Ten on Tuesday! Volume 12

It's that time again!  Head over to Chelsea's to link up if you participate, too!  I rather liked this batch of questions, though they kind of hurt my heart since it made me think of Europe and how much I miss it.  Also, tomorrow I will be participating in 20sb's 7th Blog Swap!  Which means I will be elsewhere in the Blogosphere, while I will have an awesome guest blogger hosting my little space for the day.  I will of course link you up to where I am, and I trust you all to play nice with my guest :)

1.  What book, movie or song has made you want to travel to a particular place?
The answers to this are limitless.  Because I'm not going to include places I've been already, when I read PS. I Love You (and saw the movie, but meh) I have never had a stronger desire to go to Ireland.  Of course it is somewhere I've always wanted to go, but the descriptions and scenery just...wanderlust.

2. Aside from your significant other, who would you want to take with you on a dream trip?
Ok, assuming I'm not going to be cast as some disgusting hermit...if it's truly a dream trip, I'd probably go alone.  There's just something about having your own silence to go somewhere you've never been and experience it without having to take into account some other person.  If I had to choose someone, of course it would be one of my best friends.  Mischa, Nadia, Brit...yeah.

3. Where would said dream trip be to?
Mmm...France.  I miss France so much it is ridiculous.  It makes my heart hurt to think about it.

4. If you were hosting guests or providing tips, what three things would you show visitors to your hometown? (be it where you live now or where you grew up)
For the sake of ease, we'll say where I live now.  First, I'd make you go to Coronado Island, because it embodies everything I love about San Diego: the beach, beautiful architecture, lovely little shops and boutiques to walk around in...it's beautiful.  Second, I would tell you to go to the Gaslamp Quarter and barhop and walk around at night, because it's exciting and fun and so unique.  And lastly, we'd have to hit up a Mexican food place.  Not just any, but a legit, true, you're-basically-across-the-border little joint, like Alvaro's or Santana's or Alejandro's; and I'd make you eat a carne asada burrito or a California burrito.  You just have to.

5. If you had a long weekend ahead of you, where you head – beach, city or country/mountains?
Mountains.  The beach is commonplace here, I want to get away.

6. Do you have a passport? If so, did you get it for a particular trip or just to have, in case?
Until I was 15, I had no idea that people didn't have passports.  Seriously.  Since I was born overseas and continued to move in and out of different countries, I've had one all my life.  It never occurred to me that it was something you had to get, because it was always given.  I remember listening to a friend talk about her trip to England and mentioning that she had to apply for her passport; I kept thinking, "Apply?  Why?  Where is yours?"  I went home and asked my mom what she meant...let me tell you, my world was shaken.

7. Are there any travel souvenirs you collect? If not, is there something else you collect?
Postcards, and my family collects shot glasses and souvenir spoons.  I also have a small collection of Venetian masks and Hard Rock Cafe menus from all around the world.

8. If you could name a paint colour, what colour would it be and what would you call it?
It would be a deep red, bordering maroon or burgundy, and I'd probably name it something ridiculous like Holly Berries From Christmas or Fragile Desire.

9. If you were heading away for a weekend citybreak solo, where would you go? (forget about practicality here and flight times, assume you can get to any city in the world for the weekend)
Chicago.  As much as I want to say NYC, I need longer than a weekend there.  Of course I need longer than that for Chicago, but I think it would be easier for me to do it.

10. Is there a song or a smell or something that you strongly associate with a particular holiday/place/time, such that it always takes you back?

There are too many songs and smells that take me back to too many places and times and situations.  Everything in my life has an association of some sort.  But how about...the smell of ginger/spice cookies (called Speculaas or Spekulatius in German) will always, always transport me back to Christmas in Europe.  It's so strong and so powerful that I avoid it outside of the Holiday season because it makes me yearn too much.  And the song Collide by Howie Day reminds me of my senior year in High School and one boy in particular...he was my very best friend and we were so close.  We fought so often and were such a strange pair and we challenged each other at every turn (even when it wasn't necessary, because we're both stubborn like that), but...we were there for each other, even at the most unlikely times.  We were each other's worlds, and no matter how off we were from each other or whatever disagreement we had, we would always come back to the other.