Flamenco

While in Madrid, Peter and I caught a flamenco show. Despite knowing little about the genre or specific themes of flamenco, it exuded an undeniably compelling passion and was mesmerizing. The women dancers' skirts were absolutely beautiful and amazing to watch as their steps would crescendo into an almost firecracker-like explosion of steps. The male dancer was fascinating as well as you could clearly see all his footwork that the women's skirts obscured. The other thoughts I had during the performance was that the dancers had great physical endurance and sturdy shoes.

The Grouse Grind

You know the saying, you're never a tourist in your own town? As a response to this, nearly every summer I make a mental list of Vancouver things to do that I haven't ever done. I usually don't get around to the list due to other commitments, but this past Wednesday I did a big one:

My fellow hikers: Katie, Stefan and Honza.

The Grouse Grind is a hiking trail up Grouse Mountain. Nicknamed "Mother Nature's Stairmaster," the trail is 2.9km, during which you climb 853m in elevation. I consider myself to be in fairly good physical shape, but the grind was much tougher than I expected; this surprised me a bit because, well, don't tourists do it?

I was lulled into a false sense that the Grind would be easy because everyone always says that the Grouse Grind is "just a bunch of stairs." Essentially they're right, but the steps are not evenly spaced like a staircase, and it's actually pretty rugged including rocks, small boulders, and tree roots. I'm about average height (5'4"), but some points had me taking steps that were up to my hips.

I think we started out pretty fast; for the first third of the hike I got a massive head rush which left me feeling pretty dizzy. Reaching the markers, however, was super encouraging and gave me a rush of adrenaline to continue on. My head rush subsided by the half-way mark, and the trail seemed to actually get easier as we went.

Our time was 74 minutes--pretty good for a first time, I think. It was challenging, but I liked it way better than doing an elliptical or stairmaster at the gym. Though my quads burned while I was climbing it, my legs didn't ache at all the next day. I'd love to give it another try and see if I can shave some time off.

The Grouse Grind is one of those things all good Vancouverites should do at least once. The Grind might be a little more physically demanding than the average tourist bargained for, so in light of that, I wouldn't recommend this as a tourist attraction. You can still get to the top of Grouse via the Gondola. If you're visiting Vancouver and into hiking, or just in good physical shape, I would say go for it as you'll be rewarded by a stunning view of the city below once you reach the top and can get a celebratory drink.

Spanish Cuisine

After what seemed like a particularly wet June, summer has finally arrived in Vancouver. The warm, sunny weather has been wonderful, but it has had a negative effect on this little blog of mine. After spending eight-or-so hours in front of a computer at my office at work, the last thing I want to do is sit inside in front of a computer some more.

Before arriving in Spain, I knew very little about Spanish cuisine except for paella. Excited about trying new things (like octopus and sardines!), of my favourite dishes I tried (way less adventurous than the previous two), was melon with Iberian ham.

Peter and I tried this dish in Barcelona after checking out Gaudí's La Sagrada Familia and Casa Battló. The weather in Spain was hot (but fortunately not humid), so the cool melon was refreshing and I liked the combination of sweet, but not overly sugary, with the savoury ham.

As the weather in Vancouver in similarly sunny and hot, I thought I'd recreate the dish as part of dinner. The melon in Spain wasn't one I recognized, but tasted like a cross between cantaloupe and honeydew; this time I chose the former. Then I substituted the Iberian ham for Canadian prosciutto. Maybe not authentic, but delicious!

Madrid

Before leaving, I had trouble visualizing what our vacation in Spain would be like. While there may not be any one architectural feature that has come to symbolize the city, Lonely Planet travel writer Anthony Ham suggests that Plaza Mayor may be "the one image that was unmistakably Madrid."*

When we arrived at Plaza Mayor at mid-day on our first day, however, we were immediately stunned at how empty one of Madrid's premier plazas felt. At first we thought it was because of lunch. Then, the next day we went to the Prado, and even though we had bought tickets online in advance, there was no wait with other advance ticket holders. The following day we went to the Museo Reina Sofia, which houses Picasso's Guernica, and we just walked in. In fact, the whole museum was pretty tranquil; granted Guernica is many times larger than the Mona Lisa, but there was no Louvre-style crowd pushing to the front for a glimpse of the canvas. There was a primary school group sitting cross-legged in front of the painting, but otherwise the roomful of visitors was easy to navigate and I could study Picasso's work for as long as I wanted.

