So these bar-code-faced babies by artist David Černý are easily some of the creepiest outdoor sculptures I have ever seen, and I’ve seen quite a few… After shelling out more for a cappuccino than half a liter of beer, I’m refreshed and we’re […]
World Travel
Spring Onions and Salvitxada in Barcelona
Midwesterner Abroad Come Spring in Barcelona…. While winter in Barcelona cannot compare to the snowy midwestern winters of my childhood, it does tend to get chilly enough here that people welcome the coming of Spring. One of my favorite seasonal […]
Barcelona Folktales: La Laia and La Mercè
About La Laia and La Mercè in Barcelona: In Barcelona there are two major local holidays, La Laia, celebrated as Barcelona’s Major Winter Festival on February 12th, and La Mercè, September 24th, a three-day farewell to the summer months. Both […]
Prague: The Golden City Where Beer Flows Like Water
View of Prague from Prague Castle Overflowing with UNESCO World Heritage sites, Prague is known the world-over as “The Golden City”. So it’s not surprising that sites like Charles Bridge, and Prague Castle, are packed tightly with tourists year-round. What […]
Barcelona Snow: Better Late Than Never
Trash Containers and a Snowy Street in Barcelona Snow on Parked Cars in Barcelona’s Eixample Neighborhood Winter comes late in Barcelona, or more habitually, not at all. In the five years I’ve lived here, I’ve never, not once seen snow […]
Barcelona’s Garden Maze
Entry to the Labyrinth Early spring in Barcelona somehow always brings me back to my Missouri roots. While winter in the Mediterranean is mild and snowless outdoors but frigid in my unheated apartment, spring tends to waver between the warm […]
Madrid and El Parque del Retiro
Aggressive sunlight turns dust particles into glitter floating through the heat, as I squint and stumble along seemingly endless dirt paths in Madrid’s Parque del Retiro. I’m looking for the Palacio de Cristal, a beautiful old greenhouse in front of […]
New Year’s in Barcelona: The Man with Many Noses:
About the Noseman: A Barcelona Tradition This traditional figure has as many noses as there are days left to the year, and if you find him, he must grant you a wish. Of course finding him is no easy task. […]
Olentzero: The Christmas Giant from Basque Country
A little history… A Christmas character from Spain’s Basque Country, Olentzero is sometimes said to be the last member of the “jentillak”, a mythological race of Basque giants that inhabited the Pyrenees before the coming of Christ. Other versions of […]
La Befana: The Italian Christmas Witch
Pasta with Mussels and Shrimp About Christmas in Italy: Christmas in Italy begins with Advent, a period of fasting before Christmas, much like Lent, the fasting period before Easter. It begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas and lasts until Christmas […]