Beautiful Barcelona!

I took a long-weekend trip this weekend to Barcelona. The weather was mostly good and the city is really pretty. There's a lot of green-space; lots of trees, parks and pedestrian paths. Gaudi's architecture is amazing - the Sagrada Familia and other buildings that pop out of nowhere and knock your socks off. It was Sant Jordì's day while we were there, so La Rambla was filled with people buying roses and books, as per tradition. I am so amazed at the fact that I can do this on a random weekend, just jet off and explore the world. I really am so very lucky.

Dublin & Italy

For the first weekend of the Easter break (which doesn't actually include the Easter weekend) I went to Dublin with the Trampoline club for a competition. There were 20 of us and it was a relaxed, fun environment with a lot of opportunity to bounce. My favourite part was synchro bouncing in pink fleece puppy onesies. Yes.

For the rest of the break I met up with my mom in Italy for an incredible 11 days in which we saw Venice, Florence, Siena, Pisa and some little Tuscan towns. The weather was beyond perfect every day and it was amazing to see my mom after 3 months.

Venice: I really loved Venice. It's not like anything you've seen before, with canals instead of roads and boats instead of cars. It's really magical and the light off the water and buildings is gorgeous. I highly recommend it.

Florence: Florence felt more like a big city, which I guess it is. But it was still really wonderful. We saw a lot of art, including Michaelangelo's David, and Bottecelli's Spring and the Birth of Venus. Our B&B hostess was wonderful and made us amazing breakfasts and was like a second mum for the days we were there. Speaking of, we celebrated 'fake' mother's day while in Florence, because it was UK mother's day while we were there. We ate a fabulous meal of pear cheese stuffed pasta. Really, I cannot even describe... 

Siena was adorable, with a lovely piazza/town square where tourists and locals congregate to chill out. We had an apartment with a little garden and it was an easy walk to everything in the area.

San Gimignano
San gimignano is tiny and famous for its many towers. I also found a contemp. art gallery that I loved.

Lucca: In Lucca we rode bikes around the town walls. Fun!

Pisa: We were really mainly here for me to catch a plane back to Edinburgh, but it was really lovely. The tower is SHOCKING even though you know exactly what to expect. Climbing up it you get thrown against the walls because your mind assumes the ground is straight and it's really on an angle. I also ate the best gelato ever to exist.

I have so many pictures from this trip it is really hard to choose. It is such a photogenic country!

Hello friends (Prague and Salzburg)

I have been a terrible blogger this semester. I apologize. I have been on three separate and amazing trips since I last posted. I will post them in the order they should have been spoken about here.

First, I went to Prague and Salzburg with my best friends here, Bess and Lauren. We were there for 6 days or so and we had a super time. Prague was absolutely freezing, but stunning nonetheless. Salzburg was charming and I got my first glimpse of the Swiss alps.

Here's a taste:

Prague.

Salzburg.