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  • Miles and smiles
  • Miles and smiles

Study abroad

A 113-day adventure by Miles and smiles Read more
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  • Miles and smilesStudy abroadTraveler
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    Barcelona!!

    Mar 8–10, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Spent a couple nights in Barcelona and I got to see Soph! It was such a good trip. The weather wasn’t so great but we choose to ignore that! We crammed in as much as possible. Saw Sagrada Familia which still doesn't compare to any church I have seen. It is the most amazing thing. We walked all day in order to not spend money on transportation and I think we got almost 40,000 steps. We went to Park Guell and saw some Gaudi houses. Gaudi is simply one of the best artists ever. Although I'll never get sick of Renaissance art in Florence, it was a great break. We tried Spanish churros, tacos, paella, and fruit juice at one of the markets in the city center.Read more

  • Miles and smilesStudy abroadTraveler
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    In Louvre with Paris!

    Mar 15–17, 2025 in France ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Naj is here! We spent the first weekend in Paris escaping a bunch of flooding in Florence. The first day we saw the arc de triumph and the Eiffel Tower and found a restaurant with a great view! We also took a boat tour of the seine and saw notre dame, the louvre, the Orsay, and so much more. We got crepes from a street vendor because I couldn’t resist. The next day we got some delicious pastries, more crepes and saw the louvre. It was super busy but we still spent a few hours exploring the works. In my opinion I still like the Uffizi better. Florence is the best place in the world for art lovers. We also saw the sacré cœur which was awesome except it’s a bit of a hike to get to. Naj is getting used to the European average of 20,000 steps a day lol. We watched the sunset from the rooftop of a mall. The mall is built inside an old building with a stained glass dome which was gorgeous. The next day we went into notre dame and it was amazing. It smelled burnt in some areas which I thought was crazy. The stained glass was gorgeous. We also tried one of the greatest pastries I’ve had in my whole life. The croissant cookie. Let me tell you it was the greatest thing ever and I need more. Paris was great but expensive to eat so I think I prefer marseille out of cities in France. But I’m so glad I got to see all of those things there and do it with Naj!Read more

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    Naj is now Aperol Spritz number one fan!

    Mar 20–22, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    The last weekend he was here we took a weekend trip to Venice! I have been wanting to see Venice for so long now and it was absolutely amazing. Not too crowded with tourists outside of the main attractions which was so nice. The canals were absolutely beautiful and the gondolas were so cool. I loved watching all the boats go by and it was just a totally unique experience. There is no city like this! Naj decided to try aperol spritz after seeing it all over all week. I’m not sure he’ll drink anything else for the rest of his life. The basilica here was also super unique especially from other basilicas throughout Italy. We took the gondola public transportation across the grand canal for only 2 euro. Overall Venice was amazing and I am so glad I got to go. The rest of the week with him we spent in Florence and I got to show him pizzale Michelangelo and all of my favorite floretine sites. It was fun to act like a tourist again.Read more

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    Art history class recently

    March 27, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    A couple of classes ago we went to San Marcos basilica which is the closest monument to my house! My favorite work in the monastery was the Annunciation by Fra Angelico. The frescos were all done by him and they were very early renaissance. Overall it was one of my favorite monasteries and surprised me how big it was inside. Next class we went to palazzo vecchio. This was amazing. The Medici palaces are absolutely insane. They continue to be my favorite sites to see here. The studiolo and the room of maps were my favorite rooms but the ceilings throughout the palace were so amazing. Next class we went to the Palazzo Pitti which is another Medici palace. This was the grandest Medici palace in my opinion and I loved to see the more residential side in some of the rooms. They had jewelry and collected personal items on the top floor that really showed us who the Medici were. They also housed their collection of “exotic” art and artifacts here. This was clearly the beginning of global colonization. Even though the Medici we’re not traveling to the Americas they were big players in that. They stole goods from mesoamerican indigenous people along with all kinds of other things. It was done as a way to display their wealth and power.Read more

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    CINQUE TERRE WITH THE FAM!

    Mar 28–30, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    They’re finally here!!! I got to spend the weekend in Pisa and cinque terre with my family and I had the best time. It was so beautiful and I couldn’t get enough. The weather held out for us even though we were expecting rain. I loved the hiking trails (until I sprained my ankle but that is no surprise if you know me). The landscape was absolutely gorgeous. I can’t imagine being a person during medieval times deciding this was a good spot to build a few towns. I suppose they were situated at an advantage from attackers arriving by boat. The food was also fantastic. I don’t think I have ever had fish as good as it was here. Not sure if the food in cinque terre was just better than Florence or if it was because I could afford something more than 15 dollars (thanks mom dad and grandpa!) Overall I think we all had a fantastic time and I’m excited to share these photos because I just couldn’t put my camera down!Read more

  • Miles and smilesStudy abroadTraveler
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    Siena!

