Category: Travel (Page 2 of 3)

Preconceived Notions: Southeastern France

July 25, 2018 / KKRegan / 0 Comments

I saw a lot of bikes, baguettes, and wine in my future.

I had some ideas about what a month in France would be like before I even got here

Nothing says “2008” like these sunglasses

It turns out that while in Tenerife and Berlin, I completely forgot to line up my Preconceived Notions post for my France house sit. As a result of being distracted by the beginning of my new lifestyle, it slipped my mind. This very short post will be me trying to dig into my memory and pull out what ideas I had about the area before I came here. I will do my best not to let my actual experience seep in. Sounds good, right?

Up until now, the only bit of France I had experienced was Paris about ten years ago. As I understand it, Paris is not a typical representation of the rest of France. This bodes well for me, as my handle on the French language, ESPECIALLY pronouncing it, is tenuous at best.

When considering the gig, I looked up the town of Annecy, as I knew it would be close by. It appeared to be quaint as hell.

This is what I saw when I looked up Annecy. Yes please.

The woman I am house sitting for had told me that I would be able to ride a bike around the various lakes. So, essentially what I expected of this location was biking around a lake with a baguette in my bike basket, wearing a striped dress. Then, when I wanted a break from biking, I would be sunbathing near and swimming in said lake.

Totally informed, right? I also imagined driving to locations and going on wonderful, beautiful hikes and bopping around to the surrounding cities. That’s really all I had. Well, that, and the following culturally accurate videos:

Do we think I was right?

Impromptu Trip to Berlin

July 15, 2018 / KKRegan / 0 Comments

The sun sets over Berlin

What do you do when you have a few days in between house sits? You go to Berlin, of course!

When my time in Tenerife was up, I had a few days before I had to be in France for my next house sit. Originally, I was going to just spend those nights in Geneva, since I had to fly there anyway. This plan quickly changed once I started looking into cheap lodging in Geneva. Guess what? Apparently, there is nothing cheap in Geneva. EVER.

So, I pulled out the big guns, got on Skyscanner and started looking at where I could get to in Europe on the cheap. They have a beautiful feature where you can leave your destination open and they show you where you can go based on price. It came down to a few cities in Germany, and Brussels. All appealed to me as I had never been to any of these locations.

Everything came together when I talked to a friend of mine who was doing a wee Eurotrip of her own. Hey! She was going to be in Berlin on those dates too. No. Brainer.

What’d we see?

It was something of a last minute decision, so I wasn’t able to do the research I normally would when going to a new city (this seems to be a trend for me these days). Luckily for me, however, my buddy knew a local. This really takes the pressure off. Show me YOUR Berlin. Though of course, I kept oscillating between the desire to coast and have no control and being nervous about the idea of giving up control. Can’t win.

The Berlin Wall

At the end of the day, I didn’t get to do all the tourist tourist stuff (I don’t have a photo of Brandenburg Gate, for example), but we did do a lot of exploring. One day on foot, another day by bike. Sometimes I prefer this, I know I’m missing the sights, but I feel like I’m seeing the city.

Prices

I keep thinking that all European cities are going to be around the same in terms of priciness, with Barcelona being my control city (dangerous, as Barcelona is so affordable… or at least was in 2010). I keep learning time and time again that this is not the case. Berlin was a little pricier than I expected, everything was about 1-2 Euros more than I would have thought.

Did we Party?

The days are super long in summer (4 am-10:30 pm), which probably contributed to what I am affectionately calling my “tourist fatigue.” I had expected there to be more partying in Berlin, as its reputation had preceded it, AND I had pals to play with. After two weeks of near solitude, I was ready for it. However, it didn’t turn up that way. The first night, my buddies were too tired, the second night, I was too tired, and so on. Of course, the one night we DID manage to go hard was the night before I had a 7 am flight the next day.

Way too psyched about my kebab

Guess who accidentally set their alarm for 4:30 pm and did not get on that flight, making Berlin more expensive than Geneva would have been? Just GUESS.

Eating

We had lots of good food during our time in Berlin. Upon arriving, I remembered hearing that Berlin is one of the best places in the world to get a Döner Kebab. I love me a Döner Kebab. I had three in four days. I want one right now. Dammit. Surprisingly, I didn’t have a lot of German food while there. The only wurst I had was curry. It’s such an international city that there are so many awesome cuisines available, and we took advantage of that. I go into detail about what and where we ate further down.

