Espana

London
Days: 4
Nights: 4
Meals consumed that were prepared by Chef Morimoto: 4
Number of times I made Sam laugh so hard that she had to use her inhaler: 1

Madrid
Days: 3
Nights: 3
Number of times strangers approached me to ask if I'm from China: 4 

Barcelona
Days: 5
Nights: 5
Number of times I went topless on the beach: 1 (Everyone does it!)

I haven’t blogged since three cities ago. I have been slacking and I don’t have Internet often now. I am in Hong Kong staying with my grandma. 

After London, I took a short flight to Madrid. I don’t know anyone there but figured I could get by with my rudimentary Spanish. However, I haven’t taken a Spanish class since eighth grade and as soon as the flight attendants started talking, I wish I remembered more than “tengo hambre.”

My first day there, I took it easy and went for a walk in the park near my hotel. Throughout my three day stay, I passed through Parque del Buen Retiro several times. I love that the name of the park means "Park of the Pleasant Retreat." The park is home to a rose garden, peacocks, rollerskaters (apparently it's a big thing there), runners, badminton, and people working out on the park equipment. There was a section of it that looked like Madrid’s equivalent of Muscle Beach but with people that aren’t grossly muscular. Sorry, I didn’t take any creeper pictures. 

A lesson that I have learned while travelling is that funny stuff happens. I hope that I am becoming more patient and understanding. For example, you may travel for an hour to visit a museum you really want to see that should have completed renovations two months ago only to discover they are closed for another five months (Sam later told me that construction/renovations are never completed on time in Berlin). You may walk several kilometers to a famous nightclub only to be turned away by the bouncer when he overhears someone in your group making a remark that “this club looks lame” (We ended up going to Watergate which had an amazing view). A couple hours before your flight, you may realize you and your travel companion have flights on different days (Thankfully, it’s fairly easy to change flights). Also, the first night you are alone in a foreign country where you don’t know anyone and you don’t speak the language, you may be in bed with no pants on at 11pm when an uninvited stranger walks into your room. It’s pretty funny now, but at the time it was kind of scary.

I was in bed catching up on e-mails when I heard the door click open. The person quickly left after they heard me yelling. I got up to deadbolt the door, which I should have done in the first place, and then I crawled back into bed. Three minutes later, a man tries to swipe in and starts talking to me in muffled Spanish. I couldn’t really hear him or understand him so I refused to open the door. I have been brainwashed and I thought I was about to get mugged or murdered. The front desk later told me he was a staff worker that got sent up because the first person who came to my room told the hotel that my room was “busy.” What does that even mean? Anyway, always remember to deadbolt your door. Duh. 

The next day, I walked to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. I love when museums are free especially when it’s mostly filled with stuff I think is weird. I took AP Art History in high school in hopes of gaining a deeper appreciation and understanding of art but I don’t remember anything. It’s my fault I didn’t pay attention. But, if anyone could explain contemporary art to me, I would be forever grateful. I just don’t get it. It’s all over my head.

Next, I went next door to Jardin Botanico and Museo del Prado before ending my day at Palacio de Villahermosa (Museo Thyssen Bornemisza). This museum is now my favorite (sorry, London’s National Gallery). The baroness has an amazing private collection that she has housed in a museum to share with the public. On the wall, there was a nice quote from Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, “From the time when I began to acquire works of art in the 1980’s with a passion that I owe to my husband, I have been profoundly impressed by the remarkable capacity that works of art have to move and unite human beings, I have always felt that art is not for one person alone and should be shared.” 

The museum also had a temporary exhibit of works by American artist Edward Hopper. Things like this make me feel like I am never far from home. There were many groups of girlfriends dressed up for a museum outing. Do people do this in the states? When I left at 8:30pm, there was a large crowd of people waiting to get in. The museum closes at 11pm. Crazy. 

On my last full day in Madrid, I went to walk through part of Madrid Rio.They tore down a highway and replaced it with 10 kilometers of parks along the Manzanares River. It's a neat idea and there were many people taking advantage of the bike paths, playgrounds, urban beach, cafés and restaurants, terraces, and cultural and sports facilities. 

