Once, and yet again
When our heart is open and our mind is clear, knowing where to go next in this great big world is simply an exercise in listening to our inner voice which with time and mindfulness can find its courage to go from a barely discernible whisper to an empowering life force. It’s not an always-on kind of thing so when that voice manages to catch our attention, I’d like to think it has something pretty special to tell us.
So, with the newness of the year wearing off, Chicago’s winter only revving up, and what next for me totally mine to figure out when I was ready to – I chose to see Spain next. Or rather, as I look back I like to think Spain chose me.
I had been to Spain a half a dozen or so times over the years and I felt like a more expansive trip back could offer me two distinct but equally valuable experiences. The first was to more deeply explore the cities I had visited before only this time I had been emotionally rewired if you will from the marvelous reset forced on me by getting laid off. What this ultimately meant is I could and would be inherently more receptive to the universe’s signals around self-discovery. And it wasn’t lost on me either that once again, I was untethered by the distractions that held me back for years from traveling with greater meaning and intent. It was impossible for me not to see these places I had once been with fresh perspective. I believe that’s one way travel’s magical powers go to work deep within us. So much gratitude can be found in seeing, once and yet again.
One such return visit was to San Sebastian, which after my first trip in 2018 earned and held unto after all these years, a special place in my heart as one of my favorite cities in the world. It is simply impossible to stroll through the old town streets or down the Bay of Biscay shoreline and not be madly affected by its deep appreciation for gastronomy, wine and design. It is elegant but not uptight, sophisticated but not elistist and most interestingly both surfers and some of the world’s best chefs call it home.
I started my trip to Spain with 5 days in Madrid which also served as a homebase for first time day trips to Segovia and Toledo. Madrid is a handsome town that has an energy and power to it that feels resolute and culturally complex. The standout of my return was a repeat visit to their Modern Art Museum the Sofia Reina which for me was not just a second chance to stand in front of works from some of the world’s most arresting artists, but a life lesson to never assume just because you saw a museum once you shouldn’t go back and take it in all over again. Art always has a way of revealing something totally different each time we gaze upon it, meeting us where we are and inspiring where it is next we need be. Picasso’s show stealing Guernica housed here is no exception.
And finally for as long as I can remember, I have felt an inexplicable connection to Seville. It took hold when I was young and passport-less and having answered its call twice now some 20-25 years later I still don’t fully know what’s meant for me there. But I trusted I needed to honor this calling a second time and the pull was greater than ever. Seville didn’t disappoint. It was truly a power surge for the soul – its tastes tantalizing through all the senses. The city effortlessly projects a natural beauty that feels all at once poetic, historic and majestic.
There was a part of me - as there always will be until there isn’t – that wondered if I wasn’t supposed to finally meet the love of my life there within the storied walls of Seville. My four day visit had all the trappings of a romcom meet cute – rain, power failure, an empty barstool just to my left and my clumsy, broken Spanish inspiring everyone around me to get all levels of confused. But life is rarely like the movies and this trip to Seville anyway wasn’t going to inspire any verses of a Taylor Swift song.
But just as mysterious as it is certain, love takes many forms especially when we travel with open hearts and minds. It wasn’t until I sat in front of this screen, cursor blinking back at me in sync with my own heartbeat that it hit me. You see, on my second day in Seville I had the absolute, single best bite of food of my entire life – Eslava’s Huevo sobre bizcocho de boletus edulis y trufa (egg yolk on boletus sponge cake and truffle). As it would turn out, this was a love story, an unconventional one for sure, but if you love food like I do, then what a gift – small as it might have been in stature – that Seville shared with me that day. It was more than a bite of food too. It was a powerful reminder that travel like love is vast and expansive and that if we show up fully present for it the world is truly ours to taste – one bite at a time.