Curry Wurst!

German Playgrounds?!

One thing that stood out to me that I have no pictures of were the playgrounds. The playgrounds were SO AWESOME. I felt jealous of German children, saddened for American children. Every playground looked really conducive to using your imagination. They had some really fun contraptions, obstacle courses, tire swings, pirate ships. They were not nearly as safe or vanilla as playgrounds in the US have become. I have no photos of these because I saw most of them as we were biking by. In lieu of taking photos, I did make sure to yell enthusiastically about each one. My companions were like “Do you want us to stop?” and I was like “…yes…” Everyone loves a woman in her mid-thirties kicking their children off the tire swing, right?

Language

I feel a little impotent being in a country where I don’t speak the language at all (I’m so used to Spanish speaking countries). When I am somewhere different, I like to at least try with the language but since it was such a last minute trip I wasn’t able to study as much as I normally would. It’s easy to get embarrassed when I do so poorly, but pretty much everywhere in Berlin, English was spoken, so it wasn’t a huge problem. It’s easy to feel a little inferior when I struggle in this way, but then I remember that there are SO many places where I don’t speak the language and it’s okay. People make it work every day. It’s all a part of traveling and pushing your boundaries. Just do everything with a smile, be gracious, and try try try. Learning at least a few words in the native tongue will help ingratiate yourself… plus it will help learn a bit about the culture too.

Impressions

All in all, my impression of Berlin was that it was pretty German. The architecture was clean, basic, functional. Public transport was very easy and efficient. There were a lot of little different neighborhoods that all had their own personality, which I adore. It was easily navigable. I felt safe all the time. Lots of green, as they have a pretty robust park system.

I will say, after a few days of being a tourist, I am looking forward to moving on to France and resuming my laid-back and inexpensive lifestyle. The thoughts of mountains, lakes, and French food don’t hurt either.

Lunch by the water at Freischwimmer

Stand-out Establishments:

Beer by the water at Freischwimmer

Freischwimmer – Our lovely local pal took us here for lunch on our first day. It is a little spot right on the river. Great views. I wasn’t 100% sure what I was ordering (“frankfurter” apparently did not mean sausage), but what arrived was super fresh, super tasty, and unlike anything I had had before.

W-Der-Imbiss – When I first looked at the menu, I was a little disappointed. This restaurant is mainly vegan and vegetarian with some salmon options. However, once my salmon tacos arrived, I was more than pleased. They were VERY tasty and had VERY fresh ingredients. My meal came with four tacos and I had no problem putting them all in my face. This restaurant was also in a lovely part of town, worth a wander. Great shopping nearby as well.

Monster Ronson Ichiban Karaoke – As the friend I was meeting was a karaoke friend, we obviously had to get to singing. Our other friend’s niece (who is rad as fuck) is studying in Berlin, so she took us to Monster Ronson’s, which is an LGBTQ karaoke establishment that was very conveniently located. Monday was Multisexual Box Hopping day, which essentially means that you can hop into any open box (karaoke room, you perverts) and that you have to be cool. Duh. We stuck to the main stage, but it was awesome. Sadly, this night my buddy was ready to jam but I was feeling tourist fatigue. Also, my tummy felt weird from not drinking water all day. As my pal said, “Why would I order water when I could order beer?” It’s weird being in a place that does not offer free water. Weird and detrimental to your health.

Yarok – One of the main reasons I can never give up Facebook (despite how detrimental it can be to mental health) is that it keeps me connected to people I wouldn’t be connected to otherwise. This time around, I was able to connect with an old friend from high school (Middle school? Elementary school? All.) who used to live in Berlin and was going to be there at the same time as me. Bad. Ass. So, he took us to Yarok, which was really tasty Syrian food. Everything was super yummy, they had nice patio seating, and I got to reconnect with a human I hadn’t seen in probably 20 years. A definite win.

Our hostess

The baby queen

Bar Zum Schmutzigen Hobby – We went to this place for their Wednesday night drag show. The location was super cool. It was in this little network of alleys that had various establishments throughout. Awesome scene. Everyone at the bar was super friendly. The drag show was top notch. I ended up in the running to be crowned “Supergay of the Night” due to my knowledge of the first few notes of an En Vogue song, but the prize went to someone who was actually super gay, which I guess is only fair. After the drag show, there was an epic dance party. I had so much fun, I missed my flight. There’s probably a lesson here if only I could see it.