Then, I walked to the Palace and it ended up being one of my favorite stops. I only got pictures in the first room because picture taking is forbidden. Oops. I wish I was sneaky and got more pictures because the palace was amazing. It put Cribs to shame. The walls and ceilings were ridiculously ornate and words just don’t do it justice. I’m pretty sure that my mouth was gaped open like an idiot the entire time. Two of my favorite rooms were the “Throne Room” and The “Porcelain Room,” pun intended. The “Porcelain Room” was 100% porcelain-walls, ceilings, but I was kind of disappointed there wasn’t a fantastically pimped out toilet. “The Antechamber of Queen Maria Cristina (Stradivarius Room)” had two violins, a viola, a violoncello, and an undecorated solo violoncello. Baby Jin, I tried to steal them for you but they had some intense security. Sorry, I couldn’t bring you home a Stradivarius souvenir. 

I loved Madrid, but I was even more excited about visiting Barcelona. Whenever I mention “Barcelona,” people gush about how amazing the city is and how much they love it. Also, one of my old rowing teammates, Allison, just moved there. I took a three hour train ride from Madrid to Barcelona.  Allison was super sweet and volunteered to pick me up from the train station.  I didn’t have a phone and we had difficulty finding each other in the crowded station. I felt like I was in a cheesy chick flick when I finally spotted her in a sea of strangers. I love staying with friends when I am in a new country. There is nothing better than seeing friendly faces in foreign places.

That night, Allison and I went to dinner with an English teachers association. I spoke with a man who used to work as a stand-up comedian in L.A. He visited Barcelona once and fell in love with the city. Without a job, a plan, or any knowledge of Spanish, he moved to Barcelona. When he got here he took a one month intensive Spanish course and since then has been learning the language by interacting with locals. 

In true Spanish fashion dinner started at 9:30pm and was still going strong when we left at midnight. The tapas were delicious-patatas fritas with spicy mayo, pimentos, and clams. 

The next day we went to Allison’s swanky gym, O2 and went to a spinning class. It was fun to go to a spin class in a different language. I didn’t understand everything she said but I began to dread it every time she said “¡una punta mas!” We took a well-deserved siesta before heading to her friend’s fiesta. Over the next couple days, I learned that siestas and fiestas are a winning combo. We went to her friend’s house in a small town just outside of Barcelona. He had a sick nasty (I can’t think of a more elegant way to describe it) view.

On my third day there, we went to a playa with Allison’s roomies. Allison lives in an international house with a roommate that is a vet from Brazil, a Frenchman in advertising, and a married couple from Argentina. We took a train about 30 minutes out to get away from the touristy beaches. We spent the day on the beach playing pallas (beach ping pong minus the table), drinking mojitos, and eating paella. I came to Spain with the sole intention of eating paella. Mission accomplished. It was delicious. 

Travel Tip Tuesday Topic: Travel Time-Allot more time than you think you need for the train station or airplane. I know this is a duh statement but I need to remember this. When I took a train from Madrid to Barcelona, I happened onto a strike at the train station. There was a crowd of people singing and chanting with a whole mess of policia surrounding them.  I will upload the video eventually and I would love it if someone could translate it for me.

Three things I’m grateful for: 

1. Hearing my favorite Michael Buble song on the train to Barcelona

2. Staying with locals who have cars

3. When my unplanned adventures work out

OlymPICS and Travel Tip Tuesday

We happened to fly into London the day of the opening ceremony. It’s great how these things work out sometimes. We would have loved to watch the ceremony in person, but it was difficult to score tickets. I spoke to a man that said his friend had extra tickets that she was selling for £999 each which is approximately $1567. Ha, maybe next time. Instead, we went to a lounge that my mom told us about. Thanks, Mom! 

The lounge had Wi-Fi, large TV’s, drinks, and delicious food. Best of all, everything was free. Every night, we took advantage of the dinner buffet prepared by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.

