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The only thing that's brought me back to Tumblr! This would make my life. (US citizen)

Rare Audrey Hepburn’s Happy Birthday Giveaway!

Just in time for Mother’s Day and Audrey Hepburn’s 87th birthday, Rare Audrey Hepburn is giving away TWO SIGNED copies of Audrey at Home by LUCA DOTTI! The ultimate gift for every Audrey fan!

The Rules:

You have to be following Rare Audrey Hepburn to enter & win

One copy will be given to a US fan and one to an International fan

Reblog and Like this post ONCE to enter & win 

Either reblog or leave a comment on the post letting me know if you are from the US or International.  

The giveaway begins at 12pm EST on May 4, 2016 and will close on May 14, 2016.  The winner will be announced on May 15th on my blog and I will also leave a message for the lucky fans in their inboxes. The only thing I require of the winners are your name and mailing address.

Best of Luck!

Want to know more about this beautiful book?  Read my review of Audrey at Home!

The perfect Mother’s Day gift - purchase Audrey at Home now!

Follow the official Audrey in Rome Tumblr! @AUDREYAROMA

Photographs of Audrey Hepburn are © Copyrighted Material of the Audrey Hepburn Estate.

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ART: Knife Typography by Farhad Moshiri

Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri creates his works by stabbing knives directly into gallery walls to form thought provoking statements. 

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The North

Interestingly enough, that title is a reference to Game of Thrones. Just got back from Northern Spain! Sayre and I went to Bilbao in Basque Country and Logrono in La Rioja. Friday we caught an early morning flight to Bilbao, and watched the sun turn the sky into a deep rainbow over the clouds. Once we got into the city, we got a quick bite to eat and took the next bus out to Bakio, where we walked "30 minutes" to San Juan de Gazteluatxe, a 10th century church on top of this mini-mountain peninsula. I put the time in quotations because the kind bus drivers gave us very detailed walking directions.. but it ended up being closer to a 45 min walk to the restaurant before the peninsula, and then who knows how long it took to get up those 231 steps. I struggled the serious inclines before even getting to the restaurant, regretting my lack of gym membership as my long-legged athletic friend took easy strides alongside me. Needless to say, my entire body was sore the next day... as it still is now. But, the scenery! We couldn't believe we were in the same country as Madrid. Once we said our thank yous to the bus drivers and began our trek, we walked past a building and lo and behold - the ocean! I hadn't even realized I missed the sea until I saw it. It was quietly and grandly just waiting there, waves absent-mindedly doing their slow dance with the sand, my heart ascending. Another pro to this journey to San Juan de Guadaloops, as we began to call it, was that it hugged the coastline the whole way. Ocean on our left, narrow abandoned road in front of us, vast dark green fields and mountains to our right, barking dogs and grazing horses and sheep sprinkled throughout.. it was worth every second of the elongated workout, and more so.

When we finally reached the restaurant - the point at which some tourists begin their hike to San Juan, if they decide to taxi there - we awed at the view. And were a little confused at the subtle soundtrack to welcome us: LMAO's "I'm in Miami, Bitch" followed by Pussycat Dolls' "Dontcha" played faintly from the kitchen nearby. We ate our baguettes and enjoyed the company of two pups while taking in the sight of the trek that laid ahead: the steps of San Juan.

I think you've gotten the picture: it was uphill, muddy, and not the shortest trip. But we laughed, stopped to admire, and took pictures along the way. We also counted each step, only to find that at the 200th step, "200" was etched into the step itself... at least we know we're good at counting. When we got to the church, we each rang the bell 13 times, for good luck, or to get married, or to avoid infertility, or whatever it's supposed to be (reviews were mixed on this point).

The hike back took half the time because it was mostly downhill, and we chatted about what had already been an adventure before we had even checked into our hostel. Hands down, San Juan de Guadaloops was the highlight of the weekend.

The next day, we went to the Guggenheim Museum, where we realized we know little to nothing about modern art.

