Road Trip and Benicassim

Somewhere in the middle of our road trip a friend of Lucas asked me what it was like to pass through 3 of the best countries in the world. Well, here it is in a nutshell…

Italy

The drive through the Italian country side and alps was incredible. All i would see was fields upon fields of olive trees and grape vines. When we were passing through the alps, the highway would bring us through these huge tunnels under the mountains and then at every end there would be an awing view waiting for us to see. There was literally a castle with a town surrounding it on every mountain top. I really love the towns that are built on the mountains, but I would never want to live there because it would be a pain in the ass to climb the mountains all of the time. At the end of the day we stopped at a camp site along the coast. We spent the night on the beach drinking wine bought at the store straight  from the barrel. Even the cheapest wine here is better than the most expensive in the USA.

 

 

 

 

 

France

In my most recent post, I covered my excitement about Monte Carlo. Here are some more pictures…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also passed through the city of Niche the same day where we ate lunch on the beach.

 

That night, I got Creme brûlée at the restaurant we ate at. Mmmm, heavenly.

 

The next day we stopped at a local bakery and bought brie and baguette for breakfast. I can’t even explain with words how good it was! The bread was so soft, and the cheese was so, so, creamy…

 

 

 

After breakfast we drove to the town of Arles, which is known for where Van Gogh painted his “Starry Night.” The surrounding area of the town is known for having wild horses and flamingos. Even though we looked for them, we sadly never saw any. I unfortunately did not spend enough time in Niche and Arles to really get to explore, but I put them on my list of things to do in the future. The French countryside is extremely beautiful and I would love to spend a longer period of time there.

 

 

Spain 

Benicassim was so much fun!!! I was really living a summer vacation. At night, we would stay up until early hours in the  morning listening to great music and partying. Then, spend our days sleeping on the beach. The first act we saw was Lisa Hannigan. Every minute she was on stage she was smiling. She was so adorable. The festival ended with David Guetta, which was awesome! The light show was insane!

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Benicassim, we ate paella at a local restaurant. Paella is a Spanish rice dish that is more on the oily side and is cooked in special pans.

 

 

Like Italy, Spain is extremely disorganized and slow, but there is something about spain that I am completely in love with. Every town I was in was incredibly beautiful and artistic. Spanish art is completely my style: bright, bold colors, with lots of movement in the organic movement in the compositions. I am inspired by it and hope to study more of it in the future.

 

On the way back from Benicassim, we stopped in Barcelona for the day before boarding the ferri.  My new goal in life is to live in Barcelona for a period of time. I absolutely love that city! It is extremely artistic, socially advanced, and beautiful. Barcelona is most known for being the home of Gaudi, a famous architect known for using organic shapes and being extremely ahead of his time. We visited Park Guell, the public park that he designed and a few other sites of his.