Category: Travel

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Más Mallorca por favor!

Apologies that I lapsed a bit with the blog, but I was distracted soaking in the magical city of Mallorca! I really did try, though. Last night, with the best of blogger intentions, I sat in the beautiful open-air Courtyard in my hotel (apparently a 16th century former palace) and then, Mallorca-style, this happened…

Scene: Girl sits alone in the palace-hotel Courtyard, typing on her laptop. Enter Boy (a dashing British currency trader). Boy strikes up a conversation with Girl and asks if he may sit at her table. Girl smiles and nods. Boy sits. Boy and Girl converse. Enter Hotel Butler. Hotel Butler informs Boy and Girl that it is not permissible to speak in the palace-hotel Courtyard after 10pm. Hotel Butler assures Boy and Girl that they may remain in the Courtyard, with the requirement that they must not speak. Exit Hotel Butler. Pause… Boy inquires if Girl would be interested in putting her laptop away and joining him for a drink. Girl slams laptop shut. End Scene.

THIS REALLY HAPPENED! And I wasn’t even surprised it happened. It’s is just the kind of stuff that happens in this magical place called Mallorca!

Mallorca is the only stop in my tour de Spain that I chose without any recommendations from friends. While planning the trip I came across a USA Today article naming Mallorca as one of nine places that should be on your bucket list to visit. Even though I don’t have a bucket list, it caught my attention as I hadn’t been to any of the nine places, minus a layover in Houston (um, in hindsight, interesting that Houston made this illustrious list?) Anyways, I took the article to heart….how could I be in the same country, and just a hop, skip, and a jump away, and not visit a BUCKET LIST PLACE? So, without knowing much more than the short paragraph in the article, I added Mallorca to my itinerary. Done and done. Here’s another glimpse of that Mallorca magic:

I arrived thinking I’d have a relaxing few days at the beach. I did NOT arrive thinking I would become absolutely enamored with the city and would later change my travel plans to stay an extra day! I spent most of my time in Palma, the capital and largest city (no skyscrapers but plenty of castles, cathedrals, coastline, and mountains).

The most obvious feature of Palma is the awe-inspiring Gothic Cathedral, with a stunning blue back-drop of the Mediterranean coastline that includes stunning beaches and ports packed with sailboats and yachts, as well as green mountain ranges to complete the panoramic view. While walking around I felt like I was in an open-air castle…it truly feels magical.

The first full day I took a free walking tour of Palma and then toured myself through the gorgeous beaches. I enjoyed a delicious dinner at Restaurante Pesquero (overlooking the port) and tried a white fish that was new to me. How have I not heard of the John Dory fish before?! I think I’m now president of the John Dory fan club.

Yesterday I took an old-fashioned wooden train to a coastal village, the Port of Soller. I enjoyed an out-of-this-world lunch at Kingfisher (one of the benefits of being a party of one) and spent the afternoon beaching-it and exploring the streets before the scenic trip back to Palma.

All in all, I think of Mallorca as Barcelona’s younger, smaller, and more laid-back cousin. M looks up to bigger city cousin B but doesn’t feel at all inferior, and while I love them both equally (and it wouldn’t be fair to pick favorites) I will always have a special place in my heart for lil’ Mallorca!

Next up….Granada!

 

 

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B-b-b-bar-celona (to the tune of My Sharona, obvs)

Everyone I know who’d been to Barcelona said they just KNEW I would love it. And they were not wrong! This could mean one of two things- my friends really know me and my travel tastes OR everyone who goes to Barcelona loves it. No offense my friends, but in this case I’m leaning towards the latter. What a special city and I'm so thankful you all encouraged me to go!

First of all, I can't wait to go back. You know when you leave a place and you're perfectly satisfied? You know… those times you did what you wanted and while maybe it would have been nice to stay a little longer, you're fulfilled. Let me be clear that I did NOT feel that way when leaving Barcelona this morning. I guess I didn't know what I didn't know I wanted to see and do! In short, it left me wanting more… I hear the city is stealth like that. Barcelona has the upper hand in our relationship, for sure.

So, upon arrival in Barcelona I checked into my accommodations at the Yeah hostel. I never did the whole backpacking through Europe thing (I guess it's happening now, except with a humongous, bright teal roller-board) and I haven’t stayed in many hostels, so wasn’t sure what to expect. The Yeah hostel far surpassed my expectations. It was modern, trendy, clean, and full of friendly staff and fellow adventurers.  I would highly recommend it if you’re looking for a cost efficient and fun place to stay, and it's in a fantastic location (if you don’t mind sharing a room with strangers, that is. I realize that’s not everyone’s cuppa tea).

I started my first full day with a walking tour of the Gothic district of Barcelona. The tour began at the Cathedral, which blew me away, and our guide explained the different Roman, Gothic and Neo-Gothic influences to the Cathedral and surrounding basilicas (I clearly hadn't paid attention in some class in high school as this was mostly new to me). We ended the tour in the Born district, which is extremely quaint and is known for consisting of family-owned shops and restaurants. It was one of my favorite neighborhoods. That afternoon I walked a TON around the city-it felt like 600 miles (yes, that's more than the Proclaimers). In my wandering I came across the Arc De Triomphe and many other generally awe-inspiring sites.