Delicious jerk chicken at YAAM

YAAM (Young African Art Market) – My pal and I just managed to stumble upon this place. The boys were feeling a little sick and a little tired, so Dee and I decided to take a long walk to dinner to see some of the city. As we were walking, I did a double-take. We passed this little opening in some fencing, and upon peeking inside there were all these different food and drink stalls. Of course, we went in to explore. There were various stalls with foods and items from African countries. We happened to find a Jamaican stall (yes, I know that’s not African, but it was there), so even though we were on our way to dinner, we decided to split a plate of jerk chicken. Best decision ever. I feel like we only scratched the surface of this place. Check it out!

The crowd at Pratergarten for the game

Biergartens – We went to a few Biergartens, all were lovely. I’m a little partial to the Biergarten in the Tiergarten (giant city park) as it is in the midst of leafy green trees situated next to a lovely lake. Prater Biergarten, where we watched the game where Germany was eliminated from the World Cup was also a good time. There are a variety of beers and snacks available and I could definitely see myself whiling away some afternoons in this fashion.

The Biergarten in the Tiergarten

Two+ Weeks on Tenerife: Impressions and Specifics

July 1, 2018 / KKRegan / 3 Comments

What I ate, saw, did, and thought of it all during my stay on Tenerife

Black sand beaches were a definite highlight

My broad impressions of Tenerife over the past two weeks or so are thus: It is surprisingly dry. The neighborhood I was staying in is very small, and if I wanted to go to a specific village or to a specific beach or on a specific hike, I needed to take the bus. The bus, or guagua, however, is incredibly easy to navigate, but it can be a hurdle nonetheless.

Where to Stay

Strolling by the waterside in Las Americas

If someone were to ask me for advice before a trip to the island, I would probably steer them away from Los Cristianos or Las Americas. These are the main tourist towns on this side of the island, and they just strike me as a bit inauthentic. Out of the two, I prefer Los Cristianos a bit, as my impressions of Las Americas were that it is similar to the Vegas strip or Disney World. A fake pop-up town, if you will, with the main goal being the collection of money from its visitors. Let’s just say that what I read of pink, British tourists eating fish and chips was actually pretty spot on. At least in these areas. Of course, some people are looking for this, but it’s not what I would recommend.

Though, there was a REALLY beautiful mini-golf course in Las Americas that I would have loved to play if I had a friend.

La Laguna, the historic university town

In general, if I were to return, I feel like I might prefer to stay in the villages to the north or the inland villages. They seem to be where people actually live and have a bit more character. My time here probably would have been very different if I were located in a different neighborhood. But again, the free time and tranquil location were perfect for my writing ambitions.

Visitors and tourists looking for a beach vacation but wanting to avoid the tourist traps should look into staying in the area near Los Gigantes. The scenery was much more beautiful, it seemed like a bit more of a real town, and it’s closer to some of the lovely wilderness. This area also has access to a lot of the tourist activities that Los Cristianos and Las Americas have (ferries, water sports, scuba diving and snorkeling, hiking, etc.) without the insanity.

Los Gigantes

That being said, I’ve only been here for about two weeks and wasn’t out hoofing it every day. I really have only scratched the surface of Tenerife. These are my assumptions based on my limited experience. I was fortunate enough to meet some incredibly kind and generous people without whom I would have seen much less of the island.

Food

I’ve been eating at home more than I do in the States (pat me on the back, please, I love eating out). This is despite the fact that fresh produce was either hard to come by or very expensive on the island. My home-cooked meals were modest, to say the least.

A majority of the meals I have had out have been pretty damn tasty and just what I was looking for. Most are served with mojo, two colors of sauces that you apply to your bread, meat, potatoes, and whatever else you’d like. A very welcome addition that reminded me a little bit of Peruvian cuisine.

Restaurants of note:

Meat Mountain @ Casa Odon

Restaurante Casa Odon:
- We stopped at this spot on our way back from Puerto de la Cruz. Legend says they specialize in mushrooms and meat, and boy do they! We got the ½ portion of mixed mushrooms (delicious) and a ½ portion of mixed meat. I don’t want to know what the full portion of meat looks like because what they brought us was meat mountain. Everything was super tasty, though (and I had meat for a week!).

