Making up puentes as I go

Well, I'm off for another long blog hiatus. (It will almost be nice when I am back in the states and stuck in 1 country for an extended length of time.) I'll be spending the puente in Basque Country (País Vasco)  with a couple friends, and then creating my own personal puente Wednesday-Sunday to go to Northern Ireland. Sometimes its nice to have a job where you're under-valued and under-used, so you don't feel bad when you take off such large chunks of work.

My trip to País Vasco is one that I've been looking forward to since last October, when I first met a native Basque and began to learn just how special their little corner of the world is. We have trips planned to Bilbao, San Sebastian, and his coastal fishing village. I am ready to be blown away by all that País Vasco has to offer, as well as load up on pintxos and kalimotxo. ( Which will be a welcome break from the Andalucían tapas and tinto.)

Then on Wednesday we say goodbye to northern Spain, and I say helloooooooooooooo to Northern Ireland! I recently learned that I have distant relatives living in Northern Ireland. They are very distant, our common ancestor is something like 7 generations back, but hey. I'm not one to discriminate :)

This will be my first solo-travel experience. I'm nervous. When I studied abroad in Granada, my spacyness and general lack of self-awareness earned me the nickname Space Cadet. While I can be awesome at planning trips and making sure the itinerary lines up, the actual going and doing it part can be my downfall. Let's all cross our fingers that I make it back to Spain in one piece, and without losing too much money or personal belongings.

Lekeitio, Basque Country [Source]

Northern Irish Coast [Source]

I'll be back in early May with my own pictures to post, stay tuned!

You take the high road, and I'll take the low road... Edinburgh, Scotland

and I'll be in Scotland before you :)

I like to think of myself as fairly well-traveled. There will always be a million places on my bucket list and a million people who have seen more than I have, but I like to think that I'm doing pretty well for myself. I've been to Paris, London, Rome, Munich, and lots of other big name cities. I fell in love with Italy and will always been trying to find an excuse to go back to New Zealand. So, when I say that my past weekend trip to Edinburgh, Scotland was one of the best travel weekends I've had, that's saying a lot.

Edinburgh captured my heart in so many ways. I had such a great experience both with the capital city, as well as with the Scottish people. I've never met a more friendly, down-to-earth, sweet group of people. Everyone I met, from the tipsy old Scottish man sitting next to me on the plane who talked for 3 straight hours, to the guy who gave us a 75% discount off of dinner for no reason, made our trip that much better.

Our trip started off Thursday morning with an unexpected hitch. As Eli and I were on our way to the mall to buy last minute raincoats, I had such a severe allergic reaction to the granola bar I was eating that we immediately had to turn around so I could rush to the hospital.  The last time I'd eaten a brazil nut, 12 years ago, my throat and tongue swelled up so much that I couldn't even tell the doctors my name. Since that day I have faithfully checked the ingredient list whenever I eat something with nuts in it, but the nut was so far down on the list that I guess I just didn't see it. Thankfully, there were only trace amounts of brazil nuts in the bar that had claimed to have only "cranberries, dark chocolate, macadamia nuts...and nothing dodgy", (liars), and I quickly got it under control at the clinic.

After that little setback we crossed our fingers that the rest of the trip would go smoothly, and left for Edinburgh. Here's a recap of the weekend:

• We sat next a sweet old Scottish man on the plane, who spent the entire 3 hours drinking and telling us stories of places he'd travelled with his wife. He had an intense Scottish brogue. Couple that with noise of the plane and his soft voice, and I spent most of the time enthusiastically nodding and smiling and hoping he wasn't expecting an actual answer.

• We went on the Sandemann's NewEdinburgh walking tour of the old city, which if you ever get the chance to go on a Sandemann's tour, DO IT. You will not regret it. The guides don't get paid by the company, and so they work solely for tips. They have to be incredibly knowledgeable and excited about what they do to make any money. We had a terrific guide, who spent 3 hours showing us around and telling us stories about the interesting people who had called the city home over the centuries. 

• We walked through the cemetery where J.K. Rowling stole inspiration for character names in Harry Potter, and also saw the school which she based Hogwarts off of. 



• Our guide explained that Edinburgh has around 700 pubs and taverns, and anybody who was anybody in Edinburgh's history has a bar named after them. Even Greyfriar Bobby, a little terrier dog who visited his owners grave everyday for years after he died waiting for him to return, had not only a pub but also a statue in his honor.

• A woman was convicted and executed for hiding a pregnancy, but as they were taking her coffin to the cemetery the pallbearers heard scratching and thumping. The woman was alive! They took her back to the gallows a second time to re-execute her, but the mayor decided that she couldn't be tried for the same offense twice (double jeopardy) and she was allowed to live. 

