by Mackenzie Patel It’s difficult writing this final post, but some things must be done: I’m finished writing for LearnTravelArt, which is ironic given today is its fourth birthday. It’s been four years of researching artworks and recording thoughts nobody reads. Four years of dawn crawling articles, Ancient Roman tales, European travel, and short stories… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Take it with a grain of salt, but I love cabins and insects now. I hand-catch fireflies like they’re bubbles and don’t mind cuddling with a few silverfish. The grandest example of biophilia, being outdoors makes me calm and a HD Thoreau transcendentalist. But how did I become a boot-wearing, tick-checking girl?… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel I won’t deny it: I’m a Tame Impala-loving, cassette tape-buying, fishnet-wearing hipster. Although I don’t think my artsy tendencies make me a typewriter junkie, I accept the blanket term and redefine it on my own terms. I don’t adore Starbucks or only wear black jeans; however, I will choose a museum over… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Since I’m a writer for Spoon University, I am a sucker for anything creamy, sugary, buttery, and calorie-rich. Food is photogenic to the hilt and the photographers dream is a succulent meal that is both tasty and rich in color. German food is the perfect contender: wiener schnitzel, dark chocolate, Berliner Pilsner,… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel The beer has spilt and the cleavage has overflown—I am officially in Germany. This country of Angela Merkel and salted pretzels is part of the motherland to me; I am half German, half Indian, so hearing the guttural language spit around me isn’t unusual. For this photojournalism program, our project is to… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Technically, I spent a day and ¼ with the Viennese, so that snappy title is a goddamn lie. Prague was a playpen of commercialization (except the medieval Vysehrad) while Vienna was a classy bar of merlot, Campari, and Aperol. Going from that overcrowded, emotional city to the modern frankness of Austria was… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Hi all! It’s been graying eons since I’ve posted on LTA, but here’s a stereotypical MACKENZIE PATEL post about my one and only stable, reliable love: Ancient Rome. I first traveled to Rome in the summer of 2011, the sticky months of ignorance and unformed personality gracing my 14-year-old self. That trip… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Hello all! Gnarled bust of dead men, bloody combats between enslaved brutes, and languid nights of velvet sofas and sex excite me in the historical sense. I am in love with Ancient Rome. Bedsheets of Suetonius, aphrodisiacs of ancient Mediterranean seafood, and collarbones kisses of Julius Caesar have seduced me more than… Read More