On the night of the opening ceremony, he was in the dining room at the sushi bar serving guests. I chatted with him a bit about the original Iron Chef and the Olympics. When I asked him what events he had tickets to, I think he named pretty much every sport. Jealous. He also told me about his first time at the Olympics as a young boy in Japan. Why didn’t I think about going to the Olympics when they were in Vancouver or Beijing? So foolish. He offered to take a picture with each of us and sign our badges for the lounge. He drew a mustache on his own photo. He is the best.

After eating numerous plates of food, we watched the ceremony in a ballroom filled with rambunctious Americans drunk on pride for our country and free booze. We headed out about halfway through the parade of nations to catch the subway before it closed. On the way to the tube, we wove through throngs of bystanders crowding the streets watching the ceremony which was projected onto the face of a building.

 It was amazing to see people from all over the world erupt into chants and songs in their native tongue when their country appeared on the screen. I wish I could convey the atmosphere of that crowd. This is the spirit of the Olympics. I am so incredibly lucky that I got to experience it. 

I realize this is a crappy picture but it's the only one I have of the screen. That's the U.S. Olympic Team!

The next day, Sam still felt sick so she took a nap day. I went to a couple museums including my favorite museum in the world, London’s National Gallery. Next, I wandered along the Thames which was filled with activities. They estimate that London will have 1 million extra visitors each day of the games. I stumbled onto an unusual concert. I saw two guys on stage with people behind them holding up giant flashcards of guitar chords. We were on a terrace and when I looked down below, I saw hundreds of people playing along with their guitars and ukuleles. How cool! They had lots of neat activities around the city during opening weekend. (I will upload videos of the crowd in the street watching the ceremony and of the concert whenever I get a good internet connection.)

On Sunday, we had tickets to our first event-all day grounds pass for tennis at Wimbledon. We only watched part of a game because there was rain on and off for the majority of the day. However, we were able to sneak into centre court to watch Great Britain’s Andy Murray against Stanislas Wawrinka (Swiss). That evening, we headed back to the lounge to grab some free Morimoto food. Megan Sinclair joined us for dinner. It is always nice to see familiar faces in foreign countries. We ended up talking to a guy who is dating someone on the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team. Somehow we ended up scoring two FREE friends and family tickets to the rowing races for the next morning. 

 Monday was filled with Olympic festivities. In the morning, we headed to Eaton Dawney to watch the races. We sat down next to the family members of people on the Netherland’s rowing team. Commentators here are hilarious. After one of the heats, the commentator told the crowd not to worry because “they get another chance for a bite at the Olympic cherry.” It was cool to see a couple boats beat Olympic Records. The slight tailwind helped them out. The commentator remarked on it saying “a little wind may be bad news for an infant over your shoulder but good news for these crews.” I learned that they say “clear water” instead of “open water” and call a (stern/bow) deck the canvas. 

In the afternoon, we headed to watch beach volleyball. They constructed the makeshift stadium last month. We had an amazing view of the city. When do you get to watch beach volleyball on the Prime Minister’s doorstep with the London Eye and Big Ben as your backdrop? We ran into the coach for the U.S.A. Women’s Beach Volleyball Team--Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. He gave us his contact information and said he would try to get us tickets to their match later that evening. Connections are everything (even though he told us later they were out of tickets). I loved watching beach volleyball but it was weird at first. I didn’t expect to see a conga line or the crowd doing the wave at an Olympic event. For a second there it felt more like Spring Break (not training camp) than the Olympics.

I loved my time in London and I can't wait to go back.

Three things I’m grateful for:    
1. The kindness of strangers (We made friends with one of the security guards at Wimbledon. He kept us entertained when the games were delayed due to rain.)
2. Free Pimm’s sample in the airport (They also had samples of whisky and bourbon at 8:30am. Yolo?)
3. Sneaking into centre court at Wimbledon and sneaking into awesome seats at beach volleyball

Travel Tip Tuesday Topic: Don't get your stuff stolen

Last summer when I traveled through Europe, I laughed at the tourists that carried two backpacks. I now realize why they did it. I had no idea how to pack for a 10 month adventure. Hopefully somebody will visit me when I'm in China and bring me some of my stuff. Any takers?

Anyway, I am traveling with a 60 litre backpack. Sam told me to stand against the wall to protect my belongings because you usually cannot feel it if someone is trying to get into your backpack. I felt like I was in the time-out corner but I think it's a pretty good idea. Thanks, Sam!

