As the new school year starts, I’ve started to feel the unwelcome pangs of nostalgia again. It’s got me scrolling through old photos and presentations; looking out the window and sighing wistfully as I imagine an orange-tree filled plaza far away. What’s the hardest part of moving on? Is it the leaving or the remembering?…
Tag: travel
How to London in Two Days
Ah, England. The land of ancient monarchies, confused politicians, and excellent rock music. It had always been on “the List,” but curiously, I was never really too interested in seeing London. Perhaps it was my inner hipster, but I figured that London was so hyped up, it couldn’t possibly be that interesting. Thankfully, I am happy…
Valencia: 4 reasons why it needs to be on your list
Valencia. We’ve all heard of it… either from Instagram or your favorite orange producer, right? Maybe if you’re a little more ~cultured~, you’ve heard of Las Fallas. But what do we actually know? At least for me, Valencia was one of those cities people would mention in passing as a “cool spot” in Spain, but…
The Curious Guiri’s Guide to Spanish Politics
I can’t tell you the number of conversations about American politics I’ve had that have ended with an “oof, my country’s government is a mess.” The Spaniards usually sympathetically nod and then say, “Have you seen our country?” Many years ago, I made the observation that Spanish history reads much like the plot of a…
Do you even Christmas, bro?
That’s right. Spain loves Christmas so much that they even invented a verb for it–navidear, “to christmas.” Since mid-November, the Córdoba city center has been abuzz with Christmas preparations. They’ve hung decorations the city center, stores have put displays in their windows, shoppers have rushed to take advantage of discounts. And now that it’s finally…
3.5 Ways to Callejear like a Boss
You may be wondering – what the hell does “callejear” mean? It’s one of those wonderful Spanish words that defies translation. The closest we can get in English is “to wander down streets” – in Spanish “calle” means “street”; hence “callejear” is the verb. (Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to all nouns—I’ve tried to make “fiestaear”…
The Empress of the Universe 