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Blurb Book.

After about a week in "production" our Blurb book finally arrived today.  All 196 pages of it!  I'm so happy with the final product.  Everything is top notch.  Binding.  Paper. Image quality. The whole 9 yards.  All of this for around about $115.  Sounds like a lot, but this book really captures our entire trip and will be a nice way to show people what we did and to have something to look back on for years to come.  Heck, the book has nearly 500 photos in it so even if you got them printed at CVS for 19-cents a pop you'd still be spending that kind of money and not get a nice little photo book like this. 

The Blurb software was easy to use and I was even able to create a few custom templates to help the layout a bit.  I actually did a good portion of the title and text pages in Photoshop and then imported them in so that I could have even more control over how the final product came out.  I had wanted to use the "premium paper" option that they have, but since we were over 160 pages that wasn't an option.  Oh well...maybe on the next book I make? 

Total project took about 2 weeks.  1 week of me designing it [with input from Kel] and then 1 week for the Blurb'ers to print it.   

Below are a few photos of the book of photos.  Woah, that sounded funny.  Is that even legal?

     

     

       

    [as always, click photos to enlarge]

What do you think?    

Photo Book?

I'm thinking about putting together a nice photo book [with some text] of our trip to Europe this past spring.  Something that we can have out on the coffee table to show folks when they visit and flip through oursleves when we feel nostalgic.  I've used MyPublisher before and know some folks who've had success with Blurb, but I'm really open to any suggestions.

So, leave me your suggestions down in the "comments" section and any pros/cons you think would help.  Much thanks!

Trip Recap 12: Lisbon.

Okay...this marks the final installment of our Trip Recap series. If you haven't followed along be sure to read Trip Recap 01: Rome first and then make your way through the entire 12 city series.  If you've already read Trip Recap 11: Madrid. feel free to move on...

    

Our overnight train was very similar to the one we took between Barcelona and Seville.  Same type of room and same result:  I slept fine and Kelly was up all night!  With the 1hr time change between Spain and Portugal [country #4 on this trip] we arrived into the outskirts of Lisbon around 7:30am. 

We took the subway to our hotel downtown and attempted to check-in...of course it was much to early for that!  Side note: the subway was the cleanest subway I've ever been on.  It looked like it had opened up 2 days ago and we were the first people to have ever ridden.  It was that clean!

Anyway...we stayed at the Hotel Duas Nacoes Residence right in the thick of the action.  Here are a few shots of what it looked like.

      

      

The elevator there was very old...one of those two door types where you have to manually operate it once you reach your floor.  I found this sticker very funny...in the event you are ever hauling trash inside the elevator of this hotel please make sure this never happens to you, it looks like it could hurt. 

 

Being so early on a Sunday morning the city was dead quiet.  We even had a hard time trying to get a bite to eat.  Here's what things look like when no one is around....

      

Later in the day these places would be crawling with people.

Going into Lisbon we didn't really know what to expect and by the end of our time there we really fell in love with the place.  It has a San Francisco type feel to it with its replica Golden Gate Bridge [designed by the same engineer] and it's elaborate cable car system that gets you up and down the steep, steep hills with ease. 

      

We killed some time by walking around and then hopped aboard a trolley to get a broader view of the city.  Kel picked up this cool necklace from an outdoor market that was just setting up. 

 

      

      

      

      

We jumped off the trolley atop the Alfama area hill in order to walk up a few more feet to the Castle of Saint George.  We explored the castle and got to see some panoramic views of the city.  On the way up I came across a public urinal right on the side of the street.  It was tucked behind a tiny metal screen and had a stream of water flowing down it.  Of course I had to give it a whirl...or should I say whiz! 

      

      

      

      

      

The castle also had one of the coolest things I've ever seen...a camera obscura.  It's a huge lens that is attached to cables and pulleys which allow the operator to control the image that is then broadcast onto a huge white sphere.  We could zoom in all the way to the bridge in the distance and see people walking around on the downtown streets.  After our time at the castle we grabbed some lunch at a cafe just at the base of the castle.

      

After lunch we rode the tram around a bit more and then checked into our digs and took a nap.  Again, Kel needed this bad since she didn't sleep a wink on the train ride into town. 

After relaxing a bit we took a stroll up to the Chiado neighborhood and found a cool little noodle bar for dinner.  In order to reach this part of town you can walk up a steep hill or take an outdoor elevator complete with bench seating.  We opted for the elevator!  The place we ate at, called Nood, was very similar to Wagamama [which we love in London and Boston] but everything just seemed much more fresh.  It wasn't Portuguese food by any stretch, but sometimes you need to take a break from all the traditional stuff!  Our waiter was great and we were asking him to translate all sorts of words for us to help us get by .  At the end of the meal he taught us another word..."desconto".  I liked that one! 

      

      

      

We came across that Santa Fe on our walk home...maybe I should start a European license plate project? 

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Our second day in Lisbon actually started out with a rain delay.  It was only 15 minutes long, but it was the first rain we'd encountered on the entire trip.  When we were in Jarnac an evening thunderstorm rolled through, but it was while we were making dinner and didn't really bother us.  This was the first time we actually had to change our plans because of the weather.  And by change our plans I mean we waited in the hotel lobby for the rain to stop and then go on our way.  Not a big deal at all!

After the rain we again took the Santa Justa elevator up to the Chiado area to walk around.  Once up top we dipped into the Museu Arqueologico de Carmo, essentially the remnants of an old church that was destroyed in an earthquake in the 1700's. 

