Life in Europe was similar to NYC. Except that, the people were more beautiful, the buildings more intricate and preserved, and the history more plentiful. The pace seemed somewhat more free and relaxed. No one was rushing to catch a bus, cursing anyone out or littering the cities with garbage and general rudeness. We found Rome to be one giant tourist trap. Thankfully, we found ourselves mostly in the adorable neighborhood of Trastevere, which literally means “across the river”. It’s a cozy, vintage yet trendy neighborhood with tons of great restaurants, bars, shops and nighttime activities. Strolling through the streets at night meant turning the corner to find something totally different on each block. Street performers danced for tourists and locals alike. Funnily enough, Florence turned out to be much like Trastevere with its authentic cobble-stone streets, balcony lined building facades and gorgeous river and Duomo views made us fall in love with the city. The food was great, the people were warm and espressos were a way of life, a principle in which we firmly believe.

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We loved our time in Italy, but we were hungry for something more exotic. Malta, the smallest country in the European Union, fed that craving with its rocky, roughly textured terrain. Its pace was that of a resort town but with a gorgeous vista. If you’ve seen the first episode of Game of Thrones, its recently deceased UNESCO site, the Azure Window, was the perfect representation of Malta’s sprawling coastline. Full of topaz colored rocky mountain ranges, Malta provided the totally different environment we were craving. It was there that we learned to scuba dive. We didn’t know this coming in, but Malta is one of the world’s top scuba diving destinations. The calm, warm waters of the Mediterranean sea and the abundant wildlife and shipwrecks meant we never had a boring dive. Even our training dives were exhilarating.

Back to mainland Europe, Barcelona was a cold, slap back to city living. Though we found the NYC-feel familiar, we were surprised by the beauty and cleanliness of the city. Barcelona, in all its hunger for independence, was a different entity all on its own. Beach lined boardwalks, bars and artisanal shops lend to this city’s character and class. We loved our studio apartment and its tiny balcony which gave us a great view of the quiet, but active, street we called our own. One night, we discovered an all-you-can-drink wine festival just downstairs. For 5 euros, we drank to our heart’s content and got to keep the wine glasses.

 

 

 

Photos in this series were all taken before photography became a more serious hobby of mine. Make sure to read parts 2 and 3 of the series, Bangkok, Bali, Phuket and Taipei, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Chiang Mai.

All images shot with a Canon Rebel SL1 and a Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS STM lens (with the occasional Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM for close up shots).