2 Spaniards crying in the bar
After the game in the streets!!!
Monday, July 12, 2010
SPAIN WON!! Spain Won the World Cup!!!!
in the 27th minute of additional time (which there are a total of 30 minutes) Iniesta scored the winning goal!!
2 Spaniards crying in the bar
After the game in the streets!!!
2 Spaniards crying in the bar
After the game in the streets!!!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Barcelona
7/2
The second day we did a full day tour of the city, or at least a bus tour. They have 2 companies offering multiple routes through the city of Barcelona. You can hop on and hop off at a number of spots to see sites such as original Barcelona districts, gothic district, a monastery, the stadium of Barcelona’s futbol club, the Sagrada Familia, and other historical masterpieces by Gaudi or modern day marvels such as Olympic stadiums from the summer of 1992.
Bus tour!
Olympic stadium
Barcelona Futbol Club
Church
By the port is this large monument to Christopher Columbus. He is supposedly pointing to the new world, while in reality his finger is pointed toward Africa-according to my compass.
We toured the Sagrada Familia while doing the bus tour. It was unreal. This is a catholic church being built since 1882 completely by private donations and my admission fee. It was the late Gaudi’s greatest dream. It is rumored to be completed by 2026, but I doubt it. It is one beautiful cathedral and I would love to worship Jesus someday in it.
Sagrada Familia
Gaudi Museums and Architecture
Funny sign
The second day we did a full day tour of the city, or at least a bus tour. They have 2 companies offering multiple routes through the city of Barcelona. You can hop on and hop off at a number of spots to see sites such as original Barcelona districts, gothic district, a monastery, the stadium of Barcelona’s futbol club, the Sagrada Familia, and other historical masterpieces by Gaudi or modern day marvels such as Olympic stadiums from the summer of 1992.
Bus tour!
Olympic stadium
Barcelona Futbol Club
Church
By the port is this large monument to Christopher Columbus. He is supposedly pointing to the new world, while in reality his finger is pointed toward Africa-according to my compass.
We toured the Sagrada Familia while doing the bus tour. It was unreal. This is a catholic church being built since 1882 completely by private donations and my admission fee. It was the late Gaudi’s greatest dream. It is rumored to be completed by 2026, but I doubt it. It is one beautiful cathedral and I would love to worship Jesus someday in it.
Sagrada Familia
Gaudi Museums and Architecture
Funny sign
Barcelona 7/1 – 7/5
7/1
Our first days in a new city are all the same.. another day of wandering around a new city.. while this time we did have a place to stay, it was simply a matter of finding it. Which according to their directions on their website, I knew exactly where it was. However, their map lied. Blatantly… haha. So we got to where the map said to go, and no apartment. We asked for directions and luckily I had written down other information from their site just in case this happened. A Spaniard was able to direct us in the right direction, which we also verified after finding a locutorio (internet place), and were quite overjoyed on yet again getting our huge backpacks off.
We were also very content with the location of our apartment. It is a block away from Las Ramblas, a famous street in Barcelona full of souvenirs, street performers, tourists, pickpockets, and more spoken languages overheard than anywhere else I’ve ever been. So we headed out into this chaos wide-eyed and ready for some excitement. We also found a place to buy groceries, as we are on a budget and fresh bread is the best.
Our first days in a new city are all the same.. another day of wandering around a new city.. while this time we did have a place to stay, it was simply a matter of finding it. Which according to their directions on their website, I knew exactly where it was. However, their map lied. Blatantly… haha. So we got to where the map said to go, and no apartment. We asked for directions and luckily I had written down other information from their site just in case this happened. A Spaniard was able to direct us in the right direction, which we also verified after finding a locutorio (internet place), and were quite overjoyed on yet again getting our huge backpacks off.
We were also very content with the location of our apartment. It is a block away from Las Ramblas, a famous street in Barcelona full of souvenirs, street performers, tourists, pickpockets, and more spoken languages overheard than anywhere else I’ve ever been. So we headed out into this chaos wide-eyed and ready for some excitement. We also found a place to buy groceries, as we are on a budget and fresh bread is the best.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Special Update!
