Madrid, Spain (Part 3)

After spending two and a half days in Barcelona, we boarded a train (the "Bullet" which drove 200 miles/hour) to Madrid, Spain. It was a very pleasant ride-- smooth, fast and very comfortable. I was fairly glued to a book but glanced out the window every now and again to view the hills, trees, small towns and a few farms along the way.

Our main reason for going to Spain at all was to visit Chris's sister Sharon and her family (Duane, David, Amelia and Samantha) who moved to Madrid last August. So our tour of the country ended with a four day stay with them. The kids were off from school so we got to experience their summer break (which looked a lot like mine when I was a kid: playing with the siblings, reading, and chore lists). Sharon and Duane have a really great apartment, it's really spacious, enough bedrooms for them all, somewhat in the center of the city, close to the metro (underground public transportation) and their school. Please remember that my use of the term "spacious" is coming from the urban environment of which I also live in the US... every square foot counts!

On our first day in Madrid, Chris and I toured the city center and used our Rick Steves Audio Tour. He guided us passed the square, government buildings, famous statues, a park and shopping district. We made a pit stop at the Chocolateria because it pretty famous and Chris had heard about their fresh churros. But here, you dip your fresh churros in a cup of hot chocolate . . . thick, pudding-like hot chocolate. It was amazing and definitely a high light of the tour.

I want more.

The second day, we stole the nieces and nephew away from their parents (not really, we asked permission) and took them to the amusement park. We got there shortly after it opened and rode nearly all the larger rides before the lines got too long. It was hot and the water rides were a favorite, even for me. The best part though, was having the kids hang out with us and do something a little special with them. We all had fun together. Also, its a lot easier hanging out with older kids at places like that than littles . . . just saying I'm looking forward to that more now.

On Thursday, Chris woke up not feeling well. I suppose if he had to be sick for just one day, I'm glad it was that one and not the next day which was a travel day. He rested and Amelia took me on a walk to visit "Platform Zero" the metro museum. If I had brushed up on my Spanish before the trip, I would could have comprehended a lot more of the information but just seeing the metro in its original state was pretty cool. The white tile covering the tunnel was shiny, the floor to ceiling tile advertisements were especially interesting to me as was the embellishments used for boarders and accents. In the early 1920s, the metro was sharp looking. They really went all out! (One fact I thought was pretty amazing was that the advertisements were made of tile, not just painted over the present tiles... so when a company went out of business, they had to rip the tiles out and replace them with a new advertisement which was more than 8 feet tall! That would have been a job!) The metro system in Madrid (and Barcelona) was pretty amazing. It leaves something to be desired from our SF public transportation.

Thankfully Chris felt better in the late afternoon and we could join Sharon and Duane for dinner out in their neighborhood. Of course, we attempted to eat early (7:30) but found that no one starts serving food until after 8 p.m.! We wandered around a bit, went back home for 30 minutes and then tried again! We ended up at one of Duane's favorite places and he knows the owners well already. They were so kind and although I really couldn't understand the language I could tell that a relationship had formed which was really cool to see. Dinner was pretty amazing; we ordered several plates to share -- salad, breaded eggplant, steak and potatoes, breaded cod, chorizo cooked in cider, and dessert. Yum!

We left Friday morning for the airport. It was sad to realize our trip had come to an end. We had really enjoyed (almost) every moment! Sharon took us to the train station where we just barely made the train we needed! Once we got to the airport we ended up waiting in line for the ticket counter for over an hour . . . slowest moving line ever . . . seriously, there were only 12 people in front of us! Then ran to security, then ran to the shuttle that took us to our terminal then ran to our gate where I was pulled aside for more security screening and then ran to the end of the line to board the plane. Next time we will allow more than 2 hours to fly out of Spain!! The good news is that we were given Priority Seating so we had more space, better food, and better headphones to enjoy our flight. It was pretty cool.

After spending two and a half days in Barcelona, we boarded a train (the "Bullet" which drove 200 miles/hour) to Madrid, Spain. It was a very pleasant ride-- smooth, fast and very comfortable. I was fairly glued to a book but glanced out the window every now and again to view the hills, trees, small towns and a few farms along the way.

Our main reason for going to Spain at all was to visit Chris's sister Sharon and her family (Duane, David, Amelia and Samantha) who moved to Madrid last August. So our tour of the country ended with a four day stay with them. The kids were off from school so we got to experience their summer break (which looked a lot like mine when I was a kid: playing with the siblings, reading, and chore lists). Sharon and Duane have a really great apartment, it's really spacious, enough bedrooms for them all, somewhat in the center of the city, close to the metro (underground public transportation) and their school. Please remember that my use of the term "spacious" is coming from the urban environment of which I also live in the US... every square foot counts!

On our first day in Madrid, Chris and I toured the city center and used our Rick Steves Audio Tour. He guided us passed the square, government buildings, famous statues, a park and shopping district. We made a pit stop at the Chocolateria because it pretty famous and Chris had heard about their fresh churros. But here, you dip your fresh churros in a cup of hot chocolate . . . thick, pudding-like hot chocolate. It was amazing and definitely a high light of the tour.

I want more.

The second day, we stole the nieces and nephew away from their parents (not really, we asked permission) and took them to the amusement park. We got there shortly after it opened and rode nearly all the larger rides before the lines got too long. It was hot and the water rides were a favorite, even for me. The best part though, was having the kids hang out with us and do something a little special with them. We all had fun together. Also, its a lot easier hanging out with older kids at places like that than littles . . . just saying I'm looking forward to that more now.

On Thursday, Chris woke up not feeling well. I suppose if he had to be sick for just one day, I'm glad it was that one and not the next day which was a travel day. He rested and Amelia took me on a walk to visit "Platform Zero" the metro museum. If I had brushed up on my Spanish before the trip, I would could have comprehended a lot more of the information but just seeing the metro in its original state was pretty cool. The white tile covering the tunnel was shiny, the floor to ceiling tile advertisements were especially interesting to me as was the embellishments used for boarders and accents. In the early 1920s, the metro was sharp looking. They really went all out! (One fact I thought was pretty amazing was that the advertisements were made of tile, not just painted over the present tiles... so when a company went out of business, they had to rip the tiles out and replace them with a new advertisement which was more than 8 feet tall! That would have been a job!) The metro system in Madrid (and Barcelona) was pretty amazing. It leaves something to be desired from our SF public transportation.

Thankfully Chris felt better in the late afternoon and we could join Sharon and Duane for dinner out in their neighborhood. Of course, we attempted to eat early (7:30) but found that no one starts serving food until after 8 p.m.! We wandered around a bit, went back home for 30 minutes and then tried again! We ended up at one of Duane's favorite places and he knows the owners well already. They were so kind and although I really couldn't understand the language I could tell that a relationship had formed which was really cool to see. Dinner was pretty amazing; we ordered several plates to share -- salad, breaded eggplant, steak and potatoes, breaded cod, chorizo cooked in cider, and dessert. Yum!

We left Friday morning for the airport. It was sad to realize our trip had come to an end. We had really enjoyed (almost) every moment! Sharon took us to the train station where we just barely made the train we needed! Once we got to the airport we ended up waiting in line for the ticket counter for over an hour . . . slowest moving line ever . . . seriously, there were only 12 people in front of us! Then ran to security, then ran to the shuttle that took us to our terminal then ran to our gate where I was pulled aside for more security screening and then ran to the end of the line to board the plane. Next time we will allow more than 2 hours to fly out of Spain!! The good news is that we were given Priority Seating so we had more space, better food, and better headphones to enjoy our flight. It was pretty cool.

Barcelona, Spain (Part 2)

Our adventures in Barcelona started out with a bit of a delay thanks to our delayed flight that put us in the city later than expected. We couldn't check into our AirBnB until the next day (the host wasn't available after 8 p.m.) so we stayed in a hotel near the airport. It ended up being a beautiful hotel with a soaking tub with jets and a really comfortable bed. It was a nice ending to a stressful travel day.

So, we didn't make it to the actual city of Barcelona until after noon the next day. We checked into our AirBnB and set off to find lunch. A friend had recommended a place called Brunch & Cake which was a little over a mile away. We walked there only to find that the wait would be an hour. Since we had skipped breakfast, that didn't seem like the wisest idea. Thankfully the host told us about another location/sister cafe they had just 6 blocks away. They saved a table for us and we walked some more. It was the best food ever. Think hipster breakfast/brunch food with fresh, organic, healthy food (seriously, their pancakes were sugar free...) But it was all amazing. We ate there three times. I thought the wait staff would start recognizing us! It was all so. good. I'm thinking about writing the owners to come to SF -- they would fit right in and do amazing here.

This is a chicken sandwich with a side of nachos (the thing sticking out of it is a syringe with hot sauce). It was delicious and we ate it all.

After lunch, we did a walking tour with our Rick Steves Audio Tour. He guided us passed the Cathedral of Barcelona (we just missed the last entry time to see the inside), the Gothic Quarter, the Ramblas (shopping strip) and a few other buildings that were of interest. We took a few wrong turns but enjoyed it for the most part. He gave a lot of history about the city which was hard to track. Barcelona has over 3,000 years of history! Keeping the leaders in order was difficult for me--I had regrets of not paying attention to more history in school several times on this trip.

After the tour, we walked over to the pier and watched the boats for a while. We also passed a statue of Christopher Columbus-- his journey had started in Barcelona . . . the things I never really paid attention to before.

We could already tell we loved this city - in just one day. As we walked around we noticed a number of playgrounds --like six in one mile-- that were really close to things that adults would want to do, like shop or eat. A lot of the play structures were right next to restaurants that had outdoor seating -- so a family could actually eat out with a high degree of success. A lot of areas were made for walking not driving. The metro was also amazing. The longest wait we ever had was 4 minutes. On our last night, we had to transfer three times and again, the wait between trains was almost nothing! Everything seemed so well planned and timed. I would say these things were also notable in Madrid. San Sebastian had a lot of playgrounds too but no metro (and no real need for it).

On the second day in Barcelona, we took the metro to the Sagrada Familia, a famous Basilica designed by Antoni Gaudi. He designed several buildings in the city all of them unique. This church however is still under construction . . . it started in 1883 but he died in 1926. Others have taken on the project and you can almost see the three different generations of construction. They have it scheduled to be finished in 10 more years. Since we didn't make it inside this building, we are hoping to go back someday after its finished.

**Clicking on the photographs will enlarge them**

The outside of the Sagrada is amazing. I have never seen anything like it. Statues and words cover nearly the whole front and rear of the building. The front side shows the nativity scene in such great imagery and the back shows the crucifixion in such detail it really hits your heart. So the gospel is just right there in the open for all to see. Its really amazing.

This is another building he designed. All the edges were smooth/rounded -- it really stands out against the buildings around it. He also used a lot of colors on the outside of the building (as well as the inside I assume). 

We stopped by the Barcelona Cathedral one more time to see if we could get in but the line wrapped around the entire church! Then we took the metro to the Arc de Triumph and rested a bit before walking through a really beautiful park.

After that we started making our way toward the Olympic village. We weren't sure what to find here . . . but since the 1992 Summer Olympics were such a big deal for the USA I had selfishly assumed there would be something amazing to see (USA Basketball Dream Team and Gymnastics both took home the Gold and you remember Kerri Strugg!) But there wasn't really anything to see. The area had been built up and there was a beach which had been constructed for the events which is enjoyed by so many people now. We stayed at the beach watching beach volleyball being played and then made our way over to a restaurant for dinner.