Restaurante Otelo – Delicious Fried Chicken!

Restaurante Otelo:
- This restaurant sits at the foot of El Barranco del Infierno, and would be the perfect reward for a hike well done. Even if you don’t do the hike, they have an extensive patio with amazing views of both the sea and the gorge. They specialize in Pollo al ajillo (delicious, seasoned fried chicken). We accompanied this with roasted potatoes, salad, and of course, wine. Everything was so tasty, and the salad was the first serving of fresh veggies I had in some time.

This view was a short walk from Restaurante Manolo II

Restaurante Manolo II:
- I didn’t take any pictures here because I was too busy meeting new friends and eating delicious, freshly caught seafood. This restaurant is in the little fishing village of Tajao, which means everything is fresh, fresh, fresh. Essentially, you go up to the counter, pick which specimens you would like to devour, and they cook them up for you right away. We ate everything tapas style with plates coming out at different times that we all shared. Treats such as: chipirones (fried baby squid that you pop in your mouth whole), calamari, a couple of whole fish, roasted potatoes, and lapas (limpets). All washed down with wine, of course.

Panadería Croquant Los Cristianos Tenerife

Delicious birthday cake from Panadería Croquant

Panadería Croquant:
- I arrived on Tenerife the day before my birthday, and my hosts being as sweet and generous as they were, insisted on buying me a birthday cake to celebrate. She took me to this bakery and had me choose my flavor. I chose the banana, rum, and caramel flavored cake pictured here. They were both a little skeptical of my flavor choice, but it turned out to be one of the best cakes I can remember having and everyone had multiple servings.

My hosts also took me out for a birthday dinner in Costa de Adeje. We had tapas and paella and they were quite delicious. There are many restaurants in this little area, and the sea views were beautiful. Since there are so many there, and it was my first day, I don’t remember which restaurant we went to, but just a walk in the area should help you find one that suits your tastes.

Activities

As I predicted, nature has been the great highlight of my time on Tenerife. I know I haven’t seen nearly enough. Most of the beautiful sites I’ve seen, I probably wouldn’t have without the wonderful generosity of new friends. I do not have access to a car or bike here, and sometimes getting motivated to take a bus ride to a far away place proved challenging and time-consuming.

Getting thirsty just landing at Tenerife Sur

In general, I was surprised how dry and brown everything was. I was expecting a volcanic island paradise and must have forgotten that the Sahara desert is right across the water.

Thanks to the help of friends, I was able to see black sand beaches, rocky shorelines, and the relative lushness of the north, which has a totally different climate from the south. I was also shown some of the striking beauty of the south that I wouldn’t have even known to look for on my own (Los Gigantes, La Tejita, El Médano).

Masca

I had really wanted to do the Masca hike, but was unable to because it was closed for repairs of their jetty. I guess not too long ago some young hikers got stuck out there overnight due to the broken jetty. The hike, if open, apparently goes from the little mountain town of Masca, down through the gorge to a little secluded beach, and is said to be incredibly lovely.

El Barranco del Infierno

The start of the hike to El Barranco del Infierno

Not sure this would have stood up against a falling boulder, but its worth a shot

Instead, I was able to hike El Barranco del Infierno (hell’s gorge). This one can allegedly be quite dangerous. They make you wear a helmet, as a woman died last year from a rock falling on her. In fact, as I arrived, the man at the gate was on his walkie-talkie discussing a woman who had gotten injured in there and needed a helicopter out. We saw her in there before the end and it appears she either broke or sprained her ankle. Either way, as we rounded the corner to the waterfall, we were greeted by her shrieks of pain as the rescuers attempted to stabilize her ankle. Fun!

Despite these horror stories, I did not find it to be an incredibly challenging hike. You just need to make sure to keep your footing. Also keep in mind that on a sunny afternoon, there is NO shade for most of the hike, so bring sunscreen and plenty of water.

The waterfall at the end of the gorge

El Teide

Majestic El Teide – my first volcano!

Originally, I was hoping to do the hike up El Teide, stay overnight at the hut, and hike up to the crater. Once arriving and seeing how dry the landscape was and short and scrubby the brush, I was glad I had a ride up the mountain. Still seems like a cool experience though and apparently, the star view from up there is unparalleled.