        

      

      

      

After the ruins we stopped for a coffee and pastry at the famous A. Brasileira coffee/tea shop. 

      

The coffee/tea perked us right up and we walked around the Chiado a bit more before getting on the 28 tram and heading towards the Alfama neighborhood.

      

 

After walking the narrow streets of the Alfama and climbing many steep hills lunch was in order.  We stopped at a great local joint and had some of the best fish we've ever tasted.  Kel got the cod and I went with the salmon.  Take a look at how good this was!

      

Afterwards we walked around more, stopped into the Se Church [no that inviting] and explored the Alfama and Biaxa neighborhoods.

      

      

Later that evening we hit up a local Ginjinha store [pronounced zin-zin-ha].  It's a one man shop where they only serve one drink, Ginjinha.  It's a sweet berry flavored drink that you can sip or drink as a shot.  Everyone gathers around these places after work for a few drinks and to chat amongst friends.  The best thing is that each drink is only 1 Euro.   

      

      

With our whistle wet we then walked back up to the Barrio Alto neighborhood for dinner.  We found a great local place were we sat for a few hours eating a phenomenal meal.  Directly across the street was a small wine bar that was calling our name after dinner.  We drank a few choice Portuguese wines before calling it a night.

      

      

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June 9th, our final full day on this trip.  We got breakfast at the hotel and then set out for Alfama to check out the Thieves Market, a huge local flea market.  Kel was in search of some Portugues pottery to bring back home.  We struck out with the pottery but it was cool to walk around and take it all in.  Our next stop was the Panteao National which was originally built as a church but then re-dedicated as a national pantheon, housing the tombs of many important Portugues historical figures. 

      

 

Here's that same view from when we first arrived...just with some life to it now!

 

Back in town we went to a free wine tasting that is put on by a number of Portugues wineries. 

      

We actually had to fill out some paperwork and rate the various wines we tasted.  I just said everything had an "oaky" flavor to it!

For our final evening we bought a bottle of wine and walked up to the Alfama hillside to overlook the water. We sat, relaxed, and recalled the highlights from our journey.  After we walked into the neighborhood and found a restaurant called the Alfama Grill where we had some of the best kabobs we've ever tasted.  Seafood and Meat!  Of course we had a few appitizers and washed everything down with local beer and sangria.  After dinner we stopped to check out the annual festival that was going on in Alfama.  The party didn't get started until late, but once the band started everyone was ready to party!

        

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

 

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After a perfect night out on the town we made our way back to the hotel to pack our bags for an early morning taxi ride to Lisbon International and our trip home...

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So there you have it...our entire 5-week trip re-caped in photos and text.  I know there haven't been many comments posted throughout the series, but I hope that doesn't mean you haven't enjoyed it.  I'm glad we could share some of the trip with you and that you could get a flavor for what we saw and experienced.  If you ever get a chance to do something like this just do it.  Sure it costs a few dollars, but it's so worth every penny!

  

Trip Recap 11: Madrid

When we left of last at Trip Recap 10: Seville we were just about to board an early morning train Wednesday June, 3rd, bound for Madrid.  This was one of those super-duper high speed trains that hauls ass along the countryside and probably the nicest train we were on all trip long.

      

We were easily doing over 200mph and arrived into Madrid in just over 2 hours! 

After a quick subway ride and short walk we arrived at Hostel Adriano in the heart of the city, not far from Plaza Mayor.  This place really wasn't a hostel at all...much more of a traditional hotel with very nice rooms.  It was on the 4th floor of a building that was kinda sketchy, but the actual hostel was perfect.  Of course when we arrived it was too early to check in so we dropped our bags and set out to explore the area for a while. 

      

      

Our first stop was the famous Plaza Mayor where we could swing by the tourist information desk and find out what was what. 

      

After walking around for a while and getting lunch we were able to check into our room and deal with laundry for the 3rd and final time on the trip.  We found a small laundromat several blocks from the hotel and made the trek over with all of our gear.  Laundry is the real crappy part of a long trip like this, but it had to be done!

      

       

I had to stop at every bodega along the way to get enough single Euro's to feed the machines and after about an hour and half of chilling in the laundromat we were all clean!

After laundry time we ventured back out into the city to explore a bit more and get some dinner.  On a recommendation from several people we stopped at La Torre del Oro Bar Andalu[that's a mouthful] to get some grub and watch the bull fights on TV that were going on live on the other side of town.  The food and drink there were great, as was the atmosphere.  The bar was covered with amazing photos from years and years of bull flights.  They also had the heads of a few famous bulls on display!

      

       

We pushed back from the bar and after some more exploring we stumbled across a quaint dessert place in the La Latina neighborhood.  How good does this look? 

 

After dessert it was getting rather late so we made our way back to the hostel and turned in for the night.  A good first day in Madrid for sure!

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Day #2 started out with a search for tickets to the nights bull fight.  For 2 weeks in June there are fights each night and we wanted to check one out.  After stopping at a few ticket brokers we were able to buy a few choice seats, on the shady side of the ring, for about $40 each.  The fight started at 7pm.

 

After some breakfast we walked across the old city area to Museo de Prado.  The Prado has a great collection of El Greco's, Rembrants, Valazquez's and many others.  Of course you're not allowed to take photos in there...but I still snapped a few.

      

      

      

We had lunch at the museum cafe and then walked a few blocks west to visit the "central park" of Madrid.  What a beautiful park right in the center of town!