We had made a reservation for a place called Agua which was you may have guessed, right on the water. The views were great and after a short rain we watched the sunset and turn the sky a stunning cotton-candy pink and blue. The food was really good although we weren't exactly sure what Paella was supposed to taste like! I liked it but the dish we had wasn't totally amazing. The tapas we ordered were delicious though!

It had been a long day and a lot of walking. We made it home just after 11 p.m. and hit 20,000 steps.  The next day was our travel day. We ate breakfast at Brunch & Cake for the last time and took the metro to the train station. Madrid here we come!

Our adventures in Barcelona started out with a bit of a delay thanks to our delayed flight that put us in the city later than expected. We couldn't check into our AirBnB until the next day (the host wasn't available after 8 p.m.) so we stayed in a hotel near the airport. It ended up being a beautiful hotel with a soaking tub with jets and a really comfortable bed. It was a nice ending to a stressful travel day.

So, we didn't make it to the actual city of Barcelona until after noon the next day. We checked into our AirBnB and set off to find lunch. A friend had recommended a place called Brunch & Cake which was a little over a mile away. We walked there only to find that the wait would be an hour. Since we had skipped breakfast, that didn't seem like the wisest idea. Thankfully the host told us about another location/sister cafe they had just 6 blocks away. They saved a table for us and we walked some more. It was the best food ever. Think hipster breakfast/brunch food with fresh, organic, healthy food (seriously, their pancakes were sugar free...) But it was all amazing. We ate there three times. I thought the wait staff would start recognizing us! It was all so. good. I'm thinking about writing the owners to come to SF -- they would fit right in and do amazing here.

This is a chicken sandwich with a side of nachos (the thing sticking out of it is a syringe with hot sauce). It was delicious and we ate it all.

After lunch, we did a walking tour with our Rick Steves Audio Tour. He guided us passed the Cathedral of Barcelona (we just missed the last entry time to see the inside), the Gothic Quarter, the Ramblas (shopping strip) and a few other buildings that were of interest. We took a few wrong turns but enjoyed it for the most part. He gave a lot of history about the city which was hard to track. Barcelona has over 3,000 years of history! Keeping the leaders in order was difficult for me--I had regrets of not paying attention to more history in school several times on this trip.

After the tour, we walked over to the pier and watched the boats for a while. We also passed a statue of Christopher Columbus-- his journey had started in Barcelona . . . the things I never really paid attention to before.

We could already tell we loved this city - in just one day. As we walked around we noticed a number of playgrounds --like six in one mile-- that were really close to things that adults would want to do, like shop or eat. A lot of the play structures were right next to restaurants that had outdoor seating -- so a family could actually eat out with a high degree of success. A lot of areas were made for walking not driving. The metro was also amazing. The longest wait we ever had was 4 minutes. On our last night, we had to transfer three times and again, the wait between trains was almost nothing! Everything seemed so well planned and timed. I would say these things were also notable in Madrid. San Sebastian had a lot of playgrounds too but no metro (and no real need for it).

On the second day in Barcelona, we took the metro to the Sagrada Familia, a famous Basilica designed by Antoni Gaudi. He designed several buildings in the city all of them unique. This church however is still under construction . . . it started in 1883 but he died in 1926. Others have taken on the project and you can almost see the three different generations of construction. They have it scheduled to be finished in 10 more years. Since we didn't make it inside this building, we are hoping to go back someday after its finished.

**Clicking on the photographs will enlarge them**

The outside of the Sagrada is amazing. I have never seen anything like it. Statues and words cover nearly the whole front and rear of the building. The front side shows the nativity scene in such great imagery and the back shows the crucifixion in such detail it really hits your heart. So the gospel is just right there in the open for all to see. Its really amazing.

This is another building he designed. All the edges were smooth/rounded -- it really stands out against the buildings around it. He also used a lot of colors on the outside of the building (as well as the inside I assume). 

We stopped by the Barcelona Cathedral one more time to see if we could get in but the line wrapped around the entire church! Then we took the metro to the Arc de Triumph and rested a bit before walking through a really beautiful park.

After that we started making our way toward the Olympic village. We weren't sure what to find here . . . but since the 1992 Summer Olympics were such a big deal for the USA I had selfishly assumed there would be something amazing to see (USA Basketball Dream Team and Gymnastics both took home the Gold and you remember Kerri Strugg!) But there wasn't really anything to see. The area had been built up and there was a beach which had been constructed for the events which is enjoyed by so many people now. We stayed at the beach watching beach volleyball being played and then made our way over to a restaurant for dinner.

We had made a reservation for a place called Agua which was you may have guessed, right on the water. The views were great and after a short rain we watched the sunset and turn the sky a stunning cotton-candy pink and blue. The food was really good although we weren't exactly sure what Paella was supposed to taste like! I liked it but the dish we had wasn't totally amazing. The tapas we ordered were delicious though!

It had been a long day and a lot of walking. We made it home just after 11 p.m. and hit 20,000 steps.  The next day was our travel day. We ate breakfast at Brunch & Cake for the last time and took the metro to the train station. Madrid here we come!

San Sebastián, Spain (Part 1)

We arrived in San Sebastián without too much trouble, there may have been some confusion with our luggage and Chris having to run through the entire airport to ensure it made out connecting flight. But we weren't even the last ones on the plane and we made it, so in hindsight, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but at the time... super stressful. Maybe I'll write more in a separate post.

We made it to our AirBnB around 4 p.m. We dropped off our stuff and headed out to see this beach town we had heard so much about. We rented a bedroom that was really close to the beach and not too far from the "Old City" which is where all the food and stuff to see is. We walked around a bit and then sat in a really pretty park for a long time and just watched the people. Two things struck me right away: 1) There were a lot of young families here, clearly on vacation (also clearly didn't have a 12 hour flight to get there) and 2) everyone looked so relaxed. We also noticed that short-shorts were in style and jean overall skirts had made a comeback too. Regardless of what they wore or how many children they had in tow, everyone seemed really relaxed.

For dinner we headed over to the Old City and walked the narrow streets taking in all the variety of places to pick from. We had read that tapas were the thing to eat here along with cheap beer and wine. So, we loaded our plates with everything from deep fried cheese balls to ham sandwiches. At this first place we tried, it seemed like bar food -- mostly fried stuff. But each day we tried new places and found that there are really a wide variety of foods offered here. Some had steak or chicken kabobs, there were salmon fillets on bread with a yummy sauce and sardines and even octopus (we didn't try that one though). They did half pints of beer for 2 Euro and wines for between 3 and 4 Euro. It was hard to pass up!

The next morning after breakfast (It was delicious -- eggs, tomatoes, avocado on tortillas) we took a hike up to Mount Urgull, which has a huge statue of Jesus at the top of it. I couldn't quite understand the whole history of the mountain or the building at its peak, but I think it was a monastery or church at one point. English was not used on any of the signage for this site! It was so gorgeous. Yes, the statue of Jesus was awesome but the views were breathtaking. You could see so much of the coast and the water was the most amazing blue.

**If you click on the photos, they will enlarge to full screen. You can barely make out all the people covering the beach! It was packed.

On our way down the hill we stumbled onto a cafe and stopped for a drink. It was fun to just chill and take in the beauty . . . and cool down in the shade with a cold drink. It was hot! 

After lunch (pizza and a tuna/avocado salad above) we went to the beach. I enjoyed sitting in the sun watching all the activity on the beach and in the water. There were so many people in the water (not like San Francisco) it looked like it was one huge party. Everyone was laughing, jumping over waves, running into the water, etc. And on the sand, we watched little naked children making pools out of the sand. Parents seemed so chill and relaxed. Eventually we made our way into the water as well, it was colder than I would have thought but it felt amazing after sitting in the heat. It was clear but also full of little pieces of dirt/bark so it didn't really feel "clean." Different than I had imagined; still fun though and I laughed and smiled more than I remember doing in a long time.

We tried a meat-heavy place for tapas that night and it was better than the first night. Steak kabobs, meat balls, fish with bread. And we had learned the first night that places don't really start getting busy until close to 8 p.m. This time we were in the crowd!

The next morning we decided to go for a long walk around the beach. We had contemplated riding bikes to get to our destination but it was going to cost 16 Euro for a 10 minute ride... me, being the frugal one, thought we should just take the 30 minute walk and save our money for ice cream! In the end, my feet started hurting more than I had expected. But it was a beautiful walk and we got some great photos.

At our destination was an art installation called "Wind Cones." I have no idea what it's meaning was. The three metal structures looked to me like chain links. It was quite a common item to see printed on souvenirs. 

It was a beautiful scene with the green hills, blue water, waves crashing and breeze in your hair. And the other tourists . . . but we got a few photos that made it look like we were the only ones there!

After lunch we headed back to the beach. The clouds had come in and there was a chance of a storm passing in the afternoon but it didn't end up hitting us until the middle of the night. We had hoped to spend more time on the beach on our last day in this city but it rained through the night and through the rest of the next day. So this was our last time on the beach. It wasn't nearly as crowded or warm, but it was still entirely pleasant and enjoyable.

Dinner that night was more of the seafood faire. The counter was covered in tapas ranging from sardines to octopus but I stopped in the middle and had mostly salmon and crab. It was all really tasty. Ham sandwiches were also a common tapa -- they were everywhere!

So, we woke up in the middle of the night to what sounded like hail to me but was really just rain drops hitting the tin roof and metal pots outside our window. It rained all day, letting up only a few times. We ended up buying umbrellas because I failed to remember to pack them.

We had a big lunch at the most bizarrely decorated restaurant ever (and failed to take photos) before heading to the airport. The restaurant served a variety of foods - salads, wraps, burgers, hummus, drinks .  . . and was decorated with teal booths on wheels and metal fence/gates above each booth back, there were plants everywhere and dark wood floors. The kitchen was in the back down some stairs and the bathroom was on the third level which you had to take a catwalk to get to. Strange. But also delicious. 

And that ends our time in San Sebastián. If I decide to share the transportation horror stories I'll do so in a separate post. At this point, we have had the most wonderful time enjoying warm weather, a beach, lots of wandering (and meeting my step count goals), delicious food and each other. One day of rain and a few hours lost sleep is not worth complaining about.

We arrived in San Sebastián without too much trouble, there may have been some confusion with our luggage and Chris having to run through the entire airport to ensure it made out connecting flight. But we weren't even the last ones on the plane and we made it, so in hindsight, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but at the time... super stressful. Maybe I'll write more in a separate post.

We made it to our AirBnB around 4 p.m. We dropped off our stuff and headed out to see this beach town we had heard so much about. We rented a bedroom that was really close to the beach and not too far from the "Old City" which is where all the food and stuff to see is. We walked around a bit and then sat in a really pretty park for a long time and just watched the people. Two things struck me right away: 1) There were a lot of young families here, clearly on vacation (also clearly didn't have a 12 hour flight to get there) and 2) everyone looked so relaxed. We also noticed that short-shorts were in style and jean overall skirts had made a comeback too. Regardless of what they wore or how many children they had in tow, everyone seemed really relaxed.

For dinner we headed over to the Old City and walked the narrow streets taking in all the variety of places to pick from. We had read that tapas were the thing to eat here along with cheap beer and wine. So, we loaded our plates with everything from deep fried cheese balls to ham sandwiches. At this first place we tried, it seemed like bar food -- mostly fried stuff. But each day we tried new places and found that there are really a wide variety of foods offered here. Some had steak or chicken kabobs, there were salmon fillets on bread with a yummy sauce and sardines and even octopus (we didn't try that one though). They did half pints of beer for 2 Euro and wines for between 3 and 4 Euro. It was hard to pass up!

