I have just completed my first month living in Europe. I spent half the time living in Barcelona. I went exploring, relaxing, and met up with relatives and friends. I had been to Barcelona before but there is so much to do here that I still had a lot on my to visit. So far, the highlights have been going through Gaudi’s work at Casa Mila and of course seeing La Sagrada Familia from all parts of the city. I have enjoyed walking everywhere and access to public transportation. I walk at least 10 miles every day. The people have been friendly and sangria tasty. It’s been hot, so I did go to the beach here. The water was clear and refreshing. However, it doesn’t compare to the Florida beaches 😉
The second part of the month I spent traveling to Eastern Europe with one of my best friends from home. We started in Budapest which I instantly loved. There is so much to do there, plenty of history, and the people are so nice. My favorite part was going to the Fisherman’s Bastion with beautiful views of the city. I also loved the Szechenyi Thermal Baths. They have over 20 different public baths and pools of all different temperatures.
We then took the train to Vienna. I really enjoyed the train experience. It was smooth, quick, and cheap. From all of the Eastern European countries we visited, Vienna probably had the best food. I liked the Wiener Schnitzel, which is breaded veal with a layer of cranberry sauce on top. Even the apple strudel was delicious, and I am normally not a fan of apple desserts. My favorite part was going to the Belvedere Museum to see the Klimt paintings and of course there was a surprise painting of Napoleon 😉
Next, we went to Prague. We heard a lot of good things about Prague. I now understand why. It’s a beautiful medieval town. There isn’t much to do there but is a nice place to walk around. Afterwards, we went to Krakow, Poland. The people there are a bit colder than the previous countries. I can’t blame them considering all they have gone through between World War II and being invaded by the Soviet Union soon after.
We did a day trip to Auschwitz which was definitely eye opening. It was really sad and I felt weird being there. It was interesting to see the size of the camps – way bigger than I could have imagined. They still have tons of the prisoners hair there. Apparently, the Nazi’s kept it to sell to textile companies to make clothes. I didn’t take a picture because it’s gross. They still had thousands of people’s shoes, glasses, and suitcases.
The Nazi’s decided to put the main concentration camp in Poland, because at that time they had the most amount of Jewish people (3 million). Nowadays, there is only 7,000 Jewish people in Poland which is mind boggling. Keep in mind, it wasn’t only Jewish people that were sent to these camps. Many erudites, politicians, and sympathetic Catholics were also sent to these camps.
I ended my travels in Lisbon, Portugal, meeting up with high school friends that live in Europe. I was very curious about Portugal since they have a lot of American expats. Now I know why many Americans choose to move there. The weather is great – low 70’s/high 60’s. It reminds me of California (meanwhile the rest of Europe has been really hot). It is very diverse – more so than most of Europe. We saw plenty of black people, Hispanics, Asians, etc. It is cheap for a western European country. For instance, a 15-minute taxi was only $5. Lisbon reminded me of San Francisco, with its abundance of hills, being on the coast, and trolley system. I hope to someday return to explore the coastal cities of Portugal.
Now I am back in Barcelona to take a 2-week hiatus before my next travel adventures. Traveling can be exhausting so I am glad to take a break before my next visitors arrive. I’ll be sure to catch up on sleep and some alone time.
My first week being here, I oddly missed work. Now that I have been here for almost 6 weeks, I no longer miss work. I think the longer you are away from it, the harder it is to go back to it.