        

      

      

After the park we hit up museum #2 for the day, the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum.  This museum has an even mix of very old art and very new art, so it really has something for everyone. 

      

After the museum it was back to the hostel to tie on a quick siesta before we took the subway out to the Plaza de Toros for the bullfight!  We made our way inside, rented some seat cushions, and settled in with 25,000 of our closest Spanish friends.  Let me also say this...if the matadors didn't kill the bulls this night the smoke surely would have.  I think nearly every person was smoking cigarettes or cigars!  Now I won't get into the specifics or technicalities of the fights, but rather let the the photos speak for themselves.  To be brief though, we saw 3 matadors fight 2 bulls each, for a total of 6 fights lasting about 2hrs.  Highlights included when one of the bulls nearly jumped the ring, when a matadors sword flew several rows into the crowd, and when the final bull knocked the matador to the ground and roughed him up a bit!

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

So there you have it...a true Spanish bull fight.  Sure it's on the gory side, but that's just how it's done there!  In that 2nd to last photo you can actually see the blood of the bulls from when they are dragged into the chop house.  The next day you can actually eat that bull meat at some of the finer restaurants in town! 

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The next day we decided to get out of the city and explore one of the outlying towns.  We took the subway to a bus terminal and then a 45 minute bus ride to Toledo.  You should have seen our bus drive...the guy would have been a perfect fit to drive for Fung Wah if he ever came to the US.  He could bob-and-weave like the best of 'em!

Toledo is a hilltop town that is protected on 3 sides by a river, making it very easy to defend.  Once you arrive by bus you actually take a massive escalator up into the center of town.  We spent time at the Santa Iglesia Cathedral Primada [built in 1493] and then took a 45 minute train/car ride around the outskirts of town.  This was a fantastic way to really see the entire town and get a feel for how important it must have been so many years ago! 

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

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Our final day in Madrid started with us sleeping in!  We knew we'd be taking an overnight train to Lisbon that didn't leave til 10:30p, so we had to pace ourselves.  Our first stop of the day was the Palacio Real, an old royal palace that is still an official residence of the King and Queen!  As usual...we weren't allowed to take photos inside but I still managed to snap a few.  Imagine trying to cook dinner to feed everyone seated in that dining room?

        

      

 

We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant and ended up getting chicken nuggets!  We actually didn't think they were going to be like the nuggets you get from McDonald's, but they were.  And how awesome are all those sauces!  Thankfully we did not order #6 on the menu!  Yikes.

      

 

After lunch we walked around a while and then took the subway out to the more modern part of town...where all of the big companies have offices.  This area is also home to Bernabeu Stadium where Real Madrid play thier home games! 

      

      

      

      

Back in the old part of town we came across this great street artist who drew perfectly symetrical sketches with two hands at the same time.  Upside-down! 

      

After walking around we found ourselves back in Plaza Mayor where we grabbed some dinner and watch a local woman do some flamenco dancing. 

      

Soon it was time to swing by the hostel, grab our bags, and head for the train station to catch our overnight train hotel to Lisbon.  That's where we'll conclude this 5 week odyssey with Trip Recap 12: Lisbon!  Have a good weekend.

Trip Recap 10: Seville.

 Have you read Trip Recap 9: Barcelona. yet?  If not you should start there...

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After our overnight train from Barcelona we arrived into the main train station in Seville around 8:30 in the morning.  We had just moved a few hundred miles south and you could already tell it was a bit hotter once we stepped outside.  We quickly grabbed a taxi and made our way to the Seville Backpackers Inn, located in the heart of the old city, only a few blocks from the Cathedral.  The streets are very narrow and windy in the old city and maps really don't help...you just have to find your way.  Our cab dropped us a few blocks from the hostel and we had to navigate our way in. 

Of course it was way too early to check in, so we just dropped our bags and set out to explore the city.  Here's a quick look at our room, and the hostel, once we got checked in later in the day.  I should note that this was more of a true hostel and we actually had the only private room..score! 

      

        

      

 

So, with our bags at the hostel we did a walking tour of the city that we found in our guidebook.  It was a great way to see most of the main attractions and get our bearings.  We did stop for a guided tour of the main bull ring in Seville, but unfortunately there were no fights scheduled for when we'd be in town.  So we settled for the tour and got to hear a bit of the interesting history.  Below are some shots from our walk around town and the bull ring. 

      

      

       

         

      

      

      

      

 

Did you all of the many shades strung over the city streets in the photos above?  It get's hot in Seville...like 110-115degrees in the late summer months, so the various shopkeepers have deployed this fantastic shading system to help keep tourists/shoppers as cool as possible and make sure they don't get baked in the sun.  Very cool [get it...as in awesomeness and temperature!]

After our walk about town we finally checked into the hostel and took a much needed nap!  Much needed...especially for Kelly since she got such little shut-eye on the train. 

That evening we joined up with a small group that was heading out to several tapas bars and then to see some flamenco dancing. 

      

      

      

      

      

After all this food and watching the flamenco dancing it was quite late and we were beat.

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Our second day in Seville started out with a hearty breakfast before we tour the Real Alcazar.  This is an old palace compound that has been home to many kings and rulers over the years.  The palace and gardens are just beautiful! 

