The Traveling Halts...for Now...

Today marks Day 5 of 31 days I will in the US before returning to Brussels in August. Paul and I returned back to the US on Saturday with minimal drama on our trip home. Our two week stint in Italy and Spain was filled with an assortment of delicious food, drinks, interesting conversations with fellow backpackers, museums, excursions, trains, walking, sun, the sea, minimal sleep, and one exciting and dramatic turning of events involving a lost backpack (stay tuned to hear the culmination of events in the next post in a story entitled "The Odyssey: A Backpack's Story”). I will do my best to summarize each of the four cities visited using a thinking routine I introduced in my blog at the start of my time in Europe entitled Headlines.

1. Venice-A sequel better than the original
Though my friend and I enjoyed Venice when we visited two years ago, I felt like our trip was too short to really have done the city much justice. In fact, we only spent a day walking around the city trying to squeeze in a couple of museums, a gondola ride, and finding accommodation (the place we had booked was, I do believe, in line to be the setting of a Venetian horror movie).
Everything about our trip to Venice this time was delightful and relaxing. In a city that is carless and tiny, it is hard to feel rushed or stressed about life. We spent much of our time walking around the island, crossing various bridges over various canals, and utilizing an opportunity to watch glass makers on the island of Murano create an authentic Venetian glass creation. We had only a day and a half, but since I had been there before it was easier to navigate and filter out only the places we really wanted to spend time. We managed our time so well that with a few hours to spare in the afternoon we decided to leave our route up to fate and created a navigation game using cards to determine which way we would turn and for how many blocks we would continue on. We found ourselves walking through tiny Venetian neighborhoods and eventually ended up on the opposite side of the island from which we started. We had a blast getting lost and venturing through areas of Venice that we would have never explored had it not been for fate and our deck of cards. We got everything out of Venice that we had expected: sun, relaxation, an adventure, and delicious Italian food.

2. Rome-I'd do as the Romans do if I could find some Romans!
I found Rome the most enjoyable of the four cities that we visited, but, as the title implies, the least amount of locals. Though I loved exploring the sites and walking around the city, I found that my cousin and I were just two Americans in crowds of hundreds more all visiting Rome at the same time. And although usually when I find myself being surrounded by other tourists I enjoy the city less, Rome had so much to offer with its history and architecture that even the masses of tourists we always seemed to be surrounded by still couldn't make it less enjoyable.
During our time in Rome, we managed to have a guided tour of the Vatican (including St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel), another tour of the Colosseum and surrounding Roman ruins, and walk through many of Rome's vast piazzas. We happened to time our tour perfectly to see the Vatican, because included in our tour was to be participants in the Papal Audience, where Pope Benny himself greeted us (and hundreds of others) inside St. Peter's. The Sistine Chapel and School of Athens were both too incredible to grasp and the enormity of St. Peter's and the Colosseum were basically unfathomable. I was also pleased to learn this week historians voted the Colosseum to be one of the new Seven Wonders of the World...and we were inside it! Pretty surreal. I would definitely visit Rome again, this time with some sort of recording device to record all of the interesting information told to us by our amazing tour guides and maybe at a time when not every other American visiting Europe are in Rome at the same time.

3. Barcelona-Tainted again by silly Spaniards
As some of you may recall, the last time I visited Barcelona my purse, including my camera, was stolen my last night in the city. And though I left Barcelona this trip with nothing in the hands of a thief, I left this time with my luggage in the hands of an airport's courier staff and in the hands of the most incompetent hostel staff I've ever come across during my time in Europe.
Paul and I had a blast in Barcelona, walking almost everywhere, returning to my favorite sites from last time, and seeing sites that I didn't have a chance to see before. We met some great people at our hostel and spent 4 days exploring the sites and soaking up the sun. However, this time, I spent almost the whole time in one outfit since the rest of my clothes and luggage had been lost at the airport. Yes, I spent the whole time in Barcelona without my bag and, until I gave in and bought one more shirt, in the same clothes. Now, I won't get into the incompetency of the staff in this blog because, frankly, I'm just sick of talking about them, but suffice it to say I had to leave Barcelona to our next destination without my things because of their irresponsibility. Okay. That's it.
What this trip has done for me, actually, is made me more determined to visit Barcelona and have a completely flawless trip, where all of my things stay in my possession from beginning to end. I know you can do it, Barcelona!

4. Sevilla-Sun, Flamenco, and Tapas!
I love Spain for many reasons: the rich culture, the rhythmic music, the proximity to the sea, the sun, the palm trees, but, what makes me crave going back again and again, is the amazing food in the form of tapas, assortments of appetizers ranging from vegetables to seafood to omelettes. Paul and I ate tapas for almost every meal in Spain, Barcelona as well as Sevilla. They are affordable, accessible, and almost always delicious.
I fell in love with the city of Sevilla. My only complaint is that we simply did not have enough time there (only a day and a half because of train scheduling). We had flawless weather, we got to watch a live Flamenco show (Sevilla is where Flamenco began) and we managed to see all of the sites we wanted to in just the short time we were there. My two favorite sites were the Real Alcazar and the Placa de Espana. Real Alcazar is a palace located in the center of Sevilla that is known for its beautiful gardens, though I would consider them jungles due to their enormity and beauty. The Placa de Espana is an enourmous horseshoe shaped building that sits a little out of the center of the city. One of the reasons I loved it is because it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and almost empty of tourists! There were perhaps ten people there at the most, us included. The absence of hoards of tourists made it seem all the more authentic and enjoyable.
Sevilla was also the city where I was finally reunited with my bag after SIX days thanks to the remarkable and helpful staff at the Triana Backpackers hostel. So thanks to them, and thanks to what we found in the city, Sevilla will also have a special place in my heart (wow, that line is cheesy...but it's so true!)

All in all, Paul and I thoroughly enjoyed our backpacking experience. We were both ready to be back home by the end of our trip (I was especially ready to put on clean clothes) but both agreed that the next time we travel together we would spend a little less money, a little less time stressing about bags, and a little more time embracing the city and the fact that we are, in fact, living the time of our lives.