A Winter Holiday in Spain

Fly to Barcelona

On Thursday night, February 22nd, I headed out to the airport for my much needed holiday. I was flying to Barcelona, to meet up with a college friend Craig, who was doing a post-doc there. When I arrived at the airport (2 hours early), I was magically upgraded to business class, which made the first leg of the trip, to Frankfurt, so nice.

Barcelona

I arrived on my connecting flight to Barcelona at 9 in the morning on Friday, and realized, I had no information. I had done no planning, had no phone numbers, and was really totally unprepared for my adventure. Luckily, my friend Craig was there to meet me at the airport. We took the train into the city and then he headed off to work, while I headed out to explore! My first stop was Parc Guell, which is an amazing park designed by Gaudi - it was just so beautiful and peaceful, and after a night of travel the perfect welcome to Spain.



After relaxing in the Parc and getting some food, I headed back toward Passeig de Gracia to check out another Gaudi masterpiece Casa Mila (La Pedrera) - an awesome building that looks like melted ice cream and has a wonderful rooftop "garden" of sculptures.



The rest of the day was something of a blur, as I headed up to Craig's university, where we wandered past other Gaudi works, before heading down to "The Ramblas" and wandered through markets and twisted streets, before getting a late night dinner of typical Catalonian food.

Barcelona to Seville

After a much needed night's sleep, we headed down to the Sagrada Familia, the most visited construction site in the world! This was just an amazing building, even in its unfinished state. It made me think about all the things I would like in my own house, if I built it myself, and how lovely the interplay between nature and architecture can be.



After the church, we got the most awesome pastries from the Sant Honorat shop, before heading out to the beach, and playing some ultimate on the sand in Castelldefels. After a bit of running around (which wore me out more then I would like), we took the train to the airport, and our plane to Seville and the start of an Andalusia adventure.



We got into Seville around 10, and after way to many one way roads trying to find our hostel, we parked and went out to eat. The nice thing about Spain is they serve food late into the night. We found a great tapas bar and had some typical dishes, like Espinacas con garbanzos before exploring around and finding a small smoky bar with some local flamenco music.

Sevilla

We woke up early Sunday morning and headed out to the Alcazar, a wonderful Moorish style palace and gardens. In the morning the sun was just shining through the clouds, although for the rest of the day there were hints of rain. The Alcazar was a great place to get introduced to the impact the Moors had on Andalusia life and culture.



After the Alcazar, we headed down to the Museo de Bellas Artes, for a look at some of Spanish art, housed in a former convent. In the afternoon, the Seville Cathedral opened up, and we were able to see the great interior space, and then climb to the top of La Giralda the Moorish tower. This was also my first introduction to a Patio de los Narenjos (Orange Tree Patios).

Sevilla

Monday morning, we toured the Casa de Pilatos, before walking across town to the AMAZING Plaza de Espana. The plaza had this amazing tile work and felt like another world. It turns out it was used in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones for exactly that reason. I pretended I was a princess on the walkway in the movie.



After resting in the plaza, we wandered through the nearby botanical gardens, before heading down to the river for lunch, more tapas and wine. It is true what they say about Europe - wine is cheaper then water.



After seeing more sites around town, like the Hospital de la Caridad and the Fabrica Real de Tabacos (now a university), I was done with the sites. That night, we went to go see a Flamenco show - not as emotional as the playing in the bar, but it was still so much fun for me to see the stamping of the feet and costumes. On our way home from the show, we went by the cathedral, which was all lit up with bells ringing. We wondered, what is that? It turns out that the First Monday of Lent is an important day - and there is a night time parade! The Cardinal was out in the square, with his red beanie, and there were lots of people raising a Jesus up with candles and everything. We wandered through the streets to find a place to cut of the parade and see what it was all about.



Cordoba

In the morning, we got up early and headed out to Cordoba. We had yet another one way little street driving nightmare, and this time, on the third pass through the city I took the wheel of our stick shift car. We did not repeat my driving.



We started at the highlight of Cordoba, the Mezquita - a mosque that had a cathedral built in the middle of it. This was one of my favorite buildings, with all the repeating columns. It was also fun to read the local information on the site, in which the church claimed that by reclaiming the site as a Christian site they are preserving the art of the heathens and this is how they are showing their appreciation of art and other cultures (or something like that).



