Europe

Aix En Provence and Southern France Highlights

June 7, 2017 by Alicia 2 Comments

I can’t believe it’s now June so it has been 2 months since I was in France. It has taken me so long to try to sum up my time in Southern France. Part of this is because half the time I was just living life. I was enjoying sleeping in (ok I was up by 7am each day), catching up on laundry, watching Netflix and getting back into yoga (my favorite!!). After all the traveling for 3 months, it was kind of nice to relax and just be doing normal everyday things and not worry about running around everywhere.

I had the most amazing family friends hosting me and showing me around what I imagine is just classic French style towns. Their house is in Saignon, a town that is tens of thousands (maybe 100 thousand) of years old and it was just so amazing to see the cobblestone lanes and beautiful architecture that remains. A few weeks before I was in France, I had seen the new Beauty and the Beast movie. When I was in Southern France, I felt a bit like Belle, walking around the small town with cobblestone paths and cute little shops and a fountain. The house I stayed in was made of stone and it felt like a mini castle to me. It wasn’t huge, per se, but the stone walls just reminded me of a castle feeling. They also kept the house nice and cool, which is great for summer.

I didn’t realize how popular it was for people to vacation in southern France or the Aix En Provence, but I now can see why. It is so beautiful, especially spring time. Flowers were in bloom and the weather was gorgeous the week I was there.

While I am definitely no expect on the Aix En Provence area of France, I wanted to share some of the highlights of my trip you may want to check out when you book your next vacation there. I’ve split these highlights into two categories, quick trips within 30-45 minutes of Saignon and then day trips that require about 4 hours roundtrip driving.

Near Saignon

Lacoste – a town just 20 minutes from Saignon and worth checking out. The views from the top of the mountain are beautiful. I went here a couple of times as there is a university campus as part of SCAD where my friend teaches.
view from LaCoste
Fountain de Vaucluse – I found this fountain very fascinating. It’s the biggest spring in France. The fascinating thing about it is that research is still being done to figure out where the water comes from. Divers have gone down to explore and some have died with the depth that it goes. With more advances in technology, they have been able to send technology devices down through the tunnels. Still, a lot remains a mystery. The fountain is also in a little village with an old paper mill and tons of stands directed to tourists. I also had a pretty delicious Nutella crepe here.
Fountain de Vaucluse

nutella crepe

La Sorgue River leading to the spring
Markets – you can’t miss the markets as they are so fun and a great cultural experience. I went to the two listed below. The Goult one is small, but still fun to check out. I brought some soap home from the market and love the lemon scent. The Apt market on Saturdays, you could get lost in for hours as there are so many vendors and fresh fruits and veggies and cheese.
- Apt – Saturdays
- Goult – Thursday

Day trips

Marseilles and the Marseilles Mucem – Marseilles is just a two hour or so drive from Saignon. There are many cruise ships that come into and leave from Marseilles. I am still in awe of how big cruise ships are. I am not a boat person, but there are many boat tours you can take in Marseilles. We just went to the Mucem and learned more about European history. Then we walked around the city, viewing the churches and walking through some markets going on in the street.
Van Gogh Foundation – Arles, France – We actually went here and then the park below in the same day. While this museum is called the Van Gogh Foundation, they also feature work from other artists. The museum is pretty small and took about 2 hours to go through. Great for a person into art and some art history.
Camargue Natural Park – Two words: wild flamingos! I have never seen so many flamingos. I have seen flamingos in a zoo, but it’s very different from seeing them in a natural habitat and hundreds of them!! This place was definitely one of the highlights for me that I will always remember. Watching the flamingos fly was like watching airplanes take off and land. Flamingos take a little running start on the water and then up and away, putting their feet back. When they come in to land, they put their feet down first and land in the water. While we were at the park, the flamingos were feed and it was madness as the flamingos were getting the food. In this area there is a lot of horseback riding. We actually tried to go to one place but arrived and found out they had already closed for the day.We then drove down to the beach area to get a view of the sunset and test the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

flamingo france — love the open wings in this picture

There are so many day trips you could do from Saignon. You could drive to Nice, France or even Italy. I would prefer to stay overnight at one of those locations just because it would be a lot of driving, but definitely on my list of places to see. I hear the beaches in Italy are quite nice if visiting in summer.

