The ABC's of Travel

The ABC's of travel gives bloggers the opportunity to share their favorite and most memorable travel moments from A-Z!  Thanks to Deidre from Decoy Betty for tagging me! I'll be tagging (approximately) 3 other bloggers at the end of this post so they can share their ABCs as well!

A: Age you went on your first international trip: My first international flight was taken when I moved to France. One would think I would have at least visited France before moving there, but that’s just not how I do things. I like to be really backward and surprise people and lead them to believe I am insane. In fact, I had never even been out of the United States of America before the day I got on a plane to Paris.

B: Best (foreign) beer you’ve had and where: I couldn’t possibly tell you the name of it but it came in a stein quite literally as big as my head while visiting my friend Amy in Munich. We were sitting in a beautiful beer garden beneath a dark three story pavilion which, at the time, was home to a band playing german oompa-papa music. The beer was so light and hoppy that I had two which is probably more than a gallon of beer. I remember also, on the way to get another beer, passing a table where someone was sitting casually beside his pet guinea pig. We found this hilarious.

C: Cuisine (favorite): I’m not entirely lying when I say French. I love me some fine French food – foie gras, a good baguette, ohmyfuckinggod the cheese, duck confit, and did I mention the wine? But I will admit I didn’t ever get too exotic in the food department during my travels. I ate minimally in Spain and Germany, well… Bavarian food is what you imagine it’s like. All I am saying is I never made it to Italy.

D: Destinations, favorite, least favorite and why: Least favorite, really? I am not sure that I ever had a least favorite destination when I was abroad. It sound clichéd, but no matter where I ended up it always felt like an adventure. Even the simple act of changing trains in Stuttgart, Germany was lovely. I am not sure that will ever change. My favorite place was definitely Paris. It lived up to all of my childhood expectations and then some. I will always have a piece of my heart attached to that city.

 E: Event you experienced abroad that made you say “wow”:  I had a lot of wow experiences, likely due to my open, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants nature. I said “wow” walking around Paris at three a.m. one nuit blanche with three random british men trying to find a taxi. I said “wow” when I found myself half naked in the bathroom of Palais de Tokyo. I said “wow” when ended up hitch hiking in Spain. I said “wow” every single time the Eiffel Tower sparkled. I often found myself thinking “Wow, this really ismy life.” And laughing my head off about it.

F: Favorite mode of transportation: The train. Not only is it probably the safest, it will always be the coolest in my book. Ever since my Aunt and Uncle took my sister and I to Glenwood Springs on the Amtrak, I have found it to be the most relaxing way to travel. Also? I find myself incredibly prolific on trains. I don’t know why, but it’s a fact. Three journals were filled while living in Paris, riding on trains.

G: Greatest feeling while travelling: The arrival. There is something exciting about stepping off the chosen mode of transport into a new destination. I know that I am about to discover something amazing and I might have specific plans and I might not but something wonderful is about to happen. It’s a little like Christmas morning. I also loved being an American abroad. I felt special – even if it may have been in a negative way at some points. I have to be different in life (in a ‘you say black and I will have to say white’ kind of way) and travelling like that made me one of the odd men out, in the best way possible.

H: Hottest place you’ve traveled to: Spain in July. I remember, after having particularly pleasant weather for my whole 40km hike, arriving in Barcelona and immediately starting to sweat like a pig. I don’t know what the temperature was, I just knew I wanted to be NAKED. I couldn’t get to my air conditioned hotel fast enough.

I: Incredible service you’ve experienced and where: Nothing that was memorable enough for me to add it here. I have yet to go anywhere that I have been “served”, so to speak (outside of restaurants, I suppose).

 J: Journey that took the longest: Getting to Munich. I missed my flight and so I ended up taking an overnight train to get there. I was stuck in a very small room with four other people, it was hot, there was snoring and I had gas. It was a long, long night.

 K: Keepsake from your travels: Spoons. I have a collection of stolen spoons (still in France) from several of the restaurants in Paris. I wish they were with me now.

L: Let-down sight, why and where: The Mona Lisa. Anyone who has seen it in person can tell you why.

M: Moment where you fell in love with travel: See the letter F. On that trip with my Aunt and Uncle, we had dinner at the Glenwood Springs hotel. There was a whole pig on a platter being served, and I remember butlers crisp suits serving us. At that age (I think I was like 5 or 6) it was the fanciest, most exciting experience I had ever had. My play pretend thereafter was colored with fancy ladies staying in fancy hotels and traveling to exotic locations. We always paid with checks for some reason.

N: Nicest hotel you’ve stayed in: Money restrictions have always put me up in simpler hotels, staying with friends or in hostels, but in Barcelona I stayed at the Catalonia, Avinyo as a treat for actually making the trek to Casterojeriz by foot. I spent an entire day on their rooftop pool.

O: Obsession—what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while traveling?: I’m a building photographer. The architecture I grew up with was so wildly uninspiring that I find just about anything remotely aging impossibly charming. I’m a sucker for old falling down things.

P: Passport stamps, how many and from where?: Just one, from France. I took trains into Spain and Germany and France repeated jipped me in the stamp department.

Q: Quirkiest attraction you’ve visited and where: It was stateside. Definitely Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo.

R: Recommended sight, event or experience: The coast of Normandy. Oh god some of the most lovely days ever spent there. The geography of those cliffs is varying and lovely. The cold wind whipping on your face makes you feel alive.

S: Splurge; something you have no problem forking over money for while traveling: FOOD. I love to try the local delicacies and snacks.

T: Touristy thing you’ve done: Gone to the top of Rockefeller Center to see the sights. I would do it again, too.

U: Unforgettable travel memory: Hiking in Spain. I have rarely felt so happy to be alive as I did on that trip. The little towns that smatter the map between Barcelona and the Western coast are like little time warps. The intense pride I had in myself in the final mile approaching Castrojeriz (my destination) was immeasurable.

V: Visas, how many and for where?: Two, both for France. One student and one working visa.

W: Wine, best glass of wine while traveling and where?: Barcelona, Spain. While eating a plate of tapas and writing in my journal at some local hangout. The wine cost 1.50 in euros.

X: eXcellent view and from where?: Etretat, from the top. I couldn’t capture that kind of green if I tried. Y: Years spent traveling?Since High School. I set out with my best friend to Las Vegas in my mom’s minivan one weekend and the mere act of being somewhere new was enough to get me start moving around and I haven’t stopped since. Husband and I have a million hypothetical trips planned so I don’t think I ever will.

Z: Zealous sports fans and where?: Oh probably Spain with their futbol but I wasn’t paying any attention to that.

Tag you're it! 

• Crystal Goes to Europe - She's on vacation right now, but she should do this.
• Oneika the Traveler - Oneika has already done this. But her's gave me a mad travel itch. Just go read it.
• Where the Bears Are - She currently lives in Saudi Arabia people! This is good stuff.