5 Places I'd Love to Return To

I have seen these posts floating around Blogland recently and I just couldn't pass by.   While there are still SO many places that I still want to visit, there are few I dream about going back to.  Some that I'd love to re-experience as an adult and some that I want to share with Josh.

I fell in love with Colorado during my visit in 2005 (I can't believe it's been almost 10 years!!).  I was only 16 at the time so I was at the mercy of my parents.  There were so many things I wanted to do but I couldn't because they were in charge.  We never really went into Boulder, we didn't see any sites in Denver and I would have loved to do more exploring in RMNP.  I planned on going to school at my Uncles Alma Mater, UC Boulder, but it was way too expensive for me.   I would love to take Josh out there and do some exploring with him, and do it our way.

This should come as no surprise.  I think about Costa Rica daily - it's such a beautiful country with such diverse wildlife and amazing people.  While I'd love to go back to Manuel Antonio NP and San Vito for a day or two, there are so many places in this beautiful country that I'd love to explore such as, Arenal and Monteverde Could Forest.   This is a place I'd definitely love to take Josh to.

Barcelona was one of my favorite cities that we visited in Europe.  While I had a great time there, we had very little free time to explore - most of our day was planned out.  I would love to explore on my own and see more of what Barcelona has to offer.  I would also love to fill up on Paella and Tapas!!  I am hoping to take a cruise out of here at some point - hopefully sooner than later! 

Josh and I both loved Savannah!  Unfortunately, we only had a short time to spend here at the end of our vacation.  We saw a pretty good amount in the short time that we had, but I'd love to go back and explore more of this beautiful southern city.  I am also dying for another Leopolds Ice Cream!  I also think it would be so neat to do a ghost tour!

I was fortunate enough to be able to see so much of Italy while I was there including Rome, Assisi, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Florence.   While I would love to return to each of those places, I would also love to see more of this beautiful country.  Top of my list is Venice, Milan, Verona, Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi, and Siena.  Honestly, I think I could spend a full month here and still not see everything that I want to.  I know I will return to Rome within the next few years because Josh is dying to go there.

Wanderlust Wednesday: Europe

Today I am linking up for the first ever Wanderlust Wednesday; a new monthly link-up.   Each month there will be a theme and you can write anything you want about that theme.  This month's is Europe. 

I thought I would talk about my top 5 places that I have been in Europe and my top 5 places that I want to visit in Europe!

My 5 favorites that I have been to (and why):

Barcelona, Spain which I wrote about here

Assisi, Italy which I also wrote about here

Carcassone, France which is, yet again, talked about in this post

Toulon, France 

 This little town will always have a piece of my heart.   This is where I did my home-stay.  Myself and another girl stayed with a lady named Miti.  She was such a sweetheart and had the sweetest dog that was totally her shadow.  She took such great care of us and really tried to show us what everyday life was like in France.  I feel lucky that I got put with Miti and stayed in touch with her for a while after the trip.  Toulon is such a beautiful place and I hope to go back one day and revisit.  

Cinque Terre, Italy 

 These little towns are incredible.  Before this trip, I had never even heard of Cinque Terre as it wasn't a huge tourist place in 2006 as it is now.   It wasn't crowded at all when I went and I really feel like we got a feel for real Italian life.  The roads were super steep to walk on but it was so cool walking around and seeing all of the colors and small restaurants and stores.  We had such a fun and relaxing day taking the boat to these 5 towns!  

5 Places I Want to Visit:

 

London, England

  Really, England in general but definitely London.  I want to visit London mostly because it is one of those places that I could actually picture myself living.  I want to go to London so that I can either realize its not for me and stop wasting time dreaming of moving there or so that I can figure out some way to live there.  Also, all of the castles in and surrounding London make it even more desirable for me!

 

 

Lake Bled and Ljublijana, Slovenia

  Ever since I read this post I have been dreaming of this country.  Lake Bled and the castle look incredible and hot air ballooning over Lake Bled is definitely on my must-do list!  Also, Ljublijana looks like a very interesting city to visit. I have a ridiculous fascination with castles and both of these cities have beautiful castes to visit.  I also love that it isn't super high on many peoples travel list. I have heard that it is not very touristy, which I absolutely love!