Shortly after, we bussed to Logrono, in La Rioja, aka the wine region of Spain. We checked into Hostel Entresuenos, which I totally recommend to anyone visiting the city.. which probably won't be that many people. No one knows about Logrono! It was a small, really cute city. We walked around the center in no time, enjoying the beige and rose colored buildings around narrow alleyways with a painting-esque backdrop of snow-capped mountains. For dinner, we did a pintxo crawl (pintxo being what they call tapas in northern Spain) on Calle Laurel. We ordered a pintxo and glass of wine each and moved on to the next place to try out their selection. The food and wine in La Rioja is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. And SO cheap!! We spent 10 euro each for 4 pintxos and 4 glasses of wine. Unreal. And so. Good.

Not completely planning ahead, we couldn't secure a spot to tour a winery :( . But we walked around the outside of one and saw plenty on the 4 hour bus back to Madrid. We specifically chose the bus back instead of a plane ride in order to appreciate the landscape of the countryside. So worth it. La Rioja is absolutely breath-taking! The bus literally went through huge mountains and cliffs and rock formations that looked like the Grand Canyon. We passed through miles and miles of dark red and green fields, where deer, cows, and horses lounged extravagantly.

The XX's "Juicy-R", a slowed down and revamped version of Biggy's "Juicy", played as the sun set behind the hills, leaving behind dreamy colors as we rolled back into Madrid, bringing to close a wonderful weekend in the north.

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Sunday afternoon

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Like an Egyptian

Another work week over and another weekend begun! I promise to dedicate a whole post to life at school soon, I realize I only emphasize my weekends. Honestly, sometimes it does feel like I’m just waiting for that next paycheck to go and travel some more. But once in a while I have to remind myself that that’s completely OK. In fact, it’s why I wanted to come teach in Spain in the first place.

So Friday night I went out with some friends to our frequent spot: Cuevas El Secreto. It’s a comfortable atmosphere - we always get a table so we can chat about our weeks and about life, theres never too many people, but it’s also never dead.. kind of like the baby bear of restaurants, it’s just right. Super cheap botas of wine that we split amongst us makes for a long stay and fuller pockets. Botas are leather bags that hold wine and you can squeeze out a small stream of liquid from the tip of it, or unscrew the top and pour. It’s kind of like what you picture cowboys using for holding water in the desert.

After Cuevas, we bopped around Sol, the city center, for hours. Home and in bed by 5 am, up by 10:30 to enjoy the beautiful Saturday. 60 degrees here in Madrid!!

Some pictures out on the balcony and a stroll around the neighborhood, and I was back in time for lunch with the roomies. Carlos made chicken, using wine and a bit of worcestershire for the sauce. Ever since I brought a bottle back with me from the states as a gift, I’ve heard “worcestershire” said more times than I had ever heard it before in my life. They love it.

Last evening, a few friends and I went to Templo de Debod for sunset. On the walk there I took the time to enjoy the Royal Palace, which is literally in my backyard. I don’t know why I haven’t explored it more, because it’s really gorgeous. Stone statues adorn every nook, the surrounding gardens are whimsical with their twisted trees and winding pathways, and the backdrop doesn’t even hint that you’re in the 3rd largest city in Europe but rather deceives you into thinking you could possibly be on the hillside in England. But as I was entranced by this beauty I realized I had barely made it out the door and was already distracted as the sunset was quickly approaching.

Templo de Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple rebuilt in the heart of Madrid, given to Madrid as a thank-you from Egypt for the help Spain gave them in saving several monuments back in the 60s. It’s also a great location to watch the sunset. My friend and I posted up at the gate’s edge overlooking the city, temple behind us, and awaited the “pretty colors”. It took a while. It was a cloudy evening, so we started to get the feeling that maybe we overhyped our sunset. But right on the dot, 6:23, we got our colors. The reflection of the sun’s light turned the blanket of clouds from blue to a shade of light orange to orange, pink, and eventually an intense fuchsia. Sunsets amaze me every day. I feel like they can change everything.