We have not yet had a chance to update you'll on Zaragoza and our travels there. HOWEVER, we had to provide a teaser for a post that is soon to come!!
~~~~~~~~~
Running of the bulls! Pamplona, Spain
~~~~~~~~~
Running of the bulls! Pamplona, Spain
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Valencia 6/26 - 7/1
I have decided and Krystle agrees, we have too much stuff. Let alone the stuff in storage back in the U.S. collecting dust, our backpacks feel heavier each time we wear them.
So we arrived in Valencia from Denia without a guaranteed place to stay. We had a nice gal that had agreed to let us stay with her for Saturday night through Wednesday night, but no money had been exchanged yet. Well, she never responded and we arrived there without a room and on the one of the biggest weekend’s in the year for Valencia. There was a huge Formula 1 race this weekend and every hostal, hotel and spare closet was already booked. So with our 50 lbs bags we walked around looking for any room to rent. We were quite fortunate to find a hostal that had had a cancelation that day and had a open room! Amen!
Downtown Valencia!
Another cathedral
We watched the U.S. lose to Ghana, disappointing to say the least and yet infuriating to the core. However, Spain beat Chile and then Portugal to advance to the Quarter Finals! Go Spain! This has the Spaniards quite excited and this makes us happy because it means that the country is full of nicer people, or hopefully so.
House of God!
16th Century Bridge!!!
A sculpture of a wailing parisher, comical
Valencia is a beautiful city. It has some extravagant museums, especially the City of Arts and Sciences. There are also some amazing old churches and a large Cathedral in the center of town. Around the center of town is a dried river bed that has many soccer fields, walkways, parks, and recreational areas which allowed for a quiet escape from the big city.
Funny looking museums!
We walked around one of the huge Spanish superstores (similar to Macy’s, I guess) called Corte Ingles. Massive! Despite it being the country's only department store, in my opinion it is way over the top. But it provided a nice area of air conditioning during one of our walks around the city. We must have walked down every street in the downtown portion of the city and I am very thankful for the large quantity of benches.
We saw 2 large towers that were part of the original wall around the city. I want a castle.. I will be starting a fund and you can all invest in it :) We walked across some ancient bridges built in the 15th and 16th centuries.
2 towers remain from the original city walls
Where's Jordan?
Another funny sign :)
Next stop Barcelona!
So we arrived in Valencia from Denia without a guaranteed place to stay. We had a nice gal that had agreed to let us stay with her for Saturday night through Wednesday night, but no money had been exchanged yet. Well, she never responded and we arrived there without a room and on the one of the biggest weekend’s in the year for Valencia. There was a huge Formula 1 race this weekend and every hostal, hotel and spare closet was already booked. So with our 50 lbs bags we walked around looking for any room to rent. We were quite fortunate to find a hostal that had had a cancelation that day and had a open room! Amen!
Downtown Valencia!
Another cathedral
We watched the U.S. lose to Ghana, disappointing to say the least and yet infuriating to the core. However, Spain beat Chile and then Portugal to advance to the Quarter Finals! Go Spain! This has the Spaniards quite excited and this makes us happy because it means that the country is full of nicer people, or hopefully so.
House of God!
16th Century Bridge!!!
A sculpture of a wailing parisher, comical
Valencia is a beautiful city. It has some extravagant museums, especially the City of Arts and Sciences. There are also some amazing old churches and a large Cathedral in the center of town. Around the center of town is a dried river bed that has many soccer fields, walkways, parks, and recreational areas which allowed for a quiet escape from the big city.
Funny looking museums!
We walked around one of the huge Spanish superstores (similar to Macy’s, I guess) called Corte Ingles. Massive! Despite it being the country's only department store, in my opinion it is way over the top. But it provided a nice area of air conditioning during one of our walks around the city. We must have walked down every street in the downtown portion of the city and I am very thankful for the large quantity of benches.
We saw 2 large towers that were part of the original wall around the city. I want a castle.. I will be starting a fund and you can all invest in it :) We walked across some ancient bridges built in the 15th and 16th centuries.
