Strut Like You Mean It: Easter Break Part 2

Hola Readers,

I spent the second week of Easter break traveling with my mom across 4 destinations in Europe. I hadn’t seen her since she said goodbye when I left for Cork so it was a well-deserved reunion. Her first stop was Cork, which she was hesitant to explore at first but I think she warmed up to it. It was Easter Sunday so most shops and tourist attractions were closed, but we did get a chance to walk around the city, go to mass, and kiss the Blarney Stone for good luck.

The next day we woke up early (that was a general trend on this trip) and headed for Cork airport. Our flight to London was delayed for a few hours due to a storm and then our flight to Barcelona was also delayed as well. If that wasn’t bad enough, the airline lost my mom’s luggage, which was carrying not only her clothes, but also some of my clothes that my mom was taking back home. They said that the luggage would be on the next flight to Barcelona, in approximately 1-2 days. It was a setback for sure, but we weren’t going to let that taint our view of Barcelona. We got some tapas and sangria for dinner, which made everything a lot better and went to sleep exhausted.

The next day we woke up early again and met our personal tour guide for the day, Ana. She gave us a private tour of all of the major sights of Barcelona like Montjuic cemetery, a cemetery on a mountain with some impressive mausoleums, Olympic Stadium, and architect Antoni Gaudi’s most impressive works Casa Mila Casa Batllo, La Sagrada Familia, my personal favorite. Gaudi drew a lot of inspiration from nature, which you can see in some of his houses, which resemble the waves of the ocean. La Sagrada Familia is still unfinished unfortunately but is expected to be completed by 2026. If it’s that stunning while incomplete, I can only imagine what it will be like when it’s done! We also got a chance to visit Montserrat, a mountain about 40 minutes outside Barcelona. It had special significance for me because it is what Holy Cross’s freshman year seminar courses are named after. St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits, chose this mountain in particular as the place to lay down his soldier’s weapons and begin a new life as man of faith. It was so cool to make that Jesuit connection and the views from the top were amazing. Later in the day, we walked down Las Ramblas, the most popular tourist street in the city and visited La Boqueria Market, which smelled amazing by the way. Barcelona really allowed me to embrace my inner childhood fantasy of being a Cheetah Girl (all my 90’s babies you feel me right). It was a beautiful city with such an amazing culture. I’ll be back (insert Terminator voice).

Our next stop was Florence, Italy. I was excited to get back to my diet of pizza and pasta and since Lent was finally over I planned on eating as much dessert as possible. After a much smoother flight and no lost luggage (thank God) we arrived in Florence and immediately began our tour of the city with our guide, Mario. We saw the famous David statue by Leonardo da Vinci, visited Santa Croce church (yes that’s Holy Cross for all you latin lovers), and admired the pleasant views over the city at the Piazzale Michaelangelo. The next day, we spent the day shopping for leather goods (per my mom’s request) and I walked up the top of Florence’s Duomo (463 steps). We also ate some delicious truffle pasta and ate our weight in gelato.

The next day we headed to our last stop of the week, Milan, Italy. It being my 2^nd time to the city, I acted as our tour guide while we stopped in the famous Duomo and browsed the shops near Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. After concluding the night with more pasta and gelato, my mom and I went to bed as we both had early morning flights the next day.

Overall, it was great seeing my mom after being apart for so many months. I think that was the first trip that we’ve ever taken just the two of us (no offense siblings). It was also a nice change of pace to stay in a hotel for once and not have to rely on public transportation all the time. Every girl needs a bit of luxury in her life (am I right ladies?). Now it’s back on the grind, with my birthday (that’s right readers, my born day is this upcoming week) and finals approaching, I know my last month in Cork will be busy. I just have to make the most of the time that I have left. So I’m logging off, until next time,

Keep Calm & Have a Cheat Day (or Week)

Elena

Me and Casa Mila.

Mom & I in the Montjuic Area.

La Sagrada Familia.

Moving Mountains

Me & St. Ignatius in Montserrat Abbey.

La Boqueria Market.

David!!

Florence Duomo

Santa Croce Church.

The walk up the steps was totally worth it. @ Florence Duomo

Chillin on the Ponte Vecchio!

Gelato!!

Mom & I at the Milan Dumo.

For those wondering why I used this particular title, see video above. Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Monday, April 4th, 2016 at 10:51 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.