The next morning after breakfast (It was delicious -- eggs, tomatoes, avocado on tortillas) we took a hike up to Mount Urgull, which has a huge statue of Jesus at the top of it. I couldn't quite understand the whole history of the mountain or the building at its peak, but I think it was a monastery or church at one point. English was not used on any of the signage for this site! It was so gorgeous. Yes, the statue of Jesus was awesome but the views were breathtaking. You could see so much of the coast and the water was the most amazing blue.

**If you click on the photos, they will enlarge to full screen. You can barely make out all the people covering the beach! It was packed.

On our way down the hill we stumbled onto a cafe and stopped for a drink. It was fun to just chill and take in the beauty . . . and cool down in the shade with a cold drink. It was hot! 

After lunch (pizza and a tuna/avocado salad above) we went to the beach. I enjoyed sitting in the sun watching all the activity on the beach and in the water. There were so many people in the water (not like San Francisco) it looked like it was one huge party. Everyone was laughing, jumping over waves, running into the water, etc. And on the sand, we watched little naked children making pools out of the sand. Parents seemed so chill and relaxed. Eventually we made our way into the water as well, it was colder than I would have thought but it felt amazing after sitting in the heat. It was clear but also full of little pieces of dirt/bark so it didn't really feel "clean." Different than I had imagined; still fun though and I laughed and smiled more than I remember doing in a long time.

We tried a meat-heavy place for tapas that night and it was better than the first night. Steak kabobs, meat balls, fish with bread. And we had learned the first night that places don't really start getting busy until close to 8 p.m. This time we were in the crowd!

The next morning we decided to go for a long walk around the beach. We had contemplated riding bikes to get to our destination but it was going to cost 16 Euro for a 10 minute ride... me, being the frugal one, thought we should just take the 30 minute walk and save our money for ice cream! In the end, my feet started hurting more than I had expected. But it was a beautiful walk and we got some great photos.

At our destination was an art installation called "Wind Cones." I have no idea what it's meaning was. The three metal structures looked to me like chain links. It was quite a common item to see printed on souvenirs. 

It was a beautiful scene with the green hills, blue water, waves crashing and breeze in your hair. And the other tourists . . . but we got a few photos that made it look like we were the only ones there!

After lunch we headed back to the beach. The clouds had come in and there was a chance of a storm passing in the afternoon but it didn't end up hitting us until the middle of the night. We had hoped to spend more time on the beach on our last day in this city but it rained through the night and through the rest of the next day. So this was our last time on the beach. It wasn't nearly as crowded or warm, but it was still entirely pleasant and enjoyable.

Dinner that night was more of the seafood faire. The counter was covered in tapas ranging from sardines to octopus but I stopped in the middle and had mostly salmon and crab. It was all really tasty. Ham sandwiches were also a common tapa -- they were everywhere!

So, we woke up in the middle of the night to what sounded like hail to me but was really just rain drops hitting the tin roof and metal pots outside our window. It rained all day, letting up only a few times. We ended up buying umbrellas because I failed to remember to pack them.

We had a big lunch at the most bizarrely decorated restaurant ever (and failed to take photos) before heading to the airport. The restaurant served a variety of foods - salads, wraps, burgers, hummus, drinks .  . . and was decorated with teal booths on wheels and metal fence/gates above each booth back, there were plants everywhere and dark wood floors. The kitchen was in the back down some stairs and the bathroom was on the third level which you had to take a catwalk to get to. Strange. But also delicious. 

And that ends our time in San Sebastián. If I decide to share the transportation horror stories I'll do so in a separate post. At this point, we have had the most wonderful time enjoying warm weather, a beach, lots of wandering (and meeting my step count goals), delicious food and each other. One day of rain and a few hours lost sleep is not worth complaining about.

Last Stop: London

London was the perfect place to spend our last day in Europe. We didn't have to worry about the language and the culture is fairly similar to ours. We enjoyed seeing all the historic/famous places but were a little disappointed that most of them charged expensive entrance fees so we didn't go in any of them.

London seemed to be a place filled with so much history; most of the cities we visited were.  But this history was more deeply connected to our own culture.  Chris was excited to walk into pubs that favorite authors once sat in and be in the place where literature really seemed to take off.

It was overcast and rainy most of the day (seems like a theme of our vacation, doesn't it!) and my cold was getting a lot worse. I'd like to say I had a great attitude and none of this bothered me, but that would be a lie. I let it get to me ended up having quite a few "crabby-moments." Chris was very sweet and gave me a time-out at a cafe where we could warm up and get out of the rain. I hated taking breaks from our sight seeing because we only had one day to see it all. But in the end, I was glad we did. I needed it; the break and hot chocolate helped my mood and kept me from getting soaked.

At the very end of the day when we ended up at the Tower Bridge, the sun peaked out and the rest of the evening was fairly nice.

view more photos here

How long we were there: 2 nights, 1 full day

What we did: We walked. . . and walked! We saw the outside of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the City of London (original city boundaries) which included famous places like where the dictionary was first written and the pub where Charles Dickens wrote. We walked over the London Bridge which left something to be desired and over to the more picturesque Tower Bridge. We made a quick stop in Hyde park before it got dark.

What we ate: For lunch we found a pub offering a pretty decent special: a burger and beer for 5 pounds. It was delicious. Dinner was more of a struggle. We planned on having bangers and mash or fish and chips, but when we walked by this great looking restaurant around 4:30, neither of us were hungry. So we kept walking. Around 7 p.m. when we wanted to eat, we couldn't find anything English! We took the tube back to our host-apartment thinking we'd find something there but we had to walk for nearly 30 minutes before we found a grocery store! We settled for pasta salad, soup and fruit. We took it back to the apartment and joined our hosts for a glass of wine.

Where we stayed: The AirBnB we booked was great. Our hosts were a newly married couple (the wife was American) who had kept their three bedroom apartment after their roommates moved out. It was comfortable and cozy and they were very nice people. It was a little far from everything, but the tube is quite fast and easy to use. It was closer to the airport which made leaving the next morning pretty smooth.

How we got around: The Tube got us everywhere we didn't walk.

London was the perfect place to spend our last day in Europe. We didn't have to worry about the language and the culture is fairly similar to ours. We enjoyed seeing all the historic/famous places but were a little disappointed that most of them charged expensive entrance fees so we didn't go in any of them.

London seemed to be a place filled with so much history; most of the cities we visited were.  But this history was more deeply connected to our own culture.  Chris was excited to walk into pubs that favorite authors once sat in and be in the place where literature really seemed to take off.

It was overcast and rainy most of the day (seems like a theme of our vacation, doesn't it!) and my cold was getting a lot worse. I'd like to say I had a great attitude and none of this bothered me, but that would be a lie. I let it get to me ended up having quite a few "crabby-moments." Chris was very sweet and gave me a time-out at a cafe where we could warm up and get out of the rain. I hated taking breaks from our sight seeing because we only had one day to see it all. But in the end, I was glad we did. I needed it; the break and hot chocolate helped my mood and kept me from getting soaked.

At the very end of the day when we ended up at the Tower Bridge, the sun peaked out and the rest of the evening was fairly nice.

view more photos here

How long we were there: 2 nights, 1 full day

What we did: We walked. . . and walked! We saw the outside of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the City of London (original city boundaries) which included famous places like where the dictionary was first written and the pub where Charles Dickens wrote. We walked over the London Bridge which left something to be desired and over to the more picturesque Tower Bridge. We made a quick stop in Hyde park before it got dark.

What we ate: For lunch we found a pub offering a pretty decent special: a burger and beer for 5 pounds. It was delicious. Dinner was more of a struggle. We planned on having bangers and mash or fish and chips, but when we walked by this great looking restaurant around 4:30, neither of us were hungry. So we kept walking. Around 7 p.m. when we wanted to eat, we couldn't find anything English! We took the tube back to our host-apartment thinking we'd find something there but we had to walk for nearly 30 minutes before we found a grocery store! We settled for pasta salad, soup and fruit. We took it back to the apartment and joined our hosts for a glass of wine.

Where we stayed: The AirBnB we booked was great. Our hosts were a newly married couple (the wife was American) who had kept their three bedroom apartment after their roommates moved out. It was comfortable and cozy and they were very nice people. It was a little far from everything, but the tube is quite fast and easy to use. It was closer to the airport which made leaving the next morning pretty smooth.

How we got around: The Tube got us everywhere we didn't walk.

Running with a Chocolate Croissant

As promised here is our story of getting from Paris to London. It promises to be entertaining to say the least.

As with all of our transportation between countries, we had purchased tickets ahead of time. At most train stations it seemed fairly common for the train to arrive just minutes before it was time to board and then leave within minutes of boarding. It was usually very quick and there was no need to arrive early, check in or wait at all. It was a lovely way to travel. On this particular trip we had planned to take the Chunnel from Paris to London on the EuroStar. We figured it would be the same as every other train we had taken in the last 12 days so we planned accordingly.

We arrived at the train station with 30 minutes to spare. Chris checked the boards and didn't see our platform listed which was pretty normal for being 30 minutes before departure. We strolled through the station and stopped to buy a chocolate croissant (because, it was my last chance to have one in Paris). We saw a sign that said EuroStar departures were upstairs. That seemed a little odd, but we decided to mosey our way up there and take a look.

We saw a crowd of people filling out customs forms and so I told Chris we should probably do the same. At that moment, a woman wearing a EuroStar uniform rushed up to our counter and asked, "Is anyone here taking the 7:13 train?" Chris said we were and she told us to stop what we were doing and hurry through customs. We had 5 minutes before they closed the doors. WHAT? Are you serious? We are so early!?!? Is what I was thinking, but we did as we were told. Confused as ever.

Once we got in line for customs another employee found us and said we needed to hurry, we now only had 2 minutes and still had to go through security! (We had not had to go through customs or security in any other country!) Another traveler informed us that EuroStar was pretty strict and usually didn't give refunds if you missed your train. Not the most encouraging news as we tried to understand how this had happened.

The customs worker was a very soft spoken man with a thick English accent speaking to me through a thick plate of glass. I could not understand a word he said and he wasn't making it any easier each time I said "WHAT?" like an ignorant American. Chris intervened and answered his questions. "What airport did we fly into in Rome?" -- like I even knew what that was when we got to Rome . . . and remembered it two weeks later.

Once we got through the mess of customs and our passports stamped we literally ran across the hall to security, slammed our bags, jackets, passports, tickets and even our spare change onto the conveyer belt to go through the metal detector. Then we had to scramble to pick up all of our stuff that had slipped through the cracks of the conveyer belt and make sure we had everything when another employee found us and said, "You need to run, the train is departing!"

I wanted to cry. There was no way I could run with this 20 pound backpack (which I had just slung over my shoulder without aligning it properly). But my husband raced down ahead of me on the descending moving walkway and I tried to follow behind making sure I didn't drop our tickets or our passports! I thought for sure I would sprain my ankle trying to run down this crazy contraption. (Picture it: You know those conveyer belt/moving walkways in airports that are usually fairly flat and parallel to the ground -- this was like that, but with the angle of an escalator. I'm sure if you were a kid, it would have been great fun to run down, but not for adult with back problems.)

We ran into the first train car we could and made our way to our seats (six or seven cars down) noticing all the businessmen and travelers looking at us as if they could tell we were first time travelers. As soon as our bags were stowed and we sat down, the train started moving. And all I could do was laugh. And try to catch my breath. We had made it.

I couldn't believe it.

As we traveled underground, I just sat back and marveled how God blessed us. Three different employees had helped us get on our train. They were watching over us. We were blessed.

