I had heard stories, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect Bilbao.  We arrived on a tour bus with fellow students crossing tall bridges into the city.  I remember thinking that Bilbao felt like a fortress with the Guggenheim Museum nestled into the river bank.  Except the Guggenheim Museum is no ordinary structure found in any sort of fairy tale conceivable by quiet imaginations; more like a dreamland building in curvy titanium built by the one and only Frank Gehry (the same Canadian architect responsible for buildings such …

On the bus ride with the study abroad cohort to San Sebastian, I saw snow.  Let’s be honest, part of the reason I came to Spain to study abroad was for the culture and language, and the other big reason was to escape the snow and cold of Boston (where I attended college).  Needless to say, I was glad for my hat and coat sitting close by me in my weekend trip bag, but I wasn’t thrilled to have to use them.  After checking into the hotel and a brief …

After a short bus ride from, we finally made it to the ‘real’ Spain.  Barcelona (our home city at that time) is an amazing city, but as many Catalans love to tell you, it is not Spain.  Sevilla (Seville), however, is southern Spain’s capital of culture, flamenco, and tapas.  I was ready to experience this southern city with my group of travel buddies, and luckily we were all very chill, easy going folk.  So, we started off our first day in the city by touring some of the famous monuments …

Granada was a sleepy dream dressed up in an old world mysticism, that southern sense of Spanish calm, and cold.  It was really cold.  Granted, it was late in the fall, but I was used to Barcelona’s beautiful weather and the tank top standard.  Braving the weather, and bracing for the worst, I pulled on everything warm that I had crammed into my shoulder bag for the long weekend trip when I woke that morning in the hostel.
My travel buddies- all five of us- and I got up early to …

Everything is finally unpacked from that last adventure and you have just uploaded the pictures from your amazing trip onto the computer.  Friends are still asking about your journey and you can smell the spice or the air from the place/country you just left.  Now what?  What happens when people stop inquiring about your trip?  When they roll their eyes when you mention your last vacation to where-ever-it-was?  What will happen to those memories that you made when time comes in to slowly wash them away?
A journal can capture your …

I was a bit surprised to find out that beer is the most widely imbibed beverage after water and tea (thank you wiki), but after my visit to Seattle, I understand why.  Historically, brewing beer was a woman’s job (and what fascinates me is, with the exception of a woman serving beer and the beer goddess, they are completely left out of the wiki article, but I digress).  After the rise of big industrial brewers, especially in America, the need for home brews and the women responsible for making them …

Some weeks just get ahead of me, and this was one of them.  There are just too many wonderful adventures to be had in Chicago, and I am enjoying filling each corner of my day with friends, dancing, home done sushi, and plenty of music to share.  I am looking forward to sharing more adventures with you wonderful folk next week (particularly about Seattle), when I float back down from the dancing clouds.  Until then, enjoy the pants off of your summer and please don’t think twice about making lemonade.
P.S. …

Seattle was quickly becoming a weekend escape from my life in Chicago, and I was looking forward to my visit with Alejandro.  It was almost one year since I visited him last, but this was an entirely different trip for two reasons: (1) We were going to attempt running a 1/2 marathon together (13.1 miles) and (2) I was visiting him by myself.  Alejandro and I have been good friends since we lived and traveled together in Spain in 2007 and for some reason, he let me convince him to …

Last weekend, I ran a 5k with 600 others in Chicago’s Lincoln Park.  It really seems like it ought to be a standard summer pastime, but many non-runners I spoke with were surprised by my desire to pay to run a race I knew I would not win.  Furthermore, as a runner I am not in it for the speed- my father will gladly remind you that he can probably still beat me in a sprint.  But I run, nonetheless, and enjoy the simple pleasure that pounding pavement with my …

Right around that point in our visit to Italy when we figured out that ‘parcheggio’ meant parking and not some bizarre underground board game circuit, my travel bud and I arrived in Venice.  Milan had been a quiet city, too quiet for us girls from Barcelona, so we were looking forward to all this gorgeous city had to offer.
The canals and streets that wind all around the city gave Venice that picturesque romance that I had expected, but what I didn’t realize was how much like Disneyland the city would …