The final week was full of bittersweet moments. I could hardly believe the adventure was coming to an end. I had no idea if or when I would be able to travel again so I set off to make the last week as memorable as possible.
Southern France
We happened to be visiting Europe during the Euro-cup which in 2016 was held in France. By this point of the trip, it was down to the semifinals. Most of the bars were packed with patrons from all over rooting for their favorite team. It was really cool to experience whether or not you were into soccer.
Antibes
Antibes is located right outside of Nice, France in the French Rivera. From our hotel room, we could see the beautiful blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
Topless sunbathing is pretty common here, I was not expecting that so I was taken back a bit. While the water looked warm and inviting in late June the water was still pretty chilly. Not as chilly as the Atlantic waters that I am used to but chilly enough to make me think twice about going in.
After a gorgeous day laying in the sun Cynthia and I decided to check out the local bars. There was a soccer game on so we figured that meant there would be plenty of men out! All of the bars were packed. Unfortunately, all the men took the game very seriously and could not be bothered to talk to us.
After another relaxing day at the beach, we headed on a group trip to Monaco. Monaco is a tiny country nestled on France’s coastline. It also happens to be one of the wealthiest countries in Europe.
I played roulette for the first time in the Monte Carlo Casino, it is still the only time I have ever played a table game. As well as the most money I’ve lost at a casino. Why I thought playing a table game in one of the wealthiest casinos was a good idea I am unsure, it probably had to do with the number of drinks I had had.
Nimes
We spent most of the next day driving through the countryside. The drive from city to city became something I looked forward to. The views were always beautiful and it gave me time to catch up on journaling as well as some much-needed sleep.
We only had an overnight stop in Nimes but it happened to be on June 21st which is La Fête de la Musique. La Fête de la Musique is a huge music festival, around every corner there was a live show. The streets were packed with locals and tourists alike. There were all kinds of music there as well, one street would have a metal band then the next street over would be a jazz band. It was all completely free to just wander around and experience.
Another very noteworthy reason to add Nimes to your list is they have their very own Colosseum! The arena of Nimes is smaller than the one in Rome it is just as rich in history. It was built in AD 70 for the Roman games. In 1863 it was remodeled to be used as a bullring. Today it is still used to host concerts and other public events.
Spain
It was hard to believe that in less than a week I would be on my way home. I was excited to sleep in my own bed again and to cuddle my cat. But I was sad to go back to the same boring routine. Traveling had changed my perspective on life. I no longer wanted to plant roots I wanted to see the world but how?
Barcelona
Barcelona is such an incredible city! I was quickly blown away by the food and culture there. On our first day we went to the main square, Placa de Catalunya. Right off the main street is a great market, St. Josep La Boqueria. I could have eaten there for every meal! The market was full of fresh produce, local meat as well as prepared foods. The vendors were very friendly, and the food was incredible! There was even a sangria stand so you could walk around sipping a glass of sangria while browsing.
On the walking tour, we went to Parc Güell which is definitely the most beautiful public park I’ve ever been to. Not so much nature wise but for the architecture. The elaborately tiled bridges, benches, and walls were stunning. It looked like some kind of make-believe world that Dr. Seuss came up with. The park also gave you several spots for beautiful views of Barcelona.
On the walking tour, we also saw La Sagrada Familia. The style of this church was really interesting, it almost seemed like the front and the back of the church didn’t go together. The church was under a lot of construction while we were there so once again there was quite a bit of scaffolding in my photos which wasn’t ideal of course but it happens.
That night we got to experience one of my favorite nights while traveling, St. Joan’s Day. St. Joan’s Day is June 24th but the night before is when most of the celebrations take place. All along the beach is a giant party, they even set up a bar with a dance floor, but there’s plenty of people walking around selling beer too. As it gets dark you can see bonfires all along the beach. Just a heads up though everyone pees into the ocean so even though it sounds like a really good time to go walk along the ocean I would strongly recommend against it. I found this out the hard way.
