August 24-31, 2021 Friday started with a walk down to Seattle Center past the Space Needle and to Chihuly Garden and Glass. This is a showcase of Dale Chihuly's studio glass, and it is a jaw-dropping display of art. You can get a joint ticket to enter both the glass display and the Space Needle,… Continue reading Seattle Day 4
Seattle Day 3
August 24-31, 2021 Day three started with one of Seattle's highlights: MoPOP (Museum of Pop Culture). This was founded in 2000 and has a variety of rotating and permanent exhibits. Two of their permanent exhibits that I particularly liked were Stonewall & the LGBTQ* rights movement and Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses. After this,… Continue reading Seattle Day 3
Arriving in Seattle
August 24-31, 2021 Seattle, Washington, is about the opposite side of the country from my hometown in Maine. Although it's the largest city in WA and the Pacific Northwest (PNW), it's still relatively small for a city with a recent population of ~740,000. It's a known tech-hub with companies like Microsoft and Amazon headquartered here.… Continue reading Arriving in Seattle
Northwest Galicia Road Trip: Introduction
May 15-17, 2021 I am finishing up my time in Galicia and preparing to head back to the United States for the summer. Since the region opened in March, I had seized the opportunities most weekends to visit a part of Galicia accessible by bus, such as A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and Santiago de Compostela.… Continue reading Northwest Galicia Road Trip: Introduction
Embalse de Pontillón de Castro
Today, one of the English teachers at my school, Aranza, brought me to a lake near her house. This is the same teacher who took me around earlier this month. The embalse (reservoir) previously provided the drinking water for the city of Pontevedra. It's now also used as a sports center owned by the Xunta… Continue reading Embalse de Pontillón de Castro
Ribeira Sacra
Ribeira Sacra could be defined as one of the best kept secrets of inland Galicia. This destination is made up of a group of twenty-one municipalities in the south of the province of Lugo and the north of the province of Ourense, with the fluvial course of the rivers Miño, Sil, and Cabe as a… Continue reading Ribeira Sacra
Combarro and Cerdedo-Cotobade
Combarro is a part of the municipality of Poio, which is a town over from Pontevedra and where I stayed my first month here in Spain. Combarro wasn't high up on my list of must-sees, but I had heard it was worth a short trip to see. One of the teachers at my school, Aranza,… Continue reading Combarro and Cerdedo-Cotobade
Ourense
This weekend's adventure was a Saturday day trip to Ourense, a small city of about 105,000 and known primarily for its hot springs and medicinal baths. Although this is its claim to fame and what attracts visitors, it also has some other popular sites and great historical significance. It was developed by the Romans, and… Continue reading Ourense
LASIK in Vigo
One of my most memorable experiences in Spain is definitely going to be that I took the plunge and got LASIK eye surgery this weekend. It's been a 16-year old journey with glasses and contacts, and I've known I wanted corrective surgery for a while. Now that I've reached the age where my vision has… Continue reading LASIK in Vigo
Weekend in Santiago de Compostela
March 19-21, 2021 This weekend's trip was to Santiago de Compostela, which is the capital of Galicia. I was actually not feeling in the mood to get up and do anything. I knew that going on an adventure was important, and I'd regret it. I was debating going to Lugo, Santiago, or Ourense. I decided… Continue reading Weekend in Santiago de Compostela