We realized our mistake once we had gotten on the train. Our ticket clearly stated that we need to be board the train 30 minutes prior to departure to ensure enough time for security and customs. We missed that tiny detail when we printed off our tickets. 

It made me sick to think of what would have happened if we missed our train. Not only would we most likely had lost a lot of money, but we would have had to find somewhere to sleep! Things we were not prepared to do that evening.

Instead, God got us on our train -- and I had my chocolate croissant.

As promised here is our story of getting from Paris to London. It promises to be entertaining to say the least.

As with all of our transportation between countries, we had purchased tickets ahead of time. At most train stations it seemed fairly common for the train to arrive just minutes before it was time to board and then leave within minutes of boarding. It was usually very quick and there was no need to arrive early, check in or wait at all. It was a lovely way to travel. On this particular trip we had planned to take the Chunnel from Paris to London on the EuroStar. We figured it would be the same as every other train we had taken in the last 12 days so we planned accordingly.

We arrived at the train station with 30 minutes to spare. Chris checked the boards and didn't see our platform listed which was pretty normal for being 30 minutes before departure. We strolled through the station and stopped to buy a chocolate croissant (because, it was my last chance to have one in Paris). We saw a sign that said EuroStar departures were upstairs. That seemed a little odd, but we decided to mosey our way up there and take a look.

We saw a crowd of people filling out customs forms and so I told Chris we should probably do the same. At that moment, a woman wearing a EuroStar uniform rushed up to our counter and asked, "Is anyone here taking the 7:13 train?" Chris said we were and she told us to stop what we were doing and hurry through customs. We had 5 minutes before they closed the doors. WHAT? Are you serious? We are so early!?!? Is what I was thinking, but we did as we were told. Confused as ever.

Once we got in line for customs another employee found us and said we needed to hurry, we now only had 2 minutes and still had to go through security! (We had not had to go through customs or security in any other country!) Another traveler informed us that EuroStar was pretty strict and usually didn't give refunds if you missed your train. Not the most encouraging news as we tried to understand how this had happened.

The customs worker was a very soft spoken man with a thick English accent speaking to me through a thick plate of glass. I could not understand a word he said and he wasn't making it any easier each time I said "WHAT?" like an ignorant American. Chris intervened and answered his questions. "What airport did we fly into in Rome?" -- like I even knew what that was when we got to Rome . . . and remembered it two weeks later.

Once we got through the mess of customs and our passports stamped we literally ran across the hall to security, slammed our bags, jackets, passports, tickets and even our spare change onto the conveyer belt to go through the metal detector. Then we had to scramble to pick up all of our stuff that had slipped through the cracks of the conveyer belt and make sure we had everything when another employee found us and said, "You need to run, the train is departing!"

I wanted to cry. There was no way I could run with this 20 pound backpack (which I had just slung over my shoulder without aligning it properly). But my husband raced down ahead of me on the descending moving walkway and I tried to follow behind making sure I didn't drop our tickets or our passports! I thought for sure I would sprain my ankle trying to run down this crazy contraption. (Picture it: You know those conveyer belt/moving walkways in airports that are usually fairly flat and parallel to the ground -- this was like that, but with the angle of an escalator. I'm sure if you were a kid, it would have been great fun to run down, but not for adult with back problems.)

We ran into the first train car we could and made our way to our seats (six or seven cars down) noticing all the businessmen and travelers looking at us as if they could tell we were first time travelers. As soon as our bags were stowed and we sat down, the train started moving. And all I could do was laugh. And try to catch my breath. We had made it.

I couldn't believe it.

As we traveled underground, I just sat back and marveled how God blessed us. Three different employees had helped us get on our train. They were watching over us. We were blessed.

We realized our mistake once we had gotten on the train. Our ticket clearly stated that we need to be board the train 30 minutes prior to departure to ensure enough time for security and customs. We missed that tiny detail when we printed off our tickets. 

It made me sick to think of what would have happened if we missed our train. Not only would we most likely had lost a lot of money, but we would have had to find somewhere to sleep! Things we were not prepared to do that evening.

Instead, God got us on our train -- and I had my chocolate croissant.

Paris in the Rain

Cloudy skies met us when we arrived in Paris, but the rain was holding off for the time being. We decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower as soon as we had settled into our apartment. As we got closer, I could see the tip of the tower peaking out from buildings and trees, I kept stopping to take photos thinking every step brought me into better view. I could hardly contain my joy when we finally arrived in front of the Eiffel Tower and could see the whole thing! To be honest, at first I wasn't that impressed. It's a steel tower. But the longer we stood there, the more romantic it felt.

Then the rain hit.

We got out our umbrellas and walked to the bottom of the tower to get some shelter. After much debate, we decided to try and find our dinner and come back after dark to see the Tower lit up. We walked in the pouring (literally pouring) rain for about 10 minutes when all of a sudden, it stopped. The sun started to shine and the sky had changed from a gloomy dark gray to bright blue. 

I think the Lord could see my mood getting worse by the minute and decided to bless me anyway. Seriously, I felt so loved. I could not stop giving thanks and praise to my Father.

We walked back to the Eiffel Tower to take a few more photographs with the blue sky as it's backdrop. It was glorious. This is when it truly felt impressive and awesome, and beautiful. This is when the city really felt romantic. This was the highlight of day one in Paris.

It started raining again.

We walked to a restaurant to have dinner where we tried to stay warm and dry (outdoor seating with an enclosed awning and heater). After our dinner, we headed back to the Eiffel Tower a romantic view of the Tower lit up. The night was cool and wet but we decided to take the elevator to the top nonetheless.

Once at the top, we tried to take in the beauty of the city and point out the sights we wold try to see the following day.  The view had been spectacular; at 1050 feet tall we could see everything! I got cold pretty quickly so really didn't stay up long.

As we were walking back to the metro station, we turned to look at the Tower one more time. At that same time, the clock struck 10 p.m. and it started twinkling with blue lights! It was so pretty! I just had to stay in that spot until the lights stopped 10 minutes later.

It had been a long day and a late night. We saw the Eiffel tower in the midst of thick gray clouds, bright blue skies, and the night sky. It was magical (even though my shoes were soaking wet).

 View more photos of Paris here

How long we were there: 1 1/2 days

What we did: Saw the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, walked by the Lourve museum, walked the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe.

What we ate: For dinner that first night, Chris ordered roasted duck and I had a tube pasta with cream truffle sauce. We enjoyed glasses of wine with our meal and then ordered chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert. After our quick breakfast of yogurt and orange juice the next morning, we stopped by a neighborhood bakery for coffee and chocolate croissants. (YUM!) For lunch we stopped by a Mediterranean shop and had shawarmas. They were quick and cheap and oh, so delicious! We had a few hours to spare before our train to London so we stopped by a restaurant and ordered wine with a meat and cheese tray. To be honest, I didn't care for the cheeses very much, but the rest was great.

Where we stayed: We stayed in a small one bedroom apartment where the renters had given up their bedroom for the AirBnB guests and used a pull out sofa in their living room for themselves. It was fairly comfortable and they were very friendly. We even stayed up enjoying drinks with them before going to bed! 

How we got around: We took a train from Rotterdam, Holland to Paris. Once we were in the city we used the Metro to get around. (I'm so glad my husband understands public transportation better than I . . . it was confusing). Getting to London was a bit crazy, stay tuned for that story!

Cloudy skies met us when we arrived in Paris, but the rain was holding off for the time being. We decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower as soon as we had settled into our apartment. As we got closer, I could see the tip of the tower peaking out from buildings and trees, I kept stopping to take photos thinking every step brought me into better view. I could hardly contain my joy when we finally arrived in front of the Eiffel Tower and could see the whole thing! To be honest, at first I wasn't that impressed. It's a steel tower. But the longer we stood there, the more romantic it felt.

Then the rain hit.

We got out our umbrellas and walked to the bottom of the tower to get some shelter. After much debate, we decided to try and find our dinner and come back after dark to see the Tower lit up. We walked in the pouring (literally pouring) rain for about 10 minutes when all of a sudden, it stopped. The sun started to shine and the sky had changed from a gloomy dark gray to bright blue. 

I think the Lord could see my mood getting worse by the minute and decided to bless me anyway. Seriously, I felt so loved. I could not stop giving thanks and praise to my Father.

We walked back to the Eiffel Tower to take a few more photographs with the blue sky as it's backdrop. It was glorious. This is when it truly felt impressive and awesome, and beautiful. This is when the city really felt romantic. This was the highlight of day one in Paris.

It started raining again.

We walked to a restaurant to have dinner where we tried to stay warm and dry (outdoor seating with an enclosed awning and heater). After our dinner, we headed back to the Eiffel Tower a romantic view of the Tower lit up. The night was cool and wet but we decided to take the elevator to the top nonetheless.

Once at the top, we tried to take in the beauty of the city and point out the sights we wold try to see the following day.  The view had been spectacular; at 1050 feet tall we could see everything! I got cold pretty quickly so really didn't stay up long.

As we were walking back to the metro station, we turned to look at the Tower one more time. At that same time, the clock struck 10 p.m. and it started twinkling with blue lights! It was so pretty! I just had to stay in that spot until the lights stopped 10 minutes later.

It had been a long day and a late night. We saw the Eiffel tower in the midst of thick gray clouds, bright blue skies, and the night sky. It was magical (even though my shoes were soaking wet).

 View more photos of Paris here

How long we were there: 1 1/2 days

What we did: Saw the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, walked by the Lourve museum, walked the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe.

What we ate: For dinner that first night, Chris ordered roasted duck and I had a tube pasta with cream truffle sauce. We enjoyed glasses of wine with our meal and then ordered chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert. After our quick breakfast of yogurt and orange juice the next morning, we stopped by a neighborhood bakery for coffee and chocolate croissants. (YUM!) For lunch we stopped by a Mediterranean shop and had shawarmas. They were quick and cheap and oh, so delicious! We had a few hours to spare before our train to London so we stopped by a restaurant and ordered wine with a meat and cheese tray. To be honest, I didn't care for the cheeses very much, but the rest was great.

Where we stayed: We stayed in a small one bedroom apartment where the renters had given up their bedroom for the AirBnB guests and used a pull out sofa in their living room for themselves. It was fairly comfortable and they were very friendly. We even stayed up enjoying drinks with them before going to bed! 

How we got around: We took a train from Rotterdam, Holland to Paris. Once we were in the city we used the Metro to get around. (I'm so glad my husband understands public transportation better than I . . . it was confusing). Getting to London was a bit crazy, stay tuned for that story!

Friends in Holland

One of the biggest motivators for us to go to Europe when we did was because good friends of Chris's had moved there. What better time to go than when you have someone to visit! They had lived near Amsterdam for their first year but a few weeks before we arrived they actually moved to Da Haag. So, that's where we went! 

The cities we saw in Holland were all surrounded by water. Canals run through the cities meaning there are bridges, boats, and beautiful scenery everywhere! The walkways were usually cobblestone and the buildings were each unique. We walked a lot and every turn seemed to hold another beautiful view. 

It was a bit cold in Holland and it did rain off-and-on each of the three days we were there. We were fairly used to that, but now we were blessed to have a place to stay indoors during the day! It was such a treat to be able to stay with our friends where we could relax and just catch up instead of rushing off to see the sights.

I loved seeing them live life in this foreign place with their daughter. It's exciting to see your friends say "yes" to what they felt called by the Lord to do. Some days are hard, there are definitely adjustments to make on a daily basis and a lot to learn. But it is a great adventure! I enjoyed hearing about the lessons they've learned and the experiences they had in the last year and also what their  hopes were for the future.

