Sabrina's Crossing -- An athlete's life on the road: Easing Back After Vacation

Friday, May 18, 2012

Easing Back After Vacation

Atop Castell de Montjuic in Barcelona.

With the end of the 2011-2012 season behind me, there was only one thing I hadn't yet crossed off the list before I hopped on that plane, and made the long trip back to the US: my annual European vacation!

With the exception of my rookie season in Como (when I was so homesick, I wanted to be home as soon as I possibly could), I have made it a tradition to get out and see a few sights of old Europe before I head home for the summer. I think it'd be a tragedy to live in Europe for a prolonged time, and never really get out and see its most beautiful sights.

So I put off seeing my family and friends for a few more weeks, and see a little history first! Not a bad trade off, and definitely time well-spent.

Some times I target places where I have friends, or have previously been: Venice, Milan, Como, Prague, various parts of France before I played there. And other years, I pick a spot I've never seen, but always wanted to visit: Majorca, Malta, Rome.

Slowly but surely, I'm filling up my passport, and marking each and every city (and island) around Europe off my travel-bucket-list!

View from the balcony in Alghero!

More often than not, I look to go someplace where the sun is sure to shine. After eight months in a gym, I am usually chomping at the bit to hangout in the sunshine! That's another reason I'm rarely in a hurry to get back to Portland -- the sun habitually doesn't come out until May or June (or July 4th).

I think I've done a fairly good job over the years finding a balance between spending time on the beach, and exploring city sights. Each provides you with a vastly different experience
and a significantly different vacation!

Alghero Bay

I had been wanting to visit Barcelona for years, so that was the one place I had to venture to this year. And I'm always looking for an excuse to get back to Italy, so 4 days on the beaches of Sardegna (Sardinia) sounded too good to pass up.

View of Beautiful Barcelona.

Nothing beats unwinding from a long season on a beach, seeing the historic sights of Europe, and refreshing the body and mind before the summer starts! This year, I was lucky enough to have a travel buddy. One of my college teammates, Linda, joined me for some much-needed R-and-R!

I kept a journal along the way (a real life journal, with pen and paper!!), so I'll be giving you all a semi day-to-day look at how we spent our eight days in Sardegna and Barcelona!

As the case can be quite often, sometimes words don't do things justice. So good thing for you I have more than my fair share of pictures and videos to share with you all! I'm looking forward to sharing the beautiful sights -- teasers below!