On our second night we decided to eat at this restaurant, La Pizarra, that looked nice and had a clever sign. We arrived about 9 o'clock. Knowing that the Spanish eat dinner later, we thought that we were early. Nevertheless, we ordered a regional wine and a few dishes to share. The cuisine was Spanish fusion and delicious. We ordered guacamole with plantain and yucca chips, curried octopus with green beans, and black rice risotto, and shared a Spanish dessert--tarta tres quesos--which is cheese cake, but not cheesecake. At the end of our meal, the chef offered us shots. We chose two Spanish herb-based liqueurs; mine tasted like anise, and Peter's tasted really like dandelion and was really strong.

We were still nearly the only ones (except one or two single people having drinks at the bar) when we were finished. As we settled, we chatted with the chef. He said that despite the worrisome economic situation in Spain, the sun still shines.

The sense of emptiness was a bit eerie, but at the same time it was cool to feel like we had the city to ourselves. I wondered if maybe I shouldn't be comparing Madrid tourism to Paris. Maybe their tourism numbers were drastically different. Paris is, after all, the number one tourist destination in the world--15.6 million people visited the city of lights last year. But Spain is the fourth most visited country by international tourist arrivals, and my superficial research suggests that Madrid is the most visited city in Spain. In the end, we concluded that thesense of emptiness was likely due to the current global economic situation.


*Anthony Ham, Lonely Planet Madrid Encounter, 44.

Madrid: A Vibrant City

Arriving in a new city under the cover of darkness always adds a flair of mystery. And such was my arrival in Madrid after nearly 24 hours of travelling (which included a nearly nine-hour layover in Amsterdam). The benefit of such an arrival is the discovery the next morning when everything is awash in daylight.

This cross marked what was once the edge of the city wall.

  

We enjoyed 1 euro cervezas on the patio of the cerveceria one languid afternoon.

Madrid's vibrant hues, and my enchantment with them, reminded me a lot of Rome. And indeed, Madrid had a certain ambiance.

Hola!

I arrive home late yesterday afternoon. I can't wait to sort through all the pictures I took and share the highlights of my trip with you!

I seem to have contracted a sore throat from the canned air on the plane though, so I've had chicken soup for lunch and downing peppermint tea and my go-to when I'm sick, Bolthouse C-Boost juice, which was 1200% your daily vitamin C per serving!

Adios!

The weather forecast for Madrid and Barcelona. The current forecast for Amsterdam seems like it might dash my plans to picnic in Vondelpark.

Thanks to everyone who played the postcard challenge. I can't wait to share some of the interesting clues and tidbits of trivia you submitted. If you played, keep your eye on your mailbox!

Tonight I'm off to meet my bestie to celebrate her 25th birthday (it's actually tomorrow, and I'm leaving the country, what a terrible friend I am, right?). Tomorrow, I'm meeting my mum for lunch before heading over to the airport.

I'll be back in two weeks. Feel free to read back if you want :)

(images via The Weather Network)

On Packing

Even though I've been looking forward to this trip for what seems like months, it suddenly feels like it's crept up on me; as in, I can't believe I'll be sitting on a plane in 48 hours from now. I have been more or less diligently checking the items left on my to-do list. Tonight I'm packing and watching Vicky Cristina Barcelona--the movie that secured Spain a spot on my list of places to travel to.

Sounds zen, but for me packing usually feels like it's a pretty frantic last-minute affair (example: I left packing for France until the night before), filled with uncertainty.

A few weeks ago Liz (on whom I have a blog crush, go check her out, it's lovely), tweeted about how she was trying to resist packing for her summer trip to her parents' Michigan cabin 39 days early. I replied, mentioning my packing procrastination and she passed on some packing wisdom:

"To me, it's almost like starting the trip itself - all that visualizing of what I'll wear, etc."

What a wonderful way of looking at it. Not surprising coming from a gal perfecting her life uniform, and who undertakes a never-ending edit.

Destination Tags

While browsing Pinterest on Monday, I came across prints by illustrator/designer Tabitha Brown. I checked out her etsy shop, The Pairabirdslove, and fell in love with this print of vintage airline luggage tags.

