I've been back home in Cincinnati now for just over a month and one of the most common questions I hear is whether I liked Croatia or Madrid better. At first I found this question nearly impossible to answer because both are so dear to my heart, but I think I figured it out. If I could only live abroad for a year or two and I had to pick just one, it would be Croatia. And if I had to pick one to live in forever, it would [...]

As I write this, I am on my long flight back to the United States reflecting on what an amazing two years it has been. I've gotten to see so many fascinating places. [...]

Last Friday the NY Times wrote an article about Cuenca, Spain, which was impeccable timing because I had plans to visit on Sunday. The article said if you have never heard of Cuenca to blame it on Toledo. Toledo gets all of the buzz as being the best day trip from Madrid, but Cuenca may soon be getting more [...]

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends. We had such a blessed year in 2010 and are excited to see what 2011 has in store for us. We are most looking forward to being back in Cincinnati and spending time with those we love. Below is a 90-second New Year video I made frame by frame with post-it notes. [...]

Before I came to Spain I made a goal to become fluent in four months. It was an arbitrary time period and the definition of fluent was pretty arbitrary too, but I wanted to have a goal. Fluent for me is being able to speak without fear of messing up (even though I will always make errors) and to be able to understand native speakers easily whether they are talking to me in person or on the phone [...]

Segovia is a historic town located 56 miles north of Madrid. Last weekend, Jay and I took a last-minute day trip there with our new friends, Gaelle and Thibaut, who are in my Spanish class. Segovia is only a 30-minute high-speed train ride from Madrid (though it really took us an hour and a half because it took us 30 minutes on [...]