Backpacking in Europe: Part I

My sister Liz and I are currently backpacking in Europe. We arrived in Barcelona, Spain on May 18 and are departing from Athens, Greece on June 21. Here are highlights of our tour so far:

Barcelona:

• Tandem bicycle ride along the Mediterranean Sea.
• Visiting Olympic Park and Botanical Gardens
• Eating tapas, drinking sangria
• Walking through twisting streets of old city
• Seeing Gaudi's Sagrada Familia basilica
• Happening across the Madrid Fan Zone for a championsip soccer match being played in Barcelona. Thousands of fans dressed in red and white striped jerseys partying in the afternoon in preparation for a 9:30 pm match, creating a Where's Waldo-type scene.
• Searching for the Barcelona fan zone.
• Discovering the Barcelona fan zone is in fact the Sevilla fan zone, as Barcelona was chosen as a neutral site for the Sevilla-Madrid match.
• Watching the soccer match in a bar called The Obama, complete with a life size statue of the American president.

France/Provence

• Visiting Chateau d'If, prison on an island off the coast of Marseilles and setting for Alexander Dumas's Count of Montecristo.
• Strolling through open air markets and munching on delicious fresh fruit and veggies, croissants, pain au chocolat, warm baguettes, amazing cheeses.
• Spending three nights in Cassis, resort town in Provence. We went hiking on cliffside tracks and spent the day on a beach that required a challenging walk to get to (this didn't stop the French, as the beach was packed).
• Driving through cute French towns with friends Charlotte and Stephan.
• Visiting Pont du Gard (Roman aqueduct) and a couple Roman stadiums. In one stadium we attended a bullfight, in the Spanish style ending in the killing of the bull.
• Swimming in the Mediterranean and watching kite surfers.

Italy

• Staying in Riomaggiore, one of five villages in the Cinque Terre.
• Hiking the breathtaking coastal track between the villages of the Cinque Terre.
• Going on a couple runs on very steep tracks in the Cinque Terre.
• Kayaking on the Mediterranean, during fairly rough seas.
• Eating focacia with pesto and mozzarella
• Cooking our own pasta with walnut sauce (decent).
• Strolling through non-tourist towns of La Spezia and Massa.
• Three day walk with challenging ascents in the Apuan Alps from Resceto to Castelpoggio. These mountains are known for marble mining, which we witnessed in abundance. Marble for Michelangelo's David was mined here. Mining didn't ruin the walk, as we had some tremendous vistas and were led for an hour by an Italian couple who showed us trenches used by soldiers in WWI and pointed out native flora. We were treated well in two rifugios, where we received filling and cheap meals and had comfortable beds to sleep in.
• Walking around the Leaning Tower of Pisa and taking the obligatory tourist pictures, followed by gourmet gelato.
• Spending the day at il Ciocco, an Italian resort where Liz's friend Nick is working. We were treated like kings to free four-course meals and spent hours lounging by the pool.

We arrived today in Florence and walked a bit around the Duomo, a massive Gothic cathedral. We plan to spend a couple days here and then travel to Venice, Rome, Naples, and a Greek island. It has been a very epic trip so far and I'm super excited to begin the art history portion of our tour.