Since moving in together last summer, Peter and I have been rearranging the apartment he's lived in for 10 (!) years to make it feel more like our home. We still have a lot of bare wall space I'd like to fill with art. Wouldn't this colourful print (along with maybe it's American pair) be inspiring to look at? I think I'd get lost in daydreams of travelling to Sao Paulo, or Melbourne or any one of these places.

I also really like this print of Rock, Paper, Scissors and this one called The New Girl.

(illustration by Tabitha Brown)

Do You Unplug During Vacation?

When Jacky was visiting back in April, she made an interesting remark while we were packing our overnight bags for Victoria. She said she was going to do like me and leave her computer at home.

I found this an interesting comment because I hadn't consciously realized that not bringing my computer on trips in Europe was my M.O. But it's true. For the most part, I didn't bring my laptop along on my European travels. It wasn't because of some belief in living unplugged, but rather a decision based on the realities of packing for a week of travelling with just a carry-on bag. When I lived in France, I didn't have a smartphone, so being unplugged on vacation was all the easier.

When Peter and I took our anniversary trip to Seattle, I tweeted and checked social media and email occasionally, but only when there was free wifi available. That trip had a unique social media dimension with the Twitter #2DaysInSeattle.

This trip to Europe I am planning on being unplugged. I'm not bringing my laptop along (Peter will have his iPad), and as I expect free wifi to be rare, I don't think I will be using my iPhone much beyond taking the occasional Instagram photo, if that.


What are your social media and internet habits when you travel? Do you unplug? Do you feel strongly about taking a break from the computer and/or internet?

P.S.: There are still 5 days to leave a comment to receive a postcard.

(illustration by Tabitha Brown via Pinterest, available as a print from her etsy shop)

Dispatch from Barcelona

If you know me, or you've been reading the blog, then you'll know Peter is currently on tour in Europe with Siskiyou. Yesterday he called me from Barcelona, where they had just finished playing their set at the Primavera Sound Festival. He said it was an incredible experience playing to thousands of people, and having a few hundred of them sing along. He told me we were going to have an awesome time in Barcelona. Can't wait. Only one more week 'til I leave.

Update: Jorge Navarro who saw the Barcelona Primavera Sound show posted some photos of Siskiyou. Peter looked pretty bad ass.

(Photo by Siskiyou)

Fog of Travel

The countdown till take off is now in single digits (if you want a postcard, the postcard challenge is still open). This weekend I'll be thinking of getting the last few checks on my to-do list: travel medical insurance, museum tickets (I'm thinking Reina Sofia in Madrid, Picasso museum in Barcelona, and Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam... thoughts? Recommendations?), exchanging my dollars into euros. But I can't help but feel I'm forgetting something...

I've felt that my thoughts at work these last couple weeks leading up to my vacation have been a bit foggy. I'm not sure if it's staring at a computer so long, or that I've got a lot of my mind, including general work and life stresses in the back of my mind. I've also been getting low-grade headaches. When I notice my brain getting on the fritz, I try to escape for a quick walk around the block. I'm hoping that this is just a sign that my vacation is much needed and that picnicking and lounging in parks and at the beach will be enough to reset me. A recently published study suggests that visiting parks allows the "deeper thinking part of the brain" to relax, something it doesn't get to do in an urban setting.

On Doing Long-Distance

Having dated a touring musician for over five years (!), one question I have frequently by people wondering how I am handling the time apart while he's on tour been asked is if I miss him. The short answer is yes; the long answer includes the explanation that it's really not so bad.

I'm not sure if people imagine that while he's off touring that I am sitting at home mopey. I promise, I'm not.

In university, I considered tours as blessings in disguise as they allowed me to focus on school. In my last year, he went on two six-week tours in the fall and spring; the latter allowed me to hibernate to finish and defend my thesis without feeling guilty about having to focus on school so much.

No longer having school to throw myself into, I have two other ways I typically cope with being apart. First, I follow the tour. I write the tour stops in my agenda so I can refer to them easily. I find comfort in knowing where he is ton a certain day. When I was in France, for example, it felt like with every tour stop he was getting ever so much closer to me. Second, Peter has for the most part always been in bands whose music I genuinely like. When I listen to his band's recordings on which he's played, I feel closer to him in a way, which in turn I again find comforting.


