Euro Urban Living

My blogging skills aren't that great so these pic's aren't in the order I would prefer, so skip the church photos until you read the last of the post. :)

View from our little balcony no not the church...

Taylor and I arrived at our last little home via taxi. The roads are so small all around our apartment that he had to drop us off a few blocks away. In fact, we actually went to the wrong door first and then realized that our street was tucked in to all the others. Not a through street at all. All the doors here have locked doors to enter and all the shops have steel doors to close over the shop at night. A great place for graffiti. Anyway, back to the casa...We open the first locked door to find a narrow red stairwell and it is pitch black. So we haul our stuff up three small flights of stairs, still with no light and find our door. Thankfully it's the first one. However, as seen in the picture above there are 3 locks to unlock. It took us at least 3-5 min just to figure out the combination in which to unlock these locks. Once inside we realized that we indeed had 5 locks to keep us safe. Wow! Really!? Do we need that many? Where did I book us an apartment? My doubts were raging at this point. Once inside we realized that it was indeed a great little place. Very clean, small but cozy. Our previous two places were quite cold so this was going to be a better place to read a book and drink our warm morning beverages. We also eventually found a light switch that is on a timer for those of you still wondering if we ever had a light in the stairwell.

We soon plunked all our things into a small bedroom and put our feet up for just a bit. We got out to wander that evening and found that we were in the thick of it all. So fun!! La Rambla which is a large shopping district is less than a 10 min walk and we were also able to walk to many other touristy sites within a hour or less.

Sunday we took a stroll to the famous Gaudi cathedral that has been being built for over 100 years. It still has 30-40 years to go before it is completed. All I have to say is it is weird. Don't get me wrong the stone masonry is amazing but one part looks like church gone vegas with these odd colored balls and colored writing on the pillars. But then you turn the corner and the church looks like an evil being that is holding onto beautiful statues of saints as captives. Then there are the lizards and snakes on each corner of another part and then don't forget the part that looks like a candle has being melted all over it. One book said that you would either love it or hate it, but it would definitely be a conversation piece, well that sure is true.

It is our last day here in Barcelona, we plan to go do a little shopping, take some more photos of this amazing market that is off La Rambla. (You 'll probably see a post of just those photos sometime soon) We woke up this morning at 5:30 and walked down to the pier for a sunrise photo. it was neat to see the city start to come to life. After that super early morning we are having round two of the day. We both just woke up from a nap. I love vacation...

A summation of what this trip entails, thus far

Life is good...

Country mouse, city mouse

What a time we are having. We spent 7 nights on Mallorca and found it to be so beautiful. Both places we stayed were out in the country and so very peaceful. The first was just outside the town on Valldemossa. The west coast was absolutely fantastic. The most amazing rock terraced walls we have ever seen. The richness of the culture here really stands out in what they build. It is great to be able to see so many little towns in our little fiat we affectionately called the "Fat Panda". Why you may ask? The first time I looked at the window sticker I thought it actually was called the fat panda. You definitely need a small car here. The roads are crazy small. We were able to go on one hike in the west region that was along the Mediterranean. That day it was even nice enough to lay in the sun on a rock with the sea lapping at the shore. We had a picnic of bread, ham and cheese. That's really a staple here.

The weather has been kinda cold. So the day near the sea was a plus. No real rain but pretty darn chilly. Luckily after meeting our friends here I was able to borrow a few more warm things. Ah, so much better to be warm.

After leaving Valldemossa we headed to Pollenca. This town is north on the island and we did a beautiful mountain drive to get there. Very impressive mountains here. Tons of hiking and rock climbing. Speaking of rock climbing, Taylor was able to do a couple climbs thanks the Sweeney's generosity with their gear and belaying skills. It was so much fun to hang out with our friends in such a gorgeous place. He loved it! I happily craned my neck to watch everyone. :)

We stayed in a little farmhouse way out in the country in Pollenca. The view from our patio was so pretty. All mountains and farm land. As you sat with your glass of wine you could here a multitude of birds, the ringing of sheep bells and these crazy little frogs that sound like cats meowing. We even had two pet cats for the few days we were there.

The place was a bit cold for our taste but we made do with lots of layers and fuzzy blankets. The shower was the funniest part. Imagine standing in a 18" x 18" corner and having a war with a plastic shower curtain. It usually won.

I am now sitting in our super cute city apartment. We are in a completely opposite area than on the island, right smack dab in the middle of it all. I now sit and hear little mopeds drive by, lots of people talking and in the evening a basketball bouncing. Even some random noises that sound like someone is trying to walk everyone up with a piece of rebar against another metal object.

We plan to walk to La Rambla today and try and pick pocket the pick pockets. I only say that because everyone we told we were going to Barcelona warned us of the pick pockets. We are ready for them. :)

Adios amigos!!

