Tomorrow I turn 18, so to celebrate and/or speed up my last hours of being 17 years old, here are 17 things I learned this year: 1. Fax machines ROCK when you live 3,000 miles away from your parents and can’t sign medical release forms because you’re a minor. 2. Make your friends your family. 3. In comparison…
There I was, minding my own business (and by that I mean blatantly staring at every person walking by) while having a late lunch in Sevilla. The sun had finally descended behind the restaurant, and for the first time that day the plaza was comfortably warm instead of exhaustingly sweltering. I took a sip of…
The Sagrada Familia is Antoni Gaudí’s most famous work of architecture, but it definitely isn’t his only design that attracts tourists to Barcelona. Casa Batlló is sometimes called the “House of Bones” because of its facade, which has skeletal pillars and balconies. The green and blue tiles that cover the facade also give it an…
Art museums aren’t my thing. There, I said it. Both early and contemporary art make me feel unintelligent: historical art reminds me that I should know these biblical stories, and modern art seems to wave its abstract hand in front of my face and say “nananananana, you can’t get me!” European tourism is all about churches and art,…
Barcelona’s most well-known church is the Sagrada Familia, designed by world-famous architect Antoni Gaudí. It’s still unfinished, but that doesn’t prevent it from being enormous or impressive. The facade is extraordinarily intricate; it depicts religious scenes on both the front and the back of the building with detailed carvings that fill in the space on all sides. With…
If you know me, you know I’m into vegetables. I’ll often fill an entire plate with veggies at the dining hall–for me, choosing between carrots and broccoli is like choosing a favorite child. I just can’t. Because of this, eating in Spain has been immensely frustrating. Spaniards hardly eat vegetables; their occasional vegetable consumption consists of…
History is all about stories: successes and failures, heroes and villains, happiness and tragedy. Traveling is the best way to see how history affects present-day stories. These photos are from La Alhambra in Granada, Spain. It is considered one of the most significant examples of Islamic architecture in Spain and has inspired various works of music and literature. Yet instead…
Ordering takeout or delivery has never been a habit in my house. If we’re feeling uninspired or lazy in the face of cooking dinner, we’ll have a sit-down meal at a restaurant. Usually we’re driven by a change in cuisine; we frequently go out for Japanese or Thai, sometimes Indian, and occasionally Lebanese, Greek, or Italian. Pizza is usually reserved…
What does Europe have that the United States doesn’t? Bidets, Magnum ice cream bars, and towns like Óbidos, Portugal. I’m not sure whether there’s less tourism to the U.S. or whether it’s just different tourism. Our big cities are much more spread out, plus our shorter history yields fewer noteworthy sites for tourists to visit. In Europe, small towns thrive…
I started getting ready for bed and I noticed my pillow was missing. I immediately went to my sister’s bed, and found her reading with both of our pillows behind her. Me: “Can I have my pillow?” Her: “Oh, this is yours?” Me: “Yeah.” Her: “Here you go.” (she gave me the one immediately behind her, rather than…
Victim to Charm 