Heading Back To Spain

So in March I went on a trip with my class to Madrid which can be read about in my earlier posts. It was honestly such a good trip. I was in awe of the beauty of Madrid and how unique it was. I tried a lot of new things and had some pretty amazing experiences (Falling in love with calamares, seeing a park with two

lakes, dancing salsa and other amazing things).
Coming back from 4 days in Madrid was quite sad but I mean, I had rubbed the foot of the El Oso y el Madroño so I knew that eventually I would return to Madrid. It was some place that was amazing in itself but perfect to use as a base to travel to other places. It has a metro, amazing world class attractions and WARM WEATHER!! which is difficult to come by in Ireland. So travelling to the airport, going on the metro, boarding the flight and leaving was no a real happy moment.
Back to reality, it was back to the day in- day out slug of going to college, working and coming home. Don't get me wrong, I love college and love studying tourism but routine can be lethal! 
About two weeks after we arrived back from Madrid, the lecturer who brought us to Madrid, came to me and a few other of my classmates and offered us an amazing opportunity. Do our second year of college in Spain. Of course I jumped at the chance to go! The three of us were given the options: Seville, Malaga, Murcia, Alicante, Valencia and Madrid. Some of which I had never been before. It was difficult to decide between the cities and universities.
The following day however, we were told that Madrid had sparked interest in accepting us for the Erasmus program. The University de Rey Juan Carlos is a

incredible college in which a couple of my Spanish friends. Looking back at pictures from Madrid the first time I went, I became increasingly excited to go to these places again and have Spanish food every day!
The applications have been submitted and fingers crossed they come back with 100% assurances of us going (Otherwise this post was pointless) but moving to Spain for a year should be a really amazing experience. While I am in Madrid, I plan to go on trips and travel more so that I can get more tourism experience and also have loads of content to write and amazing pictures!
Places in Spain I want to travel to while in Spain:

• Galicia: The region in the North West of the country above Portugal. A friend lives there and it seems like a really cool coastal place to live.
• Grenada: Down the South of Spain. A historically enriched part of Spain and it's down south so it'll be warm.
• Cadiz
• Seville
• Murcia
• Bilbao
• Santander
• Barcelona
• Valladolid
• Salamanca

Besides travelling domestically, I hope to travel abroad on trips also to a few countries. For example;

• Portugal- It's super close to Spain, so why not!
• Switzerland
• Italy
• The Netherlands
• Gibraltar
• Andorra
• France

Spain should be an amazing experience for me and I encourage anyone in university to do an Erasmus year. Be spontaneous and travel!

"If Adventure is dangerous, try routine, it's lethal!"

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Eurovision Season

With the first part of this years semi-finals over, and 16 acts already through to the final, the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is truly underway. For me, the Eurovision is like an unwritten tradition of mine. Every May, it's fun to sit and watch the competition and then wasting all my call credit on texting in. 

But for those who aren't European, what is the Eurovision?
The Eurovision Song Contest is an international TV song competition and is the longest-running annual song contest of this scale. The Eurovision Song Contest is primarily held between countries that are in the European Broadcasting Union and has been going on for the last 60 years (Since 1956).
The basis behind the Song Contest is for each participating country to create, submit and perform an original song that is then put to the public vote, with the catch that you can't vote for your own country. The show has gone on for the last 60 years and has become the one of the most watched non-sporting event in the world with annual figures between 100 and 600 million internationally. It has also been shown in countries that don't even participate i.e US and China. 
One of the recent changes that made Eurovision history was the addition of

Australia as a participating country even though it wasn't a member of the EBU. To date, Ireland holds the most wins (7), has a 3 in a row streak and has won 4 times in 5 years (Ain't that great!).
The great thing about the Eurovision is that is creates a platform for international music creativity and gives artists a platform they may never have had before. Shows other countries music in other languages, different styles of music, cultures and demonstrates the diversity in the European Broadcasting Union. Some of the most popular winners to have successful careers after the contest would be: ABBA (Swedish Winners in 1974), Bucks Fizz (UK Winners in 1981) and Celine Dion (Swiss Winner in 1988).
How important is the Eurovision Song Contest?
I believe the Eurovision is a really important, if not a key staple of the reason the European Union exists, the reason why positive international relations is

