Around the World in ___ Days

Gluten Free in Toronto, ON

2014-07-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my husband and I decided to make the two hour drive up to Toronto, ON for a fun getaway. Of course, the first thing I did was research gluten free and celiac-friendly options in the city. I quickly had a list of restaurants I wanted to check out!

We arrived on Saturday, June 28 around 10:30am. It was World Pride weekend in the city and our hotel (The Courtyard Marriott) was smack dab in the center of all the festivities. We quickly checked in before heading away from "festival zone" towards Chinatown which bordered the Kensington Market area where our first stop was located; The Kensington Cornerstone.

Kensington Cornerstone

Let me tell you, this place was an amazing find! Located at the end of Kensington Avenue, with an adorable, cozy patio to enjoy the beautiful summer morning, we found the perfect place to start our gluten free eating extravaganza! Kensington Cornerstone is 100 percent gluten free - the absolute best thing a celiac can hear!

We split a pitcher of Vodka Lemonade which was delightful and just the right proportion of lemonade to vodka. After a lengthy debate between french toast and a breakfast sandwich I chose the french toast and never regretted my decision. It came out looking beautiful and scrumptious and tasted even better. The bread was thick, perfectly cooked, and the crusts seemed like they had been dipped in sugar and cinnamon for extra enjoyment! I loved every second of eating this breakfast favorite that I haven't had since I've gone gluten free - so at least two years! Drew ordered the eggs Benedict and loved it, including the gluten free bread. What an awesome way to start the day!

First french toast since celiac!

I had told Drew there was a bakery I wanted to go to, but looking on the map I realized it was a lot further than I had thought. I decided we'd skip it. We began to wander around the Kensington Market area, savoring the unique shops and restaurants and hipster vibe. Suddenly, I looked up to see "Bunner's," the name of the 100% vegan, gluten free bakery I had wanted to visit! What?! We went inside and quickly discovered that they had just opened up a second location (this one!) the day before! What luck! We ordered a cinnamon bun which they warmed up and cut in half for us, and I also got a red velvet cupcake and a creamie (two chocolate chip cookies with frosting in the middle) to save for later. All three of these items were absolutely delicious and tasted like they had been jam-packed with gluten because they were that good! I will definitely make a point to go back there the next time I'm in Toronto.

Bunner's 100% Vegan and Gluten Free Bakery in the Kensington Market area

After some more wandering and shopping we headed to our next food-specific destination: Poutini's House of Poutine. Poutine is kind of a Canadian delicacy consisting of french fries, gravy and cheese curds. I'd never had it, but decided that if there was a gluten free version I should probably indulge. Drew loves poutine so he was totally on board for this adventure. We had to walk a couple miles to find this place and there wasn't much to it. No bathroom, cash only, a couple high tables and a kitchen. We were still stuffed from brunch and bakery treats, so we split a regular gluten free poutine. I was pleasantly surprised. For some reason, I expected poutine to be a lot, um...grosser? Haha. It was literally a paper cup's worth, so it wasn't too too much. The french fries were good, the gravy was tasty and not overloading the fries, and the cheese curds were not overwhelming either. All in all, a good first poutine experience!

GF Poutine, a Canadian Tradition

The remainder of our daylight hours were spent walking, window shopping, and enjoying a cold beverage before stopping into the Pride Festival to visit some friends we met while on our Galapagos diving trip last year. Soon, it was time to venture out for dinner.

We headed to the Distillery District, a funky area in the historical district I had visited in the fall. I knew Drew would love the vibe as much as I had. We headed to El Catrin, as it was listed on several websites when I was searching for gluten free in Toronto. The restaurant patio was massive and gorgeous with giant rustic metal chandeliers hanging, and a fire pit in the middle. The line was out the door and around the corner. There was a private party inside, so only patio seating was available. We decided to wait.

