Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Today was a walking day. After killing ourselves during the Cinque Terre hike yesterday, we took it easy and simply strolled through the streets of Florence for most of the day. We crossed a really old, beautiful bridge and captured some photos of the sunset. Dad, we also stepped into this way-too-expensive jewelry shop that you would have loved. Brent found some cufflinks that were little gears that actually turned! They had a whole line of this type of "gear" jewelry. Brent will have to tell you about it more. :)

p.s. Happy 28th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Cinque Terre

Milan flew by since we were only in the area for a quick stopover before our train to Florence. We saw the Duomo from the outside and indulged in our first helping of true, Italian gelati. Amazing. This place happened to be a tad on the "upper scale" of gelato places but boy do you get what you pay for. We had two scoops—one of chocolate and one of coconut and it was truly a moment to remember. :)

We trekked back to the Milan station quickly from our afternoon jaunt to see the Duomo—a magnificent piece of art that we were sure must have been beautiful on the inside as well. Making our way to our hostel "Siggiorno Primavera" was quite simple since it was only about a ¼ mile from the train station. We checked in and made our selves at home in this cozy little nook. This is definitely one of the most quiet hostels we have been in. We may even be the only ones here! After chowing down on some pizza last night, we decided to rely on good ole Rick Steves for advice on how to get (and hike) to Cinque Terre. And what a day we had.
Early this morning, we took a 2 hour train ride from Florence to La Spezia, then hopped easily onto a regional train that dropped us off 9 minutes later at Riomaggiore—the "first" of the five cities that define "Cinque Terre" or "Five Lands". As soon as we got off the train in Riomaggiore, it was like stepping into a dream. The water met the cliffs far far below us with a magnificent crash and swirl of water lapping up onto the rocks. We both declared that we would likely be using up our memory cards during this trip to Cinque Terre. We soon found ourselves along the (forgot the name) but it's called: The Path of Love, which, at first, was disappointing due to the shoulder to shoulder tourist ensemble. But, once we passed the Path of Love and made our way to the second town, Montero, the crowds seemed to thin out. Little pizzerias, homemade gelati bars, (and souvenir shops!) lined the main path until land and sea met and formed a lovely little cove with scattered bunches of rocks where several kids were making spectacular jumps as people watched from the cliffs above. The turquoise blue water and jagged, deep grey rock formations made this area seem like a hidden paradise. Although I have posted a couple pictures, they really cannot capture the beauty of this region. Between the second and third towns, Brent and I found our way to a pebbly beach where we enjoyed a nice dip to cool ourselves off from the middle of a 8 km hike. The water was warm and soothing and we enjoyed being lazy as we floated in and out with the waves.

City number 3, Corniglia, is famous for its 382 steps up from sea level to the city, however Brent and I were more challenged with the hike from Corniglia to the fourth city, Vernazza. This stretch of the hike brought us through rich green fields of grapevines and tomatoes. We finally got to Vernazza and found that we unfortunately would not have time to make it to Monterosso (the 5 city) since we had to catch a (free!) train back to Florence tonight. By this time, we were pretty drained from hiking in the sun all day, so we headed back and will catch some zzzz’s before a full day of checking out the city of Florence tomorrow.

Barcelona to Milan

Today we delved deeper into a farmer's market where we stocked up on fruit, pastries and brie (it’s soooo cheap here!) before heading to the beach where we spent the afternoon in the warm water.

The market was really a special treat that I’m sure we will hope to discover in every city we visit. The bustling venue is lined with row after row of fruit stands complete with homemade juice of a variety of fruits. Passionfruit was my favorite and Brent really enjoyed the coconut "juice". Huge stands full of gummy candy, chocolate candies, and candied nuts popped up around every corner and further on down the rows, we found vegetables and bread stands and even live lobsters and crab, still moving on the bed of ice! The prices were incredibly reasonable and the atmosphere was thrilling. :)

Once we finally left the market, we strolled through La Rambla once again and finally found our way to thebeach, lined with locals and tourists, eager to relax by the pristine water. The absence of seagulls at this beach was amazing! Being able to enjoy a picnic on the beach without worrying about seagulls was a welcomed surprise! Besides, we felt so classy munching on blackberries and some bread and brie as we relaxed by the water. :) And the water…wow. There were hardly any waves and since the water is so shallow, the water was warm yet refreshing and virtually translucent. We were reluctant to leave the beach when we had to head out for our night train.