      

 

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

 

After the Alcazar we walked across the street to check out the main cathedral in Seville.  It has it's origins from Morocco as it was originally built as an Islamic temple.  In fact, the bell tower is the original minaret from those times.  The first few "walking around" photos above are of the exterior of the church and it's grounds.  The interior is very ornate with plenty of gold reliefs and it even houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus!  The bell tower I just mentioned is also very cool.  It was originally built with ramps so men on horses could climb to the top and those ramps still exist today...making the trek up rather simple.  The views from up top are spectacular. 

      

      

      

       

      

After the sightseeing we did some shopping along the main streets in town before grabbing a quick lunch and returning back to the hostel for our regular siesta!  Let me tell you...walking around in the hot temps zaps your energy very fast. 

Once the sun was down a bit we decided to rent a few bikes and explore a bit more of the city we hadn't seen yet.  They have a great bike rental system there in Seville and the locals use it every day to get around since there's no subway or tram.  You simply pick up and drop off from automated stations all around town.  We tooled around for a few hours and made our way out to the old Expo park/gardens from the 60's. 

      

      

   

Later that night we went out again for tapas because they are just that good...and very cheap!  Here's a little sampling of the goodness we had on our final night in Seville.

      

      

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Overall we very much liked Seville and would go back in an instant.  It's a small, manageable, walkable city that is easy to navigate and has so many great cultural sites to explore.  Add in the major African influences since it's so close and you've got an amazing city.  If you ever head over this way be sure to put Seville near the top of your list!

Our journey will resume with an early morning train ride to Madrid on Wednesday, June 3rd, so be sure to stay tuned for Trip Recap 11: Madrid.  A little birdie tells me there are some great bull fight photos in that post that you don't want to miss!  Until next time...

Trip Recap 09: Barcelona.

 This entry picks up right after Trip Recap 08: Jarnac, so be sure to look at that first.

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We pulled out of the Angouleme, France train station around 11a and made our way to Bordeaux, France to catch a 12:30p train that would arrive in Narbonne, France at 4:05p.  Once there we'd have to bust a move to catch our 3rd connection of the day that left for Barcelona, Spain at 4:11p.  Yep...7 minutes of leeway and with the train system that' not a lot of time.  Luckily we were able to make it because the next train to Barcelona wouldn't have been to the following morning!  Crossing the French-Spanish border was a bit interesting.  As we got to the line we stopped on the French side so that some French custom agents could board the train and inspect our documents.  After about 15 minutes there we pulled ahead 100 yards and did the exact same thing wtih the Spanish guys.  Seemed like a bit of overkill if you ask me, especially since we didn't even have to show our passports at the French-Italian crossing. 

Well we finally pulled into Barcelona at around 8 at night and made the walk to our hostel.  We were staying at a great place just off the beaten path called Campus del Mar.  It was in the Barceloneta neighborhood of the city, not that far from the beach.  We had booked this place on Hostelworld.com and turns out it was actually a college dorm!  They use half of it as a dorm and the other half as a quasi hotel.  This was by far the nicest college dorm I've ever seen! [we could only get this place for 3 nights so we had to change locations for our last night in town, more on that later]

      

      

      

After dropping our bags we made our way to the harbor to get some dinner.  It was our first dish of paella and man was it good.  We ate quickly so we could join the rest of the city in watching the FC Barcelona vs Manchester United championship match that was taking place in Rome.  Sure enough Barcelona won and the city exploded.  And I thought Boston new how to celebrate a championship...good lord. 

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On our first full day in the city we tackled a lot.  We started out with our little in-room breakfast [which was part of the hotel price...awesome for us budget travelers!]  and then walked down to have a look at the beach.

      

        

Very impressive...so we made some plans to spend the following day there!  We continued our walk around the harbor and eventually came around to Las Ramblas, the main pedestrian boulevard that runs down the center of the city.  While on the Ramblas we dipped into the Mercat Bouqueria, one of the most colorful markets in all of Europe.  Visiting this place sure did make us wish we had access to a full kitchen so we could make a few killer meals with all the fresh ingredients.

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

This the first Dunkin Donuts we came across the entire trip and just my luck that when we went to get a coffee a few mornings later they weren't open yet...at 8:45a on a weekday morning! 

After the market we began our Gaudi portion of the tour.  Gaudi's architecture is a must-see if you're in Barcelona.  Our first stop was Casa Batllo which is a great example of his funky and whimsical style. 

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

Isn't that place crazy?  Next up was his Park Guell, a short subway ride away and overlooking the city.  This park and the homes that are part of it were designed by Guadi to be part of a much larger group of houses.  Sadly, the money ran dry and only 2 of the houses were ever built.  It's a bit of a walk up the hills to reach the Park, but it's well worth it!

        

      

      

        

      

After Park Guell it was on to his masterpiece... the Temple Sagrada Familia.  Holy cow...what a place!  And get this, it's not even finished yet!  Construction was started in the 1880's and isn't supposed to be complet until around 2025.  Still, the church is impressive and I've never seen anything like it before.

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

Just amazing...and it's tallest spire is yet to be built!  I'd love to see this place once it's finished. 

After all this sightseeing a late afternoon nap was much in order...we were beat.  Later that night we got dinner at one of the most authentic places we had been all trip long, Can Mano.  It was right down the street from where we were staying and little did we know they didn't open until 8p.  When we arrived by chance at 5 of the line was already forming to get in. 

We had an interesting dinner of meat, eggs, salad and cheese all served together on a plate.  We also drank a great local concoction called "turbio" that looks like a cloudy white wine.  And get this...table they sat us at had a postcard of Boston next to it.  Coincidence...I think not! 

