tourist – Running with Hannah

Well, I was sitting at my desk on Thursday, minding my own business,haq when Groupon sent me a very dangerous email. Now all of a sudden, I’ve booked a trip to Italy in September.

It’s ridiculous how happy that makes me. Ever since I’ve booked the trip, I’ve been googling places to go and things to eat. I absolutely cannot wait for the trip, but honestly, my favorite part is the planning before it.

I adore looking at the pictures of faraway places and dreaming of when I’ll be there. I love making crazy plans for busy days bustling through the streets of Rome or driving (!!) through the tiny, twisting roadways of Tuscany.

I love searching for tours, and tickets, and itineraries. I love trying to figure out how best to absorb the history and culture of where I’m going.

I absolutely cannot wait for the trip, but luckily, I have six whole months to savor the anticipation of going.

In case anyone is wondering where I’m getting my travel ideas, this site has been a lifesaver:

Visit a City

I’m also a huge fan of booking tours here:

Viator

And of course, I love saving all of my ideas to my lovely Pinterest board:

My Europe Trip Pinterest Board

I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated with any news or fun finds for the trip, and there will be LOTS of pictures when I come back.

Until then, ciao!

P.S. This is where I’m staying for part of the trip. HOLY COW!

Now that my race is over, I’m back to daydreaming about far off places. As the saying goes, “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list”.

One of my favorite places that I have visited was Barcelona. The city is just gorgeous and the people were so nice. I loved the history, the architecture, and I especially loved the food.

The highlight of my all-too-brief trip to Barcelona was a tapas tour through the Food Lovers Company. We did it our first night in the city and it was a great introduction to the area.

The tour guide (Aleix) was fantastic. He had so much knowledge about the city and talked to us about politics, history, and food.

The food was all stuff I would never have thought to try on my own. We went to 5 small tapas bars. One was literally a hole in the wall with no sign, but the food was ridiculous.

There was a wide variety of dishes, including fried fish, fresh sardines, black pudding with chickpeas, ham and chicken croquettes, and amazing desserts.

If anyone goes to Barcelona, I HIGHLY recommend this tour.

Has anyone else been? Did you have a favorite food there?