Now Brent and I are on our overnight train to Milan, where we are stuffed like sardines into separate sleeper cabins. The "room" is about a 7’ by 7’ square with two fold down beds on each side of the room. It’s rather comical. Everyone on the train, no matter what nationality, is sharing a laugh over our accommodations. In my sleeper, I met yet another Aussie, a woman from (I think?) Italy, and an older woman from Milan. The woman from Milan also speaks Spanish, but quite slowly since it’s her second language, so I have been able to understand her easily! Maybe my Spanish is just getting better.

After talking to a few English-speaking during our stay in Barcelona who have traveled through Italy, it appears that although most Italians don’t speak English, it’s common for them to speak Spanish. We may be able to get by just fine in Italy! Looks like everyone is turning their lights off, so time for some zzzz’s!

Sadly leaving Barcelona

I wish we had a couple more days in Barcelona. Although I am over the jamon y queso diet, the Gaudi (coincidentally "gaudy") architecture of the city is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
Today we visited Parc Guell, where we saw an exquisite display of some of Gaudi’s famous work. (Check out Gaudi on Wiki!) Each of Gaudi’s architectural feats are amazing realizations of the joining of math and art. The design of the "balcony" that overlooks part of Parc Guell is based on mathematical shapes that appear naturally in ecological landscapes, such as a hyperbolic paraboloid, which mirrors the contour of a leaf.

It’s tough to explain Gaudi’s incredible mathematical masterpieces, but in La Sagrada Familia, there is a great exhibition that describes Gaudi’s different applications of math to each of his architectural feats. Here are a few pictures of how he integrated different mathematical shapes into La Sagrada Familia.

La Sagrada Familia is a church that is far from complete. It was started in 1882 and had been under construction for 40 years before Gaudi passed away. 125 years or so later, La Sagrada Familia is far from complete. Its projected completion date is 2025 but I would be happy to see the finished masterpiece by 2050 from the looks of countless beams and cranes inside the monument. Nonetheless, we were happy to see the in-progress edifice and would love to return to see the final product.

Half Spanish + Half French = Catalan

The language here in Barcelona is completely unlike the Spanish from Seville and Madrid that we thought it would be. Perhaps it is because we have migrated towards the border of France, but it appears that the “Spanish” here is a mixture of Spanish and French. Instead of using “en-yays” (the n with the squiggle over the top), they use “ny”—which, in my mind, makes more sense anyways. The also spell “chocolate” like “xocolat”. It’s quite interesting. We even heard a family ask for a menu in Spanish when we were at a local sandwich shop. There are also lots of “D’____ “ and “L’___ “ words.

This morning we strolled down La Rambla which is a HUGE bustling main street of Barcelona. When we first stepped foot into Plaza Catalunya last night from the Metro, which is centered on La Rambla, we had to just stand for a moment to catch our breath as we took in the immense swarm of people moving throughout the street. From peeking out of the Metro stop, La Rambla almost looked like the beginning of the L.A. Marathon. Crazy amounts of people, each with their own agenda, swimming through the streets simply overwhelmed us for a moment.

Once we joined the bustle this afternoon, the crowd became much less daunting. We snaked our way down La Rambla, admiring the multitude of street magicians and artists lining the center island of the street. We also discovered the most amazing, simple way to “research” the best sites of the city we are in. Find your way to a local souvenir shop. Find the postcards. Pick your favorite picture. Write down the name of the place on the back of your postcard in a handy little pocket journal. Then Google map your favorite destinations. Voila! So simple. :)

Tomorrow’s destinations hopefully include: Casa Batllo Gaudi, La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Torre Agbar, and the Magic Fountain. Hopefully we can also get some night shots of La Sagrada Familia.