A couple more friends joined us as we explored the temple and snapped some pictures. We perched up behind the temple and watched as the sun made its last descend behind the horizon, chatting into the night until it started getting too chilly to stay.

Getting home that night, I was able to check something else off the Madrid bucketlist. Sometimes I think I take for granted that I live here, so I’m trying to really enjoy what my new city has to offer while I still can. Taking advantage > taking for granted, am I right?

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idk why these wouldn't show in the previous post!

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London Town

"Hello," as the English say. Last weekend was my friend's birthday, and being twenty-somethings working in Europe, of course we jetted off to London to celebrate. Casual, right? I have to admit, I was only excited for London so that I could leave and see Stonehenge a couple of hours away. They all speak English there, it's so overrated, it's probably your run-of-the-mill European city (how bratty am I, right?). Well, I fully apologize for all of my feet-dragging and too-cool attitude. London was beautiful! After much rain-soaked and navigation-less struggle to get to the hostel late on Friday night, I passed out in the bunk my friend was already waiting for me in. Saturday started bright and early, because we only had one day together before she went back to Madrid. Free walking tour it was! Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St James' Park, Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, all with the intriguing British guide acting out, making fun of, telling anecdotal historical stories about, enthralling us with London. If you head to this capital, I recommend it: Free Tour of London. But actually, that's what it's called. After a Portugese lunch at Nando's, we headed to find Abbey Road. After walking the whole street (got off on the wrong side of it), we finally found the cross-walk. Right outside Abbey Road Studios, we could already see other tourists miming the famous Beatles' album cover. Awkwardly, it was at the busiest intersection of the street, so cars would have to stop and wait for these people to stand in a line pantomiming a walk across, but not actually moving. Not to mention, those cars totally ruin the shot! So, Carol and I waited at that crosswalk for about an hour- an hour and a half to get the perfect shot. Yes, we spent an hour and a half at a crosswalk. It was dark by then, but totally worth it. Very cool experience to walk where Lennon had. And Ringo! That night, we went to see Tower Bridge, aka "London Bridge". We got some warm nuts and enjoyed the walk. Very pretty at night, if you're looking for a stroll. The next day I was on my own, so Stonehenge it was! First I had some time so I walked around the center, and unbeknownst to me, I happened upon a sight. A hugeee crowd of people outside Buckingham Palace. I turned to the person next to me, "Excuse me, what's going on?" "It's the changing of the guards!" She exclaimed, as if Buttercup was being revealed as the new princess of Florin (Princess Bride anyone?). I didn't care much for the changing, though I was impressed by the guards themselves. Did you know their average age is 19? Trained, disciplined soldiers. Some playing instruments! But what I enjoyed the most about the experience was that girl's simple yet excited answer. The way she said it, how many people were waiting by the gates, the crowd that followed the guards' procession from beginning to end, I could just feel the love they have for their Queen. A man explained to a visitor in front of me, "In a few minutes those gates will open up". The excitement! I really felt like I was in the crowd at the end of Cinderella, when Prince Charming and Cinderella ride out of the palace in their coach past the waving and cheering people. But, a girl's gotta make her tour. About an hour and a half to Stonehenge, the mysterious rock assemblage. I guess I hadn't known much about it or researched it well enough before going, because I was pretty surprised when I saw (spoiler alert) that it was so close to a highway. Not a busy highway by any means, but a road nonetheless, and I wouldn't say stone's throw away (no pun intended), but rather a baseball player's stone's throw away. And sheep all surrounding! It was a beautiful landscape with rolling green hills and a bright blue sky. We had gotten there in time for sunset, so the shadows the stones made were enchanting. Black crows would quietly fly in and out of the stones, perching at the tallest one or nipping at the surrounding grass. I've always been jealous of birds. After a sleepless evening at the hostel, meeting and chatting with genuinely interesting and friendly people (I full-heartedly recommend Astor Hyde Park Hostel and would stay there again), I was Madrid bound. This weekend that would have been like any other - no extra day off, just packed into those 2 days - felt full, lengthy, and rewarding. My b for judging London before even stepping foot in it.