Our time in The Netherlands felt like a vacation from our vacation. We were able to slow down, rest, and enjoy the company of great friends. We didn't "do" much, which was a nice change of pace and exactly what we needed.

Proof that we really did "backpack" through Europe!

One of the canals in Amsterdam

A little antique store had these wood shoes on display

How long we were there: 3 days

What we did:  Walked around Amsterdam, Den Haag, and Delft. We stayed with friends who had been living in Holland for a little over a a year. We slept in and rested, did our laundry, and stayed mostly dry during the rainy days. Mostly, we enjoyed seeing and catching up with our friends!

What we ate: Shortly after arriving in Amsterdam we warmed up with some warm drinks at a local coffee shop, I had a hot chocolate, Chris had coffee. Then we went to a cafe and had lunch on a patio off of the canal; I had a salmon sandwich. We walked around the canals, past Anne Frank's house and then decided to try to warm up and stopped at another cafe for more warm drinks and an apple tart. Then we found our way to the train to Den Haag. For dinner we had Chinese take-out (not the original plan, but many places close early in the evenings).

Our friends cooked for us and shared their dutch treats with us: Nutella and chocolate sprinkles on bread and stroopwafels. The following day in Delft we had lunch at a cute cafe off of a canal; I had a chicken quiche and Chris had a traditional savory pancake.  That evening we went out with a couple other friends we met in Colorado; they took us to a restaurant where we enjoyed beer and warm comfort Dutch food--roasted lamb and duck with potatoes.

Where we stayed: in Den Haag with our friends Matt, Jamie and their daughter.

How we got around: We took the train in between cities and the tram to get around within the city. We also noticed that of all of the places we had been so far, bikes seemed to be the most common way to get around in Holland. Bikes were everywhere! We even saw a two-story bike rack at a train station that held hundreds of bikes!

One of the biggest motivators for us to go to Europe when we did was because good friends of Chris's had moved there. What better time to go than when you have someone to visit! They had lived near Amsterdam for their first year but a few weeks before we arrived they actually moved to Da Haag. So, that's where we went! 

The cities we saw in Holland were all surrounded by water. Canals run through the cities meaning there are bridges, boats, and beautiful scenery everywhere! The walkways were usually cobblestone and the buildings were each unique. We walked a lot and every turn seemed to hold another beautiful view. 

It was a bit cold in Holland and it did rain off-and-on each of the three days we were there. We were fairly used to that, but now we were blessed to have a place to stay indoors during the day! It was such a treat to be able to stay with our friends where we could relax and just catch up instead of rushing off to see the sights.

I loved seeing them live life in this foreign place with their daughter. It's exciting to see your friends say "yes" to what they felt called by the Lord to do. Some days are hard, there are definitely adjustments to make on a daily basis and a lot to learn. But it is a great adventure! I enjoyed hearing about the lessons they've learned and the experiences they had in the last year and also what their  hopes were for the future.

Our time in The Netherlands felt like a vacation from our vacation. We were able to slow down, rest, and enjoy the company of great friends. We didn't "do" much, which was a nice change of pace and exactly what we needed.

Proof that we really did "backpack" through Europe!

One of the canals in Amsterdam

A little antique store had these wood shoes on display

How long we were there: 3 days

What we did:  Walked around Amsterdam, Den Haag, and Delft. We stayed with friends who had been living in Holland for a little over a a year. We slept in and rested, did our laundry, and stayed mostly dry during the rainy days. Mostly, we enjoyed seeing and catching up with our friends!

What we ate: Shortly after arriving in Amsterdam we warmed up with some warm drinks at a local coffee shop, I had a hot chocolate, Chris had coffee. Then we went to a cafe and had lunch on a patio off of the canal; I had a salmon sandwich. We walked around the canals, past Anne Frank's house and then decided to try to warm up and stopped at another cafe for more warm drinks and an apple tart. Then we found our way to the train to Den Haag. For dinner we had Chinese take-out (not the original plan, but many places close early in the evenings).

Our friends cooked for us and shared their dutch treats with us: Nutella and chocolate sprinkles on bread and stroopwafels. The following day in Delft we had lunch at a cute cafe off of a canal; I had a chicken quiche and Chris had a traditional savory pancake.  That evening we went out with a couple other friends we met in Colorado; they took us to a restaurant where we enjoyed beer and warm comfort Dutch food--roasted lamb and duck with potatoes.

Where we stayed: in Den Haag with our friends Matt, Jamie and their daughter.

How we got around: We took the train in between cities and the tram to get around within the city. We also noticed that of all of the places we had been so far, bikes seemed to be the most common way to get around in Holland. Bikes were everywhere! We even saw a two-story bike rack at a train station that held hundreds of bikes!

Visiting Florence: Experiencing The Renaissance

What makes Florence such an impeccable city is not its magnificent art, its quaint and ambulatory cobblestone thoroughfares, or its world-class gelato, although we earnestly enjoyed all those things. What I experienced there can only be described in the word "rebirth." The Renaissance (which, you probably know, means "rebirth") began in Florence, but I think that its spirit or ideology or essence remains, and it whispered subtly to me the entire time we were there.

The most quantifiable experience I can use to convey what I am describing was seeing Michelangelo's "David". There are few experiences in our lives where something is so transcendentally beautiful and we are so overwhelmed that we feel like we've somehow stepped out of ourselves and caught a glimpse of the eternal, or like our body has faded away and we are in sublime communion with—no, we simply ARE—a soul. I think C.S. Lewis' description of Milton's "enormous bliss" in describing "the biscuit tin garden" is close to what I am describing, if you are familiar with it.

Unlike Lewis' description, though, I have sometimes (rarely) felt graced with these experiences for extended periods of time. I remember be required to see three performances by the University Symphony in college. During one such performance, the conductor said, "If this is your first time hearing this piece, I envy you." It was a piece by Ravel. The minutes of that choreographic symphony were indescribable, and is immortalized in my mind.

So, too, I sat before the incredible statue of David and was so overwhelmed that I dared not move. I scarcely breathed. The moment of the beautiful transcendence extended to a minute, then to several minutes. When it did finally pass, I was not eager to hang on to it. I was simply happy to have experienced it in the first place.

This grandeur, this Renaissance, was not constrained to the David, although it was most noticeable there. Everything in the city seemed more beautiful, more real, more hopeful. It was like casting aside a ridiculous and hopeless dogma that had enslaved me to my selfishness for something truly powerful, freeing and new.

Its history was of great artists and entrepreneurs who cast aside conventions so that something better, something purer, or something that simply worked could exist. They embraced who they were, their ideas, and what they could do and sought to be great and affect destiny rather than seeing destiny as an ominous, mysterious, unalterable force. People had eternal value; humanism was significant.

Everything about Florence communicated hope—that God made you great, that you are significant, that you can do great things that alter the course of the world, and you have no reason not to try. Embrace yourself, embrace destiny, and create out of your greatness.

What makes Florence such an impeccable city is not its magnificent art, its quaint and ambulatory cobblestone thoroughfares, or its world-class gelato, although we earnestly enjoyed all those things. What I experienced there can only be described in the word "rebirth." The Renaissance (which, you probably know, means "rebirth") began in Florence, but I think that its spirit or ideology or essence remains, and it whispered subtly to me the entire time we were there.

The most quantifiable experience I can use to convey what I am describing was seeing Michelangelo's "David". There are few experiences in our lives where something is so transcendentally beautiful and we are so overwhelmed that we feel like we've somehow stepped out of ourselves and caught a glimpse of the eternal, or like our body has faded away and we are in sublime communion with—no, we simply ARE—a soul. I think C.S. Lewis' description of Milton's "enormous bliss" in describing "the biscuit tin garden" is close to what I am describing, if you are familiar with it.

Unlike Lewis' description, though, I have sometimes (rarely) felt graced with these experiences for extended periods of time. I remember be required to see three performances by the University Symphony in college. During one such performance, the conductor said, "If this is your first time hearing this piece, I envy you." It was a piece by Ravel. The minutes of that choreographic symphony were indescribable, and is immortalized in my mind.

So, too, I sat before the incredible statue of David and was so overwhelmed that I dared not move. I scarcely breathed. The moment of the beautiful transcendence extended to a minute, then to several minutes. When it did finally pass, I was not eager to hang on to it. I was simply happy to have experienced it in the first place.

This grandeur, this Renaissance, was not constrained to the David, although it was most noticeable there. Everything in the city seemed more beautiful, more real, more hopeful. It was like casting aside a ridiculous and hopeless dogma that had enslaved me to my selfishness for something truly powerful, freeing and new.

Its history was of great artists and entrepreneurs who cast aside conventions so that something better, something purer, or something that simply worked could exist. They embraced who they were, their ideas, and what they could do and sought to be great and affect destiny rather than seeing destiny as an ominous, mysterious, unalterable force. People had eternal value; humanism was significant.

Everything about Florence communicated hope—that God made you great, that you are significant, that you can do great things that alter the course of the world, and you have no reason not to try. Embrace yourself, embrace destiny, and create out of your greatness.

Oktobefest in Munich

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to experience Oktoberfest since we were passing through Germany at just the right time. The way it worked out, we were actually in Munich the day the two week celebration began!

It felt a lot like going to the Minnesota State Fair (which is the only State Fair I've ever been to actually). There were carnival games to ride or play, fun foods to try, and everyone was in a great mood. The big difference is everyone came to enjoy a beer (or more) and a lot of people were dressed up in the traditional Bavarian costumes!

It rained for most of the morning and early afternoon but that didn't deter us from trying to get into one of the giant beer tents. We stood in a line with our umbrellas hoping we'd be let in; the people in line soon started pushing and shoving hoping to get closer so it looked more like a huge crowd of umbrellas rather than an actual line! It was pretty miserable actually--being wet, cold and huddled in a crowd of strangers. After two hours, we decided to give up and check out the rest of the grounds.  After walking around for a bit we decided to seek refuge in a coffee shop. It didn't take us too long to find one that had vacant chairs and soon enough we started warm up. We ended up meeting three other Americans in the cafe and had a great time.

After the rain had subsided we decided to give it another go. Rather than try to get into the beer tents, we ended up going into one of the beer gardens. We ended up sitting at a table near a Canadian group and a fellow Californian as well as a few local German men who taught us a few phrases that must be chimed loudly at Oktoberfest!

Everyone was very friendly and enjoying themselves. The rain seemed to hinder no one from enjoying the celebration. But after a while, I was getting tired and could feel a cold coming on (being outside in the rain was probably a big contributor).

After dark, we decided to head to the train station and await our next train headed to Amsterdam. We had booked an overnight train with beds! We had our own room (cabin?) with bunk beds complete with sink, towels, and breakfast in the morning. The bathroom down the hall even had a shower! It was a really great experience--if you ever get a chance to take an overnight train (with your own cabin) I would highly recommend it! This was one of our favorite traveling experiences of our trip.

See more photos here!

How long we were there: 1 1/2 days

What we did: Wandered around the city center and spent the day at Oktoberfest

What we ate: We had some great food in Munich. Dinner our first night there was amazing. We found our way to Haxnbauer thanks to the Lonely Planet guide book which highly recommended it. When we arrived there were people leaving after hearing the wait would be 30 minutes, but when we got to the front, they seated us right away! Everyone around us had large liter mugs of bear and plates filled with great looking food--sausages, potatoes, sauerkraut,etc. The large room was really warm and cozy, which was wonderful because it was getting a little colder outside. We ordered a sampler plate of sorts with thick bacon, sausage, roasted pork and potatoes. We also ordered a bottle of water which was more than the price of beer. (We didn't get a beer because we were both feeling a bit sick). The food was so delicious, it was another opportunity to over-eat and we did not disappoint!

