MakeOver

Full-Circle

2009-08-04T10:27:00.002-04:00

21 days later, here I am. About to leave for the airport back to the other side of the Atlantic. The beginning of this journey seems like so far ago...so much happened!

-3 countries
-6 train rides
-7 cities
-7 hostels
-2 hotels
-about 100 metro trips
-a few bus trips
-friends made spanning 4 countries
-lots of walking
-and many horrible beds and sleepless nights
- cost: $_,___.00 (I dont even know)

...time of my life!

Everyone needs to travel more. I already know where I want to go next. Who's coming?

THE END

London Day 4

2009-08-04T10:26:00.003-04:00

All I have to say about today is that I spent as much time in the London zoo as I did in the Louvre.

It's amazing.

-V

London Day 3

2009-08-03T14:54:00.002-04:00

Apparently I must have saved a boat-full of drowning orfan children in my past life for having the blessing of sunshine two days IN A ROW!

Today was as beautiful of a day as the ones I had in Barcelona, almost. After walking picadilly and oxford circus, I had a very yummy lunch at this place called EAT. How perfect. London has, by far, the best quality fast food. They have these gourmet sandwhich shops that are amazing. Everything is affordable (for London standards) and delicious. I got a hummus-veggie sandwhich and a cup of pumpkin soup for about 9 pounds. That is about 16 USD...which is cheap around here).

Afterwards I went to an impressionist museum that over looked the Thames river. I cant remember what it was called right now but I will put the caption in the picture. Speaking of pictures...I must correct myself. Earlier I posted I had about 300 pictures. Well, I miscounted. I am close to 700....yeah. Anyways...I attempted to go to the London eye but...20 pounds!?!?! no sorry...thats like almost 40 USD, and I hate ferris wheels. I just went to take some pictures of Abbey road for my dad and now I am exhausted.

I gotta check out tomorrow at 10am and then I am going to the zoo!! This zoo, apparently, is really good. Which adds to the fact it is really close to the hostel which I am leaving my bags at since my flight only leaves at 9pm.

I am off to pack! I will have a wrap-up tomorrow.#

-V

London Day 2

2009-08-02T12:44:00.002-04:00

So it is actually sunny today. yay!

I started the day going to meet this free walking tour group but got lost and was late so...I did a walking tour by myself! I saw Hyde Park, Bukingham, Big Ben, adn tower bridge. I went up the bridge...it was cool. They gave you history of the bridge and stuff.

I am going to try to see the stonehenge tomorrow...if I feel like paying for it.

I am off to buy myself a birthday gift right now :)

-V

London Day 1

2009-08-01T09:00:00.003-04:00

Ive had one song stuck in my head since I got to London: Yellowcard-Grey.

What a change...I went from 98 degrees in Barcelona to about 65 here with grey skies. Anyways...I just got here so that is all I have to say for now. This hostel is amazing and I wish I could post a picture of it. Oh well, I am back wednesday so...call me up to see all the pictures (all 300 of them).

Speaking of phones, I am off to the Apple store to try to fix mine. Wish me luck. Will update again later.

-V

Paris

2009-07-31T10:31:00.002-04:00

So I arrived in Paris wednesday and my phone decided to break. that is why i have not updated since forever ago.

anyways...onto the cool stuff. Paris is beautiful. This place looks just like the movies...especially at night. The tower took my breath away...the Louvre is as huge as it is beautiful...the palace at Versailles is the most grandeous/luxurious thing I have ever seen....the croissants are delicious...everything is great.

Tomorrow I head to london...I will do my best to update.

-V

Barcelona day 7

2009-07-27T17:30:00.000-04:00

It seems I have been in this city forever. But now that I only have some hours left in it, I know I'll miss it. It's one of those bittersweet large cities experiences. I got to know this place pretty well and I know I could definitely live here.

Today I finally visited parc guell. It is a park designed by the famous Gaudí. It sits on the top of this mountain and overlooks the whole city. It's quite a place. It has random things built all over it's huge area (including the longest bench in the world). After that I did some shopping and enjoyed yet another day of not having anything to do. I have been enjoying that very much.