An hour later we were seated. The menu had little icons next to certain items stating "wheat free." I asked about this and the hostess gave me a confused answer about it really meaning gluten free. Hmm. So I asked the server and he said yes, they were gluten free if they have that icon. Not to give away the rest of the story, but at this point, I should have asked to speak with a manager. Unfortunately, the place was crazy and I was starving and I did not. Instead, Drew and I ordered a few items (it is tapas style), and our food came quickly. We had Esquites (a corn dip), Sopes de Tinga (delicious little tart looking things), Cochnita Pibil (BBQ pulled pork tacos), and Carne Asada de Catrin (flat iron steak). Everything tasted amazing!! We loved the experience, the food, and our waiter. Unfortunately, about 20 minutes later I quickly realized I had been glutened. I'll leave out the details, but I will say, if you go here, please make sure you do your due diligence and talk to a manager so you can be assured what you order is gluten free. And maybe it would be better not to go on a Saturday night in the middle of summer so they aren't so busy and can be more careful of cross contamination. I'm not sure what made me sick, but it definitely gave our awesome gluten free food day a less-than-awesome ending.

Taken while I was enjoying my food...

The next morning we went to the Brownstone Bistro for breakfast as I found it on my "Find Me Gluten Free" app. Another disappointment. When I asked about gluten free, our unfriendly waitress sort of laughed and said that the menu she gave us was the menu for Pride Festival and there were no substitutions. OK, then. She also said "you know what you can eat, right?" And I said "Yes, but sometimes there are hidden things in certain items." She didn't seem to care. I ordered an omelet (after verifying with our super friendly waitress that they didn't use anything but eggs in their eggs), and my plate came out with bread on it. I ate the 3/4 of the omelet that wasn't near the bread, begrudgingly. After the night before, I was upset and angry, but felt too defeated to fight. I debated just not eating anything, but I was hungry, so I ate the part I felt should be safe.

Overall, we had a fun time in Toronto. It's a great city that is a melting pot of cultures, making you feel like you could be almost anywhere depending on the area of the city you are in. Plus, we found three awesome gluten free finds in Toronto and I will definitely revisit Kensington Cornerstone and Bunner's the next time we head north!

Home Sweet Home

2013-06-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

After four months of nonstop adventure and exploration, we arrived safely back in Buffalo late last Thursday night. Friday and Saturday we began to get settled back into our house, despite extreme delusion caused by jet lag. Over the past week we've been busy "nesting" and cleaning up and reorganizing the inside and outside of our home!

Yesterday was Drew's 30th birthday and we had many of our friends and family over to reconnect, share some stories, and celebrate life! It's been amazing to see everyone again and kind of feels like we've never been gone.

Tomorrow I go back to work. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends, but it is a bit nerve-wracking. I'm really not sure how easily I will adjust to working full time again. I loved my job before I left, so I think that will make it easier, but going from a very open schedule with tons of new experiences, people, and sights everyday to a set routine and the same scenery day after day might be difficult. I guess only time will tell.

Overall, sitting in my house, it's sort of hard to believe that we've been gone for four months because not much has changed here. But I am a different person and I'm sure I will only realize this more and more as time goes on. I'm happy to be back, but (of course) sad that our journey is actually over. I know that we will have many new adventures to come so I don't worry that this is the end, but still, it's sort of crazy that this huge thing I've been dreaming about for many, many years, and planning and working on diligently for over a year has truly come to an end.

Luckily, I have almost 10,000 photos to show for it, some cool souvenirs, and a million amazing memories that I share with my best friend. The next step will be creating my photo book (which I do for every trip we take). I've already started, but I'm only about a week in! It's going to take a long time but I appreciate that I get to relive each step of our journey every time I sit down to work on it!

Many people have asked the same questions, so here's a few answers to things you may be wondering:

Yes, it was absolutely everything I could have dreamed of and more. I'm not one for setting too many expectations, especially when it comes to travel, but the trip was my dream come true! We were lucky enough to meet so many incredible people along the way, who helped us and became friends, our travel plans all fell together and we never had any big issues, and we stayed safe and healthy (after Drew got over his ear infection in Ecuador!)
No, I cannot pick a favorite place. Each country, city and attraction we visited was unique and there was really nowhere that I would not return to. I have a few favorites, but it's impossible to pick one!

