Month: September 2022

When one hears the Cyclades Islands they may sit there scratching their head for a couple of moments, but when you hear Mykonos or Santorini then it all comes together. The Cyclades, or the Aegean archipelago, is composed of 220 islands- large and small- southeast of mainland Greece that is located in the Aegean Sea the most well-known ones being: Andros, Delos, Ios, Mykonos, Paros, Syros, Thira, and Santoríni.

Our trip to Greece is going to be a long one as we are going to visit plenty of the Cyclades islands. The first stop of the trip is somewhere I’m sure everyone knows- Santorini- with the picturesque white buildings, panoramic views of the Aegean sea, and black sand beaches. This destination is a tourist’s dream! As mentioned in my previous blogs, sunsets are one of my favorite things in life which makes these islands perfect sunset-watching spots.

For our time in Santorini, we will stay in the Cavo Tagoo Hotels, luxury hotels with private infinity pools for each room as well as endless amenities for guests. Cavo Tagoo Santorini has charter boats and the opportunity to go for a cruise at all hours of the day. This boat trip will take you around the island and allows you to see Santorini from a whole new perspective. I admittedly would take this cruise as many times as possible to experience the views at all hours of the day.

Although it is tempting, I will leave my hotel at some point to experience the rest of the island. Santorini has a village, Oia, on the north side with a castle and plenty of sunset overlook spots. I will do a walking tour in order to get the full experience of exploring the narrow streets of the town, making sure to spend plenty of time in Amoudi Bay. Amoudi Bay in Oia has many wine tastings and Greek cooking classes, which allows tourists to get the full experience by immersing themselves in the culture.

After spending a large chunk of time in Santorini I will take a two-to-three hour SeaJet ferry from Santorini to Mykonos where I will check into the Cavo Tagoo Mykonos hotel. There are many bucket list activities here as well including visiting Kato Milli (famous windmills), shopping on Matoyianni Street, experiencing Mykonos on a yacht tour, and many more! Kato Milli is the highest point of Mykonos giving a whole new perspective of the island below and is somewhere everyone needs to see at least once. Matoyianni street is the perfect opportunity to immerse oneself in the Greek culture with plenty of small shops, and places to eat, swim, and relax- truly anything anyone could ever need is here! Last but not least, in my time in Mykonos, I would just have to take a day-long yacht tour of the island with food and drink. After this trip, I may be terribly in debt but I will have memories to last a lifetime. For this bucket list destination, I expect to visit in my mid-thirties with my significant other to get the full experience. I also estimate at least two weeks are to be spent overseas in order to immerse myself in Santorini and the rest of the Cyclades Islands. 

There are very few times in life when I will not accept any sort of argument; everyone needing to visit Barcelona is one of them. I was lucky enough to get to visit Barcelona, Spain in the summer of 2019, and I have not stopped thinking about it since I left. There are endless opportunities in this city and certainly lots of fun to be had. With the gothic architecture all throughout, you could spend a week just staring at the buildings and never get bored. Antoni Gaudí was undoubtedly the most prolific architect for Catalan Modernism, producing some of Barcelona’s most impressive works of art. The church of La Sagrada Familia is located in the center of Barcelona and is within walking distance of some of Gaudi’s other impressive works: Park Güell (see background image for reference), Casa Milà, Casa Batlló, and Gaudí House Museum. These locations are necessary for receiving the ‘full’ experience while overseas. 

Old Architecture may not be everyone’s cup of tea, which is fine, however, the flavorful, delicious, dining options are unavoidable on your trip. The authentic tapas, paella, and croquetas truly make the flight across the Atlantic worth it. I am admittedly a picky eater so my whole family- including myself- was pleasantly surprised when I devoured the authentic Spanish meals.

During our trip, we participated in many bike tours of the cities; I now recommend these to everyone. You get the opportunity to cover so much ground in such a short time, maximizing your sightseeing abilities while minimizing costs and overall energy exerted. These bike tours are the best environmentally friendly option for sightseeing, which is another added benefit of this. Barcelona also has many beaches located directly on the Mediterranean Sea. Who could possibly resist the crystal clear waters and white sand beaches?

In sum, Barcelona is diverse. It has a beautiful cityscape with plenty to see and do and also has the opportunity for a beach vacation. I can truly go on and on about traveling to Barcelona and how necessary this is. However, it is important to focus on the implications of traveling to this city. Traveling overseas, it is generally environmentally forgiving in the sense that these large planes are responsible for transporting hundreds of people. Obviously, these planes are still contributing to global warming and overall pollution, however, in the grand scheme of how many individuals can fit, it certainly could be worse. I elected to emphasize worse there because regardless of the amount of air pollution these large jets produce is unacceptable, however, this is not the main focus here. Tourists contribute to littering and other sanitary issues across the city, but when one weighs these problems with the overall benefits the Spanish economy has from the populous tourist destinations in Barcelona, it can be overlooked. In conclusion, Barcelona is still a destination on my bucket list of travel destinations (even though I have already been) and I plan to study abroad here at the earliest date.