today found me

Jun 02

Clearing. #montjuic #barcelona #todayfoundme

Jun 01

First time backpacker, Christie Aguasin, shares her thoughts and ideas on her current three-month adventure / travels to France, Spain and possibly wherever else her fancy takes her…

Amanda of the ever-useful Backpacker Hub interviewed me a few days ago about my wandering ways here in Western Europe. Thanks for featuring me!

May 15

ohstranger:

Chulapa. #madrid #todayfoundme #sanisidro

May 11

ohstranger:

Palacio de Comunicaciones. #madrid #todayfoundme

ohstranger:

Climbed that today. #donostia #sansebastian #todayfoundme

May 07

… exchanging français for espagnol for the month of May.

As I write this, I’m careening towards the city of Bordeaux on an Intercités train, and there’s a child of about six years old playing Minecraft on his dad’s iPad beside me. I have two episodes of Game of Thrones to catch up on, a heckuva lot of portfolio prepping to do and a few hundred pages to go on various reading material stuffed in my day pack. I’m quite certain my six other hours of train travel, Nantes to Bordeaux then Bordeaux to Hendaye plus the tram to Donostia-San Sebastiàn, will find me covered for entertainment.

One could say I have a small issue with saying goodbyes. As Philippe noted, “On s’attache facilement,” (we get attached easily). I’m gutted to leave Kerusten, Noelle and Philippe’s hospitality and kindness, Fabienne’s wonderful company and the Brittany countryside. I’m so happy to have met Megan and very briefly, Sherly as well as experiencing such a great first CS experience with Anne and Francois.

I will also miss the following, in no particular order:

Noelle’s Muesli mix
being ‘cheap dates’ with Fabienne
jumping between English and French at the drop of a hat with Megan and Sherly
making galettes/crepes with a raclette and a spear and a proper cast iron flat plate
watering the tomato plants for Philippe
when sophisticated, older mesdames find my French accent charming
being able to tell the difference between a camelia, a magnolia and a rhododendron
free-wheeling on a bicycle down an empty road flanked by rolling fields of green
trekking up untouched hillsides to find 15th century chapels, churches and springs

And now I’m going to Spain.

While I’m going to miss playing Harvest Moon IRL every day, I’m equally stoked for the backpacking experience in all its unpredictability. The only thing I regret is how lax I’ve been with learning my basic Spanish and now I must play the ignorant tourist for a short while as I reorient myself to another language.

May 02

… thinking that I should probably rename this blog “A Week Ago Found Me”

Sorry lovelies, proper updates very soon. I depart for Spain in five short days. Here’s what I know for sure, I have to be in Barcelona by May 23, 4 pm for an evening of musical magic at Primavera Sound Festival.