Home. USA!

"Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving." ~Terry Pratchett

home. home truly is where the heart is. my heart is so full. i am sad to be away from the adventures of Europe, but i am so happy to be home. so happy to be with my family. so happy to hear the voices of my friends. so blessed to have all these people to come home to. home is here and so am i.

It's hard to believe that I just spent 9 weeks in Europe. When people ask me about the trip I admit that it feels like I never went. But then I look back at my pictures and it all starts coming back to me. I am so blessed. The sights I saw, the people I met, and the experiences I had were once in a lifetime and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be a part of them. I learned so much about Chris, myself, and the world around me. I learned that I am such a small part of this world. Such a small part of this world, but such a big part of my own life. I can make a difference. I can make a difference in the lives of my friends, family, and patients. I matter. Everyone matters. We are all such a small part of this huge, amazing, wonderful world of God, but we all matter. Whether it's to one person, a family, or God we matter. It's amazing. It's amazing the lives that we can affect just in our everyday life. It's amazing the effect that others can have on you. What you can learn from others and their experiences. Don't take that for granted. Be grateful. Say thank you. Show appreciation. It doesn't go unnoticed.   

Travel. Meet new people. Have conversation with strangers. You will be affected. You will affect them. You will learn and love and be loved.

Travel. Allow yourself to see your world with new eyes, open eyes. See your life with a new heart, an open heart. Find the good in others and situations. Live life without expectation and accept the unexpected. Be free!!

Love Life, Live Life

Barcelona, Valencia y Madrid, Spain

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end." ~Ernest Hemingway


I can say this as I have journeyed 10 countries in 9 weeks...Spain is the most beautiful country I have ever seen. From small villages to big cities the beauty of the architecture, people, and lifestyle is something to love.


Our last week in Spain & Europe was a great one! We spent it as a team of three again which made for a fun adventure! Our dear friend Madeline flew over and meet us in Barcelona, spent the week with us, and flew home from Madrid. She was a welcomed relief for sure! After 8 weeks of sight seeing Chris and I were ready to relax, siesta (all day), and lay low. But with Maddie there we had some pep in our step and felt ready to take on Barcelona, Valencia, and Madrid before heading home. 


As I said, Madeline met us in Barcelona on Tuesday the 17th. Chris and I arrived in Barcelona that morning after a long overnight train from Granada. After some nerve racking hours (me wondering if I told her the wrong train station, did her flight get delayed, is she lost in Barcelona ALONE!) Maddie finally arrived and we were on our way!


Barcelona, in my opinion, is the most beautiful big city. Amazing architecture with Gaudi influence, green spaces everywhere, and space...tons of space! I do wish we would have seen more of Barcelona but alas...the Spainish night life got a hold of us and swallowed us up...all of us! We spent one whole day of our visit on and off a tour bus. I think it was a great way to see the city. Barcelona is huge! It would have been too difficult for us to try and find our way to all the sights on our own. The bus took us all over town- up the mountains, to the beach, and through business, shopping, and residential areas of the city. Its hard not to fall in love with Barcelona after a day like that. We did hop off a few times to see the beach, tour the stunning La Sagrada Familia, and grab some lunch on La Rambla. If you've never heard of La Sagrada Familia please google image it. It is absolutely incredible. One of the most amazing churches I have and will ever enter. Construction began in 1882 and is said to be completed in another 8 years. After visiting and seeing what they have accomplished since 1882 I expect that it will take more than 8 years to complete, but what do I know. Although it is under construction you can still visit, take tours, and participate in masses. We spent hours inside and out simply admiring the detail, the beauty, and the genius that is Gaudi's dream. When Gaudi was questioned about the lengthy construction time he said "My client is not in a hurry." I love that. And I love that even with the construction and obvious signs of incompletion it is still one of the most beautiful structures I have ever witnessed. It's awe inspiring and truly a masterpiece. Gaudi was a genius. The structure is such a modern piece of work although it was envisioned over 100 years ago. Genius! I would advice everyone to make plans to see La Sagrada Familia now or after completion...but what if the world ends this year. oh mess...just go now. It's worth it!!! 100%!  