I'm in Madrid right now but in a few days I'm heading to the pickpocketing capital of the world-Barcelona.

Berlin by the Numbers

Days: 8
Nights: 8
Museums: 12
Trains: 31
Buses: 15
Trams: 2
UT Rowers Seen: 2

What day is it?

You know how when you are on summer break or vacation, you lose sense of time, forget the date and the day of the week? I reached that point.

A month ago, Sam and I coordinated our London flight over Google chat. We agreed to fly out on July 27th and verified the flight number. We have been ridiculously excited about going to London.

For the past couple of hours, we have been getting ready to leave for London tomorrow morning. We packed, called for a cab, and finalized housing arrangements. (Thank you for the help, mommy!) When I was booking our train tickets from the airport to the center of London, I glanced at the date on my laptop, July 25th. Uh oh. I know my boarding pass says July 27th. When Sam said we were leaving tomorrow, I didn't think twice. Until now. I double checked my boarding pass and our archived Google chat. July 27th.

Did you know that the flight number and flight times can be the same on two different days? Sam accidentally booked her flight for the 26th. I'm just glad we realized it before we got to the airport at 6am. I feel really dumb but I'm glad it was easy for her to change her flight. I would have changed mine but then we would have had to find housing for another night. Also, Sam is sick so I'm glad she gets an extra day to rest up. It's been a ridiculous night but everything worked out.

I tried to post pictures but my computer is acting a little crazy. I will try again tomorrow.

Three things I'm grateful for:
1. An extra day in Berlin
2. Finding Kirsch Porter in the store so I could bring it to Sam
3. The wonderful family I'm staying with

Tacos, Tequila, and Travel Tip Tuesday

Before I came to Berlin, I asked some friends what I should do during my visit. My friend, Andy Tang, told me I had to go to Museum Island. Last night I read about it briefly while looking up directions. Andy told me there was "a ton" of museums there but I thought he was referring to the five that make up Museum Island.

When I arrived at Museumsinsel, I bought the Berlin Museum Pass. When I left one museum, I followed the signs to the next one. Because I kept stumbling onto museums, I decided to open my map which came with the pass. I discovered the pass gives you admission to 55 museums and 23 of them were in walking distance. Awesome! I love happy surprises. I just found out that Berlin has over 170 museums and galleries. At first I wanted to go to as many as possible. After the sixth one, I was exhausted.

Travel Tip Topic-Museums: If you like museums, I highly recommend buying a museum pass if they offer it. I've purchased several in Belgium and The Netherlands. If I didn't like what I saw in the museum, I would turn around and leave. It's nice to not feel guilty about wasting money on entrance fees. If I was pressed for time, I would speed walk through and just get the gist of it.
Also, always bring your student ID to museums. I am glad my UT student ID doesn't have a date or year on it. I plan on using it for as long as I can pass off as a student. After flashing my ID, I got the Berlin Museum pass for €9,50 instead of €19,00. That's a pretty sweet deal.

Happy National (U.S.A.) Tequila Day! After spending the day in museums, I celebrated at Santa Maria Diner at their "Taco and Tequila Tuesdays." Every Tuesday they have €1 tacos and €1 shots of tequila. I met up with Sam and a couple of her friends. I was impressed by one of her friends who ordered a sole taco followed by six shots of tequila.


I was planning on writing a long blog about what I have been up to. Oops. I will get to it soon but there are a lot of surprises when traveling. Sam and I leave for London this Friday, but we just found out we no longer have housing. Rut roh. Anyone know anyone with a free couch/floor in London? It's almost 1 am here and I'm heading to bed. I can't believe I only have one full day left in Berlin. London('s) calling!

Three things I am grateful for:
1. Many museums are clustered together making it super convenient. 
2. Public transportation
3. Apfelschorle

Berlin Wall and Baby Blanket

Today we went to see a section of the Berlin Wall before heading over to Pariser Platz. There are several notable buildings and structures in the square,one of which is Hotel Adlon where Michael Jackson dangled his son Blanket out of a window.

