Barcelona has a love for the natural world. Nestled between the mountains and the Mediterranean sea, its tree-lined streets and boulevards lead inevitably to green or blue. In our short visit, we saw tributes to nature everywhere, from the seaside…
#8 The Spanish Butterfly Blog: Inner Landscape
My time in France has been less about rolling lavender fields, romantic rivers and the rising Pyrenees and more about inner landscape – silence, reverence, and connection. I went on two pilgrimages, one guided by Eastern traditions and the other…
#7 The Spanish Butterfly Blog: Joie de Vivre
After a full day’s travel, we find ourselves north of the Spanish Pyrenees – in the small town of Perigueux in Southern France. We were met by cool temperatures and rain but on this Saturday morning, the slate sky shifted…
#6 The Spanish Butterfly Blog: Holy Toledo!
“Holy Toledo!” – Illuminated on the distant wall was El Greco’s famous painting, “The Disrobing of Christ.” My jaw literally dropped open – the striking reds and yellows, the luminous expressions, and, most powerful, his use of light. I could…
#5 The Spanish Butterfly Blog: Tex-Mex
We are on a train north to Toledo, the chosen home of the artist, El Greco. Leaving the vibrancy of southern Spain’s Andulucia, we travel toward the land of Cervantes’ famous Don Quixote, a landscape now peppered with stainless steel…
#4 The Spanish Butterfly Blog: Yes, Thank You!
Cadiz, Spain hangs out into the Atlantic Ocean like a mitten on a string. Its narrow and winding cobblestone streets force all the cars to its edges leaving the old town as it has been for centuries – a pedestrian…
#3 The Spanish Butterfly Blog: Everyone Whom We Have Loved
The ancient coastal town of Cadiz, Spain feels like it’s in a time warp. Roman artifacts, narrow winding cobblestoned streets, wrought iron balconies, and antique churches create a sense of timelessness. The Phoencian fishermen who settled here in 800 BC…
#2 The Spanish Butterfly Blog: Holding Space for Pain
Ah Sevilla! The beautiful land of flamenco, polka dots, paella, sangria, orange trees, Moorish architecture, painted fans, and labyrinth-like streets. Oh how I love it! And during Easter Week, Seville is home to one of the largest Semana Santa celebrations…
#1 The Spanish Butterfly Blog: Expansion and Transformation
When I was 17, during the hot, hot summer of 1980, I left my hometown of Dallas, Texas with a group of students to live for 9 weeks in Segovia, Spain. Before I left, my mother said, “This trip is…
Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There: Doing Nothing and the Art of Niksen
I recently became acquainted with a Dutch concept called Niksen. Niksen is the art of doing nothing. The idea is, well, to just sit there. No work, no distractions. No Facebook or journaling. No counting your breaths or repeating a…