Tag Archives: holiday

spain pt 2: barcelona; love, and its tempered disguise

arc de triomf

spain lulled me into siesta the next few days. i had been running around from place to place all over europe, and i was now struck with a travel fatigue.  my friend micah in denver had warned me of this.  he had told me there would come a point where i would just be tired.  tired from exploring, tired of searching for a place to sleep, tired of adapting to a new language with new customs, tired of figuring out what the “must-see” attractions are of a new place.  just…tired.  i was tired.

martín had told me that he had come back to barcelona to finish off his trip so that he could relax on the beach and do nothing for his last week in europe, and that is exactly what he did. every single day i would ask martín what he was doing and he would respond with a big goofy grin and say “oh man, eets reeeallyy nice outside, man.  i’m going to the beach!”  and so i went with him, in need of “throwaway days,” as i like to call them, where i had absolutely no expectations for myself.

after a few days in the city, i received an email from an old denver friend named amy.   Continue reading spain pt 2: barcelona; love, and its tempered disguise

spain, pt 1: barcelona; minding my misconceptions

arc de triomf

i woke up the next morning sorer than i had in months.  it was the good kind of sore, the kind that reminds you that you had earned it, and any other unhealthy foods you could get your hands on.  but i was also inexplicably restless.  after i had gotten home from the previous day’s hike, i had been looking forward to a couple beers and a good in-depth conversation with my new french friend, jean, about life, love, his adventures in colorado, and everything in between.  i was disappointed however when i returned to find his bunk empty and a note on my pillow with an apology on it, informing me that he had a received an urgent call from home and he’d left switzerland early.  i crossed my fingers and hoped everything was okay, and lamented that i would likely never see him again.  another casualty of the wander.  it was something i was still learning how to deal with, even after being abroad for 2 months already.

i started to re-evaluate what my gameplan was.  it was october 29th, and i was up on the alps in a ghost town.  this was what i had wanted.  i had wanted an epic hike in the alps and i had wanted to escape the hustle of the city, and i had gotten that, but now for some reason my feet were beginning to itch for a new destination again.  the quiet solitude had quenched my wanderlust for only a day.  Continue reading spain, pt 1: barcelona; minding my misconceptions