Garrett was on a business trip in Scotland for two days. I attempted to make bagels for his homecoming.

It was at this point that I realized mine didn’t look like the ones in the picture. Note to self – do not use whole wheat bread flour when the recipe calls for plain bread flour. And don’t substitute AP flour for bread flour, even if it is only a 1/2 cup. All because I didn’t want to go to the grocery store for the fifth tenth time this week.

The toppings were good. Sesame and onion flakes… kind of had that everything bagel taste. But, the texture was off. Attempt two will come. First we have about six more mediocre bagels to get through.

“Say Whaaa?”

Friday night dinner: Barbecue chicken burgers and sweet potato fries. Yum.

Sunday we drove 2.5 hours to Luxembourg for an outdoor music festival. On the way we stopped by this American Cemetery and Memorial. It seems that whenever we visit WWII memorials it’s rainy, cold and overcast. Or is that just the climate we live in?
Walking around lost in Luxembourg City. Nothing new there.

Rock a Field, a two day outdoor music festival. We took a ten minute train from Luxembourg City to Bettembourg, and then a bus to the actual venue, just for the evening. It rained all day and night. But it was worth it to see Mumford and Sons, up close and personal.This is me on our walk back to the bus, almost dropping my camera and accidentally snapping a picture. Enough said.
I’m hoping my mom and dad bring some sunshine to Antwerp, Reims and London this week. I know it’s a lot to ask, but PLEEEAAAAASE.

We had one final day in Madrid, so we dragged our butts  jumped out of bed eager to enjoy the city. First, we went to the famous art museum, the Prado, which is just massive. It was cool because Garrett and I were able to recognize several paintings and artists we had studied in art history class in Aix. We walked through the various halls, admiring the art, and taking it all in. It’s pretty overwhelming. It had been a while since I had visited an art museum, so it was nice to have the cultural experience and exercise my brain for a few hours.

After that, we walked around the city stopping by a huge square where people were dining outside, and artists were painting and selling their work.

We also went into the amazing Madrid market which blew my mind. I just wish I would have been really hungry so I could have sampled EVERYTHING. All the food looked so good. I was parched so I got some sort of fresh, strawberry/banana juice. It was good, but I couldn’t help but slurp it down in about five seconds flat. So much for spending 4 euro on freshly squeezed juice.

Look at those cupcakes! Why didn’t I get one of those!?

We also stopped by the royal palace, but just for a view of the outside.

It’s funny, after seeing all these other cities in Spain, Madrid just kind of reminded me of New York. It has that metropolitan thing going on. I mean, besides the bull fighting.

In the late afternoon, we went back to the hotel so Garrett and I could get ready to leave for the airport. The two boys stayed one more night in Madrid, and one of them went on to meet friends in Amsterdam and Paris. I can’t even imagine how he found the energy!

One of our last nights in Spain, the four of us went around saying what our favorite city was. I don’t know that anyone gave a definitive answer because we saw so much, and it’s hard to compare one city to the next. They were all unique in their own right. Someone mentioned Cadiz because it had the low-key, beach-town thing going on, but with a lot of culture. Someone else said Malaga for the shops, beach and nightlife. I know Garrett was really taken with Ronda for the views and the one of a kind, mountainous setting.

It’s hard to say. Loving my beach time, I did enjoy Malaga a lot. I found the atmosphere to be lively and relaxed all at the same time. One morning, Garrett and I went for a run along the bay and it was just awesome. But I would also want to go back and spend more time in Sevilla. Two days there wasn’t enough. And I felt like we only scratched the surface on so many other places, like Granada, which I would have loved to explore more. Really, it was a whirlwind trip. We could have spent more time in each city, if only we had the days.

I have to say, one of the coolest things about the trip was having the car. It was so liberating being able to drive from one city to the next on our own schedule. And I may have complained to Garrett about always being on the go, but looking back, I can’t believe how much we got to see and do.

And the views we captured from the road were some of the best.

What an adventure! It was one for the books, for sure.

Now I can go back to regular blogging and boring you all with mundane details of every day life. BUT my parents are coming in TWO WEEKS! I am so excited, I can’t contain myself. More trips planned for then, and much more to come this summer and fall.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I’ll be blogging about ours soon, some exciting stuff on the agenda!