2 towers remain from the original city walls
Where's Jordan?
Another funny sign :)
Next stop Barcelona!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Denia 6/19 - 6/26
Drive to Denia (near Alicante)-just ahead of us a large accident occurred as 2 vehicles were stuck in the side of the guard rail and had. Saw a Lamborghini, which zoomed past us at an absurd speed and then kilometers later was parked alongside the freeway looking at a map, apparently lost I guess.
Then later on we also missed an accident by perhaps 2 minutes. As we were driving along the freeway all the sudden we passed two cars lodged in the metal rail guard. One was facing traffic and we could see the guy in the front see as we passed them. We almost stopped but we realized we were not going to be a lot of assistance with our limited Spanish and no telephone.
We arrived at our hotel after a six hour drive safe and sound. We unloaded our bags and headed back into town to enjoy a dinner out while we still had the rental car. We stopped at what we thought was a nice restaurant. It was anything but. The poor waiter had about 9+ tables on this patio overlooking the Med. Sea and as we tried to order kept informing us that the items we wanted were not available at this time. Of a menu that a wide selection of food a fourth of it was actually available. It took about 20 minutes to get the bill once we were done eating. We were not fans.
Our place
Our rental unit did not have internet, and this we needed desperately as we needed to plan out our next excursions in Valencia, Barcelona, Pamplona, etc. So we walked around looking for a internet café for internet, with no luck. We did however, find an Australian bar with free wifi. Done and done. Called Sambori Bar with a picture of a kangaroo, it was quite comical situation. It was run by 2 Chileans and 1 Argentinean, and had signs for the famous Australian beer Foster’s, but did not even have it, in fact they only had Budweiser on tap! 3 South Americans, in an Australian bar, serving North American beer- amazing!
We quickly made friends with the Argentinean, who worked everyday, as we needed internet everyday and stopped by to watch a world cup match or two. Renè lives in Valencia about 1 hour north of Denia. He was very kind and helpful and gave us a great opportunity to practice more Spanish.
Our bar
Besides from our time using the internet we also went to the beach everyday to enjoy some sun and enjoy the freezing Med Sea. We took the bus into town one day and bought our bus tickets for Valencia and did some shopping. It was a nice change from the Southern part of Spain as there was more Spanish spoken than English and it wasn’t until the 4th or 5th day there that we even really ran into any Brits.
Our beach
Funny sign
Then later on we also missed an accident by perhaps 2 minutes. As we were driving along the freeway all the sudden we passed two cars lodged in the metal rail guard. One was facing traffic and we could see the guy in the front see as we passed them. We almost stopped but we realized we were not going to be a lot of assistance with our limited Spanish and no telephone.
We arrived at our hotel after a six hour drive safe and sound. We unloaded our bags and headed back into town to enjoy a dinner out while we still had the rental car. We stopped at what we thought was a nice restaurant. It was anything but. The poor waiter had about 9+ tables on this patio overlooking the Med. Sea and as we tried to order kept informing us that the items we wanted were not available at this time. Of a menu that a wide selection of food a fourth of it was actually available. It took about 20 minutes to get the bill once we were done eating. We were not fans.
Our place
Our rental unit did not have internet, and this we needed desperately as we needed to plan out our next excursions in Valencia, Barcelona, Pamplona, etc. So we walked around looking for a internet café for internet, with no luck. We did however, find an Australian bar with free wifi. Done and done. Called Sambori Bar with a picture of a kangaroo, it was quite comical situation. It was run by 2 Chileans and 1 Argentinean, and had signs for the famous Australian beer Foster’s, but did not even have it, in fact they only had Budweiser on tap! 3 South Americans, in an Australian bar, serving North American beer- amazing!
We quickly made friends with the Argentinean, who worked everyday, as we needed internet everyday and stopped by to watch a world cup match or two. Renè lives in Valencia about 1 hour north of Denia. He was very kind and helpful and gave us a great opportunity to practice more Spanish.
