Spain – Flung

We Need To Travel Better

Sarah Stodola — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 16:33:23 +0000

Two Sundays ago, as Donald Trump’s advisers were convincing him to read a prepared statement condemning an act of Nazi terrorism that he would override a day later with history’s least dignified press conference, my boyfriend and I hosted a barbecue at which one guest was from Barcelona. We talked first about the charms of Barcelona, then about how overrun it’s become with tourists in recent years. While it was the stomping ground of his youth, these days he and his […]

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The Balenciaga Museum and Fashion as Art

Sarah Stodola — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 21:20:47 +0000

Fifteen miles west of San Sebastian along the coast of northern Spain’s Basque region sits a small fishing village called Getaria. When it is known, it’s for a couple of things: its Txakoli, a lightly sparkling white wine unique to the region and served in the charming seafood restaurants to be found in the old town; and as the birthplace of the fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga. Born in 1895, Balenciaga grew up learning how to craft a garment, partly from […]

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Spain’s Unsung Summer Cocktail: Tinto de Verano

Sarah Stodola — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 23:38:43 +0000

The scene was: My mother and I, sitting at an outdoor café in Seville, Spain, taking a breather from a late morning of wandering that had bled into the noon hour on a blistering September day. Yes we did want something refreshing and boozy, but we were also held back by the prospect of all that wandering still looming ahead of us. The waiter saw our hemming and hawing and offered us a way out. Enter the tinto de verano, […]

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The Hotel Maria Cristina: Movie Stars, and Feeling Like One

Sarah Stodola — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 12:57:34 +0000

The first time I went to Spain’s famed coastal town of San Sebastian, I arrived via train, having traveled down from Amsterdam with two Scottish fellas I’d met in a youth hostel there and whom I could understand some of the time. We found a hotel room with three twin beds for something like $50 per night, dropped our bags in it, and most likely walked down to the closest bar. I was 22 years old, and I saw San […]

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