You say tomato...

  

You can't find tomatoes like these in Edinburgh or Minnesota. 

 That's right, I've moved yet again.

 

Ever since June, I haven't managed to stay in one place for more than a fortnight. Iceland to Scotland to Germany to Scotland to The Lake District to Scotland to Minnesota to New York City to Minnesota and now to....

 

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI! 

 I often get asked, "Why Missouri?" Sometimes in language more colorful than this produce.

 The answer: grad school. It's been less than two months since I graduated college, yet I'm already in grad school. It's exhausting just thinking about it, but that's what coffee is for. I'll be needing a lot of it for my latest academic endeavor, journalism.

 It seems obvious now, but it took me until my second to last semester of undergrad to realize that the one constant in my college career was journalism. I may not have stayed in the same country, but I wrote on every paper or blog that they would let me put my byline on, so it was time to make it professional. Hence I'm currently down in Columbia getting a master's in magazines at University of Missouri (called Mizzou fondly or cult-like depending on how you see it.)

I know I'll fit in here because Mizzou's colors are black and "MU Gold" or what I like to refer to (and wear too much of) as mustard.

  

I haven't felt this enthusiastic about something in awhile and not just because it means I'm staying in the same spot for two years as opposed to my two week habit. 

Obviously, this means this blog will change a bit. I suppose it can no longer be considered a "travel blog" and I might have to retire the beloved Loch Tess moniker since I'm nowhere near a loch, let alone a lake right now.

 

I'm still working on another pun. So far my best is "In the Boonies," but that won't help me make friends in Missourah (by the way, according to my new friend from St. Louis, no one actually says Missourah except people who aren't from it. Therefore, I will only use it ironically. I'm a hipster after all.)

 

  As for the blog's direction, it's now more of a life style blog, although I hesitate to use that term because I'm not planning to post on how to raise children or can things. Expect what it's like to live in CoMo (still not sure if I can get behind this acronym), traveling (I've already been to the State Fair!), and whatever else I can scrounge up between reporting real news. You can read my first story as a real newswoman here.

My fellow j-school classmate, Gwen, sporting her farmers' market find.

These photos are from the Columbia Farmers' Market, which is thus far my favorite thing about the city. If heirloom tomatoes had a lineage, I'd join. Sorry, terrible tomato joke.  Turns out the farmers are actually better at marketing:

This Little Bloodhound Went to the Market

Everyone enjoys the Lancaster Central Farmers Market and when I say everyone I mean even the teenage bluegrass band (pictured below) and the bloodhound. Even though seeing a bloodhound outside of the police force is a rarity, please don't stare at him for he would like to enjoy his coffee in peace just like the rest of us.
The fact that the rare canine makes it out to market shows just how popular it is. Everyone from our relatives to the hotel staff recommended we stop by last Saturday morning. All the produce is locally grown in the fecund farmland the area is known for. Hey, my cousins don't have a cornfield in their backyard for nothing. There's fruit and fruitful conversation. While my dad and I waited in line to get some homemade dog biscuits for Gatsby, two woman swooped in with their lattes to harangue the baker about the nearby bikram yoga studio in exchange for a bone-shaped peanutbutter dog treat. Who needs twitter when you have these women chirping away about the town happenings? Clearly the market is the place to go if you want to be seen.
For our part, my dad and I scoped out the market for breakfast and found dozens of donuts to choose from. With pretzel shaped glazed donuts or chocolate creamcheese muffins, you could've tried a new one every week. I would gladly go back just to sample all of them, but since we were only in Lancaster for the weekend I settled for an amazing peanutbutter frosted donut.
[My dad's chocolate creamcheese muffin]
Besides seeing my family, the market was the highlight of my trip to Lancaster and would be for any foodie! Expect to see more farmers market posts on this blog throughout the summer for I haven't even made it out to my staple, the St. Paul Farmers Market yet!

La Boqueria

Like any yuppy, I love farmers markets. Even better I love taking photos of food. So when I went to Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria (la Boqueria for short) in Barcelona I was in heaven. The market has existed in some form since 1217 when it used to sell meat at the edge of the city. Throughout the centuries it expanded and by 1840 its current building was constructed. Today, La Boqueria is housed in a massive pavilion off of the most famous tourist (and therefore pickpocketing) street La Rambla. But once you get away from the street performers, you enter a foodie heaven with everything and anything you could ever want to eat...or not.
We mostly stuck in the fruit market and even that was overwhelming. It was sensory overload literally, neon colors you didn't believe actually existed in nature, some of the sweetest and juiciest fruit I've ever tasted, and the noisy hustle and bustle of the crowd searching for the perfect orange (there were many).

Even though it was difficult, I had to just go for it and pick my daily dose of vitamin C in some form so I went for the colorfully cute smoothies. My kiwi coconut juice concoction ran out too quickly and I can't help but think if kids were given these to slurp they'd have no problem getting their fruit and veggies in. I picked up an orange the size of a softball for our upcoming afternoon picnic too.


As a photographer, la Boqueria couldn't have been better set up for intriguing photographs. The juxtaposition of textures, colors, and tastes was almost too fun to snap and in the end I had to be dragged out of the market.This is my final Barcelona post. Despite the delay in posting, I hope you enjoyed them just as much as I enjoyed the trip. Barcelona was one of the most colorful and vivacious places I've had the pleasure to visit. Just being there activated all five senses: the taste of buttery ham and cheese croisssants- a Spanish specialty I couldn't get enough of, the smell of the sea while Hilly and I watched the fifth sailboat come in from the Barcelona World Race in the marina, the sight of tourists being mobbed by pigeons as they foolishly tried to feed them, the sound of the fountains plopping down water on the overheated tourists, and the ache in the arches of my foot as I climbed the steps of Tibi Diabo Cathedral to see the best view of Barcelona (sadly no photos of that adventure because my camera died at that point). In short, I'd recommend Barcelona for some welcome escapism for its a city that offers everything from delicious cuisine to mountains and beaches, what more could you ask for? Thanks again to the lovely and welcoming Hilly for hosting and making sure I tried the best churros in town while getting the lowdown the history to be found down every alleyway.

Only one more exam left. After tomorrow I'll be back to regular and hopefully timely posting!