The Spanish NYC

We finally made it to Barcelona after an intense couple days and night of traveling. As I mentioned before, we had to do quite a bit of backtracking from Granada to get to Barcelona. Instead of the original plan of an overnight train from Granada to Barcelona, we went back to Seville, back to Madrid, spent the night outside the train station, then took an early train to Barcelona this morning.

Brent and I had a chuckle last night when we were looking over our itinerary in the train station and realized just how little of our trip has gone by and how immensely exhausted we were. We are both looking forward to some downtime in Greece in the next couple weeks. For now, we are staying at a place called INOUT hostel, which is nestled in the mountains/hills of Barcelona. It took us quite a few Metro stops and a very long trek uphill to arrive this afternoon, but residing in a “mountainous” environment, away from the bustling city, is exactly what we wanted. The air here in Barcelona is quite cool today and it almost looks like it may rain. Our beds are situated near the window so a nice breeze has been blowing in while we were napping.

Tonight we will likely head out to the center of town to get a feeling of where we are and where we’d like to go tomorrow. It’s about 5:00pm and we have 3 nights here, so we are both thankful for the downtime between catching trains to the next destination.

Over the next few days, we plan to visit La Sagrada Familia, which is an absolutely exquisitely gaudy cathedral in the center of town---loved by many and hated by some for its over-the-top design. We will also check out Las Ramblas, a famous street that runs down the center of town and will take time to relax- on the famous beaches and beautiful area of San Sebastian.

Quick stop in Granada to see the Alhambra

The view from Rambutan Guesthouse is astonishing. On our way up to the hostel, Brent decided to take a picture every 5 steps, so he has a really cool “video” of our walk up to Rambutan. Everyone at the hostel was very welcoming and offered us a glass of water as we stumbled through the front door with our packs. It was quite a long walk from the train station, but we are trying to cut costs by not taking public transport. We figure we need the exercise anyways. :)

Although we were only at Rambutan for a night, everyone really tried to make us feel at home and it seemed as though the current group of travelers had become close buddies in a short amount of time. There was a guy from Slovakia and two other guys from Rome in our room who were both very talkative and interested in our travels. The morning after our arrival, we headed to the Alhambra at 8:00am and were ultimately rather disappointed in the experience. I have fond memories of the visit when I first came two years ago, but the overabundant crowd made this “attraction” far less desirable to reside in for any length of time. Everyone was shoulder to shoulder and you really couldn’t walk anywhere without getting in someone’s picture. Nonetheless, we spent a few hours grazing through the gardens and the palace and left feeling content that we had included this trip on our itinerary.

Sevilla: La Alcazar Real y Flamenco

New day, new person in the room. Nicholas left yesterday afternoon and an Austrian guy took his spot on top of Brent’s squeaky bed. Over a typical breakfast of toast with jelly or Nutella and black coffee, we chatted with two Australian women who had recently moved to the UK. Common with most hostel conversations, we exchanged travel tips and a little background about ourselves. Amy is anxiously awaiting responses from several med schools she applied to. She managed to check her email a few days back to read her acceptance letter for a school in Perth before the hostel computer broke down last night.

Brent and I grabbed our daypack and headed out for another day of wandering around until we came upon yet another exquisite site. Our amazing International Student ID Card paid for itself again as we walked in free of charge, to La Alcazar Real. This quickly turned into “just one more picture” site again as we snaked our way through the astounding intricacies of this ---- year old architecture. The vibrant myriad of colors made this edifice a unique treasure to experience. Green stained glass, orange walls, and bold blue and black tiles were placed carefully in each mosaic façade. The palace floors were lined with white and grey marble tiles and little steps in to every new room.

