Colby's Journeys

Long time. Loooooong time, but I have been working on a few posts:) I just happen to be busy lately. Anywho, this first one I am getting out is from a day spent in A Coruña and a weekend in Santiago de Compostela!

So, cheap tickets, cheap hostels. Great reason to travel, right? So, we flew out Saturday March 30, early in the morning with the closest call of making our flight on time I have ever had…. Not puttin it here, nope, mm-mm.. Just ask me. We were picked up by Sarah’s roommate and friend, Abbie, and her coworker, Brooklynne! Brooklynne had rented a car so as soon as they picked us up from the airport in Santiago de Compostela we headed to A Coruña for the day. The thing that has probably left the biggest mark on me from there was how amazing this one cup of coffee was haha. It is the first thing I think of anyways. The coffee was just this amazing blend of espresso to steamed milk…. I bet it was the milk… My absolutely favorite was this coast we went to….

Turns out, all of these ladies happened to love taking pictures. It is not my favorite but I do not love it haha. I more so like taking pictures of things and nature rather than myself. HOWEVER. This time was well enjoyed. The air here was just so refreshing and I felt so much happiness and joy seeing the ocean and sea foam.

So, this pointy little building is the Torre de Hercules and it had this cool and giant blue dial on the other side with different symbols on it and probably a distinction of which way North was. Here’s some fun pics of me and miss lovely sitting in some even more fun flowers haha

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After we had our time, we made our way along the coast and ran into this gorgeous sight tossing up some sea foam. I found out sea foam is one of my favorite things. It was an extremely elating moment internally. You can clearly see Sarah’s was external.

Nice. So, we are on our way off the coast and as we leave I see this… interesting statue..

Just purely interested in what it was for haha.

After this, we decided to head for this area where there was an Octopus sculpture 😀 After you see the pictures, you will tell that I am quite in love with everything Octopus. Also located at the Octopus was this big funicular orb that took us to the top of the cliff opposite the Torre de Hercules.

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Soooooo very lovely… We found ourselves walking allllll the way down this cliff in order to save a few bucks… eurobucks…. and made our towards the beach! Now, the cool thing was that there was this wall of sand on the beach blocking the wind. The not so cool thing was that it was not sand haha. More like ocean debris. I found a nasty chunk of sea glass, but it made for a great souvy! The sun also decided to disappear behind some clouds and it is still rather chilly here. So, we packed up camp a little and head to Santiago de Compostela!

Sarah and I stayed at this amazing little backpackers hostel for only 11€ a night! Lovely little trip it was. By this time, it was around 7 PM so we showered, up, got ready for dinner, and walked around a bit before meeting up with Abbie and Brooklynne. Walking around was fun because Sarah and I got to scope the place out a little bit and get a snippet of what the night life had to offer. You can see so many stars in the sky right in the plaza of this cathedral…. Full of stars….

Next day comes and it just turns into a journey! It is Abbie & Brooklynne’s last day because of work. So, we sent as much time with them as we could. Sarah and I ate breakfast at this cute little cafe where this lady was the cashier, barista, bartender, and cook. Sheesh. Her sandwiches were deeeelicious, though. Coffee did not compare to the one in A Coruña, nope. Then we found ourselves meeting up with the ladies for a walking tour that was quite informative! It started out as a “private tour” because there were no other English speakers in our group, lol, but an older couple sort of hopped in after an hour. Something that stuck with me from the tour was learning that in every Holy Year, they build a door here connected to the cathedral and the Pope breaks the door down with a silver hammer. Then, the Pope blesses you I think? Or you are blessed at the cathedral? I am unsure… but it is only during the Holy Year. I was intrigued!

After the tour, we snagged some lunch at one of the only streets that had open restaurants. It is like the town closes on Sundays… Most places were closed. We then headed over to visit the cathedral, but it was “low time” for tourism and they decided to start renovations inside. So, we could go in but much of the place was covered in scaffolding and rafters. However, I did see one of the oldest things I have ever witnessed in my life. The remains of St. James from either the year 43 A.D. or the 1st century inside of the cathedral. You should definitely read up on the city of Santiago de Compostela’s upbringing.

Next up, we headed for two parks. The local park and the tourist park haha. Both were lovely, though. It was a good moment to just relax and lay out in the grass. In the following photos, I will share that I am walking along a cliff with a long way to the bottom and you can see the progression of Sarah’s concern haha. Thought it was cute.

These pictures were the journey to the next park which was the touristy one. It was much bigger and you could tell it was more touristy. In between the parks we also stopped by a monastery that was 100% open!! It was just stunning and I have never been so close to an altar at an ancient church before.

Soon after this, the ladies had to leave:( That part was not too fun…

After that, Sarah and I headed to this Italian restaurant that caught Sarah’s eye and my nose. Of course the food was delicious, but I also had this drink called vermut, which is different from vermouth like we have in the states. It was amazinggggg. Some sort of liquor drink that was very floral.

I also ran into my man Luciano.

That was the end to this day because everything was closed and we decided to walk part of the Camino de Santiago which meant going to bed a little earlier;)

Monday. Last day. Lots to do. We start by heading to a different café for breakfast this time and it was so good and so cheap! It was the café of some university there in Santiago de Compostela. Quite lovely! Next, Sarah and I revisited the park to find some good views for lunch because we love food I guess. That was a blast.

And this ended up being the view we loved the most! Next stop was this craft beer pub where I had all the beers from a nano brewery there as a flight. Very enjoyable:) Now, at each of these bars they give you some tapas with your drink. You can imagine we were not very hungry yet… But the next thing on the list was going through this wonderful food market where we got a fruit smoothie of all kinds of fruit and some souvenirs! I got a cool bottle opener with St. James on it! We took the smoothie to the local park and had that instead of at the view we found in the touristy park haha. Do not worry. We revisited this sight again. We then ventured into this beautiful room in a library that was quite hidden if I do say so.. Most likely because of tourists. And finally… Sarah and I made our way out to the Monument of the Pilgrimage. This location is where pilgrims would come over the mountaintop and catch the first glimpse of the Santiago de Compostela Catedral. An extremely powerful moment for some.

We walked from this monument to the cathedral and it felt special to be a part of such a thing. It was a very small part…. but still a part of something extremely special. My body does not feel extremely special having done it but my soul does haha.

This experience has really made me think about some of the things that I want to do many years from now when and if I make it to an older age. Many of my thoughts have either rested in the direct future or where I want to be in the prime of life. I think it is nice to sometimes reflect on all aspects of our lives… If I retire or have nephews/nieces, how will I handle that as the person I will become? I do not know.. More ramblings but I am glad you are with me if you have read this far:) All the love to you all. I hope you enjoyed this next blog!!!

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Hello and Howdy friends! This time round I wanted to share a trip I took alone to a far away land called Hungary! Sarah was in a situation that ended up taking her home to the States for roughly 10 days. So, I had a weekend to myself and decided to go to the place with the cheapest flight. As it turned out, it was not a cheap weekend for flights… HOWEVER, one day, when I was at work, an €80 flight popped up out of nowhere to Budapest, Hungary. Sure enough I bought it that same day! So, from Nov 16-19, I spent my time trekking Budapest alone and it was marvelous!

