Lisbon, Portugal I use the phrase "adventure" in quotation marks because adventure is a loaded word. Adventure, used in its most triumphant manner, means a daring and exciting excursion that is equally treacherous as it is awe inspiring. It is hiking up Manchu Picchu and watching the sunrise or wind gliding over the Mediterranean at dusk. If this is what adventure truly meant, than most of us have never had an adventure in our lives. Adventure to me is anything and everything outside of your comfort zone. It is that first step you take outside of your bubble of comfortability. It is the conscious decision to go against the grain and challenge the conformity in your everyday life. These adventures, if embarked upon, truly shape you who are. Neale Donald Walsch once said, "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." Everyday that I have spent abroad reaffirms Walsch's words and although this journey has tested me, I wouldn't trade it for the world. The thing with traveling is people only see the snapshots. They see the image at the summit and don't know of the difficulties you had rising to the pinnacle. See adventure is also a word used to make the mundane exciting. "Well, at least its an adventure" you say as you take two buses two trains and 21 hours to get to your destination because you missed your ferry (let's just say SNAV ferry and I are NOT on good terms). Adventure is watering down pasta sauce so you don't have to buy more or brushing your teeth in an airport bathroom. Because adventure is about the ups and downs, that's what makes it worth the ride. You eat the same meal for 6 days straight so you can afford to travel to new places and see sights that take your breath away. If I am overemphasizing on the downs of traveling it is only because I feel they are never talked about enough. If you are a broke college student traveling there are certain ordinary amenities that become luxuries. A good example would be washing machines. If you have access to a washing machine AND you don't have to pay you have hit the backpacking jackpot. A dryer in most of these countries is an actual luxury because most people hang dry their clothes instead so if you get your hands on a dryer life is pretty sweet. I traveled for 23 days straight with just my Patagonia backpack and some awesome travel companions. We started in Lisbon, Portugal where we went to the beach, ate delicious pastries and enjoyed Fado, a style of traditional Portuguese music. We also visited Lisbon's old town Alfama which sits on a hill that overlooks the entire city. After Portugal we boarded a nine hour bus to Seville, Spain. In Seville we explored the Alcázar, the royal palace and gardens that looked like it was straight out of Game of Thrones and ate the most amazing tapas at this restaurant by our apartment. We also went to see a Flamenco show which did not disappoint. Flamenco is an art form native to the Andalusian region and our show incorporated singing, dancing and guitar. Next stop was Barcelona where we danced our hearts out like the Cheetah Girls and ate overpriced paella. Then we flew to Pisa, Italy where we purposely took as many horribly centered Leaning Tower photos as we could muster before heading to Florence. In Florence we ate as much Tuscan cuisine as we could stomach and tried our hardest to find Duomo, the dome shaped famous cathedral. Despite its large stature, we spent a great deal of time walking towards many dome shaped buildings only to find it was not the correct one. Florence was a place that I had known I had wanted to go to when I studied because of something my brother told me about. There is a place called Piazzale Michelangelo that overlooks the entire city of Florence. People go up there around dusk and watch the sunset over the city. After my brother told me he did it I knew if I was ever in Florence, that it was a sight I simply had to see. So we hiked up the steps and the view was truly spectacular. Then we headed to Venice which was far more touristy than its Tuscan neighbor but beautiful in its own respect. By the time we had gotten to Venice we were so tired of pizza and pasta we actually ate at a sushi place by our hostel twice to cleanse our pallets. Next stop was Croatia, a tiny coastal country who only recently won their independence 20 years ago. Our first stay was in Split where we were greeted by our airbnb host Pero. Pero was a kind Croatian man who casually started sentences with phrases like "back in communist times.." and "during the war.." It wasn't until talking to Pero that we realized how recent Croatia's war for independence was and this newfangled freedom carried a great sense of pride for the Croatian people. Split is an incredible city with history as rich and old as Ancient Greece. The Diocletian palace sits in the center of the city and dates all the way back to the 4th century. I have never seen as structure as old as the palace and it truly was amazing to see something with such incredible history. We also made the trek up Marjan Hill, a hill that I am thoroughly convinced is actually a full fledged mountain. At the top of the hill was a Croatian flag waving over the sights of the city as well as a cross atop the hill. Our next and last stop was the city of Zadar. Zadar is a small, quiet city on the coast of Croatian that offers a nice relaxing vibe. On our last day in Croatia we visited Krka National Park. Krka National Park is home to some of the most stunning waterfalls in the world and the views were truly remarkable. While we were at the bottom of the falls we saw a man propose to his girlfriend! They did not speak our language so we simply applauded them as they passed and hoped they would have a bright and happy future. And thus was the end of my backpacking trip. It had been a long 23 days and we were thankful to have landed back in Ireland. The amazing thing about traveling is, the more you do it the more places you want to go. You would think traveling for 23 days straight would make you sick of running to catch trains and find your way around new cities but only 7 days later, we were boarding yet another plane in search of another adventure, this time to Holland. I am so incredibly thankful that I was able to have these remarkable experiences and I will always remember the month I spent traveling around Europe with one backpack, four friends and an urge to see as much as I could.
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AuthorI'm Angelisa. I am studying at NUI Galway for the semester and writing about my experience. Archives
June 2017
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