      

      

      

Thankfully we didn't get #8 on the menu...talk about lost in translation!  Yikes.  After dinner we took a stroll down to the beach to see what it looked like as the sun dipped down.

      

 

Yes that is Frank Ghery's "fish" you see there...part of the waterfront development built for the '92 Olympics. 

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The next day we slept in a bit and then made our way back to the beach...this day with plans to just stay there.  We rented a few chairs and settled in for a great day.  The beach in Barcelona is great...nice sand, warm water, and lots of people watching.  One annoying thing is the people who want to seel you things.  Indian men walk up and down the beach in droves carrying coolers and repeating "Cervezas, beer, soda, water, fanta" and then occasionaly whispering to the younger folks "something to smoke...hash, marijuana?"  It gets old real fast.  The funniest part is that when the cops come around they all crouch down and pretend like there are normal beach-goers.  There are also asian ladies of offer "massagi" just like the Indian guys pedal the drinks.  They're just as annoying and they also come up and touch your back or leg like they're going to give you a demo.  I had to shout at a few of them just to get them to leave us alone. 

After our day at the beach we made our way back to the hostel for our regular afternoon siesta.  I was getting really used to these things by then!  We got up later in the evening and were in the mood for something a bit different than the traditional meals for dinner.  We had seen an asian joint along the beach earlier in the day so we figured we'd give it a try and eat down on the beach. 

        

      

      

 

On our way back to the ranch we came across a very cool musical group playing/marching in the streets.  The music was so loud and people ran to thier windows to see what was going on.  We followed them around for a good hour just listening.

      

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As I mentioned above, we had to change hotels for our final night and this was moving day.  We had breakfast at our dorm room and then hopped a cab over to the other hostel which wasn't far from the Ramblas.  Hotel Barbara was it's name and it was a dump!  There must have been 10-12 prostitutes working the corner across the street and room was just not that appealing.  Couple this with the fact that the street noise was so loud at night that you couldn't sleep and we were very glad we only had to stay 1 night.  Almost forgot...to turn the lights on you had to put this key-card thing into a slot.  I've never seen anything like that before...it was just odd. 

Anyway...we checked in and then visited the Picasso Museum which wasn't too far away.  The Picasso was a great little museum that was well organized and wasn't overwhelming at all.  You got a great understanding of his work and how it evolved over the years.  We were both very impressed.  After the museum we visited the Santa Maria Del Mar church [where I got pooped on just outside by a pigeon].  The church was very beautiful and had a wedding taking place inside that was just finishing up as we came in. 

      

      

By now it was time for lunch and we were starving.  We found a great little spot that served lots of different "chichetti's".  You picked as many as you wanted and then they added up the bill by how many sticks you had on your table.  The food was really good!

      

      

That afternoon we walked around a bit more and bought some tickets for the next day out to Montserrat.   We ended up having an early dinner down by the water at a nice little restaurant.  We got some vegetable paella and potato croquetts that were just out of this world.  These are one of the best parts about eating in Barcelona [and much of Spain for that matter]

      

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On Sunday, the last day of May, we checked out of the horrible hotel we'd been at for the night and stored our bags for the day.  We'd be catching a train out to Montserrat for the day then returning later in the night to take a 10:30pm overnight train to Seville.  The train ride took about an hour and when we stepped off we found ourselves in the middle of the Spanish countryside staring at a huge rock faced mountain that was home to the Benidictine abbey.  Perhaps you can make it out  the photos below, but about halfway up the mountian is the actualy monastary.  The first step in reaching the top is to take a 5minute cable car ride up.  Once there you are at the main area where the monastary, church and many other buildings are located.  After visiting there you can ride a funicular up to about the 3/4 mark of the mountain.  After that, if you want, you can hike the rest of the way.  The hike is about a 3hr journey round trip and it gets a bit hot up there!  We decided to go for it.  Below are the shots of the monastary, church, hike and various modes of transport you need to reach the top.

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

 

Montserrat is a great day trip from Barcelona and a enjoyable way to spend some time outside of the hustle and bustle of the city. 

Once back in the city we did some people watching on the Ramblas before grabbing dinner.  One thing about the Ramblas that is just bizarre are all the street performers who dress up in over the top costumes and ask you to take a photo with them and make a small donation.  You couldn't help but be intrigued by these people.  Kelly did pose for a photo with one guy. 

      

      

      

      

After dinner we pickup our packs and took the subway to the trian station to board our first overnight train.  It left at 10:30p and would arrive into Seville at 8:30a the following morning.  We opted to pay a little extra, okay, a lot extra, to get a private room with 2 bunk beds.  The room also had a sink which was nice for washing up and brushing your teeth.  The bathroom was shared and at the end of each car.  The train really was like a hotel and we were impressed.  That being said, Kelly didn't get a good nights sleep at all and of course I slept like a log!  Heck, I was beat tired from that hike.  Here's what a hotel train looks like, incase you were wondering.

      

        

We'll pick up the story next time in Trip Recap 10: Seville.  Until then...

 

Trip Recap 08: Jarnac.

This post picks up after Trip Recap 07: Nice, Monaco, Cannes.