One of the downsides was my flight left at 21:45, or 9:45 pm, Friday night.. This meant I would land a little before 1:00 am.. and thennnn it was a 50 minute bus ride to my hostel and thennnn I had the check in process. Ya boy ended up going to bed around 2:30 am before waking up at 8:00 to start what would be a very full day…

Before I continue with the journey, I wanted to mention the hostel I was staying in! It was an amazing little place called The Lazy Muggle. I saw the name and was sold. However, it did have good reviews and was in an absolutely amazing location. That and it was €7.33 a night. Much of Budapest was a little cheaper than expected, though. In fact, everything was quite cheap in Budapest with the exception of major touristy things. Many museums and cathedrals/churches were only around 3 or so euros. The currency in Hungary is also different. They are called Forints and 1 euro is worth roughly 324 forints… This made it a liiiiiiittle harder to keep up with the cost of things but it worked out!

Back to the journey. All I brought was my backpack that was filled with enough clothes to get me though Monday, a towel, my camera, and a smaller bag to carry around in Budapest. Day one, I jus threw my clothes on, brushed my teeth, and headed out the door as quickly as could. Saturday morning started by walking maybe 50 paces from my hostel to St. Stephen’s Basilica.

This was the start of my observations towards recognizing the differences between Spain’s, or France’s, architectural and interior decorative designs in the church. Inside of the Hungarian churches was a much brighter atmosphere. It felt like churches in France wanted to make humanity as unnoticeable as possible, but these churches in Hungary seemed to ensure the role humanity plays in the church. In another way, to me, one seemed to isolate man from God as he is far above all else, but the other felt like it was keeping humanity in connection with God. It was an explicable thought process for me and you can feel free to disagree! Also, I thought the organ was beautiful so here you go:)

There were some interesting relics inside of the basilica. One of which was the literal right hand of Stephen I for whom the basilica is named after. Stephen I was the first king of Hungary and he died in 1038. Yes, the 11th century.

You cannot really see but there is 100% a clenched right hand inside that box. You can see the band that acts as the hilt or the cap of the hand.. To me, this made me think just how serious the church was/is and how it can sometimes be a little heavy handed (there’s a pun for ya if you laughed. If you did not, I am sorry). Can you imagine listening to a conversation about chopping a guy’s hand off and displaying it for your churchgoers? Just seems like… a lot.. to me. I have seen some relics before, but they have usually been shards of bone, or a femur, or hair. However, seeing this seemingly petrified hand brought upon different feelings and thoughts for me. If you make a trip to Budapest, I recommend experience St. Stephen’s Basilica!

Next, I went to a market! In Budapest, there are two big markets. One is called the Lehel Market and the other Central Market Hall. Today, I went to Lehel and I will talk about Central Market Hall later. The Lehel Market had two floors: the first floor was all kinds of produce and the second floor was a bunch of products like clothes, toys, gifts, souvenirs, etc. It was very big but full of a lot of crap, honestly. Very interesting architecture, though! It seemed like an experimental design that used the architect’s children’s ideas.

I decided to walk towards the City Park next, which is sort of like an island in Budapest. It contained many things to do there like a zoo, a spa, a park, a museum, a castle, and even a carousel!

I bumped into this train station on my walk that was absolutely stunning! Alsoooo, in front of the station was a little food cart selling what they called chimney cakes:D

¡Que ricooooooooooooooooo!

Chocolate and coconut 😛

Finally, I made it to City Park. As I came closer, there was a large landmark acting as an entrance of sorts.

This location represents the Seven chieftains of the Magyars (Hungarians) and other important Hungarian national leaders as well as their Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was a great experience to witness and made me recognize even more of Hungary’s pride in their country.

The main thing I wanted to do was enter the Vajdahunyad Castle area where there was a a museum on much of Hungary’s history. It more so had to do with agriculture and the Hungarian way of life since their conception in the year 896. I did not stay for toooo long because there was so much to do!

Okay. So. Big thing. Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, and music educator from Hungary. His work as influenced much of the world in regards to music education as well as influenced me. Teaching with Kodály methodologies is usually associated with earlier ages in music education but can be used for any and all ages. In a 3 level program, I am certified in 2 levels from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. I have amazing colleagues/friends from there and extremely phenomenal teachers/teacher friends! With this preface in mind, one of the locations where Kodály lived in Budapest, was turned into a memorial kind of museum! Unfortunately, these pictures were the closest I got to being there….

As it turned out, the place happened to be closed for my entire trip there. BUT! This experience was exciting enough for me:) By this time, it was a little later in the afternoon and I had to make it to a tour of the Hungarian Opera House. Since the Kodály memorial museum was closed, I squeezed in the Franz Liszt museum:D It was the same idea as Kodály in regards to the location of Liszt’s museum. It was at the same spot where Liszt used to spend some of his time in Hungary; not so much his childhood but throughout his life.

Pictured are two items actually used by Liszt! One is a sort of “composer’s desk” that was given as a gift to Liszt. It was a normal desk with a pull out mini keyboard that struck something more like chimes rather than strings, but the idea was to help with arranging/composing. The second is an invention Liszt asked to be constructed. The top set of keys is a piano whilst the bottom set is an organ. A very unique instrument that Liszt sought to be built.

These three photos contain a music stand crowned with Beethoven’s, Schubert’s, and Weber’s head. Liszt wrote of this stand as being a force that commanded him to go on his own way and perform his task. In the middle is a lock of Liszt’s white hair… More… relics, I guess. Always interesting to mention. The last is a gifted baton to Liszt which, quite literally, looks like a wand. I just want one of these some day is all.

After this musically endeavor, I made my way to the Hungarian Opera House:D

Magnificent, right? Turns out, the whole exterior and main hall was being renovated for at least 2 years but the guide made it sound like 4 more years.

However, the opera house offered a live performance of solos and duets.

I took more pictures but these are probably enough to understand what the opera house had to offer. The opera house was made by a single architect and designed everything down to the door handles, which there are 2,000 of. The house seats 1261 audience members with no standing space. Apparently, in Vienna, there are standing seats you can purchase. The paintings you see in the top right photo are by a Hungarian artist when he was in his mid 20s with the secco art technique. When you see them, you may understand the feat he had accomplish and surely did. I asked if the paintings were thematic to operas, but the theme was based on greek mythology. The tour was rather short because we had to head over for the soloistsssss. The list had a picture of several singers (only two came out). There was a mezzo and a lyric soprano. The latter was quite underwhelming and the entire performance was a little mediocre. Their duet was the Flower duet from Lakmé but the mezzo swallowed the soprano’s voice. Always pretty to hear, though! It was still really cool to hear some opera singers in an opera house, though. Do not get me wrong:)

I ended the Saturday trip time with an evening at a brewery that had other breweries’ beers on tap as well. From my findings, Budapest seems to be more of an IPA kind of place. The place was called Neked Csak Dezsö. Yes, I was trying to pronounce it in my head, too. I ended trying 5 different beers from a flight and they were all pretty tasty:) I recommend stopping by.

