It's been a while - now we are in Italy!

Sunday 11/22 I haven't blogged in a while so we have much to catch up on. Wednesday was another day in Barcelona with shopping and visiting the Casa Batlloí which is the house Gaudi designed for the Batelloí family. What a lot of funky architectural detail. I really enjoyed that and took a ton of pics (see facebook-11/18). Nightfall came quickly and we did a little more shopping and then back to the metro. Thursday was my !! 29th (haha) Birthday !! and it started with breakfast at the bakery on the corner. Down the street is a huge market that we walked through and enjoyed and then it was on to tour the inside of the amazingly huge temple called the Sagrada Familia of incredible architecture that Gaudi designed here! It is a tribute to Jesus and the 12 disciples which shows the nativity, the crucifixion, white doves and so much more. This temple begun in the early 1900's and is scheduled to be complete in 2030. We took the lift to the top of one of the towers where there were spectacular views of the city, only to find out the only way down was to walk the narrow spiral staircase. We felt as though we were about to be flushed out of the bottom. We made it down, but momís knee was hurting a bit so we stopped and rested a while. Where you ask? Ah - Starbucks, of course. That seems to be their favorite place and there were plenty of them in Barcelona - I think we visited them all. I, however, have a rule that when I travel I donít visit places I can go to at home. Kara thinks I have too many rules, but I think she needs a few herself-haha! 11/20 - Friday was our last and most beautiful day in Barcelona. We took the metro over by the Port of Barcelona and saw where the cruise ships come in. Itís a huge port for those cruising the Mediterranean Sea. We enjoyed soaking up the sun and seeing the sights. After leaving that area we went back to one of the most popular shopping areas called Las Ramblas. Mom and I got a little tired so we sent Kristy and Kara on shopping and stopped at a street side cafe'. She had her favorite, a cup of java and I since it was my last day I decided I needed to try one of their famous Sangrias (thanks Jana!). It was very tasty and made me feel very happy :). We headed back to the room to rest, but not for too long. Our journey that evening was to check out the Magic Fountain. A long metro ride and changing trains was on the docket. Kara is the metro guru and loves getting around on the subway system, so we just let her take the lead on that one and follow along. I believe sheís destined to live in a big city when she gets out of school. Somehow, donít ask me how, someone managed to pick-pocket my blackberry right out of the front closed zippered part of my fanny pack (mom had some money pick-pocketed earlier in the trip) while on the subway I guess. I can't even tell you that anyone even got in my personal space, but my phone was gone! I guess if that's the worse thing that happens to use, we're doing pretty well. The magic fountain, complete with colored lights and music was just marvelous. We headed back and stopped just around the corner at our favorite eatery, George's for cappuccino (them) and I had a bowl of fresh made soup (yummy)!. Yesterday (Saturday) was a travel day. We flew from Barcelona to Florence, Italy on an Airbus plane (Meridiana Airlines). They have pretty good prices but really up charge on the baggage weight. We got to the airport early so we could weigh our suitcases and shift some things around and make sure we made weight on all our luggage - success! When we arrived in Italy we claimed our bags and waited for the drug dog to sniff all of our bags ñ good boy! It was off to the taxi stand which proved quite comical. A bunch of taxi drivers grouped around and kept looking at us and our mound of luggage and was discussing or arguing (in Italian) how they could get all that in one taxi. We just stood there and grinned until they came up with a plan. A larger taxi drove around, got all of us and our bags in the car and off we went to the Firenze Loft where weíre staying. Riding in the taxi was pretty interesting. The roads are large enough for two cars wide and somehow they managed to get three cars side by side, barely scraping by the car next to us. Our residence has a lot more room than we did in Barcelona but the internet service is very spotty. Since I don't have a blackberry anymore, I feel as though I'm disconnected from the rest of the world. Thatís probably not a bad thing because there is much to see here and I donít have to worry about anything else being pick pocketed. The only thing I have of value now is my camera and it stays in my hand most of the time. Sunday 11/22 was our first day in Italy. Wow, what a town with a ton of history and building dating back to the 1300's. The food is delicious and the shopping is plentiful. The amount of people in this town is simply incredible. I was fortunate to find a leather purse that I'm just thrilled with so my (buying) work here is complete (short of seeing the historical sites). We did have a large lunch on the square and a gelato later in the afternoon- yummy! I think I am going to have to have a gelato every day that I'm here!

Barcelona via bus - day 1 in Spain

Tuesday, 11/17 – Last night we found our apartment in Barcelona via 2 taxi’s since they’re all so small. We dropped our bags and went down to George’s to have a late dinner. The fare for the night was chicken crepes and they were very good. I’m trying to eat local food wherever I go. We had a restful night and slept in a little. We are in the downtown area so the streets got busy and noisy pretty early. Our room looks like an Ikea showroom, possibly 300 sq. + feet with 2 bedrooms, a den, kitchen and bath that you walk in and back out of. Really , though, it is so much better than a hotel room but very tight quarters indeed. Nana and I have a room with twin beds but if you roll over wrong you hit each other :). We woke up earlier than the other girls so we got a quick shower and hit the streets in search of caffeine. We found a quaint little place called Bracafe’ and had a mini crossiant, tomato and mozzarella sandwich halved, fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee for her and tea for me. It was quite tasty. We then found the open market and loved it. It was much like Harry’s on steroids. We purchased some local fresh fruit and veggies and headed back to get Kris and Kara. Our day was filled with an all day sightseeing open top bus tour. It was too awesome for words. We stopped for lunch and had some gyros (them) and paella (me)- yummy. Just look at a few (? Yes, I could have taken tons more) pictures of our day on facebook. I'm back at the room, laughing with Nana, having a wine tasting with some Tempranillo and comfy with my pj's on. I'm blogging and facebooking and thinking of everyone back @ home. I hate missing my awesome bible study friends and know you will enjoy your time together tomorrow. I will be back next week for the party, you know how I hate to miss a party! Please put Europe in your prayers as there doesn't seem to be much faith in this country. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings in Spain! ttyl!

