Hola!

Okay, first of all, no more trying to fit the pictures around the words or the words around the pictures. It takes too much time...probably because I can't figure out how to do it properly...whatever! This works fine!! Secondly, the pictures all loaded out of order, so I'll briefly outline our itinerary in Spain and then explain the pics...k? Okay.

We began our time in Spain in Madrid, including a daytrip to Toledo. Following that, we headed down to Granada, then North to the coastal city of San Sebastian. Our final destination in Spain was Barcelona. Alright, now for the pictures...

1. This is a photo of the "sound and light show" we saw in Barcelona (Dan, Brad, Lou...if you're reading this, we just couldn't resist...) They do this show every half hour, every night, from 9-11. It's fantastic!

2. This is Rebecca in San Sebastian. We spent a lot of time meandering down the beaches there. It was really beautiful, and Rebecca even took off her shoes and walked on the sand with me for a while (for those of you who don't know, Rebecca hates the beach).

3. This is a view from the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. These palaces and gardens were absolutely breathtaking. I had to take another picture every few steps because there was always another angle that appeared just as stunning as the one before.

4. In Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia is well-known as a popular construction site...yes, in typical Gaudi fashion (Gaudi was the original architect), it still isn't finished. There are three different facades, each very different from the other, having been constructed under various people. The hope now is that it will be finished in 2026 (hey, people who worked on VBS 2050, not looking so bad, huh?) Anyway, the detail is unbelievable!

5. This statue is in a main square, or plaza, in Madrid.

6. This is a view of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, from our patio. Actually, it's the main viewpoint in the little town we stayed in, but James, the owner of our hostel, called it our patio because it was basically right outside our door.

7. Just a picture of me at the Alhambra.

8. Here you can see a street in the little white village we stayed in while in Granada. The streets were labyrinth-like, and great fun to wander around in.

9. The final picture is just a view of the city of Toledo.

Okay, hope that satisfies everyone who has been anxiously awaiting the next post. I have more to say about France and Italy, but that will have to wait until next time...hopefully not so long this time!!!

Ireland Again!!!

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. When we do have internet, it usually isn't the best connection or I'm too exhausted to post. So, sorry everyone! Here's the Ireland post and pictures.

Where do I start? We felt fairly at ease back in Ireland, feeling like we could get around Dublin fairly well by this point (well, for a tourist anyway). So the first day we were there was errand day. I needed new pages in my passport and we felt that it would be easier looking for an embassy in an English speaking country than somewhere else. So, I looked up the embassy online, got the address, and marked it on our map. Feeling rather sure of ourselves, we decided we could walk, and I just ignored the note on the embassy website that mentioned a bus would take about 35 minutes to get there. We didn’t mind the exercise anyway. Stepping out the door of our hostel we were met with an onslaught of rain!!! Determined to go through with our plans, we whipped out our umbrellas and marched onwards. Freezing cold, soaked through, drenched feet, and an hour later we arrived at the embassy. “You look cold, if you don’t mind me saying,” says the gentleman at security. That’s putting it mildly. And of course, by the time it was my turn the system was down and they couldn’t check my passport in D.C. so we were going to have to wait 2-3 hours. On the recommendation of a security guard there, we headed quickly across the street for some coffee and stayed put in a dry cafe for about an hour and a half. By the time we left, the rain had died down. I got my passport and we headed back to the hostel, not wanting to see another drop of water for at least a month.

That night, however, we went out with Valerie, Emilio, and two friends of theirs. We did see more drops of water, but fortunately, nothing too serious. The following day saw us on the bus to Wicklow, which is supposedly the “garden of Ireland.” It was really beautiful. Cities are nice, but I really love getting out of them and seeing what God created.

Sunday we took the bus to Galway where we would be based for two nights. We really liked the hostel there. As soon as we arrived they invited us down to watch a hurling match and eat pizza. Monday morning we took a ferry to the largest of the Aran Islands. The Aran Islands are a piece of the past, where most people speak Gaelic. We rented bikes and rode around a large loop, seeing a significant portion of the island. It did start raining towards the end of our time, but not too badly.

Tuesday we took the bus to the Shannon airport where we boarded our flight to Paris. That experience and Spain will be in the next post...

Goodbyes

Well, we said goodbye to the Greens last night, which was very sad. It felt like leaving home again! They are a wonderful family, and no, I'm not just saying that because they're reading our blogs now! : - ) We really had a nice time in Scotland and were sad to leave, though excited about the parts of our trip to come... Dublin is familiar now, so we feel pretty comfortable here, but I am getting a little nervous about going on to Spain and hoping that the little Spanish I speak will be enough. We won't be back in an English speaking country for quite some time once we leave Ireland. The next part of this adventure should prove interesting!

