I’ve spent the last two days in Dublin, Ireland and have loved every moment. Dublin is a beautiful city with great people, great food, and great things to do. I highly recommend visiting the Book of Kells exhibit located on Trinity College’s campus. Also, try a Guinness…I honestly did not think I would enjoy the taste at all but with a good burger I actually enjoyed it. Can’t go wrong with an Irish pub!
Happy Monday! I left Paris yesterday and took a short flight to Dublin. Today, I went on an incredible day trip across Ireland. I was able to see the Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, Burren, and Galway all in one (long) day. I booked a bus tour through Irish Day Tours. I usually never prefer to site see by bus tours because most are strict with time because of the schedule and there are a lot of other tourists involved… which can sometimes take away from the experience. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this bus tour, it was wonderful. My tour guide/driver told Irish stories along the way and talked about the history of Ireland. If you are planning to visit Ireland, I highly recommend the Irish Day Tours company. They offer a lot of other tours throughout Ireland, but I was most interested in seeing the Cliffs of Moher.
Speaking of, the cliffs were INCREDIBLE. I have never seen anything more beautiful. As I mentioned, the tour consisted of other stops after the cliffs, which were equally amazing. Burren has a lot of rocks and smaller cliffs along the Atlantic, so extremely beautiful. Galway was the cutest town. We didn’t stay here long but I did have some time to walk around the city center, I instantly fell in love.
Ireland’s beauty is beyond what I imagined, I am in awe.
Cliffs of Moher
Burren
Galway
“Paris is always a good idea”
Paris, France, where do I begin? Paris has been at the top of my bucket list for years now and I am so happy I was finally able to spend time in this magical city. I spent four days exploring all the tourists sites, filling my belly with lots of baguettes and macaroons, and watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle every night. There were so many things I wanted to do but didn’t have the time, which only makes me believe I’ll be back soon Paris. Au Revoir!
Other than pasta, pizza, and gelato, before coming to Rome I was really looking forward to the coffee. I am a huge coffee gal. I’m happy to say I have not been disappointed with the coffee here, it is incredible. I’ve really enjoyed trying out different cafés in the area, each one is so unique inside. Aside from just coffee, the cafés also offer yummy pastries, snacks, and even small meals. Here are five of my favorite cafés in Rome:
Caffè Settimiano
This café is definitely one of my top favorites. It is located in the Trastevere neighborhood. I love stopping here for a typical Italian breakfast (croissant + cappuccino) in the mornings. Also, the staff here is always super sweet and welcoming.
Caffè Lungara
Caffè Lungara is also located in Trastevere. I come here often for a small lunch. They have the best fruit salad I have ever tasted, it is always so fresh and beautifully displayed…as you can see from this picture.
Bar del Cappuccino
This cappuccino bar is towards the city center of Rome. I originally went because I read that the man who works here specializes in cappuccino designs! His favorite designs to make for customers are hearts and apples.
Esco Sazio
Esco Sazio is a small organic juice and fruit café. I’ve never ordered coffee here because I always want an acai bowl. These acai bowls are refreshing and filling. I also appreciate how beautiful the fruit display looks in the bowl.
Don Nino
Don Nino is located in several parts of Italy, I first discovered it in Florence. There are three scattered around the city center of Rome. Their cappuccino and croissant are some of absolute favorites! Also, the interior design of their café is adorable.
Ah, Rome…the eternal city. I have been lucky enough to live in this historic city for the past month. With this amount of time, it gave me the opportunity to see and do a lot of things throughout the city. Here are some of my favorites:
Happy Monday! I just returned from a weekend trip to Lugano, Switzerland. To me, Switzerland has always been a place that seemed amazingly beautiful and my expectations were not let down. Lugano was a heavenly sight. I chose Lugano because it is about an hour north of Italy’s border so from Rome, the train fares were not too expensive. I was fortunate to find an apartment rental through airbnb that was right on the Lugano Lake. If you are ever in Lugano, I highly suggest staying near the lake. Being by the lake was so relaxing, it felt like time stood still for the weekend. The central area of town was about a 10 minute taxi ride from my lake rental. In town, there is so much to do and amazing food everywhere! Make sure you try some Swiss chocolate ice cream or just Swiss chocolate!!
A month ago, I flew over 4,000 miles away from home and moved into an apartment in Rome, Italy. I am taking a course here for the first 5 weeks and afterwards traveling around different parts of Europe. Of course I was excited and ready to begin a new adventure in a new foreign country. But as the first couple of weeks pasted by the excitement faded and I became sad and homesick. I know, I know, how could I be sad living in Rome? I thought it was because I missed my family, my friends, my own bed, my pets, etc. I thought I was lonely because I didn’t have a friend or family member to spend time with when I didn’t want to go somewhere alone. Back home, I was so used to just calling a friend or a family member to go somewhere with me so I wouldn’t have to alone. Sometimes it felt like there was such a stigma against doing things alone.
I came to realize by the end of my second week here, I missed familiarity. Not that I didn’t miss my family and friends, I did. But that didn’t mean I wanted to go home. I was in a brand new city, with new faces I didn’t know, and a language I didn’t speak. Once I figured out that I was missing familiarity because I was so used to doing the same things everyday at home over and over; I felt like this was my chance this summer to start making small changes in my everyday life.
The first change I made was a trip to Florence one weekend and that is when my eyes opened. This was the first time in my life that I had made a hotel reservation, bought a train ticket, took a train, and spent time wandering around a new city all on my own. Was it scary? Of course it was… at first. But for the most part it was liberating. I had the freedom to do and see whatever I wanted. To go out to eat and spend as much time as I wanted there. I had all the time in the world to myself. I was proud of myself. And I wasn’t so afraid anymore being so far from home. From that weekend on I started taking other small weekend trips to other new cities alone.
Honestly, I think it is important for everyone at least once in their life to travel somewhere alone. Why? Because you learn so much about yourself, about your environment, the world, everything. And I think that is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. The ability to be comfortable alone. And of course you aren’t alone “alone” because you will be surrounded by amazing people, culture, food, etc. I think I’ve learned more about myself in the last month than I have in the past 3 years. There really is something to be said about changing up your environment, it does wonders for the soul.
I love the quote that says “what you really want, is on the other side of fear.” I have always wanted to travel around the world and it wasn’t until I was in another country by myself that I realized, I’m scared. And being scared is okay, but it’s important to push yourself. I have pushed myself beyond my comfort zone multiple times so far and it has been life changing.
If you are someone who wants to try traveling solo or is now thinking about it, my advice is to just do it. Try. Push yourself. You won’t regret it.
I was recently in Naples for the day and decided to take a short ferry ride over to the small island of Procida. Procida was like a dream. The pastel colored homes and shops were enough to intrigue me but the atmosphere was something I haven’t come across before. Procida definitely gave an authentic Italian vibe because it wasn’t touristy at all and only few spoke english. Procida is a small island so it was easy to navigate, there are cute little shops and restaurants surrounded near the port. I climbed up one of the only hills and was able to spend time taking in the magical view. If you are ever in Naples, I suggest visiting Procida over any other nearby island, you won’t regret it!
Everywhere I looked in Venice really did look like a postcard. It was beyond beautiful. I was only there for one day but I was able to see a lot with the time I had. Venice is small but can be confusing, it resembles a giant maze. I got lost several times, but that definitely made the experience memorable! One thing I highly recommend if you are traveling to Venice is to ride in a gondola. I made sure to reserve a ticket online and it was way cheaper than buying a ride on spot. For 30 minutes, you can experience the magical city of Venice through the canals.
skylarbeck.com 