Taking the Train to Spain - Monday 11/16

Waking at 5:45 was a must to insure we arrived to meet our train to Barcelona today. It’s the only train going that way and we already have paid tickets. Packing the car at 7am was quite a fiasco. My mad backing the car and organizing skills came in very handy as well. Somehow we managed to get all of our bags in our rental car although Kara and Nana had a big bag on the seat between them for the entire ride. The curvy road down the mountain proved very interesting for them. I drove, Kristy nagivated (as always) and our back seat groupies kept the bag from flying around the backseat. We made it in time to the airport to return the rental car and then caught a bus to the train station. We had a nice lunch at the train station and some time to relax and then got on our train headed for Spain at 1:09 p.m. It was a bit of a challenge to get our bags and everyone on the train, but with Kara’s awesome leadership, we did it! I think probably should count as our workout for the day . The train ride is about 7 hours long and the views out the windows are just breathtaking. We had to change trains in Montpellier and Kara was worried about having time to get everything off one train and on another. We came up with a great plan it executed it flawlessly. Now we’re off again and enjoying the countryside. Nana and I decided to visit the next train, which also happens to be the bar. The bartenders were Spanish and told us all the necessary lingo needed for our next country. Lavabo for toilet, Vino for wine, Moi bien for very good, Adios for Goodbye - you get the picture. We had a small stop in Portbou where we got out, looked around and stretched our legs. The checked our passports here because it was the last stop before arriving in Spain. Our next stop is Figueras, then Girona and then we arrive at Barcelona at 8 p.m. We laughed a lot and look forward to our digs in Barcelona.

French Market/Sunday

Last night we stay in the village to go to the art show where all the students showcased their work from this trip. They also had a farewell dinner for the students after the show. They surprised the them with a much needed Mexican Fiesta – food they had not had since arriving here. Today is Sunday and we scrapped the idea of driving to Nice after the hard time it took for us to get here! Instead we went to the street market in a small city south of here. The SCAD bus was going so we followed along. I’ve really enjoyed doing the driving and having Kristy as my navigator, she’s done a great job even with the impossibilities of reading these maps. I’ve had fun taking pictures of everything I could so you could follow me along in my journey. Look at my facebook for pictures and add me as a friend if you’re not already. It’s so sad that you see no churches anywhere around and most people are at the market on Sunday mornings. I just love my worship time and church friends (most awesome ever) and I missing that time today. The market was very cool. I love a bargain and thought street vendors would have them, but I found many things to be pretty expensive. Scarves are all the rage, so I found one I really liked and bought it. For breakfast I had a French almond pastry and tea, yummy! We went for lasagna for lunch and now we’re back at the room just chillin’. Tomorrow we head back to Marsielle to drop off the rental car and take the fast train to Barcelona. We’ve rented a flat in the downtown area so more adventures to come from Spain.

Getting here wasn't easy!

We left Atlanta around 1:20 and flew to DC. From DC we took a 7.5 hour flight to Munich, Germany arriving at 2:30 a.m. Atlanta time and the sun was already up! Somehow I managed to only get a couple of short naps on both flights so as I type this, I’ve been up for about 28 hours or so. I had an awesome seat on the long flight with a ton or leg room and a place to prop my feet up as well. I sat next to Mitch who was on his way to Afghanistan with his third tour in the Army. He was from San Antonio, Texas and was a very quite seat mate who watched a couple of movies. I asked him for his contact information and told him I would be honored to lift him in prayer while he served our country. I read a whole book on that flight, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. A must read! Thanks to Kay for the recommendation. It makes you really want to Live Out Loud, Obsessed with and for that Awesome, All knowing God of ours. The connecting flight to Marsielle was almost missed! We only had an hour layover in Munich. We got off the plane outside on and took a bus to the terminal. We probably walked 3 miles (or so it seemed) arriving at our gate about the time the plane was supposed to leave. We didn’t even have boarding passes and they let us though security and all through the airport. Luckily the plane arrived late, delaying our flight out. God is so good that we made it on that flight.
After arriving in Marsielle, we found our rental car company and found out that the car we had reserved was not available. They gave us another car of the same size for less money – we love a bargain and we were thrilled to dash off across the French countryside. What a beautiful drive. It was a little longer that we anticipated, but that was mainly because of the hard to read map they gave us and not so well marked street. With some prayer and a lot of faith and stopping for directions a couple of times, we finally made it. Kara was waiting for us and said she was wondering what happened to us, should have been there much earlier (she is my 22 year old niece who is finishing up her study abroad quarter from Savannah College of Art and Design). Our accommodations are just stunning. They belong to the SCAD and Kristy rented from them directly. There are about 8 guest rooms and many parents are here to pick up their student. Kara will be traveling on to Barcelona, Italy and then home with us on the 25th. We went out to a local restaurant last night and I was so glad to get a real meal (finally!). We went to bed around 10:00 local time and slept until about 9:30 – some much needed catch up! Breakfast was at the SCAD cafeteria and it was very good. We are helping Kara pack up her room today and will tour around the local area some today.

Today we fly

Thanks for joining me on blogspot. Kristy, Nana and I are off on an adventure of a lifetime. We catch up with my niece Kara studying this fall with SCAD in the south of France. We will also be visiting Nice while in France, then travel via train to Barcelona, Spain then we fly to Florence, Italy. I would love for YOU to be here with use, but hopefully you will be there in spirit and live our experience through this blog. Please add travel mercies and wellness to your prayer list for us.