Our bar
Besides from our time using the internet we also went to the beach everyday to enjoy some sun and enjoy the freezing Med Sea. We took the bus into town one day and bought our bus tickets for Valencia and did some shopping. It was a nice change from the Southern part of Spain as there was more Spanish spoken than English and it wasn’t until the 4th or 5th day there that we even really ran into any Brits.
Our beach
Funny sign
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Ronda 6/18
This was our last outing with Uncle Tim and his family. :(
We miss you guys!
Ronda is the second to last stronghold to be held by the Moors in Spain (Granada is the first). After visiting the city I see why. It is on a hill perhaps even mountain and can see the entire surrounding valley. This would make it very difficult to assault/attack. Now it makes for incredible views and exceptional history as it provides a glimpse into why the Moors loved Spain so much; it’s beautiful rolling hills, great weather and peaceful landscapes.
Ronda and its bridge
Across the enormous gorge separating the new city from the old city is a gigantic bridge. This bridge has been rebuilt multiple times and even fallen into the gorge itself on an occasion. This 100meter deep gorge “El Tajo” draws many tourists to the city to its ancient design.
While in the city we toured a bull ring. We walked through the training areas for the matadors and bulls, holding cells, bull entrances to the stadium, and the stands of the stadium. We had some self-guided tour devices that played pre-recorded information about bullfighting and the stadium in Ronda. Inside the stadium was a gun collection by one of the Spanish kings and it was quite impressive. There were countless rifles and dueling pistols, some which came with a story about who died with it or who dueled with a specific pair.
Where's Jordan? Hiding from the bull
Bull ring
I don't even own a gun, let alone enough to necessitate an entire gun rack..
Kind of an old gun..
We toured a few different museums, old houses, ancient bathing structures, and the inside of the bridge itself. Saw a large collection of pig legs. The Iberian black pigs of Spain are everywhere, to be eaten that is, and often you find a leg clamped to a bar ready to be sliced for the customers. Delicious.
We restaurant hopped for dinner, eating a little bit of food at one restaurant before heading over to another to get paella, another Spanish delicacy of rice, fish or meat, mixed together with an assortment of vegetables and seasoning. Then of course, snagged some delicious soft-serve ice cream and then headed home again.
Ham! Yum!
Us and the bridge!
Bathing time!
The girls
We miss you guys!
Ronda is the second to last stronghold to be held by the Moors in Spain (Granada is the first). After visiting the city I see why. It is on a hill perhaps even mountain and can see the entire surrounding valley. This would make it very difficult to assault/attack. Now it makes for incredible views and exceptional history as it provides a glimpse into why the Moors loved Spain so much; it’s beautiful rolling hills, great weather and peaceful landscapes.
Ronda and its bridge
Across the enormous gorge separating the new city from the old city is a gigantic bridge. This bridge has been rebuilt multiple times and even fallen into the gorge itself on an occasion. This 100meter deep gorge “El Tajo” draws many tourists to the city to its ancient design.
While in the city we toured a bull ring. We walked through the training areas for the matadors and bulls, holding cells, bull entrances to the stadium, and the stands of the stadium. We had some self-guided tour devices that played pre-recorded information about bullfighting and the stadium in Ronda. Inside the stadium was a gun collection by one of the Spanish kings and it was quite impressive. There were countless rifles and dueling pistols, some which came with a story about who died with it or who dueled with a specific pair.
Where's Jordan? Hiding from the bull
Bull ring
I don't even own a gun, let alone enough to necessitate an entire gun rack..
Kind of an old gun..
We toured a few different museums, old houses, ancient bathing structures, and the inside of the bridge itself. Saw a large collection of pig legs. The Iberian black pigs of Spain are everywhere, to be eaten that is, and often you find a leg clamped to a bar ready to be sliced for the customers. Delicious.
We restaurant hopped for dinner, eating a little bit of food at one restaurant before heading over to another to get paella, another Spanish delicacy of rice, fish or meat, mixed together with an assortment of vegetables and seasoning. Then of course, snagged some delicious soft-serve ice cream and then headed home again.
Ham! Yum!
Us and the bridge!
Bathing time!
The girls
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