Adventures in Scotland

I cannot even begin to express how nice this week has been. Being in a home and with a family has felt like a luxury, especially after almost 6 weeks of hotels and hostels. The Greens have been fantastic and we've enjoyed getting know them! They've also been a huge help in determining what we would do here. The house is in Balerno, so we take the bus into the city most mornings, which is about a 30-45 minute ride, depending on traffic. We've spent quite a bit of time walking the Royal Mile, which is a stretch of road between Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Scotch whisky being the national drink of Scotland (much as Guinness is for Ireland), we took the whisky tour and barrel ride to learn more. We took a really fun tour on Mary King's Close, which is an underground tour of what used to be the streets, or closes, of Edinburgh. The streets used to slope downwards from the Royal Mile to the river, but eventually stores were built on top of the old streets on level with the Royal Mile. So some of the old streets and houses are still underneath. Emilio and Valerie had suggested that, so the four of us did that, and enjoyed it quite a bit (for those of you who don't know, Valerie is my cousin who lives in New York and just happened to be in Scotland at the same time as us...Emilio is her boyfriend).




On Monday we took a bus tour into the Highlands, which was amazing. It's beautiful and we actually were fortunate to have lovely weather. It sprinkled a few times, but other than that, it was really nice. We stopped about an hour and a half into the day for a coffee break. Rather than having tea or coffee, Rebecca and I fed Hamish, the Highland Cow. He's awfully cute! Our ultimate destination was the Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. Rebecca and I explored the castle pretty thoroughly before having a lengthy chat with "Nessie" concerning reality vs. myth. It was a fascinating discussion! On our way back, we stopped in a lovely town called Pitlochry, where we enjoyed a nice stroll.




























































Tuesday we were back into Edinburgh to visit Edinburgh Castle and Camera Obscura. The castle was fun...we had a map and tried to make it to all of the stops. It's fairly intact for an old castle, and we enjoyed exploring its many heights and depths. They also have on display the Honours of Scotland, which include the sceptor, crown, and sword used for coronations in the past. After dessert and tea later on, we went to camera obscura, which Amy had suggested (Amy and Julia are 15 and 12 respectively). It's a very simple concept that was built 150 year ago. A mirror reflects an image onto a white table, and by moving the mirror around, one can get a 360 degree view of the streets of Edinburgh. The rest of the exhibits vary, with things such as optical illusions and the like.

Wednesday was an adventure in and of itself. For those of you reading Rebecca's blog, this will be repetitive, but I feel that I must present my version of events. To begin with, let me explain an important feature of the house. The house we're staying in has a closed in porch, with a door leading inside and another leading out. We usually leave our shoes here when we come inside. Because we have been returning home after everyone else, we don't take keys with us, but typically when leaving you need a key to unlock the door from the inside, which then locks automatically when you shut it behind you. Then you need an additional key to unlock the next door leading out. Alright, so the stage has been set (you can probably see where I'm going). Suzanne had business in London, so she left early that morning (she normally works from home). Andy had left for work and the girls had headed off to school, leaving us to get ready for a day trip into Glasgow. We walked onto the porch where we put on our shoes and I quickly checked to make sure I had everything before closing the door back inside (which automatically locks, remember). As I counted the money in my pocket, Rebecca went to open the outside door, only to find that it had been locked. Our eyes met in horror before quickly turning in desperation to the door we had already closed behind us, finding of course, that it had locked. A moment of panic passed before I pulled out my phone and address book and dialed Andy's number. It didn't work. I hope you can imagine this. We're stuck in a warm, glassed-in room, Rebecca pounding on the glass, shouting, "Help! Someone, help!" while I'm trying not to hyperventilate at the thought of being stuck until 4:00 pm when the girls would get home. After a few minutes, Rebecca was able to get the attention of a neighbor, who looked at us oddly before coming over to see if we were okay. Just as he came near, I was finally able to get through to Andy. He ended up coming back to the house to rescue us and then dropped us off at the train station so that we could continue on to Glasgow. Altogether we were trapped for about an hour. You know, many people manage to lock themselves out of places, but I think it takes real talent to get locked in. And Caitlin, before you say anything, this does not prove your point about us getting into trouble more often than you!!!

Anyway, after this incident, we did enjoy our time in Glasgow. We found a sweet shop we had read about online and ended up chatting with the lady, Julie, for a while, which was lots of fun! We saw St. Mungo's Cathedral and museum, as well as the People's Palace and Winter Gardens. On our way back to the train station, we checked a few shops. Once back in Edinburgh, we did a little shopping and then headed back to the house.

Today is Thursday. We've mostly stayed around the house today, enjoying some relaxation before flying back to Ireland tonight. Valerie is going to be in Ireland at the same time as us, so we're planning some activities with them in the next few days. Stay tuned...