Seeing D.C. Through a Local’s Eyes

Earlier this spring, right around the time I was grudgingly turning my apartment’s A/C back on in hot, hot Phoenix, I got to escape a busy season at work for an extended weekend in chillier Washington, D.C.

Adams-Morgan

I had already visited my nation’s capital five years earlier, getting to check off the Senate galleries, the Supreme Court, all the Smithsonian museums, and a hostel-sponsored pub crawl in Georgetown. So I wasn’t necessarily returning to do touristy things. Instead, I got to reconnect with one of the best American friends I made when I lived in Santiago de Compostela, Spain—Priyanka—and I got to see this exciting city through the eyes of somebody who has made the city her home.

I fell in love with D.C. all over again over the course of this long, low-stress, no-pressure weekend. We did a lot of walking, a lot of eating, but not a lot of sightseeing per se, and I am 100% O.K. with that. Sometimes when traveling we get so swept up in checking off a list of monuments and museums that we forget to enjoy ourselves! After a weekend of hanging out in a world-class city, I returned to Phoenix feeling refreshed.

Below are the highlights of my return visit to this expensive, international, and walkable city.

Free simple pleasures

Let’s be honest: D.C. is a really expensive city to live in, so free stuff and activities are the name of the game in the nation’s capital. When rents for a room in a shared apartment start at $1,000 and go up from there…you figure out how to make a paycheck stretch pretty quickly. Fortunately, D.C. has a plethora of free things to see and do, and I’m not even touching on the Smithsonian museums! Apart from restaurant meals and metro passes, essentially everything I did on my four-day jaunt here was free.

(Source: Ted Eytan)

My first stop was right around the corner from Union Station: the headquarters of NPR. This was something of a pilgrimage for me, as I’m currently working for the NPR member station for the Phoenix area, but I’ve also been listening to public radio for years so it was fun to see where all the magic happens. In true fanboy fashion, I wore my NPR t-shirt and freaked out when I saw All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro walking through the lobby.

Free tours are given weekdays at 11am that take you through their biggest production studios, up to the broadcast areas where major shows are produced, over the newsroom, past the Tiny Desk (of Tiny Desk Concert fame), and back down to the ground floor where the gift shop is.

Tidal Basin

I specifically visited D.C. at the end of March because I wanted my trip to coincide with the blossoming of the cherry trees that line the Tidal Basin southwest of the National Mall. Pictures always made springtime along the Basin look dazzling, from the obviously-gorgeous pink flowers that take over the park to national monuments perfectly framed by pastel tree boughs.

Photo Post: Going Out for Vermouth in Reus, Spain

When people come to Spain for a visit they almost always try to get a glass (or three) of sangría, but to Spaniards this comes across as bizarre, as sangría is typically only consumed at parties, big family gatherings, or Sunday cookouts. It’d be like ordering spiked fruit punch at a sit-down restaurant in the States…just weird.

Instead of sangría, to get that iced-wine fix, Spaniards often order tinto de verano, which is simply a tall glass of red wine with lemon soda, ice, and maybe an orange or lemon slice. Fast and simple, refreshing but not inebriating, it’s a great choice for those hot summer months.

Miró vermouth at the Museu del Vermut

An authentic pre-dinner option is vermouth, a beverage that has seen an explosion in popularity in just the past few years as the younger generation has rediscovered this traditional Spanish drink. But what exactly is vermouth? Simply put: fortified, aromatized wine. Vermouth makers take a neutral spirit and macerate it with selections of up to 70 different herbs, spices, and roots that lend a medicinal quality to the drink. After letting these botanicals work their magic, manufacturers add white wine (not red), caramel (for coloring), and sugar to finish the product.

Rofes vermouth + snacks

Vermouth has been around for over a hundred years in Spain, first introduced from France and Italy via the small northeastern town of Reus (pronounced “RAY-oos” [rɛws]). In that time, Spaniards—especially the Catalans—developed a fun, simple tradition around imbibing vermouth called “fer el vermut.” Literally “doing vermouth,” this custom involves going out to the bar down the street from your house with friends and family to order a glass or two of vermouth before midday dinner while nibbling on salty snacks like olives, potato chips, and gourmet tinned seafood (like mussels). Once you’ve worked up an appetite with this apéritif, it’s time to go back upstairs and have dinner.

Memorabilia at the Museu del Vermut

Ribeira Sacra: The Grand Canyon of Galicia

I’ve been living in the state of Arizona for over a year now (more on that in an upcoming post), and in that time I’ve learned there’s really no topping the Grand Canyon—it’s the Grandest Canyon, in fact.

The Sil Canyon

That being said, before I moved to Arizona I visited what you could call the “Grand Canyon of Galicia”—a canyon carved by the Sil River as it passes through northwest Spain. But whereas Arizona’s canyon takes the cake for majestic views and hiking opportunities, the Sil River Canyon stands out because it forms the backbone of a cultural landscape called the Ribeira Sacra, the “Sacred Riverbank” of Galicia.

Why “Sacred Riverbank”?

Monastery rooftop by the river

This region takes its name from the plethora of monasteries that were founded here in the Dark Ages in this most isolated part of the Iberian Peninsula. The steep, rugged terrain on either side of the Sil River served as a perfect setting for hermits fleeing the chaos and pleasures of the world, although the eremetic monasteries quickly became cenobitic or community-oriented centers as the word got out. Ultimately 18 monasteries flourished here along the Sil River, leaving us with stunning examples of Romanesque architecture.