Instead, my hosts drove me up the volcano, and I’m so glad I got to see it. I’ve never been on a volcano before and it was beyond cool to see how the different colors (read: ages) of lava flows stacked upon one another. A must-see if on Tenerife.

Saying Goodbye

As always for me, it’s weird to be leaving a place. Especially a place you got used to living for a short while. How quickly you internalize your every day. Yet, I will never see that place again. Never sleep in that bed, brush my teeth in that sink, see any of those cats. I know this is normal and not out of the ordinary, but it feels strange to me. I can be so sentimental.

Adios, Tenerife!

Things I am glad to leave behind:

The water. The water is desalinated sea water. It is incredibly hard and my hair and skin have been staging quite a revolt.

Things I will miss:

Perfect weather every day. Regular sea vistas. New friends.

Tenerife Takeaways: Part 1

June 20, 2018 / KKRegan / 4 Comments

I’ve been house sitting in the Canary Islands for about two weeks. Here are some takeaways.

Sunset on my first night on Tenerife

I planned on writing about a post a week while I was here, but lo and behold, I am already down to the end of my stay, so, instead I wrote four posts in a day. Efficient? Maybe. Procrastinatey? Definitely. The remaining three posts will surface in the days to come.

Originally, Oakland was supposed to be my first house sit; getting my feet wet in a city with which I’m familiar and friends just around the corner. For many reasons, that trip falling through was a blessing in disguise, but it lead to me starting this whole process here, on a foreign island in a foreign country in not my native tongue. I’ve already learned a few things.

Halfway up the volcano. There’s green up here!

Language Sidebar: My Spanish is decent. I’m very good at reading it, not terrible at listening to it, and less great at speaking it due to forgetting words. It definitely gets better as I practice, but upon arriving here, I experienced something I never experienced before. For the first two days of interacting solely in Spanish, I felt it getting better. It was exhausting, but I was improving. On the third day, however, something very strange happened.

This was the day where my host had to explain all the animal and house-related duties I would need to carry out over the next two weeks. After hours of absorbing information in my second language, something broke. More specifically, my Spanish skills broke and I was sent hurtling backward. All of a sudden, I was unable to recall so many words and grammar rules that I already knew. I had tried to store too much in my brain at once and it snapped. This lead to me feeling embarrassed when I had lunch with my new friends the next day and my Spanish was not up to par. So strange.

Also, let’s all remember this when talking to people who are struggling to get a handle on our language. It’s taxing. Experience empathy!

For the first week or so, when I talked to people back home, everyone was asking questions such as:

“What awesome things have you been doing?!”

“Is it totally amazing!?”

When I wasn’t able to answer with the grand adventures I was having or the amazing things I was seeing, I started to feel guilty. Am I not doing enough? Seeing enough? Everyone was expecting me to soak up everything, to be immediately meeting all the new people and experiencing all the things. I let myself feel guilty for a while until I realized, that’s not the entire point, is it? The point of this journey is not to be a hard-partying, super active tourist in every location I go to. If I treated every destination the way I would a week-long vacation, I’d be exhausted, I’d get nothing done, and frankly, I’d be out of money pretty quickly.

Sunset from the patio.

Yes, I could have gone whale watching or scuba diving and I could have taken a ferry to another island or even spent every day at the beach. I could have really hit the nightlife scene hard. But, for what? The point of this, at its core, is to give me a free place to stay so that I can get writing done; hopefully to create something worthwhile, but also to make my portfolio more robust so I become a competitive candidate for work that I really want to do. It is a (most excellent) bonus that I get to travel the world and do this in places that I’ve never seen before and experience cultures on a very local level.

So, I stopped feeling guilty. I’m sorry, y’all. I didn’t do all the tourist stuff. I didn’t go out and meet the random British partiers, or tons of locals. What I did do, was make a few awesome new friendships thanks to a connection facilitated by an old friend. I experienced generosity, was able to see a large part of the island due to this generosity (though it was still just the tip). Otherwise, I lived a pretty normal, kinda boring life… a lot of which involved caring for seven cats, seven birds, and two tanks full of fish.

