Despedida (Valencia, Spain)

Despedida is probably the most feared word by the international students in Valencia.  Despedida signifies "Goodbye" Party.  As this is the story of my Despedida, this also signifies that it will be the last blog from my life in Europe.  Very unfortunate, and feared, but it was still a great evening!

As this was the night after our crazy fiesta of San Juan, people were all a little tired, but managed to pull themselves together and come out for one last night with me!  My dear Frenchies were so kind to throw me a little dinner/predrink at their place, preparing a huge table full of tapas and wine.  Many of my friends, the ones left in Valencia, came by to have a few drinks with us before heading to the nightclub.

Around 2AM we headed to Umbracle, one of my favourite nightclubs in Valencia - it is part of the City of Arts and Sciences, gorgeous view, all outdoors.  There we met up with some more of my friends, and partied one last time until came time to leave.  4AM, Amelie, Flo and I took a cab back to my apartment to go change and grab my things.  4:45 the cab got there to take me to the airport - the girls also joined me all the way there.  Once I got to the airport I saw that a few of my friends had managed to get their butts to the airport to say bye one last time.  After the craziness of the airport and saying bye to my beloved friends, I headed through security and came home.

Spain was unreal, a once in a lifetime experience that I would do again any day!  I had a blast there, travelling, meeting new people, and now having friends all over the world - friends that are dearly missed!

Hope everyone enjoyed the blogs, it was sure an amazing time to visit all those places!

San Juan (Valencia, Spain)

This is the time of the year that everybody awaits for months, the biggest fiesta in Valencia: San Juan!  (known as Saint Jean in Quebec).  I remember it being quite the party in Quebec, but in Valencia, it is insane!

At around 6PM, people start arriving on the beach: bathing suits, drinks, chairs, fires, picnics, and lots of friends to party with!  The various groups get installed all over the beach, build fires (wood is supplied by the city), and start drinking with their friends.  People spend the entire night there, partying with everybody.  I left with my friends at 6:30AM and the beach was still full with people.

I don't know how it usually is, but this year, there were 200,000 people partying all night!  It is by far the most insane party I've ever attended, and the French and Quebec crew I was with definitely made it a little bit more insane!  Everybody going swimming in the middle of the night, running around the beach trying to find all there friends, definitely a must if you are there during that time!

A great party to celebrate the almost end to my year in Valencia!

Palma Mallorca (Spain)

Unfortunately this point had to come: after a year of visiting Europe this is my last trip of the year :(

My good friend Amelie and I decided to fly out to Palma Mallorca, a Spanish Island in the Mediterranean, and go visit our friend Reyes.  This was actually a great opportunity for the two of us, as not only did we get to visit a new place, but we got the chance to live with locals, and see that side of the island.
As we flew in, Reyes came to pick us up at the airport, and we headed straight downtown to go see the city, and enjoy a couple drinks on a terrace.  Afterwards, we headed to his parents' house, where we were staying for the night.  We then headed out to dinner, and drinks on the water side, in a little quiet restaurant away from the commotions.

The next day we headed out to the beach bright and early with our picnic and some of Reyes' friends.  Of course, having the locals, we headed to secluded beaches away from the bulk of the tourists.  They have amazing beaches!  It is crazy how blue the water is!!  After a day in the sun, we headed to our hotel - dinner - and then hit up the biggest nightclub on the island!  It was insane, you had to take elevators to get to the bar, which overlooks the whole port, beach, and the Mediterranean.

Next day, as it was our last day and we had to fly out that night, we decided to hit up the more touristy beaches so we wouldn't be too far.  After a day in the sun, with crazy parties all around us, we headed back to the terraces for a couple drinks before heading back to the airport.

Palma Mallorca is absolutely incredible!!!  I would go back anytime if I had the chance!  It is also a great spot for bachelor/bachelorette parties ;)  Amelie and I had an amazing time - I'm gonna miss our crazy adventures around the island!

El Saler (Spain)

Again, another beach!  El Saler is a very small place just outside of Valencia - when you stand on the beach there you can actually see the Valencia port just beside.  It is really easy to get there, it is about an 20 minute city bus ride to the main road, and about a 5 minute walk.  The beach is really pretty and private, the water really blue, the only thing is that the sand is not really soft.

After spending the day on the beach with my favourite French girls, we headed to a little restaurant just up the beach and enjoyed a bottle of wine.  Again, great relaxing day with the ladies!!

Gandia (Spain)

Being not too busy after exams, some of my international friends and I decided to go visit beaches around Valencia.  Gandia is a small town on the Mediterranean coast, about an hour train ride away.  Its actually a pretty quiet spot.  The beach is similar to Valencia's but there's a lot less people - which makes it so much nicer.  The water is ridiculously blue, and the sand is really nice.  So we just spent the whole day relaxing on the beach - enjoying the weather.  After a day in the sun, we decided to go sit on a patio for a little while and enjoy some cold drinks.

