Buongiorno Roma!- Day 1

The airline had promised to deliver my luggage by 7 pm the evening I got in, but at 8 pm, there was no sign of my luggage, and when I tried to call them to find out the status, no one picked up. 

Even though I was jet-lagged, I had to do some shopping for underwear and toiletries since I had a 6 am flight to Rome the next day. (Note to self: always travel with underwear and a change of clothes). So I went to Italy wearing the same clothes I arrived in (washed them the night before) and the underwear and toiletries I bought. I wasn't too worried, I had an excuse to go on a shopping spree in Italy!

We had purchased a bus pass at the airport in Barcelona, so once we arrived we headed to airport shuttle that would take us into the heart of Rome. (We didn't have to do customs since we were still in a Schengen State).

The bus ride was about an hour and a half I think, I slept the entire journey. When we got off the bus, we had to walk for about ten hours half hour to get to the hostel we were staying. Thank God for Ipads and Google maps!! We must have gotten lost about three times before we found The Colisseum Lodge, our home for the next two days.

We were a bit unsure of what to expect when we got to the hostel since we had made the reservations online. We were met by our friendly host Sarah, who took my "luggage" and guided us to our room. It definitely was not a Sandals Resort, but the room was very clean, and we had a private bathroom, which was all we needed. After giving us our keys, she handed us some tickets and told us we could go and have breakfast a block away.

After breakfast, we went to see the Colosseum which was five minutes away.

Breakfast- coffee and pastry

We decided not to do the tour that day, but we walked by and took some pics.

Colosseum

After our "photo shoot", our plan was to do some shopping, get some food, do some more sight-seeing and plan the itinerary for the rest of our trip.

We knew we wanted to see The Vatican City, and the Trevi Fountain for sure, the others we would just play by ear. I also wanted to eat as much as my stomach would allow me to eat.

My shopping spree didn't go as planned because I really did not have much luck finding clothes I liked. Yes, this was Italy, but it was fall, so majority of the stores had only sweaters, boots, and long sleeved clothing :(. I live in a tropical climate, so I did not want to waste money on clothes I could not wear back home. We walked for a bit, until I eventually found some jeans and tank tops.

After "shopping" we were starving, so we decided to get some food. We stopped at this cafe, I can't remember the name of it, and with good reason! We got some paninis and coke. I can't even tell you how anything tasted, I was that hungry. What I do remember though, is that our server was very unfriendly and they charged us an arm and a leg 7 EUROS!!!!! for a small glass of coca cola! (coca cola cost Euros 2.50 In Barcelona). 

We had dinner at one of the best restaurants I have ever been to. "Il Tajut" is a very small and home-y restaurant. It was not very crowded (It was a bit hard to find as there was not a very visible sign), and we had dinner in a room lit by just candles and with soft romantic music playing in the background. They serve traditional Italian meals, really great wine, and is relatively inexpensive. The waitress was very friendly, even though her English was not that great, and the chef came out to greet us as well. We chose this restaurant based on the Trip Advisor reviews, and we were not disappointed! 

We ordered smoked trout with strawberries, mozzarella and lettuce as the appetizer, Goulash for the entree and chocolate balls for dessert.

Smoked trout with strawberries, mozzarella and lettuce

Goulash

Red, Red wine

chocolate balls

We decided to walk off the food and just strolled about for a bit without any specific destination in mind. Eventually, we ended up at The Trevi Fountain. It was the perfect ending to a great day.I definitely recommend visiting in the night. It is really a spectacular sight. I also recommend you buy some gelato, sit at the fountain for a couple hours and just people watch. (my pics below doesn't do the fountain any justice!)

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain

We ended our first night on a high and I could not wait to explore the more of Rome! Day 2 will be posted soon!

Enjoy!

My European Journey

The day was finally here!! I had been looking forward to this trip all my life it seemed. I was finally going to Europe! I could now cross this off my bucket list! The months of starving myself saving had finally paid off.

My flight from Montego Bay to Miami was on time, thank God, because I only had an hour and a half to connect from Miami to Portugal. My route was: Montego Bay to Miami to Portugal to Barcelona.

I was nervous and excited! I barely got two hours of sleep the night before. I am very terrified of flying and this would be my first time flying so far. I kept wondering how I was going to survive this long flight. I contemplated taking a sleeping pill, but got scared that something bad would happen on the flight and they would not be able to rouse me. So I scratched that plan and decided to get drunk instead. My paranoia won and I decided against that plan as well. 

