So I know the tumblr posts have been behind, but it gets hectic out here esp with trying to find decent wifi and dealing with heat and humid conditions. I miss my 62 degrees! We’re each all gonna to do a short summary on our experiences in Pairs, Rome, and Barcelona. And choose 1 picture of each city so this will be the creme de la creme.
For Paris it was a total 180 for me from being in constant my favorite cold weather to heat. Honestly this city is SUPER dirty and I feel it is totally overrated. The food was alright nothing to die for. Although it could be maybe just the places we tried, but I can just say we went to Paris because its a staple place to go in Europe. Also our apartment we got was smaller than my room and had to walk up 6 flights of stairs which could’ve played a role in our experience lol. My favorite part was probably the Eiffel Tower it is super nice at night and if it wasn’t for that I would’ve probably regret going to France.
Who needs chan?
As for Roma it is a nice city lots and lots of beautiful places to see it made me realize all we really have nothing here in the states compared to them.The food was good but it is def a once in awhile thing. I don’t know how long I can last with just Pizza and Pasta. Oh and how they do it here is pasta is the starter and the meat is the main dish after it is never together. we are spoiled here in the states. Staying in the hostel was fun. Met cool people and kept going back for HH even after we had checked out the 2nd day. We finally got caught up but the bar tender Russle did his magic and we got to stay haha. We had some fried zucchini flower blossoms that had some cheese it in one of the best things I’ve tried on this trip by far.
Cacio e Pepe (Cheese and Pepper). Courtesy of Mr. Anthony Bourdain on the Rome episode. Pretttyyy goods only if it had some meat though.
And last but not least. Barcelona. This is a must visit for sure. I love this place. SUPER clean and well maintained. They really make an effort here and it shows. We explored the city went shopping and the food market. Got super nash on “Nasty Monday” event heres I think we all basically blacked out haha. The place was like a Regency Center with Indie-ish music all night. We had lots of fun besides everyone being 18-20 years old. My good friend Tri would’ve had the time of his life here super hip people. The food was good. Tapas are must eat had the best dinner overall here in Europe on our last night here. As quick as it came it is now gone many great memories were made and I’m glad I got to share it with non other than my close friends. I’m a lil sad but at the same time excited for future adventures!
Well done Fries with some sauce and…. wait for it… 2 fried eggs with the yolk busted on it. Who would’ve thought eggs on fries? Orgasmic on my taste buds.
<3 Lemons.
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I’ve been so lazy with my own travel journal that I’m surprised to find myself contributing to Lemon’s. Maybe I’ll copy and paste what I’m about to write and kill two birds with one stone!
Paris seems so long ago. What I remember the most is the shock of our tiny ass Paris apartment after just leaving our amazing Amsterdam apartment. I lugged my 40 lbs suitcase up 6/7 flights of stairs (I couldn’t keep the flights straight) into a studio that fit at the very most 2 full size beds. There was also this odd smell, but maybe that came from us keeping peeled garlic in the mini fridge o_O. Either way, the place did have its perks as it was located right in the middle of everything. We were at the heart of St. Michels, surrounded by an endless number of sidewalk cafes and small French bistros. Unfortunately, nothing really stood out except for the gyros we had…which weren’t even French! I lied, the macarons from Laduree were worth the exorbitant priced I paid. My favs was the salted caremel! We also went on an awesome walking tour. The sites mean so much more when you understand the story behind them. This was by far our most successful touristy day of the entire trip. Lastly, our experience at the Eiffel Tower was somewhat surreal. We had seen the tower from a distance a couple of days back, and luckily forced ourselves to spend our last night at the actual tower. Nothing beats seeing the real thing up close. We popped some wine, brought a picnic of crackers, cheese, prosciutto and pate, and enjoyed one of the more memorable moments of our trip.
After meeting up with David and Totran in Rome again (Tien and I were in Florence), we discovered that we picked another primo spot right next to the Termini Station. Our hotel room was 5 floors up this time but there was an elevator! We [I] got pissed drunk by 9 PM at the cheap bar at their old hostel the first night we were all together again. I remember talking to a lot of other travelers from all over the place (lots of Australians), and many of them were on 2+ month trips. I don’t know how they do it because I can’t imagine living out of my suitcase for more than a month. I had more than enough pizza to last me a lifetime, and I was able to try all the pastas that were on my list. The standout dish was definitely the gnocchi with clams and zucchini blossoms (nommmmmmmm). We saw the usual Roman Forum, Coliseum, Vatican City, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. However, the best time by far was us chillin on the balcony of our room, drinking vino, and reveling in the fact that at that very moment, we had absolutely no responsibilities and no obligations to anyone else but ourselves…to have fun!