Maybe it's a good thing that we didn't do much more in Barcelona besides eat, visit with our new Aussie friends, and party because nothing could have lived up to our La Sagrada Familia visit!


Our fifth city to visit in Spain was Valencia. Wow! Beautiful! Spain is so beautiful! (have I said that before?) For Chris and I Valencia was bittersweet. It was our last city to really spend time in, meet new people, and relax. It was our last hooray before a day in Madrid then home. For Maddie it was another city to shop, party, and sight see. Needless to say we all loved it! 


I spent some time on my own walking the city. I visited the Cathedral (the Metropolitan Cathedral–Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia, also known as Saint Mary's Cathedral or Valencia Cathedral- what a mouthful!), spent some time admiring the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts & Sciences), and walked the quiet cobblestone streets. If you don't already know about the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia then you are missing out. Google this too because it is so worth it! All the structures, 6 of them in total I think, were designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. It's breathtaking. In ways it looks like a Star Wars set, but it has so much beauty in the simple but grand detail. There's a shallow pool that weaves in and out of the buildings too which adds an element of nature and beauty to the modern structures. 


Maddie and I had a wonderful girls day in Valencia as well. We woke up early and headed to the beach for a couple of hours before wasting away the afternoon shopping, eating, and catching up! It was so fun to spend time together! The beach wasn't too bad either. It reminded me so much of Venice beach in LA. There was a big path for walkers, bikers, and street vendors and the beach was a mile long before actually reaching the freezing cold blue waters of the Mediterranean. We enjoyed some amazing people watching too! (if you know me you know how much I LOVE "people watching")


Sight seeing, shopping, and lounging on the beach didn't take all of our time in Valencia though! The three of us enjoyed a wonderful dinner on Mom and Dad as a celebration of our trip! We also enjoyed meeting locals and visitors alike on an all night pub crawl through the streets of Valencia! Spaniards can party. Let me tell you!! They start at about 10 pm and don't stop until sunrise or later...just to wake up, "work a day," and do it all over again!! I say I'm too old for that, but they all do it no matter their age. It's crazy!


Our final destination was Madrid! We arrived in Madrid just before noon on Monday the 23rd before flying out Tuesday morning. I hadn't heard much about Madrid from other travelers so didn't have any expectations for the day. Our hostel was in a prime location for shopping though so thats exactly what we did! Chris did a little shopping before freeing  himself to his computer and the AC of our room. Maddie and I wasted away the afternoon and our euros in and out of shops in the Sol area of Madrid. Great day! I'd say it was a great way to end the trip. Relaxed, away from the hectic tourist scene, and spending $ (or euros)! Nothing better!


LOVE LIFE  

Sevilla & Granada, Spain

“Now more than ever do I realize that I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere.” ~Isabelle Eberhardt

I have fallen in love with Spain. I might have mentioned this in my last post, but it's confirmed. I wish I could stay here forever. The culture is absolutely spectacular, the food is amazing, the people are fun and free, and it's appropriate to siesta every single day!

I love it!

I wish we had saved more time for Spain, but I guess that just means I'll have to come back. Shucks!

We arrived in beautiful Sevilla in the evening of Thursday, July 12th. It didn't take us long to fall into the Spanish swing of things. After a short siesta we were roaming the streets of Sevilla, sipping sangria, and eating tapas. Delish! 

Sevilla is such a beautiful city! 

The city thrives in its Arabic history and greatly benefits from the architectural influences. Even the largest cathedral in the world, Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede, that's right in the middle of the city has Arabic influences. We learned that when the Christians took over they simply built on top of the standing structures instead of destroying them. It's such a sight to see! Archways, painted tiles, pillars, and amazing detailing everywhere brings the city to life in a way nowhere else has. It was fun to just get lost in the streets or the Jewish district and admire the views. Orange trees are scattered throughout the entire city which helps to cover the smell of horse poo and adds another element of beauty. The oranges are also used to make the city's gin, Beafeater.

