Wanderlust: Corsica Edition

There's a restaurant in the fifth called "Le Cosi" which serves food "provencial et corse."  For a couple minutes last year we thought that meant "coarse and provincial" but about a half-hour later we were proven wrong.  It was Corsican food (and food from Provence).  And it was delicious.
Earlier that summer, when we were living in Switzerland, I was considering attending a sailing camp (am I a nerd?  Yes) in Corsica, and I spent some enjoyable afternoons lying on the couch in Lausanne and daydreaming about sailing on the Mediterranean in ultra-sleek, ultra-cool catamarans.  I didn't end up going, but the daydreams didn't go away.
Since then, I've wanted to go to Corsica.  Is Garance a reason?  Perhaps.  But it's beautiful there - just look at the pictures!

Cities built into the cliffs....

Sunsets on the water...

And hiking and medieval villages inland!  What's not to love?

Have you been to Corsica?  What was it like?

(photos from here, here, and here)

Wanderlust: Meteora Edition

So this is a town - barely - not a country, and it's Saturday rather than Friday, but it's been ages since I did one of these and the BBC had an article on this.
When I was twelve I went to Greece with my family for my uncle's wedding, and my parents and siblings and I ended up traveling around the country, going to the places we'd read about in myths and stories (Nestor's Palace, Olympia, Delphi) and places I'd never heard of.  One of those places was Meteora, monasteries suspended on precarious rock spires.  The very name "Meteora" means "suspended in the air" and the monasteries themselves are full of icons (flat-looking, with no vanishing points) and incense.

I remember climbing up those crazy rock formations, in a long skirt (you have to wear a skirt and cover your shoulders in the monasteries) to reach those beautiful buildings in the sky.  It was magical.
Have you been to Meteora?  What did you think?
(photos from here and here)

Wanderlust: Austria Edition

Hi guys, happy Saturday!  Sorry it's a day late!
But you know where I would like to go today?  Vienna.  Home of classical music.  And the Alps, because today would be a beautiful day for hiking.  So how about it?
I've heard incredible things about Vienna - coffeeshops and music and gardens and a city alive with history.  This is a photo of the Christmas market - doesn't it look like something out of a fairytale?

And hiking is one of those things my family takes somewhat seriously - because it's just so lovely to be up in the mountains with a view of the whole world, nothing but clean air and alpine flowers around you...

Also, I loved The Sound of Music when I was little.

Happy weekend!

Photos from here and here

Wanderlust: Guatemala Edition

Have you ever been to Guatemala?  I haven't, but it sounds pretty great...

Looking out over the jungle from the tops of ancient Mayan temples...

Gorgeous Spanish Colonial architecture...

And swimming here when you're tired?

Count me in.  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

(pictures from here, here, and here)

Also - if you have a place that you want me to mention on the blog, shoot me an email sometime and we'll try to make it happen, 'kay?

Wanderlust: Australia Edition

Who would like to go to Australia?  When I think of Australia I think of vastness and warmth and sheep....
What about you?

Doesn't this look incredible and unexplored?

Or you could go to the coast of Victoria with these incredible rock formations that look like they're from when the earth began...

Or to ridiculously breathtaking Ayers Rock?  Where would you go?

Happy Weekend!

(photos from here, here, and here)

Wanderlust: Madagascar Edition

I find the very idea of Madagascar fascinating.  Maybe because it's an island and Africa at once, maybe because it seems isolated and ridiculously cool, maybe because in about seventh grade I had a crush on this guy Rafe at sleep-away camp who said that he was born in a kayak off the coast of Madagascar... but anyways, would you like to go?

You could go here and watch the clouds over the sea....

Or walk on beaches with caves overlooking turquoise waters...

Or hike through sunken forests like this one.

Would you like to go to Madagascar?  Have you actually been there?  If so, what was it like?  Let me know, and have a lovely weekend!

(Photo credits from here, here, and here)

Wanderlust: Croatia Edition

I have two weeks in April off, where we actually have to leave Paris, and I really, really want to go to Croatia.  Let's take a look at it, shall we?

The Lonely Planet describes Cres as "perfect for wandering around primeval forests" and "swimming in hidden coves."  Sounds good to me!

Hidden Beaches......

Ruined Villages....

Or how about the quieter inland Plitvice Lakes?  

Looks like Middle Earth, doesn't it?

Cool walks in quiet forests.....

Have you been to Croatia?  Did you like it?  Would you like to go?  If so, where?  Happy weekend!

(pictures from here, here, here, and here)

Wanderlust: The Netherlands Edition

Sorry it's late - I forgot to post this last night!
So, who else wants to go to the Netherlands?  How about Amsterdam, a city that multiple people have told me is one of the most beautiful European cities (and canals!)....

Image from here

Or the island of Schiermonnikoog (neat name, right?)....

