Heading north from Lucca this week, I had the chance to spend a day exploring Cinque Terre (pronounced cheen-kweh tehr-reh, by the way) in northern Tuscany. I hiked through three of the five cities along the coastline before making my way to the second and final farm of the summer. While far too short, this … Continue reading Photo Journal from a Day in Cinque Terre
“Careful of the intestines,” my Italian co-worker called out casually over his shoulder as he swept broken glass into a spade. I peered into the dark shed, which we’d been asked (sentenced?) to clean and organize one afternoon in the 95-degree heat. The dust alone suggested that the shed had been all but forgotten. I … Continue reading Organic and Biodynamic Winemaking: Lessons from Two Weeks WWOOFing on a Vineyard in Tuscany
After bidding farewell to my family and my home for the last year, I left Spain this week to begin a new adventure in Italy. But before heading to the vineyards of Tuscany, I got to spend two days ~roaming~ around Rome. While I wish I'd had more time to explore every crevice of this … Continue reading Photo Journal of the Eternal City
This is my first dispatch from a summer-long stint of living out of my backpack! I moved out of my apartment in Madrid last week and I’ve been exploring Spain with my family ever since. I’m writing this from the common space of a cozy hostel in Barcelona, gearing up for a month and a … Continue reading Andando por Andalusía: Guadix and Granada
It's now Wednesday and I'm still reeling from the incredible (if not overwhelming) two days I spent in Paris this weekend. I ate French cheese and an award-winning baguette in the sunshine under the Eiffel Tower. I drank wine from all the major wine regions in France. I saw the Louvre and the Jardin du … Continue reading Tout Seule in the City of Love: A Photo Journal from a Weekend in Paris
What do you do when you find a flight to Paris for 36 Euros? You buy it, obviously, and figure the rest out later. Never in a million years did I ever think that this would be my life someday, but here we are. My time living in Europe is quickly (too quickly) coming to … Continue reading Planning for Paris
San Sebastián (or Donostia) is located in the Bay of Biscay on the northern coast of Spain, about 20 km from the border with France. It’s one of the major cities of Basque Country, an autonomous community similar to Catalunya in the sense that it has its own language and distinct cultural heritage that’s different … Continue reading Weird and Wonderful Bites of San Sebastián
What do you think about when you lie awake during sleepless nights? If you're me, you think about cheese pirates. For some reason I couldn't get this story out of my head last night. I remember reading about it a few months ago. The EU is cracking down on Mexican-made Manchego cheese, insisting that in … Continue reading Cheese Pirates!
Flavors and facts from my first solo travel experience Easter in Spain means extravagant parades, ceremonies, and (for us non-religious folk) time off during the earliest and loveliest days of spring. For me, this turned into an opportunity to do something I have always wanted to try: traveling solo. After worrying that eating alone at … Continue reading Highlights from Portugal
I had barely set my bags down in my first apartment in Madrid before packing up and boarding a plane to Bulgaria. I was visiting my friend Helena, who is on her second year of teaching English on a Fulbright fellowship. I knew very little about the country apart from what she’d told me. I … Continue reading On Bulgaria, Communism, and the Making of a National Cuisine
