travel

Barcelona My Heart

- Stephanie Leave a comment

7 years ago I spent 6 weeks in Barcelona doing a study abroad program. During these 6 weeks we basically got to make cool things out of glass and be tourists while sketching in our sketchbooks. All this for college credit 🙂 After about 3 weeks there, I fell in love with the city and it’s art and architecture and people and sangria 😉 Coincidentally, I left a piece of my heart there when I had to go back to the States. I know that sounds beyond cheesy and dumb, but so true. This thing is, I never thought I would go back. Life is short and you want to see new places, so going back to a place you have already been seems silly because you’ve already been there.

Anyways. When Nate and I were planning our Italy trip, we toyed with the idea of also going to Switzerland or Austria. But then I was like, we’re gonna be ONE minute plane ride away fro Barcelona, can we PLEASE go? And Nate said but you’ve already been there! and I said PLEAASEEE but you haven’t been there! And he said OKAY let’s do it. So we booked our flight from Rome to Barca for the last 3 days of our adventure. And if I can be totally honest with you, those last three days were what I was looking forward to for the entire trip.

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When we walked up the metro stairs to the familiar square, I had to fight back tears. Sidenote: THIS IS THE CHEESIEST BLOG POST EVER. Don’t care. I was so happy to be there. I kept saying “I can’t believe I’m back!”, I swear it took me almost 24 hours for the reality to actually sink in! I really can’t explain just how good it was to be there, so just know that I was REALLY happy.

Over the next 2.5 days I took Nate to all my favorite tourist spots. I hate being a tourist, I’d much rather find the cool unknowns, but Gaudi’s Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia are both REALLY beautiful and worth it to explore. Mosaics and unique architecture and big ideas! The artist in me loves it. This photo was taken from the very, tippy top of a big hill in Park Guell, and it’s one of my favorite views on earth.

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For the rest of our time in Barca was spent walking around and exploring! Barcelona is a big city, but I remembered my way around my favorite areas pretty well and how to get to a lot of not-as-touristy spots. We hung out in the Barceloneta beach/boardwalk area and at Parc de la Citudella, a huge park with a gorgeous fountain/statue in it (below). We also went to the top of the Catedral of Barcelona for another great view. La Boqueria, which is a massive food market, was another stop we had to make because I knew Nate would be amazed at the rows and rows of fresh, colorful, yummy food! We ate empanadas from the market for lunch one day, and also enjoyed a few cups of fresh kiwi and strawberry juices.

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One of best part of our days in Barcelona was being able to catch up with friends I had made 7 years ago. Pau and Debbie welcomed me into their friends group at the church I went to and they were dating at that time. Now they are married and have the cutest baby! It was so great (and kind of surreal, as the whole 3 days were) to be able to be there talking and laughing with them in person and not just through a Facebook message!

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Showing Nate around Barca was nothing less than awesome. I loved seeing him so amazed at some of my favorite things. He let me reminisce about my summer there, but I somehow managed to hold back from too much reminiscing so that we could make new memories together. And there are so many. Eating really delicious tapas and sangria for dinner our first night. Setting our new Fitbit record on our first day! (26,560 steps!) People watching in the park. Eating the most amazing chocolate croissant. Eating the most amazing roasted chicken with plums (sounds weird but GUYS). Walking to the beach and sitting on the rocks. And so many other things!

Thanks for reading! And let me know if you ever need recs for Barcelona, I could write a novel 🙂 <3

10 Tips for Touring Italy (that no one ever told you)

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hey ya’ll! Thanks for being patient with my blog hiatus when I was on vacation!! I have a ton of photos and stories form Italy and I am spending the next few days writing and prepping those to share with you! Here is the first post: a list of semi-random tips that Nate and I personally learned while traveling around Italy.

ten tips for touring italy

  • Italian streets are all cobblestone, mostly uneven, which makes rolling a suitcase pretty tough and noisy. If I’d known that, I would have packed lighter, and in a large backpack or duffle.
  • For packing, bring more undergarments than you think you’ll need and less other items of clothing than you think you’ll need. You can re-wear jeans and even some shirts, but you can’t re-wear socks or underwear. Though OVS in Rome has a great selection of both.
  • If you’re traveling longer than a week, pick a “midway” Airbnb that has a washing machine. Note that laundry in Italy takes 3-4 hours per load! :O
  • We took the train a lot, and it’s very easy. Just don’t forget to “validate” your ticket in the little green machines before you hop on or else you will get fined! (this didn’t happen to us. just a word of caution!)
  • When looking for an Airbnb a big city, like Rome or Florence, spending the extra money is absolutely worth it. Unless you want a dark garden level where the hot water only works at night. I may speak from experience.florence italy - arno river
  • In our experience, most pillows over there are down, so if you have allergies bring those meds!! Itchy eyes suck, especially when you have so much cool stuff to look at.
  • Iced coffee doesn’t exist in Italy, but you might be really craving it and do some internet research to find out what is similar. I did that and found the answer for you: Ask for a Shakerado (shake-air-ah-doe). Doesn’t have ice IN in, but they shake it with ice so it’s nice and cold!
  • Always (I MEAN ALWAYS) have tissues or toilet paper with you, especially at train station bathrooms and in Cinque Terre. Also always have a euro or two with you because public bathrooms cost money to use!
  • Pack small spray bottle of a refreshing essential oil/water mix that you can spray over your suitcase to keep things fresh. I brought lavender and it worked great. (Obviously this tip doesn’t only apply to Italian travel haha)
  • If you’re hiking the tiny trails of Cinque Terre, know that the trek is more difficult than most tour guides/books make it sound. Definitely wear sneakers and bring lots of water. Extra deodorant wouldn’t hurt either.
  • Wine is everywhere and it’s the best. That’s not a tip, just a fact. 😉 😉

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So if you’re heading to Italy anytime soon, definitely refer back to this list before you leave! And stay tuned for more photos and fun of our adventure! ~S

Resources for Planning a Europe Trip

- Stephanie Leave a comment

letters from rita blog in europe

Nate and I have been planning a trip to Italy for a few months now, and we’re leaving in less than 2 weeks! It doesn’t feel real! When we first started planning it was a little overwhelming, so I wanted to share some resources that have helped up figure out where we want to go, what we want to see, and the flights to get us there. 🙂

Rick Steves
I don’t even know this man, but he is everything to me. He is an expert on all things Europe and his guides are so thorough. The best part is that he clues you in on hidden gems to see and tricks for traveling in each specific country. We consulted Rick’s Scotland guide when we went in 2013, so we knew we needed him as our Italy guide too!