After the Mezquita, we headed out to the river and walked across one bridge and down to the tower, which was being renovated. The river was lovely and it was hot out - 27 degrees Celsius. Next stop was the botanical gardens, the local Alcazar, with gardens and baths. After leaving the baths, I had the most wonderful snack, a churro fresh fried just for me!



Granada

In the morning, we took one more look at the Mezquita, before driving to Granada. After an hour, we were in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, and I thought, wow, this place really is like California, the places even have the same names. While we never got to close, the mountains could always be seen in the distance, and they were big, I believe the second largest in Europe.

Once we arrived in Granada, we checked into our fancy hotel - the Parador, which is in the Alhambra. After dusting off, we headed down into town, for some Middle Eastern food, and wandering through the little streets of the town. There were beautiful views from the hills of town, of both the Alhambra and the mountains.



After walking back down to town, we saw the final resting place of the King and Queen (back from the days of Columbus), and then I headed back to the hotel room. I needed a break from all the buildings. From our hotel balcony, you could see the Generlife buildings, what we would tour the next day.



Alhambra

Thursday was our day to explore the Alhambra. This is the main site to see in Andalusia, and I could see why. The Nazaries Palaces were beautiful Moorish structures, simple and peaceful. I think what I liked the most in the Moorish sites was all the use of water. I like water.



After the Palaces, we headed to the Alcazaba fort.



After a break for lunch, it was time to explore Generlife, which I kept looking at from the balcony of our room. Generlife had beautiful gardens and great views of town. I liked just sitting out as the day was going by, reading a book.



Just as sun was starting to set, we headed up the hills behind Generlife to view the sunset, mountains and town.

Malaga Parks

Friday morning we headed out early for our exploration of the Malaga region. First we headed to Antequera, which had Neolithic dolmens from around 4500 BC. It was fun to wander around the random mounds, which had inside them these very old stone structures.



The next highlight of the trip was El Torcal, a mountain nature reserve with bizarre limestone rock formations. We went on a hike around the reserve that was a wonderful chance to explore.



After El Torcal it was off to the El Chorro Gorge - a deep ravine caused by the Rio Guadalhorce. We stopped off in El Chorro town at the train station for some yummy food, before Craig went on a hike toward the gorge (I took a nap).



After the gorge, we headed down to Malaga, and checked into our hotel. We wandered down toward the Malaga beach for some fresh seafood. We walked around this towns Alcazar on our way back to the hostel.

Malaga Beaches

Saturday morning we got up and headed out to the Picasso museum, in his hometown, before heading down the coast to a beach. It was fun to swim in the Mediterranean Sea (although quite cold) before heading to the airport and our flight back to Barcelona.



When we returned to Barcelona, we were invited by Craig's roommate to a birthday party. On the way to the party, we looked up at the sky, and there was a FULL ECLIPSE. At the party, I kept going outside to see the moon slowly being covered by the Earth's shadow. It was fun to meet some locals and drink kava in celebration.

Barcelona

Sunday was a nice day about Barcelona, with an exploration of MontJuic. MontJuic is topped by a big fortress and right by where the Olympics were held in 1992. I enjoyed looking at views of the city from atop the castle.



After a hike around the Mont, we went back to my favorite site in Barcelona, Park Guell. From the park, we headed down into town, and the old gothic quarter, for a stroll through the Picasso museum, before heading out to dinner at a fun local place call Origin 99.9% for some regional food.

Home

Early Monday morning I got up and flew home after a wonderful break from reality and winter in Spain.

For a more complete set of pictures from my trip, go here: Spain

Kerala Adventure with Amanda

My sister Amanda was volunteering at an orphanage in Jaipur, India, and at the end of her volunteering, wanted a travel partner for a week. I decided, well, it may be a bit crazy to fly halfway around the world for a 10 day vacation (Oct. 14-23), but hey, why not. I really enjoyed my trip to India for Ian's wedding in April, and Amanda was doing all the planning. She wanted to visit Kerala, in the South West tip of India. It turns out Kerala is an amazing and relaxing place that totally re-energized me. Maybe it was the company, the scenery, or the 5 massages, but whatever it was, it was amazing trip.

