Over spring break of 2022, I took a trip to Spain and Italy. In Spain, we stayed in the city of Valencia visiting my sister, a former magnet Alumni, who is studying abroad for the semester. 

The first thing I would like to comment is the place where all great trips begin, the airport. For any trip you take that requires flying I think the airport is the worst part of every flying experience. At least for me it is. The airport is a very stress-inducing to set off the alarm. Not to mention the anxiety of trying to not hold up the millions of people in line behind you. Luckily,on this trip, I was able to get through security without being stopped. 

We flew from Charleston to New York, then from New York to Madrid, then from Madrid to Valencia. After staying in Valencia for one night, we flew to Turin, Italy with my sister the next day to visit a good family friend.

Turin was an incredible place, although the sights were amazing my favorite part was the food. No hate on the Italian places we have here in Charleston, but the food in Italy was unbeatable. Every meal began with a full plate of pasta. Which then was followed with a full plate of food. 

Our first night there, my family friend’s grandmother came over with her famous homemade ravioli. It was hands down the best ravioli I had ever eaten, and they served me a big plateful of it. I happily gulped down the plate and was feeling fairly satisfied, and then they announce they are ready to bring out the next course, the salad. I was already feeling pretty full but I figured I usually easy salad before meals anyways so what’s the difference if au eat it after. So, I shove down the salad, which of course is delicious, and then I am feeling fuller than ever and ready to slip into a food coma. Then they proceed to announce they are ready to bring out the next course. I figured that the next course was probably just desert, but then they bring out plates with potatoes, steak, and asparagus. I was unfortunately not able to finish this course, but I did manage to get a bite of everything in and of course everything was delectable. Then once everyone’s plate was cleared away they ask who is ready for desert! This is so much food: starting with a plate of pasta, then a salad, then the potatoes, steak and asparagus, and to top it all off cake!  

We were only in Italy for the weekend though, we returned to Valencia after three days. While in Valencia we did a lot of walking and a lot of eating. The architecture was beautiful there. The food was also very good. It was truly an incredible place. 

There are some luxuries however, that I did miss about the United States while I was abroad. The biggest thing I missed were the showers. In Spain, water and electricity is very expensive, a lot more expensive than in the United States. While in Spain, as I previously mentioned, we stayed with my sister’s host mom for a few days. We had to take very fast showers and if you were the last to shower, there was no more hot water. Personally, I love  to take super long and hot showers. I find that a long hot shower is the best way to unwind and relax. This was the biggest thing I missed while I was in Spain. Another thing I preferred in the States was the towels. The towels in the United States are so much better than those in the Italy and Spain. For some reason the towels in these countries were just very small and thin in comparison to those in the United States. For reference imagine a super thin pool towel for children, that is pretty much the everyday towels they use there. It is just another personal preference, I love big and fluffy towels so I really missed these towels when I was there. 

However, considering these are the only complaints I have about my trip you can see that it was an incredible experience and I definitely want to go again.