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Jarnac was what we called our "vacation within our vacation" but our time there didn't start out that great.  If you remember, we left off last post with me telling you about our train troubles in reaching Jarnac.  We left Nice around 3pm on Friday and set out for Marseilles.  From there we caught a 6:45p train that arrived into Bordeaux just after 1:00am on Saturday the 23rd.  From Bordeaux we had to then catch a 7am train to the little city of Angouleme where we'd pick up a rental car for the 45 minute drive to Jarnac.  The time spent in the Bordeaux train station was not that good.  I actually was able to catch a few hours sleep lying on a "borrowed' British Airways blanket [which also served as picnic blanket and beach blanket during the trip]  but Kel wasn't able to sleep a wink. The only good thing about having to spend the night on the floor of a train station was that just before we arrived into Bordeaux I received a phone call from Debletting me know my letter about my ARE results for test #9 had finally arrived. I was now finally an official architect...maybe thats why I was able to get some sleep, who knows.  In any event, it was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. 

Once we caught our 7am train to Angouleme, which arrived there a 8am, we then had to wait until 9am for the Avis location to open.  By this point our eyes were barely staying open! Once we got our car, a 4-door Fiat Punto, the real fun began.  Here's the deal...I've never driven a standard car.  Never.  So before the trip we met up with Kristin and her VW Bug for a few lessons.  I did really well with everything, getting out of 1st, shifting up through 2nd, 3rd and so on.  We even practiced in reverse and I was good to go.  We did a little bit of hill action, but not much.  This would prove to be a key issue come time for the actual driving in France thing.  Wouldn't you know, the Avis location was on the side of a steep hill.  Yep...I was being thrown to the wolves.  No parking lot to practice in, nothing but a steep hill with a busy rotary waiting for me at the top.  As you can imagine...it wasn't pretty.  Lots of stalling, rolling backwards, horn honking, people cursing at me, and me cursing at the car.  We finally made it to Jarnac and I swore that we wouldn't be moving the car for 4 days until it was time to leave. 

      

 

Once we got a nap and relaxed a bit we needed to make a run to the grocery store.  Once at the grocery store I was able to practice a bit in the parking lot and started to get the hang of the car much better.  To make a long story short, by the end of our 4 days in Jarnac I was a pro and no hill was too steep!

Here's a look at our friends home there in Jarnac and our bounty from our grocery store trip.  FYI, shopping for groceries in a foreign country/language is not as easy as it may seem.  We spent a good hour and a half in there trying to figure things out!  It was nice to sit down with a bottle of wine and a home cooked

      

      

      

      

      

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The town of Jarnac is a small place...home to only a few thousand residents.  Jarnac is located in the Cognac region of France, which means there are an abundance of cognac distilleries in the area.  Jarnac happens to be home to Courvoisier [think the Ladies Man, Leon Phelps, from SNL].  The town is picture perfect with beautiful chateaus alongside a narrow river called the La Charente that leads all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.  Here's a quick view of some of the neighbors as well as the town center.  They also have a great indoor market that we picked up a few staples at.

      

      

      

      

      

      

   

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On our second day in Jaranc we took a 2hr boat ride down the La Charente on small boat called the La Chabot.  We had a great tour guide who spoke decent English and was able to give us a great overview of the town and its history along the river.     

      

      

      

      

        

How about the get-up on this English bloke...I aspire to dress like him some day.  Those yellow sox make the entire look!  One highlight of the trip was when we got to go up and down in a lock.  Really cool experience to feel the water rising and falling below the boat.

      

Here's a shot of the captain and another when he invited one of the kids onboard up to the wheel for a while. The kid was thrilled to be at the helm!

      

Back onto dry land again...I was in need of a haircut and hit up a local shop.  For not being able to communicate to the lady what ecactly I wanted I think she did a really good job.  It at least got me by until we got back home.  Here are a few more shots of the town as well as a great steak frite dinner we had at the local outdoor cafe.

      

      

        

      

 

Monday's in Jarnac are very quiet because most of the stores, cafes, and restaurants close up shop.  That being the case we decided to take a drive to a town along the Atlantic coast called La Rochelle.  It was about an hour and a half drive and like I said, by this point my driving was much, much better.  La Rochelle is a great city where all the buildings are a whitewashed granite and the entire city has a unified feel to it.  The city is also very green with a fantastic public transport system as well as many locations to rent bikes.  Here are a number of shots from our afternoon spent there in La Rochelle.

      

      

      

      

      

        

      

      

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On our final day in town things were a bit overcast but it was perfect for driving around and visiting some of the nearby towns.  We passed many vineyards and the views were spectacular.

      

      

      

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I went into town on our final night to snap a few nights shots:

      

       

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If our time in Jarnac seems kinda boring...that's because it was.  Being in the middle of our trip though it was just what the doctor ordered.  No museums to visit and no church towers to climb.  We just relaxed, ate, drank, and did a lot of reading out on the patio.  It doesn't get much better than that!

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Here we are on Wednesday the 27th of May about to begin our 3-train journey from Angouleme, France to Barcelona, Spain. 

      

      

 

Stay tuned for Trip Recap 09: Barcelona as we venture into country #3 on this crazy trip. 

Trip Recap 07: Nice, Monaco, Cannes.

This post picks up after Trip Recap 06: Cinque Terre, so be sure to read that bad boy first...

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Thursday the 21st was one of our longer days of travel and included 6 different trains.  Yes, 6.  It started out with a 6:15am train from Vernazza up to Genoa where we changed trains and boarded another bound for Ventimiglia, Italy.  Ventimiglia is in Italy but right on the border with France.  Again we changed trains and got onto a French train that would take us into Nice.  Crossing the border here was very easy and our passports were never even checked. 