I lied juuuuust a little when I said the brewery was the end of my trip… The Lazy Muggle (my hostel) was having a pub crawl starting around 9:30 pm. Sooooo, I went haha. Many buildings and places were abandoned or damaged by WWII and, afterwards, many people purchased some of these locations. However, many bars left the locations the way they were and inserted the necessities of a bar, i.e. chairs, bar, tables, lights, billiards, etc. They became known as ruin pubs and today people purposefully make a bar look like a ruin pub because of its popularity.

The left picture was one of these ruin pubs I went to on the crawl. Also, there was this sort of traditional drink called the Shrek. It did not have layers but it contained a variety beverages. Out of 3 parts, it was 2 parts wine and 1 part I do not know haha. It was delicious, though, and quite hidden in regards to it being alcoholic. So. get this. You are supposed to have a bracelet to get into the club or pay some amount of money. I said I could not go, so one of the leaders of the pub crawl just gave me a bracelet! Apparently it was because of how much fun I was. I pretty much just danced and tried to get everyone to dance. I ended up going to this club and it was so fun! Live musiccccc, chicken tacossss, and many friends:) I befriended a great guy from the UK named Ben and we talked for so long that night. I also met two ladies that were sort of like interns at The Lazy Muggle. Taylor was from the states and Magge was from Germany:D I also had a wonderful time with a French gentleman, but I cannot remember his name right now. All of these people were there and it was a wonderful time with all of them! I am sure they are all still in Budapest, having a great time. Only problem was I did not go to bed until 3 am. I had to leave early, but I compensated by waking up a little bit later.

The next day my back and neck were a little sore from all the dancing haha. BUT. This was the day I went to the the Gellért Spaaaaa…. oh, buddy… First, though, I went to the place where I had breakfast everyday. It was called Costa Coffee and it was right next to The Lazy Muggle. I always had the smoked salmon sandwich with cream cheese and cucumbers and a latte. So good. On to the spaaaa.

The Gellért Baths and Spa is part of the Gellért Hotel and was built in the 1910s. There were 4 thermal baths, all at different temperatures, and two larger baths in the center of the estate. Also, they had 2 steam rooms and a sauna. They use a type of mineral water that is supposed to be great for the skin and body. This ended up being great for last night’s repercussions. I spent around 3 hours hopping from bath to bath, steam room to steam room, until I was content. After that, I was supposed to head to the Buda Castle District, but a mountain caught my eye and I decided to climb it. Halfway up, there seemed to be a hobbit hole door. Inside was this small cave that had a church inserted into it. I would have never thought to turn the location into a church but someone did. I was extremely caught off guard, always trying to remind myself that it was a real church.

Amid the top of the mountain was this gorgeous view of the Buda side and the Pest side of Budapest, separated by the river. I was a little pressed for time but I soaked up these moments as long as I could. I needed to be in the Holy Trinity Square for a walking tour. 

The statue contains the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the top and was erected during the Black Death or Black Plague. The Hungarians believed they were being punished by God and the statue was erected to ask for forgiveness.

A little bit about the Buda Castle District. A collection of tribes, the Magyars I believe, settled in this district in 896 and became a kingdom by the 11th century. In the 19th century, the cities of Buda and Pest were officially cohesive. The tour started talking about, probably my favorite iconic landmark in Budapest, Matthias Church.

This church was oldddd and absolutely stunning! In fact, it is probably one of the most unique I have ever been to. The roof is made of Zsolnay pyrogranite that is some special ceramic that has great durability. The inside was even more majestic. Something else had been happening as well…

Inside, there was a small orchestra with a choir rehearsing Mozart’s Requiem. I was able to witness this the entire time I was exploring this wonderful church. I soon found out that the performance happened to be that night… Yes… It was in about 2 1/2 hours. So, I went and had a very Hungarian dinner and tried Palinka and it was not amazing. Just strong haha. After dinner, most of the seat were gone, but part of the chancel was open and I snagged a seat up there! I ended being right across from the conductor, to the side of the soloists, and in perfect view of the orchestra and choir! Exhilarating experience… Mozart’s Requiem was the first mass I ever sang, so it was a bit more special for me. It was also hard to not sing along haha.

After this, the tour guide had mentioned a statue of some kind of general I do not remember the name of. What was important was the tradition it was a part of. Nearby is a university and students come to hang around Buda Castle District. Well, at some point the students would rub this statue the night before exams for good luck.. However, what you needed to rub was quite unexpected. Let’s just say the brass statue had the horse’s testicles shiny without a patina haha. The tour guide asked if anybody wanted be a part. Nobody was saying anything. So, naturally, I volunteered.

It was in this moment.. I became that much more of a Hungarian than the rest.

The next day I had time for just a few things! I toured the Hungarian Parliament Building. This building is said to have used so much gold in its construction, it could create and sustain a city of 150,000 people with its cost.. It was also a rather massive building that stuck out amongst the other buildings.

Very impressive building:)

Last biggg thing was going to the Szabo Ervin Library (was told about from a lady sharing a similar name (little shoutout, Lynn)) which used to be “an aristocrat’s mansion”.

The 2nd and 3rd pictures were of a reading room behind the philosophy section and the last photo was the sheet music section:D I perused this area for just a little while:P Sadly, the other more scenic areas were closed for renovations in this not-to-little library.

The last thing I did was go to the Christmas Market!!! I had mulled wine and Lángos, which was quite delicious if I do say so myself.

It was so awesome to dive head first into the feeling of Christmas time:) I could not have asked for better final moments in Budapest:))

This trip had so many more things but it was just too much to write! I do not think I have ever been/felt so alone before on this trip. I do not mean it in a depressing way, but more so in an experiential or eye-opening way.. It was an entirely new idea/experience for me. I was completely alone in a different country and was truly making 100% of the decisions. I found out that is something I am not used to… When other people are involved I tend to be non-confrontational about things. I do not usually speak up on places I want to go when they differ from other people. I just know I will be happy either way because I think I am more concerned about who I am with rather than where I am. It may not mean a whole lot to say I took charge of all decisions when it was just me, but it was empowering. It provided me with recognitions of myself I was rather blind to. I will say traveling alone is also fun because you get to do whatever. you. want. I changed my plans probably 10, or so, times!!! If you have not already, you should give traveling alone a whirl. It is an amazing time of self discovery (in my opinion). If you really do not feel like it that is okay, too! Maybe just take some time to reflect on the sides of yourself that are seldom seen by even you! All the love my people:)

Some extra photos for ya:P

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Okay… This has been one of the best so far.. Sarah and I went to France, the first week of November, to experience some of the same things as well as a lot of new things. I studied abroad in France for a few weeks with some then and now pals (shout out to Hoegaarden) and Sarah made a week pit stop to France with a different study abroad program.

The original purpose for going to France when we did was because of a music festival that was happening that weekend and one of my, if not my all time, favorite artists was headlining the night. Bon Iver for those who are wondering! In the end, there were other great reasons why we went on that weekend and I will share later on!