Arrive in Cochin

My friend Phoebe drove me to Boston, Logan Airport on Thursday night, for my Swiss Air flight to Mumbi (Bombay), connecting in Zurich. Once I arrived in Bombay, I went through customs and then needed to find the Air India gate for my 1AM Saturday morning flight to Cochin (Kochi). It was 10PM on Friday night, and I was a bit confused. There were no clear signs for the transit passengers, and everyone kept telling me to leave the airport then reenter.

As I wandered around, someone told me to take a cab to the domestic airport, so I did. Well, it turns out the domestic airport is ONLY for Jet Airways, and my connection was at the second floor of where I arrived. I then took my cab back 5km though a busy noisy Bombay airport area to my original terminal. It was only a $6 adventure, and I thought it was actually a fun beginning to my travels, since it ended well. Once at the right terminal, I checked in, and then got on my plane, landing in Cochin at 4AM. The Cochin airport is awesome and it turns out it is so much nicer then other Indian airports because it is privately owned.

As I left the airport, there was a man with a sign MR. Karna (Amanda). It was for me. The greeter and my driver took my bag and drove me to the hotel, were I was able to check in and sleep for the entire day, since my sister was not arriving until 4PM. Amanda had found "The Travel Planners"” who had planned our trip in Kerala, making all the hotel reservations and getting us a driver. Now, it is possible to do this all yourself, but the reasonable money we spent was so very worth it to just not worry or think about how we would be able to see and do the many great things in Kerala.

Amanda arrived at 4PM and took a much needed nice shower, before we got some dinner and then went to sleep. Our adventure was just beginning.

Drive from Cochin to Munnar

After breakfast the next morning, our driver Suresh, took us on a mini-tour of Cochin. We saw the Mattenchery Palace (with lovely murals of the Ramayana), the Jewish Synagogue area, the Chinese Fishing Nets. The fishing nets, as the rose and fell were really lovely. We did not want to spend too much time in the city, so soon headed up on the 4 hour drive to Munnar.

The drive to Munnar, in our Ambassador was beautiful, with waterfalls and hills with clouds nestled between them, but with a horrible potholed rode. Our driver was very good at maneuvering around the road to give us an easier trip. He also stopped whenever we expressed interest at looking at anything, which was nice.

Once we arrived in Munnar, we checked into our deluxe suite at the Munnar Woods and then headed to town. Lonely Planet was right, it was a very busy/dirty town, but luckily our hotel was before town, nestled in the hillside with views of the valley and the Tata tea trees. We then both got Ayurvedic massages, before bed.

Munnar

The next morning our driver took us to Eravikulam National Park where we caught a park bus up to the top area, where there was a view of valley as fog started to roll in. During the drive up and during our walk in the park we saw the Nilgiri Tahrs, the local kind of mountain goat. We also had amazing timing as we were their for the tail end of the blooming of the Kurichi or Neelakurinji Flowers, which turn the hills blue every 12 years. The next time these flowers will bloom is in 2018, talk about amazing timing! When we returned to the ranger station we bought a cut up pineapple from a roadside vendor, as a treat.

After our time in Eravikulam, we drove over to the Muttupetty Dam. At the dam we got into a speedboat, like all of the local tourists, and were given a fast ride around the lake. Halfway around, we were excited to see 3 elephants! They were just to the side of the lake, eating in the trees.

Amanda was super excited to see elephants in the wild, because while she had ridden one it the north, it is just not the same as seeing them in the wild. After our speedboat ride, we got some local corn from a roadside vendor and then headed over to echo point, where we heard the echo, then bought some local tea and chocolate.

After our Muttupetty adventures, we had a lunch buffet and then headed out to a tea processing plant. On the way there, we realized Amanda forgot her glasses at lunch, so we had to return, and luckily there were waiting for her to come back to pick up the glasses. After a view of the valley and a close up look at the tea trees (I think they are really shrubs), we went back to our room with its view for the evening rain, and headed to bed.