The Galapagos were a dream come true and the most amazing diving I've ever experienced. I'm obsessed with sea lions and I got to swim with them and see them inches from my face many times!
Machu Picchu was another place I've always wanted to go and it truly exceeded any expectations. It's incredible.
Spain was an amazing country and every city we had the opportunity to visit was beautiful!
Italy was incredible! The food, the history, the character of each place we saw was outstanding!
Santorini was gorgeous and we will definitely go back to this Greek island since we only had several hours to appreciate it and it deserves several days!
Turkey was amazing. The people, the history, and the places we saw were fabulous.
Dubai was truly another world and a place I'd like to see in five to ten years because I know it will be even more over the top!
Egypt brought us back down to earth after the futuristic city of Dubai. It was an incredible place to end our journey. We got to see THE PYRAMIDS in person! We rode a felluca on the Nile! We rode a camel in the Sahara! We took pictures of the Sphinx! We laid by the pool of our hotel and could see the Pyramids!
I feel bad not going into detail about every country and city we visited because, truly, they were each so memorable and beautiful in their own way.

Yes, four months was a great amount of time. I would have loved to continue for longer, but on the other hand, it's natural that you sort of begin to prepare yourself for what's ahead. So we knew we were going to be gone four months, and a few weeks before our scheduled return we started to wind down and mentally adjust to the idea of coming home.

The tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa, in Dubai

The amazing Pyramids of Giza on a camel in the Sahara!

Sad faces...the morning we left Cairo for home

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to stay abreast of our journey. It has been neat to hear people ask me about things I wrote in the blog, and even cool when people said they noticed those times when I didn't write for weeks and they got worried. I appreciate all the support before, during, and now after this incredible journey!

That's all I have for now. I did want to share this map below - all this travel and the travel I've done throughout my life, and still I've only seen 14% of the world! Really?!

Create your own travel map - TravBuddy

From Dubai to Continent #5, Last Stop Before Home

2013-06-01T01:27:00.001-07:00

I'm currently laying by our pool in Dubai, about to go to our room to clean up before we head to the airport for our flight to Cairo. Our last destination on this incredible adventure.

Dubai is incredible. I've described it as a mash up between Vegas, Disney and the Jetsons. Everything is new, tall, and fancy. In the middle of the desert. On the beautiful Persian Gulf. The city is not walkable and not just because of the heat. The city has been built in little areas, all relatively far apart, so driving, taxis or the metro are necessities. Things don't seem all that far because the buildings are tall and you can see everything! But it's a mirage. Roads are only constructed in certain areas so it often feels like the long way around. It's a bit disjointed, but it's like nowhere I've ever been.

And next, Cairo...

Heating Things Up

2013-05-26T11:43:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow we leave the amazing country of Turkey and its wonderful people to venture to the desert...but this is not just any desert...

Tomorrow we fly to Dubai.

I'm expecting the city to be a spectacle. Like Vegas, but bigger, louder, flashier and much more extreme. For starters, we're going to have extreme heat.

Yes, that's the forecast for the next few days! Yikes! I expect we're going to spend a lot of time indoors (hello world's largest mall with indoor ice skating rink, world's tallest building, and an indoor ski resort), and also a bunch by the pool.

This should be a city like no other. Let the extremism begin!

Cappadocia, Turkey: Another World

2013-05-21T04:13:00.002-07:00

First off, apologies for getting so behind in my posts! I have more to come on our time in Austria, Czech Republic, Romania and our cruise ports, but right now I am in Goreme, Turkey in the Cappadocia region of the country. I have a little time and I am inspired.

Goreme is a small, touristy town like many others around the world. However, it's in the heart of Cappadocia, a unique place of fairy chimneys that have enchanted me and make me feel like I'm in a dream each day.

There's not a whole lot to do here other than visit, hike around or balloon over these fairy chimneys, but that's a good thing, especially when you've been traveling for four months and are excited for a break from big cities.

So what are these so called fairy chimneys? Well, according to http://www.cappadociaexclusive.com/geological.html these unusual rock formations are a results of volcanic eruptions during the third geological period. The deposits of volcanic ash, lava and basalt laid the groundwork for these rock formations, followed by years of erosion from wind and rain, forming unique shapes that give the landscape an appearance that resembles what many people might think the surface of the moon would be like.

One of the former dwellings at the Open Air Museum in Goreme

Some unique looking fairy chimneys in Pigeon Valley

An amazing view of the valley!