In my time in Southern France, I had a bit of difficulty with all the hills as I get motion sick. Besides the major roads between cities, the town roads are old and were not built for modern cars for the most part, so it’s scary when it’s two way and you feel like only a car and a half will fit on the road. Oh and then mountains and driving around blind corners with the edge of a cliff next to you. Just a bit scary and I wasn’t even driving around there. Besides that though, I was happy I got the opportunity to experience more of the French culture. With smaller towns, there is definitely less English spoken, not like visiting Paris. I think the small town is a nice escape from a stressful busy life.

Have you ever been to a small European town?

Dublin Ireland in 36 hours

May 24, 2017 by Alicia Leave a Comment

I ended my Europe travels with a short visit to Dublin. This was because it was cheaper for me to fly through Dublin after being in Barcelona to head back to Chicago and they have direct flights to Chicago which is always my preference. I decided to leave Barcelona on a Thursday and the next flight to Chicago was Saturday. Another thing I loved about leaving to the US from Dublin was that you do your American customs in the Dublin airport so when you land in the US, you just go to bag check and you are set. Keep this in mind if you are headed to Dublin, as you will want to get to the airport at least 2 hours (preferably 3) before your flight.

While my visit to Dublin was short, I got some great recommendations from an old co worker’s daughter who lived there and enjoyed my short time, even though I was also fighting some sort of stomach bug.

My number 1 recommendation if it is your first visit to Dublin, would be to do a walking tour. I discovered Next City walking tours while in Barcelona through my hostel there and noticed they had tours in Dublin. It’s a “free” tour, as in pay what you wish, and takes about 2.5 hours or so. Our tour guide was super knowledgeable and took us around Dublin to the popular sites. If I had stayed longer, I would have loved to do more of the guided tours at the specific places we stopped, which I will list below.

Here are a few places you won’t want to miss while visiting Dublin. All of these places are within walking distance of each other and can definitely be visited within 2 days if you time everything. If you are visiting Dublin for a longer period of time, there are many more sites to see, but these are the top places and things I did for a short stay.

Arlington Hotel Dinner and Celtic Dancing show
- This was recommended to me to see some Irish dancing and enjoy an Irish meal. Keep in mind you should book online. Also there were two times, 6 and 8pm, but the show doesn’t start until the later time so if you go early, you may be done eating by the time the show starts. I really enjoy Irish dancing and Celtic music so the show was great, though I left early due to not feeling well.
St Patrick’s Cathedral
- A medieval cathedral and The National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland. There are also tours you can go on to see the inside during the day.
Christ’s Church
- The second medieval cathedral and a must visit.
Dublin Castle
- Though there only remains one original piece of the medieval castle, the castle has been kept up and rebuilt over the hundreds and hundreds of years and is used for the Irish government now. There are castle tours daily, but go early in the morning as they sell out of guided tours quickly. There is always a self guided tour though for a small fee.
Trinity College
- Ireland’s oldest university and home to the Book of Kells. It’s amazing how much history fills the walls of this university. Definitely a must to walk around and try to get a tour at least into the library to see the millions of books and the Book of Kells.

My short stop in Dublin was kind of a sneak peak for me to learn what I should visit next time. I unfortunately didn’t make it to any guided tours of the inside of Dublin Castle and Trinity College, but would love to go back and do those. I would also take a tour of the Guinness Storehouse, even though I am not a beer drinker, the tours are interesting and I know it is something Brian would enjoy. I would also love to stop in the Temple Bar area to take a yoga class at Samadhi. I’ve taken workshops with Greg Walsh, one of the teachers, in Philadelphia at The Yoga Garden but unfortunately didn’t have time to meet up with him.