Image from here

Or Utrecht, with more canals and lovely towers?

Image from here

Have you been to the Netherlands?  What was it like?  Happy weekend!

Wanderlust: South Africa Edition

When I was thirteen I went to South Africa for two weeks with my mother, and I loved it.  But that's not really what South Africa is about for me.  Have you seen Blood Diamond?  There is a scene in which Leonardo diCaprio's character visits a man in Stellenbosch who picks up the dirt in the vineyard and presses it into diCaprio's hand and says "the red dirt of Africa."  I don't know, it meant something to me, at least... lessee, where would you like to go?

You could go to Stellenbosch, wine country....

With the red dirt of Africa....

You could go to Cape Town...

And maybe even stay on the water!

Or you could go to Durban, where my mother and I stayed.  We visited hospitals and every day drove past places like this...

But what about you?  Where would you go?

photo credits from here, here, here, here, and here, respectively.

Wanderlust: Thailand Edition

Before I was born, my parents lived together in Thailand for a while.  Every so often we hear stories of greener-than-green rice paddies and spicy food that makes it ridiculously hard to breathe and even occasionally haunted houses... So, blog readers, wouldn't you like to go to Thailand?

You could wake up to this view on misty mornings (maybe even get some sailing in!)

You could go to on-the-water markets like this one for fish and fruit...

You could hike through the green, green rice paddies that my parents remember...

Or you could go to Bangkok, where there are temples like this one!

Have you been to Thailand?  Did you like it?  If you haven't been, would you like to go?  Happy Friday!  

photos from here, here, here, and here, respectively

Wanderlust: Greece Edition

When I was twelve my family went to Greece for a wedding.  Before the wedding, we drove around the country as much as possible, ate freshly picked fruit, and listened to "The Very Best of Marvin Gaye" for about a week and a half....  And one of my closest friends is Spartan (he won't ever let us forget it) so I guess I'm a little biased.  Wouldn't you like to go to Greece?

You could go to Poseidon's Temple, which overlooks the ocean and isn't too far from Athens...

from here

Or to Athens itself, the seat of ancient civilization, and eat tzatziki somewhere with a view like this...

from here

Or visit Galixidi by the seashore, which I remember as one of my favourite places...

from here

Where would you go?  Happy Friday!  Enjoy your weekend!

Wanderlust: Scotland Edition

I've always loved the idea of Scotland.  The stark beauty, Macbeth, the light on the moors... Also, my parents met in Edinburgh.
I'd love to go to Edinburgh, where the city looks like this...

photo from here

And to the highlands, with the mist on the moors...

and here

and here

And sheep, Kuzu!

and here

Wouldn't you love to live here?

and here

Have you been to Scotland?  Did you like it?  Am I missing something?  Happy Friday!

Wanderlust, Spain edition

Yesterday was my brother's last exam, so we went out to eat at a Tapas place called Taberna de Haro.  First, if you are in the Boston area and need a place to eat, go there.  It's excellent - I especially recommend the Pisto (vegetables and a poached egg), the Alcachufas (artichoke hearts) and the Espinacas (spinach with golden raisins and pinenuts).  Delicious!  Make sure you get the Trufas for dessert - three perfect truffles with toasts, olive oil, cocoa powder, and salt.
Point being, however, that they serve Spanish food.  And every time I go to their little restaurant, I immediately want to travel to Spain.
To go see the Alhambra with its famed carvings and gardens (I wrote my senior thesis on the Islamic art and history of the palace!)....

from here

and here

and here

To visit Barcelona, home of Gaudi's unfinished cathedral and arguably the best club soccer team...

from here

and here.

What about you?  If you had the opportunity to go to Spain, where would you go?  Have a lovely weekend!

Happy Wanderlust

Hi guys!  Happy Friday!  What are you doing this weekend?  Tonight I'm going to the Blue Flower (a play that's supposed to be absolutely excellent) and tomorrow we're having dinner with old family friends.  And then Sunday is my birthday!  I will be eighteen years old.  I have consistently been the youngest of all of my friends - the youngest in my grade, the youngest in choirs or theatre.... but now I'll be eighteen like the rest of them.  Well, some of them.
I also have this idea (silly, I know) that once I turn eighteen I'll actually be a grownup.  I mean, I'll be able to vote, which will be nice, but that's the only thing I can come up with that I really want to do now that I'm eighteen.  Maybe buy a lottery ticket and dream about where I could go with the money?  Sure, let's go with that.  What would be your fantasy trip around the world?

Perhaps, like Kuzu and her brothers, we would like to go to Iceland to see the Northern Lights....

(from here)

And it looks like the end of the world...

(from here)

Perhaps, like Mum, we would go to India, where the colours are neverending...

(from here)

And where mountains touch the tip of the sky...

(from here)

Or perhaps somewhere entirely different?  Where would you like to go?