MissDTravels

Each semester, students at LAS go on "Culturals" - 4-6 day school sponsored trips that highlight a particular discipline or region. In the fall, I served as a faculty chaperon in Zurich and Luzerne. This spring, I was fortunate to visit Sorrento, Capri, and Pompeii on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. I was blessed with exceptional students, amazing weather, beautiful views, and wonderful staff for this trip.  Oh, and the food. So much amazing food. Amalfi Coast Highlights: Unbelievable Views From the train - overlooking Tuscany. In Sorrento On the island of Capri Me in Capri More views of Capri. Me enjoying the rocky cliffs of Sorrento. Pizza, Pasta, and Parma Ham... ... and Gelato, and Lemons, and...the food here is delicious! Left: Pizza Party on Day One - we had 3 of those! (And Pasta and Bruschetta!) Top Right: Bruschetta and Parma Ham with Melon in Capri. Center Right: Meringues the size of my hand! Bottom Right: Lemon products!...

After taking my solo trip to Barcelona in February (see the post here ), I got vacation-planning slap happy. The trip was such a success that I went from "I'm a bit scared to do all this on my own" to "Heck Yeah, I'm going everywhere!" overnight. I started spending copious hours researching new locations, lodging and flight deals, and local food and drink. This eventually led to me finding a ridiculously cheap round trip flight from Geneva to the Spanish island of Majorca (also Mallorca) and knowing that I had 4 extra days at the end of my spring break post Perry's departure, I decided to give it a go. Seeing as the trip was so cheap, I had two lovely friends come as well. Unfortunately, the weather was less than exciting while we were there, the hotel I booked was undergoing massive off season renovations, and our rental car company were a bunch of turds. But, it was still a lovely time, only because of the lovely company I had while I was there....

2014 marks the first year that I have  ever  had a two-week long spring break. It's also the first spring break in 5 years that I haven't been traveling to a competitive event with my students. Mind you, I miss flags-in-a-barn alright, but this whole 14 days of complete and utter freedom thing is pretty sweet. To start, I enjoyed a few quiet days at home in Leysin before entertaining my first ever visitor from the US.  I was lucky that we had our last real dump of snow just as everyone else had left town. That means four early morning hours of fresh powder on the mountain with no one else around. It was my last day of real skiing for the season and definitely one of the most memorable. And now, it was time to have my first "you-have-to-cross-the-Atlantic-to-get-here" visitor! Perry, my old friend from Alabama, and I had spent months planning his visit to Switzerland. We sent countless emails back and forth and shared Google Docs in preparation for the big ...

Over spring break I turned 30. The big 3-0. It's not at all what I expected when I was looking forward from age 18, 21, or 25. It's a lot better. Some thoughts and realizations: Drop the notion that you're going to be the best 'this, that, or the other' and just be who you are. It's taken me a long time to let go of the fact that I'm never going to have some kind of worldwide success. I've always struggled with the knowledge that I'm generally "just good" at a whole lot of stuff instead of someone who is "the best" at something. Over time I've learned to appreciate that being well rounded and generally knowledgeable is actually pretty cool. It means that when a student wants to talk about John Adams the 2nd president and/or John Adams the modern composer I'm ready to go either way. And it means that I can plan a vacation, play an instrument, bake banana bread, go for a run, teach my classes, and spend time ...

Barcelona - In the Heart of Catalonia For many years I've had an obsession with the idea of traveling to Barcelona. It all started when I first moved to Fort Walton Beach in 2008. I was living alone, out in the "real world" for the first time, poor, and without cable. I did, however, have a rather heavy and large TV that was gifted to me by a boyfriend who insisted I have something to watch movies on. So, along with many long nights filled with jigsaw puzzles and arts & crafts I started renting movies. Now, back in that day, kids, we rented movies from a shop. You paid to take an actual disc home for a few days and you returned it for the next lucky customer. It involved some sort of human interaction. Crazy, huh? Well, one weekend I rented "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" because it looked aesthetically pleasing and because it also stars my doppelganger ScarJo (I suppose that's also aesthetically pleasing for most of you). Thus, my obsession began (n...

She's outside, y'all. I realized this last Sunday when I did a load of laundry that consisted only of base layers, smart wool, and running gear. First - Skiing. As you may already know, I am fortunate to be working at a school that makes outdoor education a part of the curriculum, meaning that in the winter months we have two shortened class days for the sole purpose of school-wide skiing in the afternoons. So, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from January-March I teach for 2-3 hours, eat a light lunch, change into my gear, and then catch one of our school owned buses to the lift about a mile down the road. To say I am fortunate to spend my time this way is a huge understatement.  Also as a beginner skier, the schedule is ideal. With the ability to enjoy the snow a minimum of 2 days a week (4 if I get out on the weekends), my progression has been steady and I don't feel in any rush to prove myself or cram everything into a one week holiday. Below are a few shots from s...

I've been told time and time again here that November is the longest month of the academic year. Too many clouds, too little sun. Too many classes, too little breaks. Too many men with overgrown facial hair... It is, by all accounts, true. (Actually, the facial hair is pretty cool. Go, Movember!) Anyway, in order to break up the month, I planned my first two out of country trips at the start and mid point of the month. First, I joined a friend for a shopping extravaganza in Bristol, UK, on the last weekend of October. Along with spending some of my hard earned Francs, I met lovely people, visited the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and experienced the wet and blustery weather that England is known for (ok, that part wasn't all that exciting for me). All in all, it was a lovely trip and came back with lots of goodies! The Clifton Suspension Bridge In mid November, I traveled to Stresa, Italy, on Lago Maggiore. This delightful little town was in the deepest dept...