CARNAVAL esta loca

Cadiz is a cute beach city located on the Southwestern coast of Spain. It was my first Atlantic beach experience! So Carnival is a crazy party and it is celebrated all over the world. The US likes to call it Mardi Gras but Carnival is way better I think. The Cadiz celebration is known for its humorous traditions so instead of your typical glamorous/masquerade theme seen in cities like Rio de Janeiro or Venice, its basically halloween here. The funnier, the better! I decided to rock some white hair and a sparkly top hat, complete with a boa, bright sunglasses and red lipstick.

So me and my girlfriends Megan, Britney, and Julie with about 150 other kids got on a bus for 9 hours and made our way to Cadiz. We went with a promotional company called EuropeanVibe so it was a prepaid thing, all inclusive hotel and travel. The hotel was really nice, and the continental breakfast buffet was to die for. We just went to a bar Friday night, hung out at the beach Saturday, and Saturday evening/night we partied in the streets for Carnival. There were street vendors with food (my baked potato was heavenly!!) and stages set up for performers and costume contests. So many people to mingle with and a great place for people watching! It was blast and I feel so lucky to have experienced such an awesome festival in an old, traditional environment!

I have started to really miss my friends and fam lately so if you read this, just know that I'm thinking about you! Muchos besos xoxx

Swiss Chocolate. Obsessed.

Bon jour! Just spent my weekend in Geneva, Switzerland - a quaint, neutral, and beautiful little country here in the fabulous Europa!

I flew out Thursday night on EasyJet (suprisingly good airline for the cheap tickets) with Rachael (of course), Chrissy and Christa Lee. Geneva was absolutely freezing, which was expected, and we loved it nonetheless. So the Swiss speak French and don't use the Euro. They use the Franc which has the exchange rate basically even to the dollar!! It sounded AMAZING at first, but I was quickly informed that Switzerland is known as one of the most expensive countries in the world. Great. Perfect for the college student in serious debt already.

So we hop on the train at the airport (For Free!!) and then walk to our hostel. City Hostel. It was really nice and we had a small little room just for us! So because we were all tired of traveling and wanted to save our energy for the weekend ahead, we just bought a bottle of wine and Toblerone chocolate bars to enjoy in the common room of the hostel.

Day 1: Wake up to falling snow! It was gorgeous and I was actually really excited because I was never able to make it up to the snow this winter in California. We layered up and made our way to Old Town for the usual sightseeing. Lake Geneva or as they call it, Lac Leman, was gorgeous and blue and obviously freezing. Unfortunately we found out that we visited Switzerland during the worst time of the year because 1) its cold & 2) its snowing. The famous fountain in the Lake, Jet d'eau, wasn't turned on because the mist would inflinct serious pain and discomfort on the skin, so that was a huge letdown. We then made our way to the famous flower clock which was covered in snow and had no flowers so it looked ugly and strange. We originally had plans to go to tour a chocolate factory but found out we weren't allowed because only big groups could do it, so we opted for a delicious looking chocolate store. I bought lots of chocolate and spent alot of francs, but it was all worth it in the end. This chocolate is to die for and I am officially a chocolate junkie.

After walking around, shopping, and having lunch, we made our way back across town to go on the 4 o'clock tour of the UN! Running short on time, we speed walk to the entrance which was 500 meters away (I learned that 500 meters is really far) and were not allowed inside because it was 4:02. Obviously we were livid and immediately in bad moods because it was the last tour of the day on the last day of the week... So we opted to go to the Red Cross Museum across the street which ended up being really interesting. It was depressing learning about all of our contemporary wars but still fascinating and historical, which is always a hit with me. We made it home for a siesta and a shower, then set out for some traditional Fondue! Again, we failed at planning. Living as a Spaniard, dinner isn't until 9ish so when we went out for dinner at that time, the fondue restaurant was closing at 10 and you needed a reservation. So we wandered aimlessly around the prostitution district of town until we were so desperate for food that we just went into this small Middle Eastern restaurant. Speaking no french or whatever language the menu was in, we all ordered random stuff. And it turned out to be amazing!! I loved being so adventurous and cultural :)

Day 2: Originally we wanted to go wine tasting but of course that failed because it was snowing and vineyards don't do that in winter. We had heard about this cable car/gondola at the French border that takes you up the mountain for a great view of Geneva so we took the bus to the end of the line and walked across the French border. Finally seeing some mountains was super thrilling for us all and we were more excited than ever for the gondola. So we get to the attraction to read a sign that says "Closed Jan/Feb. Maintenence." GREAT. Annoyed again, we decided that we just needed a drink so we made our way back into Switzerland and found ourselves at a cute little pub. Long story short, we pub crawled all day long, stopped at the grocery story for some microwavable dinner and got back to the hostel around 8pm. We ate, sobered up, watched the Olympics, and I went to bed by midnight with the worst headache I have ever experienced in my life.

Day 3: Valentine's Day!!!! Not a special day for any of us (miss you john!), but it was still nice seeing women with roses and chocolate. We definately treated ourselves to more chocolate for the occasion and made our way back to the airport.

Great weekend, I suggest visiting this beautiful country! Only in the spring, summer, or fall though haha. Au revoir!