I am terrified- TER.RI.FIED- of heights. I’ve had panic attacks while stuck in traffic on elevated freeway overpasses. On any given suspension bridge there’s an 80% chance you will find me crying and scooting my way across in a pitiful army crawl. Hell, I scream when other people get too close to the edge. (Why?! Why […]
Barthaylona, Part Un: A Textbook Case of Art History
Prior to visiting Barcelona, I identified the city with (1) childhood memories of the 1992 Summer Olympics, (2) the brief section of my monolithic high school art history book dedicated to the architect Antoni Gaudí, and (3) tapas. [And in all honesty, (4) that scene in the movie “The Internship” where Vince Vaughn fights with […]
Learning in Las Vegas
People seem drawn to Las Vegas in the name of craziness: bachelor parties, girls’ weekends, even… divorce parties. (?? This was a new, slightly confusing one that I saw mentioned in an airline magazine: “Celebrate your divorce in Vegas!”) My reason for heading to Sin City every February? I go for the love of the […]
Grazing Through Madrid
**Sorry for the disappearing act, y’all! I’ve been getting my learn on at the Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas. On the plus side, I’ve attended a ton of reeeally cool lectures, including one reviewing the use of blow darts to deliver tranquilizers. Mr. M is (rightly) nervous.** Madrid is a city made for eating. […]
Going Back in Time in Palm Springs
Spurred on by the fantasmic book I got for Christmas, 36 Hours: 150 Weekends in the US & Canada (make this book your Valentine’s Day present to yourself… or have me send your significant other a hint-y email that this is way better than cheesy heart-shaped jewelry), Mr. M & I bookmarked this past weekend for […]
The Road to Morocco, Part Khamssa: Maddening, Mystifying Marrakech
Days #11,582-3: Whaa… wait… what in the… WHAT just happened? Marrakech bamboozled me like a Tasmanian Devil in full spin. One minute I was eager & ready to explore- and the next I was flat on my butt, blinking and wide-eyed. Thank me later, Marrakech, but I believe I’ve stumbled upon your ideal tagline: “What […]
The Road to Morocco, Part Rabaa: The Death-Defying Atlas Mountains
Day #11,581 {New Year’s Day 2014}: Because New Years’ Eves generally find me breaking bad, New Year’s Day sunrises generally find me asleep in last night’s sequined clothing, slobbering on a mascara-smeared pillow. This, as I learned in the Sahara, is 100% my loss. (And, incidentally, Mr. M’s loss because his first vision of the new […]
Road to Morocco, Part Tlata: A Very Saharan New Year’s Eve
Day #11,580 1/2 {New Year’s Eve 2013}: There was one Saharan activity to which I’d secretly most been looking forward. Riding a camel is just so Classic Desert, is it not? Mr. M’s adorable mother Mama Betty somehow got the idea that her children and their multifarious luggage would be chartering camels from the edge of […]
Road to Morocco, Part Zouje: Life in the Sand
Day #11,580 {New Year’s Eve 2013}: I woke up in a tent in the middle of the Sahara. And laid there for a few minutes while it sunk in that I was waking up in a tent in the middle of the Sahara. For a landscape so barren at first glance, the Sahara solicits exploration. […]
The Road to Morocco, Part Wahade: First Impressions
The Casablanca airport does not make a great impression. Unfortunately, the entry point of all flights from North America is said airport, the domestic terminal of which is highlighted by ominously flickering fluorescent overheads, dotted with 1/6 the number of seats it might’ve contained, and features an airport lounge with an honest-to-goodness foot of cement […]