As we approach 400 posts on the STA Travel Blog we’re revisiting some of the best posts from the past about our favorite destinations.

Check out the best posts from the STA Travel Blog about Australia:

First Time in Australia – “My first two weeks in Australia have been fun and eye-opening. I have found Australians to be very kind with a relaxed attitude about life.”

Your Guide to Visiting Australia: Ninja Kangaroos Edition – “I thought it was a lunatic ninja coming at us through the window,” said the man who wrestled the house-wrecking beast to the ground.

Your Guide to Visiting Australia – “Australia, kind of like the U.S. is a mash-up of cultures with immigrants from all over the world, so you can get pretty much whatever you want.”

The Dail Museum

I am typing this entry from the bus on the way back from a mind-blowing University of Dreams weekend excursion to Carcassonne, France, and Figueres, Spain. I should mention that yesterday was the 4th of July, so it was a bit nuts to be in France with a group of Americans visiting from Spain.

Still, I was more than happy to be revisiting my first European love, France, and to work my way around the castle grounds of Carcassonne (I was quite popular this weekend for that reason). I’d never been to Carcassonne before but had heard nothing but good things about it. The good things were real. Carcassonne is a medieval city in the southwest of France, not terribly far from the Spanish border, and you know, aside from all its outrageous history (which we got to learn about during our walking tour), it should be noted for how photogenic it is.

So we spent Saturday in France (bon anniversaire, America!), and Sunday in Spain – in Figueres,
where we visited the Dalí museum. And now I would like to start a new paragraph, for dramatic effect, because what I am about to say about the Dalí museum deserves your attention.

THE DALI MUSEUM IS THE MOST AMAZING MUSEUM I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY WHOLE LIFE OMG.

And guys. I’m not just talking about the works of art on display. I’m also talking about the museum itself.  I have now seen the genius and craftmanship and sheer MAGNITUDE of Dali’s artistic output, and I have developed new feelings towards Dalí: feelings of DISBELIEF.It is literally unbelievable how much amazing art this man made in his lifetime.

So, sorry, Sal ol’ Pal, but I have my doubts about you. Better turn those melting clocks back in time so you can make something more reasonable that isn’t simply going to blow everyone else’s art out of the water or make me want to throw it all away to become a curator in your museum and live and breathe your art every day. DAAA DALI IS SO GOOD! I DON’T CARE ANYMORE! I WILL SING IT FROM THE HILLS! DALIIIIIIII IS SO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!

Kelly Doyle-Mace was a runner-up for the 2009 World Traveler Internship and chronicled her prize for the STA Travel Blog – a spot as a University of Dreams Intern at BCN Week in Barcelona, Spain.

The past two days in Barcelona were epic. It was the Festival de Sant Joan, and at our last University of Dreams seminar, we were warned about it, it is that epic. Tali told us that on Sant Joan, the only thing that happened was that people got drunk and played with fire, and that it was probably in our best interest to stay in the residence if we were prone to nocturnal troublemaking.

On the Beach During Sant Joan

Actually, after hearing that, I admit I felt a little apprehensive and started thinking about what movie I could watch or project I could work on in my room to hide from the danger. Eventually, though, after hearing  favorable opinions from others who had experienced Sant Joan in all its glory, I decided that I would probably regret it if I stayed in.

I didn’t have any definite plans until the night before Sant Joan, when I got an e-mail from a friend of a friend who lives in Barcelona and had found out through our mutual friend that I was living here too. His name is Brandon, and he invited me to come to a Sant Joan party at his girlfriend’s house. I responded immediately with a “yes.”

I got ready and left the residence around 11 p.m., because that is when you go out in Barcelona and especially on Sant Joan.

On my walk to the FGC station, I was literally surrounded on all sides by fireworks – in the distance, granted, but still quite loud and occasionally frightening. The words “Fourth of July on crack” came to mind.

Still, I braved the booms and hopped on the train, and before long I was buzzing the door of the girl I had never met who was the girlfriend of a boy I had never met but that knew my friend back in Georgia (this is the way the world works when you’re an “expat”). They let me in, and I was thrilled when I saw the mix of people and heard the great music.

There was coca, a bread that looks kind of like a Christmas fruitcake but tastes totally different; it’s tradition to eat it on Sant Joan, and oh boy, we ate it. Once we had consumed all the food and drink and gotten our fill of dancing, we made a grand exodus from the apartment to walk to the beach for the real festivities.

Basically, the Nit de Sant Joan is an originally pagan celebration of the arrival of the summer solstice, and the way it is celebrated, as Tali said, is by drinking a lot and playing with – and in – fire. The heat (no pun intended) of the Barcelona celebration takes place at the beach. There are beach bonfires built for children to jump over, there are fireworks, firecrackers, and lunatics running around barefooted through the sand with lighters.

Totally worth it as long as you don’t get burned, which thankfully, I did not!

Kelly Doyle-Mace was a runner-up for the 2009 World Traveler Internship and chronicled her prize for the STA Travel Blog – a spot as a University of Dreams Intern at BCN Week in Barcelona, Spain.

Check out the best blogs from the past three years of the World Traveler Internship about one of our favorite destinations – Australia.

2009 World Traveler Interns – Lindsay Clark and Chris Danner

Morning Ponderings at Kata Tjuta – “We gotta stop complaining about being too old to stay up late or remember what we did yesterday. We’re babies on this planet, babies I tell ya!”

Oz is Hardcore – “If the crocs in the mangroves don’t snatch you off the pier, then maybe the box jellyfish will whip you with the world’s deadliest sting while swimming at the reef.”

The Truth about the Australian Outback – “There are camel herds here. Did you know that? Wild camels, wondering around in packs like they own the place.”

2008 World Traveler Intern – Pat Blute

Saving Coin in Sydney – “While I’ve been out and about, I’ve been using this great little thing called the ISIC card.”

2007 World Traveler Intern – Rachel Rudwall

Listening to the Didgeridoo – “Well, it just so happens that the Tjapukai dancers needed two volunteers to join them on stage, and a girl named Monica and I were the lucky selections!”

Kangaroos in Australia – “After our time of relaxation, cave navigation, and kangaroo stalking, we ventured onward to the tropical paradise of the Whitsunday Islands.”