Day 2 in Sevilla

Hola, today we went to our new favorite restaurant for breakfast (where we had Tapas for lunch yesterday). It’s pretty close to the University so it is always busy and prices are decent. After that we walked to the Cathedral and went inside, it was huge! It’s the third largest cathedral in Europe and it’s also where Columbus’ tomb is located. It is really impressive. You can walk up the bell tower (35 stories tall – no elevator) to get an incredible view of the city – we could see everything. We saw where the Bullfight arena was from the tower and decided to walk that way afterward. Along the way we strolled through many cool/rustic streets and really cool squares. After that we walked along the river and back toward our hotel. We had worked up an appetite by that time and stopped to have a very interesting meal. They didn’t have menus in English and no one there spoke a word that we could understand so we basically just pointed to something- everything is quite authentic. Mine was giant plate with rice topped with marinara sauce, a huge piece of fatty/salty ham, a raw egg (too over easy) and a beet salad. Eric’s was some type of dark meat chicken that we couldn’t even find the meat on (it was pure bones, skin & fat). Needless to say we were still hungry so got some Tapas afterwards. Eric went the safe route and ordered a burrito, I tried to be adventurous (don’t know why) and ordered patatas queso and ensaladilla. The patatas were good but the ensaladilla looked like duck meat on top of a cup of mayo (pictures are included). After one bite of that I decided to not try another so we both filled up on bread. Luckily, there was a good gelato stand nearby! I really wish I wouldn’t have forgotten so much of my Spanish over the last few years – I know enough to get around but the food situation is difficult. Even if I know what to ask, it’s not like I can understand what they’re saying back to me.


We’ve decided that we absolutely love Sevilla (up there with Venice & Nice) but the food in Italy was far better. Maybe tonight’s dinner will be a nice surprise. We usually try to eat outside so it’s great that it’s been dry. Inside the restaurants we’re the only non-smokers so we feel like we can’t breathe. Plus, sitting outside is much more entertaining, you can see all the mini cars trying to navigate on the streets – I don’t think I’ve seen one car yet that’s successfully turned a corner without having to go up on the curb first. I guess that’s why everyone here has a scooter or just walks. We love all the architecture, old buildings, pretty colors & cobblestone streets.
It’s great that we still have two more full days here. Tomorrow night we’re going to get tickets to see a Flamenco show and if the weather stays night might do a little river boat tour.
Pictures from today are attached, click on this link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38097129@N08/

¡Adoramos Sevilla!

We arrived in Sevilla this afternoon and so far we absolutely love it! Reminds us a lot like Florence, mainly all the super old buildings & really narrow streets. Barcelona had snow, first time in 25 years, so the sun here feels amazing. Barcelona was fun though too, the snow and freezing rain added to the adventure. Yesterday we went to Sagrada Familia but it was under extra construction so you couldn’t go up the stairs. Inside most of it was roped off but we got a few pictures before our camera died. We also went and looked at a bunch of Gaudi’s architecture and saw some different areas of the city (the Eixample). After a few hours, our shoes & socks were soaked (we weren’t planning on snow) so we headed back to our hotel to get warm.
This morning we took a flight from Barcelona to Sevilla and right after check in we were starving for lunch and headed down the street to stroll around. We found a Great tapas bar with outside seating in the courtyard. I love the culture here, everyone has wine in the middle of the day, not sure if they’re working or not but everyone seems so relaxed & happy. We then walked down to the Gardens and started familiarizing ourselves with the area. We don’t have much planned for this leg of the trip, I think our days will revolve around breakfast, lunch and dinner then we’ll find activities to do in between. We’re so happy for this sun and warm weather! Our hotel is in a great location, Santa Cruz, so we’re within walking distance to everything. I read in our Rick Steve’s Spain book that all the locals walk along the river after dinner so we’ll probably start that tradition as well. So far it doesn’t seem like that many people here speak English like they did in Barcelona so we’ll have to brush up on our vocabulary.
We were finally able to upload our pictures so the link is below.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38097129@N08/

Hola de Espana

We arrived in Barcelona yesterday after what felt like a lifetime of flying. It was weird, we didn't go through customs in Amsterdam or Spain, they must not care about who enters into their country. Once we checked into our hotel yesterday we went to explore the area. We're right off Las Ramblas so our location is close to everything. Down Las Ramblas they have lots of street vendors and entertainers, even some little pet shops selling roosters and rabbits. Today we walked down to the waterfront and then went up to Olympic Stadium. We took a Gondola up to Montjuic castle and saw great views overlooking the whole city. Right now we're in our hotel lobby and trying to wait two more hours before we go eat dinner since nothing opens until around 9pm. Yesterday we tried out a little Tapas place for lunch but then today we met an American who recently moved here and said those aren't very sanitary since the food sits out for hours.

