Day 6: Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Deprived of her own room as a child, Christina found locking herself in the bathroom and pouring over encyclopedias or writing in her journals more stimulating than watching MTV with her 5 sisters. It was during those bathroom days that she discovered a world far from her suburban upbringing and developed an incurable case of wanderlust.

Christina received her degree in Communication Studies from San Francisco State University, but has since been self-diagnosed with Peter Pan Syndrome and would rather pursue a life of adventure and wayfaring, than settling down. She worked as an au pair in Madrid, Spain for a year and fell head over heels in love with the country and continues to plot her return.

Limited by a shoestring budget, she dreams of a designer wardrobe and an insouciant life, filled with travel and free of college-loan debt. Christina hopes to continue her love affair with acquiring knowledge by supplementing her Wikipedia addiction with traveling the world. When she travels, she doesn't always manage to get much sightseeing done; rather she prefers connecting with locals to soak up the indigenous culture. She loves people watching, independent cafés and goes no where without a journal in hand.

Some of her favorite travel memories often occur after she has scrapped all plans and just went with the flow:

The utter beauty of Paris at sunset and the solemn glory of attending Christmas Mass at Notre Dame.
Ambling aimlessly and alone in London and loving every minute of it.
Falling from the top bunk NYE night in Dublin
Couchsurfing through Andalucía for Semana Santa.
Returning to the motherland of Portugal with my father, after he hadn't been home in over 40 years and witnessing him be brought to tears at a Fado show.
Being surprised with tickets to a sold-out FC Barcelona fútbol game when visiting a friend in Barcelona.
Driving 8 hours straight to Lisbon, after working 8 hours and dancing in the clubs until 8am, then going to the beach to sleep for a bit before heading back to Madrid.
Being in Madrid when Spain won Eurocopa 2008 and cheering on España with my fellow Madrileños.