Drive from Munnar to Thekkady

The next morning it was time for another 4 hour drive along the mountain side to Thekkady the gateway to the Periyar Tiger Reserve. It was another beautiful drive, with lush tropical valleys, tea trees, and waterfalls. During the first part of the drive, the children were heading to school, so from town to town we got to see the different colors of the school uniforms. It turns out Kerala has one of the highest literacy rates in all of India, 100% in some counties.

In Thekkady, we went on a Spice Tour, since this was the land of spices, and saw where just about everything came from. Our spice place was mainly a Cardamom grower, with lots of tall Cardamom trees. After our spice tour we headed into the Periyar Tiger Reserve for a boat trip around the lake. While we were waiting for the boat, we saw several monkeys, and took lots of pictures of them.

The boat ride was a very peaceful view of the landscape, showing us more of what Peiyar looked like, along with a variety of animals, dear, bison, and wild boar. After the boat ride, we signed up for a Hiking and Bamboo Rafting Trek for the next day.

That night we tried another Aruvedic massage and steam bath. It was a quite lovely end to the long day.



Periyar Tiger Reserve

Today we got up at 7AM and headed into the park for our bamboo rafting and trek. At Periyar station, we met up with a family of 3 from Bombay, a family of 3 from Canada, and a doctor from Ireland. We then met our guides -– 4 local men, and our guard, with his big gun. The guides had us put on foot/leg coverings to help protect us from leeches, since it rains every day and this brings out the leeches. Once we were all geared up, we headed out.

First we went on small bamboo rafts across the water to a landmass. This is where the trek began. We walked though the woods, seeing the plants from the spice garden in nature. I asked the guard about his gun, and he said he had only used it once, and only shot up in the air to scare off some animals. The trek was along muddy lanes that had many leeches. They crawled all over out shoes. We came to some clearings and then had tea. The great thing about Kerala is how everyone always wants to feed you, and such yummy local food.

After our snack we got on the bamboo rafts, paddled a bit and just enjoyed the peaceful scenery. People call Kerala, God's Country, and sitting on the water paddling away, I think that is a good name for this place. We went on another short trek, saw some animals in the distance and then sat down for a major meal. Then it was back to the rafts and the trek home.

At the end of the day, our driver was waiting for us. We headed back to the hotel, stopping off for some shopping. While were stopped, I squealed, LEECH. It turns out one of the leeched had attached itself to my back. Now at least the leeches were small, but still, this one was engorged on blood and gross. The driver lit some matched to get the leech to disengage, and then Amanda scooped it up and threw it out. No more leeches for me.

After the long day, we headed back to the hotel to sleep.

House Boat

The next morning it was yet another 4 hour drive to Kumarakom. It was a lovely drive down the mountains to the river ways of Kerala. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our awesome driver and the Ambassador, as we got on our houseboat - called a Kettuvallam, for a day on the backwaters, Kerala style.

The backwaters are just so peaceful. People seem to live on small sandbars between open water, where there is fishing and rice growing. At our lunch stop, we went for a walk along one of the sandbars to a Tiger Prawn shop, and bought some very fresh prawns for our dinner.







We continued to float around the backwaters for the rest of the day. We got off the boat a few times, to stroll through towns and enjoy the backwaters, but mostly we just boated around. Different from the hills, there was a real serenity here on the water, which I loved. That evening we had a beautiful sunset and then we docked for the night. That night it was under the mosquito nets for sleep on the water.

Drive to Kovalam

We had breakfast on the boat and then a leisurely morning ride through the backwaters. It was just lovely. Around 9, our time on the houseboat came to an end, and we left for Kovalam.

Yes, it was another 4 hour ride -– this time on better roads, but not with Suresh, the awesome driver. The new driver took us into Trivadurm, where we went to a local market for rice and spices and other packaged souvenirs. After a brief tourist stop, we headed down to Kovalam and our hotel, the Uday Samudra

That evening I got a Podikizhi (I call it the tea ball massage), which I thought was wonderful. There were two ladies doing the massage, and they just made me smile and relax. It is so nice to just relax and feel like the weight of everything slipping away to nothing. After the massage, Amanda and I got some food, and listened to the waves before heading to bed.

Kovalam Beach Day

We spent the morning watching the fisherman bring in their nets and hanging by the pool. It was really the first morning we did not have to go somewhere or sit in a car. It was nice to have a quite start to the day.