Our Spain journey is finally coming to an end! It feels like forever ago since we were there, but it’s only been two weeks. The fact that I went from wearing shorts and tank tops every day to wearing jeans and a jacket again makes me feel like it was a full season ago. Come on Belgium summer, I know you can do it!

It didn’t take us long to get to Madrid. Once there, the boys checked into the hotel and Garrett and I returned the rental car to the airport, luckily that wasn’t far away either. By the time we met the boys back at our hotel room, I just remember being sooo tired. Day seven. But, we had plans to go to the bull fight that night which is held every night at 7pm in Madrid. 

I have to say I wasn’t too keen on the idea of watching a bull fight. But, the boys really wanted to go and I thought it might be an interesting cultural experience. A once in a lifetime thing. So we walked thirty minutes or so to the huge stadium. The crowd, even outside the stadium, was overwhelming. People were coming up to us, desperately trying to sell us tickets. And we thought we’d have a problem buying them so late! We bought the minimum price tickets at the counter and headed to our seats. 

Anticipation and excitement were even more full force inside the ring. Having paid for the low rate tickets, we expected to be in the nose bleed section, but we ended up having pretty great seats. We were kind of high up, had the sun right in our face, but we had a straight-on view of the bull ring below.

I’m not going to go into the details of the bull fight, I’ll spare you all that. I’m assuming you know how it works and what inevitably happens. To be honest, I was horrified in the beginning. Absolutely horrified. I actually cried when the first two bulls were killed. I know, I’m a wuss. Everything about the sport seemed inhumane to me, and I couldn’t get past that. 

Then something sick happened after the third bull, I almost became desensitized to the killing of the bulls. I tried to compartmentalize the animal-loving, self righteous part of my brain and look at the “sport” as a part of Spanish culture and an allegiance to Spain’s long standing traditions. I took in the crowd, the cheering and the booing, and just became amused by the spectacle of it all. 

When we walked out of the ring, we all just kind of stared at each other and said “Whoa.” The boys thought it was one of the coolest things we did on the trip, not because they like animal cruelty, but because it was just almost unreal. And a truly unique, cultural experience. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, but I’m glad we went. Now I can say I’ve been to a bull fight in Madrid.

That night we celebrated Garrett and I’s last meal in Spain. One of the guys heard of a street filled with tapas bars, so we headed in that direction. I WISH I would have brought my camera, but I didn’t want to be bothered with it on our last night. We had some of the best food of the trip that night. And the tapas bars were such a cool experience!

First bar we ordered tinto de verano to drink. I have to bring this up, because we sampled this drink in Sevilla after hearing about it from a friend in Belgium. The description is wine with soda, so I would never think to order something like this. But, it’s awesome. In Spain, they call it “summer wine” because it’s cold, light and refreshing. If I’m correct, it’s red wine mixed with lemon soda. Like sangria, but in my opinion, less sweet. Soo good.

Most of the tapas bars were standing only, and there was a selection of small bites encased on the bar counter. You order by simply walking up to the bar and pointing to what you want. For us, we just picked out whatever looked good and went to town. Most of the dishes consisted of a piece of toast topped with fish, cheese, roasted veggies, or meat… or a combination of all those. Some were simple, others were more complex in flavor and ingredients. Everything we ordered was great.

We continued the night like this, going from one tapas bar to the next, ordering wine and small dishes to munch on. The final stop was the best, we ordered a cheese plate with three different types of cheese and crostini topped with a warm and melty shrimp/cheese mixture. It was AWESOME. On top of that, this place ended up being the type that gives you free tapas with your drink anyway, so we had some more patés and cheese on top of toast to share. We were all stuffed but couldn’t pull ourselves away.

The night ended with a final beer that none of us wanted to finish, and a face plant into bed. We woke the next morning, still tired, and feeling the miles of the trip wearing on our legs. But, we had a few more things to see before Garrett and I caught our flight.

Next up: Brief touring of Madrid, and consensus of the trip!

Toledo is the city made of knights, dragons and fairytales. At least that’s what I imagined.

But before all that, we spent another morning and afternoon in Granada. Garrett and I hit the gym in the morning and then the breakfast buffet at our spectacular hotel. Ahhh… heaven.

I really liked the vibe in Granada. Maybe because there were hippies everywhere? Or because we could walk up hills, all leading to spectacular views.