On our last day in Barcelona, a group of us took a paella and sangria class. We learned how to make traditional paella and sangria yum! Traditional sangria is made with rum, brandy, brown sugar, orange juice, and red wine. The fruit is more of a decoration than anything else seeing how you don’t usually let the sangria sit and marinate.
Then our fabulous tour guide, Jason took us to this really fun shot place called Espit Chupitos. They had hundreds of different shot combinations all with fun names like the boy scout where you actually toast a mini marshmallow over the flames from the shot before dunking your marshmallow into your shot and drinking it. The shots are more for looks than actual alcohol content.
Madrid
We were staying close to Plaza Mayor so naturally, that was the first place we went to check out. The plaza was really beautiful with paintings all over one of the main buildings. Mercado de San Miguel wasn’t too far from there so we went over there to grab some dinner. This market was more focused on pre-made food unlike the one in Barcelona but still full of delicious and fresh items.
The next day we went on our final city tour, my favorite part was the Palace of course. Each Room had its own theme all with their own incredible ceiling, I was in heaven. They are however incredibly strict and do not allow you to take photos besides in a few specific rooms.
One of the gorgeous ceilings in the Spanish Palace
After the tour, I decided to go check out an Irish bar to watch Ireland vs France match and hopefully meet some adorable Irishmen. I did meet some adorable Irishmen but they were once again too into the game to really talk to. Instead, I ended up talking to a guy from the USA, Greg. He looked kind of young but he was funny and pretty friendly so I made plans to meet up with him later.
First I had to eat a hundred churros with my tour group! I’m not even joking when I say I ate at least 10 of them they were crispy, cinnamony and delicious.
After we all stuffed ourselves on churros we went to a rooftop bar to watch the sunset. Standing there watching the sunset over this incredible and foreign city it suddenly struck me that I was leaving. I was leaving in 2 days, what would it be like to go home? Going back to the monotony of normal life sounded absolutely awful.
Toledo
Toledo is a medieval city about an hour outside of Madrid. Once inside the city, there wasn’t much of the old buildings left, unfortunately. The streets were still cobblestone which was pretty cool, and there was a wall that established the original city limits.
The tallest building in my photo of Toledo is the cathedral. Inside and out Santa Iglesia church was one of the most impressive that I’ve seen.
Santa Iglesia Cathedral 
Just another gorgeous ceiling, this one was inside the Santa Iglesia Cathedral
After the Toldeo trip, it was time for the farewell dinner with my tour group. It was nice to all be together one last time before we all went our separate ways. More than likely I would never see these people again. Everyone was scattered throughout the USA some even as far as Alaska! While certain members of the group drove me nuts at times there were a lot of really good people.
After dinner, Cynthia and I went to grab a drink to catch up and say goodbye. I cried saying goodbye to her. In the end, she won our little bet by 1 guy so I paid for our farewell sangria. We had so many life-changing moments together that it was crazy to think we might never cross paths again.
My Spanish Conquest
Greg and I arranged to meet up again around 10 at Dubliners, the Bar we initially met at. We talked for a while, he was from Chicago but studying in Madrid for the summer. We had several drinks before he asked me what my plan was for the night, he knew about my 15 men for 15 cities goal so I said well I haven’t gotten Madrid yet.
We had been kissing a bit here and there but the next kiss was different, more urgent and primal. He started to slide his hand up my leg towards the bottom of my skirt. It was time to go. Unfortunately once again we had no place to go. I had 2 roommates and he was staying on campus that did not allow visitors.
We both checked out the bathroom but it was filthy there was no way I was getting it on in there. We went in search of a place and found an ally that looked promising but neither of us wanted to get caught so decided we had to get a hotel room.
As I had thought he wasn’t super experienced but he did put in a lot of effort into foreplay which was much appreciated. The entire time we were having sex he kept saying “wow this is great” at first I was like hell yeah thank you. But after the 10th time, I was over it.
We slept for like an hour before he woke me up claiming it was too hot for him to sleep so we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