Many of these fairy chimneys were (and some still are) inhabited

During our hike in Pigeon Valley

Now Drew's into "jumping" photos too. Go figure. ;-)

Amazing shapes of the rocks formed by natural elements

So why did we journey here? It's actually been on my bucket list for several years, ever since I saw an article in Budget Travel that displayed an absolutely captivating photo of tens of hot air balloons floating in the sky over a landscape like nothing I'd ever seen. Ever since, this place has been on my mind and my bucket list, and so I am very happy that it worked out for us to visit this magical place during this incredible journey we are on.

I am happy to report that today we took that sunrise hot air balloon ride and it surpassed every one of my dreams of the occasion, despite just how touristy of an activity it is here. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that just yesterday, the region saw its second balloon accident since these flights began twenty years ago. Unfortunately three people lost their lives and many were injured, so my thoughts and prayers are with those people and their families.

Despite that awful accident, I would highly recommend the activity and this amazing place to everyone. It's like nowhere I've ever been.

Getting ready for our first hot air balloon flight!

A balloon rising behind a fairy chimney

Close to 100 balloons take flight each morning

We went as high at 950 meters, 1000 is the limit here

The small city below

An interesting perspective of the canyon below

Filling in the Blanks

2013-05-13T12:10:00.001-07:00

Beautiful Brasov

Today we filled in the last blanks (at least as far as the wheres and whens) of our adventure.

We are currently in Brasov, Romania and all we knew up until a couple hours ago was that we needed to be in Istanbul, Turkey on May 27 to fly to Dubai. We also knew we wanted a decent chunk of time in Istanbul, since everyone we've talked to who has been there raves about it. We have had our flights from Istanbul to Dubai, Dubai to Cairo, and Cairo home all booked since before we left. We actually had the majority of our accommodations in Dubai and Cairo booked before we left as well, and just recently completed those pieces.

But this whole two weeks between Brasov and Istanbul were a big question mark. A question mark that I personally loved, probably about as much as it caused Drew anxiety. To me, having this last open period be SO wide open extended the excitement and mystery and surprise of the whole trip. Sure, each destination, day and even minute will still be an adventure, but once this last piece of our puzzle was booked, a clear path towards the end of the trip would be defined. So I was postponing it and reassuring Drew that we would figure it out and it will all be fine, as it has been all along this journey.(Drew, on the other hand, kept reminding me that he was stressed out by this, and in just two days we were checking out from our Brasov hotel, and transportation on this side of the continent is not very easy). So we finally sat down today for a few hours and...the puzzle is complete.

We contemplated vegging on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast for a week, but without a car it's impossible because there's no public transport there until June. We don't want to rent a car because neither one of us can drive stick well and automatic rentals, if you can even find them, are at least four times the cost of manual making that outrageously expensive.

We talked about visiting the Black Sea beaches in Romania, we could get to them easily enough by bus. But we'd still have to get down to Istanbul.

We looked for cheap flights to anywhere in Europe hoping for a random deal that matched our date of departure.

Then, we looked into one of our original thoughts before we even left Buffalo...Cappadocia.

This is a place in Turkey that I have wanted to visit ever since I received a certain issue of Budget Travel several years ago. It's a place of "fairy chimney" dwellings. They look like God took wet sand in his hands and let it dribble through his fingers to form sloppy, skinny peaks. The picture that is embedded in my mind from that magazine article has hot air balloons floating above these dreamlike structures and in the picture I'm there in one of the balloons looking out. Oh wait...that's just in my dream.

So anyway, we looked into flights and it wasn't too bad! We looked into hotels and found some reasonably priced "cave hotels" (they're like the only kind of accommodation you would want to stay in when visiting this area! It's all about authentic here people!) And so, we booked everything! Our flight from Bucharest to Istanbul, our round-trip flight to and from Cappadocia, our hotel there. The only thing left is our accommodation in Istanbul. So we're just waiting to hear back from an AirBnB host and we might be all set.

On one hand it feels good to know we're done booking stuff (because it can be stressful and exhausting), but like I said before, it also makes me sad because it's the final major piece of the puzzle in place. Now all we do is follow the path we laid out until it takes us back to where we started.

But enough of that depressing attitude! The great news is we still have over three weeks of our journey to live and create! And live it we will!

Here's a few more photos of Brasov for you as well! What a cool little city!