Next up: Paris

-- V

Madonna

2009-07-25T11:07:00.002-04:00

Since I can't post the videos I took yet, here is a professional one of my show. When she says "HELLO BARCELONA!!" I absolutely died. That is when it hit me what was happening...incredible show.

-V

Barcelona day 4 & 5

2009-07-25T10:52:00.002-04:00

So I have bad news...I will not be able to post any more pictures on here :(. Something I did on the phone made me go over the limit of the data plan so...yeah...its absurdly expensive. I will only update on the free computers in the hostels (like right now).

Yesterday (Friday) I just kinda lazied around the city a bit...just relaxed. The past 11 days have been quite tiring and since I am going to stay in Barcelona 2 more days then I had planned, I could afford to do that. Today I am doing laundry and I'm going to try to have a nice dinner, because I havent yet.

I have a tip for future europe backpackers: DO NOT buy those huge backpacks like everyone else does. They are extremely inconvenient, unless you buy one that opens sideways and not just at the top. If you have one that just opens at the top (like me), you will find yourself digging for things and having to unpack and repack too many times. It also gets heavy. Especially since I visited wineries and I am carrying around 3 bottles of wine and some bottles of olive oil. It was annoying me so much that I went today and bought a regular bag....yeah.

That is it for now...tomorrow I will swtich hostels and hopefully it will be a bit better than this one because it is kinda shitty.

peace

-V

Madremanya

2009-07-24T05:07:00.001-04:00

Greetings from paradise. I have been in utopia since Wednesday and I am very sad I'm leaving. It was so much utopia that my phone barely worked.

After some cooking lessons, wine tastings, olive oil mill visits, eating snails and sea urchin, I have learned so much...it has been incredible. I can't wait to experiment on my own with all these techniques.

Now...back to Barcelona.

-- V

Bacelona Day 3

2009-07-22T03:27:00.000-04:00

Well as you may know...day 3 is summed up by Madonna. After waiting for 11 hours in line, I realized that is REALLY what it takes to be front row. I have videos which I'll upload when I am back so my phone bill won't be rediculous.

I am on my way to Madremanya, a small village where I'll be having my culinary classes/tours. Can't wait.

-- V

Front row

2009-07-21T13:30:00.001-04:00

Not a great pic but...you get the idea!

-V

-- Post From My iPhone

Madonna line...

2009-07-21T05:04:00.000-04:00

11 hours to go...

-- Post From My iPhone

Barcelona Day 2-juicy

2009-07-20T15:35:00.000-04:00

I slept great last night, thank you very much. It was nice to organize my life again since in the hostels I hadn't really been able to keep track of clean and dirty things. Anyways...I had a great breakfast at the hotel this morning. Strong coffee, bread, cold cuts, and fruit. Yum.

My first visit was to la boqueria. This place is utopia for any culinary nerd. They have just about everything you can think of from chocolates to spices, from ham to rabbit meat, from ordinary to absolutely exotic. I first ran into a fresh natural juice stand...no need to explain...see below.

I couldn't resist and bought two: carrot-orange and strawberry-coconut. amazing.

After that I walked the shit out of a section of the city called "eixample". It's a relatively new (only a few hundred years old is new in Europe...considering Barcelona is over 2 thousand years old). There I saw "la sagrada familia" which is a cathedral by another one of barcelonas famous artists, Guell. This place has been under construction for over 100 years and is not finished. Today it is funded only by donations. It is a masterpiece. Look it up.

Tomorrow is madonna day. I'm excited.

-V

-- Post From My iPhone

Barcelona!

2009-07-19T13:05:00.001-04:00

Here I am...Barcelona (or bar-thhhe-lona as the locals call it)...the place that inspired this whole trip. I am staring at the beautiful blue waters of the mediteranean as I write this and I can feel a special energy coming from these waters.

Earlier today I checked into the expo hotel. This is a nice change from the hostels I been staying at. I can shower and sleep in peace for a couple of days. But I am glad I will be staying at 3 others. I miss being able to meet random people from all over the world.