Upon our arrival into Nice is when we got our first bad news of the trip.  [just a logistical note for those following along:  We traveled with a 10 day in 2 month EuroRail pass, meaning we had 10 days of train travel to use anytime over a 2 month period.  The only stipulation with the pass is that you travel first class and thus have to make reservations on most trains.  Our usual protocal was that as soon as we arrived into one city we would swing by the ticket desk and make reservations for our trip to the next location.  It worked out really well for us]  We arrived into Nice around 12:30p on that Thursday and had intended to take an overnight train the following day [Friday]at 10:30pm that would get us into our friends house in Jarnac, France around 8am on Saturday morning.  You follow all that?  Here's the hitch, the lovely French train folks decided to stop running that overnight train and of course never updated the timetables.  This threw a wrench into our plans and we then had to take a 3pm train on Friday that would get us into Bordeaux at 1am and we'd then have to wait until 7am when we could catch a local train up to Angouleme, where we'd pick up our rental car.  Bottom line, instead of sleeping comfortably on an overnight train we'd be curled up on the floor of a busy train station.  Yep. 

So, we were a bit dejected, but there was nothing we could do about it.  We had to make the most of the 26 hours we'd have in the Nice, Monaco and Cannes area, and that we did.  We went over to our hotel and checked in.  Here are a few photos.  Note it wasn't in the best area of town, hence the sex shop across the street.  But it was clean and the price was right...so it worked for us.

      

      

 

A quick note in general about train stations in Europe:  They tend not to be in the best areas of town....think about it, who wants to live near a train station?  That being said, many of the cheaper hotels/hostels spring up around the stations and cater to the college kids and budget travelers that have just come into town.  Some areas are better than others, but for the most part we felt pretty safe walking around in all the cities we visited. 

After settling into our room we came up with a plan of attack and we decided to shoot up to Monaco for a few hours to check it out.  We had already used our train pass for the day to get to Nice so it wouldn't cost us any more to use it again that day to get back to Monaco.  20 minutes later we stepped off the train in Monaco. 

As soon as we exited the train station we knew something was up.  That soul rattling sound of an engine pushing a car around a racetrack at 150+ mph was reverberating around the city.  Couple the noise with the fact that some people were walking around with massive headphone/ear protection on thier domesand we knew something was up.  I knew the Monaco Grand Prix  was going to be taking place on that coming Sunday, but I totally forgot that they'd need a few days of practice.  The city country of Monaco is built into a steep hillside with hundreds of tall office and residential towers and the sound of these cars whizzing around the track crept its way into every alley and you couldn't escape it.  For those who don't know...the Monaco Grand Prix takes place along city streets, not a typical race course oval you see at Indianapolis or something like that.  They set up walls, crash barriers and thousands of bleachers along the course and turn the city into a world-class racetrack.  We walked around a bit, but with the race course closing off many streets we couldn't get too far.  We climbed up to the Prince's palace and were able to get a decent view of the area as well as a good vantage point for watching some of the practice laps. 

      

      

      

      

 

We did walk down to the famous Monte-Carlo Casino, but even getting there was a huge challenge with the race going on.  Once we did finally arrive we found out that you had to pay about $15 each just to get oonto the casino floor.  No thanks...we're not really gamblers anyway.  At this point we decided to bail on Monaco and Kel came up with the idea that we should take the train down to Cannes to get some dinner.  Again...this would be a free train ride on our pass, so why not.  45 minutes back down the coast, right past Nice again, and we stepped off the train in Cannes and into the middle of the 62nd film festival. 

Here's a quick look at what the "red carpet" is like around 7pm in the evening...not that exciting.

 

Since it was a bit early for all of the hollywood stuff we decided to grab some dinner and swing back a little later.  We found a great place a few blocks back from the water and had a tasty meal.  I got a huge bucket of muscles while Kel went with some seafood pasta.  Just delicious!  After dinner we walked around the harbor for a while checking out the impressive yachts that were all in town for the festival.  After that we made our way back to the red carpet in hopes of catching Johhny Depp who was rumored to be attending...no luck.  We had to catch a 10:45p train back up to Nice. 

      

      

      

      

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The next morning, Friday, we checked out of our hotel and spend the morning/afternoon exploring Nice.  We had until around 3pm until we had to catch our train to...to...nowhere!

We walked down the main street, Avenue Jean Medecin, which leads directly to the beach.  There are plenty of shops, restaurants and even a lively open market in that area.  Then we went down to the beach, which is very rocky, but we still dipped our feet in.  We ventured into the Old City and then took an elevator to the top of the Tour Bellanda for some panoramic views of Nice.  The city has a great tram system that makes getting around even easier. 

      

      

         

      

      

      

      

 

  After a late lunch in the old city it was time to pick up our bags and head for the train station.  I'll pick up the story here next time in Trip Recap 08: Jarnac.

Trip Recap 06: Cinque Terre.

Be sure to read Trip Recap 05: Milan. prior to this post.

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Cinque Terre is one of those places you fall in love with as soon as you arrive.  Known as the Italian Riviera, Cinque Terre is made up of, you guessed it, 5 towns! Numbered 1-5 going South to North you have 1 Riomaggiore, 2 Manarola, 3 Cornigila, 4 Vernazza and, 5 Monterosso.  Kel and I were staying in town #4, Vernazza.  Each town is only about a half mile apart.

The story is that Cinque Terre really wasn't even on the "tourist map" until 1978 when a little known guy named Rick Steves literally put it there.  There aren't really hotels or hostels, but you end up staying in rented rooms from the locals.  We called up a woman named Ingrid we came across on the internet and simply asked if she had a room available...simple as that. 