Day one started with anxiety trying to get to the airport early enough. Our flight was around 7:30 in the morning, but the Metro does not open until 6:00. So.. the Cercanias said they have a 4:45 train to the airport. Of course that ended up being wrong but we ended up making it with enough time to spare! The cheapest flight landed in a lovely city called Beauvais, but we had to leave as soon as possible to be on time for our train to Paris. I am starting to truly enjoy long bus and train rides mostly due to the beauty that can be seen just looking outside a window.

We checked into an AirBnB owned by this amazing African lady whose English was a good effort. She had so many helpful things for us like maps of France, our own coffee pot/water boiler, the works. Anyways, we checked with her at the AirBnB and started our first day in France!

We spent the first part of our day at Sacre-Coeur Basilica and the Montmartre area. This was the second time I have been to the basilica and it struck me just the same as the first. The basilica is cleaned by the rain but the rain does not reach all parts of it. This gives Sacre-Coeur a unique look that seems to detailed, like it is in HD almost. 

From the front of this place you had gorgeous views of Paris. Just imagine the excitement that came knowing we were about to explore as much of that as we could.

We then decided to just walk wherever we wanted in Montmartre. Sarah shared a whole new world with me when we found this bread she had been talking about. When she studied abroad, her class had this baked good. It is called a praluline. Look it up. The pink deceiving in the case that it tasted delicious rather than weird haha. If you go, definitely snag one of these!

So, because we walked most of the day, we happened to run into a few old churches along the way. Just by chance!

Here is one of those churches and here is where we stopped to eat the praluline. It seemed like a place people often visited but it had not been on our list. So, it was really nice just bumping into places.

I mentioned before the convenience of being in France on this weekend. This was because soooooo many things were free for us youngins! (Not sure how to spell that…word..) The Louvre was free for people under 26 from 6:00 to 9:45 when it closes. So, we hung outside around that area until we could get in for free.

My back was in a lot of pain from walking most of the day and we tried seeing as much as we could. Because of this, I did not really pull my phone out except for a few times! This was a picture from a mesmerizing room in the Louvre. I also wanted to mention just how empty the place was… It was so amazing.. Last time I went it was packed and this time I was able to walk to the front of the Mona Lisa without even changing my pace. Let that be knowledge for you all. Perhaps go to the Louvre at night time haha.

Ok. Day 2. We woke up a litttttle early but not super early. We grabbed a quick bfast and headed towards Champs Elysees. It was sooooo fun walking up and down the Champs Elysees. Of course, not much money was spent, but it was a great experience I had with Sarah:) We then walked over to the Arc de Triomphe which is at the end of the shopping street. This is definitely one of the sights to see if you visit. There were two specific experiences from Champs Elysees I want to mention. One was going into the Gucci store. You can ask Sarah how uncomfortable and judged we felt in this store. It was like being uncomfortable with our own skin but based on our looks and lack of being rich. It is a very particular feeling…

We were scoping out places to have lunch the next day because we wanted to splurge a meal and be fancayyyy. When we finished looking we saw this somewhat intricate gate that stood out. Ladies and gentlemen, this was the gate to an Abercrombie store. Yes. Abercrombie. Pictured is the gate, the walkway to the entrance door–because who needs just one entrance–and a picture of some of the 4 floors in this place.

Let me tell you how deceptively expensive this place was… I do not know if it was because I do not remember shopping at Abercrombie, or because it was in Champs Elysees, but a pair of pants cost a plane ticket..

Sarah and I were so thrown off that we turned it into a game. We were not even caring about the clothes. It was just a guessing game, honestly. A four story guessing game that was way more fun than you think.

I believe this happened on Saturday as well. Sarah and I checked out a local brewery in France!! Had to snag a picture of this one drinking deliciousness. We tried all the drafts from the brewery, which was only 5 if I remember correctly… It was such an interesting collection of brews. There was a spicy hibiscus beer and another beer that used purple corn… Definitely the most interesting tastes in a flight I have had. All in all it was a success and we had another round of each other’s favorite.

Mind you, it is roughly 6:00 pm… I mentioned before our reasoning for going to France when we did. It was for the Pitchfork Paris Music Festival. The festival was three days but Sarah and I bought tickets for one night. And not just any night. The best night. Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Bon Iver were playing. And both were not just playing. They were playing back to pack. A little dream come true, if you will.

The first picture contains a babe in the corner and then the festival venue. It was rather large and seemed to literally be a location to rent out for events. This festival happened to be one of the most interesting. When you walk past the entrance, there is a whole corner of food trucks and Heineken booths everywhere. There was a giant wooden shed where they had a barbershop. So, you could cut your hair if you wanted haha. Then, when you walk inside, you can see the venue is a giant rectangle. At each end was a stage where the bands took turns performing from. As one band started to perform, the other stage would start setting up for the next band and so on and so forth. I liked this because you could watch entire sets of the bands rather than missing the beginning or end of some performances like at some other festivals. In the middle of the the venue, though, was a a little pit where everybody was selling their merch. Of course, ya boi got a Bon Iver tour poster. STOKED. I also got a pitchfork shirt and Sarah got a Bon Iver shirt! There were some elevated corridors on each side of the stage floor. On these new floors were little booths of people selling everything. There were clothing booths, there were lapel pin booths, more food booths, jewelry, and even a soap booth. And then the most interesting of all… There were three tattoo artist booths with 90 euro “flash tattoos”… Ask Sarah if I went home with 90 less euros in my bank account… dahhhh jokes jokes.

Some of the booths!

Sarah and I watched one of my favorite bands Unknown Mortal Orchestra! I had seen them a little around two weeks earlier in Madrid, actually, just to show you my devotion. That was my 3rd time seeing them which means I have seen UMO perform in 3 different countries… that was just wild for me to think about. It was also my 3rd time seeing Bon Iver!

I have this first picture because it was during one of my favorite songs Justin Vernon of Bon Iver has ever written, 715 – CR∑∑KS

Check it out

This experience was extra special, because I saw Bon Iver at the Ryman in Nashville, TN, (go to the Ryman if you visit Nasvhille) and Sarah ended up going before really listening to them. This time, Sarah was just as big a fan! She even knew words to some songs I did not know/remember haha. Justin Vernon is such an amazing artist and always seems to expand on what he has already done. Very few times do you hear him play a song the same way live. Since Sarah and I were in such a good place, for dinner we ate sweet potato fries and a chocolate crepe from the food trucks hahahaha. Moving on, moving on!

Yesterday, Sarah and I bought a few groceries just to have a better budget. So, we ate sandwiches and drank orange Fanta on Sunday morning. Next, we went and walked around a lot more! We went to Saint-Chapelle for free–almost everything was free this first Sunday of the month for a reason I cannot remember–and pictures will never be able to do it justice.

I tried taking one picture of this wall, but just imagine how the 14 other walls of stained glass were. I am sure I am taking my Hoegaarden people back in time as we went here together. I was just as in love as I was last time. There are places that will never get old in our lives and perhaps this is one for me. It is a rather small place but full of so much.

