The saying is shoot for the moon, and you’ll land amongst
the stars. I’ll visit pretty much
anywhere and have found spontaneous and unexpected trips to be amongst the most
rewarding, but I do have some goals going into this next year, places that I
either didn’t get a chance to visit last year or which have made themselves
very appealing either through word of mouth or otherwise. So here are a few places that I’m aiming to
visit during my next stint in Europe, in only a semi-particular order.
Lyon, France
I loved Paris and will be returning at least once
during the upcoming school year, but I’m also keen on seeing more of
France. As I’ve stated before, I’ve been
living with a strong case of francophilia for years now, and I want to see more
of the country than just the capital.
Lyon has the reputation of being the true gastronomic capital of France,
already one of the all time gastronomic hot beds in general, so to borrow a
French phrase, Lyon is supposed to be la
crème de la crème. Besides its food
and wine, Lyon also boasts a growing and vibrant electronic scene, as well as
gorgeous architecture and history for days.
Copenhagen, Denmark
The Danish capital brings to mind canals, bikes,
bright colors, impressive architecture.
The middle ground between Scandinavia and mainland Europe, Copenhagen’s
unique identity has really come into its own in the last several decades,
boasting hip neighborhoods, world class restaurants (including the currently
voted world’s best restaurant Noma), a self-governing squatter community called
Christiania, and a thriving arts scene. Besides
Noma, Copenhagen is also home to another restaurant of some repute; the
reigning king of the NYC restaurant scene David Chang has gone on record as
saying that a little place called Kebabistan serves up the finest kebab he’s
ever had. A good friend of mine went to
go see what all the hype was about last spring and said that Chang isn’t just
whistling dixie.
Logroño, Spain
Considering the amount of Rioja wine I’ve drank in
the past year, it only seems fitting to go to the heart of where the stuff is
made. Besides the wineries surrounding
it, the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja is supposed to pack
plenty of Spanish charm, being fairly off the beaten track for the average
tourist. The pintxo scene is supposed to
be one of the best, and if there’s a better recipe for happiness than locally
produced world class wine and top notch pintxos, than you should really let me know.
Italy
Yes, I know this is an entire country and not a
city.
Probably the most glaring absence from my traveling last year was
Italy. A trip to Rome fell through for
me in February of this year, and after that I never got around to
visiting. Luckily, one of the best
friends I made over the past year is from a small town outside of Parma, in the
north of Italy. Besides teaching me the
lesson that there is no such thing as too much parmagiano, he also really made
me want to visit his country and explore its history and beauty. Tentatively I’m planning on doing a long trip
during Semana Santa of next year and hitting up his hometown of Gaione, as well
as most of the big cities to the north, Parma, Gerona, Milan, Venice, Cinque
Terre, etc. Regardless of how it will
pan out, I’m excited to see him in his element and share his culture with
him.
Athens and a Handful of the Islands, Greece
Right around the same time as the Greek bailout
dominated the news, my Instagram feed was filled with boatloads of utterly
beguiling pictures of Athens and many of the Greek isles, from Santorini to
Mykonos. After reading enough of the
Greeks in college, it seems only fitting to visit the land that they
walked. And the aquamarine water, killer
sunsets, and the endless white houses on cliffs make a pretty strong argument
as well.
La Costa Brava, Catalunya
Maybe it’s because I haven’t spent much time there
at all besides a few days in Barcelona for Primavera Sound in May, maybe it’s
the different language, the fiercely independent culture, but I’m entranced by
Catalunya as a whole and want to explore the region more deeply. The Costa Brava starts in Blanes, a seaside
city which is most interesting to me because it was the long time home of the
Chilean transplant Roberto Bolaño, to the French border. Further inland is the canal filled Girona,
and the coast also boasts the long time residence of Dalí in Cadaqués, which is
now a museum/theater fit for the memory of the surrealist genius.
Edinburgh, Scotland
Combine
castles, some of the best whiskey in the world, stunning coastline, and the
warmth of its people and you have a winning formula. Although I was at first not super interested
in our fellow Anglophone countries, after a great experience in Dublin, I
really would like to explore more of the isles.
I haven’t been to London at this point, but Edinburgh promises much more
charm while still providing the dynamism of a cosmopolitan city. Also, Edinburgh is home to one of the best
and most innovative electronic music scenes around.
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
It’s been the trip that’s never happened. I’ve talked about going with at least three
different groups of people, but for various reasons, ranging from the
occupational to the financial, I haven’t made it to the city of canals. I also want it to be somewhat of a special
trip with close friends, so it’s going to happen one way or another this year,
come hell or high water.
Sevilla and Córdoba, Spain
Another case of “just didn’t get around to it.” We toyed with adding these two onto our trip
to Andalucía during this past Semana Santa, but ending up opting for
Morocco. I don’t regret the decision in
the slightest, but I feel silly not having visited the capital of Andalucía after
loving the region so much in Granada and Málaga, as well as hearing such good
things from so many people. Being
fascinated by Moorish architecture as well, I really have to get to La Mesquita
in Córdoba. Luckily the two are just a
short AVE ride away from Madrid.
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