla
Learning to dance Sevillana
Picking out a flamenco dress
Attending a regular bullfight and a horseback one.... and then getting into the ring on my own
We have had an amazing and certainly memorable run the past two years. We've eaten delicious food, tasted a variety of beers (and liquors. Ugh absinthe), seen beautiful works of art and architecture, walked through ancient cities, taken thousands of photographs, collected dozens of souvenirs, and spent more euros than we're willing to count. While the traveling has been fantastic, my favorite memories of Europe are the ones we spent with the friends who became family: the nights dancing until 6 am in Utrera and Sevilla, the Build a Boat competition with Abs of Steel, MD, the "Where are you from??" potluck, the game nights in the Club and Community Center, the beer bongs and babies in diapers at the Tacky Party, the Game of Thrones wine nights, the burgers at Mel's in Sevilla, the endless chats over Facebook, and the nights laughing so hard there was no sound coming out. I think it's safe to say that I have met some extraordinary people who have made me look at the world with more generosity and curiosity. For those of you looking for me to name drop you, I guess you'll just have to wait until the next post.........
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