The next day we stopped at a grocery store for breakfast - bread, yogurt, a banana and orange juice, which had been our staples ever since Rome (our other hosts didn't provide breakfast). Our lunch and dinner was a hodge-podge of things offered at Oktoberfest. We had brats, a soft pretzel, a baked potato, fry-bread pizza (of sorts) and a huge donut. We also had one large liter of beer.

Where we stayed: Here comes another story. We waited to go to the apartment we had booked until after we had dinner (yes, we wandered around the city with our huge packs on our backs). To get there, we took the metro and walked for about 20 minutes before we found someone we could ask for directions (just to verify that we were getting close). After getting more clear directions from them, we headed to the building they directed us to. It was a tall apartment complex surrounded by other apartment buildings. Someone else was headed into the same building so we followed them right in, without buzzing our host. Our host had given us the floor number, but not her apartment number, which we didn't realize until we got to the 8th floor.  After failing to make out which apartment could be hers, we decided to try knocking on one. But there was no answer so we knocked on another one. Again, no answer. We actually knocked on every single door on that floor before the last one finally opened their door (poor girl in her PJs) and told us we were in the wrong building!

We then scurried over to the building next door where we found our host's name/apartment number and buzzer. She swiftly let us in and we took a breathe of relief. (I had been growing anxious that we weren't going to find it and have to find somewhere to stay at the last minute.) Our host was an elderly lady who spoke little to no English. Her place was set up very cute, she even had chocolates on our pillows and bottled water set out for us. She couldn't remember my name so she called me "the lady." We slept really well thanks to the German brand of NyQuil we had found at a pharmacy! (Shopping for drugs in other languages is harder than I thought it would be, thankfully, the pharmacist spoke perfect English!)

How we got around: We had taken a train from Venice (via Verona) to Munich which was really lovely. Northern Italy seemed very green and flat until we went through the alps which were absolutely beautiful. In Munich we took the Metro.

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to experience Oktoberfest since we were passing through Germany at just the right time. The way it worked out, we were actually in Munich the day the two week celebration began!

It felt a lot like going to the Minnesota State Fair (which is the only State Fair I've ever been to actually). There were carnival games to ride or play, fun foods to try, and everyone was in a great mood. The big difference is everyone came to enjoy a beer (or more) and a lot of people were dressed up in the traditional Bavarian costumes!

It rained for most of the morning and early afternoon but that didn't deter us from trying to get into one of the giant beer tents. We stood in a line with our umbrellas hoping we'd be let in; the people in line soon started pushing and shoving hoping to get closer so it looked more like a huge crowd of umbrellas rather than an actual line! It was pretty miserable actually--being wet, cold and huddled in a crowd of strangers. After two hours, we decided to give up and check out the rest of the grounds.  After walking around for a bit we decided to seek refuge in a coffee shop. It didn't take us too long to find one that had vacant chairs and soon enough we started warm up. We ended up meeting three other Americans in the cafe and had a great time.

After the rain had subsided we decided to give it another go. Rather than try to get into the beer tents, we ended up going into one of the beer gardens. We ended up sitting at a table near a Canadian group and a fellow Californian as well as a few local German men who taught us a few phrases that must be chimed loudly at Oktoberfest!

Everyone was very friendly and enjoying themselves. The rain seemed to hinder no one from enjoying the celebration. But after a while, I was getting tired and could feel a cold coming on (being outside in the rain was probably a big contributor).

After dark, we decided to head to the train station and await our next train headed to Amsterdam. We had booked an overnight train with beds! We had our own room (cabin?) with bunk beds complete with sink, towels, and breakfast in the morning. The bathroom down the hall even had a shower! It was a really great experience--if you ever get a chance to take an overnight train (with your own cabin) I would highly recommend it! This was one of our favorite traveling experiences of our trip.

See more photos here!

How long we were there: 1 1/2 days

What we did: Wandered around the city center and spent the day at Oktoberfest

What we ate: We had some great food in Munich. Dinner our first night there was amazing. We found our way to Haxnbauer thanks to the Lonely Planet guide book which highly recommended it. When we arrived there were people leaving after hearing the wait would be 30 minutes, but when we got to the front, they seated us right away! Everyone around us had large liter mugs of bear and plates filled with great looking food--sausages, potatoes, sauerkraut,etc. The large room was really warm and cozy, which was wonderful because it was getting a little colder outside. We ordered a sampler plate of sorts with thick bacon, sausage, roasted pork and potatoes. We also ordered a bottle of water which was more than the price of beer. (We didn't get a beer because we were both feeling a bit sick). The food was so delicious, it was another opportunity to over-eat and we did not disappoint!

The next day we stopped at a grocery store for breakfast - bread, yogurt, a banana and orange juice, which had been our staples ever since Rome (our other hosts didn't provide breakfast). Our lunch and dinner was a hodge-podge of things offered at Oktoberfest. We had brats, a soft pretzel, a baked potato, fry-bread pizza (of sorts) and a huge donut. We also had one large liter of beer.

Where we stayed: Here comes another story. We waited to go to the apartment we had booked until after we had dinner (yes, we wandered around the city with our huge packs on our backs). To get there, we took the metro and walked for about 20 minutes before we found someone we could ask for directions (just to verify that we were getting close). After getting more clear directions from them, we headed to the building they directed us to. It was a tall apartment complex surrounded by other apartment buildings. Someone else was headed into the same building so we followed them right in, without buzzing our host. Our host had given us the floor number, but not her apartment number, which we didn't realize until we got to the 8th floor.  After failing to make out which apartment could be hers, we decided to try knocking on one. But there was no answer so we knocked on another one. Again, no answer. We actually knocked on every single door on that floor before the last one finally opened their door (poor girl in her PJs) and told us we were in the wrong building!

We then scurried over to the building next door where we found our host's name/apartment number and buzzer. She swiftly let us in and we took a breathe of relief. (I had been growing anxious that we weren't going to find it and have to find somewhere to stay at the last minute.) Our host was an elderly lady who spoke little to no English. Her place was set up very cute, she even had chocolates on our pillows and bottled water set out for us. She couldn't remember my name so she called me "the lady." We slept really well thanks to the German brand of NyQuil we had found at a pharmacy! (Shopping for drugs in other languages is harder than I thought it would be, thankfully, the pharmacist spoke perfect English!)

How we got around: We had taken a train from Venice (via Verona) to Munich which was really lovely. Northern Italy seemed very green and flat until we went through the alps which were absolutely beautiful. In Munich we took the Metro.

The Views of Venice

The weather was perfect when we arrived. We found our way to the water-bus on the Grand Canal and found a place to stand near the side so we could take in the view. As the boat took us from one end of the city to the other, we saw buildings that had once been regal, now known as historic palaces. The colors now faded and the distress of age and decay now in sight, the beauty was in the history. Sharing the canal with us were many gondolas, water-taxis, and personal boats. The city where cars were of no use because there were no roads (only water ways) was stunningly beautiful.

We got off of the boat at St. Mark's Square and took in the sights there -- the cathedral, the tower, the first digital clock (on the tower), the sighing bridge, the water's edge, and the crowds. The crowds were probably the thickest in Venice of all the places we had been (with a very close second being in the Vatican Museum). 

We strolled the streets, taking in the colors, the architecture, the alley ways and doorways, the canals, the boats, the gondolas, the bridges, the shops. All of it seemed to interest me. 

We decided to stay there until dark so we could see the lights of the square and hear the musicians perform for the cafes that faced the square. I'm so glad we did. It was wonderful. Two different quartets took turns performing for their guests and the crowds standing near. The crowd was much less intense at night! It really was a very romantic place to be.

You can see more of my photographs from Venice here.

How long we were there: 1 day (technically in Venice for 6 hours, Mestre the rest of the time).

What we did: We spent the day wandering the streets of Venice! We did take a water-bus through the whole Grand Canal and listed to two audio tours by Rick Steves about the Canal and St. Mark's Basilica/Square. I told Chris on our way there that all I really wanted to do was take pictures. (And I got plenty!)

What we ate: We had lunch in Mestre, the city across the river from Venice. I ordered gnocchi with a creamy walnut sauce and chicken cordon blue (as if I needed to order both!) and Chris had an interesting pizza with tuna on it. For dinner, we decided to go on the cheap side and have hot deli sandwiches and wine. I have to confess that we had gelato twice in one day (and I'm not even sorry)! Everything we ate was really delicious.

Where we stayed: We stayed in Mestre because Venice was just too expensive. We were on the 10th floor of an apartment building with a pretty great view. The host was an interesting guy, who didn't really clean his place for us at all (Actually, I think is previous guest had left just moments before we arrived). He also had two large dogs (one of which was up barking at 5 a.m.). We slept on a lofted bed, which I had not done since camp in 5th grade (I don't like heights). Chris didn't sleep well that night at all. I can thank my pain medicine for knocking me out well enough. Not our favorite place; actually, it was probably the worst of our whole trip, but really if that's the worst, I can be very thankful.

How we got around: We arrived by train and took a bus around Mestre and across the bridge to Venice, then in Venice we took a water-bus through the Grand Canal.

The weather was perfect when we arrived. We found our way to the water-bus on the Grand Canal and found a place to stand near the side so we could take in the view. As the boat took us from one end of the city to the other, we saw buildings that had once been regal, now known as historic palaces. The colors now faded and the distress of age and decay now in sight, the beauty was in the history. Sharing the canal with us were many gondolas, water-taxis, and personal boats. The city where cars were of no use because there were no roads (only water ways) was stunningly beautiful.

We got off of the boat at St. Mark's Square and took in the sights there -- the cathedral, the tower, the first digital clock (on the tower), the sighing bridge, the water's edge, and the crowds. The crowds were probably the thickest in Venice of all the places we had been (with a very close second being in the Vatican Museum). 

We strolled the streets, taking in the colors, the architecture, the alley ways and doorways, the canals, the boats, the gondolas, the bridges, the shops. All of it seemed to interest me. 

We decided to stay there until dark so we could see the lights of the square and hear the musicians perform for the cafes that faced the square. I'm so glad we did. It was wonderful. Two different quartets took turns performing for their guests and the crowds standing near. The crowd was much less intense at night! It really was a very romantic place to be.

You can see more of my photographs from Venice here.

How long we were there: 1 day (technically in Venice for 6 hours, Mestre the rest of the time).

What we did: We spent the day wandering the streets of Venice! We did take a water-bus through the whole Grand Canal and listed to two audio tours by Rick Steves about the Canal and St. Mark's Basilica/Square. I told Chris on our way there that all I really wanted to do was take pictures. (And I got plenty!)

What we ate: We had lunch in Mestre, the city across the river from Venice. I ordered gnocchi with a creamy walnut sauce and chicken cordon blue (as if I needed to order both!) and Chris had an interesting pizza with tuna on it. For dinner, we decided to go on the cheap side and have hot deli sandwiches and wine. I have to confess that we had gelato twice in one day (and I'm not even sorry)! Everything we ate was really delicious.

Where we stayed: We stayed in Mestre because Venice was just too expensive. We were on the 10th floor of an apartment building with a pretty great view. The host was an interesting guy, who didn't really clean his place for us at all (Actually, I think is previous guest had left just moments before we arrived). He also had two large dogs (one of which was up barking at 5 a.m.). We slept on a lofted bed, which I had not done since camp in 5th grade (I don't like heights). Chris didn't sleep well that night at all. I can thank my pain medicine for knocking me out well enough. Not our favorite place; actually, it was probably the worst of our whole trip, but really if that's the worst, I can be very thankful.