We were able to tour the Reales Alcazares (the royal castle), take a city walking tour, visit and learn about the Jewish district (Santa Cruz) with its powerful history, spend some quiet time in Plaza de Espana, and shop a bit! We also met some fun party goers from the hostel. We found a pub crawl with them and joined the locals at the clubs until sunrise! We took it slow the other nights...enjoying fresh sangria, eating tapas, and seeing a Flamenco show!

When in Spain right?

The craziness didn't stop in Granada either, but to be honest it probably won't until we board our flight back on Tuesday. 

The entire Andalucia region doesn't seem to disappoint! Granada was our second stop in the area and was just as beautiful as Sevilla. Granada is smaller and has much more of a Spanish feeling to it. As with Sevilla though it also has boat loads of Arabic influences still. I just wish we could have seen more of it! We started our stay here with a walking tour that began just 40 minutes after our train rolled in. And that 3 hour tour was the extent of our sight seeing. Horrible to admit, but with an even worse reason. I guess the night life caught our attention in Spain and carried us through Granada...all day and night long! We/I had to have an entire day to recuperate. I'm too old for this young party seen I guess!

Nevertheless, Granada was absolutely spectacular! We'll just will have to make another trip to visit the Alhambra and other "unmissable" sights. Oops!

I'm starting to get sad when I think that we fly back in just 5 days. 5 days! I know it will be nice to be home, but I'm loving this lifestyle and only now starting to feel like I've got the hang of it. Ahh. 

No more sad talk though! We have had three great days in Barcelona with Madeline and will travel as a team of three to Valencia and Madrid before saying adios to Spain and hello to America on Tuesday. 

Love Life and travel. 

Travel please! There is so much to see, explore, and experience! Do it!

Pamplona, Spain

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.”  ~James A. Michener

I can not even begin to describe how exciting the past 36 hours have been! 

Wow!

I wish we could do it all over again. 

After a LONG 29 hours of train travel we arrived safely to our destination, Pamplona, on Tuesday evening. We hit the ground running and didn't stop until we sat on our train to southern Spain today.

I have fallen in love with Spain already. The people are beyond welcoming and so friendly. It's great to be able to understand the language too (kind of). And we've just experience something that I will never ever forget!

Chris said it well last night. "We've just experienced something in a matter of hours that we will remember for the rest of our lives." So true and so wonderful!

In the last 36 hours we have run with the bulls, seen countless parades, enjoyed 6 bullfights, witnessed the honor of receiving 3 ears (yes...ears), and joined one of the countries biggest and best parties. We have been to and lived through San Fermin!!!

It only took us a couple of hours on Tuesday to realize what we had gotten ourselves into. Shortly after arriving into the city and settling into our apartment we were wandering the streets...both shocked and silenced by the craziness. We made our way through a market that had us feeling as if we were at the fair. (we still had no clue of what we were in for). Lots of vendors selling handmade gifts, souvenirs, and traditional San Fermin clothing. Food stations with churros and chocolate sauce, paella, sangria, and all the meat you could ever want. 

Eventually we made our way to the old town streets where the party was in full force. Everyone was wearing sangria stained white clothing from head to toe with drinks in hand. Music blared from every single bar. Bands crowded the alleys screaming out their own song of choice. People were singing, dancing, and showing signs of pure happiness everywhere we looked. People of all ages. We soon learned that this lasted all day and night for seven straight days. It was absolutely insane! The energy was so contagious. It didn't take long for us to join the party and try to act as locals. We stood out like sore thumbs though in our jeans and colorful shirts (we eventually bought all the gear and blended in quite well!).

