sick on spring break

A few weeks ago, Emilia bestowed the Liebster Award upon me. Merci, mademoiselle! My plan was to get to it after I'd caught you all up on the adventures of spring break but since it's taking a while, and since I happened to be quite sick this particular leg of the trip, I thought I'd disperse it throughout the few Pombal photos. For the record, I am still so grateful to have been with Ana and Paulo at that time. I felt absolutely horrible following our glorious day of city-hopping and spent most of the next 30 hours in bed. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to arrange a visit to the doctor's nor pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy.

As for the award, I'm technically supposed to post 11 random facts about myself, answer the 11 questions Emilia asked me, and pass the award onto 11 other blogs with 11 new questions... but, I'm feeling rebellious. I also think I've run out of personal tidbits to reveal and feel as though most nominations have already made the rounds. So, if it's alright with you, I'm just going answer Emilia's 11 questions. They're good ones.

(1) What is your favorite way of getting to a new destination (car, plane, train, boat, foot, etc)? By train. Though I managed to road trip across the United States, I don't actually love driving. Planes themselves are fine, but I despise the air travel process. And, boats and my own two feet can only get me so far. In my opinion, trains provide the perfect balance of fast and slow travel. One can venture far-ish without being unaware of how s/he got there and what s/he passed along the way. Exhibit A.

(2) Would you prefer to watch a movie or read a book? Read a book. Though I appreciate a good movie every now and again, there's nothing quite like a really good book--whether I'm curled up and cozy with a cup of tea (winter), laying out at the beach (summer), or sitting on a park bench (spring/fall).

(3) If you could magically be fluent in another language, which one would you choose? Spanish, without a doubt. As I've revealed before, I kind of feel inadequate for not being bilingual.

(4) What’s your favorite way to spend a Saturday morning? Pancakes. To be more specific: waking up naturally, making coffee/tea, enjoying a leisurely (banana oat?) pancake breakfast with someone(s) I care about, and then venturing out to the farmers market with them.

(5)Do you prefer tiny espressos or oversized american coffees? Tiny espressos. For as much as I adore a quality cup of joe, I'm pretty caffeine-sensitive. The more modestly sized, the better.

(6)Do you write letters to friends and family when you travel? Do postcards count? If so, yes! I've made it a habit to send my family a postcard from each new place I visit (and while I was in college, temporarily borrowed these postcards to decorate my room). I also try to send friends email updates regularly and mail them cards for special occasions.

(7) What are you listening to right now? Nothing at the moment, actually, but usually "My Little Radio." I really like their eclectic and seasonal playlists. Otherwise, I tend to depend on the musical breadth of 8tracks.

(8) How did you chose the name for your blog? It was quite the process actually. I went from Around the World in 340 Days to A Nourishing Glimpse before I settled into this danielle abroad space.

(9) Do you enjoy reading travel writing? What’s your favorite book about travel? I tend to gravitate towards historical fiction. In many ways, reading any great book is like traveling to a new place; imagination-wise, I mean. My favorite travel book is probably The Geography of Bliss though. I love how anthropology is threaded into the adventure.

(10) A day spent having fun in the sun or stomping through snow? Having fun in the sun. I was raised on beach vacations, what can I say? Then again, "going snowshoeing" has been on my to-do list for far too long.

(11) Do you have any destination that you return to year after year or do you prefer to head to new places? I prefer to head to new places. I can't get enough of the excitement of the unknown, and it's obviously tough to get lost in a familiar destination :). With that said, I came to Paris multiple times before moving here, and I can hardly wait for the day I can return to Santiago de Chile. Eventually, I'd like to go back to Madrid, too.

Thank you again, Emilia! Answering the questions above were a fun way to break up that work and  research I mentioned last time. If anyone else feels inclined to participate, please do! Would love to see your answers in the comments. I'll be back soon to post about the final city on my spring break itinerary: Lisbon. It was there that I finally got better and had the most fabulous time with two of my Parisian-based friends...