Since it is Sunday, most things are closed but I still got a nice walk through the outer coastal area. I had some passion fruit gelato that was off the chain! Also ran into works of Miró...one of barcelonas famous artists.

-V

-- Post From My iPhone

Valencia day 2

2009-07-18T21:15:00.001-04:00

I am still in love. It is now 3am and my train to Barcelona leaves in 5 hours but I don't even care cuz I had a night out with people from Denmark and Ireland. Europeans are so open minded it's amazing.

Today I did what I came here to do. I had paella and it was delicious. I bought some authentic ingredients and can't wait to create my own soon!

I also went to the "ciutat de arts y ciencias". This is one of the most stunning structures I have seen. I watched an IMAX dome show about Egypt. Although a bit boring, I needed to do it.

Almost forgot. I found out that, not only is my favorite chocolate brand Spanish, they haveva store right by my hostel. So it was only fitting that I had a classic Spanish breakfast: savory churros with chocolate. Amazing.

And so Valencia comes to a close. I wish I could stay here more...next time.

-V

-- Post From My iPhone

Valencia day 1-parte II

2009-07-17T17:06:00.001-04:00

What a day. Unlike Madrid, I am pleasantly surprised with this city. It is full of little streets with the cutest restaurants, stores, art centers, and neighborhoods. I found a little family-owned pizza place by accident and it became my dinner. I got a couple of slices with the most unique toppings (eggplant and quail eggs just to name 2), I sat down in a plaza and it was delicious. Now I am exhausted after walking for about 5 hours and I just found out they are turning on the ac at 11 lol thankfully! So I should sleep ok. Another awesome day ahead tomorrow!

Sorry it's dark but I gotta use the phone camera to post in here.

-V

-- Post From My iPhone

Valencia day 1

2009-07-17T08:39:00.000-04:00

Greetings from the cutest city I have yet visited. From what I have seen so far, this city has a very interesting mix of old and new. Right now I'm in the "museo de bellas artes" which, as the implies, features old and granduous art pieces. I will post more about Valencia later. My hostel is...not as great as the previous one but it's ok. There is no AC so I hope that the fact I am beyond exhausted overshadows that.

Anyways...I will search for a paella tonight, as this city is it's birth place. Below is a pic of my lunch. Not exactly authentic but it has it's Spanish twist. And I was starving. It's a focaccia sandwhich with serrano ham (that's the Spanish part) and toasted with this cheese sauce. Yum. And the fresh orange juice has orange ice cubes. Yum-o!

-V

-- Post From My iPhone

I'll go to Rio

2009-07-16T16:58:00.001-04:00

I am done with my stay in Madrid and, I must say, I am rather disappointed. Yes it's a great city, don't get me wrong but I felt it was missing something. Maybe the fact that it reminded me of Rio so much but missing the beauty. Or maybe I got pissed afrer the 50th burger king, starbucks, or dunkin donuts I walked by. The fact that 75% of the streets I walked through were under construction didn't help. It's a large city with the usual issues but they dont seem to be taken care of properly. It does, however, have it's historic beautiful spots. When there are beautiful spots in this city...they are gorgeous! But if I am looking for a large, disorganized, Americanized city...I'll go to Rio.

Above is a mall (which contained 75% English store names. What happenned to Spanish??)

-V

-- Post From My iPhone

Madrid day 2

2009-07-16T06:49:00.000-04:00

What a beautiful day it is, again. It's about 78 degrees and a perfect day for mire walking! I just sat down to rest after going into the museum of natural sciences. There was a great expo about Darwin...very well made and interesting. Now I am walking to downtown and looking for a place to have lunch. There are beer joints (cervecerías) everywhere...maybe I'll do that. I'll update later today again.

-V

-- Post From My iPhone

Albuergue Juvenil AjMadrid

2009-07-15T15:52:00.001-04:00

This is the place I am sleeping in. For €35 for 2 nights...not bad at all! I hope they are all this good.