• There was a locksmith who made his living by making keys for the rich people of Edinburgh, duplicating the keys, and using the stolen keys to break into their houses and steal all their money. Genius. 

• There were 2 men who made a living hiding out in back alleys after dark, and smothering drunks to kill them and sell their bodies to the Royal Medical School. The Medical School had a severe shortage in bodies available for dissection in classes, and so they never asked questions about where the bodies came from. They had killed almost 30 people and gotten away with it, until they killed a well-known prostitute, and a medical student "recognized" her body a few weeks later in class.

• Our guide talked about what a pretentious city Edinburgh is. Back in the 1800's the city wanted to revive its image, and so they started adding statues, carvings and buildings around the city with no other purpose than to make the city appear more important. For example, on top of Colton Hill is a half-finished replica of the Parthenon. It's half-finished because the city ran out of money. There are also various stone statues of sphinxes on top of buildings, as well as statues of various important people with no actual relation to the city's history.

• Eli and I ate way too much shortbread. And spicy ginger fudge. And these things called mint cakes and butter tablets. Mint cakes are what you get when you take a peppermint patty and subtract the chocolate. And probably add a little more sugar. Butter tablets are more or less butter-flavored sugar cubes. Yikes. But oh so good!

• We went on a day tour through the Western Highlands, Glen Coe and ended at Loch Ness. Although we didn't have any Nessie sightings, we did pass the castle where Mary Queen of Scots was born, and another castle where Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed. I was also especially excited that we drove through the landscapes used to film the Hogwarts Express scenes.

Linlithgow Castle, birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots [Source]

Doune castle, where 70% of Monty Python was filmed [Source]

Entering Glen Coe. Glen means a narrow, rocky valley.

Small town we stopped in for a break.

Loch Ness!

The highlands have so many pine trees. The government used to give incentives for planting evergreen trees, so the hills are covered with them.

• That night, Eli and I made it through a 6 hour pub crawl spending only 15pounds. We made fast friends with a group of guys from Canada (so nice to hear a normal North American accent for once), and also met a bachelor party visiting from England that immediately gave me flashes of the Manchester United team from the movie Eurotrip. "We're speaking the same language but I have no idea what you're saying!"
• We spent Sunday morning getting lost in the streets of the old town, eating real Scottish breakfasts, desperately trying to get rid of the hangover caused by 6 hours of free drinks, and hiking up Colton hill for incredible views of the city. 

Half-finished replica of the Parthenon. Strange.

Edinburgh is a city that I will forever be trying to return to. Because, honestly, any country that has bagpipers dressed in traditional Scottish garb on every street corner is obviously very special. And, if you're a Harry Potter geek like me, you'll really appreciate it as the "birthplace of Harry Potter".

University of Edinburgh's School of Theology

 Princess Street Gardens

 The most inviting park I've ever been to. Why yes, I think I would like to sit. 

 Irn Bru is more popular than Coca Cola in Scotland. I thought it tasted like drinking bubble gum at first, but it grew on me!

 The Scots have a great sense of humor!

Semana Santa 3 - France

The Food Tour 2012 wrapped up in southern France, along the French Riviera. We had crepes, gelato, fondue, baguettes, cheese, and wine. Lots of wine. Oh Nice. Let's see, where to start with Nice...
After walking around Geneva for a day, Nice was like a breath of fresh air. In all the ways that Geneva was bland and French looking (while not actually being French), Nice was refreshing and Italian-esque (while still actually being French). Ironic. We learned during our walking tour that Nice has actually only been part of France for the last 150 years, and that before that it was Italian territory.

After a brief mishap of arriving in downtown Nice with no further instructions of how to find our hostel and very low phone credit, we got settled into what I might call the best hostel I've stayed in so far. It was a little far from downtown but its views from a hill overlooking the city were so pretty that it made up for it.

As we were waiting in line to check in, there was an ad on TV playing for the sailboat cruises offered by the hotel. It was just a video loop of girls lounging on the boat in their bikini's and then jumping in the water and shouting and having fun. I had been watching it for a while when all of a sudden Kaitlin noticed it. She said "Is it Shark Week??" And then as the group of girls were splashing about in the ocean having fun, she started chanting "Shark! Shark! Shark!" No dear, no.....no it's not.... :)

Friday in Nice was by far the most relaxing day of our trip. We spent some time hanging out on the beach, took a short walking tour of the old town, had an authentic French picnic on a hilltop overlooking the boardwalk, saw some Roman Ruins, and found better Italian gelato than we had in Italy. We also learned twice how not to open a wine bottle. The first mistake resulted in red wine all over Lisa and Kaitlin's face and shirts. The second mistake however, left red champagne dripping down walls of our hostel, and covering Kaitlin's sheets and suitcases. While she was in the shower. Completely unaware........Oops.

