I'm a very lucky girl. 

Lucky because I've got a wonderful mom who is as addicted to traveling as I am.  Lucky because she taught me to be amazed by small things, talk different languages, make friends all over the world and like all kind of food. Lucky because she never doubted to take me on her trips and show me the world -I was five weeks old when I flew for the first time-.

Although I'm only nineteen years old, I've already seen many different places -which again, makes me a very lucky girl-. They all touched me in a way, but of course, some touched me more than others. And some of them didn't seem to let me go. Those places made me believe that our world is wonderful and that there are so many other beautiful places yet to discover.
They are very different from one another. They're cities or nature, famous or unknown, huge or tiny, crowded or deserted. Yet, they all left me breathless and happy.
I wanted to share them, because for me, they deserve a place on the list of 'hundred most beautiful places in the world'. Also, one of you might visit one of them, and feel as breathless and happy as I felt.
So, these are my seven happy places, not necessarily in that order, because they are all equally important to me.

The Souks in Marrakech, Morocco.

I was eleven years old when I went to Morocco for 3 weeks, with my mom. We stayed in Marrakech for a couple of days after we arrived and again, before we left the country. Every evening, we went for a walk through the Souks. This is the largest traditional Berber market of Morocco, and it's very impressive. It's a real labyrinth of narrow, covered alleyways, filled with a countless number of stalls and shops, selling herbs, clothes, lamps or other stuff.
I was eleven years old and it made me feel like I entered Ali Baba's cave. All those vivid colors and sounds, that constant activity by all those happy people, it left me speechless. At least, for a while. My mom let me do my own shopping, which made me soon realize that the vendors could easily see I was a tourist. So if I wanted to buy something, I should first negotiate about the price for half an hour and then leave to buy it in the next shop, where I could say "Yeah but your neighbor was going to sell it to me for half the price, so what's your deal?". I was eleven years old, but already the best person in negotiating my mom had ever seen.
After a while, vendors started to recognize me and even gave me free stuff, which made this experience even better.

The Calanques between Cassis and Marseille, France.

When I was five, we lived -only for one year- in Cassis, a small village next to Marseille, in the South of France. Really picturesque and beautiful, though really touristic. Between Cassis and Marseille, you'll find the Massif des Calanques. It's twenty kilometers of steep-side valleys, coves and bays in limestone, with small beaches and Mediterranean blue sea. My parents and I used to go there during weekends for long walks or just to chill, and although I was really young, I've made amazing memories. I would love to go back there and see everything with my grown eyes again.

Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil.

I was only 14 years old, when my mom and I moved to Brazil for one year. We've travelled a lot, and one of those trips was to Chapada Diamantina, a natural reserve in the west of the state we lived in. As the name reveals a bit, it used to be a place where they mined diamonds. It's really big, and everything there is unbelievably beautiful. It's filled with ponds and waterfalls, hills with tropical forests and amazing views. It seems like everything has it's own magic there. Every path you walk leads to another wonderful place. Of all those places, I preferred two. The first one is called 'Pai Nacio', it's a very high rock -a bit as in the Grand Canyon- in the middle of the reserve, from where you had the most stunning 360° view I've ever seen. The second one is called 'Ribeirão do Meio'. It's a natural rock slide with a length of at least 35 meters, ending in a small lake, the size of a swimming pool. Fun was guaranteed, and if you were lucky, the locals gave you a show for free, sliding down on their feet and doing all kinds of other stunts.

Sevilla, Spain.

Two years ago in October, I've made an exchange with my secondary school. We went to Sevilla for one week , where we were guest in the families of different Spanish students. It was one of the best weeks of my life. I've made an unbreakable friendship with my student, I've lived incredible moments with my classmates and I've discovered the most beautiful city I've ever seen. I went back this year, with a very good friend of mine, to visit our exchange students, but also, to visit the city on our own speed.
It made me fall in love even more with this metropol. The architecture is so beautiful, a great mix between Spanish and Moorish influences. The history this city carries with her is worth knowing. The weather is wonderful, the people are very kind, the prices are really reasonable.
I feel at home in Seville, although I've only been there twice, for a couple of days, I feel at home. And I will certainly return.

Paradise Valley, Morocco. 

During the same trip where I discovered the Souks, we stayed in a small village called Taghazout -known as a great surf spot- for a while. As I was too small to surf the big waves, we made a day trip to a near place called 'Paradise Valley'. It's a small, tropical and unknown valley, with palm- and bananatrees, ponds and rivers with the clearest water I had ever seen, filled with little fish who -if you had the patience to stand still for a while- came to your legs and give small 'kisses' to it. There were also cliffs you could jump of and have the time of your life.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

In the year I've lived in Brazil, my mom and I also visited Rio de Janeiro. We were staying at the oldest and highest district of the city, called Santa Teresa. From up there, you had a wonderful view over the city, especially at night. Rio isn't like any other city. It's surrounded by hills and forests and sea, which make it very special. No, Copacabana isn't the most beautiful beach Rio has to offer. Yes, it is the most well known and you'll certainly find the most expensive hotels and restaurants there. But Rio is way more than that. For me it was caipirinha's at local bar on the corner of our street, it was nightly bus rides where I didn't want to hop off because I was afraid to be robbed, it was climbing the steepest but also most beautiful stairway -filled with mosaic work-, it was visiting the museum of H. Stern (Brazil's most well known chain of jewelry and gems store), it was not being able to go up to the Christ because the road up there had collapsed due to the rainy season,... It was amazing though. A city with a soul. That's what I call it.

The Great wall, China

Two years ago, my mom had some friends who lived in China due to work. Of course, we took advantage of the opportunity and went to visit them. They lived in Shanghai, but we've also visited Beijing. Both really really impressing. Despite, neither of them is my coolest memory of this country. That's -of course, cliché- the Great wall. It's truly amazing. For my mom and I, I guess it was even a better experience than for many visitors, because we were all on our own. There was no one on the Great wall but us. It's hard to believe, and we don't understand it either, but we've walked 2 hours on this wall without crossing anyone. And that gave me the feeling we were a bit almighty. You could see kilometers far, in both ways, without seeing anything else but the wall and the fields around it. And every tower you passed, you could see a total new part of this big construction. Yet, it's a myth you can ride a motorcycle on the wall. It's constantly going up and down by stairs. It was cold, yes, but it was an unforgettable experience. We had to go home after two hours, but I had loved to walk as far as I could.

These are my seven happy places, and maybe one day, one them will be a happy place of you too.