Had to see this bad boy again. Last time I had the privilege of being up at the bell tower when her bells started to sing their tune. This time, we happened to be in the church during a service. This meant listening to the organ and the singers. Even though they have a vast amount of choir stalls there were only three singers. Wasted potential if you ask me haha. This trip was just getting better and better because even though I had been to some of the same places, the experience was different or even better:)

Today was the day of the fancy meallllll:D We ate at Le Deauville on Champs Elysees and man it was deeeeelicious. Something funny had happened where Sarah and I read the menu the waiter had pointed at and then we started to move towards the entrance. The waiter told us to enjoy our day like we were walking away and we said “Thanks…..” and then started to walk in. I am chuckling a little right now thinking about the experience. The waiter ended up noticing and sat us and we had a little laugh about it with the waiter. Sarah and I shared much of the meal which entailed: Escargot (the best I have ever had), French Onion Soup, and I had some fancy Mushroom pasta I cannot remember the bougie name of.

ALSO,  I had a very tasty red wine and Sarah had, I believe, a Rosé. We went all out because so many things were free! That same day we were able to go all the way up the Arc de Triomphe for zero euros.

This day ended with going up the Eiffel Tower. This experience was particularly unique for me even though I have been up the tower before. This was also not the first time I have been with Sarah. The first time we were friends and many other friends were with us. This time her hand was in mine and it made the experience quite different. No other friends. One that has become greater than. That and one of the spunkiest old men I have ever met haha. Extremely social man with unchecked boundaries! We talked with him for probably 15 minutes about anything from a fancy French restaurant to social anxieties that have developed over the generations. It was a good experience.

‘Tis the top:) Something else that was different was the wind. The extreme cold did not help either! However, there was one side of the tower with no wind, a.k.a., our favorite side. I have just a few photos that I want to share because I feel like I am getting better with a camera! It should be a small slideshow you can click through…

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I also want to mention this picture because it is a fountain of Michael and is the story for the inspiration as to why Mont St. Michel is placed where it is. Mont St. Michel is one of my favorite places I have ever been, but was not able to make it this trip! I highly recommend it, though.

Our last day was spent checking out of our AirBnB and squeezing what we could in Paris. The idea was to do a champagne tasting at this champagne shop. Apparently, they do not do tastings….which was not said on their website but whatever. All was well because we stumbled upon a cute little wine shop. We asked if she had a tasting and she assumed we were these two people who scheduled one online but we were not! She offered us a cheaper deal to join the other two and, sure enough, we took it. We tried 4 delicious winessss and met these two girls from the States. One was a few years into nursing and the other was a dolphin trainer. They were just enjoying a small European vacation together and good for them!

After being tipsy by noon, we made our way to Beauvais, which is where our flight was. Once again, it was a beautiful train ride from Paris. Honestly, if you can spread out a trip where you take train commutes, I bet you could see so much more of the world. Truly magnificent.

We were able to spend a few hours in Beauvais so we visited a few churches and things in this humble city.

One was the smallest I think I have ever seen as far as old churches go:)

It was a very hidden church that seemed to still be in use…

The other church, or cathedral rather, we saw was one of the biggest I have seen. Rather than a spread out estate it seemed like one giant mass of a building that made you feel so smalllllllll.

Quite prominent flying buttresses on this one! Extremely tall inside as well! It was such a hidden gem inside this city.

This last one is part of a landmark dating back to the 4th century. Yes, as in the 300’s. Apparently, it was part of the Gallo-Roman walls surrounding the city. It gives you goosebumps being able to see, let alone touch, something from so long ago. Fantastic moments.

This trip was interesting because of how laid back Sarah and I were. We sort of had an itinerary, but man did our plans change several times… And that was okay! There were no regrets:) Just great opportunities:) This idea of spontaneity and the willingness to change plans, rather than act as if they are set in stone, is somewhat part of the Spanish and I feel myself adapting to it. I also feel it is something we could all be a bit more content with… it can be unnerving, but..I mean.. it is life. Life is not exactly a straight path either. I sometimes think of it as a path actually. If I have never crossed a path before, who am I to say which is the right way until I reach that moment? Because I said I would the day before? I do not know… Just saying what I am thinking.

I just think life can be a little looser or at ease:)

Anyways, this journey has been one for the booksss and I cannot wait to share more! As soon as I catch up with these posts I want to try and talk more than just about travels because there are many more things I want to share! Keep enjoying for now! All the love.

Hello again:) I have had more fantastic journeys worth sharing!

A few weeks ago Nacho, the choir director at IES La Serna (the school Sarah and I work at), told us about a choir competition in a little town in Northern España called Burgos. Of course, we ended up going to both the choir competition and wonderful city!

The journey all begins with the car ride to Burgos where we met Nacho’s wife, Paula! They have three kiddos: Manuel who is around 6, then Santi and Mateo are twinssss and are about 3 or 4 years old. Straight up cuties. However, they were still 3 or 4. So, our 2 1/2 hour drive was a giant cry-fest, BUT well enjoyed. We got to know more about Paula and Nacho actually! They are both music teachers in central Spain and their parents all live quite close! Burgos is where Paula’s family lives. This was extra nice because Sarah and I had a traditional Spanish dinner from Paula’s parents. There is a kind of food called Cocido [koθido] which is pretty much chickpea soup with a large assortment of meats. I was not able to take part in many of them, but the ones I had were quite delicious.

One of the first things we were able to see/learn was about a man called “El Cid”. From the 11th century. Yes, 11th century. This guy, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, was a Castilian warrior who hailed from around Burgos. The Moorish gave Rodrigo the name “El Cid” which means “The Lord” in the old language they spoke back then. El Cid’s fame in the city is from his integral role in the defeat of the Moors. Sending them out of Spain.

The city was fortunate enough to have 2 amazing relics from El Cid. They had one of the swords he fought with, which was in a small museum, and his remains. His remains happened to be buried in the Burgos Cathedral, which has become one of the most amazing cathedrals I have ever seen…truly…

The cathedral was one of the largest I have been to. Not only was its size impressive, but also the things inside.

Right when you walk in, there is a separate section with one of the most colourful and gorgeous roofs I have seen.

The only problem was a wedding was going on so no one could enter. I have never seen so much gold or polychrome on a single structure in a cathedral. Also pictured is the wedding photographer haha.

Something that was very amusing was a little man’s torso hanging from a corner in the roof. Turns out, it was more than a man’s torso. Usually, a church has a collection of bells that play a little diddle and strike a large bell a certain number of times depending on the hour. This guy’s mouth flies open for every ding of the bell! It is a hoot.

Also within the cathedral was this set of real gold plated stairs. I cannot recall its significance other than that it was built in the 16th century or that it is gold plated. Either way, it is worth a look-see.

The choir stalls and organs were also quite beautiful! Amazing woodwork and the wood is so dark! I always like to imagine singing in of these old stalls. A lot of churches have individually carved scenes above the stalls, which is so amazing to me. Such seriousness in their work.

Here are several angles of the cathedral itself:) The architectural layout of the building is one that I do not think I have seen often…

So, we went to the cathedral in a rush because we had to go to a choir competition that night, which was a blast!