Next, we walked past the Holocaust Memorial. Sam says that many kids come here to play hide and seek. That sounds insensitive to me but you really can’t tell it is a memorial. Sam told me that she has never seen any plaque with information about it. I linked the Wiki page if you want more information. I think the artist's reasoning behind the design is interesting.

I am so grateful to have a friend here who is kind enough to serve as my own personal tour guide. I love you, Sam!

Three things I am grateful for:
1. Yesterday my luggage was the first bag on the belt at baggage claim.
2. Getting (correct) directions from strangers (I also got some terrible and incorrect directions.)
3. Sam is a wonderful translator and travel guide. 

Post-Graduation Plans

What are you doing after graduation?

Most college grads dread this question. The two prevalent answers are—working or searching for work. When people ask me my plans, I sheepishly tell them I’m spending a year traveling.

A few months ago I luckily received job offers from Teach For America and Teach For China. Because I thought it was the obvious next step in my life, I was eager to jump into work immediately following graduation. However, my parents suggested I spend a year abroad traveling, and my sister, rightfully so, told me I would be an idiot if I didn’t take this opportunity. At first, I was reluctant to turn down two job offers while my friends struggled to find work. My family reassured me that other job offers would come along and now is a great time for me to travel. I don’t have anything tying me down, and I may never have this amount of freedom and flexibility again. Fortunately, Teach For America allowed me to defer my offer for a year to join the 2013 corps.

How do you make travel arrangements for a year of traveling? If you had a year to travel, what would you do? Where would you go?

I was overwhelmed by the possibilities. I know that is a lame excuse and an awesome problem to have. During the school semester, I blamed being busy with classes and rowing for not planning my trip. While in school, I felt I always had to be doing something or working on something to not get behind. I told myself that as soon as I graduated I would start to plan. Lies. After graduation I spent several days doing absolutely nothing. It was liberating to not have “to-do lists” and to see nothing on my Google calendar. 

In May, I finally booked a one-way ticket to Berlin. When I was working in The Hague last summer, I was bummed that I never made it to Germany. When my friend told me she would be working in Berlin until July, I saw it as a perfect opportunity to visit. It also helped that months ago she scored two tickets to watch both beach volleyball and tennis at the Olympics. Although at that time I didn’t have any plan or idea how I would get there, I told her I would meet her at the Olympics. If a friend is willing to take you to the Olympics with them, take them up on the offer. Who can turn down tickets to the Olympics? When I tell people about the events I’m going to, they typically ask who I’ll be watching. I have no idea, and I don’t really care. I’m going to watch the Olympics! I am actually writing this in the London Heathrow Airport right now waiting for my next flight. There are many Olympians (or people decked out in Olympics swag) wandering around. We will be back in a week!

About three weeks ago, I started booking more tickets. First, I booked a one-way flight to London. When I was in London last year, I would have never imagined I would be back this soon. We are flying in on the day of the opening ceremony. Crazy. A couple days later I booked a flight to Madrid and a flight from Barcelona to Hong Kong. I haven’t decided where I am going after Hong Kong, but I will have to make my way to Nanjing by the end of August. I am going to study Chinese language and culture at Nanjing University.

The original plan was to meet my family in Argentina for winter break, but my sister says the ticket prices are steep. So, I don’t know where I will be after the completion of my program in December. I have never visited South America and would love to spend time there. 

I am also interested in spending time in Central America. Several years ago my family joined a tour group in Costa Rica. Our tour guide told us about the country’s turtle conservation efforts, and he mentioned that he has known tourists to come back to volunteer. Going back to that beautiful country to work with turtles has always been in the back of my mind. I am planning on spending my last few months in Costa Rica before I head back to the states. I will have to make my way back to the U.S. in May to prepare for Teach For America training which starts around June. 

I don’t have many concrete plans or ideas, so I would love to hear from you if you have advice or travel tips. I would also like a less cheesy name for this blog if you can think of one. I would love to hear from y’all!

P.S. I feel kind of awkward about this but I put a PayPal donate button on the right hand side. My friend suggested that I set up a way for people to donate to my adventures if they care to.