Relaxing on the Spanish coast before our return

Our itinerary has been pretty full this trip, without much down time. So, we decided to spend the last few days soaking up the sun on the Spanish Riviera. We drove about 45 minutes past Barcelona to the resort town of Sitges.

It's a charming beach community that swells with tourists in the summer. Luckily, we missed the tourist season by two weeks, making it much less crowded and more affordable.

There are lots of tourist shops, restaurants, and hotels. Apparently a large number of ex-patriots are living here. We enjoyed the friendly hospitality.

Click to see the Sitges pictures.

Unexpected treasures in Aix En Provence

It is a two day trip from Venice to the Spanish coast, and both our clothes and ourselves were ready to dry out. We drove as far as we could the first day and stopped at Aix En Provence, France. As if being lured by an exotic melody, we stopped at the Mozart Inn. It ended up being a very affordable small hotel with fresh paint, comfy beds, and a large bathroom with plenty of hot water!  :)

The town was an unexpected delight. Friendly with a small town atmosphere, yet full of specialty shops and French country charm. The pace is slower and not once did we hear a car horn honk! It was surprisingly vibrant with students, and we learned that a university is here. Strolling through the cobble stone streets we saw bakeries, cheese shops, candy stores, butchers, perfume shops, and many restaurants. In the center square, there is a large farmer's market every day where the local farmers display the freshest fruits and vegetables I've ever seen. Albert and I felt at home here.

Click to see the Provence pictures.

Birthday in Venice

Before leaving Florence, Albert found the weather changed and the forecast for Venice was stormy and heavy rain! We considered altering our itinerary, but we had rain clothes and decided to go for it. We stayed at this great trailer camp resort just outside of the city. The trailer was clean, had good beds, and a warm shower! There was a restaurant, swimming pool, store, and large shower area.

Every night and morning it just poured down rain. We would suit up in our rain gear and either take the bus or drive into Venice. But after we got there each day, the rain stopped and it was pleasant!

Venice is enchanting. All the bridges, canals, and gondolas really brought my childhood stories to life. The architecture is very ornate, and it is mind-blowing to think that all the buildings were originally private homes.

Getting around in Venice is tricky. All the paths are narrow and they angle around. It's very easy to get lost. You would think with all the little stores that someone would have thought of selling breadcrumbs to the tourists to be able to find their way. But, of course, the pigeons would just flock and eat them so you'd still be lost.

We had a nice dinner on my birthday and took an evening boat ride along the main canal. It was beautiful seeing all the lights, and occasionally we could see into the villas and view their magnificat chandeliers and furnishings.

Click to see the Venice pictures.

A drive through Chianti wine country

While in Florence, several people mentioned for us to drive through the Chianti wine country. It takes about 50 kilometres to get there, and then there is a loop of about 65 kilometres of beautiful country where they grow grapes for making Chianti. The road is very winding and in some places just one lane.

The scenery really is breathtaking. Some of the grapes hadn't been harvested yet and we could see how large and full of juice they were. I wanted to stop and sample one but Albert thought we might get shot! There is also an abundance of olive trees.

There are a number of large castles in this region. One of them allows tours around the grounds and then lets you sample some wine!

Click to see the Chianti country pictures.

Florence has incredible art and architecture

We were following the directions to our apartment given to us by our host. Because Florence was hosting an international bike race, traffic was being diverted on many of the streets. Somehow we ended up driving right by the Duomo! I thought it was a great way to start our Florence adventure, just drive right up like we owned the place!

Florence is home to an incredible amount of art. Of course this is home to Michelangelo's David. Seeing this incredible statue in person was awesome, I actually got a little emotional. It was almost surreal, I couldn't believe I was actually standing next to it. I loved reading the plack next to it, because this statue is considered such a masterpiece, scholars need study no other sculpture.

We got to go to the Uffizi Gallery. This is an incredible museum that was originally a palace. It's a monstrous place that houses some of the world's finest artwork. We saw paintings dated to the 13th century. One of the best painters is Botticelli, and there is a whole room with his artwork.

Another landmark here is the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge that has lots of shops along both sides. You can't believe all the jewelry stores here!

We found a great little restaurant near our apartment and ate there three dinners. We became regulars for a short time! The gelato is incredible in Italy, so of course we had to sample every chance we could! The pasta here definitely lives up to it's reputation!

Here are the Florence pictures:

Florence 1

Florence 2

Nice and the French Riviera

I've always wanted to go to the French Riviera, especially after watching the movie To Catch A Thief by Alfred Hitchcock. Well, after almost 50 years, I actually made it there!

Nice is actually a much bigger city than I expected. It is very vibrant with beautiful people, shops, and nice cars. The stroll along the Mediterranean is beautiful. There are many more young people here than I imagined.