There choir competition was part of a choir director conference and the performance night was similar to an ACDA performance night. However, it was still a competition. I am not sure if it was just a different environment or if this one choir was trying too hard. Some director wrote an opera and had 2 or 3 scenes from it in his slot, which he went roughly 15 minutes over… For this “choir” competition, the majority of his composed piece was a duet and then a guy in stilts with a lion head came on stage. So very weird. It was wonderful to listen to different kinds of music I am not used to! 2 of the 3 pieces were required to be from Spanish composers. So, I was very excited to experience more of the Spanish culture.

The last thing Sarah and I did before catching a bus home, was visit the monastery  Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas. It was a lovely 12th century monastery which housed the Las Huelgas Codex 😀 This codex contains 13th century polyphonic manuscripts. Therefore, it is said that this is where polyphonic music first appeared in Spain not half a century after Notre Dame in Paris. Definitely had a couple goosebumps. The only thing that was a littttttle bit of a downer was the tour being 100% in Spanish. It was free, though! I just had to pay attention and think really really hard.

It felt really good to reconnect with music and I am saving another blog post to talk all about more personal things that are happening in my life, particularly, musically. The last thing you would have seen from this trip would be Sarah and me sprinting, jogging, fast walking, running, and occasionally walking for a moment (probably in that order) to make it to our bus on time. So, my lesson or advice from this trip is to be spontaneous, but always remember that some things/people do not care about that and will leave without you haha. Some times there are limits:)

I wanted to include another adventure in this blog since these two were so close together! Shortly after returning from Burgos, Sarah, her roommate Abbie, Abbie’s friend Olivia, and I took a day trip to Toledo, Españaaaaa.

Toledo had a crap ton of knives. Kind of wanted to say that first… Sadly, I did not get one. HOWEVER… A mental list is being made because I will return. Every month, for 20 Euros, I get my transportation card called an Abono Tranpsorte, if you remember. Everyone just calls it an Abono, though. Anyways, with this card, I can take a 50 minute bus ride to Toledo rather than pay some separate transportation fee! I am just saying that I am not worried about returning. The four of us started in Toledo by trekking up a hill by way of the streets. That is where the picture you see above came from as the street turned into a bluff.

When we were not looking at swords and knives, we were looking at all the history Toledo had to offer as well as its everyday people. The Toledo Cathedral was one of the greatest the city had to offer. Toledo Cathedral was a little different from some of the others I have seen because the cathedral is surrounded by the city life and apartment buildings. There is not really an open area to showcase the facade. Mostly because of this, the inside was much more impressive than the outside, in my opinion.

The estate is actually rather large. Just hidden, as I mentioned earlier. Some of my favorite parts of this cathedral were the choir stalls, the organs (yes plural), and this one beautiful architectural choice for making a whole in the roof.

These choir stalls were carved by two different woodworkers and can clearly see where each worked. These stalls are probably the most beautiful I have ever seen. (Better step up your gain Westminster Pres). I included the picture of this seat that seems to sit a little higher than the rest. Something indescribable came over me as I pictured this stall and I imagined the choir director sitting there conducting. That feeling. That moment is where I will exist one day and it felt great. All in all… that’s my seat. The guard just would not let me sit in it.

Preface: I am kind of a nerd about organs… Every church, cathedral, or basilica we visit I take a picture of the organ. I do not usually share them but I feel like I took some great photos of these. Also, I do not think I have really seen an organ like this first one–being on the side wall of the cathedral and being placed like so–let alone having three in one location! Stunning.

Another large part of the cathedral was what they called the Oculus. It was the first Baroque addition to this 13th century cathedral and they cut this hole in the roof in order to light in on the gorgeous fixture. Again, I am amazed by human beings’ motivation and seriousness in the church from such a long time ago. You can see all of the thought that was put into this and it gets me every time.

Okay. So, last little bit about the cathedral. I just took this picture of this roof just because it was amazing, but the painter included a portrait of himself above a corner window. The last last thing I want to mention is about this painting of a man in red. His name was St Paolo III and was the Archbishop of Toledo. If you do not know this name, (I did not at first) he was the pope around the mid-16th century and was also the pope who convened the first 8 sessions of the Council of Trent. If I recall, this was rather important for the music world!

Not much else had happened in Toledo other than looking at other shops and knives. However, we did eat some good food! I plan to go back and visit some more because we tried to go to a few more places but it just did not work out. I continue to see more of the world with my friends and loved ones and I feel like things are going well:)

I kinda fell off the radar for a little while…. Totally my bad, but I am trying to get back on track!

Anywayssss, I want to cover a few trips I have had over the past few weeks!

A few weeks ago Sarah’s cousin, Petra, (yes that is her name!) was just casually travelling around Europe for a month or so and made a pit stop with Sarah and me! The three of us trekked to Bilbao, España, and Valencia, España. Bilbao is a city in northern España where the most amazing museum was. This picture more so shows us always trying to figure out where to go haha.

The museum was the Guggenheim and it was at this museum where I started to feel more in touch with visual art.

I felt like I could finally start understanding motivations/inspirations behind certain pieces as well as identifying certain attributes of artistic styles/movements. I have expected that I thoroughly enjoy impressionism with Claude Monet as my number oneJ This museum was also one of the first I have been to where about 95% of the museum was not allowing pictures. I understood it, but I just found it interesting. So this means I do not have many pictures from inside! If you have time, you should look into Richard Serra’s Torqued Ellipses Exhibit in the Guggenheim. It is an entirely different experience actually being inside the structures, but perhaps reading about it can provide some insight.

Anywho, I believe Bilbao is roughly a one-day trip or maybe two days at the max. We ended up going to a wonderful Cathedral that is said to house the holy grail there. There is a beautiful square in front of the cathedral where I took this photo in front of a gorgeous water fountain.

Also pictured is, apparently, the holy grail :0

The other thing we did in Bilbao was go to a bluff overlooking the wonderful city and ate a typical type of food called pinchos! Pretty much finger foods…

After Bilbao, the three of us made it to one of my most favorite places I have been so far. Valencia is a city on the Northeastern coast of España. So, you have a wonderful city as well as a beach.

Definitely a highlight was the Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias. Pictured here is the opera houuuuuuse Palau de les Artes Reina Sofia. I shall return and see an opera here. Do not worry.

And then the entire area was even more stunning…

The Ciudad de las Artes Y Ciencias contains the opera house, a botanical garden, an Imax theater, a huuuuuuuge aquarium, and a science museum. This aquarium, called L’Oceanogràfic, is just……phenomenal. Do not be swayed by the price tag to go in because, in my case, it was well worth it. We spent at least four and a half hours in there… Truly wonderful aquarium, because it was laid out as different stations categorically. You could go to a predator exhibit and then move to the tropical exhibittttt. It was just awesome. AND Sarah and Petra got to see their first dolphin show. You can picture children seeing a dolphin show for the first time. Exactly them.

