We spend most of our time writing about how amazing Barcelona is.
However, we also spend a chunk of our hours reading what our fellow bloggers write. Travel blogs are many. Well-written words are not. Sometimes we read terrible stuff. Sometimes we read good stuff. And sometimes we read stuff that absolutely rocks our world.
In honor of this world-rocking, we’ve started the “Words of the Week” series, in which we highlight some of our favorite lines, phrases or paragraphs from travel posts we read during the week.
All excerpts as well as photos are taken from the original post. Clicking on the headlines and the photos will take you to the original content. Enjoy!
1. Eat This Poem, “Life & Thyme Excerpt: A Virtuous Fish”
“It’s 5:12 a.m. Behind a thick panel of plastic curtains, fish bones are ripped out under fluorescent lights and blood smears on plastic cutting boards. I’m standing in a small puddle next to Alfredo Gurrola, one of the most sought-after seafood purveyors in Los Angeles, marveling at the pink tuna bellies standing at attention on nearby table, awaiting their fate.”
2. West America, “Day Four and Five El Cocuy”
This post on West America is stark — the pictures attest to it well. A small group of hikers is making their way through Colombia’s otherworldly landscapes:
“We were stoked to be on flat ground again and the walking was easy. We made our way along a meandering river, enjoying a small path broken into the coarse grass and around the massive cushion plants that covered the alien landscape surrounding us.”
3. Eating Asia, “Fourty-Four Hands. Twelve Hundred Udders”
We loved this bit of description, especially the combination of a “piercing vibrato” and “shimmered”, two words you don’t normally see paired together to describe the same thing. Also, this post has a great first line:
“As we dropped to lake level there was a hum, then a whine, then a piercing vibrato that shimmered on the air. We stopped the car and stared hard out at the foothills across the plateau. Ever so gradually small shifting shapes came into view. We realized that we were hearing the bleets and blehs of many sheep and goats.”
Honorable Mention: Lady in London, “Lady in Ho Chi Minh City”
This paragraph captures that feeling you get when you step out into a street teeming with cars, bikes, sounds and smells. This is what travel is all about.
“But as soon as I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, the energy enveloped me. The bustling motorcycles, the newly-built skyscrapers, and the economic vibrancy imbued me with their spark. Gone were my weariness and exhaustion. In their place were a renewed sense of adventure and an excitement for exploration.”
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Congratulations to our four selections this week! Write often. Write well.
Which one of these quotes was your favorite? Do you have any great bits of writing you want included in future Words of the Week? Let us know in the comments section!