Flower market in the square during festival, Brasov Days

View from the Citadel

"Behind the Wall"

View from the White Tower

View from the Black Tower

Rope Street, one of the narrowest "roads" in Europe

The main square

Just Cruisin' (A Flashback)

2013-05-12T11:41:00.003-07:00

Written on May 4, 2013

Tonight I am writing from the comfort of our wonderfully large white king-sized bed in our sizable ocean view cabin on-board Holland America’s Eurodam. We've been aboard since Monday, today is Saturday, and so we’re about halfway through our 11-night Mediterranean Cruise.

We departed from Rome, where we met my parents just two days before. They flew in on Friday and we flew in from Prague on Saturday, meeting them for the afternoon and evening, and spending all day Sunday dragging them around to show them as much of the city as we could, after exploring the Pantheon and the Coliseum. Whew! Early Monday afternoon we all boarded the ship (after a quick mishap involving a van and Drew’s iphone…funny story) and began to settle in.

The four of us before our first formal night

It’s been quite a change for Drew and I from the way we’ve been traveling since February 2^nd, let me tell you!

First of all, we are staying in the same room for eleven nights. Eleven nights! That hasn’t happened since we left home! It’s been really nice to unpack and live out of closets and drawers rather than organizational Ziplocs, stuffsacks, and backpacks!
Secondly, we’re with my parents! We’ve made many friends during our travels and even stayed with new and old friends along the way, but to actually be exploring new places and spending time with my parents is really awesome.
Thirdly, our “world” is much more confined causing us to slow down a bit. We tend to travel at a pace that not too many people could probably keep up with, walking an average of probably eight hours a day. It’s a bit of an adjustment to slow down due to processes, procedures and lines that are just part of cruise line traveling. Plus, when we’re on-board the ship there are only so many things to see and do. We’re almost forced to just relax and take it all in because there’s only so much we can do in the time allotted at each port and on the ship.
Fourthly, we’re eating (at least) three meals a day and the food is amazing! It’s still a bit of a challenge with my having to eat gluten free because I always have to ask and don't have quite the selection as everyone else, but overall the cruise line is doing a good job catering to me and giving me what I want. And Drew is enjoying eating whatever he wants whenever he wants. He’s gotten two appetizers or two desserts or even two dinners – just because they all sound delicious and – he can!
Lastly, the crew aboard our ship is amazing and they treat us well. Our room is cleaned twice a day, the sheets are turned down nightly with a chocolate left on our bed, fresh fruit is left in our room each day, and we have all the comforts of home (yes, even a washcloth!!)

It’s going to be a bit of an adjustment when we get off – but I am just happy we have a few more weeks of our adventure left. I’d definitely be pleased to have even more, but I suppose this journey has to come to an end at some point.

In case you’re curious for more details of our cruise,there’s a quick rundown of our itinerary below. I hope to write posts and share pictures from each port soon.

Monday – board

Tuesday – at sea

Wednesday – Kerkira, Greece (Corfu)

Thursday – Katakolon, Greece (visited ancient Olympia)

Friday – Santorini, Greece (amazing place!!)

Saturday (today) – Kusadasi, Turkey (visited the ancient city of Ephesus)

Sunday and Monday – Piraeus, Greece (Athens)

Tuesday – at sea

Wednesday – Messina, Italy (Sicily)

Thursday – Naples, Italy (tour to Pompei)

Friday – disembark in Rome, we’ll spend the day in the city until our flight to Bucharest, Romania

Drew's first cruise! He has no idea what he's in for...

The food! Oh, the food!

One of the two pools - this one had a retractable roof that blocked the wind

Another shot of our boat - docked in Katakolon, Greece

One of the nightly towel animals that awaited us. We loved these!

The super creative towel animal we made for our room steward, Wibi :)

It's All Greek to Me

2013-05-05T05:57:00.001-07:00

Just a quickie!!

The cruise has been incredible so far! Corfu, Greece; Katakolon, Greece (visited ancient Olympia!); Santorini, Greece (where I took the photo-such a gorgeous place!!); Kusadasi, Turkey (visited the ancient city of Ephesus); and today we are in Athens! Everything is closed today because it is Easter Sunday here (not quite sure how that works), but luckily we're here until tomorrow at 5pm so we'll see the Acropolis tomorrow. Today we are enjoying the quiet of the city and having drinks with views of the Acropolis on the hill above us! Not bad!