Girona, Spain

We made it. Taylor and I flew from 2 different continents on April 6th and met in Barcelona on the morning of the 7th. Wow, what a sight to see that guy. He is tan and still very good looking. :) We have been having an amazing time. We started our adventure with hopping on a train to the main train terminal in Barcelona after a quick bus ride from the airport. After arriving there we hopped another train to get to a small town named Girona. We thought it would be a quick trip, however due to our inexperience it took way longer than anticipated but we made it. We were able to see some country side after enjoying much graffitti on the way. Our hotel is very clean and we think quite new. It is very Euro with only a small bathroom and a double bed. Think IKEA but without any fluff. We were able to walk into town and found a tapas bar on the water. Looking through the window we were able to see a small river through town, a walking bridge and lots of pastel colored apartments all along the water.

Our first true day in Spain was spent walking into Old Town Girona. The main attraction here is the beautiful Catedral de Girona. We took a really amazing tour through this church with these groovy phone like things that had pre-recorded info. It turns out this church naive is the 2nd widest in the world. Only second to one at the vatican. The tombs and rock work were crazy beautiful. We were only able to sneak one picture since they weren´t allowed.

The little town has all these amazing staircases and beautiful winding small streets. The bell towers can be heard throughout the day. We also found a great irish pub to settle into for the late afternoon while we waited for our appetites to return. We had a really interesting pizza at lunch that had dates, raisins, carrots, asparagus, mozzerella and pine nuts. Sounds wierd but it was super good and filling.

I love this place. It is very international. We hear mainly french and Spanish. Oh, how I wish I were fluent in both. Someday...

That´s all for now. We are headed to Mallorca this morning.

Pictures soon to come. I can´t seem to get them to post.

Ah, trip planning...

For those of you who may not know, Taylor and I get to rendezvous in Spain. Specifically, Barcelona and Majorca. He has to exit Sudan due to some potential turmoil that may appear with the first southern Sudanese elections. Hopefully, all will go smoothly and he will be able to get back and they will finish their job. But in the mean time I am here perusing the internet and guide books on what to do and where to stay etc, etc. I laughed out loud today when I was trying to pretend that I could read the train RENFE website in Spanish. I did succeed in finding the prices. Thank god numbers are universal.

Part of my reason for blogging tonight was that I feel so inspired by my friend Katie who is a fantastic blogger. But as I write these words I am not feeling very inspired. What does one write about as my new little kitty angel sleeps in my lap? I will share that I am a little trepidacous about flying half way around the world by myself but at the same time it makes me feel more alive and brave. I am trying to learn some Spanish before I go. Good fun, even though I keep reading that pretty much every region has it's own dialect. I can say "Hello, how are you?" really well. :) and as long as the other person only says "I am fine" I will be able to understand.

Overall life is grand. I hope that this new job of Taylor's allows us to travel more and see new and beautiful things. I like to keep life adventurous and Spain fits into that desire nicely.

For now, I will crawl into bed with yet another great book and escape into someone else's adventures for the night with all my lovely furry friends to keep me company.

I miss you, Taylor

Happy New Year!!

Well, we have seen another year fly by. It started by Taylor heading to Northwest Lineman College and me praying that even with a recession my little biz would keep afloat. The 3 and a half months that Taylor was at school quickly flew by and he was home for about a month and then off to the glorious Dodge City. After a longer duration then we anticipated he was able to get the hell out of Dodge at the end of Dec. My little business survived with flying colors and I see the new year bringing in more and more business. I accomplished my goal of reading 50 books. Yippee!

My favorites being: People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks and Shantaram by (ah shit can't remember) maybe Gregory Daniels... this is why I now write down all the books I read. Who can keep track??

So the New year starts off with another new book to delve into with cats sitting all around and Yeti patiently waiting to go for a run. Taylor is currently on his way home and I will take one more day to enjoy our little decorated house.

I want to thank all of you for being such great friends and helping me get through the last year. You all mean so much to me. I couldn' t do it without you.

So the new year brings us to Africa, another marathon and many more good books and good times with friends.

I hope you all have a wonderful 2010 full of surprises and good times.

Sudan

Well, for those of you who didn't know, it is time for Taylor to try new adventures in the linemen world and he is heading to Sudan Jan 25th. Yep, Africa. It will be an amazing opportunity. He will be there with 5 other lineman from the states. He will literally be getting the "hell out of Dodge" on Dec 24th. I think this is his biggest xmas gift. I have linked a video here to show all of you what he will be up to in southeastern, sudan.

http://www.nrecainternational.org/news/video/Sudan_2009/Sudan.htm

So from here on out I hope to report to you new and interesting things that come up while one lives in a small village in southeast, Sudan.

Have a wonderful holiday season. May you be blessed with good memories and lots of love.