Hungry tummies finally pulled as away from the Palace and we soon found ourselves nestled in a cozy, local café munching on a tapa of tortilla Espanola, and a ½ racion of calamares frites. It’s miraculous how a restaurant could run out of agua de grifo (tap water), but this one did—at least when tourists requested it. We enjoyed the atmosphere the ventured out onto the streets once again, quickly finding our way to a bustling, air-conditioned, panaderia. We ran into Aimee and Natalie who were leisurely sipping on iced coffee with friends they had met on their pub crawl last night. Brent and I shared a mouthful of chocolately-vanillaey-sugarey happiness and continued on our way.

Later that evening, we went to a Flamenco show by the river and had a great time watching this authentic dance from the second row of the audience. The dancers look incredibly intense when they dance but at the end of each routine, they never seize to break into a huge smile, content with their performance. I saw a show 2 years ago and was astonished by how loud the dance gets. The performers stomp around on stage so loudly that it would scare me to sit in the first row!

We walked the bridge over Guadalquivir River and snapped a few night shots of the river and El Torre del Oro before making our way back for the evening. It’s amazing how alive the city becomes, once the sun has gone down and the temperature has dropped. Tomorrow is the train to Granada for a quick trip to see the Alhambra!

One very touchy computer and no wireless :/

We both have LOTS to update you on, but the computer here in our Picasso Hostel in Sevilla is very tempermental and there is always a line of people waiting to use it so we haven´t had a decent amount of time to upload our blogs. We are both caught up to today with our writing, so hopefully by tonight we will be able to transfer our hand-written entries to our online blogs.

Today we will be checking out the Cathedral and hopefully Alcazar here in Sevilla. Until then, know that we are being safe, taking lots of pictures, and enjoying ourselves. :)

My favorite Sevilla site :)

A man strums the strings of his Spanish guitar and belts out passionate Spanish melodies as a woman, adorned in traditional flamenco apparel claps to the beat of his guitar. The couple is seated at the steps of the most beautiful site in Seville-La Plaza de Espana. When I visited this site 2 summers ago, I was amazed by this grandiose structure nestled quietly in the middle of town. You turn a corner and all of a sudden, a breathtaking fountain and semi-circle of brick and painted tiles stretch 500 feet across. The fountain shoots up 30 foot streams of water in the center of the Plaza and horse-drawn carriages trot weary, sun burnt tourists around the fountain before disappearing behind the Plaza onto the streets of Seville. This is the view that surrounds me as I write this entry.

Today is our first full day in Seville. This morning I got my bearings when we discovered that our hostel is only a couple streets away from the hotel I stayed in two summers ago. The Seville Picasso Hostel has quite a different feel than Black and White Hostel in Lisbon. The owner is an older man who doesn’t speak a lick of English. My Spanish has definitely come in handy.

The entrance to the hostel is adorned with hanging potted plants and bright blue ceramic pots. To the right of the entry way is the notorious “common room” with a single computer and a small kitchen with a wooden picnic table. I could tell when we walked in that the vibe of this hostel was very different from our previous stays when I read the sign over the sink: “Everyone MUST wash all dishes and each cutlery”. There were also several signs with boldface type that enumerated the hostel rules which seemed to be posted on every wall. In the middle of the night, Brent and the others in the room awoke (not me…I was sound asleep!) to a group of guys literally banging their fists on the walls and doors as they sprinted up and down the stairs—obviously trying their best to disturb everyone. They far out did the immaturity that happens in freshman dorms. Nonetheless, we have a bed to sleep in and a beautiful city to wander in, day and night. Besides, the 3 other people in our room and are very pleasant and welcoming.