(Map pinning me in Vancouver and him in London)

Spain on the Brain

I woke this morning to grey skies over Vancouver. So I thought I would share some photos from my friend Stefan's 2008 trip to Barcelona:

Remember to participate in the postcard challenge if you want some Spanish (or Dutch) snail mail love from me.

(Photos: Stefan Brown)

Spain: The Undiscovered Country

I leave for my trip to Europe in just under three weeks now. Until recently, however, I was more excited about the Amsterdam leg of our trip, which felt a little strange to me. As I have already been, I looked forward to hanging out with Peter in Amsterdam, walking alongside the canals and picnicking in Vondelpark or Oosterpark.

Then I realized I had experienced this before. When Peter and I began planning our trip to Spain, we immediately thought of Madrid and Barcelona, and then my mind went more or less blank after that. The Eiffel Tower has come to symbolize not just Paris, but all of France; the Coliseum that of Rome; and Tower Bridge or Big Ben those of London. Yet when I think of Spain (or Germany, still), no one landmark comes to mind. Then, when I read the following passage, it all kind of made sense to me:

It's true that Spain'scapital doesn't have the immediate cachet of Rome, Paris or even that other city up the road, Barcelona. Its architecture is beautiful, but there's no Colosseum, no Eiffel Tower, no Gaudi-inspired zaniness to photograph and tell your friends back home, 'this is Madrid'. But this city is an idea, a way of living for the moment that can be hard to resist.

-- Anthony Ham, "Madrid Encounter," Lonely Planet, 7. 

Now, only a few weeks away, my excitement for Spain is building as I talk to friends who have been there and our plans for our trip come together. Ernest Hemingway had considered "The Undiscovered Country" before finally settling on "For Whom the Bell Tolls" as the title for his novel set during the Spanish Civil War.* I feel the former is an apt description for Spain.

***

Remember to participate in the postcard challenge if you want some Spanish (or Dutch) snail mail love from me.

*Allen Josephs, For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ernest Hemingway's Undiscovered Country, (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994), xix.

Postcard Challenge II

Peter left for Europe with Siskiyou today. If you're in Europe (or Ottawa or Montréal), you can check out their tour dates here. In only a little more than three weeks, I too, will make the trip across the pond.

While I lived in Europe, I loved sending and receiving snail mail, including my Where Am I? Trivia Postcard Challenge. So, if you'll indulge me, and want to play along, I'd love to reinvent it. I would scour for clues in books and on the internet. For each destination I travelled to, I would post between 3 and 5 clues. Sometimes each clue would have its own individual answer, but all were related to the specific country or city I was travelling to. Often, I would draw my inspiration for clues from a place's history, geography, or things the destination was well-known for (e.g. chocolate and beer for Belgium).This time, I thought I would reverse the roles.  

If you would like a postcard form Madrid, Barcelona, or Amsterdam, simply leave a comment with a trivia-esque fact about one of these cities (or Spain or the Netherlands more generally) before 6:00pm PDT June 8, 2012. 

This contest is open to all readers, so please be sure to leave an email address in your comment (so I can contact you for your mailing address). I will draw for winners the evening before I leave. Comments will be moderated so that the clues are not visible until after the contest has closed. This way, later commenters cannot simply recycle previous commenters' clues. If you get an error message when trying to post your comment, please email me and let me know as I have had trouble with moderated Blogger comments in the past.

Bonne chance! Or, buena suerte and veel succes!

The Train in Spain!

Rolls Mainly on the Plain

About a month ago Peter and I started seriously considering our transportation options between Madrid and Barcelona: train, plane, or automobile? We were priced out of the latter option, leaving us to choose between the train and plane.

We chose the train for a few reasons:

1. Though I will only have a suitcase and shoulder bag, Peter will be travelling with his bass, pedal board, and suitcase. It seemed easier to manage several pieces of luggage on the train, especially given the fragile nature of his bass. Discount airlines also charge for each checked pieces of luggage, so cost factored in when we weighed the two modes.
2. When we calculated the time between the two modes of transport, train won yet again. To take the plane we would have to arrive early to check our luggage, security, etc. The airport Ryan Air flies into in Barcelona is located outside the city, so there was the added time involved in getting into the city itself. The flight was also mid-day, so it would have cost us a day in either Madrid or Barcelona. The AVE train leaves from within the city of Madrid and pulls into Barcelona two-and-a-half hours later.
3. While I like the bird's-eye-view of the world below that a window seat on an air plane offers, I also like to watch the world going by the window of the train. I don't know what the view will be like, but the landscape between Lyon and Toulouse was one of my favourite to lose myself in. 

