Sign In
The Lady Nomad: A Travelogue
I am an exchange student studying in the south of Spain for 13 months. For four weeks during the summer of 2011 I will be living in Cádiz while taking language courses, enjoying the beautiful weather and beaches, while also traveling to different sights in the south of Spain. After the program in Cádiz I will be traveling for two weeks to València, Santiago de Compostela, and Bilbao before finally settling down for the rest of the year at the University of Granada. I hope to also travel to other places during the school year such as Morocco, Italy, Las Islas Canarias, France or wherever else the wind may blow me.The Lady Nomad
Travel Blog Posts
January 23rd 2012
Boarding the plane a tingle began to burrow itself into my mood, Paris for Christmas with old friends and new; setting the stage for old stories to be told and new adventures to be had. A quick flight, a quick nap and me and my friend Dan began scouring the crowded mass of black coats searching for the familiar face of our friend Reid. Suddenly there he was– hugs and stares of disbelief were exchanged as made our way toward the train that soon took us into the city We caught each other up on what we had missed from the months since being together in Cadiz during the summer. Moments after arriving in Paris we chose a random nearby cafe and waited for my sister and brother to arrive so that the adventure could officially ... read more
December 11th 2011
I'm moving my blog to another website that allows for a more aesthetic layout. Follow my adventures now at: http://theladynomand.wordpress.com/... read more
December 7th 2011
He kept throwing me respectful glances across table at the seaside café as we all drank cañas of beer while the pink sky a lit with the last lingering rays of the Saharan sun. White hair contrasted the tightly pulled brown skin of his defined face enhancing the devious twinkle in his level, bright blue eyes. A thick Scottish accent told stories and cracked sarcastic jokes leaving me insatiably curious about the salty sea dog who had just guided us through Atlantic sea caves not far away. Getting a full story out of him took some coaxing after his being diswayed by previous and unimportant questions and topics such as, "Did you meet anyone famous in the Hamptons?" and Paris Hilton's true purpose. I understood that we needed to play on his level in order to ... read more
November 16th 2011
Orange is my favorite color. When most people hear that they look at me with surprise in their eyes, not green or blue? Orange is often dismissed as an important color due to the orange that's omnipresent in the states-- traffic cones and neon hipster sweatbands. Yet the abandoned orange to which i am referring is beautifully displayed in Granada during the crisp autumn days. Living on the coast my entire life I had never seen leaves change with the season. Bright yellow dapples Gran Via as I walk to class-- huge orange crunchy leaves scatter the side walks. Against the violet evening sky Puerta Elvira softly glows, an artificial sunset, a distant reminder of an Arabic past. Grey billowing clouds relax behind old piles of rustic bricks the nostalgic scene be-speckled by small olive bushes. ... read more
October 27th 2011
Time plays funny tricks. It turns facts false, actual imagines into illusions, and memories into mush. Tick-tock ‘n’ gone. Venice has been tricked by time into becoming a tourist treat. After visiting I can honestly say that I’ve been to Euro-Disneyland. Everything is overpriced, most of the hotels are a half and hour bus ride away and it's hard not to think that the city itself is a fake. Beautiful in its decay, but the heavy tourist presence has manipulated its character and integrity in my eyes, creating an in-genuine luster that heavily coats the otherwise charming brick walls of the canals. Yet, when the crowd clears and you find yourself in a quite side street, you can see it. You can see the eerie unmasked beauty of the Venetian streets. Velvet sunlight filters through the ... read more
October 26th 2011
It always starts the same way: you land, you impatiently wait as people block the aisle for what seems like an eternity, you thank the stewards in the wrong language, you shuffle off the plane. The transition has begun. As you walk through the bustling hoards of people you’re weary of the directional signs that are now suddenly written in a different tongue. Unrecognizable words float in and out of your ears leaving behind a dull scratching sound—meaningless phrases to the non-speaker. You keep walking to try to find a bathroom, and what did you find? A cappella (chapel) right in between the toilets and a coffee bar. Welcome to Italia. Waking up the next morning resulted in an odd sensation: it doesn’t feel like I’m in a different country. I can get by with my ... read more
October 16th 2011
13.30 train from Madrid arriving in Granada. A blonde bobbing head in the crowd. My mom had arrived, and I immediately began to relax as seeing her gave me comfort. Seeing her gave me a rapid reminder of who I am: seeing her was like seeing me in my purest form. The hotel receptionist begins talking to me, "Mother and daughter? You two look very similar." Yes. Como dos gotas de agua. The voice, the hair, some of the same behaviorisms. I used to dread the comment, but now I've come to realize its just genetics-- I am fifty percent her-- its in my tree, my roots, passed down from the older generation to the younger. Older to younger with space to evolve. We decided to take the 2 hour bus ride out of Granada to ... read more
September 16th 2011
An exceptional statement of self-expression, a superb declaration of identity stands strong in the heart of my home for the next year: Granada. Living proof of the Arabic influence is evident as one walks into the most visited site in Spain: the Alhambra. Each lacy design, each horseshoe arch, each carved prayer from the Koran, each meticulously placed tile—all are saturated with astounding beauty and genius. There is a perfect balance between something and nothing. The white walls covered with intricate prayers float on top of tenacious wood like gossamer in the warm breeze. Shimmering pools of water reflect the sturdy buildings whispering reminders of heaven and earth, of a world uncertain above a concrete reality. Each salón is an unearthly beauty, a foreign and exotic mirage forcing my previously Westernized conception of aesthetics to ... read more
August 21st 2011
Electricity—a shock—a sudden burst of raw energy—for me: Bilbao. One step off the bus from Santiago de Compostela and the city’s magnetic atmosphere bewitched me without a moment’s hesitation. The warm rain began to pour as I walked around trying to find the first street off of Google map directions as lighting light up the grey dusk sky, raising the hair on my arms. I walked, asked for directions, walked, asked for directions. An older couple took pity on me and took me to the closest bus stop while chitchatting with me about where I was from and other sorts of small talk. Half way through our conversation my temporary Spanish grandmother stopped mid-sentence, “You understand Catalán really well,” and continued what she had been telling me about the Festival week. I was under the impression ... read more
Santiago de Compostela y Fisterra
Published: August 25th 2011Europe » Spain » Galicia » Santiago de Compostela
August 17th 2011
Airborne: a word that now means two important things to me. A: I'm traveling so obliviously I am excited to see and explore some new place, and B: I'm surrounded by nothing but air allowing a clean slate for my perception of the world to be completely reborn. I have been fortunate enough to have visited Santiago de Compostela before, and I vividly remember seeing the towering Catedral, the delicious almond tarts dedicated to St. James, and the expressions of relief and accomplishment of the pilgrims as they reached their goal. Yet this time was different-- I wasn't with a guided tour, I wasn't blinded by an agenda and a set list of things I ought to see. Arriving by myself I bobbed along as the bus drove into town seeing the small specks of pueblos ... read more
Tot: 0.212s; Tpl: 0.008s; cc: 14; qc: 81; dbt: 0.1125s; 1; s:apollo w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 4; ; mem: 6.6mb
© 2013 TravelBlog.org & Bloggers