No wifi on the boat (without a hefty fee!) so more to come later! Just know we are happy, eating well, seeing great things and enjoying the time with my parents!

Salzburg, Austria: The Hills are Incredible

2013-04-24T13:07:00.003-07:00

One of the many stunning views on our ride

Our entire bus and train journey from Venice to Salzburg was about six hours and the majority of it was through absolutely gorgeous scenery. At some point before we got to Austria we hit the massive snow-covered mountains and it was spectacular. It was hard not to constantly stare out of the window!

Villa Trapp

We arrived in the city around 10:00 at night and decided to splurge on a taxi to our hotel, Villa Trapp, yes as in Von Trapp.
For three nights we lived in the mansion of the Von Trapp family (from The Sound of Music, for those of you who aren’t familiar). Waking up the next morning we were in for a wonderful surprise. Our room (a “basic room” that somehow came equipped with its own private and large balcony) overlooked the stunning snow covered peaks just to the left, and not far to the right was the city and we could see the famous castle peaking through the just-beginning-to-bloom trees. Perfection.

The view from our room

Pretending to be part of the Von Trapp family

We spent the next two days exploring the city, mostly by foot, as we typically do. We walked into and back from the city a few times, wandered along and across the river, through the old town, up the mountain for a view of the city below and around the main streets and plazas. I ate one memorable meal at The Heart of Joy Café, not far from the famous and beautiful Mirabell Gardens. It was a vegetarian café that also had several gluten free options, including a highly recommended chocolate mousse cake. Yum! Drew was able to explore some more traditional culinary delights from some shops along our wanderings, such as pretzels, schnitzel, beer, and sausage, and he was very excited about that!

Fortress and the Alps in the background

Hohensalzburg Castle

Overlooking the suburbs and Alps

The river and the old town

It's a unicorn! At Mirabell Gardens

Mirabell Gardens with Palace in the background

Mirabell Gardens

He kind of hated that I made him pose for this picture ;-)

A dinner picnic on our balcony

The city is beautiful and has an entirely different feel than anywhere we’ve been so far. I’m not sure what it is, but I told Drew that I felt the safest here over any of our other destinations. Not that I ever felt unsafe, necessarily, but there’s something that just made me feel really comfortable. It was also the first real days of spring in the city, we were told, and being from Buffalo we can totally relate to the positive energy this time of year creates in a place. In addition, the people, in general, were extremely friendly; people in the stores and restaurants, random people we encountered or asked questions to, and the drivers (who all stop for people in crosswalks and don’t seem annoyed about it or like they’re going to run you over if you don’t hurry up! Imagine that!) Plus, the scenery was stunning. I’m more of an ocean person than a mountain person, but I still find all of nature wonderful so I can’t complain, that’s for sure.

If you’re looking for a small but interesting, friendly, and beautiful city to visit, Salzburg would be a wonderful option. Most people spoke English as well, which made it a lot easier than I expected. And for any celiacs, gluten is a commonly understood term and you are able to find gluten free things in the grocery stores, and it seems that many restaurants try to accommodate gluten free diets if possible. Plus, after Italy most things seems a bit cheaper!

Venezia! (aka Venice) A City for Wandering

2013-04-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

From Rome we traveled north to Sacile to stay with some family of friends from home. From there we planned to spend three nights in Venice before heading into Austria. That was until we saw how much hotels cost in Venice. Based on what I read, the only way to do Venice was to stay on the island; otherwise you’d have to worry about getting on and off each day and the time and money this would take. This turned out to be very true. The only problem with staying on the island is that most places are expensive. If they aren’t expensive, they tend to have pretty bad reviews and sound sketchy. We aren’t too picky and tend to figure that we won’t be in our room too much so there’s no point in spending too much on a place to stay. However, something about Venice made us feel differently and we decided to splurge on a nicer hotel, The Pasaro Palace. Instead of three nights, however, we cut it back to two and stayed with our friends in Sacile an additional night.

Us with our friends in Venice

Late Saturday morning our friends drove us the 45 minutes to Venice where we all boarded the “people mover” (costs one Euro per person one way) to take us to the island. We arrived and we were overwhelmed! It was surreal to be there. I’ve seen Venice on television and in movies, I’ve seen the Venetian in Las Vegas, and all of these things display a relatively accurate picture of this alluring and beautiful city, so the reality of walking through the streets of Venice took a little while to comprehend.