During the mid-day rain we got Podikizhi massages and then headed over to Lighthouse beach for some lunch at Fusion. The lighthouse beach was bigger then ours and at it I got a chance to swim in the Arabian Sea.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed an amazing buffet dinner, while listening to a local band and enjoying the start of Diwaili fireworks.


Bombay

After a morning by the pool, we headed out to the Trivandrum (the capitol of Kerala) airport for our flight to Bombay. It was a nice flight on Jet Airways (now my favorite of the internal India airlines).

During the week, Amanda and I had been reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, about Bombay and the Bombay mafia. It was cool to now get to see the city that we had read about. Upon arrival we took a local cab to our hotel, the Taj President, and after checking in, wandered around the city a bit. We saw the India Gate, where I bought awesome samosos from a local sidewalk vendor. We then went to the bar Leopold's that was featured in the book. It was nice to see some of the places from the story -– making it feel real. We then headed back to the hotel, so I could get ready, since my flight was leaving Bombay at 1 AM. Amanda flight was not until 1PM on Monday, so she could spend the night at the hotel.

As I left Bombay in my car, we drove along Chowpatty Beach, where locals were setting off many fireworks in celebration of Diwali and the India New Year. It was nice to leave the city and feel like a celebration was going on.

It was a wonderful trip and you can see more pictures here: India Pictures

Fall Colors

For the weekend after my 32nd birthday, after a breakfast at the Harvard Club with my friend Lora from California, I headed up into the heart of New England, Vermont and New Hampture.



Friday afternoon was spent wandering the Dartmouth campus, then heading across the road to Norwich, VT, to visit Amy. I think the major tourist attraction (besides the natural beauty) is the King Arthur Bakery Store. My friend Amy from Princeton is now a professor at Dartmouth. She invited over Kristin Fountain, another one of our classmates who writes for the Valley News, for a girls night.



The next morning, Amy and I went for a walk on her local roads, checking out the Vermont colors, in a foggy but beautiful morning. After our walk, I headed out, driving across New Hampture and into the White Mountains, to visit with the Shen and Mlyniec families at Phoebe's family cabin called Far Mountain. The drive across New Hampture was beautiful.







It was fun to arrive at the cabin and take a nap in the warm afternoon.



We then opened up the cabin, went for a walk to the brook, and then got ready for a campfire dinner. It was fun making the "Hobo Dinner" which is a lot of yummy stuff in tin foil that you put on the fire! It was wonderful, but what was the best, was making S'Mores for dessert. It has been too long since I roasted marshmallows.



It was early to bed and then early to rise for a beautiful fall day - sunny and clear and perfect for a hike. We ate breakfast (including some blueberry muffins from King Arthur's Bakery) and then headed out for a hike at Welsh-Dickey. It was an amazing hike - with good friends.






After a beautiful day in the hills, I headed back to Boston ready for another week of Fall.

See a whole set of my pictures on the web here:
Fall Colors Pictures.

Another Move!

Yes, I have moved again, but this time only 5 blocks away from my 209 Washington St. home in Brookline. One roommate, Christi, is getting married in October, and the other roommate, Rachel, was moving to New York, so I decided to move rather then find 2 new roommates. My new place is a very cozy second floor unit in this brick building.



I have one roommate, Kristin, who is a nurse, and who decorated the place with lots of nice comfy furniture, and my 3 pieces of living room stuff seem to fit in fine.



My bedroom looks much like my bedroom has looked at the last 3 places, as it turns out the same furniture and wall hangings, look pretty much the same wherever you go. I took this move to pair down my clothes and stuff yet again, with the Goodwill getting a whole new set of donations.



The move was the end to a very hectic summer, where I went on lots and lots of trips, from France to Colorado, and several to southern and northern CA. Now I am settled back into like in the Boston area, just in time for Beautiful Fall - crisp weather, no more super hot and sticky days and nights and not yet freezing. For the fall, I am signed up for lots of sports (BSSC Softball, Buda Ultimate, BSSC Volleyball, a Triathalon), along with 2 book groups and volunteering with an afterschool science club. Lots of good adventures to come.