My Tales — Pamela Millan

No Planning Trip: Bienvenidos a mi Barcelona!

Right after our class trip to Freiburg, we got back and immediately started packing for our fall break trip. Our first stop was Barcelona. My first visit to Barcelona was when I was very young, and I honestly do not remember much except seeing the Sagrada Familia cathedral from afar and thinking it was super weird looking. That’s it. This time around, I planned on seeing more. Of course things never go as planned, and the only event that I had bought a ticket for was the Barcelona vs. Eidibar game. Of course we wanted to check out other tourist attractions but we failed to realize that we have to make reservations for everything in Barcelona. Also, all museums and things to see in Barcelona are very expensive. So my advice when visiting Barcelona is to plan it all out. But in case you are already in Barcelona and you didn’t plan it out here are 5 tips to get the most out of this amazing city.

TravelPamela MillanDecember 3, 2015Barcelona, Spain, Adventure, Culture Comment

The "Green City" of Freiburg

As part of my Environmental Management and Sustainability program, our teacher brought us to see what a sustainable city looks like. Now let me start by saying that Freiburg is not 100% sustainable but they are making incredible strides towards achieving this goal. We started our journey to Freiburg on a bus along with the French Masters program that is similar to the program we are in (just that their classes are all in french). It was a whole’s day journey, but we finally made it to Freiburg and we rested and got ready for our first day of exploring. We work up early and headed into Freiburg from our hostel and we noticed right away that this city was different. I saw designated bike lanes through out the city and many pedestrian only areas. We stopped in the middle of the city and met Luciano, our tour guide for the next two days. I am not going to write out every single thing we saw and experience during the trip because I am already doing that for a project for class. Instead, I want to highlight 5 things that inspired me to be more sustainable when I was in Freiburg.

Pamela MillanNovember 18, 2015Comment

Wine and Cheese in Saumur

The beauty of any country lies not on all the big monuments, but on its beautiful people and its small villages. Saumur is one of those small villages. It is small, quiet, and perfect for a day trip. It is only 30 minutes by train from where I live in Angers, France. The town is cute and totally what you expect from a small, provincial village in France (if you need a mental pictures think “Beauty and the Beast”).

TravelPamela MillanNovember 4, 2015France, Saumur, Wine, Cheese, Travel, Culture, AdventureComment

Crêpes everywhere!

So when you think of France, do you automatically think food? Some people might think about the fashion, champagne, or the iconic buildings (think Eiffel tower), but not me! I think of food! The french food is famous and it has been deemed by UNESCO as a "world intangible heritage". Now, they didn't deem a specific plate important, rather the culture revolving french food. Here in France they make it a point to enjoy their dinner with friends and family (it's a big deal!). Now some people may think "well Americans have that too! Are you forgetting Thanksgiving?", and the answer is no, I am not forgetting about Thanksgiving. But think how amazing it would be having Thanksgiving every two weeks? Rotating where you are having it every two weeks... Yeah that is the French gastronomic meal. Voila! Your mind has been blown. You are very welcome.

GastronomyPamela MillanNovember 3, 2015France, Food, CultureComment

Climbing the Dune

While school has already started, my travels have not ended. Just recently my friends and I visited an amazing place here in France called Dune du Pilat (mind you we are still very confused by the spelling because everyone spells it differently!) This amazing place left us all in awe and just gave each of us a small break from the already hectic student life.

Pamela MillanOctober 8, 2015Comment

Prost to Germany

As I finished my month of traveling, I reflected upon some of the differences I saw between all of the different countries I visited. I had already visited France and Italy, and now that I was in Germany I could truly see what was special and unique about each country, and even made me think how different these countries are from my homeland (USA) and further think about developing countries such as my beautiful Colombia.As I finished my month of traveling, I reflected upon some of the differences I saw between all of the different countries I visited. I had already visited France and Italy, and now that I was in Germany I could truly see what was special and unique about each country, and even made me think how different these countries are from my homeland (USA) and further think about developing countries such as my beautiful Colombia.

TravelPamela MillanSeptember 9, 2015Travel, Germany, AdventureComment

New friends in Milan

We took a bus from Florence to Milan (using Eurolines the tickets were about 19 euros each), and it took us about 3 hours to get there. A metro and bus away, we thought that we were in the home stretch, but little did we know that we were looking ahead at one of the longest days we have had in our trip. Because we decided to not get an international cell phone plan we were limited to only being able to use our phones with wireless. And yes, wireless is extremely hard to find sometimes especially in a city like Milan, where in August, EVERYONE GOES ON VACATION!

Pamela MillanAugust 26, 2015Comment

10 Things to do in Florence

After our trip to Montpellier, we headed over to Florence. Our mode of transportation: bus (not thrilled about the 10 hour bus ride, but hey it was cheap). The ride was also overnight so we mostly just slept through it. We did stop a couple of times twice at gas stations, and once we got stopped by border patrol to check for drugs (they obviously did not find any). We arrived in Florence and headed to our AirBnB and its was just a bus ride away from the city center. That night we planned out our way into the city for the next day. We did some good old sightseeing and took a crazy amount of pictures.

TravelPamela MillanAugust 17, 2015Travel, Adventure, Italy, Florence, FamilyComment

Conference in Montpellier

So our trip continued from Paris to Montpellier. Our mode of transportation: carpooling or as the europeans call it "BlaBlaCar". The car was a small Fiat and we were pretty much squished into our seats and held there by gravity and by our own sweat making us stick to our seats. Yeah it was pretty hot. Not to mention that the air in the car seemed to not circulate. After a 20 hour car ride (which was meant to be a 7 hour car ride) we finally made it to Montpellier, and to the door room where I was gonna stay for the conference. Rewind: I was accepted to present a poster at an international conference for the Society for Conservation Biology. Thus, here I was ready to present. One small issue though: I dragged my brother with me so we had to manage and sleep in this small twin size bed. Dark times. But we did it!

TravelPamela MillanAugust 13, 2015France, Adventure, Conference Comment

C'est bon! Nous sommes à Paris

So I am finally in Europe and it has definitely been a trip!

I left Newark airport on July 27th and had a layover the next morning in Iceland and I definitely recommend people check it out! Even though I only had 10 hours to explore, it was more than enough time to book a trip to the Blue Lagoon. This magical place is only 20 minutes from the airport and it was perfect after the long flight over. They give you some nice masks to try out and a free drink of your choice! (Of course I went with some bubbly deliciousness). It was a very relaxing experience that helped me recuperate and gave me strength to continue on my way to Paris, where I met up with my brother.

TravelPamela MillanAugust 3, 2015France, Adventure, FamilyComment