Emma is still in India, but before she left, she asked her boyfriend if he would write a guest post for her. I said that I’d be happy to. I’ve been holding down the fort while Emma has been gone, getting to spend some quality time with the cat, so I’ve had plenty free time to work on said guest post. You may remember my last contribution to An Opportune Moment, where I shared my experiences flying for the first time. This time, I’m covering another aspect of Emma and my time on Maui – Haleakalā Crater. And because I had my camera out the whole time we were there,…
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Weekly Travel Inspiration: Grand Central Station
I finally changed my homepage away from my alma mater’s student life page, which I think is a positive step towards adulthood. NPR is my new homepage, which is great, except that every time I open up Firefox I am bombarded with interesting-sounding news stories, and I have to spend time learning before I can settle into blogging or checking my facebook. That’s why today, your weekly travel inspiration is an article from NPR celebrating Grand Central Station’s 100th anniversary. It’s called The Ways We Wait, and focuses on the time we spend in train stations just biding our time. It includes a slideshow of photos of people hanging out…
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DC: Last Look
This will be my last post about DC (for now!) so I wanted to share some final thoughts on the city. I never did change my mind about the public transit system. It is comprehensive in that it serves many communities and runs from early in the morning until late at night. But there never seemed to be a bus or a train right when I needed one, and I would often wait 30 minutes or more for the bus in the evenings. I missed DC for the first time just over a week ago, when I felt a pang of sadness at leaving behind… the food. I am sure…
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The Best Smithsonian You’ve Never Been To
Starkid, 2007, by Owusu-Ankomah; on display at the National Museum of African Art (Before I tell you about what I’m up to in Iceland, I’d like to wrap up writing about my adventures in DC this summer. You can expect a post about my first impressions of Iceland on Saturday.) The National Air and Space Museum is awesome; that’s why it attracts 9 million visitors annually. The National Museum of Natural History is home to dinosaur skeletons and the Hope Diamond. And the National Museum of American History is home to the original star spangled banner, which honestly is an impressive sight. I also wouldn’t pass up the chance to…
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Tea Tuesday: Teaism
For a long time I’ve identified myself as a tea drinker — built it into my personality. I bought a kettle before my freshman year of college because I wanted to be that quirky girl who was always in the dorm kitchen making tea. Because tea is so important to me, and to many other people around the world, I figure it can have a place on my travel blog. In DC, there is a local chain called Teaism that sells tea, tea accoutrements, and delicious, delicious food. It bills itself as an Asian style tea house, and as such serves tea and Asian food ranging from Bento boxes to…
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Weekly Travel Inspiration: Road Trips
(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!) It’s time for some nostalgia, friends. Thus far on this blog, I’ve mostly written about international travel, but this time last year I was enjoying the most quintessential of US travel experiences: a road trip. My boyfriend and I drove from New Hampshire to Asheville, North Carolina (which is a city I adored, just fyi). During this road trip, I went farther south in the US than I had ever been before (discounting the times I’ve flown over the Southeast states to get to…
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Outdoor Film Screenings
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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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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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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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…