I hope this guide helps you start your list of places to see in Dublin and if Dublin wasn’t on your bucketlist before, it should be now.

Have you been to Dublin?

Do you like Irish Dancing?

Barcelona: Things to Do, See and Eat

May 10, 2017 by Alicia Leave a Comment

I know it has been a couple weeks, but I am finally sharing what to do, see and eat in Barcelona. I don’t usually have a guide to food, but my friend’s sister took me around to many delicious places. I loved having a private tour guide since she was studying there for the semester and already knew her way around. It definitely was less stressful since I don’t speak Spanish even though most people do speak English in Barcelona. One thing I learned when going grocery shopping for a few items is that there is a scale somewhere in the store that you need to weight and get a label for any produce you buy. Both times I went to the store, the check out person did this for me as they must have known I was not from Barcelona.

While I tried to book an Airbnb for my stay in Barcelona, I didn’t have much luck due to high travel season (spring break time) and opted for a hostel instead. I stayed at the Bed and Bike Hostel and shared a room with 3 other girls. We had our own bathroom which I loved. I was mostly there to sleep and eat breakfast, but it was a very nice hostel. You can also borrow a bike for the day with a simple deposit that you will get returned when you return the bike. Biking is very popular around Barcelona. I didn’t get time for a bike ride but one day I walked 38,000 steps around Barcelona.

Below you will find a list of some of the places I stopped at and some delicious places to eat.

Things to See/Do

Park Guell
- The draw to this park besides the architecture and the beautiful view of Barcelona, is the park bench. The bench requires tickets for about 6-8 euro. I would recommend booking your time online. There is a timeslot every half hour. I went in the evening as my friend recommended to see the sunset, but unfortunately the bench tickets were sold out. There are still beautiful views all around the park and a great place to go during the day or evening.
Picasso Museum
- Why it never occurred to me Picasso was from Spain, I don’t know. I learned about him in art classes growing up and associated him with Paris because he did spend some time there as well. I really enjoyed this museum. It was around 20 euros as I purchased the audio guide as well. I recommend the audio guide for art museums especially in foreign countries so you can get the background in your own language. It took me about 2 hours to go through the museum. Obviously you could spend as much time as you want, but that was listening to enjoy of the audio guide segments and looking around. Also buy these tickets online because then you can show up at your time and bypass the line to go in.
Santa Marie Del Mar
- One of the many churches you will come across in Barcelona. There is free entry before 2pm and after 5pm. Definitely worth a walk around.
Sagrada Familia
- The famous Roman Catholic Church in Barcelona designed by Gaudi. The construction began in 1882 and rumor has it completion is anticipated to be in 2026. The church is funded by the daily tours. Again, I would recommend buying a ticket online. I arrived there shortly after 9am one morning and couldn’t get a ticket because they were sold out. Sadly I missed seeing the incredible inside of this church, but hopefully I will go back to Barcelona another time, maybe around 2026 when it is finally done.
Montjuïc
- I don’t know an English translation for this other than it’s a mountain. There is a gondola you can ride up to the top, or you can walk like I did (this was my 38k step day). I would suggest bringing water and maybe a snack to go up. Then from the top, you can get some incredible views of the city again.
  view of cruise port from mountain top
Olympic stadium
- Near Montjuïc is the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Stadium. I personally love seeing old Olympic stadiums and just imagining the huge crowds they were built for.
Arc de Triomf Barcelona
- Built for the 1888 Barcelona World Fair, you will definitely want to stop by the Arc de Triomf for a picture. I definitely feel like the Paris Arc is more famous, but this one is a reddish color and absolutely beautiful.
Beach
- Of course Barcelona is off the coast of the sea, so you can’t miss stopping by the beach. The water was still a little chilly being April, but there were some people swimming.

