One weekend in each of these cities is not enough time! I visited these beautiful places back in 2010 while I was studying abroad in Paris and I have been dying to go back!

In Dublin we stayed at a hostel near Temple Bar. That was my first – and last – time staying in a hostel. If you are on a budget it is totally worth it! Just be prepared to share a bathroom with 20 people.

The first thing I fell in love with were all of the bright, different colored doors on every house. Because of the thick fog that layers the cold air in Ireland, they would paint their doors a bright blue or bright red or bright yellow or green so that they could locate their house and open the right door!

The Irish are suuper nice and friendly. How can you not be when you have the world famous Guinness Brewery and Jameson Distillery down the street?! Both of these places are SO fun to visit and tour. At the Jameson Distillery is where I began to love whiskey and learned that Jameson is distilled tree times at tree hundred turty tree degrees. That weekend we partied with the locals at Temple Bar and flew around the ‘Murican flag while the U.S. played Britain during the World Cup. Temple Bar is a fun district with bars and restaurants on cobblestone roads. We got invited to a Playboy party and danced with some Irish bunnies and ate the best fish n’ chips on the drunken walk home. Another cute area to check out would be Grafton Street for shopping, eating and perusing.

So, I absolutely love Barcelona. We took a quick tour of the city on a double decker bus ride where we got to see the Olympic arena, Sagrada Familia, Jardin de Miramar and Barcelona’s futbol stadium. I loved the mix of beautiful greenery with the beach and late night life. Definitely check out the Picasso museum, Casa Batllo Facade and the Barcelona Cathedral. Not to mention, the people there are SO incredibly friendly there! The Spaniards love to celebrate life and to party. And the guys you meet on the beach will write you their numbers on the sand!

We stayed in a condo that we rented near a train station – sorry, not much information on that. We thought that would help us on our transportation to the airport which we totally blew on our way back to Paris. Our last night in town was spent on a rooftop that overlooked all of Barcelona where we partied until the very last minute. We then, frantically, grabbed a cab to our condo, swooped our bags and rushed the driver to the airport. Wayyyy more expensive but so worth it!

Lastly, a girls gotta eat. I learned all about tapas while visiting Spain. To me, tapas and dim sum are a very similar concept. They are small portions of different foods so that you can try a lot of different items at one meal. Why doesn’t everyone do that?! My favorite where the spicy potatoes with a creamy dipping sauce. Another thing to note, they were big on Serrano ham. Serrano ham was all over the place: in sandwiches, in pastries…you name it. So, a fresh variety of tapas plus a big glass of sangria is a great way to kick off the afternoon in Barcelona.