If you take a train to Gandia, be careful as to which train you take.  There are 2 stations: the city and the beach!  If you go to the city station, you will have to cab to and from the beach.  It's not really expensive, but it could save you time to go directly to the beach station.

Rome (Italy)

After almost a month of travelling, last Eurotour stop: Rome!  The place was scorching hot!  Having just 3 days to visit the place, we started right away.  Rome is just ridiculously packed with old structures, and different things to see.  If you go to Rome, the must-sees include: the Pantheon, the Roman Forum & Colosseum (you can buy a ticket that will get you access to both, also plan on being there at least half a day - its huge!), the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, and of course, the Vatican.

Of course the main thing to see at the Vatican is the St. Peter's Basilica - it's a pretty nice basilica to go visit, and it'll require at least a couple hours.  Afterwards, you can visit the Vatican Museums - they are ridiculously huge, and I personally found them a little too long.  There are sections more interesting than others, so if you're stuck on time - you may want to pick what you want to see.

When going to Rome, you also want to be careful as to where you eat and go out.  There are a lot of people trying to scam tourists - make sure you go to offices to buy tickets, or known agencies, even if it means paying a little extra.  Eating at restaurants can become a little more expensive than other places - they often add extra charges for seating down, cutlery, ....  however if you leave the really touristy places, you can easily avoid these charges.

Like almost every other place we've visited during our Eurotrip, Rome was a lot of walking around - in the burning sun!  After a month of traveling, mom & dad headed home, and I left to go back to Spain.

Valencia (Spain)

After a couple weeks of travelling, uncle Laurier and aunt Jeanne left us to return to Canada.  That same morning, me, mom, and dad headed down to Valencia, my home.  Clearly for me this was nothing too new, but mom and dad got the chance to roast a little bit under the sun.

Our first day there, we visited downtown, and went to a bullfighting show - not the most impressive thing in the world, and I don't particularly recommend it to anyone.  The next few days, mom and dad visited a bit of my city on their own as I had classes.  They got the chance to see the usual: the beach, the Turia, the City of Arts and Sciences, the downtown,... and of course, our great Spanish restaurants!

It was a quick one, but I'm sure mom and dad enjoyed visiting my new city!!

Montserrat (Spain)

Another day trip: Montserrat.  Montserrat is a huge chain of mountains about an hour train ride away from Barcelona.  It is actually a pretty cool place as you need to take RailRack trains and cable cars to access the Sanctuary.  When you get in the mountain, there is a small village with a basilica, stores, restaurants, and hotels, but it is pretty small... similar to a small resort.  What is so amazing about Montserrat is that it is a gigantic mountain with trails all over it leading to a bunch of different lookouts, chapels, hermitage sites,... The trails are located over 4,000 feet in the air.  It is crazy high, and you can overlook other mountains and villages at the foot of the mountain.  From the sanctuary, you can go up or down to reach the trails... you can either walk it or take funiculars to get to the top and then take the trails to hike.  It is a heck of a hike, you better bring your hiking shoes, they will be needed!!  Most trails take an hour to three to walk there and back.

We spent the whole day going from one trail to the other - Mom and matante Jeanne definitely didn't follow the whole time!  Some of the trails are very steep, rocky, narrow - you have to be super careful, some of them don't have too much protection so you don't fall.   Great day in the outdoors, but definitely exhausting!!

Definitely one of the best spots we visited during the trip!  It was just really cool and different!

Barcelona (Spain)

Third stop in Spain... Barcelona!  Definitely a beautiful place - I actually enjoyed it more than Madrid.  There is so much life in that huge city it is crazy!  Beautiful riverfront, beaches, millions of monuments, museums, shows, and touristy entertainment.  If you go to Barcelona, definitely map out what you want to see, because there are so many things, you won't be able to see them all!  We took a day tour bus pass in order to hit the attractions that were a little further in the city... cut a lot of walking and saved us a lot of time!

The main places you want to see in Barcelona are definitely: The Port, The old Olympic sites, La Casa Mila, Poble Espanyol de Montjuic, MNAC, Mountain Montjuic, The Magic Fountain of Montjuic, Las Ramblas, Casa Batllo, Park Guell, the Cathedral, and of course la Sagrada Familia!  There is so much Gaudi architecture, it is incredible and you'll never see anything like it!  The Poble Espanyol is a very sharp place to visit - they recreated the various regions of Spain within a little village.  La Casa Mila and Casa Batllo are really cool looking, but it is very expensive and the lines are really long... we personally didn't go in as we were told it is not really worth the time and money (unless you are a huge fan of Gaudi).   Las Ramblas is just a street packed with people, terraces, and little shops... It's a pretty cool place to be, but be careful as it is packed with tourists.  And finally the Sagrada Familia.  This basilique is incredible!!! There are actually no way to describe what we saw there as there is just too much.  The architecture in the front is different than the back, the inside is the complete opposite to the outside, the details are ridiculous... This is the unfinished masterpiece you want to go see in Barcelona.