So. More stuff. There were two things two consume in Valencia, apparently. OH, there were three things. One was the paella. There is some special Valencian Paella but we opted for a seafood paella instead and MAN it was good.. They brought out a giant skillet that was 2/3 or more the size of the table, and three forks. We just went to town on it it was so good. You will do the same. ALSO, we happen to be eating this at a fancy restaurant that was out on a pier! I believe eating that paella while looking at the waves and hearing the water crash against the rocks was a moment in time worth staying in. Great segue into the beach! Okay, so the ocean was not what one may call warm.. But it was not cold! Just… chilly. So, yes I got in and loved it. I think I will always love the ocean and think I will always be drawn to it. I took some alone time to walk along the shoreline for a little while when Sarah and Petra were resting. I think everyone has a special way of rejuvenating themselves whether as an introvert or just emotionally recuperating. This was definitely one of those ways for me and I hope it always will be. Nothing quite like it.

Back to the other two things to consume! There was a lottt of horchata in Valencia and a lottt of it went in my stomach. Some places had terrible horchata and some places had amazing horchata. Either way, there is a lot of horchata and you should try some when you goJ

The last thing is called Agua de Valencia. You could approach this beverage like a cocktail but the idea is similar to Sangria. You make a big carafe of it and usually share it at the table. They usually contain champagne, orang juice, vodka, and gin. So, just like a mimosa but with a challenge.

Just wanted to throw in a picture of this giant sand castle that was at the beach!

One of the biggest highlights of Valencia was meeting up with a fellow musician, classmate, colleague, and friend of mine from the states! Malena Marcase, wonderful musician and person, is in a master’s program as Berklee’s Valencia campus. I spent many a day in Kate Paradise’s Commercial Seminar with this woman. It was equally wonderful and admiring to hear of her musical and life adventures happening in Valencia. Also, in her hands was a beer that…. Oh man… it is definitely somewhere close to the top of my list. It was a local Valencian beer called Turia. It is a Märzen which is also one of my favorite styles. Just mentioning all this because you should have one when you go.

Another person I met up with was Malena’s roommate, Genevieve Servoss. FanTAStic woman who seems to enjoy herself no matter what environment she is in… She actually also went to Belmont, but missed the opportunity to see her at school. Better late that never, though. I look forward to visiting Valencia more and perhaps that will involve these lovely ladies!

All in all, this excursion has been one for the books! I promise to get back on track for those who are caring to read these! More to come, though.

It has been farrrr too long since my last post. However, that is because of how busy I have been and how much I am doing! So, I hope this post is not super long, but we shall see! Do not worry. It is going to be fun.

I have had a few exhilarating things happen over this time and I would love to start with my hike! A little a while ago, Sarah and I went on a hike in the north of Madrid. In fact, we road the

cercanias (train) as far north as we could. Our original intention was to go to some natural spring pools in the middle of the forest. Sad to say… the pool was closed. It was still a lovely hike:) The picture above happens to be from the cercanias on our way to Cercedilla and it was just marvelous. We actually ended up going again with Sarah’s new roommates! Beautiful trees, hiking trails, and eating at a picnic table 4 feet from a cow were some great things we wanted to experience with friends!

I went back to Parque de Retiro again and just wanted to share a lovely picture I took of the Crystal Palace. Retiro Park has become a place of rejuvenation for me and thought it worth mentioning again. Any form of stress and sadness I may have felt, this park always seems to radiate with the happiness I happen to need that day. ESPECIALLY, when I have my hammock…

Now on to one of the busiest times I have had so far! During this time, I made a trip to Portugal in the cities of Porto, Lisboa, and Sintra. All these cities had beauties of their own and will tell you why shortly:) First, I want to mention the adventurers who participated! So, in the back (L-R) is Tal, Sarah, you-know-who, Jacob, Patrizia, Kelly, and some lame-o who bailed after this hang out. In the front is Thomas, Kayla, and Vivien. I want to talk a little about Tal, Patrizia, and Thomas. We met Patrizia and Tal when we found ourselves on the same walking tour as them. After the tour was over they had become our friends! Patrizia is from Verona, Italy, and is looking to earn her masters somewhere in Italy. She just happened to have the opportunity to travel for a while. Tal is from Israel but has been living in Prague for some time now. Pati and Tal were actually traveling together for almost 2 weeks if I remember correctly…

Tal truly opened my eyes to understanding more about the world I live in. She shared the way of life in Israel as well as the path people take as citizens of the country. When you finish Israeli high school, you serve in the military for roughly 3 years if you are a male and a little less than 3 years if you are female. Let me tell you, it was very interesting seeing this adorable little Israeli girl decked out in camo and an assault rifle. Anywho, these two ladies were phenomenal to be around. Now on to Thomas. Some of our group were getting gelato and Kelly decide to get a glass of wine next door. All of the sudden, he ends up talking to this man named Thomas. After we joined in we found out that he owned most of the building, which consisted of a luxurious hotel as well as a small wine shop/bar. He enjoyed our conversation and we enjoyed his. We learned so much about life in Lisboa from him as well as all of Portugal. He seemed to enjoy us so much that he kept giving away drinks to us and I want to say we saved perhaps 150€ collectively…. It was amazing. So amazing that we went again the next evening haha. However, we offered to pay, but Thomas would only let us pay 80€ and we had more drinks than the previous night.

Before we went to Lisboa, we spent roughly a day in Porto, Portugal. This was not enough time there. at. all…. Porto was by far the most enchanting of the places we travelled in Portugal. I learned about port wine (I like tawny) and “pastel de natas” which are these little egg custard pastries that never cost more than a euro or so. If we had 8 meals in Portugal, I had 10 natas. So. Good. The first picture is from a bridge over a river that runs into the ocean with a breathtaking view that pictures do partial justice. The second picture is a morrrrre breathtaking view from the same spot with all the peeps in it.

Down by the riverside (yes I sang the melody in my head, too) were the port wine makers and theyyy werrrre yummy. They have a higher alcohol percentage but a stronger sweetness to them. Either way, they were great. I also learned about green wine or vino verde. It pretty much looked like white wine most of the time but it was explained to us and using a process with very young grapes. So, the taste is a little more sour to me. A big part of Portugal, but more so in Porto, is all of the tiles on the buildings. In Portuguese they call them azulejos and they come from the Moors. Here is some on an old church as well in a train station that told some of Portugal’s history.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is all tile. Something else that I was elated to see in Porto was the Casa da Musica!! This building is a 12 floor concert venue with a fancy as can be restaurant inside. I only went to stare at it. So, I saved my money.

I did not get to see a performance in it, but it meant a whole lot just to see the place.

Last on the phenomenal Portugal list was Sintra! We learned from locals that a place we needed to visit was Sintra. We need to go to Pena Palace and maybe the Moorish Castle. We went to both. Pena Palace was this beautifully coloured castle that had long history that I will not get into. Just know of its beauty and its views.

The castle has its own chapel, (the little black and white steeple is the entrance) kitchen, and whatever else is inside that was too expensive to go see. The last picture was called “The Wall Walk” and I wanted to show how freakin scary it was. I mean… not for me… but just in general. Some times you had, roughly, 2 feet of walking space, but the views were worth the walk. Photo creds to the one and only Sarah McCutchan on that last one.