important and is possibly the way forward for the world to be accepting of different customs and cultures. In terms of economy, I think it is probably one of the most important events for tourism as it brings huge crowds to a country. Take a country like Serbia who won in 2007 and hosted in 2008. That year, 43 countries participated and that means supporters from each country came along to Belgrade to watch and support their act. The Kombank Arena in Belgrade holds 18,300 approx. people coming to Belgrade, staying, eating, drinking, shopping, sight-seeing. The Eurovision doesn't just bring people together but also helps the economy of a country, boosts the the artist's profile and keeps a sense of bringing people together. 
Since 2002, the host broadcasters comes up with the slogan of their hosted Eurovision and from there, the theme and visuals are designed. These slogans, I think, detail what the Eurovision is about, for example:

• 2002 (Tallinn, Estonia)- "A Modern Fairytale"
• 2004 (Istanbul, Turkey)- "Under the Same Sky"
• 2010 (Oslo, Norway)- "Share the Moment"
• 2013 (Malmo, Sweden)- "We Are One"
• 2015 (Vienna, Austria)- "Building Bridges"

These slogans create a sense of coming together and show the initiative of the Eurovision and it's commitment to having people share the moment, build

bridges and becomes on under the same sky! It's always lovely to see on TV that people holding different flags cheering and enjoying making friends.

If you haven't checked out the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, the second semi-final is on Thursday (Ireland performs) and the final is on Saturday where the next host and the winner of this years contest will be crowned!

To watch and find out more, check out: http://www.eurovision.tv

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What has been your favorite year of the Eurovision? If you've ever been, what was your experience? Favorite act you ever had? 

Leave a comment below!

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Bucket List: Andorra

Andorra is a principality located in the midst of the Pyrenees Mountain range stretching across the border of France and Spain. 
Quick History Lesson: The history of Andorra stretches a long way back, with it's first triumph of independence was from Aragon in 1278 and it's second triumph of independence from the French

Empire in 1814. However, the modern day Principality that exists in Andorra came about in 1278 and is known as a principality with a monarchy headed by Co-Princes, the Bishop of Urgell (Spain) and Francois Hollande (President of France). Andorra is also ranked as Europe's sixth smallest nation with an 85,000 people population but also contains Andorra La Vella, the capital of Andorra but also Europe's highest capital.

*PHOTO CREDIT: Investwithandorra.com*

Reasons I/Anyone should go to Andorra:

• Although Tourism is the biggest industry in Andorra, it didn't recognize foreign visitors inside it's borders until the mid/late 20th Century which means that it is a relatively new country to explore and scenery that may not be published on your generic postcards!
• Weather: It is said that Andorra gets around 300 days of sunshine annually, which means for anyone as fair skinned as I am, would be burned in 1 day! But it gives good premise to not be
  
  indoors and to be outside exploring the area and finding unique places.
• Scenery: Being in the midst of the Pyrenees mountain range, amazing views of the mountains, France, Spain and maybe even the Mediterranean coast would provide the perfect backdrop for exploration, hiking, days out and eating outdoors.
• Skiing: I've never skied before, and from what I hear, it sounds like a painful but enjoyable experience to start learning. Andorra, being up high in the mountain range, would get plenty of snowfall to have enough grounds for skiing and snowboarding, so before tackling the Alps or anything like that, it'd be cool to check out the slopes of Andorra.
• Duty Free: Products sold in Andorra are tax free, so take note shoppers!
• Proximity to Spain and France: I've never been to France (Just yet) but it is certainly a must-go travel destination for anyone! Spain is an amazing country to travel to and is so unique in it's own right. So being within proximity to both would be good enough reason to travel!
• Hiking:With the great backgrounds and the many historic buildings and trails to go on i.e Tristaina Lake Trail that seems to have beautiful views and are enriching trails to walk.
• Museu del Tabac: I'm not a smoker but I've never heard of a museum dedicated to tobacco which really seems like an interesting place to visit!

What do you guys think of Andorra? Have you been to Andorra? Have you considered travelling here?

 Leave a comment!