Places to Eat

Costa Pacifico
- I came in around noon my first day and so immediately my friend and I met for lunch. I said I wanted tacos or something and she delivered with this place. They made great guacamole as well. This place is also located where The Cheetah Girls (yes I’m a fan) filmed part of “Strut.”
  (source top photo)
Cera 23
- One of the top 10 Barcelona restaurants. We only went here to get the blackberry mojito and it definitely didn’t disappoint. I hear the food is incredible too but be prepared for a long wait to get inside.
Brunch and Cake
- You want an Instagram worthy breakfast? Stop here. Anything you order comes out looking amazing and colorful. I ordered the matcha banana pancakes and they were delicious. It was also very affordable as my matcha pancakes were only 7 euro.
Bo de B
- Looking for an affordable and delicious lunch? How about a 4 euro sandwich? This place has veggie, chicken and more for sandwich options and all are around 4 euro. Can’t beat that price.

Recapping all of what I saw and ate in a short 3 days makes me want to go back to spend more time. I literally did no research beforehand, putting the pressure on my friend, but she didn’t mind. I hope this list helps you get ready for a trip to Barcelona.

Have you traveled to Spain?

Stomach Bug, Dublin and Home MIMM#105

April 24, 2017 by Alicia Leave a Comment

It’s 5am Sunday morning as I write this and I am just wide awake. I managed to stay up until about 10pm Saturday which is 4am Dublin time and only slept for just over 5 hours. After rolling around and trying to get back to sleep for a while, I just decided I needed to get up and do some writing. At least a 6 hour time change isn’t as bad as a 15 hour time change (Australia), so I am pretty sure in a couple days I will be back on central time.

I haven’t written a MIMM post in a while so I thought today would be a good day to link back up.

So Wednesday evening, my last night in Barcelona, my stomach was just unhappy and yet I drank a mojito anyway (that probably didn’t help). Wednesday night sleeping was rough because my roommates left early in the morning (2am!!) for their flight and my stomach was keeping me from sleeping. I’m not sure of the cause but I wasn’t sure about the Barcelona water even though labeled safe. I mostly drank bottled at least and I think my immune system was just weakening from my poor eating and I probably caught something. It seemed to progress from sneezing, sore throat and then to my stomach. I also walked nearly 40,000 steps on Tuesday, the most ever in a day for me and my body ached (a combo of tiredness and being sick).

Thursday I had a plane to catch to Dublin. I ate some oatmeal as that is usually fine on my stomach, but still multiple trips to the bathroom before leaving my hostel. After breakfast I didn’t eat until making it to my hostel in Dublin, so I went about 8 hours or so without eating. Nothing looked appetizing at the airport and I wanted to make it through my flight. Luckily it wasn’t too bad of a flight and podcasts helped me to pass the time.

My hotel in Dublin had an amazing view right in the center city area. It was also next to a grocery store with more American foods than I had seen in a while. It was so nice to be in a city where signs were in English again and the Dublin people were all very nice just like people had told me.

My stop in Dublin was just under 48 hours and I will tell you cereal was probably half of what I ate there. I also continued to buy bottled water even though the Dublin water is safe to drink, I wanted bottled because of my stomach.

I knew I was tired so I relaxed Thursday afternoon in the hostel watching Mother’s Day on Netflix (the person next to me on the plane ride was watching it and I recognized some actresses and realized I never saw it). Eating cereal and rice cakes and watching a movie for a bit was great.

I decided to sign up for a dinner and a show that happened to be across the street from my hostel. I wasn’t sure about the dinner part, but I also didn’t want to totally miss out on an Irish experience. I picked over the dinner and the chicken was good. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more if I was feeling better. My body still ached and sitting for a while didn’t help. Finally the show began and I really loved the music and the Irish dancers. I left a little early though so I could get to bed.