We spent the night sipping sangria, people watching, soaking in the atmosphere, and enjoying a beautiful firework show. 

Wednesday proved to be an even better day with more surprises in store.

The day started early and ended late. We witnessed the running of the bulls at 8 am, watched as young and old horsed around with the bulls in the arena, and did some necessary shopping. The bull run was absolute chaos that lasted all of 3 minutes. People lined the streets to witness the brave outrun the bulls or their attempt to. We didn't see anyone get gored or injured in the run, but it was amusing to see the frightened faces of the runners as they dodged the bulls (or fallen runners), jumped the fences, or simply froze in the wake of the madness. 

After the run everyone made their way to the arena to watch the same fools chase around and be chased by the bulls. It was so fun to watch! The bulls have corks on their horns so they don't injure anyone. Each bull comes out for about 10 minutes while the people tease and rough house with them. The bulls do get some of the people and send them flying, but no one seems to get hurt. It's really just comical entertainment until the steer takes the bull out and another one starts the fun all over. After the show we shopped through the markets and made our way back to the apartment for our siesta. 

The evening started with some beer in the plaza before the bull fight. I think this was my favorite part! We didn't know what to expect, but what we saw was absolutely spectacular. The fight was 2 hours long and ended with 6 dead bulls and a definite winner! Three matadors took their turns teasing, attacking, and eventually stabbing the bull to death. It sounds horrible, but was extremely entertaining. After watching for a bit we were able to recognize the skill of the matador and cheer along with others after good moves or close calls! If the matador excelled in the race then the mayor or president of the games that day would decide if he deserved one or two of the bulls ears as a prize. We were lucky enough to witness the receiving of three ears!! And two of them went to one matador...so exciting! He was all over the papers today.

When the show was over we found ourselves in the streets again with everyone. We partied, had dinner, and ended the night with another amazing firework show.

Chris actually ran with the bulls this morning before we headed out of town. He is still alive to tell the story, but I have to admit that I was a little worried he wouldn't survive!

The experience was something I will always remember and I wish we could have stayed longer! 

Live Life on the edge!

Italy

"People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home." ~Dogobert D. Runes

I probably should have written this ages ago (a week), but alas...I didn't. I have been busy gallivanting through Italy. Eating pizza and pasta. Devouring gelato several times daily. And seeing some of the worlds oldest sights. 

I have so much to share that no doubt this will be a long post, but I will try to reduce it to just a few paragraphs. We have been in Italy for two weeks and are now on our night train across the border to Spain for our final two weeks. We had a wonderful time in Italy, but are both ready to move on and are eager for Spain! We should arrive in Pamplona, Spain (for running of the bulls!!) after about 29 hours of train travel...fingers crossed.

Where to begin. 

After changing around our schedule, we finally arrived to Florence on Tuesday the 26th of June. We were still a team of three then as Lauren was still traveling with us for another week. I am so grateful for her visit...it helped us break up the trip and gave Chris and I a break from each other for a bit. 

We arrived into Florence and checked into our apartment on Tuesday evening. That's right, we stayed in an apartment. And since then we have been splurging on apartments. Apartments with no AC and that require us to climb mountains, but they are better than 20 person dorm rooms for sure. 

Ok, back to the travels. 

Florence. 

I remembered so little of Italy from when I was there 12 years ago so it was fun to explore it all over again. We spent most of our time walking around and shopping instead of visiting all the museums. We admired the Duomo (the most beautiful building in the world in my opinion), we listened to street performers in Piazza Della Signoria, we ate our fair share of creamy gelato, and we shopped through the leather markets. Our apartment was in such a great location. We were right behind the Mercato Centrale and 5 minutes from Piazza Santa Maria Novella. We took advantage of the market and picked up some picnic food before making our way across Ponte Vecchio. We escaped the scorching heat with a picnic in the shade then toured through the Pitti Palace. After seeing other palaces and castles through Europe the Pitti Palace didn't seem too wonderful; the view of Florence from the gardens was pretty nice though! The highlight of Florence was Michelangelo's David (the Duomo is a close second).  He is so stunning and a truly remarkable work of art. The detailing is what I found most surprising. And the fact that it was all one single piece of marble. And that Michelangelo finished the piece at just 30 years old. Amazing! It's a must see for sure. We spent our nights watching futbol (surprise surprise). It was getting really exciting though because the finals were approaching and Italy was still in the race!