During our stay, we also went to see a Flamenco show.  Even though Flamenco is a Southern Spain tradition, they offer shows in the major touristy areas.  They are not as traditional as in the South of Spain, but they are still pretty good.  - Flamenco is not something for everyone, but I think its pretty sharp and everyone should see it at least once.

We had beautiful stay in Barcelona - the weather was great!  But like every other major city we visited, we did a little day trip outside of town.  Next stop: Montserrat!

El Escorial (Spain)

After visiting Madrid for a couple days, we decided to make a little trip outside the city and go visit El Escorial.  El Escorial is a monastery about an hour outside of Madrid, in a small town, at the foot of the mountains.  To get there, you must take the train and hike up to the monastery - it's quite a hike, going all uphill for about 15-20 minutes.  The monastery is huge!  It's a pretty standard monastery for the most part, but has many cool features too - they have a whole section dedicated to how they designed and constructed the place.  But the best feature is by far the crypt...  from the floor to the ceiling, marble and gold!  It is absolutely gorgeous!!  Unfortunately, no pictures allowed inside the building.

The Monastery is so big that it takes pretty much the whole day if you want to visit the entire place.  They have huge gardens, a school, and a church within the place.  It was definitely worth the day trip out of the city!  After visiting, we walked around the village - there's not a whole lot to see, but its a very small, quiet, cute village.

Madrid (Spain)

After France and England - Next Stop... my home, Spain.  Our first stop was Madrid - unfortunately, we didn't get the greatest weather there, lots of rain and cold.

This round in Madrid was actually my 3rd time there, so I was starting the know the sites pretty well.  Its a really easy place to visit... a lot of walking, but not a lot of distance.  Not a whole lot to actually visit either - just things to see and walk by.  There are a million monuments, plazas, and gardens to visit.  Madrid has this huge garden called Retiro Park - it could take you the whole day to visit it.  There are many little hidden buildings in the park that are pretty cool to see.  We also did a cable car ride over the city and into the mountains not too far.  Madrid, like every other places, involved many terraces for drinks and afternoon breaks!

Unfortunate that we didn't get better weather, but the city is still a nice place to visit and many things to see.

Brighton (England)

Sorry about the delay on the blogging, the last couple months in Spain were a little crazy with exams, school, and everybody leaving.

Due to the fact that the Royal Wedding was taking place during our stay in London, we decided that it would probably be a good idea if we left the city and visited something else - so we decided to visit Brighton.  Brighton is a small city in the South of England, on the waterside.

Brighton was really nice and quiet.  We spent the day walking the waterfront - the beaches there are rocky, not sandy.  They also have 2 huge piers, which both burnt a couple years ago - one being completely re-built, with a theme park on it.  At the time of the Royal Wedding, we went and sat in on of the pubs on the pier and watched it like the rest of the world.

Brighton is not a huge place to visit, but it was nice, cozy, relaxing, and very pretty.

Windsor (England)

If you go to London, a day-trip to Windsor is clearly a must.  It's a cute small town again.  There you can find the Windsor Castle, home of the Queen.  Its a pretty cool place to see, especially if you get a glance of the Queen.  Like Versailles, it's worth sticking around the village and checking it out.  Not that much to do, but it is very cozy compared to London.

London (England)

After a long train ride, we finally made it to London - where unfortunately, our hotels needed a little bit of upkeep.

The very next morning we headed out to tour the city.  The city is huge, and the metro is definitely the best way to get around (unless you're staying in the centre, where the prices are crazy).  If you plan on doing a lot of sightseeing and visiting places, the London Pass is a great idea!  Plus you can get it including the transportation.  Its a little pricy, but you make your money back really fast.  

We got to check out all the major sites again: Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, Buckingham... The city was just packed with people!  As we were there over the week of the Royal Wedding, the whole city was in the centre.... absolutely ridiculous!  One site you must check out is the St.Paul's Cathedral, where Lady Di was married.  It is probably the most beautiful church we've seen in Europe!

London was not the best weather, but it didn't rain!  It's a beautiful city, but just huge!  It has 6 times the population of Paris - so crowded!  Again, put your hiking boots on, because every tourist site there has stairs and once in the centre, it is much easier to walk everywhere or metro.  To reach the top of Saint Paul's, 530 stairs, the top of the Monument, over 311.