    April 3, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Took my last day trip for class! We went to visit the rivals of Florence. Siena is about an hour bus ride away and we got to take a tour for class. We visited the Siena cathedral which was one of the coolest churches I’ve been inside. They had rich decoration all over. They have been in competition with Florence for hundreds of years but I say thank you to them because they are the reason for the Duomo in Florence. The duomo was built to one up Siena and I definitely think we won. However, Siena was absolutely gorgeous and had a much more small town vibe than Florence. I have gotten used to lots of walking here but Siena put my stamina to the test with hills. We are blessed with flat ground in Florence. I also ate the best pizza I have had in Italy ever in Siena. I haven’t stopped thinking about it and I probably won’t for the rest of my life.Read more

  • Miles and smilesStudy abroadTraveler
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    UK Tour has started!

    Apr 5–10, 2025 in England ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    This week I met my aunts in London where we spent a couple days. We went to the ABBA Voyage concert which blew my mind. The people looked like they were standing right in front of me! The music was awesome and everyone was dressed in sequins and feathers. I also rode the worlds tallest tube slide which was awesome. We also had the best fish and chips EVERRRRRRR! The next couple days were spent in Bath! It gets it’s name from the Roman baths that still remain in the city. We toured those and learned so much about the natural hot springs in the area. The romans loved to use baths and even threw coins into the fountains like we do today. We got to try the spring water that is still flowing from the hot springs. I definitely don’t need to drink that water ever again but it was cool to try! It fell as rain 10,000 years ago. We also walked around the town near the river and got to watch boats go through locks like the panama canal. If a boat wants to move up or down the river they have to enter a lock and wait about 15 minutes for the water to level out with the direction it is going. The views from the river were absolutely gorgeous. And of course what is a new town visit without a free tour! Our tour guides were awesome and there were so many cool things in bath. They had lots of parks and used something called bath stone in almost all of their buildings. My favorite part of the tour was the Royal Crescent which was a crescent of buildings with a huge park in the front. Overall Bath was one of my favorite towns I’ve visited and I’m super excited to see what s next in the UK!Read more

  • Miles and smilesStudy abroadTraveler
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    Stonehenge and Avebury!

    April 9, 2025 in England ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Two more world heritage sites checked off the list! That brings me to 22 which is 1.7% of the world heritage sites…. I’m getting there! Stonehenge has always been a bucket list thing to see so I am soooooooo glad I got to see it. The Neolithic people might just be my favorite people from history. I love how mysterious things are. Of course we saw the huge stones but there was so much more to the site of stonehenge. About 500 years before the stones we’re placed there were earth works made in the ground. They made one long rectangle shape across acres of land and me and Dana think it was a landing strip. Maybe they had planes or maybe they had wings who knows! They also had mounds that people were buried in around the site. Avebury was another stone circle but this one was way bigger than stonehenge. It took us about 30 minutes to walk all the way around but here we got to go right up to the stones and could even touch them. My favorite fact from Avebury was hearing that early christians settled here and tried to bury the stones because of their pagan connections. The Neolithic people also build an enormous ditch outside the circle. I think maybe they filled it with water from a nearby river to move the stones around so they could place them in the circle. Today there is a town built right in the middle of the stone circle and it was super cute and just what I picture an English farm town to look like. Just outside we saw one last thing which was a white horse earth drawing. It was made by scraping away the top soil in the shape of a horse revealing the white chalk underneath. I thought this was Neolithic for a minute but turns out its 18th century.Read more

  • Miles and smilesStudy abroadTraveler
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    Wales! (not to be confused with 🐳🐋)

    Apr 10–11, 2025 in Wales ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    We stopped in Cardiff for a day! That is the capital of Wales even though it was only a city of a couple thousand people less than two hundred years ago. Wales comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for “foreigners.” I find it strange that the people who came to Wales called the locals foreigners but I guess that’s how they got their name! We took a free tour which is always the best thing to do in a new city. It was perfect timing because the cherry blossoms are in full bloom! I never think of the UK when I hear cherry blossoms but they have been everywhere! By far one of my favorite views was in Cathays Park. Welsh was on all of the signs along with English which I thought was so cool. It is one of the oldest languages in the world so I think it is awesome that they are still keeping it around. It is taught in all the schools and some schools are only welsh speaking. They had a family that reminded me a lot of the Medici in Florence. The Bute family were from Scotland and are responsible for Cardiff becoming the city it is today. They owned a castle complex in Cardiff for many years and decorated it to the max! They eventually moved out of Cardiff and gave their castle to the city. Personally if I had a castle I wouldn’t give it away but that’s just me lol. We also learned a lot about rugby and how in Wales it is a sport for everyone. In lots of countries like the rest of the uk and other European countries it is a sport for the wealthy private school goers. We ate lunch at a market in Cardiff and it was one of my favorite markets I’ve been to in Europe! So many options and WELSH CAKES!!!!!! After the tour we got out of the city and did a cliff side walk along the shore line! The walk was beautiful but it was lacking in cliff views. Saw lots of dogs and got some ice cream. When we got to our Airbnb we met our neighbor and you won’t believe where she was from. Fort Collins! Small world but I’m glad Cardiff is in it!Read more

    Trip end
    April 25, 2025
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