By far one of my favorite experiences in Portugal was the Moorish Castle. This castle came from a 10th century moorish settlement and the fortress being built in the 12th century.

I have these two pictures just to show how marvelous it was. I am continually awestruck at historical things like this. I cannot begin to fathom life here in the 900’s. I also wanted to add the second picture to show how close the two locations were to each other. Both within wonderful views of each other. Also, as soon as I started walking on the staircase, I waited for the dragons to fly over head as I conversed with Daenerys Targaryen, but it never happened. You would have felt it, too.

Here is my last bit on Portugal! I soon found out that J.K. Rowling spent 4 or 5 years teaching English in Porto, Portugal, after she graduated from university. She has mentioned this library/book store and it is said to have some inspirations for her books. This is a famous staircase that J.K. Rowling said seemed to look like it was moving when you stand at the top looking down. This was also one of my highlights of the trip:)

So, Portugal ended (sooner than it should have) and school was about to start:) I will say that it has almost been my first full week of school. I will also say that you are looking at one of IES La Serna’s new english and music assistant:D and one technology class.

The music teacher as La Serna is Nacho Delgado and Sarah and I have already begun work with him. I am very excited about this opportunity and cannot wait to be working with the choir. This week, Sarah and I have taken the reigns on voicing the men into proper sections as tenors or basses and the feeling is inexplicable. To feel that much closer to the things I want to do in life….. no words. Nacho has even given me information on two adult choirs in the Madrid area that Sarah and I can hopefully connect with… More updates about that will come:)

After this time so far, I feel the need to perhaps impart a little wisdom… whether you are traveling across the city or across countries, it is a wonderful challenge to get to know a new face:) You never know what may come of it. I also want to say that if you feel unfulfilled about anything in your life that matters to you (it has been singing for me these past few weeks) you must be proactive in finding that fulfillment. It is also okay to not do it alone.

All the love to my peeps. You know who you are. All the love to not my peeps. Love you, too. Until next time;P

It took long enough to figure out how to start this, but I finally did! For those of you who do not know, I am living in Madrid, Spain, for the next 10 months or so:D It is extremely exciting and I cannot wait to tell you more about it!

I have had the pleasure of being a part of group 9 “NUEVEEEE” and could not have asked for better. Awesomely eclectic group of people. I came to Spain for a few reasons, and I wont get too far into that, but I feel the same as I did in college. I have no idea what I am going to do with my life! I have an inkling, but it feels more like 800 inklings. No pasa nada.

L to R is Amanda, Kenzie, Marie, Valerie, Colbs, Vivien, AAROOOON, and Jacob (because their names will probably come up over the year).

I just know there is a lot of world out there and I want to be a part of more of it. The Sarah McCutchan will be here very soon to do the same as well as have more purposeful reasons behind being here. I have already learned so much about this place, like the statue above, and look forward to learning so much more!

I am slowly working my way to becoming a Madrileño here in Spain. Being a Madrileño is an entirely different way of life that I think I will continually be working on here. The organization I worked with (CIEE) welcomed me at the hotel where orientation would start. Orientation lasted 4 days and we did so many things. Much of the day was boring and contained a plethora of information. In hindsight, it was too much at once. After the orientation sessions, every evening we would go out to either sightsee or have lunch over tapas or raciones. TAPAS… these are like, little finger foods or large snacks that all food places have all the time. Many restaurants give you free tapas when you order beer or tinto de verano which is red wine mixed with club soda and some juice I believe… Raciones is alllllmost the same thing except it is bigger and the concept is that you share it with the table. So, I love raciones the most. There is a restaurant I went to with my orientation group called El Tigre.

This place is famous for the amount of tapas they give you for free with your cerveza, tinto de verano, or any alcoholic beverage. Yes, all of that food was free. My beer just cost me about 2 euros more! After being here for roughly two weeks, I have realized that alcohol is much more associated with the social aspect of life. It is not so much about getting drunk than enjoying time with your friends and family. They also make it hard not to drink beer because it is cheaper than water… I have also realized, or learned, that the Spaniards, or Madrileños (more specifically), have what they call “siestas”. These are naps that you take between 2 and 5 in the afternoon. Usually, naps fluster me for the rest of the day but I am starting to get used to them. Back on track! My orientation group and I have spent our evenings going to dinners where they give you shots of this special cider drink, watch flamenco musicians, dancers, and singers, and a bar where the horchata drips from a stalactite.

It was not until orientation was over did life get a little harder or start to seem more real. I have a 2 week homestay with a lovely lady named Olga Hernandez and her information said she spoke English and French. My friends, the paper was wrong. She does not speak a single word of English and I have not even attempted the French. So, dinners are interesting with my homestay roommate, John. Our communication is some times in short phrases and whatever I say is more like caveman talk. However, they are my favorite conversations. Olga is a head chef at a school so I really feel like John and I lucked out. I figured out that I LOVE Ensalada Rusa de Marisco. It is a Russian salad with a variety of fish and do not ask me what all kinds because I do not know. I just know it is freakin delicious. Anyways, it has been an exhausting journey trying to converse with her but I am learning so quickly and am so grateful for being placed with her. This sort of inspired my apartment, or piso, searching. One of the things I have to do on my own is find one to live in. In my case, I have to find a specific habitación, or room, within a piso. I want Spanish roommates but it seems to be the harder route! I cannot tell you how hard it is to meet up with a stranger, where most of them do not speak English, and learn about the apartment and then make a decision based on what I saw/the gist of whatever the heck they said. TOUGH decisions… So, I still do not have a piso to call my own yet but, hey, I have 9 days. Update from when I started this. I have no place to live still, but 5 days is more motivating!! It is a wonderful experience as I walk around different neighborhoods and learn more about my home for the next several months. Speaking of this apartment hunt, we need to bring some people over here to experience the metro system. SO efficient! I have been doing so much walking and metro riding. One can figure out the system in 2 days and turns into a breeze. I can get anywhere in the city for 20 euros a month! Being here has also expanded the opportunities for travel. I have already planned a trip to Paris with Sarah for a festival where I get to see Bon Iver and other artists. I am currently working on a trip to Germany, but I will update you all as I go:)

Since I waited so long to make my first post, I will share more of the past few days rather than just the beginning. Not too long ago, I stopped in a shop called “Mercado de Toledo” where there were soooooo many swords, daggers, and knives all based thematically by their placement in history and culture. For those of you who know this side of me, I will be taking a trip to Toledo very very very soon. Also! Something rather interesting! Apparently, it only rains 10 or so days out of the year and it rained 2 days ago for almost 6 minutes. I was the only person who thought it was cool haha. I also discovered a phenomenal flea market that goes through an entire town in West Madrid called La Latina. 

This picture was just one street! Anyways, I have more to share but will definitely save it for later posts:) I just wanted you all to know that I am living my best life, making friends, experiencing the world, and just content with my current existence. Each day is filled with elation and I look forward to it staying that way. Welp, I know I forgot something but, hopefully, my writing will get better and you will actually enjoy reading what I have to say haha. It has been hard to gather my thoughts since I have been here. So, I understand if the post is rather sporadic but fear not. I will get better!! All the love. Until next time…