How we got around: We arrived by train and took a bus around Mestre and across the bridge to Venice, then in Venice we took a water-bus through the Grand Canal.

The Beauty of Florence

Florence was in a word, inspiring. To see the city where so many famous artists lived and worked was amazing. Michelangelo, Botticelli, Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and many many others all spent time in Florence and have work displayed there. I'm hoping Chris will be a guest writer on my blog and share more about the Renaissance and how it impacted him while we were there.

For now, I'll share an experience:

As we were leaving our apartment on the morning after we arrived, I noticed it began to sprinkle. I asked Chris while was locking the door if we should grab our umbrellas. After a long pause, he relented and ran in to get them. We grabbed our bikes and were on our way. Navigating bike lanes without technology in a foreign city was a bit difficult, but Chris did fantastic with the map we had grabbed at the tourist information office the day before. After 20 minutes, we arrived at our destination. The Accademia, the home of Michelangelo's David!

We were prepared to stand in line for a while, but were blessed by the rain as there were only 15-20 standing in line in front of us! The line took no longer than 10 minutes and before we knew it we were there, standing in front of the 17-foot tall masterpiece. It took me by surprise; there at the end of a hallway, in pure white marble stood the David. The statue stood underneath a dome and perfect lighting made especially for it. It was breath-taking. 

We sat down for a while, listening to our audio guide tell us about the history and work of Michelangelo and after that, we just sat there in awed-silence. This truly was a masterpiece. And like all great things in life . . . photography was not allowed.  I had seen pictures of the statue many times before, and it looks like a statue. But in person, it is extraordinary. And when you compare it to the unfinished works of Michelangelo (known as "The Prisoners") just a few yards away, it looks even more impressive. This perfectly smooth statue was chiseled out of a block of marble. (I've never tried to chisel or carve anything other than a pumpkin and that never turned out well, so you can imagine how impressed I was by this.)

We truly enjoyed this morning, and it is one of our favorite experiences and memories of our trip. 

The Baptistry in front of the Duomo

The doors to the Baptistry, each panel depicting a bible story

 

A view of Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi museum. 

It was overcast and raining, but it's still beautiful

You can see more photos here!

How long we were there: 1 3/4 days

What we did/saw: Our first day there (after we got checked in and Chris got the bikes fixed, more on that another day) we rode to the city center and took a Rick Steve's audio guided walking tour of the city. We saw the outside of the Duomo, a Gothic cathedral with a very colorful facade; the baptistery with it's mosaic ceiling and famous bronze doors, and walked the pedestrian-only street to Ponte Vecchio (bridge) on the Arno River. We admired the statues outside the Uffizi museum, and the Palazzo Vecchio and got a feel for the city where the Renaissance movement started.

On day two we started out (in the rain) on our bikes to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David, which was a highlight of the whole day. (Amazingly, we arrived 5 minutes after they opened and we waited in line for less than 10 minutes!) From there we walked our bikes while holding umbrellas in the rain to the Uffizi where we stood in line for 2 hours waiting to get in. Once we got in, we walked through each room taking in works of Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Donatello, Botticelli, and Michelangelo. I started to get tired after and hour and half so we didn't stay much longer than that. But it was raining outside so it was really the best place to be!

What we ate: We had both our worst meal and our best meal in Florence. The first meal we had in Florence was at a little shop down the street from our apartment. They had patio seating and looked kind of cute/local. After we ordered, we realized they were microwaving frozen meals! (AH!) Thankfully, it was cheap. Dinner was difficult to find since the restaurants seemed to close before 8 p.m., thankfully we found a place and enjoyed pastas and wine. (I had a spinach gnocchi, Chris had a mushroom sauce with a wide noodle which I forgot the name of.) We also split a tiramisu for dessert.

Our lunch the next day was amazing. We waited to eat until we finished the Uffizi, meaning most places were actually closed until dinner. We did stumble upon a Russian-Italian place that looked great. We took our time eating and enjoyed every bite of our food. I ordered a pasta with eggplant red sauce and Chris ordered a pasta with a creamy meat sauce. Then we split an entree of rabbit with a vinaigrette sauce. It was so amazing (and we stuffed ourselves silly). This was one of the best meals we had.

Where we stayed: We had our own room and shared bathroom and kitchen at a bed and breakfast. There were multiple rooms and guests staying there so it was a lot different from our previous stop. It was a very causal environment and pretty comfortable. They had bikes available for rent as well which we took full advantage of. Our host was nice enough, we did have to wait 2 hours to get our room as another couple was checking out and when we went to look at the bikes we saw that they needed tune-ups before we could use them. Thankfully, I married a handy-man!

How we got around: We had taken a train from Rome to Florence and then took a bus from the station to our bed and breakfast and then back again when it was time to go. We biked everywhere else!

Florence was in a word, inspiring. To see the city where so many famous artists lived and worked was amazing. Michelangelo, Botticelli, Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and many many others all spent time in Florence and have work displayed there. I'm hoping Chris will be a guest writer on my blog and share more about the Renaissance and how it impacted him while we were there.

For now, I'll share an experience:

As we were leaving our apartment on the morning after we arrived, I noticed it began to sprinkle. I asked Chris while was locking the door if we should grab our umbrellas. After a long pause, he relented and ran in to get them. We grabbed our bikes and were on our way. Navigating bike lanes without technology in a foreign city was a bit difficult, but Chris did fantastic with the map we had grabbed at the tourist information office the day before. After 20 minutes, we arrived at our destination. The Accademia, the home of Michelangelo's David!

We were prepared to stand in line for a while, but were blessed by the rain as there were only 15-20 standing in line in front of us! The line took no longer than 10 minutes and before we knew it we were there, standing in front of the 17-foot tall masterpiece. It took me by surprise; there at the end of a hallway, in pure white marble stood the David. The statue stood underneath a dome and perfect lighting made especially for it. It was breath-taking. 

We sat down for a while, listening to our audio guide tell us about the history and work of Michelangelo and after that, we just sat there in awed-silence. This truly was a masterpiece. And like all great things in life . . . photography was not allowed.  I had seen pictures of the statue many times before, and it looks like a statue. But in person, it is extraordinary. And when you compare it to the unfinished works of Michelangelo (known as "The Prisoners") just a few yards away, it looks even more impressive. This perfectly smooth statue was chiseled out of a block of marble. (I've never tried to chisel or carve anything other than a pumpkin and that never turned out well, so you can imagine how impressed I was by this.)

We truly enjoyed this morning, and it is one of our favorite experiences and memories of our trip. 

The Baptistry in front of the Duomo

The doors to the Baptistry, each panel depicting a bible story

 

A view of Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi museum. 

It was overcast and raining, but it's still beautiful

You can see more photos here!

How long we were there: 1 3/4 days

What we did/saw: Our first day there (after we got checked in and Chris got the bikes fixed, more on that another day) we rode to the city center and took a Rick Steve's audio guided walking tour of the city. We saw the outside of the Duomo, a Gothic cathedral with a very colorful facade; the baptistery with it's mosaic ceiling and famous bronze doors, and walked the pedestrian-only street to Ponte Vecchio (bridge) on the Arno River. We admired the statues outside the Uffizi museum, and the Palazzo Vecchio and got a feel for the city where the Renaissance movement started.

On day two we started out (in the rain) on our bikes to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David, which was a highlight of the whole day. (Amazingly, we arrived 5 minutes after they opened and we waited in line for less than 10 minutes!) From there we walked our bikes while holding umbrellas in the rain to the Uffizi where we stood in line for 2 hours waiting to get in. Once we got in, we walked through each room taking in works of Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Donatello, Botticelli, and Michelangelo. I started to get tired after and hour and half so we didn't stay much longer than that. But it was raining outside so it was really the best place to be!

What we ate: We had both our worst meal and our best meal in Florence. The first meal we had in Florence was at a little shop down the street from our apartment. They had patio seating and looked kind of cute/local. After we ordered, we realized they were microwaving frozen meals! (AH!) Thankfully, it was cheap. Dinner was difficult to find since the restaurants seemed to close before 8 p.m., thankfully we found a place and enjoyed pastas and wine. (I had a spinach gnocchi, Chris had a mushroom sauce with a wide noodle which I forgot the name of.) We also split a tiramisu for dessert.

Our lunch the next day was amazing. We waited to eat until we finished the Uffizi, meaning most places were actually closed until dinner. We did stumble upon a Russian-Italian place that looked great. We took our time eating and enjoyed every bite of our food. I ordered a pasta with eggplant red sauce and Chris ordered a pasta with a creamy meat sauce. Then we split an entree of rabbit with a vinaigrette sauce. It was so amazing (and we stuffed ourselves silly). This was one of the best meals we had.

Where we stayed: We had our own room and shared bathroom and kitchen at a bed and breakfast. There were multiple rooms and guests staying there so it was a lot different from our previous stop. It was a very causal environment and pretty comfortable. They had bikes available for rent as well which we took full advantage of. Our host was nice enough, we did have to wait 2 hours to get our room as another couple was checking out and when we went to look at the bikes we saw that they needed tune-ups before we could use them. Thankfully, I married a handy-man!

How we got around: We had taken a train from Rome to Florence and then took a bus from the station to our bed and breakfast and then back again when it was time to go. We biked everywhere else!

When in Rome . . .

Ancient Rome is exactly that, ancient. It was almost unbelievable to wander through the Roman Forum and visit the Colosseum where people have lived, ruled, and died well over a thousand years before the United States was even discovered. We just don't have that kind of history here. But in Rome, everything has a history, a very long history!

We walked through the ancient ruins of the Roman Forum, admiring columns that have been standing for thousands of years, marveling at the architecture that must have been spectacular in its day. I felt a little ashamed that I knew so little about the sights I was seeing. I felt like I needed to read a history book to fully grasp what had once been a great empire.

We wandered through the overwhelming museum in the Vatican to find our way to the Sistine Chapel where we marveled at the work done long ago by Michelangelo. And I couldn't even take pictures to show you! My neck hurt from staring up at the ceiling for almost an hour as we tried to take it all in (which is impossible). I couldn't believe my very own eyes were staring up at this famous work of art!

We sat out in the square enjoying the fountains, the sunshine, and the perfect architecture of St. Peter's Basilica. We climbed the narrow, winding stairs of the tower only to discover it was too crowded with other visitors to even take a decent picture. 

After we had seen the sites on our list and we still had an hour or two before heading to our apartment we decided to head to Trastevere, a cute area just south of Vatican City that has maintained a lot of its medieval appearance and character from the past. We wandered the cobblestone streets and then found a place to enjoy a drink. We had dinner on a bridge enjoying the view of the sunset over the river. After two full days of sightseeing and walking around, a quiet, restful evening was a nice treat.

How long we were there: 2 1/4 days

What we did/saw: On our first full day, we toured the Colosseum, the Roman Forums, and the Pantheon. Then we walked up the Spanish steps. The second day we went to Vatican City and toured the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. After a brief nap in a park by St. Angelo's Castle, we wandered around Trastevere.

What we ate: For dinner the first night, we had pizza and the most delicious house red wine at a restaurant near our apartment. For lunch the next day I had spinach and mozerella ravioli and Chris had a pasta that I had never seen before.  The noodles were long like spaghetti but thicker with a hole in the middle like a piece of licorice for lunch; he loved them! The cafe had tables set up outside on the cobblestone road with large patio umbrellas. It were off the beaten path so it wasn't very crowed. And for dessert, we had gelato!