Then my awesome friend from the Vespa tour, Kristina, arrived in Barcelona on a post-tour trip with her Dad, John Edwards (not that one). Lucky me that we were there at the same time!! We had a great meal at Cervecería Catalana, that had been recommended by a few people and definitely did not disappoint. (Btw, I've taken my snacking to a new level here in Espana…it's hard to wait until 9-10pm for dinner! Thank goodness for those wasabi peas).

The next day our traveling trio (me, Kristina and not that John Edwards) had a fabulous Day O' Gaudi! We began with a free Gaudi walking tour run by a company called Runnerbeans. Their tours are great and I'm thankful another Vespa tour friend recommended them. I admittedly did not know much about this Gaudi dude before the tour but he's really fascinating, as are his architectural influences throughout the city. Then we jumped right into  a self-guided tour of the Basilica of the Sangara Family, which was designed by Gaudi and has been "under construction" for almost 135 years  (word on the street is that completion is in the foreseen future). Even incomplete it's almost impossible to describe the grandness of the structure (nevermind the intricate details and symbolism behind the design elements). We then took the elevator to the top of one of the monstrous bell towers (beautiful views!) and he had to walk 400 (tiiiiny, spiral) steps down. I kid you not! We all had vertigo for a lil' bit after that descent.

To top off the day we visited Park Guell, that Gaudi had designed for his biggest/richest client and good friend (named Something Guell). It's a spectacular place with three houses, gardens, and amazing and colorful Gaudi designs throughout (btw, apparently the word "gaudy" may be derived from Gaudi's name). Regardless of the Gaudi/Gaudy-ness, we all loved it! Here's Kristina and not that John Edwards:


I coordinated my outfit with the tourist attraction:

Lastly we had dinner at at a muy bien restaurante called Xativa L'Arrosseria, which was recommended by 'Francis from the Front Desk' at the Yeah hostel. It was located in the Garcia district,which is a non-touristy and authentic part of Barcelona. While the restaurant was comfortably crowded, there wasn't a wait (even at 9pm- the start of prime-time dining!) and it was clear we were among many locals. We shared two types of ridiculously delicious seafood paella (one made with black rice from squid ink) and we pretty much licked the skillets clean. My wish for delicious paella during my last night in Barcelona was more than fulfilled. Muchas gracias Barcelona! I will most definitely be back.

Next blog preview…Mallorca…I'm here!

 

 

 

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Different strokes from different yolks!

Prepare yourselves…this video is a real thing.  I finally landed in Madrid today and swung by the gift shop.  This display next to the register caught my attention. At first I thought it was for candy eggs for kids. Not so much. People weren't lying about Spain being a progressive country!

P.S. I'm too tired to write more about the first day of my first 'Sometimes You Just Gotta' (SYJG) international trip (Yes, I'm in the early stages of recovery from speaking in acronyms for the past ten years). Bottom line is that I learned to ride a vespa and am looking forward to (albeit slightly nervous) about our 100km "slalom ride" over the mountains tomorrow.

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Tiny shopping cart

 

My sister, Tobi, gave me this birthday card last year. The inside says “No one travels through life quite like you.” I smiled every time I looked at it so I hung it in my office, directly behind my computer monitor.  I looked at it for almost a year before I gave the little kid a knowing nod and decided it was time to take my show on the road (my show just being me, not doing anything particularly exciting, and not even having a tiny shopping cart prop).

 

I’d been at my job for ten years when I quit last month. My colleagues, friends and family were almost overly understanding and everyone seems to want to “live vicariously” through a seemingly irresponsible person. This blog seems like the easiest and most efficient way to do this (and for my parents to know where I am) but if you’d rather just keep up through pictures, my Instagram handle is @Teha7

I realize that I’m extremely fortunate to be at a place in my life where I can do this. After 17 years of working, and it felt like a lot of working, I can just stop doing it for a period of time… and it can be okay (or at least so far it is- fingers crossed!). There are so many places I haven’t seen and I want to make a dent in that before re-entering the real world (btw, I was told I’m too young to be having a mid-life crisis so I’m going with that).

I’m writing this from the Charles de Gaulle airport- my first time in France! I’m only here for a few hours but I plan to come back at some point and see more than the Air France lounge (thanks to the Points Guy for telling me about credit cards that give access to lounges!) The free snacks are an amazing perk and I feel like an old lady on a cruise ship stashing away wasabi peas in a baggie for later). Also, I don’t know much French but I always thought it interesting that “Ca va” meant both “how are you” and “I’m fine” so I’m trying to drop that as much as I can, just for kicks.

So…welcome to my blog! I’ll try to be responsible enough to keep it up, but no guarantees. I guess the road less travelled doesn’t have many guarantees, but I’m hoping I stumble across at least one tiny shopping cart! It would come in handy to transport the wasabi peas.