“Don’t worry, we haven’t lost anybody yet,” my guide assures me. It’s the “yet” part that scares me. Would they really tell someone with a heart leaping out of her chest like a cartoon character if they lost someone or not? I put my faith in two Swedes that I won’t fall to my end as I observe others tiptoeing across the rooftop of Stockholm’s old Parliament building. Stockholm oozes sophistication, from its outward appearance of sparkling streets and grand buildings to inside its trendy bars where you get those looks that seem to say, “Are you lost?” Then again, Sweden’s capital has a Continue Reading
Sóller, Mallorca Wishes You Were Here
I step off of the wooden train car into a state of isolation in Sóller. For centuries Sóller kept to herself, cut off from the island. The sea functioned as Sóller’s only means of communicating with the outside world. The peaks of the Tramuntana mountain range wanted to keep Sóller forever in that isolation, but the historic train route from Palma altered that agenda in 1912. The train station welcomes in a variety of languages, suggesting Sóller is not so alone these day. The building itself used to be an ancient fortified house from the 17th century. It would later take on the identity of a Continue Reading
Sweet Slow Travel and The Train To Sóller
If you live on the Balearic Island of Mallorca, a far distance can be 20 minutes away. Perhaps it is the island mentality, but you don’t take the slow road in Mallorca if there is a faster way. The Ferrocarril De Sóller chugs along at the slowest of paces for a local, taking over an hour to go from Palma de Mallorca to the town of Sóller. Covering 27.3 kilometers, the route is frequented not by locals but tourists with time. They hop abroad not just for the train’s slow pace but to experience a part of history on the island. I arrive at Placa de l’Estació in Plaza de España in Palma de Continue Reading
Grinda, Sweden Wishes You Were Here
The most stressful, hair-raising journeys tend to lead to the calmest of places. You have to work to reach utter peace. The island of Grinda in the Stockholm archipelago is one of those places. To reach Grinda, you can take the slower, less exciting boat or you can adorn a puffy blue suit and hold on for dear life. Not much of a thrill seeker, I am thrown on a boat more fitting for a bathtub than the Baltic Sea. I climb into my marshmallow suit and let the thrill take me to the calm of Grinda, letting out screams with every bounce and splash. Without going overboard on the hour ride from Continue Reading
Long Travel Days Ahead and a European Summer Getaway
My bags are partially packed and I’m on my way. Besides being a ball of stress, balancing work and packing problems, I’m pleased to reveal where I am going next. On behalf of One Travel, I will be traveling with AirBerlin across Europe over the course of the next few weeks. I am heading to Berlin, Stockholm and Palma de Mallorca with AirBerlin as I blog about the adventure. While I have been to Stockholm before, I’m excited to experience Berlin and Mallorca, two new destinations for me. In Berlin we will be biking, gallery hopping and touring some of the city’s neighborhoods. After a few Continue Reading
Fort Pulaski, Georgia Wishes You Were Here
“We were absolutely isolated,” Confederate commander, Col. Charles H. Olmsted said of the bombardment on Fort Pulaski in Georgia. I muttered to myself the same as I approached this 19th century fort on Cockspur Island, around 15 miles east of Savannah. A glassy moat surrounding fortified bricks only furthers those feelings of being very much alone. Fort Pulaski doesn’t seem inviting based on its outward appearance, moat, drawbridge and all. The construction on Fort Pulaski began in 1829. It would take $1 million dollars, 25 million bricks and 18 years to build. Many believed it to be Continue Reading
My Living Denver
When a study abroad friend came to town for a conference, he admonished me for not writing anything about where I live on my site. When you live in a place long enough, you are living in it. You aren’t seeing it as a tourist might. And when he asked me, “Isn’t the 16th Street Mall the place you go in Denver?”, I shook my head and grabbed the nearest slither of paper. I needed to pen those spots in the city I would want a tourist to see, from the perspective of someone living Denver rather than traveling its limits. I don’t claim to be an expert on a city I have always called home. The local Continue Reading