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Last Friday Night

I've convinced my roommates that every other day we only speak in Spanish, and the days in between we can speak English. Yesterday was Spanish day, and Friday. So this girl got a lot of practice :) My friend and I accompanied Carlos and Ana to a sidraria, where they serve natural sidra. Sidra is kind of like beer, but with less alcohol. Really, it's cider, from Asturias: the northern mountainy region of Spain. Since its natural, its not too sweet like the cider we're used to, and not carbonated. So, to get the best taste, you have to hold the bottle about a meter above your cup, both at about 45 degree angles, and pour. When you pour the sidra into the cup, the impact creates carbonation and gives it a better flavor. You only have a little bit at a time, so you can drink it before the carbonation fizzles out, about two fingers worth. Of course I tried the pour, but the glass remained empty in my sidra-drenched hand.. 

Carlos's friend Carmen joined us, and after some very large tapas (which were more like meals.. best burger I've ever had), courtesy of Carlos's friend, the owner of the joint, we went to the club Esther works at: Ocho y Medio. Definitely recommend to anyone visiting Madrid. We danced to oldies all night, from Little Richard (Good Golly Miss Molly!) to Blink 182 to Spanish classics. It was really fun to bond with my roommates, and I got to practice my spanish the whole night :)

Unfortunately, since the Spanish stay out until around 6 am, I slept until about 3 PM and haven't done much but lounge for the rest of day. And I thought I had just gotten over my jetlag too :| but YOLO right?! When in Spain..

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ART: Animated Gifs: Hopper by Ibon Mainar

The American painter Edward Hopper—the man who brought the world the iconic diner-set Nighthawks which became a meme long before the internet was around—gets an animated update in these stylish GIFs from Spain artist Ibon Mainar.

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from beyond the abyss...

So jetlagged right now. I've never reallly experienced it so I guess I thought my superpower was the ability to never have jetlag, resulting in my poor efforts to avoid it on the way back to Spain. Overnight flight - sleep through it, right? Get there at 8:30am and be good? Nah, let's watch 3 movies. Since then, I've been coming home from work and "napping" for 3-4 hours in the middle of the day, and been unable to fall back asleep until the weeee hours of the morning... resulting in passing out for a nap the next day. Vicious cycle I tell ya. Been alll out of sorts, I feel like I look like an escaped mental patient. But TGIF tomorrow, and by next week all should be back to norm. At least I hope.. cause cerca 3/4 am I really start to creep myself out in this old apartment.  Hasta luego amigos, and if you see Mr. Sandman, please send him my way. Thanks xoxo

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New Year, New Effort

Hey.. 2014 has started! So I'm going to use this new calendar as the push to more frequent posts, some writing, some photos.  To recap from where I left off (I know, I'm not the biggest fan of recaps either but I'll try to make this painless):

I love the kids I teach and tutor. I'm with 1st graders up to 6th graders, a different schedule each day. The younger ones are beyond cute, and I can bond and really get close with the older ones. Love'm. As for trips, I went to Ibiza with Katherine, my friend from college. Not our cup of tea.. because we don't do drugs and stand around bopping to trance music for hours in our free time. But hey, no more curiosity about the party island. Next trip was a month later to Chefchaouen, Morocco, which I went solo. Very relaxing weekend in the blue city in the mountains: I totally recommend it for anyone that is traveling the area and needs a break from bustling cities and hectic medinas. Athens a month later, which I also traveled to solo but I stayed with my Greek friend and her family that I met when I studied there 2 years ago. Although it rained all weekend, it was an amazing visit and I was so happy to walk down memory lane, rain or shine. The next weekend I went to Marseille and Aix-en-Provence in the south of France with Katherine. We love France!! (Motto of the trip, literally couldn't stop saying it). A couple weeks later and I was home for the holidays!! It was the perfect two weeks at home, I got to spend a good amount of time with my friends from school, friends from home, family, and baby Emily :) It was a tease of a trip but very happy all around. Anddd I'm back. Got in this morning and slept all day, and just got back from dinner and watching the football game with some friends. 6 more months of traveling, experiencing, and putting off a job.. Which hopefully will happen at some point, right? ... Sorry for the boring post, but isn't the introduction episode always the least interesting? 