Click the link to view the Nice pictures.

We then drove along the Mediterranean to Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was a very beautiful drive, and we saw many yachts, villas, and winding curves.

After arriving in Monte Carlo, we drive to the casino and parked the car. We know we were at the right place when we saw an incredible Bentley convertible parking at the hotel. We've never seen so many Rolls Royce's, Bentleys, Mazeratis, and Ferraris in one place! We strolled through the casino, Albert tried a shot machine, we had lunch by the sea, and then we took off for Florence, Italy.

Click the link for the Monte Carlo pictures.

Barcelona Festival

Today we went to the Gothic quarter and enjoyed the Festival of the Giants. People wear very tall costumes with mostly human forms, although we saw dragons and other scary creators. They dance and twirl, and one large police officer squirted water towards the audience! There were thousands of people watching the parade

We then walked towards the center courtyard and watched the human pyramid competition. Groups of people climb on top of each other's shoulders and try to reach the tallest height. It's scary when they fall; however, there are so many people below to break their fall.

Next, we meandered through the narrow streets looking at all the quant shops, going through an historical museum, and enjoying the Gothic architecture.

To see pictures, click here

Pictures

For some reason, pictures won't upload to this blog. I've uploaded today's pictures to Picasa and the link is below. Please let me know if you are able to view them and if they look OK. Thanks!

Album link: https://picasaweb.google.com/114368931225061757765/Barcelona

Barcelona beauty

Today we went on a bus tour to see the sights of Barcelona. Our apartment is in a nice central location, but because of the angled streets it's very easy to get lost and it takes longer to go somewhere. So, our impression of the city before today has been a little disappointing. The three hour tour enabled us to see much more of Barcelona's beauty. It seems to be spread out more than Madrid. Barcelona hosted the 1929 Olympics, and then again in 1992. All of Barcelona came together 21 years ago to improve the city for the world games, and over 100,000 volunteers came forward to help. You can see these improvements today from beautiful parks to an amazing waterfront.

We learned on the tour today that the National Museum of Art was originally a palace. The view from atop this hill is just breath taking. To imagine being king and waking up to this view every day is just mind blowing. The Olympic stadiums and buildings are just behind the art museum, and we enjoyed seeing them up close on the tour today.

We stopped at the expansive waterfront and enjoyed coffee (thank you Starbucks) and then lunch (thank you McDonald's). By the way, it was the most beautiful McDonald's I've ever seen. We then went shopping at an actual shopping center, and found cute pants you can't find in the United States.

There is an annual festival going on this week called Barcelona La Merce Festival. http://www.bcn.cat/merce/recursos/docs/ProgramaMerce2013ang.pdf  There are many different events including the human pyramids, the parade of the giants, and spectacular fireworks displays.

Scenic drive from Madrid to Barcelona

Our drive from Madrid to Barcelona took us about six hours. The scenery at times was like a desert, with large rock formations similar to the grand canyon. Then the terrain changed and reminded us of driving through northern California. We saw many wind turbines along the way. Most of the time the speed limit was 120 km/hr.

There were many beautiful old churches. We also saw a number of old and crumbling structures. And occasionally on a hilltop you could see an old fortress. The Spanish are a proud and conquering people. Every so often we saw a huge black metal bull cut out along the highway. What it means we had no idea!

We got into Barcelona and quickly found out why everyone says don't drive your car to the city. There is a lot of traffic and the traffic lights are not timed for continuous movement. It's stop at each light for several minutes at a time. There's not nearly enough parking and what we could find was expensive.

Madrid bus tour

Madrid has double decker bus tours, where you can get off and then back on as often as you want. It's a great way to see all the sites at our own pace. It's also a great taxi!

We stopped at the Madrid Royal Palace and enjoyed a tour of the inside. The original palace burned on Christmas Eve in the 1700's. They rebuilt entirely out of stone and marble. It's a very impressive place.

Dining at the Ritz

We enjoyed dining and drinks at the Madrid Ritz Carlton Hotel. They sat us in a beautiful garden, with lighted fountains and ponds. A large formal party was on one side, and tables & chairs on the other. An incredible Spanish guitar trio serenaded us. The chicken quesadilla was the best food we've had in Madrid!

Madrid architechture

Albert and I are in awe of the incredibly ornate Madrid buildings! Albert was told by three different people not to spend much time here, as it wasn't a very pretty city. Boy were they wrong! We could spend weeks here and still not see everything!

Click here to see the pictures of Madrid.

Preparation

With less than one week until departure, we are madly trying to finish everything so we can go.  Albert had to meet with clients in Eastern Oregon, prepare 30 days of food for his mother, and break the news to his little dog that he won't be back for a while.  Eric is packing, getting the tech toys together, finishing up with clients, and making sure his family is set for a month without him.