One of our first views of the city

There’s just something about Venice. It’s a maze of pedestrian streets and canals, but not an overwhelming maze. There aren’t any cars, which is phenomenal! However, there are a lot of people (especially on the weekend – we noticed a definite difference in the crowds on Monday as compared to Saturday and Sunday). There’s no lack of restaurants, pastry shops, mask stores (Venice has a huge Carnavale celebration every February), Murano glass shops, cafes or bars.

A giant meringue we bought

It’s fun to wander the streets, going wherever your whim compels you. Sooner than later, you’ll come to a dead end…at water. It’s amazing. It’s a sort of grid of street/canal/street/canal and it makes up a place like nowhere I’ve ever been. It’s inarguably romantic, but I can’t exactly explain why.

We saw the famous sights; San Marco Square, the Rialto Bridge, the Bridge of Sighs. We also did the gondola ride through the canals. They are not cheap – 80 euro for about 40 minutes – but we paid less for a little less time and it was sufficient. We rode through the quiet, off the main track canals, which is what I would recommend. You want to actually be moving through the water and seeing the city rather than just getting stuck in a waterway traffic jam on the Grand Canal.

Rialto Bridge in the background

As we tend to do because we enjoy it so much, we spent a lot of time just wandering, walking, window shopping and exploring. We had two half days and one full day and we both would have easily taken a few more (especially at our hotel!) We definitely plan to return in the future…

Us on our gondola ride

For more Venice pics, click here.

When in Rome...

2013-04-20T13:31:00.001-07:00

Ah, Roma!

Us overlooking the river

Like many Americans, I've always wanted to see Rome. I’d heard and read stories from many people who just rave about the city. One thing I read before we came was something to the effect of the “grittiness” of Rome, but even with that grittiness you can’t help but fall in love. This didn't sound so great to me and so I tried to forget that I read it because I just didn't understand how I could love something described as dirty and gritty and crowded.

Well, let me tell you, that description actually makes a lot of sense and I truly did fall in love with the city despite of and because of its grit! I don’t know how to explain it, but it just gets to you. For me, it was a combination of two things that really put me over the edge: the beautiful ancient architecture around every corner and the food.

Ruins near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Everywhere you turn in Rome is another historically significant and beautiful structure. From the Coliseum, to the Trevi Fountain, to the Pantheon, to St. Peter’s Basilica to the random church on the corner; the beauty is overwhelming. There are fountains and plazas and huge Roman columns, you think you've gotten a handle on the city and seen so much and you turn the corner to find another grand and stunning building/fountain/sculpture/obelisk that you haven’t seen before!

The Colosseum

The beautiful Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon at Night

View from the Pantheon doors

And then there’s the food!!! With my diagnosis of Celiac disease just a few months ago, I was kind of dreading our time in Italy when it came to the eating part. I love Italian food, but since my diagnosis it’s been hard to find a gluten free pizza, bread or pasta that is actually more than just a way to satisfy my craving. I've yet to find any that’s really good. And then I came to Rome. Rome knows how to do gluten free and they do it amazingly well. Drew and I had many meals and often shared two entirely gluten free dishes so that we each could try more things. And all of it was delicious! He didn't feel like he was being cheated and I felt normal again! I found restaurants that had entire menus that were 100% gluten free (Mama! Eat), and many other places could make at least a few types of gluten free pasta or pizza as well. I was in heaven and for those three days we both ate extremely well and filled ourselves with lots of pizza, pasta and wine, and several cappuccinos and even gelato.

My first meal in Rome: Gluten Free deliciousness at Mama! Eat

Gluten Free Nutella Pizza for Dessert at Mama! Eat

If you’re a Celiac, you MUST go to Rome. You have to go out to eat in a place where it’s not a big deal and people just nod and hand you their gluten free menu. You have to taste the best gluten free pizza and pasta in the world. You just have to. It’ll be worth it.

And if you’re not a Celiac, you’re still going to love Rome. It’s beautiful, romantic, and full of amazing food in addition to all the legendary sites!

Gluten Free French Fry Pizza at Voglia di Pizza! Yum!