We can't get into our Flickr account but once we're able to we'll post some pictures. Yesterday it was blue skies and sunny but today was a little grey and it has recently started sprinkling. The picture above is from Montjuic castle overlooking the city. Two other funny things I've noticed, 1) When you order a beer, it's just that, only one type of beer. 2) They don't have different kinds of milk, it's leche and there's no difference between skim or 2%. Tomorrow we'll go to Sagrada Familia, the Gaudi Museum and see some other sites.

~Whit & Eric

Last full day of our Europe Adventure

This has been an adventure for sure, started in London then Paris, Nice, Venice, Florence and finally now in Rome. We haven't been able to do a post for a few days because our hotel internet has been down so this will cover a bunch.
Last Wednesday when we were in Florence Eric and I did a wine tour through the Chianti region in Tuscany. It was beautiful scenery, we toured an old castle (where a family still lives) and where they make wine and olive oil. We had a little wine tasting and snack then got to just look around on our own for a bit where I got a lot of great pictures.
Thursday we took the train to Rome and met up with our friends, Brad and Craig, from Seattle. It's nice to have someone to have a conversation with in English. By the time we made it for Rome, we're ready to come home and the 80+ weather is making it hard to walk around all day like we've been doing. After checking into our hotel we walked to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, both full of people/tourists. Friday we went to Vatican City and toured the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. It probably would have been more fun if we didn't wait outside in line for 90 minutes and then once you got inside you were pretty much trapped for another 2 hours. It was like sardines, super hot inside and since there were so many people it was hard to even see everything or appreciate it for all it was worth.
Today we went to the Colosseum and took some pictures.
Tomorrow we fly out of Rome to London at 11:30 then onto Seattle/Portland from there.

To see our recent pictures, click on the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38097129@N08/

First full day in Florence

We arrived to Florence yesterday by train and took a taxi to our hotel. Our first room was super nasty, luckily with a little nice complaining we were moved to the newer wing (a room we could actually feel clean in). At first we weren't stoked about this city (although now it's growing on us a little more), Venice was amazing and we wish we would have had another night there. Our hotel in Venice was top notch and couldn't be beat, plus it had a shuttle boat that took you over to Zatterle or San Marco. That, along with a roof top pool made our 2 nights fantastic. We Loved Venice, no cars, water everywhere, great food, fun little streets, friendly people, etc.
So, for our first full day in Florence we took a taxi from our hotel (not prime location) to the Academia area but we didn't have a pre-booked reservation so we weren't able to get in.
Then we walked around the Duomo area and the streets were packed! You had to put your head all the way back just to see the top of that church, the pictures won't do it justice for how grand it was. After that we shopped a little and had a very authentic lunch (pizza without cheese but topped with arugula and tomatoes!).
Last night we had another great meal, what looked like a hole in the wall opened up to a nice restaurant that had a lot of signed pictures from famous people like Dustin Hoffman and Pavarotti who had all eaten there. Eric had the BEST lasagna of his life and my asparagus risotto was delicious as well. It's nice going to restaurants where the owners are the ones serving you, feels very welcoming.
Tomorrow we're going on a Chianti wine tour so I'm really looking forward to that, it will be nice to get outside this city and see some new scenery.

To see our recent pictures, click on the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38097129@N08/

We have arrived to Venice

Hello there, We arrived to Venice this evening and it's beautiful. We just got done with a delicious dinner but the internet is over $30 a day so we'll write more and post pictures from Florence early in the week.
The train ride was long but well worth it now that we're here.

Talk to you in Florence,
Whit and Eric

Hello from Nice

Today we took the train to Monaco/Monte Carlo, definitely the richest place in the world we've ever been. The Bentley's and Ferrari's were the norm and were all over the place. They had a lot of fences set up for the Grand Prix so it was cool to see where they'll actually have the race. As we were walking from the train station up to Monte Carlo you could see yachts EVERYWHERE, if only we knew one of the owners...
In the restaurant bathrooms, they had sheets of Kleenex instead of toilet paper!

We came back to Nice in the early afternoon then walked from the train station, through Old Nice and back to our hotel. Tomorrow we're supposed to have heavy rain all day so not sure what we'll do. The hotel said to not even try going to Cannes since the film festival is going on, a bus or taxi would take over 2 hours each way with traffic.
We'll probably go up to Castle Hill (even if that means carrying our umbrellas) because I've heard it's a great view point.


To see our pictures from today, click on the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38097129@N08/