Places I want to go to

As does every student spending time abroad, I have a long list of places and things that I want to do and see whilst I am in Spain. The trouble is, you see, that each time I manage to tick some of them off (as such Bilbao and Alicante), about four are added. I can’t help it – whenever I hear about that small village in the mountains or that festival in the south I just add it to the list. So it’s building up but I thought I would share the top 5 places on my list:

1. 
   Barcelona – having been here once before, I can truly say it is one of the prettiest cities in the world. It’s incredibly beautiful and extremely vibrant with the busy city not far from the ocean. I have to say that the main attraction for me, personally, is the work of Gaudi. Gaudi’s presence in Barcelona is so clear – just think of the Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell. The latter is a place I desperately want to return to, and would consider going to Barcelona for nothing more than that. It is like entering a wonderland with so many different colours and stunning views. However, with the whole independence referendum etc, I may put this off until the New Year when things may have hopefully calmed down a little.
2. 
   Madrid – it’s the capital! You have to visit Madrid whilst you’re in Spain, it would be ridiculous not to. Fortunately, it is also a place that I actually want to visit as well. I have only ever heard good things about the capital city with lots and lots of different things to do. As someone who loves art and culture, you can be sure I will be heading there ASAP (maybe even next week if possible) to tour all sorts of museums and see some of my chums who are currently there. Another plus is that it is only a short train ride away from Toledo … which brings me to place no. 3.
3.   
   Toledo – this place looks unbelievably beautiful and apparently it is perfect for a day trip. I am told that you can pretty much do everything there in one day, but that it is totally worth it and completely unforgettable. 
4.   
   Zaragoza – I have wanted to go to Zaragoza ever since I saw this picture on *ahem* Pinterest – that’s the 21^st century for you. Most tours are available online now! Anyway, it just looks lovely and I really want to see it with my own eyes, and experience walking through the streets in person and not through Google street view.
5. Andalucia – Okay so this is one giant region, but I could narrow any of the citi
   es/towns down to just one to fit in the top 5. So, one whole region it is! I am excited to go here and am hoping to spend two weeks there around Easter for the Semana Santa festivities. Of course the nice weather is always desirable but I also want to go for the history and architecture. Cordoba, Seville, Granada … I want to see them all. I am particularly interested in the mix of Islamic and Christian influence.
   

And that’s the top 5. Hopefully there will be blog posts about all of these wonderful places, as well as an abundance of others, at a later date. Keep an eye out for them!

Hasta luego

6. Okay, I could quite go until I got down a no. 6 as it is a place that I really really want to go. And this place is … New Orleans! Not even in Spain, I know – I want to travel all of the US really but New Orleans is the first place I want to go to. I can’t even tell you why really: I like a lot of American literature and a lot of my favourite books/plays/films are based in New Orleans, or at least glimpse at the city. So maybe that’s one of the reasons? I’m not sure. One thing I can be sure of though is that in the next 5 years I will have been to this seemingly incredible city and be able to feedback on the thoughts and expectation – maybe on this very same blog, but we’ll see, shall we?