-- Post From My iPhone

Madrid Day 1

2009-07-15T09:26:00.001-04:00

So I have finally arrived! I've crossed the ocean and here I am. After sitting on the Tarmac for an hour, finding hair in my dinner, and having the person next to me fall asleep on my shoulder...I'm here in one piece. I walked a good 1/3 of this city today. Visited "parque de buen retiro". It's a huge park inside Madrid that puts central park to shame. Hardcore. I am completely exhausted...I will probably pass out soon. It wasn't a fully productive day but it was good. Talk to u all in the morning!

Below is a pic of the subway (which also puts NYC to shame)

And here is a pic from the park.

-V

Layover JFK

2009-07-14T15:29:00.000-04:00

I have arrived at JFK. It's is 3:29 and we have been sitting in the plane waiting for the gate to clear since about 3:12. This after, all of a sudden the plane turned completely around in mid-air. After everyone freaked out for a few minutes, they told us it was due to traffic at JFK. I guess it's rush hour?

-- Post From My iPhone

Leg 1

2009-07-14T11:36:00.001-04:00

So here I am waiting for my first leg to start boarding. I will be boarding to JFK in about 20 minutes. This is the plane :) Ill update again in NYC.

-- Post From My iPhone

1 day to go...

2009-07-13T11:58:00.001-04:00

Here we are. Last day to prep. I am about to finish packing and making sure I am not forgetting anything...which I am sure I will. But I will try! I will not post again until I am over there. I will post again wednesday morning from the Madrid airport. Se ya then!!

-V

2 days to go...

2009-07-12T01:55:00.002-04:00

So yeah. I skipped last night but I was busy. sorry lol

Anyways...so I FINALLY booked all my train/bus/plane tickets...it ended up costing a little more than I thought but it is still cheap. $600 to travel all over 3 countries...its a bargain. So my officially official...finalized final schedule is this:

7/15-7/16 Madrid, Spain

7/17-7/18 Valencia, Spain

7/19-7/21 Barcelona, Spain

7/22-7/23 Madremanya/Gerona, Spain

7/24-7/25 Barcelona, Spain

7/26-7/27 Logrono, Spain

7/28-7/31 Paris, France

8/1-8/4 London, U.K.

So there it is. All I have left to do is finish packing. Soon I will be surrounded in new people, culture, and energies that will shape the rest of my life. Hope all of you can follow me on this crazy journey I am about to embark on. I am beyond being nervous because I am so excited.

-V

4 days to go...

2009-07-10T01:07:00.005-04:00

I just sat for 5 hours straight on this computer researching and booking. When I finished and layed in bed ready to go sleep...I realized I had not updated the blog. Sooooo...I couldnt let anybody down! lol

So today I bought my "city passes". These are passes you buy to save money and time. The Paris pass, for example, costs around USD$45 a day and gives you unlimited metro rides, entrance to over 60 attractions and museums and...oh yeah...THE PARIS OPERA! so yeah...its an awesome deal. I definitely recommend it to anybody who plans on doing this. They have one for most major European cities (I got Barcelona, Paris, and London).

I was not able to finalize my train tickets yet...GRRRRRR. Wish me luck tomorrow!

-V

5 days to go...

2009-07-09T00:21:00.004-04:00

Wow...5 days...I freaked out a bit when I wrote that title. Anywho, as I said yesterday, I knew today was going to be a more productive day. I have finalized all my hostel/hotel bookings. I found some really great/inexpensive places to sleep in that I am really excited about.

Here is a picture of the hostel in Paris called "Oops"...

And here is a picture of the one in Barcelona called "Urbany"...

You will all get more pictures, of course, when I arrive at this places in the coming weeks.

Tomorrow I should have my train tickets reserved ::crosses fingers::

-V

6 Days to go...

2009-07-07T23:35:00.002-04:00

I have a tip for anybody who ever wants to take a trip like this in the future: Check train schedules BEFORE you book accommodations. I have to, again, rework my itinerary to fit stupid train schedules. I am going to have to fly into Madrid from London 8 hours before my flight back. Let's hope it doesn't delay!

I am not going to post another map because you guys are sick of seeing those, Im sure. As for my room, it is still a mess because clothes are being washed.

That's all I got for today. Tomorrow will be a more productive day...I can smell it! :)

-V

7 days to go...

