Until I travel again, which might not be for who knows how long, that’s the end. I won’t be updating again for awhile. Classes will be starting soon and I am working as well, so I will be staying put till maybe this winter. Who knows where I may end up going?
Thank you to those of you who read and followed along, I hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers!
We left Alicante in the morning for London. We took the train from Alicante to Madrid, then the metro to the airport. We got there kinda early (and a good thing too) because ryanair is the BIGGEST PAIN IN THE ASS AIRLINE. We had to go through several different lines to check in, check in and pay (an astronomical fee to check ONE bag in), then go through security, then go to passport check, then we were free to go to our gate. Seriously, it took ages. We got the airport at around 3pm and finished with everything by about 5:30. Our flight was at 7pm.
Ryanair is a ridiculous airline and inefficient. The way they check your ticket ten different times is dumb. They don’t have a computer, so the agent at the counter has to hand check every single passenger’s ticket. Dumb. Don’t think I would ever fly this “budget” airline again.
But I was more than relieved to be heading out of Spain (and the disgusting and skeezy men there) and going back to London. Oh how I was missing London by the time the trip was finishing up.
When we got to the London we took the Gatwick express to Victoria train station and had to take the tube to the station where Sushma would pick us up. But, having been out of touch with the world for a few days, we found out that there was a lot of rioting going on in London. Needless to say, it made for an interesting last couple days in Europe.
Monday we went to Covent Garden (where I met up with Kat and her friend) for lunch. It was fun and (a little bit weird :P). After lunch we headed over to Camden market, because we had been told by many people to go there. It was definitely a cool place. Lots of little vendors and tents and lots of cool little trinkets to purchase. We also met up with Jaime once more before we all headed back home. I think it’s pretty awesome that we were able to meet up with someone we had first met in Paris in both Venice and London, all on the same trip.
At around 5:30 we decided to head back home (and perfect timing too because that’s when the rioting began again). Had we left just a few minutes later we would have been in trouble and stranded who knows where. They eventually shut down some lines on the tube and buses stopped running not too long after we got back to Sushma’s. The bus ride home from the tube station was…interesting. The streets were so quiet. Shops were closed, everyone seemed subdued, there was something in the air that made it clear something was amiss. Very eerie.
Despite it though, I wish I could go back to London soon.
This was our last night of our trip. I can’t believe how quickly this trip went by. You spend months and months planning for the trip, then before you know it you’re done and on your way back home. I guess it’s true what they say, all good things must come to an end at some point.
This truly was the trip of a lifetime. Expensive but worth the experience. We met so many awesome people on this trip, which is what made it even better.
This was actually the first time I met my cousin Sushma and her family. To them I want to thank them a million times over for opening up their home to us and letting us stay with them and feeding us and helping us around London. Thank you!
And to the new friends we made: Jaime, Brian, Sam, Alex, Dan, Renee, Otavio, Hicardo, Silja, Luciana, Vanessa, Sara, Ed, Omar, Seema, Times, Kit, Fliss, Vero, Leti, Patri, and countless others I might be forgetting, thank you for helping to make this an unforgettable journey. May we meet again in the future.
“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill
Our last day in Alicante we went to the beach for about an hour. It was too hot to stay for too long. And then had “real” paella for lunch. It was definitely better than the one we had in Toledo. Paella is extremely heavy and filling.
soooo yummy!
After lunch, we went back to Vero’s where we watched (more) Castle, relaxed and packed up for the flight back to London.
I, stupidly, didn’t take pictures of the beach or of the incredibly yummy dinner Vero made for us. The dinner was SO good. She made spanish omelet, a delicious salad, put out bread and cheese and a tomato salad, etc. It was very good.
A million thank yous to Vero for opening up your home to us for a few days and showing us around!
Our second day in Alicante we spent the morning relaxing and watching Castle, which was much needed I think. After about a month of being constantly on the move, being able to sit around after breakfast and relax on the couch (in the AC!) was rather therapeutic. Then we went to Vero’s friends restaurant for lunch where we met her sister and brother in law.
my lunch: pasta in black olive pesto sauce (yum) with capers…lots and LOTS of capers.
Afterwards we headed off to Altea which is about an hour drive away from Alicante. A cute little touristy town. We walked around for a bit, took a few photos and sat down for drinks and then a (really) late dinner. Dinner is usually around 11pm in Spain, I don’t understand how they do that. I can’t eat any meal that late at night, so it was quite an adjustment.