The following day we had lunch near the Vatican at another cafe with a cobblestone patio; I had cannelloni and Chris had carbonara. Dinner was eaten in parts. First, we sat down at a cafe where I had a glass of white wine and Chris had a beer. Then we ordered a margarita pizza to go (or as they say "for take away") and ate it on a bridge near Tiber Island. We had eaten lunch around 3 p.m. so we weren't very hungry when dinner time came around.

Where we stayed: Our Air BnB apartment was perfect! We could not have asked for a better place to start our vacation. G* was the perfect hostess and had decorated her spare bedroom and bathroom to be a refreshing and quiet haven for her traveling visitors. She and her husband were about our age and had lived in Rome for several years. She made us breakfast each morning consisting of toast, homemade jams, cookies, juice and coffee. Italian breakfasts tend to be on the sweeter side (not the bacon and eggs type of culture). After our first day in the city, we came back exhausted and she even offered to make us dinner! She made a tomato/mozzarella salad, cooked up a vegetable we weren't able to translate into English, bread and slices of salami.  She gave us a lot of advice about what to see and you can just tell she loved her city and her culture. She also loved getting to know about our culture.

How we got around: We took a train from the airport to the apartment we stayed at. We took the metro most of the time to get around but did take a bus once. We walked a lot too.

* Not giving her real name.

You can view more photos from Rome here!

Ancient Rome is exactly that, ancient. It was almost unbelievable to wander through the Roman Forum and visit the Colosseum where people have lived, ruled, and died well over a thousand years before the United States was even discovered. We just don't have that kind of history here. But in Rome, everything has a history, a very long history!

We walked through the ancient ruins of the Roman Forum, admiring columns that have been standing for thousands of years, marveling at the architecture that must have been spectacular in its day. I felt a little ashamed that I knew so little about the sights I was seeing. I felt like I needed to read a history book to fully grasp what had once been a great empire.

We wandered through the overwhelming museum in the Vatican to find our way to the Sistine Chapel where we marveled at the work done long ago by Michelangelo. And I couldn't even take pictures to show you! My neck hurt from staring up at the ceiling for almost an hour as we tried to take it all in (which is impossible). I couldn't believe my very own eyes were staring up at this famous work of art!

We sat out in the square enjoying the fountains, the sunshine, and the perfect architecture of St. Peter's Basilica. We climbed the narrow, winding stairs of the tower only to discover it was too crowded with other visitors to even take a decent picture. 

After we had seen the sites on our list and we still had an hour or two before heading to our apartment we decided to head to Trastevere, a cute area just south of Vatican City that has maintained a lot of its medieval appearance and character from the past. We wandered the cobblestone streets and then found a place to enjoy a drink. We had dinner on a bridge enjoying the view of the sunset over the river. After two full days of sightseeing and walking around, a quiet, restful evening was a nice treat.

How long we were there: 2 1/4 days

What we did/saw: On our first full day, we toured the Colosseum, the Roman Forums, and the Pantheon. Then we walked up the Spanish steps. The second day we went to Vatican City and toured the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. After a brief nap in a park by St. Angelo's Castle, we wandered around Trastevere.

What we ate: For dinner the first night, we had pizza and the most delicious house red wine at a restaurant near our apartment. For lunch the next day I had spinach and mozerella ravioli and Chris had a pasta that I had never seen before.  The noodles were long like spaghetti but thicker with a hole in the middle like a piece of licorice for lunch; he loved them! The cafe had tables set up outside on the cobblestone road with large patio umbrellas. It were off the beaten path so it wasn't very crowed. And for dessert, we had gelato!

The following day we had lunch near the Vatican at another cafe with a cobblestone patio; I had cannelloni and Chris had carbonara. Dinner was eaten in parts. First, we sat down at a cafe where I had a glass of white wine and Chris had a beer. Then we ordered a margarita pizza to go (or as they say "for take away") and ate it on a bridge near Tiber Island. We had eaten lunch around 3 p.m. so we weren't very hungry when dinner time came around.

Where we stayed: Our Air BnB apartment was perfect! We could not have asked for a better place to start our vacation. G* was the perfect hostess and had decorated her spare bedroom and bathroom to be a refreshing and quiet haven for her traveling visitors. She and her husband were about our age and had lived in Rome for several years. She made us breakfast each morning consisting of toast, homemade jams, cookies, juice and coffee. Italian breakfasts tend to be on the sweeter side (not the bacon and eggs type of culture). After our first day in the city, we came back exhausted and she even offered to make us dinner! She made a tomato/mozzarella salad, cooked up a vegetable we weren't able to translate into English, bread and slices of salami.  She gave us a lot of advice about what to see and you can just tell she loved her city and her culture. She also loved getting to know about our culture.

How we got around: We took a train from the airport to the apartment we stayed at. We took the metro most of the time to get around but did take a bus once. We walked a lot too.

* Not giving her real name.

You can view more photos from Rome here!

Our Backpacking Adventure

enjoying the sunset in Florence from the Ponte Vecchio

My husband and I returned from our European backpacking adventure on Saturday.  Chris was just starting to recover from his cold while mine was just kicking into full swing. The flight home was pretty miserable for that reason alone. But I really don't want to complain about our vacation. This was a "once in a lifetime" trip (until we go back, that is) and I want to look at it through my rose-tinted glasses forever!

It really was an amazing trip. We visited 10 different cities in 5 countries in 14 days. It was one of those "whirl-wind" vacations that thankfully didn't fly by! At first, I was afraid that each day would go too fast and before you knew it I'd be back at home where life is normal (and sometimes, boring). Thankfully, each day was so busy with things to see that it actually felt like we were away for much longer than two weeks.  And by the time we needed to come home, we were both ready for our own beds and a little normal.

I want to take my time sharing our adventures with you; so I'm planning to write about each stop separately. In each post, I hope to share a story and a few details like where we stayed, what we ate, how we got around, and what we liked most or didn't like at all. I will be posting a few photos along with each post, but a majority of them will be uploaded to Facebook (as my blog can't handle that many photos!).

Today, I want to share a few things that made our trip really enjoyable. They don't pertain to any one day or location so I think it's okay that I share them here.

- We may have "backpacked" through Europe, but only in terms of how we carried our luggage. We had invested in two internal-frame hiking packs a while ago in hopes that this trip would actually happen. Traveling with a backpack was very convenient. We could easily get up/down stairs without an elevator and the cobblestone roads didn't hinder us in the least. I couldn't imagine trying to wheel a suitcase on those! The only times I regretted having a pack was when I was forced to run to catch my train (more on that later)!

 - My husband is one of the most well-organized travelers I have ever met. He arranged our itinerary to include where we were staying, how we were getting there (which train and which bus) and the cost of each main attraction.  He had done a ton of research before we left (while I did absolutely nothing) which made traveling really easy and almost stress-free.

- We used a website called Air BnB  (like Air Bread and Breakfast) to book places to stay. Most of them were actually people's spare bedrooms in their apartments with the exception of one which was a more like a hostel where several people stayed. This was almost the same price as staying in hostels but we had our own room and in a few cases, our own bathroom. It was definitely cheaper than hotels and gave us a chance to meet and get to know a local! I will share more interesting stories about this later.

- We downloaded an audio tour guide from Rick Steves, he had walking tours for each city we visited as well as many tours of main attractions like the Roman Forums, the David, and many others. This was a great way to learn about the sites we were seeing without paying for a guide! We learned so much this way.

- One thing I did contribute to our trip: protein bars. For months it looked like we might not actually afford this trip so I started collecting protein bars when I found great sales and had coupons. This usually meant I bought them one at a time, but made them almost free. I didn't keep track of all my totals, but I bought about 15 bars for under $10 while they usually retail for at least $1 if not $2 each. Thankfully, we were able to afford to eat on our trip (thanks friends and family for the generous gifts!) but the protein bars still came in super handy. Several times we caught ourselves in the middle of sight seeing at lunch time and wouldn't finish that sight until 3 p.m. So, we'd grab a bar and keep on going until we could get to an affordable (far from tourists) restaurant.

We had a really wonderful time. No huge mishaps, no huge arguments and no injuries! I don't think it could have gone better. Please come back and read my more detailed posts about our trip in the days and weeks to come (and please be patient while you wait)!

enjoying the sunset in Florence from the Ponte Vecchio

My husband and I returned from our European backpacking adventure on Saturday.  Chris was just starting to recover from his cold while mine was just kicking into full swing. The flight home was pretty miserable for that reason alone. But I really don't want to complain about our vacation. This was a "once in a lifetime" trip (until we go back, that is) and I want to look at it through my rose-tinted glasses forever!

It really was an amazing trip. We visited 10 different cities in 5 countries in 14 days. It was one of those "whirl-wind" vacations that thankfully didn't fly by! At first, I was afraid that each day would go too fast and before you knew it I'd be back at home where life is normal (and sometimes, boring). Thankfully, each day was so busy with things to see that it actually felt like we were away for much longer than two weeks.  And by the time we needed to come home, we were both ready for our own beds and a little normal.

I want to take my time sharing our adventures with you; so I'm planning to write about each stop separately. In each post, I hope to share a story and a few details like where we stayed, what we ate, how we got around, and what we liked most or didn't like at all. I will be posting a few photos along with each post, but a majority of them will be uploaded to Facebook (as my blog can't handle that many photos!).

Today, I want to share a few things that made our trip really enjoyable. They don't pertain to any one day or location so I think it's okay that I share them here.

- We may have "backpacked" through Europe, but only in terms of how we carried our luggage. We had invested in two internal-frame hiking packs a while ago in hopes that this trip would actually happen. Traveling with a backpack was very convenient. We could easily get up/down stairs without an elevator and the cobblestone roads didn't hinder us in the least. I couldn't imagine trying to wheel a suitcase on those! The only times I regretted having a pack was when I was forced to run to catch my train (more on that later)!

 - My husband is one of the most well-organized travelers I have ever met. He arranged our itinerary to include where we were staying, how we were getting there (which train and which bus) and the cost of each main attraction.  He had done a ton of research before we left (while I did absolutely nothing) which made traveling really easy and almost stress-free.

- We used a website called Air BnB  (like Air Bread and Breakfast) to book places to stay. Most of them were actually people's spare bedrooms in their apartments with the exception of one which was a more like a hostel where several people stayed. This was almost the same price as staying in hostels but we had our own room and in a few cases, our own bathroom. It was definitely cheaper than hotels and gave us a chance to meet and get to know a local! I will share more interesting stories about this later.

- We downloaded an audio tour guide from Rick Steves, he had walking tours for each city we visited as well as many tours of main attractions like the Roman Forums, the David, and many others. This was a great way to learn about the sites we were seeing without paying for a guide! We learned so much this way.

- One thing I did contribute to our trip: protein bars. For months it looked like we might not actually afford this trip so I started collecting protein bars when I found great sales and had coupons. This usually meant I bought them one at a time, but made them almost free. I didn't keep track of all my totals, but I bought about 15 bars for under $10 while they usually retail for at least $1 if not $2 each. Thankfully, we were able to afford to eat on our trip (thanks friends and family for the generous gifts!) but the protein bars still came in super handy. Several times we caught ourselves in the middle of sight seeing at lunch time and wouldn't finish that sight until 3 p.m. So, we'd grab a bar and keep on going until we could get to an affordable (far from tourists) restaurant.

We had a really wonderful time. No huge mishaps, no huge arguments and no injuries! I don't think it could have gone better. Please come back and read my more detailed posts about our trip in the days and weeks to come (and please be patient while you wait)!