On to Barcelona, the city I have been waiting for the entire trip. I have wanted to visit Spain for as long as I can remember. Primarily, because I wanted to party. As I’m writing this on the eve of our departure, half of me wish we had started our trip here. All the traveling had finally caught up to us and there was more chill time than there was party time =(. Well, this is probably due in part to this little event I discovered called Nasty Monday. This would probably have been the best night ever since it was most of my favorite things all in one place, if I could remember more than half of it. I recall lots of hipsters, awesome music (I even convinced Tien to dance!), and then…nothing. Le sighs, I wish I could remember how much fun I was having!! Besides that, food wise, I was extremely happy with Barcelona. We had amazing seafood at La Boqueria (the market), delicious tapas at this small restaurant off the beaten path, and then my favorite meal of the entire trip on our last night here. Cerveceria Catalana. If you ever visit this city, eat there. Everything we had was good (baby squid, fried anchovies, grilled cuttlefish, veal, shrimp, the list goes on).
My favorite city was probably Amsterdam, but I will be coming back to Barcelona with my dancing shoes.
Thank you, Totran, for providing us with home cooked meals. Thank you, David, for wanting to drink 24/7 (can this David come back with us to SJ???) Thank you, Tien, for putting up with my shiettt and being my constant traveling companion. I am not looking forward to real life, but I guess I shouldn’t complain after an amazing trip with some amazing people <3.
-Khanh
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The world is meant to be traveled eaten. I’m going to make these really brief cause its late and we have an early flight.
If it weren’t for the Eiffel Tower and all the wine - Paris would not be worth all my euros.
Our 4 days in Paris went from hot to cold and rainy back to hot and then drizzly. Luckily on our last night we had a cool night with clear skies. For me the highlight of Paris was our picnic at Champ de Mars by the tower. We found a spot near an acoustic guitar player, had pate, cheeses, prosciutto , crackers and a bottle of red wine. Good food and great company.
My favorite things about Paris: Walkable city. We were walking distance to markets, side walk cafes, metro stops and parks. The only time we used a taxi was to get to the airport the last morning we were there.
Rome! Not as I imagined it would be… Probably because movies and television made this city seem old and romantic. We stayed in the city centre so most of the places were very tourist-y/busy. It was also realllllyyyyyyy dirty and was worst because of the heat. Ice cold drinks were hard to come by so I was pleasantly surprised that my iced coffee had an ice cube made of espresso.
I’m going to cheat and post 2 photos for Rome. Gnocchi with clams. HellaBomb.com/yummmssss
Our best meal was at Roma Sparita — we dined outside and spent a pretty penny on appetizers, a pasta course and main course. Since we tossed money in the Trevi fountain (and drank from it) I’m sure we’ll return to Rome and eat here again. Can’t wait!
My favorite thing about Rome: a bottle of house wine for 8 euros!
Our last stop was Barcelona. I was really looking forward to Barcelona because I expected it to be a laid back part of our trip — just drinking, eating and chilling.
Which is exactly what we did. Barcelona has a huge outdoor market full of fresh meats, fruits and vegetables. I’m so jealous that Europeans get to eat like this on the regular.
My favorite thing about Barcelona: what a clean and well developed city! Public transportation is insanely efficient. They have separate bins for trash, plastics, glass and paper on the streets. Every other street has a “pocket playground” I’m sure Barcelona has a high number of happy residents.
This eurotrip has been amazing. I’m lucky to have shared such an eating adventure with good and fun friends. I’m sure this will be the first of many trips! (Tien I’m going to start planning a snowboarding trip sooooon - just promise to teach me some skillz)
- hearts,
TM
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First and foremost, I would like to thank my girlfriend and good friends (Khanh, David, and Totran) for the wonderful memories we shared during the past few weeks in Europe.
Paris: The best part about Paris would have to be the train ride there. After David and I decided to spice things up by killing some Hennessy with no chaser, I started feeling like Da Vinci and the artist in me was born. I decided to get a little artsy and came up with a piece I call “Bear Squared”. This piece is dedicated to my girlfriend who does not appreciate me. But alas, she still brings joy to my life. ^^
Rome: I finally made the pilgrimage that all Catholics should do before they die, which is to visit the Vatican City! It was an honor to hang out with my photographer and mentor, who just happens to be Tin Mai’s sister, Totran Mai! Totran stepped up my camera skills by 100x and enlightened me on the wonderful religion we call Catholicism. Next on the agenda, I will show you how to shred the slopes!
Barcelona: Last but not least, this humid place called Barcelona. Barcelona’s weather condition would probably have to be the least pleasant for David so we decided to start our own RPG game to make things more enjoyable. David was the tank/healer, I was caster, and we also happened to be grouped up with two under leveled noobs (Khanh and Totran). We would pretend to enter instances (the metro station) and collect rare items and weapons (prosciutto and various souvenirs) as we went about our daily adventures around town.
All in all, this was the most memorable trip of my life thus far! Let’s do a round two to the Swiss mountains, guys!
Tien
