Chania, Crete, Greece

On a whim, I decided I wanted to go to Greece. I looked up RyanAir flights from my mom's apartment in Vicenza, Italy to Greece & found one flight that went to the island of Crete. I was set. I told my mom & she found a bed & breakfast. I booked the hotel & flight & we were off. We left on a Thursday. We arrived a little after midnight in Crete & waited over a 1/2 hour for the car to pick us up, which was set up by our B&B, but it never came. We then asked a cab driver to take us there, but he was unsure of where it was so he called the number that was listed in the email that was sent to me. The owner of the B&B made a mistake & thought we were to arrive the next day at midnight-honest mistake. So my mom & I arrive at the B&B & the owner, Vicky, couldn't have been more apologetic & nice about the whole situation. The next morning, we had breakfast, & it was just me & my mom in the entire room since you can call to have breakfast made at any time of the day. Breakfast was served every day of our trip & we ate outside by the pool, which was decorated to look like paradise, hence the name, Paradise Hotel.

 Mom & I explored the Old Town since we decided to rent a car. The rental was cheap & quite necessary since the B&B is in the middle of nowhere. The next day we visited 2 monasteries (one of them is pictured above), which had amazing views of the ocean & old historic paintings & writings. Mom & I also picked some beans at the monastery off the tree & kept calling them "holy beans." Come to find out, the beans smell like garbage when they ripen & are fed to pigs HAHA. 

We connected so well with the Paradise Hotel staff that we felt like a part of their family. The staff consisted of Vicky, her son, & 2 stepsons, & her husband. What a friendly & welcoming bunch of people to say the least. They told us so much about the Greek culture as well as recommend great restaurants & even sent us to Vicky's husband's mother's restaurant where they gave us free dessert. Everyone on the island of Crete was so warm, welcoming, & are willing to speak English to anyone & find out a bit about the person. Also, even the tourist trap restaurants have amazing food & I am not one for tourist traps. If you ever have a chance, visit Crete & stay at the Paradise Hotel in Stavros on the island of Crete!

Until next time... ciao 💗

Follow me on Instagram: @arielview13

Adventures with Dad & my Italia Exploration with my 2nd Family

In my final weeks of study abroad, my dad & his girlfriend came to visit me in Barcelona. We ate at great restaurants, visited a lot of the tourist sites, & the two of them went to Tarragona for a day trip. I was really glad they came & it was a great way to end my study abroad program. On April 27th, Sam & I had to fully move out of the apartment & we were on our way to my mom's apartment in Vicenza, Italy. Sam stayed for a week. We toured Vicenza & Rome. Rome was not what I thought it would be: The crowds are insane & the food was not what I expected (it was terrible quality).

Where my mom lives in Vicenza, however, has great food & the best gelato. I have had so much gelato since being in Italy. After Sam left, I went to work with my mom a couple days. Then my best friend Alexis, & her mother & sister came to visit. They spent one night in Vicenza & then we went to Venice & Florence. I did not expect Venice to be all water & to have water taxis & ferries to get around the town. It is a beautiful city & I cannot believe it is so close to where my mom lives.

We took a very nice tour where the tour guide told us the ins & outs of Italy & how the locals really live. Florence was amazing as well. We toured the city as well as took a food tour. That was the most amazing part of the whole trip. Cheese with jelly? Who would think that would have been good. We made 15 different stops on the tour to local restaurants & markets. It was absolutely amazing & I would recommend everyone take a food tour. I left Alexis & her family & took the train back to Vicenza & they continued to travel to Rome. It was so nice that they traveled so far so we could take this amazing trip together & I am so happy I got to further explore Italy!

Until next time... ciao 💗

Follow me on Instagram: @arielview13

Mom came to visit & Spring Break!

I am officially finished with my study abroad program in Barcelona! I am sorry that I haven't kept up with my blogs, but things have been a bit crazy. But let's start where I left off. After I traveled to Budapest, my mom came to visit me in Barcelona for the weekend. We went to Parc Güell & ate the usual paella. Then I ended up getting really sick & my mom took care of me, which was certainly a nice change of pace from taking care of myself all semester. After my mom left, it was time to board the MSC Cruise ship for my Mediterranean cruise. 30 CEA students boarded the ship, which included 9 of my friends. 

We cruised to Casablanca, Morocco first where we were culturally shocked at how different it was from what we were used to. Some of the children we saw were blind, there was a lot of poverty, & there were not many sites to see other than the mosque. We did not want to pay the tour fee for the mosque so this guy said he could give us a tour for cheap so we went with him. We get to the back entrance of the mosque where there are spiral stairs leading down to a pitch-black basement. Fortunately, they were not out to kill us as it may sound. In the end we paid the guy 5€ & made it out alive. We also ate at Rick's Cafe in reference to the cafe in the movie Casablanca. 

 We then sailed to Cadiz, Spain, which didn't have anything other than a beach. Next, we went to Lisbon, Portugal. It was raining that day so we took a tourist bus around so we could see the sites. I really enjoyed the structure of the town & would love to go back there on a nicer day. Lastly, we went to Genoa where we walked around the town, ate authentic Italian food (& pesto!), & had a wonderful time being with each other. 

 The cruise itself was okay considering the food was not what I'd expect since I've sailed before. But for the price & how many countries I got to travel to with my friends, it was well worth it. It was definitely the best spring break I ever had.

Until next time... ciao 💗

Follow me on Instagram: @arielview13