I bought a beautiful hand-made bracelet from this nice guy, originally from Poland, with dread locks down to his butt. He was illegally selling these bracelets… I found this out as he quickly swept up his display when the politie van arrived. He later explained to us that he can’t get a license to sell his jewelry, even though he makes each piece himself. There seemed to be several local artists like him around, each of them rolling up their blanket of goods once the police were near.

After grabbing a cone of the best ice-cream in the world, we hit the road for Toledo. Did you know Granada was known for their ice-cream? I had no idea but it is so good. The texture is unlike any other ice-cream I’ve tried. It’s more icy than creamy – if that makes sense, and very refreshing.

Anyway. When we arrived at our hotel in Toledo, they weren’t happy with four people staying in one room, so we coughed up some euros for an extra room. Best money ever spent! Not that I didn’t like sharing a hotel room with our friends… but it was time for a good night’s rest.

The evening light as we arrived in Toledo was amazing.

The hotel was just across the river from the center of town. Above you can see the bridge we crossed to get from one to the other.

After resting in our rooms for a bit, we ventured out to explore the city.

We passed by churches and walked up and down very narrow streets. I don’t really believe moving cars fit that well on these streets, not with people on them too. I can vouch for this because my toe literally almost got run over. My husband would tell you that I don’t know how to walk straight though, so who knows whose to blame.

We were on a mission to find out where the people in Toledo hung out at night. ??? We never found it. So we circled back to one of the first restaurants we spotted and had dinner. Not the best meal of our trip, but they can’t all be winners. And where were all the people?? The city seemed to be deserted. I guess it was a Monday night…

We woke up refreshed and ready to start the day. First stop, breakfast and coffee. This meal did not disappoint. Garrett got toast topped with tomato jam and iberian ham. Delicious. I got a sort of smoked salmon sandwich on thin-sliced tomato bread. All the fixings were included: red onion, tomato, lettuce and cream cheese. We went half and half with each other, but I only snapped a picture of the ham. Whoops!

After eating, we walked through a few churches and synagogues, paid to see the famous El Greco painting, The Burial of Count Orgaz,  and casually toured the city for the rest of the afternoon. Toledo sword shops lined every street! Hence why I felt like we were in a knight’s town. Not to mention that most major structures here looked like castles, even the churches.

After walking around and seeing all we could take, we jumped back in the car ready for the final stop. Toledo offered some spectacular views, but the town seemed a little deserted, and touristy, almost too fairy tale-esque for me.  Maybe we visited at the wrong time though.

One more night in Spain, and we’ll be spending it in Madrid!

Hope everyone’s weekend is off to a great start! Lets continue on with the Spain escapades so I can eventually wrap this tour up!

From Malaga we headed to Granada. I had been really looking forward to this city. Yes, I was stoked to visit the Alhambra, but I also knew this hotel was going to be one of the nicer ones booked. And let me tell you, it didn’t disappoint!As I mentioned before, our friend used his Marriott points to book most of our hotels. I am so grateful to him, because as you know that can be an expensive part of any vacation. The AC Palacio De Santa Paula in Granada was about as beautiful as any place I’ve stayed in. I loved the open courtyards! The architecture is reminiscent of something Old World, and actually the hotel occupies the space that use to be The Santa Paula convent refectory. source.  It sits on a busy street in the center of the city and is regarded by many as a “restoration masterpiece.” source.

I wish I would not have been so dog tired by the time we arrived in Granada for our early evening tour of the Alhambra. But, you’ve seen the tight itinerary we were on. And with taking in account late, late dinners and lots of day time walking and touring, come 5pm on day five, I was feeling the need for a NAP.But, persist we must! For those who have not heard of the Alhambra in Granada, it’s by far the main attraction in the city. It may be the only reason people think to come here. This unbelievable complex is a fortress dating back to the 9th century, but it also includes a palace (which you have to make reservations for). It’s entirety resembles a small city with walls built to protect it’s interior. The Alhambra was originally built for military purposes. Reference of Kings living here can be traced back to the 13th century. source.

Like the fortress we visited in Malaga (but about 10x bigger), the Moorish influence was abundantly clear through the architecture and detailing in the palace interior.

The best view of the city.

The gardens were another beauty to behold. The color of the flowers were so vibrant, and their aroma really perfumed the air. Everything was springy green, the bushes were perfectly groomed and the flowers were in full bloom.