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Underlined passage, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche, page 24.

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En mi apartmento

Writing from my first day in my apartment! I absolutely love it. 5 minute walk to the metro station I'll need to take to work in one direction and a 5 minute walk to the main tapas street in the other direction. For those wondering, tapas are small plates of food normally served with drinks. Great places to go to socialize when you're a little hungry.

Roomie breakdown:

Carlos, the John Mayor type musician Gui, the electro-indie-pop musician Paol, the work-from-home type who's always in the living room no matter what time you walk in there Esther, the student with blue hair who works at a club on the weekends They're all super nice and welcoming, I already feel at home :)

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You have a tumblr, i'ma stalk you all the time! :)

Omg i had no idea how to answer this hahaha misss youuuu

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At a certain point you see the person, not the appearance. When you have separated yourself from that basic connection, to the point where you only see the soul, the person, to the point where separating their personality and only picturing their outward appearance is strange..that is a relationship with meaning.

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¿Where in the world is Calle Aralar?

It felt like there was a metal expander pushing against the inner walls of her head. Her stomach felt queasy and unsteady from the nine hours of traveling and miscellaneous new age airplane food. At the baggage claim, she was confident her luggage hadn't made it and calmly devised her next move. But ten minutes later and around the bend it came, along with the realization that her life was now literally in her hands, ready to move to her next temporary home.

"Buenos tardes," Luiz casually welcomed Sara into his taxi. The shiny clean car smelled slightly of smoke; his raspy voice, gray mustache, tan and wrinkled skin reminded her of an old Western she had once watched with her mother. "Hola.. um, Calle Aralar, por favor?" He turned around and with a confused grunt, "Calle..?"   Several phone calls had to be made to try to find the location of her hostel, none of which were successful. The taxi was heating up and her window was on child's lock. Luiz traveled in circles, cursing his GPS and pulling over once in a while to look at a thick book of maps. Sara leaned back and rolled up her sleeves, put her hand to her head, eyes welling. This is definitely a bad sign.

Luiz slowly turned down a small street with a mural of Disney characters on the left. Seeing a small sign with familiar looking words, Sara exclaimed, "Calle Aralar!!" They had made it to the smallest street known to man, and Luiz laughed as he wrote down "Calle Aralar" on a piece of paper and circled it three times. "Por siempre, Calle Aralar."

With some struggle pulling her two suitcases up a few flights of stairs, Sara chatted with Mercedes, the short, comforting woman in charge of the hostel. She spoke only Spanish, but since their conversations didn't delve much deeper than locations and food, the two ladies communicated successfully. "Tranquilo," Mercedes said with a smile after she had shown the tired American girl to the room that would be her own for the next week.

Looking around, polite smile fading as Mercedes descended down the creaky steps, Sara felt her stomach twist. But it wasn't due to the questionable wrap given to her on her second flight. Her first night in Madrid was the first night Sara ever truly felt homesick. After spending the whole summer with her family for the first time in a couple years, she hadn't realized she wasn't prepared to leave them again. The only time she could remember wanting her mom this badly was on her first day of kindergarden at Creative Learning, when she sat by the window and watched her mother's dark gray Toyota Previa back out of the parking lot. Turning to Heath Ledger for comfort, "A Knight's Tale" lulled her to sleep.

When she awoke after 13 hours of unconsciousness, she decided it was time to make moves. Sara ran her hand along the bunny-soft blanket her mom had packed for her as she took three steps to her windows and threw them open. The roof welcomed her as she researched the area on her computer. After an hour of planning and mapping, the new girl took to the streets, at a slightly faster pace than usual, on a mission to find a SIM card. She practiced her Spanish with local store owners, albeit in a choppy and heavily accented way: "Busco para una tarjeta de SIM?" And although she got fairly close to where she knew she should be, El Corte Ingles, a nearby mall and plaza area, the many "CERRADO" signs shooed her away that Sunday afternoon. She returned to her hostel empty-handed, save for a bag of raw almonds and a 1.5 L bottle of water, but more confident than she had left it.