I was a bit unsure of myself in navigating the Renfe website. On the surface it seems less user friendly than the SNCF website. I found this Trip Advisor guide to buying Renfe tickets helpful and humourous. As the author writes:

The website is a bit surreal. It is like Alice in Wonderland, where nothing seems to be what it really is. Even if you are on the English page, you will find some items in Spanish. Sometimes the website will send you to a completely Spanish page! However if you persevere you may be able to save some money by getting the web discounts.

 But following the guide, and double checking those occasional Spanish words with Google Translate, it was really quite easy to buy the tickets online. I even scored them for almost €40 cheaper than when I looked into buying them in April!

The countdown to Europe is now less than one month! Stay tuned for an announcement on Wednesday.

Joyeuse fête des mères, maman!

In the week leading up to Mother's Day, the Globe & Mail featured pieces on various aspects of Mother's Day, including gift ideas, stories about motherhood, facing Mother's Day when struggling with infertility, and, to my shock and disgust, an article about how many mothers do not like the gifts their children give them.

Like many others, I'm sure, I tend to think that like Valentine's Day, Mother's and Father's Day are holidays manufactured by Hallmark. However, as a commenter on the Globe & Mail article wrote, what is so wrong about teaching children to celebrate and appreciate their parents? It's not about the gifts; it's about taking a moment to show gratitude for everything our mums do for us 365 days a year.

I was so excited that my mum was able to come visit me in Europe after I finished teaching in France, and to share her first trip to Europe. It was exhilarating to finish teaching and board a London-bound plane that same day to meet up with her.

Thank for everything mum! I hope we can go on more trips together soon!

Vancouver: Visitor's Eye View

After our weekend trip to Victoria, it was back to Vancouver, and back to work for me. I felt bad that I was leaving Jacky to visit my city mostly by herself; although when I visited my friend Dominic in last May, I didn't at all mind loitering around London by myself, and took the opportunity to check out some of that city's great museums.

Vancouver's weather did not care that I was hosting a guest and was its typical grey, rainy self during Jacky's first two days here. The first day, our mutual friend Josh gave her the compulsory tour of the city, and I met them for drinks after work.  Jacky had the Sea Wall slated for the next day, and ever the determined, she persisted despite the rain. On the third day, to my great relief, the sun rose so Jacky could see Vancouver at its best.

It was really neat to meet up with Jacky at the end of each day and hear about what she had seen and done. As her camera seemed to be on the fritz, I lent her mine. I thought I'd share some of the photos she snapped: 

View of Science World looking North across False Creek. 

Colourful boats on False Creek.
View of the Burrard Street Bridge looking West across False Creek.

This killer whale mural has existed for almost as long as I can remember. I would be so sad to ever see it go if the building it's painted on ever gets redeveloped.

It was so much fun having Jacky visit. By the end of the week, Jacky knew as much about Vancouver's idiosyncrasies as any life-long Vancouverite, and would have fit right in. I hope I get to play host again soon.

Raincity

Rain showers are not something that restrict themselves to April in Vancouver, or cease with the bloom of May flowers. Despite having had what seems like the driest autumn and winter I can recall--having grown up here--I worried about whether Jacky would get any sunshine during her visit. Vancouver's more than 1100mm average annual rainfall has earned the city the nickname Raincity. In springtime, it's wise to pack both your umbrella and sunglasses when heading out for the day.

On the subject umbrellas, I once overheard a girl talking about the unofficial "Umbrella System," whereby nobody actually buys umbrellas; instead, there exists an intricate system of using umbrellas one finds or acquires. This girl, however, found herself to be "inputting into this system a lot more often than receiving." I'm not sure if this system is unique to this very rainy city, but I feel it exists and that I've unconsciously been abiding by it nearly my entire life.

I can't recall how I acquired my favourite geometric umbrella, it seems to have simply appeared in my house.  After years of faithful service, I found and purchased another red/blue/cream geometric umbrella to take its place. In fact, I have an umbrella that I bought in Rome for 5 euros when we were washed out Christmas Eve that I'm trying to input into the system by organically losing it.