Rome. 

Wow...so much to see and so much to tell. We hit Rome running and wore ourselves out. I blame the heat for our exhaustion (not the fact that we have walked miles and miles everyday for 2 months). There was no place to escape the heat though and our apartment didn't provide any reprieve. As with every other city we spent our time exploring, walking through the streets, and soaking in all the beauty and history. Chris had to take care of some business one morning so Lauren and I took the opportunity to walk around. We visited the Colosseum and the tomb of the unknown soldier at Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. We wished at Fontana di Trevi and breezed through the Pantheon. The day didn't stop there! We walked around Piazza Novona and enjoyed lunch on the square then finally met Chris across the river. We all toured the Vactican museum and the Sistine Chapel that afternoon. Stunning! It was amazing to witness such beautiful works of art in such a historical place. The pope wasn't around, but we hear that we missed his speech in St Peter's Square just the next day. Bummer! We visited the Basilica of St. Peter too! What a long day. Sunday was the Euro championship game so we laid low during the day just to watch Italy lose to Spain 4-0. It was a sad night in Italy for sure. Good things did happen for us though! We met up with a friend of mine from SF (Alex) and spent the night catching up, watching the game, and taking a night walk through the city. All of Italy is so much more beautiful at night! All the old, dirty buildings look so raw during the day, but at night they glow in the street lights and look so much more glamorous!

Cinque Terre. 

Lauren made her way back to the US of A on Monday morning while Chris and I headed to the coast. We spent the next four days with some new friends in one of the most breathtaking, beautiful, picturesque places in the world. Seriously! If you've been to or seen pictures of Cinque Terre I don't see how you could disagree with me. 

Cinque Terre literally means 5 lands. There are 5 villages built up into the mountains right on the water. One could hike the trails between the villages or take the train. We took the train for free with our Eurail and abused our right. We spent four full days village hoping, soaking up the sun on the beaches,and meeting new American friends (all Texans)!! I considered this week our vacation from the holiday. Ha. It's exhausting walking all day, finding your way around a new city/country/language every few days, and trying to see all the "must see" sights.  I miss Cinque Terre already! 

Venice.

Our final stop in Italy. Thank goodness. Don't get me wrong, we both loved Italy, but italian food can get pretty monotonous and Italians can be extremely loud, overbearing, and rude. We are looking forward to the laid back environment in Spain for sure!

Venice was lovely though. It's just like the videos you see of it. Instead of streets there are canals and instead of cars there are boats. Kind of crazy, but really beautiful. There weren't any big landmarks or destinations that we wanted to see so we spent two days slowly wandering around. Alot of time was spent getting lost in the alleys, shopping along the Rialto Bridge, having wine while watching the sunset over the city, and lounging by the pool at our campsite. Venice is a really small place and easy to walk everywhere, but it's such a maze. Everywhere you turn there is another alley, bridge, or canal. Maps really don't help either. We found it was best to wander around and attempt to find the Grand Canal in order to find our way. From there we would start wandering again and just get lost again, but getting lost in Venice isn't so bad! 

It's hard to believe that we've only got two weeks left in Europe. Looking back to England and Belgium seems so long ago but only because of everything we've seen and everywhere we've been since. I am going to miss the freedom of traveling but am looking forward to driving my car, eating Chick-fil-a, and seeing my English speaking friends and family! 

Ciao Bella! 

Love Life

please forgive the errors and grammatical mistakes as i wrote this at the end of our 29 hour travel day