On top of Brent’s bunk is a guy named Nicholas from Australia who came off as quite conceited until we got to know him—he even offered us some of the pasta he had cooked up for dinner that night. Beside my bed are two girls from Slovenia—Tina and Spela (SHPAE-luh). I’ve really hit it off with these two. Tina and I chatted for a while last night about Slovenia and Los Angeles. She gave Brent and I advice on places to go if we can squeeze it into our itinerary. Sounds like a beautiful country. And, of course, Tina wanted to know if I had been to any TV shows or met any actors so I told her about my recent trip to the Comedy and Magic Club, where Wendy and I met Jay Leno. After more e-cited chatter and each other’s homes, Tina’s jaw dropped when I offered to let her stay with me when she visits Los Angeles next year. All 4 of us e-changed contact information and kind words before Tina and Spela left for their next destination.

After trekking around Plaza de Espana that afternoon, Brent and I enjoyed yet another kebab de ternera and meandered through the town toward the bridge over the Guadalquivir River. We passed by La Plaza de Toros and El Torre de Oro, which we later found out were even more beautiful at night. Strolling back inland from the river, we made our way through narrow streets and quiet alleys before stumbling upon the bustling shopping area of downtown Seville. Stopping briefly for a bit of delectable chocolate from a local pastelerias, we headed back towards our hostel. Another evening of cheap pasta and canned peaches. :)

Sweltering Sevilla!

Our train pulled up to Madrid at 9:00am and I found myself surprisingly well-rested from the 10 hour train ride. We found our way through the train station and to the Metro where we slyly used our last 2 passes of our 10-pass Metro ticket we had purchased the first day of our trip. Stopping at the oh-so familiar San Bernardo Metro stop, we enjoyed one last helping of gelato from Giangrossi before heading off to (almost miss!) our train to Seville.

The 2.5 hour train ride to Seville flew b as Brent and I passed time by watching a couple episodes of The Office. We arrived to a sweltering 107 degree Seville at 2:30pm and thought it would be best to quickly purchase our overnight train tickets from Granada to Barcelona. Little did we know that it would take about an hour of frustration with language barriers and full trains before we finally figured out a route that would work. As Brent so perfectly called it, our trip over the next few days is more like “Backtracking Through Europe”. Since trains from Granada to Barcelona had filled, we will have to take a detour by backtracking again to Madrid before heading out to Barcelona on the 25^th. Follow our map for more details. :)

Once we finally settled our tickets, we snatched a map of the city of Seville from La Oficina de Turismo then slowly but surely found our way through the city to our hostel. We arrived to the hostel about 5 pounds lights and after checking in and dropping our bags in the tiny room, we headed out to La Alimentacion for some ice cold orange juice. Heaven.

We strolled around the streets for a while, attempting to cross over to the shady side of the street as we tried our best to adjust to the dramatic heat spike. Later in the evening, we took our time and many pictures before landing ourselves in a romantic café, tucked neatly into the corner of adjoining alleyways. We enjoyed a relaxing meal of pan de ajos (garlic bread) and paella de camarones. Yummy! Unfortunately, my sunglasses got lost in the shuffle this first day, but if that’s the worst thing we’ve lost, we’re doing okay. :)

Aunt Amy, Pasteis de Belem!

On our way down the street from Jeronimo´s Monistery, Brent and I joined the lines of locals and tourists alike on the narrow sidewalk outside of Casa Pasteis de Belem to partake in the famous custard-filled pastries. The palm-sized Pasteis de Belem came out warm from the oven in a nice little brown paper bag complete with powdered sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on top of the carmelized sugar. The outside of the quaint pastry shop read 'desde 1877'. Outside of Belem, these custard patries are called Pasteis de Nata (or 'creme') rather than Pasteis de Belem. Aunt Amy, I thought of you when we discovered this local treat! :)

After a long day of trecking through Madrid, we decided to cut costs and head to the local supermarket to cook up some pasta. After wandering uphill for about 45 minutes, we discovered that this market was definitely the 'Whole Foods' of Lisbon. Could have just gone to the mini-mart.