Here's a little view of what Vernazza and it's harbor look like...

      

      

and of course I had to hike up the adjacent hill for a few more shots...

      

I also went back up later that night to get a few sunset shots.  Kel decided to chill  by the water with a bottle of wine while she waited...

      

 

After I got back we cracked open some more wine and sat down for a picnic dinner along the water. 

This is the backside of Ingrid's house, see Kelly up there in the window.  There was also a small tunnel carved into the rock by the water that allowed the waves to lap up against the building.  It was very peaceful to hear that every evening as you fell asleep.

      

 

A bit more about Cinque Terre...all 5 towns are linked by a train line which makes it super convenient to get from one to another.  Years ago the Italians built this rail line from Rome to Genoa and just by chance these towns also got the benefit.  Most of the trip along the coast is actually inside of tunnels, but every so often you pop out and get an amazing view of the ocean and steep mountains above. 

On our first day in the area we didn't arrive until around 1pm after our train ride from Milan through Genoa, so we pretty much just explored the town of Vernazza, ate some good food, and drank a few bottles of wine.  A good afternoon if you ask me!

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Day 2 in Cinque Terre [Tuesday May 19th] we decided to explore towns 1-3 and then return to #4, Vernazza.  So, after a quick breakfast we took the 10 minute train ride down to Riomaggiore.  I should also mention that in addition to the train line, you can also hike between each town.  Some of the hikes take 20 minutes while others are a bit more challenging and can take up to 2hrs.  The plan for us was to train down to Riomaggiore and then hike back to Vernazza, stopping at Manarola and Corniglia along the way. 

I stopped to take a leak at the train station and encountered my first "hole"...easy for #1 and but I have no idea how you accomplish #2 here!  Check out the little sticker I noticed on the tank too...

      

      

After the quick ride down we arrived into Riomaggiore and walked around for a little while before setting out towards Manarola, Corniglia and then back to Vernazza.  The hike from Corniglia to Vernazza was the hardest and hottest!  Took us about 1.5hrs and it was a lot of up and down, thus a dip in the ocean once we got back to Vernazza was in order.

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

And how cool is this shot of the back-side of Vernazza?  This was taken up on the trail just before we started to descend down into town...you can actually see town #5, Monterosso, in the background.

     

After our hike we were beat and went directly to the water...talk about refreshing.  That sure made our first dip into the Mediterranean well worth it!

That night we had a great dinner at a restaurant litterally outside of our front door and then relaxed along the harbor.  There really isn't much to do in Vernazza save for eat and drink...

      

      

      

      

How about that dinner...one of our best the entire trip.  Seafood risoto with shrimp and muscles!  Of course we stopped for a gelato after too!

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Our next day in Cinque Terre we decided to take the ferry up to Monterosso and then hike back to Vernazza later in the day.

      

    

      

      

      

Monterosso has a few more shops and restaurants than the other towns, so we walked around a bit and then decided to just park it on the beach for the day.  We rented some chairs and an umbrella and just relaxed.  Like I said above, our original plan was to hike back to Vernazza, but after a long day at the beach we bagged that idea and just took the boat back! 

One last shot from up on the hillside just as the sun slipped behind the moutains and the lights in town started to illuminate. 

     

Early to bed as we'd be getting up at the crack of dawn for a long day of travel...

Stay tuned for Trip Recap 07: Nice, Monaco, Cannes. 

Trip Recap 05: Milan.

This post picks up where Trip Recap 04: Lucca. left off, so be sure to read that first.

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To reach Milan we left Lucca and went back to Florence to catch our train.  We arrived into Milan's main train station around 8:30 in the evening.  What a beautiful station!  We had a long walk to our hotel, Hotel San Tomaso, and it was still hot and humid out.  It's always a relief to take off the backpacks!

     

As you can see, our room was small and bare bones, but it did have a private bath!  The location of this place was actually in the Chinatown section of Milan, something we didn't know until we got there. Here's a view out of our balcony...

     

Of course just as we were about to turn in for the night Inter Milan had won the Serie A title and the resulting horn honking by every car in Milan lasted well into the night/morning!

Milan is your typical big city and I don't think we would have visited here if the Giro d'Italia wasn't coming through.  That being said, we did have some time on the following morning to explore a bit of the city before the race actually started.  We walked down to see Milan's Duomo, which is an amazing gothic catherdral, and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle. 

      

     

     

     

     

Okay...so that's enough for the site seeing stuff, now the real reason we came to town, stage 9 of the 100th Giro d'Italia .  The race started around 1pm and it was a 10 lap circut around the city.  Turns out the stage was quite contraversial.  The riders were upset with the route and the condition of the roads.  They had to cross over trolley tracks and dodge spectators all over the course.  They decided to not actually race the stage and just take it as more of a leisurely stroll through town.  Fine by me, cause it meant that for the 10 times they went around we got to see them a bit more slowly.  Before the race we walked around a bit and ended up hanging out near the Team Astana bus [Team Astana is the old Discovery Team].  Of course Mr. Lance was the last one off the team bus, but we did get to say hello and Kel even gave him a pat on the back as he rolled out.  I ran ahead for some shots!  Other guys we got to see up close were former rider and now coach Viatcheslav Ekimov or "Eki" as they call him, Yaraslov Popovich, Chris Horner, and team director Johan Bruynell.

     

    

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

   

So, how about those close-up action shots of the race? 

Up next is Trip Recap 06: Cinque Terre.