RIP- we'll miss you, good friend

One thing I miss here in Italy is RBVs- Root Beer Vodkas. Back in the States, my roommate’s brother became obsessed with RBV and turned me, and my entire social circle onto it. It’s actually gotten ridiculous- everyone from my friends to my younger sister are obsessed with RBV, and all because of this one guy. RBV tastes EXACTLY like root beer. EXACTLY. You mix it with Coke and you literally have yourself an alcoholic A&W. It’s a dangers drink, and that’s probably the reason it’s been so popular with my NYC peeps- you don’t realize how much you’re drinking until it’s too late.

When my sister came to visit, she brought this bottle of RBV with her, mostly as a favor to my Italian roommate. He’s never had root beer, and was curious. Of course I had my sister bring the RBV instead of the A&W, but that’s because I’m selfish. I missed it!

It was interesting drinking RBVs with an Italian- he preferred to savor the RBV straight up, with no coke, and he actually enjoyed it! (I thought he’d hate the taste- after all, root beer is definitely not my favorite!) I’ve since had RBV straight up (due to lack of Coke in mia casa) and it’s actually pretty amazing.

Anyway, the bottle is finished. Fun times are over. I need to figure out if Three Olives or Smirnoff can deliver RBV to Milan somehow…. or just make my sister be an RBV-trafficking mule next time she comes to visit!

What does this even mean!?

Are these the mushroom equivalent of the “Jersey Shore”?

Photographic proof that we saw 5 seconds of sun in Spain.

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.

Actually, it falls in Barcelona. After wanting to go to Spain for YEARS, I was so excited that my cousin and I had a trip to BCN booked! It was a hectic week, with me missing some classes due to scheduling confusion, my sister visiting in tandem, coming back from a trip to Paris and squeezing a jaunt to Venice in between. We were determined to go to Spain though, and have an amazing time.

Then I checked the weather report. Rain, every day. Devastated doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt- I wanted to drink sangria in an outdoor cafe and go to the beach under the Spanish sun!

After picking myself up off the floor and getting a pep talk about positive thinking, my cousin and I headed to Milan’s airport for our 6pm flight.

WRONG. My traveler’s luck had evidently been left in Paris. I inadvertently read our boarding pass as 6pm when our flight was 6am. We arrived at the ticket counter to be told our flight had left hours before and there wasn’t another flight until the next day. Damn that military time and my lack of sleep!

Lesson learned: never live in a country that uses military time. ha!

After picking myself  up off the floor (again) and after another pep talk, my cousin and I bought tickets to fly out the next morning. We made our 2nd flight with no problems, and arrived in rainy Spain.

GET ME OUT OF HERE!

We didn’t have any other major disasters, but Barcelona was CROWDED. Like, Times Square on New Year’s Eve crowded. It was horrendous and made me really frustrated with the city (granted, I was grumpy to begin with). But, one day when strolling along Las Ramblas, I found the one thing that made me feel better:

Proof that America really does run for Dunkin'

I should really change this blog’s title to “Finding American Coffee in Europe”.

After that godsend, I felt better and was able to enjoy the rest of the trip. My cousin and I drank sangria in an indoor cafe under a Spanish roof, which was the next best thing. Maybe one day I’ll get the chance to revisit the country and Spain can redeem itself… if only I can catch my flight on time!