So just to clarity, this post has 2 different topics, but they do come together at the end..I promise.

Trip Planning

Exciting news! Paul and I have been able to finalize pretty much our entire 6 weeks together! It’s a busy, jam packed 6 weeks, but it is going to be AMAZING
Take a look at our itinerary:

June 25: Fly from Edmonton to London
June 26: Arrive in London and fly from London to Rome. Stay overnight in Rome
June 27: Train from Rome to Florence
June 27-July 1: Florence
July 1: Train from Florence to La Spezia, which is close to Riomaggiore (Cinque Terre)
July 1-7: La Spezia
July 7: Train from La Spezia to Pisa. Stay overnight in Pisa
July 8: Fly from Pisa to Barcelona
July 8-13: Barcelona
July 13: Fly from Barcelona to Berlin
July 13-21: Berlin
July 21: Rent a Car, drive from Berlin to Hamburg
July 21-23: Hamburg
July 23: Train from Hamburg to Copenhagen
July 23-25: Copenhagen
July 25: Train from Copenhagen to Malmo
July 25-August 1: Sweden (including Malmo and Stockholm, hopefully)
August 1: Fly from Copenhagen to Vienna
August 1-4: Vienna (Caylie joins us in Vienna on Aug 1!)
August 4: Fly from Vienna to Amsterdam
August 4-8: Amsterdam
August 8: Paul flies home 😦

I know…we’re all over the place and go to 7 countries in 6 weeks. But I don’t know when we’re going to have this opportunity again, so I’m going to get in as much as I possibly can in the time that we have. Not to mention, I have family in Berlin I want to see, and Paul has family in Sweden. It was a no brainer that we would end up in both those places at some point. I also knew Italy would be where we started. Paul loves Italy. I swear, he might be a handsome brown guy on the outside, but on the inside he’s a pizza, pasta, and gelato loving Italian man. He often tells me his plans for us to retire in Rome and you know me…I’m open to exploring any part of this wonderful world.

Moving on to the 2nd part of this post…

#YOLO

One of my favorite things to do is go out salsa dancing. I am lucky enough to share this passion with Caylie, one of my best friends. Caylie and I met each other during our Grade 12 year in Vegreville. Needless to say, we’ve been bests ever since, and often get asked if we’re sisters. This is definitely a compliment if you know Caylie. She’s a total babe and if I even remotely look like her, I’m winning. 🙂

Caylie and I started taking salsa classes in February of 2015 at ETown Salsa. Shout out to our first instructor Chad, who I’ve stepped on and hit in the face with my arms more times that I can count. Thanks Chad, you’re awesome, a total trooper and I thoroughly enjoy dancing with you! Anyways, this has opened us up to a whole new community of people. The Latin dancing community is growing so fast in YEG, and we are so lucky to be a part of it! Caylie has far surpassed my skill level, but in my defense, she also attends classes and socials WAY more often than I do.

One of our favorite places to go dancing is OTR (On the Rocks) on a Thursday. Thursdays at OTR is latin night, where we dance the night away to salsa, bachata, meringue, and even sometimes kizomba (if we’re feeling adventurous).

I hadn’t planned to go out last night, but I only have a few more Thursdays until I leave, so I wanted to get at least a couple more in before then. Caylie and I also use this time to catch up on each others’ lives, and while taking a break from dancing we got to chatting. Caylie said that her philosophy lately is #YOLO, and for those of you who don’t keep up with the kids these days, YOLO stands for “You Only Live Once”. I am a firm believer that everyone should have this philosophy and bring it into your everyday life. Life is meant to be lived, experienced and enjoyed. #YOLO

Speaking of #YOLO, and bringing both these topics together, earlier that day Paul and I were discussing some activities we wanted to do while we’re traveling together. I’m a “When in Rome” or #YOLO type of traveler. I have never been the type to say, “No, I can’t do that because I don’t have money.” I’m more of a “Let’s do it and I’ll figure out the finances later!” Granted, I know I’m going to have to be a bit more selective when it comes to this trip. I am on a budget and am gone for longer that 1 week.

We had already booked a tour from Florence to see Siena and San Gimignano, but I knew I wanted to do a cooking class in Florence as well. Umm, hello, what better place to make pizza than in Italy? So Paul booked us a tour making Authentic Italian Pizza and Gelato in Florence. I mean….can you say EXCITED?!

Paul then told me to look at the website for Viator and see if there were any other tours I wanted to book for the places we’re going. I first looked at Barcelona as we spend quite a few days there and the list was ENDLESS! How do you choose?! There was everything from a hop-on hop-off bus tour to food tours to Segway tours! It was then, that I came across a tour that had #YOLO written all over it.

Hot Air Balloon Ride in Catalonia

Ummm, HELL TO THE FRICKEN YES. There was no doubt in my mind that we were going on this ride. How ridiculously amazing and romantic and just…AWESOME would that be?!

Paul didn’t take much convincing. He always says he’ll do anything to make me smile. He once rappelled into a fresh water cenote in Mexico because he knew I wanted to do it, and he can’t swim. Ask me about this story another time, it’s hilarious. Although…he likely wouldn’t agree as much. Love you babe! Anyways, like I said it didn’t take much convincing and we are going to be going on a HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE IN SPAIN. Words can’t begin to describe my excitement for this.

Like I said…#YOLO traveling for the win.

‘Till later…
Ciao!

Alysha
❤