Blogs + Pinterest
Um, how do you pack for 2.5 weeks in Italy in one carry-on and a small suitcase?! You ask Pinterest, of course. Through that, I found two posts, To Brighten My Day and Earnest Home Co, and they really helped me decide what to pack (and what I needed to buy) for the trip! I’m packing mostly neutrals and blues, and keeping things fun and flowy!

Instagram
I have had the BEST time perusing hashtags related to Italy on Instagram! It’s kind of a long, round-about way to find places you want to visit, but it’s also the prettiest way 🙂 I have a list of sights that I came across, that hopefully we’ll see in real life! Hint: usually you can search certain cities + countries by adding IG or IGERS to the front of the name. For instance, I’ve been searching #IGItaly and #IGERSRoma a lot.

AirBnB
Cute places that feel like home, and generally less expensive than chain hotels. We have 4 booked and they all look amazing! I can’t wait to get there!

Kayak
Nate was in charge of booking flights and eventually found ours through kayak.com. He said it was super easy to use and it was good to be able to compare prices. This is probably already common knowledge, but I just thought I would share!

Your Local Library
BOOKS, YO! Why does no one think of going to the library anymore? It makes the most sense! 🙂 🙂

Hopefully this was helpful to you guys! Anyone have any fun trips planned this summer?

P.S. None of this is sponsored, haha.

Exploring DC

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Nate and I decided in early October that we wanted to do a November weekend trip somewhere! We first considered the Adirondack’s, but decided it would be way too cold all the way up there 🙂 So we picked DC! We had visited DC together once before during the summer of 2013, which was my first time there. I love it the first time, so I was super excited to have more time to explore!

I scoured Airbnb for a nice place that wasn’t too far from the attractions (aka: museums). We ended up renting a small row apartment in Capitol Hill and LOVED it. The apartment itself was really nice, and the neighborhood was even better. Super cute and walkable to a lot of restaurants!

Our flight got us into DC around noon and we spent the next few hours walking to and exploring the monuments. Since we were only in town for 3.5 days, we had both brought small duffles, so walking around with them wasn’t bad. It was a super windy day and we took a lot of selfies. Also, my life-long (I’m exaggerating) dream of touching Lincoln’s boot at the Lincoln Memorial was squashed when I realized it’s not even remotely possible to do that. I don’t know where I got that notion. Nate made fun of me the entire trip for it 😉

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We spent time catching up with our long-time friends, Kait and Logan. Together we explored the Museum of Natural History for an afternoon – my favorite exhibit is the jewels and rocks. So sparkly. 🙂 Being locals, K+L suggested a delicious lunch spot called Ted’s Bulletin where we all ate a great meal (and tried to finish pieces of chocolate cake the size of our heads!).

Wait ANOTHER favorite part (ok, I just really liked this trip!) was the National Postal Museum! I love stamps. Like a lot. I just didn’t know HOW much until I was in a huge room full of thousands of old, historic, gorgeous stamps! I loved seeing the design through the ages and learning about all the history behind them. I maybe was so overwhelmed with happiness that I had to hold back tears. Stop making fun of me.

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Ok, but the Library of Congress blew my mind! It was the mosaic floors that really got me. Full walls and ceilings and floors of mosaic had me wandering off from our tour to admire! (Nate listened to the tour guide and told me all the important stuff later) But seriously, this building was gorgeous and I was mesmerized by all the inspiring art in the form of crushed up stone and glass. I was in mosaic heaven – mostly because it reminded me of Barcelona, one of my favorite places.

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We also hit up the National Gallery, Freer Gallery of Art, the Eastern Market and went to the top of the Washington Monument. Needless to say, we like DC a lot.

Stephanie

P.S. I don’t recommend breaking in new Converse on a trip when you walk between 15 and 20 thousand steps a day. :/

Changing the World

- Stephanie Leave a comment

I’m going to brag really quickly about my little sister Megan. She just graduated from Denison University in May and in one week will be an official, active member of the Peace Corps. Yes, the real, live, true and famous Peace Corps! She’ll be working for 2 years (!) in Cameroon, a small French speaking country on the East Coast of Africa, supporting and expanding the agriculture industry. If you want to read more about exactly what she’ll be doing, click this link! Pretty much, she’ll be well on her way to changing the world.

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We had a ‘see ya later’ party for her this weekend at my parent’s new house in New Hampshire. It was a big gathering of friends and family. AKA: we sat in the backyard eating hamburgers, drinking pumpkin beer, talking about life and playing with the cat. At the end of the day, the ‘kids’ (anyone under 30? i guess 😉 ) took a little excursion to Hampton Beach and watched the sunset and skipped rocks into the ocean. It was a good day.

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I managed not to cry at all until my drive home. TWO YEARS PEOPLE! That’s a long time! Of course she gets to come home and visit, but yeah. Two years. She leaves on the 9th, and it would be awesome if you could keep her in your prayers!! Thank you!