Santorini, Greece 

I mean, is it even a question why I want to go here??  To me, this would be the perfect place for a relaxing vacation.  I feel like there is enough to do and see to keep a person entertained but not so much to see that you feel like you have to rush to see it all.  I could see my self sitting in a lounge chair overlooking the caldera with a book and a drink and being perfectly happy. 

 

Ireland

 This has become a top priority for me.  I want to go to Ireland sooooo badly.  I am Irish by heritage and I love the Irish culture.  I love the music, the dance, the food, everything.  I want to visit places like Dublin, Galway, Cork, Limerick and County Kerry.   Josh and I are saving for a two week tour of Ireland for our first wedding anniversary and I really hope we are able to save enough to go!

 

Vienna and Salzburg, Austria

Austria has been on my list for a while.  I have always wanted to do the Sound of Music tour (cliche but whatever).  I have always thought that these two cities looked so beautiful and that I had to see them.  There are so many interesting and beautiful sites I want to see, I don't even have time to name them all.  I was actually supposed to visit both during a school trip to Germany, Austria and Switzerland but the trip got cancelled. 

 

I can't wait to read all of the Wanderlust posts today and can't wait to link-up again next month :)

My Favorite Travels

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the top 5 places I would love to see and why.  This week I thought I'd write about the top 5 places that I have already been and why they are my favorites

1. Las Cruces, Costa Rica

Costa Rica has my heart.  If I ever had the opportunity to move abroad, this country would be very, very high on my list. I had an amazing experience working at a biological station and learning about the things that grow there and the animals that live there, I even got to hold a bat! I got my first experience staying in hostels during our first and last nights and I got to see and experience a wide variety of wild life.  It doesn't hurt that this Country is absolutely beautiful!

Hanging out in a Strangler Fig Tree.

2. Savannah, Georgia

I am not a huge fan of cities but this southern city made me feel right at home.  It is safe to say that apart from DC, this is my favorite place in the United States and I would not hesitate to live here.  The city is absolutely beautiful and definitely has charm.  River Street is a great area for shopping, eating and drinking and was probably my favorite area of Savannah.  Also, Leopold's Ice Cream was enough to make anyone want to stay!  Also, as a former Girl Scout (11 years) it was neat to see Juliet Gordon Lowe's Birthplace.

Fountain in Forsyth Park

Juliet Gordon Lowe Birthplace.

3. Assisi, Italy

Assisi was exactly what I pictured when people would talk about Italy.  The olive tree's made me feel as if I were standing in a pastel painting.  I also had the amazing experience of rappelling down the side of a 100 ft castle wall which was not open to the public!  Assisi was such a beautiful town and my whole experience there was positive, from the activities to the hotel, it was a great experience!

4. Carcassone, France

I have mentioned that I am fascinated by castles, Carcassone was no exception. I have a picture of an area which I swear looks like Diagon Alley from Harry Potter. It doesn't hurt that while we were there, Sting was playing a concert in the Castle.  Such a neat experience (even though we could only stand outside of the stadium area).  Also, while we were there, France won one of their World Cup games so there was definitely some partying in the street happening.  I have so many great memories associated with this place!  Fun Fact: It was the filming location of Robin-hood, Prince of Thieves.

5. Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona was such a neat city.  I loved all of the Gaudi architecture!  It seemed like everywhere we went there was some weirdly shaped awesome looking building.   Of course seeing amazing sites such as Park Guell and the Sagrada Familia did not hurt the experience!  I learned so much on our tour of Sagrada Familia and found the history fascinating!   I even bought a book from the bookstore!   We were also in Barcelona when Italy won the world cup!  Our bus driver was Italian so that was definitely a fun experience!  We also got to try some AMAZING tapas and got to see a flamenco show!   Overall, my experience in Barcelona was amazing and I definitely want to go back.

   

I had a really tough time narrowing this down.  I was taking both the place and my experiences into consideration so it was really hard to leave Boulder Creek, CA off of the list because I had such a great experience leading those kids! It was also hard to leave Cinque Terre off but overall, I think my top 5 are pretty accurate.