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More on My Trip to Europe

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Prepare to be bugged to death about this trip to Europe now, people. 🙂

So the trip itinerary is:

May 6 – St. Louis to London

May 9 – London to Berlin

May 15 – Berlin to St. Louis.

Now, a question: am I insane to think that I can squeeze a trip to Barcelona in there (between May 9 and May 15)?

I just researched it and I could get an entire two-day trip to Barcelona for €200. The thing is that I’ve never been to Barcelona. Every writer I have ever researched (OK, not every one, but still) is from Barcelona. I always wanted to see that city but something always prevents me from doing it.

Of course, now it depends on whether my sister will be OK with me leaving for Barcelona in the middle of the trip to Berlin.

11 responses to “More on My Trip to Europe”

  1. Evelina Anville Avatar
    Evelina Anville

    I looooooooooooveee Barcelona. It’s so amazing and gorgeous. Would this be two day and one night? If so, to me that sounds kind of expensive for such a small amount of time. If you don’t know when you are going back to Europe, it might be worth it just to experience a tiny bit of “Barcelona-ness.” But, I would suggest that you try to get in 2-3 nights at least. Otherwise it might just be rushed and unpleasant and Barcelona is too wonderful a city for that. 🙂

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  2. zinemin Avatar
    zinemin

    I wouldn’t go to Barcelona in between! Berlin is absolutely amazing, probably my favourite city in Europe (with Rome) and you will not be bored if you’re there for a week! Better come back to Barcelona later when you have more time. One week for Berlin is perfect. This allows you enough time to figure out the transportation, try out several restaurants, parks, museums, see different districts and not just rush through the main sights and mainly see other tourists… I have twice spent 3 days in Paris and I found this totally stressful. I think these kind of cities really deserve a week — otherwise they will appear less interesting than they are, and you will feel like you don’t want to come back since you think you have seen the most ‘famous’ things already…

    Of course this does not apply if you have been to Berlin before!

    I also think one day will absolutely not do justice to Barcelona and might leave you with a wrong impression on the city. I am sure you want to go and find some places that were described by the writers that you like, and those are probably not all along the main tourist tracks anyway! And also from Barcelona it is probably really good to be able to also see a bit of the surrounding…… Can you not stay a bit longer in Europe? Give a talk at the Hispanic department in Barcelona? 🙂

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  3. Sister Avatar
    Sister

    I think we should just make plans to go to Barcelona next year! Yearly trips to Europe as our new tradition?

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  4. jodioli Avatar
    jodioli

    Oh darn! I don’t know where my comment went. Sorry if this posts twice.

    Some banks have accounts that don’t charge a foreign ATM fee; you can open an account and just use it for this and future trips.

    Some credit cards don’t charge a foreign transaction fee, and it may be worth your while to get one.

    My daughter, husband and I just got back from Germany/France/Netherlands trip and we changed $400 to euros in advance at our bank, then used the ATM or credit cards after that.

    In addition, if you are staying in hotels…but are adventurous and want to try couchsurfing (where you stay with people who live where you are visiting) — it can save you a considerable amount of money. I’ve had nothing but good experiences doing this.

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  5. jodioli Avatar
    jodioli

    Oh, I see you’re leaving very quickly! So maybe for the next trip you will want to research banks or credit cards.

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  6. Lear Avatar
    Lear

    You have to absolutely come to Barcelona 🙂 You’ll definitely enjoy it, the weather’s great these days, and you’ll enjoy the contrast between North Europe’s atmosphere and Barcelona. It’s so different. If you do come, however, don’t plan to visit the whole city in those days. Just have a sneak peak, pick one or two must-seens and leave the rest for your next year trip. I’d gladly welcome you here and give you tips, if you need any.

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  7. Benoni Avatar
    Benoni

    Ohmigosh, you’re visiting the city I live on on my birthday! :3

    squee-eeeeeeeee

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
      bloggerclarissa

      Your favorite blogger, delivered to your doorstep on your Birthday!

      I’m kidding!!!

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  8. Bola Avatar
    Bola

    In the end, you might spend more time in the air than on European soil! 😉

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  9. bloggerclarissa Avatar
    bloggerclarissa

    Thank you for these thoughtful comments, dear readers. I now have decided to proceed as follows: I will come to Berlin and see how things go. If it turns out to be as much fun as Zinemin suggests, I will just stay in Berlin. But if it turns out to be as boring as a colleague of mine tells me it is :-), then I will just take an EasyJet to Barcelona.

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  10. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Go to Barcelona. You never know what the future holds.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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