Altea, view of the cathedral in the background
view point in Altea
Dinner was….not the best. We waited forever and a day for a sandwich that could have taken 10 minutes to make (and it wasn’t even that great). Oh well, the company was good though!
since it’s been ages since I’ve actually blogged, I can’t exactly remember all the details as clearly now. We left Madrid in the morning for Alicante, a place I always wanted to see and to meet Vero from SGP.
I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures on this last leg…mostly cause I was too tired and not in the mood. When we arrived in Alicante, we first went to Vero’s apartment and dropped off our bags and changed, cause holy crap was it HOT there. The hottest place we’ve been to on this trip. Then we went to city center and had tapas and drinks at a restaurant. The tapas were yummy and so was the sangria. Afterwards, we went to the castle that’s in Alicante and took a few pictures.
Afterwards we went to the beach and sat at some restaurant for a little while. Then we headed home for the evening, watched Castle for the first time, which is a really good show: funny, intriguing, entertaining. And of course we played with Vero’s cat Milo, who is really friendly and playful and CUTE!
Today we went to a mercado, where they had cheese shops, ham shops, bread shops, ice cream, chocolates, alcohol in a little market area. It was really cool. I forgot to take pictures of this place, oops. Then we went to some park where there is a crystal palace.
random fountain outside the metro station in the park. this park was actually really nice, and large. Great to walk around and people watch, or just relax.
there was a decent sized lake here for boating, perfect weather for being out on water today.
it’s kinda crooked, forgot to fix it haha. But here’s another view from the park. I wouldn’t mind spending a few hours just sitting and relaxing here.
So I didn’t take pictures of the crystal palace, because it was, quite frankly, extremely underwhelming. All it looked like was something like a glass room with a slide inside. Kinda disappointing, but the park was really nice.
We went to a flamenco show in the evening. I have yet to upload pictures from that, I’ll probably add it to this later.
Yesterday we decided to go to Toledo to get out of Madrid and to see Spain’s first capital. It was pretty, but I would recommend reading up on what to do there before actually going. Once we got there we weren’t really sure of what to do or see, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We just wandered around for a few hours.
view on the way up to the old part of the city
for lunch, we finally had paella! It was good, really filling and heavy. I, of course, had the veggie one. Not too bad.
after lunch we wandered around the city and stumbled upon the museo santa cruz, a free art museum. this is the courtyard in the museum. It was really pretty and cool (temperature wise) in there.
Today, we went to the King’s Palace where he does official state business. We didn’t actually go inside (we’re to the point now where we don’t want to spend money if we don’t have to). The outside is gorgeous though. Also on the agenda for today…find WIFI cause the hostel’s wifi doesn’t actually work. So annoying. We found it…at McDonalds!
huge fountain in a garden by the Palacio
cathedral outside the palace
the palace!
We flew out in the morning from Florence to Madrid. It was HOT (still is actually, which we were expecting). We didn’t do a whole lot the first day, just wandered around trying to find Burger King, McDonald’s and Starbucks because we are down to our last little bit of cash and we know these places take credit card.
So far, I think Madrid is really great if you’re into bar hopping and partying at night clubs all the time. I’m not that kind of person but oh well. It’s pretty here. We haven’t had an actual sit down meal here yet haha.
The hostel is…eh. Not my favorite. It feels more like I’m back in the dorms. We have communal showers/toilets. It’s BIG. The kitchen/common area closes at 11:30 at night which is kinda crap but whatever. We haven’t really met anyone at the hostel this time. I’m not sure if it’s cause I just don’t care to or what. It kinda has a cliquey vibe to it, I think. And I think I’m kinda getting tired of going from hostel to hostel now. I’m definitely missing my bed now!
I didn’t take any pictures today!
Last day in Florence :(. We spent the majority of the day wandering the leather market. I wanted to find a bag for myself, one because I suddenly had very little space left in my bag and because I wanted to. It took several hours but I finally got one big enough to travel with and to use for classes or whatever. Yay!
Then in the evening we took the bus to the famous Piazzale Michelangelo where you get a great panoramic view of Florence. We went to witness the famous sunset. It was beautiful. The sky turned everything pink. I took about a million pictures but I don’t think it showed up very well in my photos. Ah well, enjoy the pictures anyway!
the ponte vecchio as viewed from the piazzale.
there was a photo shoot going on at the same time we were watching the sunset. the two blonde girls in the picture and then there was also a male model. I found it entertaining.
gorgeous sunset from the piazzale, everything was pink!
A great way to end our stay in Florence, watching the gorgeous sunset. I definitely want to go back one day.