Sara spent the night researching her school, planning her weekend excursions, and WhatsApping her friends from home. Her homesickness withered away as excitement took its place. Listas!

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From Praha

After incredible jumps for my visa to Spain, due almost completely to my lack of urgency during the entire visa process, the day before my flight to Vienna I was summoned to New York to pick up my passport, and off we were. The long weekend consisted of the Austrian ceremony in City Hall to legally unite my cousin Saviz with her beau Alex, who we are so happy to welcome into the family. 

We then enjoyed a beautiful outdoor lunch and a rendezvous at a close friend's house for dinner, ready for the next day: the Iranian Aghd and wedding celebrations. It seems our generation has brought with it the introduction of multicultural unity, and it's always heartwarming for me to see the other side experience and take part in our Persian ceremonies, just as much as I am intrigued and excited to experience theirs. Seeing Saviz's Iranian family double in size with Alex's warm and welcoming Austrian family was a joy to be a part of.

12 hours later and we were home around 3:30 am, aching feet, pounding heads, smiles on our faces, hearts alight with bliss. The next day was set aside for recuperation, leftovers, and mingling into the night. Gifts were given, kisses exchanged, and goodbyes said.  The next day, some of the family and I embarked on our bus ride to Prague. The ride took us through 5 hours worth of Czech Republic, and I couldn't have been more content. The bus's big windows allowed me sit back and enjoy the countryside: quaint houses, rolling fields, and so many sunflowers that you could easily think the earth in the Czech Republic is simply golden yellow by nature. 

As I write this, my mother is packing our things and I'm already tucked into the hotel room bed, on the verge of the last night of sleep in Prague. It's been one of my favorite cities in Europe, and one of the most unique. Of course, the old buildings scream historical importance for the city, but what really got me is the quirks Prague subtly nudges at you. Marionettes are strangely a city staple, melancholy gothic statues seem to bring winter with them even in the heat of summer, the few random futuristic buildings amidst the weathered stone buildings are confusing.. even the bikes are half scooter. There's just something deliciously creepy about the city it makes me think that the town is putting on some kind of show for us. All ingredients for my kind of place.

Tomorrow we return to Vienna, and I can't wait to take in Czech's countryside again, but I will be sad to say goodbye to the family when the weekend approaches. It's been such a pleasure for me to see my dad with his brothers again, especially now that I'm old enough to understand their dynamic. My dad, the "Older Brother" with his cool but firm attitude with a wit as sharp as his laugh is contagious, Amoo Hamid, Saviz's dad, the poet, and Amoo Ahmad, the youngest brother full of playfulness and mischief:  wherever they go, the room lights up. I couldn't even begin to describe to you the amount of people we encountered that left us as new friends, who joined in on our laughter, song, and dance.

As the only less-than-40-yr-old, other than my 36 yr old brother, it was really an experience to see the older generation (with ALL due respect) together. I imagined them as they were as teenagers in Iran, running around the streets pulling each other's legs, whistling at girls and getting in trouble. Even as is, I couldn't stop laughing at how much they made fun of one another and the lengths they go to to get a rise out of each other. I sat back and watched as the men would group together and the women together: the men loud, singing songs they didn't know the words to and catcalling to their wives on the other side of the table/bus/restaurant, the women snapping witty remarks right back, dancing in their feminine way, singing and clapping along with the songs the men would start. Coupled together, I admired the love, mutual respect, and reliance the married couples shared. I look forward to the next reunion (even if I am the only 20-something there again), but I do hope next time I can laugh along with a couple cousins about how quickly my mom gets drunk instead of quietly shaking my head to myself.

Though I must say, beer and vodka are as much staples in this group's diet as marionettes are a staple in Prague's retail sphere ;P.

From my last night in Prague, I'll write again when I reach Madrid this Saturday!

Booses, Sara