2009-07-06T22:42:00.002-04:00

Ok boys and girls. Today marks the beginning of my daily updates on this thing. I know some of you have been anxiously awaiting this moment!! :P

Today I began my packing journey. Last night I made a quick list of items I MUST take with me...I quickly ran out of room on the page and freaked out a bit. So much to think about. I was recently told I have to pay to use restrooms over there in which there might not be toilet paper...so I should walk around with some (sorry if TMI). So I found myself standing in the travel aisle at Target looking at all the miniature miscellaneous items that American commerce thinks I might need (everything is 97 cents so it is easy to over-shop).

Now I have a mess of items and clothes I must somehow organize into one bag with out under or over packing. I shall keep you all update on how that goes. Peace!

-V

Where? (UPDATED)

2009-06-23T01:13:00.002-04:00

So I found out that I need to be in Paris earlier than I had planned for a concert that I cannot miss!! I also added a couple of cities.

So here is my updated schedule (with dates, as requested :P ) and some things I will be doing. The route doesn't look as pretty as the other one but...oh well :)

JULY 14

Leave MIA

JULY 15

Madrid, Spain

JULY 16

Madrid, Spain (Jason Mraz)

JULY 17

Madrid, Spain

JULY 18

Barcelona, Spain

JULY 19

Barcelona, Spain (Chocolate Museum)

JULY 20

Barcelona, Spain (Madonna)

JULY 21

Barcelona, Spain

JULY 22

Girona, Spain (Cooking class/tour)

JULY 23

Girona, Spain (Cooking class/tour)

JULY 24

Logrono, Spain (Wineries)

JULY 25

Logrono, Spain (Hot air balloon ride)

JULY 26

Bordeaux, France (Wineries)

JULY 27

Bordeaux, France (Truffle hunt)

JULY 28

Paris, France (Restaurant Fish Auction)

JULY 29

Paris, France (Palace of Versailles)

JULY 30

Paris, France

JULY 31

Paris, France (Boyz Noize)

AUG 1

London, U.K.

AUG 2

London, U.K.

AUG 3

Valencia, Spain (IMAX Dome)

AUG 4

Valencia, Spain (Paella!!)

AUG 5

Madrid, Spain (leave to MIA)

That's all folks. If anyone has any suggestions...lemme know :)

My Partner in Crime

2009-06-09T23:14:00.002-04:00

This little wonderful device is going to be my best friend during my journey. Not only will the new OS help me get where I want to go, but it will allow me to update this kick-ass site almost real time. It will be my partner in crime (maybe literally...you never know..)

This isn't huge news but...I'm excited and I had to let it out!!!

Where?

2009-05-31T23:25:00.002-04:00

So after much research, headache, frustration, settling, and compromising, the itinerary is decided upon. I also gave a brief (very brief!) preview of what I will be doing.

Madrid, Spain

-Lots of Historic places to visit. Going to be taking lots of pictures in this city!

Valencia, Spain

The birthplace of the Paella (look it up) so I will be searching for an authentic one!

Benicassim, Spain

Boyz Noize...enough said

Barcelona, Spain

My longest stay will be here. This is where I will meet the Mediterranean...Can't wait. And...oh yeah...MADONNA!

Gerona, Spain

Culinary class/tour extravaganza in an incredible setting!

Paris, France

Eiffel, Versailles, croisants, brie, and wine...

London, U.K.

My birthday! Plan on going to a Pub and make some friends.

Logrono, Spain

wine...wine...wine

Madrid, Spain

Back here for a day before I head back

Welcome

2009-05-02T02:01:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone. If you're here you know about the trip I'm gonna be taking this summer to Europe. This was a spur-of-the-moment decision I made once I realized how much the things I'm going to do there would change me and effect me forever.

Here I will update everyone as much as I can on what I am doing. Not only so you guys can keep up with me and share a little bit of my emotions as I travel alone and aimlessly throughout Spain and France, but so that one day I can have a spontaneous and detailed summary of the things I did.

I am embarking July 14th...can't wait! Stay posted :)

-V