It has not been a “long, cold lonely winter” for me in Hawai’i, but Spain is experiencing its third consecutive year of recession, with unemployment at 26% for the general population, and over 50% for my age group, the under-30s. This flashmob orchestra, organized by a radio station in Madrid, endeavored to brighten Spaniards’ days by playing The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” at an unemployment office in the country’s capital. The singer’s accented voice is lovely, and although times are hard right now in many places around the world, “it’s all right,” might be exactly what we need to be telling each other.
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8 Reasons Why Krakow Should Be on Your European Itinerary
I loved the time I spent in Krakow and, in my previous post on this city, I mentioned that I think it has something to offer most travelers. Here are eight reasons your next European vacation should take you to Poland’s cultural capital. 1. The Price is Right Poland is not an expensive country. Currently, 1 Polish Zloty is equal to 0.32 United States Dollars, so if you’re from the US, the UK, or the Eurozone, your money can go far. You can easily eat dinner for under $10, and a six bed dorm room directly off the main square (conveniently named Main Market Square) will only set you back…
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Tea Tuesday: Mamaki Tea
Remember this plant? The one that’s growing in the tea garden, and I took a nice photo of, but didn’t know its name, but I liked the photo, so I still put it on the internet in a previous blog post? It turns out this is Mamaki, a plant that is only native to Hawai’i and is known for its medicinal qualities. Mamaki is commonly made into a cleansing herbal tea, which is good for digestion and general relaxation. (That sounds like code for “a laxative that will get you high,” but it’s not.) I was told by some of the other farmies (folks who work here) that just a…
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Krakow was a turning point
I didn’t want to leave Berlin. Berlin was big and interesting, and there was so much to see — this was why I had left my plans open, why my travel dates were all tentative, so I could stay longer in places I loved. But I didn’t love Berlin. It was beautiful, and historical, and tasty, and I hadn’t even gone to any art museums yet! But that wasn’t why I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay because Berlin was safe. There’s nothing wrong with feeling safe; in fact, I hope that you feel safe while traveling. But I didn’t go to Europe to hide. I went to see…
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One Month in “Paradise”
Thursday marked one month that E and I have been living and working on Maui. He works at the farm stand selling banana bread that’s baked fresh every morning. I work in the kitchen making candy and hot sauces that we also sell at the stand. We both work in the vegetable garden and around the rest of the property, pulling weeds, clearing space for more beds, spreading mulch. We sleep and store our things in a cabin without electricity. One of the farm cats likes to hang around the cabin, and sneaks in to sleep by our feet at night; her name is Munchkin. I’m not much of a…
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Tea Tuesday: Where Your Red Zinger Comes From
If you live in the US, you’ve probably seen Celestial Seasonings’ “Red Zinger” tea in your local grocery store. But what exactly is a “red zinger”? I’d never really thought about it until I was being shown around the vegetable garden at Hana Farms, and someone pointed to a thin bush saying, “that’s hibiscus, you know, red zinger, you can make tea from it.” If you can make tea from it, my interest is peaked, so I decided to try it out. After some internet research, I discovered that this wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d expected. Most recipes for hibiscus or red zinger tea suggest that you…
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Berlin: Teeming with History
Berlin teems with a lot of things — nightclubs, Turkish food, Communist architecture. For me, Berlin teemed with history. Every street seemed to hold information about the city’s often painful past. Much of this is conscious preservation in the form of public parks and landmarks, but there are a few subtle aspects of the city that speak volumes about, specifically, its 20th century history. The architecture changes when you move between the former West and East Berlins. In East Berlin, the buildings are pragmatic, functional, ugly in that classic Soviet style. The TV Tower, now the phallic symbol of all Berlin, was once a prominent expression of the power of…
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Today I’m giving the people what they want…
…photos of Maui’s beautiful beaches. Thus far, most of my posts about Hawai’i have centered on my experiences living and working on an organic farm, but, never fear, I do occasionally stop gardening and go to the beach. There are three well-known beaches near Hana — Waianapanapa State Park, Red Sands, and Hamoa — as well as a smattering of more secret beaches (including one that the people on the farm actually refer to as “Secret Beach”) that I have yet to visit. I should probably let the photos speak for themselves, but I’m terrible at that, so you’re all stuck with my usual witty commentary. Waianapanapa (or Waianaps, as…
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On having a friend in Berlin
Normally, when I start blogging about a new place, I write a post of my first impressions. However, my first impressions upon arriving in Berlin were colored by the fact that I was meeting up with a friend I hadn’t seen in four years. In my reflection on one month of travel I wrote about, among other things, feeling lonely traveling by myself and how seeing my friend Brittney was a welcome respite from solo travel. When I visited Berlin, I had a German-speaking local showing me around. She took me to her favorite restaurant, introduced me to her friends, and we spent hours walking around the city, good company…
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Guest Post: First Time Flying
(For this week’s Weekly Travel Inspiration, I decided to do something a little different and asked my boyfriend E to write a guest post about our flight to Hawai’i. I hope you enjoy it; I think he has a pretty amusing take on the experience.) When I mentioned to my folks that my trip to Hawai’i was going to be my first time on a commercial airliner, even they were shocked. The only planes I’ve ever been on were small 2- or 4-person Cessnas, and those only brought me on quick loops around the airport. This fact always seemed to shock people, and has made me particularly good at games…
