Travel Dreams Fulfilled!

Last year, we made plans to travel Europe together as our convocation trip. But Darlie backed up at the last minute due to his plans to persue a Masters degree with LSE.

At last, we made it this year - Darlie's convocation trip and my summer vacation!

The plan was to meet him in London, then travel to Rome, Tossa De Mar and Barcelona then back to London to meet his parents before attending his graduation ceremony. One of Darlie's apartment mate, Yut, was supposed to join us in our little trip. Unfortunately, he couldnt get his visa in time. So it was just the 2 of us..

I must say, Darlie planned everything perfectly throughout the trip. He was like the tour guide, and me - his customer. I followed blindly and he navigated professionally. Although there were times we missed and got lost, we managed to get to our final destinations, ahem, with my teeny bit of help. Okay, some naggings and questions are considered, right?

Rome

Rome is pretty and I'm impressed with the hostel that we selected at the last minute. (So good that I must do a little bit of advertising for them)

The Beehive.

The Beehive offers apartments and hostels and I must say, both are equally good depending on what your preference is. The apartment comes with private rooms but shared living room, toilet and kitchen, which allows interaction between apartment mates. So if you are a social animal, the apartments would be the right choice! To me, the apartment location was not very favourable. Darlie and I had to walk a long distance from the train station and the security along the way was bad. The newly furbished hostel, however, is much more practical, with either dorms or private rooms and shared toilets. I personally enjoyed by stay more at the hostel. Room is modern, pretty and things are tidier. It is located much nearer to the train station and the streets looks safer. Moreover, the vegetarian cafeteria was perfect! As there was only one chef entertaining a few tables, the wait was pretty long. But I like the food and beverages. Awesome and healthy!

We met a couple from US and 2 Aussies during our stay in the apartment. Perhaps due to my introverted nature, I didnt really interact much with them. Just didnt know how to start a conversation with them and I was too afraid of being awkward. Darlie did spoke to them and I was like a shy little girl, hiding behind him and merely agreeing with what he said.

Darlie and I covered the rest of the itinerary in a rush. There is so much to see in Rome and we only had 4 days. Our legs were aching by the end of the 2nd day! We practically walked from 9am to 10pm each day.

The only attraction that left me with a deep impression was the Colossuem. The remains of it was totally impressive. Although bits of it have and are still corroding, we could still see the entire structure.

Pizza, Pasta, Bruschetta.. I love Italian food! Gelato could be found almost everywhere in Rome. But Darlie and I reserved our stomach for the best because I couldnt afford so much calories, especially after our heavy meals.

Tossa de Mar

The night before our flight to Girona from Rome, we stayed over at the Ciampino Airport, all thanks to a last minute cancellation of a Ryanair flight we originally booked. We had no choice but to take the only flight early at 6am instead! Perhaps we viewed the sleep-over too lightly, it ended up as a terribly bad idea! Our plan was to take turns looking after our baggage while the other one sleeps. By the time we reached the airport, all comfy seats were taken up and we were left with individual chairs with handles by the side. We could only sleep sitted, with our back straight and upright! I was the first to rest while Darlie entertained himself with videos over his fujitsu. The hard chair, coupled with Darlie's laughters over the videos made me decide to stay up instead. Hours later, we were chased out by security guards, saying the airport is closing and we have to shift. Yes, we ended up outside the airport, like homeless souls... Thankfully, Darlie found another part of the airport where we could get shelter from the cold. The only bad thing is - we have to sleep on the ground! By then, King was already too tired to care. Fujitsu no longer had power to entertain me and I was left alone looking at King snore his way through the night. I managed to catch some winks before the alarm woke us up. It was an aweful night.

As Darlie wanted to avoid the long queue, we specially woke up earlier to be first in the queue. When we were finally attended to by the check-in officer, our baggage ticket was rejected because Yut's name was printed on it and he wasnt with us. Like a series of unfortunate events had befallen on us, we had to leave the queue and purchase another baggage ticket (worth 20Euros)!

Of all the flight I took, I enjoyed this one the most. It was a morning flight and I got to see the sun rise against the sea from a plane.

Tossa De Mar is pretty. The perfect place to spend a short 3 days of your summer period. I love the streets - strolling on the pebbered ground, greeted with green plants and occasional bright flowers hanging outside the bricked brown country houses, with King's hand in mine. haha.. Plus the lovely beach just a minute of walk away. Lovely ;)

The hotel we stayed in has a very friendly receptionist. She was the one who recommended this restaurant that makes mind-blowing Paella. I was totally addicted to it by the 2nd day. And on our last night there, we went back to the same restaurant, for tha Paella mixta!

Barcelona

This place has been my dream place since graduation, mainly owing to the crazy addiction to Zara's clothings. This trip down (for Zara) was disappointing. I've heard friends claiming how cheap Zara is in Spain. It was probably slightly cheaper, but I went at a period where the sales was almost over. So all the great bargains have been swept off by the earlier crowd. My only good grab is a pair of working pants for S$20+.

Other than shopping, Barcelona was all about churches, nude beaches and Gaudi. On top of that, it was my indulgence in food. Darlie and I had good meals almost everyday, most of the time it was Paella and some side dishes complemented with Sangria. But the Paella that I had at Barcelona was no better than the one at Tossa.

All of Gaudi's work are the main tourist attraction there. We visited some of his work such as La Sagrada Familia which was truely heart warming and inspiring. Most of his architect has lots of thoughts put into it before construction. How brilliant!

London

We flew back to London to meet King's parents after our short trip. The mini trip we took made me understand King more. Although we had several arguements, we were fast in reconciling them. King may not be as thoughful as I wish he was (probably due to his upbringing) and I may be temperamental and demanding at times. It was all great to discover these little things along the way.

My stay at London was comfortable and rather relaxing. One thing to add: it revolves around food too! Since I was travelling with his parents, we never missed a good meal. At the end of the trip, the modest me decided to share the price of a Gucci purse with King for his mum in return for the treats.

Speaking of purse, do be careful when travelling in London cos' the pick pockets there are well-trained. King's mum lost his purse while in a crowded tube. They worked in pairs, and the first distracts you while the other does the job. Terrifying. I have never seen such acts in Singapore yet and I hope I wont!