some clips of Spain

I leave for Spain six weeks from today. Hopefully that's just enough time to make me thoroughly sick of living at home--as for now, I've grown rather attached to family dinners. However, having the couch permanently attached to my ass might make it difficult to catch my flight. We shall see.

The plus side of leaving relatively soon is that I'll have something to blog about. I can only squeeze anecdotes out of these glorious yet monotonous days for so long. (Anyone want to hear about my stroll around the block yesterday??)

In the meantime, here is a little video about Spain that I thought was rather adorable. The first section is where I'll be, Basque Country. It features food, wine and greenery--three very compelling reasons to head over. Oh, and the goats! The video helped remind me that I'll be returning to a lovely country. (And sometimes I need a little reminding. I went to my visa appointment the other day, and without looking at me, the Spanish attendant growled, "Let's get this over with. I have a lot to do and I can't be here all day." All this, after I hand over $160 in cash just to gain entry into her country!)

New York

Here's a little summary of last week's fantastic trip to New York. Maddy and I went as a three-tiered celebration: for her 22nd birthday, our graduation from UCSB, and to visit our sisters, who both live there. We were sweating profusely in 98% humidity the whole time, so were not inclined to snap pictures at every moment, but here are a few highlights:

assorted accomodations

If only.

A love of travel comes with the question of where to stay. Ideally, I would have friends all over the world who would open their houses for a few nights, which has happened on some occasions and always proves for the best trips. Or I would be able to afford the above penthouse. The following is my slightly more realistic account of where I've stayed during some past adventures:

hesitation

Sometimes I’m convinced that I want to move back to Europe the minute I graduate and grow old there, mostly because it has places like this:

Tübingen, Germany

Stockholm, Sweden

Bruges, Belgium

Cudillero, Spain

But then I drive 20 minutes and see places like this

 And I get a little hesitant.