My Barcelona

IMG_2417Today’s post is kind of personal and (at least for me) rather emotional. It´s about the love of my life, the city of my dreams and the most beautiful place on earth: Barcelona. People that know me know that I spend my first four years living in Spain, in a city close to Barcelona. Ever since, I´ve been in love with the city and the region. Even when we went back to Germany, we tried to keep and integrate the culture into our lives. I grew up with Spanish Tortilla, Els Pets, Castells, Cacaolat and Shin Chan. We had a Spanish Au pair for two years and we made sure to go back and visit the region and our friends at least once a year. I grew up speaking three languages; unfortunately I lost all my Spanish and Catalan when we went back. But ever since I was little, I was determined to live in Barcelona again and learn how to speak Spanish.

Foto 3Well, sometimes dreams do come true. When I went to University, it was part of my study program to spend one year abroad and I knew that I wanted to spend it in Barcelona. After the most stressful organization of all times, I finally made it to Barcelona last August. And all I can say is that it was the best thing ever! I fell in love even more with the city and I enjoyed every day that I got to live there. (Well, the whole studying-thing could have been a little less stressful but hey, at least I was in Barcelona) Continue reading “My Barcelona”

Best of Canada – Part 2

IMG_6135 IMG_6138Part two of our Canada Roadtrip starts with our way to Ucluelet. After leaving Seattle, our next stop was Victoria/ Vancouver Island and from there we were off to Ucluelet, a small town at the pacific coast. The distance between those two towns is not that far but with the speed limit, lunch and several stops to admire the scenery it took us a couple of hours to get there. Vancouver Island is exactly how everyone pictures Canada – very green, very beautiful and with amazing views. I am still convinced that I saw a bear on our way. At least there was something dark and very large standing down by the river, I am sure it was a bear eating his lunch. We were too fast though too double check.

Continue reading “Best of Canada – Part 2”

Best of Canada – Part 1

IMG_5614Oh Canada, you were just wonderful to us. Last Sunday, when the plane landed back in Germany we were all extremly tired but also really happy and overwhelmed by all the amazing impressions. Ten days power-traveling through Canada was hard at times but it was absolutely worth it. I didn´t want to present all the 5000 pictures I took in one huge post so I decided to spilt them up in two posts. So here we go…

IMG_5607The first stop was Penticton, a lovely little town about 4 hours from Vancouver, where my little brother spent his year as an exchange student. I think there are far worse places you can end up for a year, the town is located between two huge lakes in the middle of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It´s absolutely beautiful there. The climate has its upsides too, we were told that it is extremely mild for Canada. The region is also known for its wine and its orchards. Fresh fruit everywhere! We had one day to get an impression of the town and the scenery and get to know the host family before it was time to say goodbye. Heartbreaking! Continue reading “Best of Canada – Part 1”

Mexico 2010

mThe New Year starts with reminiscence of the past: my trip to Mexico in summer 2010. My sister spent one year there as an exchange student and at the end of it my family and I went to pick her up. I did get to visit here before in December 2009 but that didn´t stop me from going again. And thanks to my travel experiences made in Costa Rica it was my job to organize the trip (not always met with huge enthusiasm on part of my family, when once again I woke them up before dawn so that we could visit the pyramids at sunrise and without millions of tourists around us – totally worth it!).

, 132, 142Mexico is a great country! My sister and I had the privilege to spend some time living in Central America (she in Mexico, I in Costa Rica) but even though some things regarding culture and climate are quite similar, a lot of things are very different as well. Mexico is a lot bigger and offers much when it comes to nature and cultural sites. Especially the pyramids which you can find almost anywhere in Mexico – good luck finding one in Costa Rica. Continue reading “Mexico 2010”

Costa Rica 2009

Summer 2009, I just graduated and had no clue whatsoever what to do with my life. While most of my friends went off to university, I knew that before going into the grown-up world, I needed to see more of the world itself. And I wanted to improve (or better said – learn) my spanish which limited possible destinations. So I looked for volunteer work I could do, booked a flight and went to Costa Rica for 6 months.

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