Friday morning I had a walking tour at 11am, so I took the morning to rest. I slept until about 8 and then just pulled out my laptop to catch up on youtube videos while I munched on cereal in bed. I was actually glad I bought cereal because my hostel served breakfast but they closed off the kitchen so if you wanted to make your own breakfast, that wasn’t an option which I didn’t like that.

The rest on Friday was definitely needed and by the time of my walking tour I was feeling a bit better. My body finally didn’t ache which was good. I met a couple girls on the tour and we ended up chatting in between our tour stops. Our tour guide was so funny. Definitely would recommend Next City Tours.

At the end of the tour I ended up tagging along with the two girls thinking we would find lunch (though I was still unsure about my stomach). The girls ended up tagging along with some other guys and eventually we found ourselves at a pub around 2pm. We chatted away for a while and I said bye shortly after 3. The pub didn’t have much food and I don’t drink beer so I hadn’t eaten since breakfast yet again.

I then checked out a dessert place I passed Thursday evening and picked up a cookie. They had vegan ice cream which I realized shortly after ordering my cookie. I know cookies are probably not the best option for “lunch” after being sick, but I still wanted it.

I thought about how I should eat some real food, but instead walked back to some of the tour stops to check out inside tours. Unfortunately it was about 4 by this time and the guided tours were sold out, so I just took some more photos and also checked out Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. While walking I found this place called Chopped and got a BLT wrap.

I ate it back at the hostel as the first actual meal, besides breakfast, since Wednesday basically. After a bit more walking, I took the rest of the evening to relax and pack my bag for the last time.

I was up early Saturday morning, around 6:30am, since my other roommate was getting up early for a tour anyway. I polished off the box of cereal and got ready to leave. It was nice to have energy again and my stomach was finally getting better.

I caught the 8am bus to the airport and made it through security and US pre check by 9:30. I had plenty of down time at the airport which was better than when I felt I was cutting it close in Barcelona. We boarded around 10:40am and I was seated in an aisle and the last row right next to the bathroom which I was kinda happy about just in case. Luckily my stomach was good the whole 8 hour flight so I think this bug is pretty much gone.

I watched 3 movies I hadn’t seen on the flight, La La Land, Storks and Jackie. All very different and all pretty good. La La Land honestly didn’t impress me that much though.

We landed around 2pm Chicago time so I had plenty of the day left. I was so happy to take my US phone out of airplane mode for the first time in 4 months and start texting people. #itsthelittlethings

Once I got home, I unpacked, started laundry, ate some homemade baked beans my dad made and headed to Whole Foods with my mom. It was wonderful to be back at Whole Foods and of course we picked up about 10 items not originally on the list. I can’t wait to get back to cooking and baking, especially after food has been so unappetizing for the last few days.

I had a long list of things to get done and I think that is what kept me up until 10pm even though I barely slept on the plane. I sorted my currencies and made an interesting comparison.

I need to start writing a list of all the things I need to do so I don’t forget items as quickly plans are coming together, but I think I will give myself about 2 weeks in Chicago before I start my drive to move to Binghamton, NY. Can’t wait to catch up with friends around home and in between work on job searching, which will probably be a little easier with my US phone number working again.

I know the stomach bug thing is not very marvelous, but seeing a bit of Dublin sites was fun and I was happy the plane ride home went smoothly. Also ironically I think I lost those 5 pounds I wrote about in this post, thanks to the stomach bug at the end.

I am happy to be back in a familiar town, my childhood town, and just meet up with friends while I have this time and in between working on adulting like taxes that I delayed and getting an oil change for my car and of course job searching…not so fun stuff but after all the time off and being so free, I am somewhat ready for more of a schedule and routine again.

Do you enjoy routine or being spontaneous?

I’m definitely more of a planner and routine person, but with the travel, I sat back and relaxed about it. I think because I had more time with not working, it was easier to do that, but when working and having more responsibilities it feels more comfortable to have a plan.