I don't know if it was nerves or excitement, but I could not fall asleep on the flight from Miami to Portugal. I took out my Kindle in an attempt to read to pass the time and found out the overhead lights were not working, so I tried to turn on the TV and found out that also was not working. To make matters worse, It seemed everyone else on the flight spoke another language other than English, so I could not even attempt to make conversation with my neighbours. I must have tried to fall asleep a million times, to no avail.

At dinner the flight attendants brought out wine. This made me very happy! Normally when I drink red wine, I get very sleepy, so I decided to have a few glasses... three hours passed and I still could not sleep. It seemed the universe was conspiring against me, but hey, I was on my way to Europe, nothing was going to get me down. 

I checked the time, we still had a loong way to go, so I closed my eyes for what seemed like ten years and  when I checked the time again. Only half hour had passed! Unbelievable!

We finally touched down in Portugal and I felt like a zombie. I was tired and cranky and starving. It seemed like I had eaten dinner days ago, instead of just a couple hours. We had a three over layover in Lisbon, so I decided to get some food. It was about 9am, so they only had breakfast items and I had noo idea what to order because I was unfamiliar with the items on the menu. I ordered coffee to get something warm in my stomach ( I am not a coffee drinker at all) and some sort of sweet pastry because my blood sugar level was down.

Breakfast in Lisbon

After an hour and a half flight, we touched down at Barcelona El Prat airport! I quickly forgot about my hunger and the fact that I had not slept in over ten hours. It was a beautiful and sunny day and I could not wait to start my adventure! 

I giddily skipped to baggage claim to get my luggage. They were still unloading our luggage so we had to wait for about half hour...I watched as everyone collected their luggage and made their way towards the exit...there was no sign of my luggage...I started to panic but continued my search. After another half hour of scanning the carousel, I finally accepted defeat...the airline had lost my luggage...I went over to the helpdesk and explained that I could not find my luggage. They told me it had been left in Portugal and instructed me to complete a form and they would try and deliver it by the end of the day...I had a 6am flight to Italy the next day and I did not pack anything in my carry on...This trip was not off to a good start...

I was on the brink of tears. Only the sight of my boyfriend waiting for me outside prevented me from bursting into tears. For the next few minutes, I was the happiest girl alive...

My next post will give a detailed review of my trip to Italy and I promise you won't have to wait too long for it...

Planning my Euro Trip

It amazes me how much time has passed since my last post. I have been meaning to write a post for some time now...well for two years to be exact, and kept putting it off... I always told myself it was because I had nothing to write about, but even after I went on an amazing trip to Spain and Italy, it still took me five months to update my blog.

It has always been a dream of mine, as I am sure it is for almost everyone, to visit Europe. This is something I did not really dwell on too much because I did not think I could even afford to go in this century... Unluckily Luckily for me, my boyfriend decided to move to Spain, so I was provided with an even greater incentive to visit. 

Checking flight prices to Barcelona became a routine. Every night before bed, during work, and twice on weekends, I scoured the internet, trying to find the best flight prices. I started my "Spain fund" in March, 2013, hoping I would have enough saved to take a trip in the next year or so. Little did I know I would be able to fulfill my dream a couple months later.

I stopped going out to parties, tried to eat more home cooked meals, and only splurged on my two loves (wine and ice cream) once a month. By June, I had  managed to save up enough money to cover the cost of my ticket, but I still needed to save more for spending money. My aim was to save up enough money so that I could budget at least 100 Euros a day. I decided to make a big splurge and use all my savings on this trip. I would worry about my finances after the trip! 

Before I could buy my ticket, I had to make sure I got my Schengen Visa (Visa required to travel to most European countries). Thankfully the visa process was not a very tedious or expensive one. My visa application fee was JMD $7095, which has to be paid in cash and the exact change preferred (prices are subject to change depending on the exchange rate). Click here to see Schengen visa requirements.

I decided to visit at the end of September when the ticket prices were a little less pricey ( I got my ticket for under a $1000 USD! using www.trafalgaronline.com, www.cheapoair.com had similar prices). Since I was going to go all the way to Spain, I figured I would try and visit another country while I was there. I always wanted to visit Italy and France as well, but due to time constraints, I had to choose one. 

I was now well on my well to crossing off two countries off my bucket list.

In my next posts ( I promise I won't wait another two years to post them), I will share my experiences of these two amazing countries with you.