Place Masséna, the main and most impressive plaza

Fruit & Flower market

All the buildings in the old town used to have painted walls like this, but this one is the only one that's still around today.

Baguette, cheese wheels, pear and wine: a poor Frenchman's lunch.

Bay of the Angels, French Riviera

Walking through roman ruins = happy Emma. And these were exceptionally well-preserved.

Don't we make a good Roman family? (I'm the baby, if you couldn't tell.)

Part of the main road that went through the ruins. It was so interesting to see 2,000 year old remains leading up to such a strikingly new and modern building.

This is what happens when you pop the cork without thinking. It looked like somebody was murdered. Thanks to laundry soap and a magic eraser and a couple hours of good hard scrubbing, the sheets turned back to white and the wine almost disappeared.

On Saturday we woke up early to make the most of a day trip to Eze and Monaco. Eze is a small medieval village with incredible views of the Riviera. It's perched on top of a cliff about 20 minutes up the coast from Nice. We spent the morning exploring the winding cobblestone roads up to the top of the cliff.

Then it was off to the real attraction of the day, Monaco! To be honest, Monaco was not at all what I was expecting. Considering that it is it's own country and has the most millionaires per capita, I was expecting something like a gated community with a ridiculous amount of fancy cars, people in suits, and lots of glittery buildings. (Not really sure why i always pictured it with glittery buildings, but I did.)
Instead, the city bus from Nice took us right to the center of the city in front of the casino and dropped us off. No customs, no country borders, no security, nothing.

The casino was very impressive. And there were tons of fancy cars. And lots of people in suits as well. And a boat in the port with a heliport. So yeah, there was a fair share of money being thrown around there. But there were also condos, high rise apartments, little wooden boats, and a surprisingly large amount of broken-down crappy cars. Basically, Monaco didn't resemble its own country: it looked just like any other town along the coast, with a few extra rich people.

The Monte Carlo Casino. Fun fact: residents of Monaco aren't actually allowed to gamble there.

Want.

On the way back from Monaco the bus dropped us off in a little fishing village, Villafranche, known for its beautiful beaches. We never made it to the beaches though, because we couldn't figure out how to get all the way down there from the highway. So instead we spent 2 hours walking around the cape on the highway, getting passed by not 1, not 2, but 3 buses that wouldn't pick us up.

Once we were finally back in the city, we found our favorite gelato place again. It took an hour of searching, but yeah, it was that worth it. (The place is called Fenocchio, for any of you planning trips to Nice in the future.) We tried flavors like rose, lavender, lilac, cactus, mojito and cinnamon. It was the best gelato I've ever had, hands down.

Once we were full on gelato, the real fun began. Our tour guide had recommended a restaurant that was built into an old city bunker, underneath the city. He said it was cheap and had amazing fondue. We were already full, but really wanted to give it a try. We figured we could get one to split and call it good. Unfortunately, we learned once we had sat down and ordered drinks that splitting meals wasn't allowed. "There are four of you and you are taking up a table, why would you only order one dinner? That doesn't work", the waitress explained in her broken English.

I have never felt the blood drain so quickly from my face, or been so at a loss for words. Image being stuffed, and told that you have to order your own entire dinner. (And eat it all, because clearly if sharing meals is not allowed, neither is taking it home in a doggy bag.) I was ready to say "sorry!" and pay for the drinks and leave, but that would have been rude. So, two bruschettas, one salad, and a beef and wine fondue later, we had literally eaten until we were sick. The food was delicious, and so it was almost worth every bite, but not quite.

Back at the hostel, recovering from our dinner fiasco and tram ride, we realized we still had to magic erase the champagne from the walls. That was a fun night...

On Sunday it was back to reality, back to the land of jamón y queso and less fattening foods. And Spanish. A language I actually speak. Gosh, it felt so good to be able to communicate again!

 Soaking up the rays one last time.

Semana Santa 2 - Switzerland

I fell completely, head-over-heels in love with Switzerland the minute I saw it. Coming from Florence, we took had a short stop in Zurich before continuing to Lucerne. As we stepped off the train in Zurich, and I took in the pretzel and brat stands, my happiness level went through the roof. My favorite trip before this had been to Munich, Germany. Something about the language, all my favorite comfort foods, and scenery that looked like home combined with hundreds of years of history, caught me. Zurich felt just like Munich.

