Category: Travel
Meet Gato Guapo – Barcelona's Zen Kitty
Every Sunday I walk by Santa Maria del Mar and see this lady on the street with her cat, who is usually wearing lays or other accessories. He just sits there and sleeps right next to her. Keira calls him Zen Kitty, which is totally true. He is so disciplined. If you give the lady money you can pet the cat.
One day I was standing there and a Spanish woman walked by, paused, looked at the cat and yelled “¡Que guapo!” which means “how handsome.” It cracked me up because I’ve never heard anyone say that about a cat. I’ve called people guapa before but to human beings!
I asked the lady what her cat’s name is and she said Noè, but pronounced “no-eh” which is the Catalan name for Noah. I told … Read More »
Visiting the Amelie Cafe
So this happened a few months ago, but I finally have some time to blog about it. Amelie is one of my favorite movies ever and I am absolutely in love with not just Audrey Tautou, but the character of Amelie Poulain. In the movie, Amelie works at a local cafe in Paris, France. All I knew about it was that it was in Montmartre.
On my last day in Paris before flying to Barcelona, I decided to go find it. It was a bit tough because I had no cellular data in Europe (or at least willing to pay for International Rates) so had to just look quickly on a map of where it was. By the time I arrived to Montmarte, I got distracted with Sacre Coeur and the Salvador Dali musuem.
Crap, I forgot where it was, … Read More »
How to travel solo without getting lonely
One of my friends asked me how I don’t get lonely since I’ve been traveling for 3+ months. Well, you do get lonely. I have had a lot of moments where I say “man, I wish someone was here with me.” However, that is one of the best learning experiences you can have and a great opportunity to build some character.
The bottom line for myself is that I’m not going to wait for people if they’re not going to join me. There is way too much in this world to see and I will see it all by myself if I have to!
If you travel for a while, loneliness will strike you at some point. Here are the moments that it has happened to me:
When you go around a park or a romantic place and see other couples.
People taking group … Read More »
Hello Spain. Goodbye Seattle?
I know this is a bit of an obvious statement but, I live in Spain. It amazed me to think that I have been here for more than a month. This isn’t a vacation. It wasn’t a “Vegas Baby!” kind of trip where you party as much as you can. I moved here to live here for a while, to figure out what I am looking for and to seek it out. It was simple…I wanted to take my life and move it somewhere for a while.
The good news is I might have found it. The bad news is I might have found it and it is thousands of miles away from what I call home—Seattle.
Some of you may know that I have a love/hate relationship with Seattle at … Read More »
My 10 favorite photos from living in Europe
Please note this does not necessarily mean favorite moments, but 10 images I’ve looked back at and loved. I’ll show you my 10 favorite images, like in America’s Next Top Model, in no particular order:
Scenic view of the harbor city of Split, Croatia
Reading with Parisians at Luxembourg Park.
The Parisian Promise of one day, returning to retrieve their locks.
The cafe in Amelie in Montmartre.
In the midst of political unrest, children are playing.
The clearest ocean … Read More »
Reading in the midst of inspiration
Inspiration is vital to a creative person—or any person for that matter. Barcelona, Spain is one of the most inspiring places I’ve been to. Perhaps it is the layers of history that has created such a vast resource of creativity. The United States has only been a few hundred years old, so we have a lot of catching up to do. We’ll get there, I’m sure of it.
This photo is of one of my favorite places. It’s a small park behind Sagrada Familia. It’s no bigger than 1000 sq ft but has a pond that is surrounded by park benches. I sat here to get inspired, whether it was reading a book on my kindle, looking at the massive Modernist church in the background or people watching.
I ended up reading here for about three hours before it started raining and … Read More »
I want to build cathedrals
A day where I woke up at 3pm turned out to become one of the most inspiring days ever. I’ve had a really hard time sleeping in Barcelona and usually turn in around 5am each morning…yes, morning. My flexible work schedule and friends back home (timezone difference) are the reasons I think I’m staying up late.
I decided to spend the day in Gracia (which is my favorite neighborhood) to grab some food and walk around. Little did I realize I was so close to Sagrada Familia, arguably Antoni Gaudi’s most famous work. I quickly finished my tapas and worked my way over there.
I didn’t even need my GPS to know where I was…just followed the giant spires over the horizon. When I got there I was blown away. I’ve seen my share of Gothic … Read More »
I love you Paris, but it's time for Barcelona
As I’m packing a box of items to ship back to the United States, I can’t help but sit in disbelief that I’ve been in Paris for weeks and that it is time to move on. The City of Lights is a city I can always call home, and someday might call it home—permanently. Here are a few things I did:
Retraced my steps from my last visit (2005) on the first night.
Stayed with one of my best friends and collaborated on projects together. This is what I want—to be able to travel and work.
Randomly meet up with my friends Lorraine, Rachel and Vivian to have coffee or hang out.
Revisit stores and get to know the people living in the Marais.
Converse with Parisians in French.
Visited the Apple Store four times. This was actually … Read More »
Things I love about Paris
Crazy to think I’ve been in Paris for about ten days now. I love how the people are getting familiar, I know where I’m going ad it just feels like a temporary residence. Those who know me know that I love lists. Here are a list of things I love about Paris so far:
People walk everywhere. No wonder people are so fit here. Part of it is probably because of all the people who live here and traffic is terrible, but it’s such a norm to walk everywhere here. Definitely does not remind me of Seattle, where you have to take seventeen buses to get to another neighborhood.
The girls are so simple here. Everywhere we go, there are pretty girls everywhere. However, it’s a simplistic pretty. They are so stylish here, but it’s not … Read More »
First five days in Paris
Hello from Paris, France! I’ve finally settled into my new temporary home after an adventurous and epic trip to Croatia and Bosnia. I live in the 4th arrondissement, which is actually known as the gay district, but you know there’s good food, shopping and it’ll be clean! It’s in the northern part of Paris and is literally a five-minute walk from Notre Dame Cathedral. Here are some quick thoughts about Paris thus far:
Parisians are very nice
I don’t know why people say the French are stand-offish but they are quite nice. Then again, I think New Yorkers are nice. I think people in the United States are used to small talk, so when a Parisian server is short and to the point, people think it’s rude. Even though my French isn’t that great, … Read More »