A full day of trecking around and a belly full of pasta left us with little time to go more blogging which is why we have been so behind. We are working on catching you all up with everything. The last few days have been quite full of travel, but let me first fill you in on our lovely beach trips and exploration through Alfama! (Pictures for this blog and other, will be posted once we can figure out how to get pictures from Brent´s computer to this hostel computer without wireless internet or a flash drive.)

Lisbon Day 2: Belem Tower, Monument of Discoveries, and Jeronimo’s Monastery

We feel justified having ice cream everyday if we walk as much as we did yesterday. Although our original plan was to walk to Belem Tower, Monument to the Discoveries, and Jeronimo’s Monastery, we discovered the beauty of our Eurail pass. Yes, it sadly took us until yesterday to take realize that we could just walk to any train station and be on our way to the next site. Nonetheless, we spent about 9 hours walking through the streets of Lisbon and Belem. Our morning started as always with Nutella and fresh rolls and as we meandered down the road towards the train station, we stopped for a quick cappuccino and admired the artwork down Rua Augusta—the bustling main street, which snakes its way through downtown Lisbon, called Baixa (BYE-juh). The streets in Lisbon are spectacular. Instead of concrete slabs that buckle under chronic pressure of growing tree roots, Lisbon’s sidewalks are lined with millions of 2 x 2 inch black and white tiles—the newest of which are 250 years old. In 1755, an earthquake destroyed the majority of Lisbon, save the old quarter, called Alfama. The city was rebuilt with parallel, flat roads, which are completely unlike the windy, steep paths in Alfama. (More about Alfama to come!) Even the crosswalk lines are “painted” in white tiles to contrast the black tiles on the sidewalks. Fancy hotels spell out their name with tiles written in cursive on the sidewalk and squiggly designs line the ground of the City Center.

Once we hopped on the train towards Belem, we thumbed through our map as a triad of high school-aged guys played accordion and harmonica for the train-goers and passed around their tambourine for tips as the train approached its first stop. We soon realized that the train had passed our stop, so after backtracking for a mile or so, we came upon our first stop of the day—Belem Tower. As we rounded the corner of the road, to approach the Tower, we saw a huge triangle-pyramid sort of structure, sitting in a pool of crystal water, surrounded by two guards. This peculiar, yet beautiful structure happened to be “aos Combatentes do Ultramar”, which I think represents the triangle of fortress’s established to protect Lisbon.

We walked down the short path towards the water, where Belem Tower stood majestically against the bright, cloudy sky. Even though we missed exploring the inside of the Tower due to long lines and limited patience, Brent and I had fun taking all sorts of pictures from the perimeter of this magnificent structure. Belem Tower was built as a means of defense for the city of Lisbon in the early 16^th century.

Our second stop of the day was the Monument to the Discoveries, which happened to be conveniently within walking distance of the previous site. On either side of a massive white edifice that jutted out into the waters stood about a dozen carved statues that peered out into the water to greet arriving sailors and bid good riddance to departing boats. The Monument celebrates the travels of sailors during the 15^th and 16^th centuries during the Age of Discovery when sailors led the coast often in search of unknown destinations.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we headed across the street and over a bridge to Jeronimo’s Monastery. Both of us were blown away from the outside and when we decided to risk the shock of entrance fee prices, we were happy to discover that our investment in an International Student ID Card paid off as we walked in for free. Once inside the building, every turn of the corner lead us to an even more thrilling piece of architecture to admire. “Just one more picture” went on for a couple hours as we tried to take in every nook and cranny and leave time in the day for other sites. The design work and marble staircases kept us searching for new angles to capture “an even better picture” for the majority of the afternoon.

My favorite part of the Monastery was discovering the upper balcony, where the choir sat during mass. The wooden, adjoined row of majestic chairs made for an excellent picture with the sun shining through a small stained glass window at the peak of the church walls.

Happy that we had finally had time to discover some of the most famous sites in Portugal, Brent and I headed back towards the train station with a few hundred pictures and farmer tans. But we couldn’t leave Belem without trying the famous Pasteis de Belem!...