These monks also left us with another important heritage: wine. Still produced today using traditional methods—vineyards are planted on terraces along either side of the canyon—Ribeira Sacra wine is today one of Galicia’s five denominaciones de origen or protected regional varieties. Grapes commonly used include red Mencía and white Godello.

Walking off pound cake in the cloisters of the Monastery of Santo Estevo

A slice of bica at the Parador’s café

The most impressive monastery you can easily visit in this area also happens to be a hotel you can stay the night in. This parador or fancy state-run hotel lets you sleep in luxury and avoid 2am wake-up calls for morning prayer, but it’s also a great place to try a slice of bica, or a pound cake with a sugary crust that’s commonly made in Ourense province.

Riverside Ribadavia, Spain

Northwest Spain holds so many treasures along its winding Atlantic coast, from big cities like A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela (okay, half an hour inland) to natural wonders like the Cíes Islands and the Ézaro waterfall. These are all fine and wonderful—I didn’t live and work in this part of Spain for two years for nothing!—but the further inland you go, the more cozy and comfortable Galicia gets.

An important conversation

La Galicia profunda—Deep Galicia, as locals call it—contains lush, old-growth forests and thriving vineyards, dying villages and the region’s third-largest city, oppressive summer heat and fondant layers of winter snow. It was here that hermits fled worldly pleasures for lives of isolation and prayer, yet here today that Carnival celebrations are their most colorful. Sometimes, on dark rainy evenings, you swear you caught a glimpse of the Santa Compaña, the procession of dead spirits passing through the woods.

Ribadavia is one of many villages in this part of Galicia, one that will make you feel home as soon as you hop out of the car (or the train, which stops in this tiny village!). The town will welcome you with a glass or two of Ribeiro wine, the foundation of the local economy in the Middle Ages, and it will invite you to wander through its cool, shaded streets on a hot summer day.

A ruined castle

What little remains of the walls

This pueblo sits on a commanding point at the confluence of the Miño and Avia rivers, and one of these rivers forms the root of the town’s name: Riba d’Avia. For the longest time I never could parse town names in northern Spain like Ribadeo or Ribadesella, until I realized that “riba-” means “river banks” and “-de-”  means “of.” Duh. Ribadavia means “On the banks of the Avia River,” Ribadeo means “On the banks of the Eo River,” and so on.

Photo Post: Bummed Out in Besalú, Spain

Pont de Besalú

The small Spanish village of Besalú first entered my imagination almost five years ago when a fellow language assistant went on a travel blogger retreat here and, naturally, posted glamorous photos of this charming medieval town, complete with a striking bridge and stereotypical moat!

Later, the hit TV series Game of Thrones would use Besalú as a filming location for a recent season, and while I’ve never watched the show before, it felt like the world was telling me to check out this tiny town before my time in Spain was up.

With a portcullis and everything

Empúries: Greek & Roman Ruins on the Costa Brava

Whenever I’m on a trip that involves taking a lot of public transit, I often think about how many “layers deep” I am in connections that have brought me where I currently am. A Travel Inception, if you will.

Greek ruins + the Mediterranean

As part of my exploration of northeast Spain two years ago, I left my initial base in the Gràcia neighborhood (1) of Barcelona up to Girona (2), and from Girona I daytripped to Figueres (3), going further north from Figueres that same day to the tiny coastal resort of L’Escala (4).

I was seven layers deep, counting the shuttle to the airport in Santiago de Compostela (5), the flight from Santiago to Barcelona (6), and the commuter train ride into central Barcelona (7).

But if you also count one of the most ancient ruins in Spain as a time travel machine, it adds up to eight.

What is Empúries?

Mosaic scene in the museum

If the name Empúries reminds you of a Victorian-era emporium, you’d be right on the money, as these ruins started as a Greek trading post in the 6th century BCE. Pronounced in modern Catalan as “um-POOR-ree-us” [əmˈpu.ɾi.əs], the archaeological site consists of a lost Paleopolis (older Greek settlement), a haphazard Neapolis (newer Greek settlement), and a rectangular Roman city. Although the oldest part of Empúries is today occupied by the village of Sant Martí d’Empúries, the Greek Neapolis and the Roman town have both been excavated and are open for time travel visits.

The 10 Types of Language Assistants in Spain

From 2012 to 2015 I worked and lived in Spain as an auxiliar de conversación, or a language assistant in public school classes taught in English. I wasn’t the only American in Spain, though; over 2,000 people from the States move across the Pond every year to do the very same thing. I interacted with countless fellow auxiliares over these three years, many of whom became housemates, good friends, and travel partners.

In this post, I’ll talk about the ten general categories I think 95% of all language assistants fit into, and to show I don’t take myself too seriously, I’ll show how I think I each type applies to me (if applicable, of course).

The Way to Fisterra, the End of the World 👣 // Santiago de Compostela is famous for being the endpoint of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, but not many know that the Way of St. James continues on west to the coast after reaching the Galician capital. Just 89km away lies the fishing village of Fisterra, Spain's version of Lands End. // #camino #caminodesantiago #santiago #santiagodecompostela #galicia #spain #visitspain #sunset #fisterra #snapseed

A post shared by Trevor Huxham (@trevorhuxham) on Jun 12, 2015 at 11:03pm PDT

1) The gap year

The type: This person is having some fun after college to travel, speak Spanish, and broaden their world before they return to the Real World™ and land a full-time job, get married, buy a house, and have 2.5 kids. They essentially need to get things out of their system before settling down.

Me: I always wanted to travel around Europe on a Great Tour and see all the historic cities and sights, but I knew as an adult I would never have the vacation time or funds to be flying across the Atlantic every year for only 1- or 2-week stretches at a time. Backpacking on a budget from a European home base it was!