As we rode the train from Zurich down to Lucerne, my jaw kept getting further and further toward the floor. Switzerland is drop dead gorgeous. The lakes were an aquamarine color which contrasted against the bright green of the rolling hills. Not to mention the swiss chateaus and swiss cows scattering the mountainsides.

But first, lets back track to our ride from Florence to Zurich: For those of you you have the fortune to be skilled in the art of avoiding Moroccan street vendors, have you ever wondered what they're actually like when they're not trying to sell you something? The 4 of us were sitting next to a guy from Nigeria who was "living" and "working" in Rome, and on his way to Zurich to "..........haha........." find more work. The conversation was...interesting...to say the least.

During the half hour that Kaitlin talked to him before I eventually realized that she needed an escape, he grilled her on her family life, whether or not her parents where in Spain with her, why weren't they, she wasn't married?? She was living on her own in Spain? She didn't love America? But...America is the land of the free! America is a great place to live! You should love America! Can I come visit you in Spain? Where do you live? I'll come visit you, but you have to ask me too. You don't have facebook? But, everybody has facebook? Are you weird? You don't have email either? Well then I'll give you mine. Email me and ask me to come to Spain with you.

At this point I cleared my throat, stood up and said "Kaitlin! Coffee! Let's go!" And the man gave a "you're leaving? Oh, okay. I see." The strange part was, was that he was completely 100% serious. He didn't understand why Kaitlin wouldn't want to be his facebook friend, or why she wouldn't be excited to ask him to come visit her in Spain. I understand the grilling her about being single and living on her own was a cultural difference, but the whole interaction was so....off.

Anyway, we shook him off as we changed trains for Lucerne, although Lisa and I would take every opportunity to say "Kaitlin, we'll do it if you ask us to. But only if you ask." She hated it, but it made us laugh every time.

We spent the night exploring Lucerne, and quickly found that almost all stores close at 7, including supermarkets. What do people do at night in Switzerland?? There was almost nobody on the streets past 8, and for 2 girls coming from a culture in which one doesn't even contemplate eating dinner until 9, this was difficult. We walked around for a bit, saw the Dying Lion of Lucerne monument, and had took in lots of fresh mountain air.

Lots of painted buildings in the Old Town.

Chapel Bridge in the background.

Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early to start exploring. We saw the Fruit & Flower Market and then took a cable car up to Mt. Pilatus, a mountain peak 7,000 feet above sea level. The view from the top was incredible, although a little cloudy and rainy at first.

After spending the morning oggling the view from the mountains, we went back down to the city on a mission to find chocolate. 6 macaroons, 12 truffles, 2 chocolate bars, and 2 bags of chocolate flakes later, we weren't feeling so hot. But I have to admit I've never had better chocolate anywhere else. We topped off our day of eating with a microwaveable dish of fondue, which our hostel recommended over paying for the over-priced restaurant fondue. It was delicious!

Even though we were only there for 2 days, Lucerne has been one of my favorite cities I've travelled to. It is an adorable medieval-looking town, split in two by the Ruesse River and overshadowed by the towering Swiss Alps in the background. It looks like a fairy tale, especially with the town's resident swan population taking up the river.

Traveling with a 7 foot tall guy also gave way to plenty of funny stories and situations. He kept hitting his head on things, which led Kaitlin to seriously tell him, "Brian, if it's at eye level than its too low to walk through." Poor kid. Being 7' tall can have its disadvantages sometimes.

The next stop after Lucerne was a 3 hour stop over in Interlaken. We had booked seats on the 'Golden Pass Panoramic View', or something like that, which meant that the windows opened!! So we got to take some really awesome pictures without worrying about the reflection from the window. But then we got yelled at by a worker who said we had to close the window because the 'evening chills' would be coming soon. It was 11am. Whatever.

Once we got to Interlaken, we made a beeline for one of the lakes. As we laid on our backs with our feet dangling off the pier, the sun shining down on us and the alps in the background, I said "this is what bliss must feel like."

Sadly, we had to leave Interlaken and trade the Swiss Alps for Geneva. Of which I was not a fan. The only good thing that came out of our day in Geneva was the dark chocolate covered giant fudge macaroon that Kaitlin and I spied in a window display. So so so so so so soooooooooooooooo good!

Geneva was a weird city. On the one hand, it was still Swiss, which meant that stores closed at 7. But it is also right on the French border, which means that they speak French, their building and street design is French, and they eat French food. I'm not really a huge fan of French architecture, and especially paired with the fact that I had just spent 2 days in a cute-german speaking city, I was not loving Geneva. I don't think I would go back. It was just...bland compared to everything we'd seen before that.

Geneva's famous fountain