Four out of seven cats

Over the next few days, I will go over my island experiences in a bit more detail. This was my starter gig, and it helped me to navigate things such as jet lag, time management, animal care, and striking a balance between tourist and temporary resident. As for now, I will leave you with a snapshot of things I miss from home and things I love about being here.

Things I miss most (besides humans because that goes without saying and y’all don’t need to hear that shit):

Toaster ovens. Man, I really rely on a toaster oven. Making toast, making melts, reheating leftovers. A toaster oven can’t be beat. Sure, the “grill” setting on Spanish microwaves is cool, but it doesn’t really compare.
Swiffer. How can someone have SEVEN cats and not have a Swiffer? Normal methods of dusting just don’t come close. No, they don’t sell Swiffer here… or Drano. Challenges.
Fresh produce. I thought I was coming to Spain, so was excited about very affordable fruits and veggies like I used to get in Barcelona. What I forgot was, this is an island. An island essentially in Africa. I paid 4 Euro for an onion.

Things I love:

Spanish window shades. I first encountered them in Barcelona a decade ago and I don’t know why they aren’t more prevalent. I think they are meant to keep the sun out for temperature purposes, but boy oh boy they are good for sleeping.
Old friends like Schweppes Límon, Principe Estrella cookies, Non-USA Coca-Cola, Zumo de Melocotón (peach juice!), Receta de Campesina flavored Lay’s, decent chorizo for sandwiches. Also, somehow a Mars bar tastes way better than a Milky Way, even though they are the SAME THING.

Snacks I can get in Spain! Yay!

Preconceived Notions: Tenerife

June 13, 2018 / KKRegan / 1 Comment

Preconceived Notions is a feature I plan to do before traveling to a new place. I think it will be interesting to see how my impressions of a place change once I get to know it. Disclaimer: the whole point of this exercise is to expose my ignorance, please don’t @ me telling me how wrong I am. That is the point. Thank you.

When I first booked my Tenerife house-sitting gig, I was jazzed. I love the water, I love Spain, I love seaside cuisine (especially Spanish seaside cuisine). I didn’t really know all that much about the Canaries besides their location. I pictured little seaside towns, some tourist stuff, but mainly an idyllic island lifestyle, similar to the Balearics.

Originally, I was expecting something like this (Formentera, Spain)

Upon talking to folks and reading about it on the internet, however, a theme emerged. Tenerife is apparently a huge destination for British tourists. Not just any British tourists, but chavs. Clubs. Tank-top (or vest, to you Brits) sunburns. Anglicized culture. Pubs. Chips. The English language everywhere. This sort of scene is not usually what I travel for. It’s funny, when looking around the internet, I mainly saw a bunch of Brits railing on their Canary-visiting counterparts the way that only one who is truly embarrassed by their own family can.

Before I came, I asked for tips in a Facebook travel group, noting that I had already read about the main attractions, and a young lady suggested exactly the areas I was warned away from on Trip Advisor and other travel sites. I realized I didn’t quite explain exactly what I was looking for (I thought “off the beaten path” would have accomplished it). Then, I realized I’m kind of an asshole. Just because the type of travel she likes isn’t exactly what I’m looking for, doesn’t mean I should feel all superior about it, eh? I’m sure if I were a drunk, early-20s Brit, I would love that scene… just like I did when I was a drunk, early-20s American (yes, I know that America is a continent and not a country… but what would you call us? Statesers? Of the USA? I really want to know).

…but I think this may be more of what I will be getting.

I am still very jazzed. I will be by the sea. I will certainly find the little places that I enjoy. There is wonderful hiking, other islands to explore, summer festivals and parties that I can definitely get down with. I predict that a lot of my “tourism” will be nature-based. It seems like a lot of the towns that I’d really like to walk around are located on the north of the island, a few hour bus ride from where I will be staying (the tourist-saturated south), but I will get there.

And, on the bright side, any day where I am feeling lonely or fatigued, I’ll be able to walk out my door and find someone to chat with in my native tongue.

*Yes, I realize upon publishing this, that I have already been on Tenerife for a week. What you see above has been taken from previous notes and scribblings and I have worked very hard to not let any of what I KNOW about being here leak into the text. Stay tuned for my Week 1 Reflections.

Category: Travel (Page 2 of 3)

Preconceived Notions: Southeastern France

I had some ideas about what a month in France would be like before I even got here

Like this:

Impromptu Trip to Berlin