After an overwhelming tour, and I say that with the deepest appreciation, it was time to rest and turn off the brain. I bought a hat. We bought a few beers, and relaxed in the courtyard before showering up for dinner.

That night we decided to treat ourselves at the fancy hotel restaurant. The food was excellent, very gourmet, but not too fussy. I ordered lamb (but took no pictures!). To finish the meal, we all shared a sampling of desserts.

We ate outside in the courtyard, with the moon right overhead. Great end to a great day.

Two more stops – Toledo and Madrid.

So here we are, we’ve finally arrived in Malaga. I told you that it was an adventure finding our hotel. It was kind of an adventure finding every one of our hotels, but this was an all out ordeal. We literally had the street we wanted sitting at our nose, but could not make a right turn onto it.

After an hour of circling around, first trying to find the street, then trying to find a way onto the street, the boys jumped out and asked the hotel front dest where the heck to park. From there, things went swimmingly.

Garrett and I headed out for a glass of wine and some tapas while the boys showered up. I was in my “if you don’t feed me now, I’m going to kill someone” mood by this time. It was well past 10pm, maybe even past 11pm. And while my body clock was getting better adjusted to late dinners, it had been a long day and I was starving.

By the time the guys met us out, the food choices were limited. Could it be, even restaurants in Malaga stop serving dinner at midnight!? But everyone was fed and we enjoyed a few bars afterward before calling it a night.

That (above) is a serious gin and tonic. I only had a sip.

There’s a lot to say about Malaga. Mostly, I just felt pure happiness in this city. I could have stayed here for five days. Did I mention that I LOVE the beach? I do. And finally we got some beach time and three full hours to relax and do nothing. Besides going for a jog in the morning, and the usual “Garrett Bruno city tour” in the early evening, it was actually a fairly low key day. I loved it.

The city had a much more modern feel to it than any of our previous stops. The main shopping street looked like it was made of shiny, new marble. The cafes along the bay were very “posh” filled with well-dressed people sipping cocktails. There were tons of shops lining the streets, and this part of the city looked like a vacation paradise… for the wealthy. I mean, there were yachts on the bay. Come on.

On the other end of that, there was some major history and sights to be seen. Garrett and I walked through La Alcazaba after spending the day on the beach.

The original fortress dates back to the 700s. It is one of the largest Muslim military buildings kept in Spain. source.

And it truly was a maze I could get lost in. The Moorish influence displayed in the detailing on the walls was so neat to see. 

And the panoramic views from the top were phenomenal.

The second night out, I was determined to eat fish for dinner. We were right on the coast after all! I ordered grilled fish, whatever type the special was. It was simply prepared but very flavorful. Fresh and light.

We shared a bottle of red wine, per nightly custom.

After dinner, our friends headed out to the clubs. Malaga had quite the night scene going on! Club solicitors were on every corner handing out flyers. Garrett and I officially slapped the “married and boring” sticker on our foreheads by opting for ice-cream and bed instead. And I have to say, it felt fantastic.

In the morning the two of us caught the complimentary hotel breakfast while letting the boys sleep in. By mid afternoon we were on our way to Grenada.

Oh but how I longed for another day on the beach! Goodbye ocean. We shall meet again soon.

Once in Ronda, I felt the sun damage done on my shoulders. Ouch! But the scenery in this city took my mind off of everything else. I was in complete awe of it’s beauty.

Ronda sits in the middle of a mountainous area on top of a large canyon, creating spectacular views from all angles.

At every lookout point, the world seemed to drop off and we were left staring out over green valleys and white houses to more mountain peaks in the distance.

We walked around for a while and caught the major sights, reading the plaques along the way recounting the history of the city and it’s  landmarks, like the Archway of Philip V.

After witnessing this unique city, this natural gem, it is no wonder to me why Ernest Hemingway chose to spend many summers writing here. source.

The Plaza de Toro de Ronda is said to be one of the oldest bullfighting rings in Spain. source. We didn’t go in, deciding to save our fee for a real bullfight in Madrid instead.

For a town that looks so small, the inner streets were bustling with people making their way from one shop to the next. And they looked to be locals, not just tourists. But it’s hard to imagine people actually living here! The geographic location of the city was truly unlike anything I have ever scene. It’s amazing how even the houses seem to stand right against the edge of a cliff.

It was a long car ride then to Malaga. Probably longer than the driver anticipated, especially given the road we were traveling on. We winded around the mountains for what felt like hours, and literally I had to close my eyes at some points, praying to God we wouldn’t slide off the edge. Garrett did great though and never lost focus.

