2017 Travel Recap

2017 was quite the year for me! While not a record-setting travel year, I still made it to 5 countries (4 if you don't include the U.S., where I live.) 2017 was a crazy year for me - I got married, moved across the country and had a blast exploring the world with friends and family!

First up was our girls' trip to the Bahamas for my bachelorette party! It was my first time on a cruise and it was a blast! It was much more structured than I'm used to, but overall it was still an awesome experience. I hung out with my sisters and my best friend in the sun, enjoying fruity drinks and light-hearted books. 

Next is the reason I included the U.S. in my travel list - we moved! We packed up our belongings and within a week of being married, my husband and I were settling in our new town. We are relaxing in a small town in Ohio right near the river and are loving life.

Next up was our honeymoon! What was supposed to be a quick layover in Madrid turned into a one-day adventure! We missed our connecting flight and were put up in a hotel. We decided to make the best of it and set out to explore some of madrid! We were exhausted, but we still managed to have a blast exploring Puerto del sol and the city center.

We did eventually make it over to Portugal for our actual honeymoon. Portugal is absolutely beautiful! We traveled from Porto to Lisbon to Luso to Lagos then back up to Porto. Portugal is absolutely amazing, and I can't recommend it enough!

Finally, we got to spend some time in Canada! We made a few pit stops in Toronto and Niagra Falls before visiting with family near Muskoka. The weather was lovely and the lake was just gorgeous. We had so much fun and will absolutely be going back soon!

I hope your year was filled with beautiful adventures. If you'd like help planning your next excursion (domestic or international), visit my website at MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com. 

The Beautiful Game - Live!

Over the course of my trip I have been lucky enough to see 5 live matches including seeing FC Barcelona 3 times, Manchester City twice and Real Madrid twice! I even got to watch El Clasico live! SO COOL.

I think some of my favorite things are the songs and the craziness of the crowds. There is one section devoted to the super fans and they have so much fun throughout the match. There is usually a leader who calls out the cheers and he usually spends majority of the match with his back to the pitch! Apparently his priority is directing his “choir” haha!

Some of my favorites include what appears to be wordless chanting to the tune of the theme song from Pippi Longstocking, I kid you not. It is so entertaining! That and at the English match when the opposing team section (who is blocked off separately – more on this later) left early the  whole stadium started singing “IS THERE A FIRE DRILL?” It was such an experience!!

As mentioned previously, the away team fan section is completely separate from the rest of the stadium. And when I say completely separate, I mean completely separate. They are sometimes put in what actually looks like a cage! In every instance they are put in a specific block and surrounded by neon security guards! They even have to stay seated until all the home team fans have left the stadium.

El Clasico was far and away the coolest match I got to witness – Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona at Camp Nou (FC Barcelona’s home stadium). Prior to the game I got to witness my first riot of sorts. It looked sort of controlled but there were definitely flares and chanting and loud bangs which I can only hope were more fireworks rather than gun shots. But oh the spirit! I love Europe and their enthusiasm for the beautiful game! In the US, even if the National Team were to win the World Cup I don’t think you would see such passion.

At several games I saw full grown men jump up and down and hug and kiss each other after a goal was scored. One fellow was so invested in the match that when the opposing team was awarded a PK he actually left the section. He couldn’t stand to witness an opposing goal. He literally was openly crying when Barca won.

In another instance I got to witness a man and his son have the absolute time of their lives. If it hadn’t been for their appearances it would be hard to distinguish adult from child just by their mannerisms. Both yelled and sang and cheered with unabashed passion.

I love the beautiful game and I feel so blessed to be a part of it. Women’s World Cup coming this summer. LET’S GO!

I Have a Thing for Bookstores

Everywhere I go I find myself being drawn to bookshops. I can't help myself - if I see a cute shop or I hear of a unique bookstore I have to find it and go in. Here are some of my favorites:

This picture I am literally planning on putting on a canvas to hang in my house. I just absolutely love it. It's rustic and authentic and represents an amazing memory.

This first three pictures in this post are from Aqua Alta Book Store in Venice. It's off the beaten path but someone I met at the hostel  tipped me off about it. It was so totally worth the venture out past the tourist stops in Venice near St. Mark's Basilica.

This is from a library museum in Venice!

I stumbled on this beautiful little shop in the middle of a walking lane. I love little gems like this. 

That tiny bookshop had books that were hundreds of years old. 

There's beauty everywhere you look, you just need to keep your eyes open.

Malena

Barcelona Baby!

I love this city. Upon arrival we did a lot of recon around the hotel were the team would be staying in Placa Espanya. I'm slightly exhausted from running around so much, but it was great to get to know the area.

Since we've been in Barcelona we have hit all the hot spots: La Rambla, La Sagrada Familia, the Olympic village/ port and I even got to see an FC Barcelona game in person! It was every bit as amazing as I thought it would be. I got to see Messi score three times! It was phenomenal.

Tomorrow we are off to Park Guell (One of my favorite spots) and to tour the FC Barcelona stadium. It should be a good day.

I'm loving this city, but boy am I tired! My knees and legs are slowly giving out. I'm hoping to get some serious sitting time done in the relatively near future so I will be ready to go for Madrid!

Malena

New Adventures!

Hello again everyone!

I know I haven't been updating this lately, but that's because I have had so much going on! Not the best excuse, I know, but there it is.

Anyway, back to the point of this post - I am going on an adventure! I will be taking a very last minute work trip to Europe for 5 weeks! 5 weeks. Dude, I know. 

I will fly out Wednesday evening, stop in Copenhagen Thursday morning before making my way to Manchester. I have some business there, then I'm off to Dublin to meet up with the team! The first part will be training, so I'm only around for half a tour. I will be with the team in Dublin, Manchester and London but then I'm off to Barcelona. 

I did not think I would be back in Barca so soon, but hey! I'm not complaining. From there I'm off to Lake Como, Venice and Milan in Italy. 

I close out my trip bopping back and forth between Barca and Madrid. Craziness.

This trip is coming up so fast and I still have a lot I need to do. I worked a ton at the radio station this weekend and its my last weekend with my boyfriend for a good long while so I've been trying to find a balance. Ah! Oh well. I know it will all come together soon. 

I am currently trying to figure out if I want to pack in carry-on only or if I should just bite the bullet and bring a bigger bag. It is 5 weeks after all.  My plan is to just figure out what I need to bring and then pick a bag based on that. I want to be comfortable, but not overloaded because goodness knows I won't be in one spot for any length of time.

Malena

The Best of Spain

I thought I would collect my favorite photos and memories from each country and make a blog post for each one. Let's start with Spain.

Puerta de Alcala - unfortunately this was taken on the move out of a bus window, but still. This was my first experience in Madrid!

The next day we got to explore a bit more on foot. This is me in front of the Palacio Real!

This was a not so perfect shot, but still Madrid's Cathedral was beautiful. I wasn't feeling very well during this part of the trip so the shot's aren't the best.

This was where we had lunch! It was a market place that you could wander around and pick and choose your meal. Again, not the best picture.

Next stop Barcelona!

We made a pit stop at the Olympic Stadium from the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992

This was a beautiful Cathedral in Barcelona - we had a lovely walking tour all around this area.

The beautiful interior.

This was taken out of a train window from Lloret de Mar to Barcelona. 

Downtown Barcelona! So beautiful. There were lights everywhere.

Hanging in an Ice Bar in Barcelona.

This was a really cool experience and I'm so glad we got to experience Barcelona. 

Overall my trip was fantastic and I can't wait to go back!

Malena