Madrid in the Springtime

I've been researching Madrid and Barcelona for the past few days in preparation for my trip (next week!), and I have something to admit: I'm scared. Does it make me a huge baby to be frightened by beautiful European cities? Probably. I've been to at least thirty-odd beautiful European cities, but this is the first time I won't be able to wedge myself between my dad and my older brother whenever I feel unsafe, like that time we got lost in the red light district in Amsterdam. (The red light district of Amsterdam is no fun when you're a thirteen year old girl). (Or ever).

But I've found a solution: going onto Pinterest, searching for "Madrid," and seeing everything that appears before me. BAM. Currently thinking of hidden plazas and ice cream.

When I'm knee-deep in travel guides, I forget that there's more to a city than petty crime and seedy neighborhoods. Plus, I live in New York City. (Granted, I'm in the safest zip code available, but that doesn't mean that something bad can't ever happen). Still, from now on, I'm going to focus on the great things about Spain: the parks. The wine. The tapas. The museums. The outdoor markets. The dining al fresco.

Have you been to Madrid or Barcelona? Are there any can't-miss spots? I'm already looking forward to the croquettes, the hole-in-the-wall wine bars, and exploring ruins.

Photos courtesy of: Gilmar Mattos and Jou Jou Villeroy

La Fiesta

An adventure in Puerto Rico:

We explored San Juan, which was painted in cheerful hues and bursting with flowers...

...as well as cobblestone and a view of the ocean. And eighty-degree weather.

On windy days, the wide green meadow outside of the fortress is filled with people flying kites.

As shameless tourists, we thought it would be a great place to do yoga (as a former competitive swimmer, I'm clearly more about doing a streamline than a proper sun salutation or... something).

We met some boys from the Air Force Academy and taught them how to do The Creep (you have to get your knees flexin' and your arms t-rexin').

And then we socialized.

Socializing is more fun when you're on the beach and completely willing to go swimming at midnight. And someone makes you laugh really hard before taking a picture of it.

We hiked in the rainforest, where we found a Naked Man. He hid behind a rock, but he seriously was naked. Naked Man became one of our most favorite discoveries in Puerto Rico.

Eventually, we had to move on from Naked Man and continue our hike.

We found a little-known local beach on our way back. It was perfect.

The boys from the Air Force Academy presented us with chips and homemade salsa. How cute is that? We ate them all. (The chips and salsa, not the boys.)

Of course, we had to go to Señor Frog's on our very last night. It caters to college students in the most typical of ways, and I almost felt like I was at a bar in Evanston.

It was probably the greatest spring break ever, although I flew home to snow (SNOW?!) in New York. On the bright side, I'm now eight times darker and have a treasure trove of embarrassing photos that I can use as collateral in the future. Also, a HUGE thank you to Alison, Carly, Ashley, and Roxy for their spectacular posts while I was away.