There are also a million plays/musicals happening in London.  If you go and walk around, you can find some for pretty cheap.  We had the opportunity to go to Wicked, which was great!

Versailles (France)

If you go to Paris, it's definitely worth it to make the trip to Versailles!  It's only a 45mins metro ride outside the city, to a small town where lies the Chateau de Versailles (or Marie Antoinette).

This property is nonsense!  It has a big chateau which was built by one of the kings and later became Marie Antoinette's property.  The gardens are HUGE - there are a million pathways, multiple sections, a hundred fountains!  Go there early, you can easily spend the whole day there! On top of that, there is a second smaller castle at the end of the property that Marie Antoinette had built as a home away from home.  Going there you quickly realize why the citizens didn't like her and killed her - it is just ridiculous the size of that place!  Put your good shoes on though, because there is tons of walking to do there!!

If you go check out the Chateau, take some time and walk a little bit in the village, it's really cute!

Just a little note to those interested - buy the tickets at the chateau!  There are plenty of places selling them, but their tickets don't give you full access to everything.

Paris (France) - Round 2

So just a little heads up to anyone following this blog: Get ready for a 12-city update! haha  I promise I'll try to keep them short!

Around mid April, I met my mom, dad, aunt Jeanne and uncle Laurier in Paris for the beginning of their Europe journey.  After getting them set in, we've started pretty quickly to visit Paris.  Again, amazing place!! Last time I didn't get the opportunity to do so many touristy things as I was there for work, but this time, trust me, I've walked Paris in long and wide.

We got to visit all the ususals: Le Louvre, Catacombes, Eiffel Tour, Arche de Triomphe, Basilique, ...  We even got to go to mass at the Notre Dame Cathedral for Easter - it was nonsense packed!  We also got to attend a Moulin Rouge representation.


We took the hop-on, hop-off bus, which gave us the opportunity to visit a lot of the city without as much walking - however, there's a ton of traffic in Paris, so the bus can be slowed down.  If you plan on being somewhere at a specific time - maybe the metro would be the best decision (it's actually pretty cheap).

People were really nice, and we had pretty great service - definitely a great place to visit!

PS- Dad took a million pics, I'm sure you'll get to see plenty this summer!

Sevilla (Andalucia - Spain)

Last Stop: Sevilla!

Very unfortunately, Sevilla didn't have as nice of weather as the other spots.  Even though it is usually beautiful and sunny, it rained until the late afternoon.  Like Granada, the streets in the centre are really narrow, one-way, and difficult to drive through.  A nightmare to park as well!  Unlike Granada, street signs are actually visible!

Braving the rain, we decided to go sightseeing: Cathedral, Gardens, Plaza de Torros, Plaza de Espana, and the centre.  Let me tell you that visiting gorgeous gardens in the rain is not the most pleasant thing.  Glad it eventually cleared up!

Sevilla is just beautiful as well!  As it was our last night on our trip, we decided to have a great last dinner, heading to a traditional Spanish wine bar where of course we had great meals, plenty of wine, and a great time!  Sadly we had to head back to our hostel at a decent hour as we had to get up at 4AM the next day to return to Valencia.

Andalucia was just stunningly beautiful!  The weather, the sightseeing, the landscape, and the friendly people were amazing.  The food in the South of Spain might just be better than the one in Valencia - great food and wine!  Of course this trip was great due to the good company!  The 3 girls and I made sure that we would have a good time, just being goofballs, and enjoying every aspect of it - even the getting lost a million times and the long hours of driving.  I would go back there anything, and with the same girls - but this time with a huge map or a GPS!

Malaga (Andalucia, Spain)

Second Stop: Malaga!

On Saturday morning, we drove down to Malaga - beach side in the South of Spain!  Unfortunately, the we didn't have a stunning day like Granada, but the weather was still nice.  Our hostel was set right by the beach, however due to the weather, we decided not to spend the day there.  Again, after going to set in our hostel, we head out in the city to sightsee.  Great, quiet city!  Again, put your hiking shoes on, the hills are all around the city and you have to hike if you want to sightsee!

It was a great relaxing day, not too many places to see, but the centre is just gorgeous!  It was great to just relax, walk around, have a couple drinks on patios.  The Malaga Film Festival was actually happening as well while we were there!  We got to walk on the red carpet, see famous Spanish actors driving by, and take pictures where the paparazzi do!

For dinner, we decided to go a little more American and eat at Cheers - pub named after the TV show.  Spend the whole night on their terrace with a few bottles of wine and burgers.  As it is located right beside the cathedral, the night view is great!

Nice weather and great relaxing day - we had a blast!  Again, we headed to bed as we had to leave early again the next morning.  Tomorrow: Sevilla!