In DC, outdoor film screenings are a summer staple — the nights are warm, the bugs aren’t so bad, and the parks are plentiful. I know of three outdoor film series in the DC metro area, two of which I’ve been to this summer. For the most iconic experience, pack a picnic dinner, and a blanket or a few low chairs, and head out to the National Mall for Screen on the Green. On Monday nights in July, a movie screen appears on the Mall and shows classic films. While waiting for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to begin, I glanced behind me and was greeted by this view:…
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Full Disclosure
I’ve been reading travel blogs for over a year now. This became one of my hobbies not long after I returned home from my semester abroad in Barcelona. My father had just been diagnosed with cancer, and I needed an escape. Dreaming of a future WWOOFing in Australia or tour guiding in Spain was a welcome change from the drudgery of coursework and the disappointment of weekly trips home to see my father while I still could. I mention all this in the hopes of honestly explaining how a 22-year-old is privileged enough to become a world traveler. I’ve read many blogs whose authors recount how they saved money to…
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Weekly Travel Inspiration: Nocturnal Festivals
(Weekly Travel Inspiration is a feature on this blog where I share a link, book, or film that incites my wanderlust, and might incite yours too!) A few weeks ago National Geographic Traveler tweeted their Top 10 Nocturnal Festivals. Their list included celebrations in Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, and Latvia among others. The Noche de Brujas (Night of Witches) festival in Catemaco, Mexico, which plays host to witches, wizards, and mystics sounds like a grownup Halloween. Another festival featured on this list sees “the residents of the Latvian town of Kuldiga mark the start of midsummer, or Jani, by running naked through the streets.” According to National Geographic, after they all…
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Artomatic
On Saturday, I went to the last day of Artomatic, which bills itself as “DC’s Biggest Creative Event,” and included ten stories worth of artwork by 1,300 artists and performers. I first read about it in Metro Weekly, which billed it as an “all-access arts clusterfuck,” and said that the event had returned after a three year hiatus. When my housemate asked me if I wanted to go with her, the answer was obvious. In case the inordinate number of museums that made it onto my otherwise open European itinerary didn’t tip you off — I really like art. And Artomatic did not disappoint. There were paintings, photographs, sculptures, installations, performance…
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Top Ten Barcelona
A few weeks ago, Adventurous Kate panned Barcelona. She felt utterly ambivalent about one of my favorite cities in the world. If you follow me on twitter, (hello to all 12 of you!) you know I initially felt very defensive, but reminded myself that my first days in Barcelona were less than idyllic. Regardless, I grew to love Barcelona dearly, and, for that reason, I felt the need to compile a top ten list. I studied abroad there for five months, and while I am by no means an expert on the city, I feel qualified to give you a few recommendations in no particular order. One: Eat tapas Spanish…
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Announcing…
The Great European Adventure! This is the trip that prompted the birth of this blog. It will be my first solo trip abroad, and I can’t wait. My itinerary is below, but let me stress that it is tentative. It outlines the plan for where I will go if I meet no one interesting who asks me to go elsewhere. This is where I’ll be if I never fall in love with a city and need to stay longer, and if I never hate a city and have to get out early—all of which seems very unlikely given what I’ve read on other travel blogs (see: China is what happens…
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Capital Pride
Who doesn’t love a good pride parade? With drag queens, marching bands, families, allies, gay cowboys, and countless political candidates hoping to snag “the queer vote”, DC’s pride celebration delivered an enjoyable afternoon this past weekend despite temperatures in the 90’s (around 35º C). Here are just a few photos: It does indeed.
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Adventures in Public Transit
I don’t like to ask for directions. Ever. And as a result, I try never to leave my house without a plan. Now, this does not mean I never wander or decide where to go serendipitously. I just plan to be serendipitous. In fact, one of my favorite things to do in a new city is meander down the streets, and look at architecture or find a secluded cafe, which I can pretend no tourist before me has ever encountered. I’m comfortable wandering down random side streets despite my discomfort with asking for help because I love maps and I fancy myself a person with a good sense of direction.…
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DC: First Impressions
Yesterday my housemate Lisa and I made our first venture into the city. I’ve visited DC before, but not in about 10 years. My 7th grade class took a three day field trip to DC, but mostly I remember visiting the FDR memorial in the rain and drama over who was rooming with who at the hotel. Needless to say, my experiences this time around are a little different. Lisa and I weren’t up for a Smithsonian or too much sightseeing. We just wanted to wander around and get dinner, so we took the metro to Dupont Circle, a neighborhood in Northwest DC, which is known in part for its queer-friendly…
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On the move
This post is coming at you from my new apartment via stolen internet. Thank god for people who still don’t put passwords on their wireless networks. (Don’t worry, I have no intention of stealing my neighbors’ wifi forever–Verizon is just having trouble activating the internet in my apartment.) Lack of consistent internet aside, this has been a busy week. It started on Tuesday with packing up my apartment in Boston. Then I spent one day at home in Rhode Island getting coffee with friends, visiting the ocean, and packing my bags to move to DC for the summer. Because I took the train down to move into my apartment, and…
