Fall break

After midterms, you will have a week long break from classes! for me, this was in the last week of October. My friends and I travelled to Portugal, Spain, and Morocco during our break. Many students from UH did a similar route, but others decided to go to Scandinavia or the UK... all amazing choices!

Lisbon

We departed out of the Pisa airport, only a 45 minute train ride from Florence. We flew into Lisbon... we wanted to start in Lisbon because Portugal is known for bad airports! We explored the city for two days, and the food and markets were amazing, especially the seafood! If you have the time I hear renting a car and checking out the coast beyond the city is fantastic) and then proceeded to train down south. We hiked on the southeast tip of portugal, near Lagos for a hike called the Seven Hanging Valleys. It was absolutely stunning along the coast with steep cliffs, and we finished off the hike with a swim near the town of Portimão.

Seville

From there, we bussed to Seville, Spain. Sevilla has great food as well, our favourite was their empanadas. It is in southern Spain, so it was quite warm, which we really enjoyed. There is a lot of fantastic architecture with Arabic influences, with it being situated so close to North Africa. We got churros from Bar El Comercio which has been around since 1904 and wandered around their small, walkable streets in the city centre.

Marrakech

We flew out of the Seville Airport to Marrakech, Morocco! We arrived at our AirBnb in the afternoon and immediately set out on a tour through GetYourGuide, which included a short camel ride, a dinner, and tour of an argan oil commune. If you have the time, I would definitely recommend journeying out to the Sahara, but it just didn't fit our schedule this time around. The Next day, we went on a waterfall hike in the Atlas Mountains also through GetYourGuide which was beautiful. Finally, we checked out the market, which is an incredible experience, and a chance for you to work on your bartering skills.

The food in Morocco is fantastic, but I would make sure you only eat from chains or from touristic locations, like on the tour the food was fine, but we don't have the same tolerance for local places. I also would recommend drinking only bottled water. One pro of Morocco is it's extremely inexpensive. Our airbnb was $68 USD a night for 4 people and was a super nice two bedroom place located right between the airport and the city. There is also an app you can download to barter your taxi fare. I would recommend this or calling for a taxi so you don't get scammed.

Finally, we flew to Barcelona. Note, if you're flying out of morocco, you have to check in at the desk to get a paper ticket, and they will ask to measure your bag if you're flying on a budget airline. There were few places we ran into them actually sizing our bags but this was one of them, so wear some extra layers on that flight!!

Barcelona

Barcelona was the most expensive, costing around 250 per night in an AirBnb for 4 people BUT it was amazing! It was easily my favourite city. I am a big sucker for well-done urban planning. A city with a fantastic metro and bus system, walkable, with a mix of businesses, housing, and greenspace is something that just gets me going. Barcelona is just that, and there is so much to do. The nightlife is great, their parks are beautiful, and there is so much to see in terms or architecture. They also have fantastic shopping and tons of resturants to choose from. One note, in Spain, their main grocery store is called the Mercato and it was definitely our favourite grocery store in Europe. When you go, splurge on some of the high end Jamon from the counter with the hanging pork legs. Its a bit pricey but you won't be disappointed. I dream of it TBH.

When you are in Barcelona, check out the Montjuïc fountain show which happens every night from I believe 8-9pm. ITS AMAZING!! and then during the day, go back to the area and check out the catalunya national museum. Even if you dont check out the museum itself, walk around the grounds for amazing amazing views. There is also a 2 dollar ticket that allows you to see the main hall and the rooftop garden, which is pretty gorgeous and boasts an even more amazing view. Checkout Parc de la Ciutadella too for just a gorgeous huge park that is great for pictures and will give you a taste of hawaii in their -free to enter- greenhouses.

We flew out of Barcelona Girona back to Pisa finally, 8 nights later on a crazy busy trip. It was a lot, and one of my friends got sick at the end sadly. It was an amazing trip, but definitely was all gas.