The boys in the back seat started to feel nauseous just in time for us to get onto a normal, flat highway. We finally made it to Malaga, but finding our hotel was a whole other ordeal!

After two nights in Sevilla, we hit the road for Cadiz. Our final destination for the day was Malaga but Garrett had mapped out the route so we would see Cadiz and Ronda on our way.

Cadiz looks like a Spanish beach town, with the charm and architecture of an old city.

It had been forever (okay, not even a year) since I had seen the ocean. Just the sight of it made me smile.

Rocky slopes, or cliffs separated the beach from the main road. Peering out over the edge of the road down to the beach, we spotted at least four kitties trying to hide from the sun’s heat behind the large rocks. Someone had been kind enough to leave a few bowls of water out for them.

It was hot in Cadiz and I definitely underestimated the sun. Even though we didn’t have any formal beach time, my shoulders got scorched sitting outside with my back to the rays (I didn’t feel this until later). We picked a little place to sit outside for lunch where we could still hear the water and enjoy the heat. The ocean breeze and the taste of salt in the air brought back great memories of summer beach days in Florida.

We enjoyed a lunch of tapas – basically fried fish is the specialty here, but we also tasted chicken in a white wine, garlic and butter sauce. As well as tender beef in a pool of dark, rich, buttery broth. Both were awesome. The best thing though were these fried patties of shrimp and potatoes, basically fritters, which I believe were called “omelets” on the menu. Not what an American would classify as an omelette, but great none the less.

We then strolled around town, winding in and out of the narrow streets. We stopped by the small squares to people watch. Locals were enjoying their afternoon meal outside of quaint, “neighborhood” restaurants. Paella and cold wine were in abundance. We stumbled across a nice little market selling items like shoes, beach dresses, flowers and post cards.

After about two hours in Cadiz we jumped back in the car and headed to Ronda. Talk about a change in scenery! We left the coast only to be greeted by the mountains. The car ride offered some great sights. We could spot white towns from the highway and the mountain peaks were starting to come into view. The drive reminded me of the Going to the Sun road out West.

Two cities down for the day, two more to go.

In another life Garrett would be a Tour Guide Director. It may be his true calling. I credit him for the adventures I’m about to explain.

And so the trip starts… One of Garrett’s friends came to Antwerp for a few days before heading to Spain with us. The three of us woke up at 5am on a Wednesday to take a bus to the Brussels airport where we would fly out of to Madrid. In Madrid we met another friend coming from the States. From there, the four of us hopped in our rental car and headed for Sevilla. It was a long drive, but a stop for lunch and a great iPod play list kept us going.

The skies were clear blue and believe me, it was hot. The weather stayed like this all eight days. It was fantastic.

When we arrived in Sevilla, I must have been exhausted because I took zero pictures of our first night out. Sorry! That was the one time I failed. We played cards in the hotel room before we decided that it was late enough to head to dinner. Spain has quite a night life and everything starts LATE. Especially for a girl who is usually in bed by 10:30pm. I adjusted accordingly though and got use to 11pm dinners.

One of the guys in our group had hotel points and booked most of our rooms free of charge! The only set back there is that in two of the hotels I had to share a twin bed with Garrett, and that was quite tight. Not to mention sharing one bathroom with three dudes. Or one hotel room in general with three dudes. Anyway. It wasn’t all that bad, honestly. The accommodations were really nice, and definitely worth saving hotel fees. Thanks to our friend for the perk! 

After a great first night out of tapas and sangria in Sevilla, we woke up the next morning to explore the city. Garrett carried along the guide book and after lunch we hit up the main sights, including the impressive Sevilla Cathedral which offers amazing views of the city.

We kept our entrance fees and formal tours to a minimum on the trip. Instead, Garrett would read from tour books highlighting information about various structures, churches and noting tidbits of history about each city.

We enjoyed another dinner in Sevilla, this time by the water. It was absolutely beautiful looking out over the bridge with the Cathedral all lit up.

In the morning we woke to hit the road for Malaga with plans to stop at Cadiz for lunch and Ronda for a quick walk around. We covered two completely opposite terrains in one day which made for a mind blowing experience. It was a long day, but I can’t say I would have wanted to miss Cadiz or Ronda.

They’re up next!