One of our many Coffees in Italy

I was very sad to leave Rome…luckily we will be back for two days in just a couple weeks, as that is where our cruise departs from. Super happy about that!

Inside Vatican City

Vatican City

Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain at Piazza Navona

For more pictures of beautiful Roma, click here.

36 Hours in Bilbao, Spain

2013-04-20T04:26:00.002-07:00

We spent a quick 36 hours in this city of northern Spain. Like most tourists, I assume, we came here to see the architectural artistry of the Guggenheim. We had a bit of time to explore more of the city, but the weather was awful the entire time we were there, so it didn't leave the best impression. What we saw was fine, but the city didn't seem to have a ton of personality to define it like many of the other places we've been. It is small, divided by a river, with an old town and new area. It was very cold (probably in the 30s to 40s at warmest) and rainy the whole time we were here (except for about 30 minutes one day when we got the blue-skied picture below!). It also hailed, thundered and we saw a few snowflakes as well.

Bilbao, Spain

I can’t say I wouldn't recommend visiting Bilbao because it might be a great place when the weather is decent and you aren't staying somewhere that smells like mildew. :)

Also, a visit to the Guggenheim was definitely worth it if you’re into architecture. Drew and I aren't huge museum people, but we both really enjoyed our time there and felt it was worth the 13 Euros it cost to get in (includes audio guide which made the entire thing that much better).

The Guggenheim peaking out at the end of the street

The Guggenheim and its "pet dog"

Inside my favorite exhibit, The Matter of Time

Inside the main area of the museum

Outside the museum

Another outside view

Art, inside and out

Through the fog...

If you get the chance and are nearby, take a day or two to explore the city and definitely see the Guggenheim!

For more photos from Bilbao, click here.

Just a Quick Note

2013-04-20T04:09:00.004-07:00

Once again, we've been MIA for a while, I know. For those of you following our trip closely, I apologize, but we have some good excuses.

We've been busy!! Just like we should be, right? I have written several blogs during our bus and train rides, however, that leads me to our second problem...
We haven't had good internet access!

We are currently in Vienna, Austria and will be for the next few days. We seem to have good access and a little bit of extra time to try to get things up to date. I just posted about our walk from Spain to France, and will get some of my other posts up, including one about Bilbao, Spain, and then onto Italy!

Stay tuned and stay patient! We've got a lot of updates, we've been busy!

A Walk from Spain to France

2013-04-20T03:55:00.000-07:00

San Sebastian is a city located in the north of Spain, on the Atlantic Ocean, affording it beautiful beaches and views. Unfortunately for us, we visited in early spring so the weather was cold (and rainy one day) and we weren't able to see it in its entire splendor.

The boardwalk along San Sebastian's beach

Under the boardwalk, San Sebastian's beach

There is an old part of the city, which most Spanish cities seem to have, with narrow cobbled streets and beautiful old buildings flanked by churches on both ends. This area seemed to be bustling when we were there – around noon on a Thursday. Other parts of the city did not seem to be so occupied. I’m sure the beach area is packed in the summer, unlike the rainy spring day we chose to walk along its edge. The city has a ton of old architectural details, with its white metal railings along the beach, huge Victorian clocks, and other details, but whether it’s the sea air or simply lack of care, this city seems as though it is not as well taken care of as some of its counterparts that we visited along our Spanish adventures. No matter, we enjoyed our short time there, but feel to see it in its glory would require a summertime visit.

Carousel in San Sebastian

From San Sebastian, the French border is about 10km away. Naturally, we had to go! We jumped on a train which took us to the Spanish town of Irun, bordering the river that we walked across to get to the French town of Hendaye, a beautiful little city.

Looking back toward Spain

Us, in France!

The bay of Hendaye

When you first cross the river you walk along the bay, strewn with boats and parks and people walking about. If you follow that for a while and then cross through the streets you arrive at the ocean. There’s a wide beach that goes on and on (bigger than San Sebastian). The wind and air is cool, but the sun is hot and there are tons of surfers braving the frigid-looking water. There are hotels across the street from the beach, but the actual waterfront is primarily a wide sand beach and boardwalk with just a few restaurants sprinkled in.

We took a walk of about a mile and a half up a hill and visited a castle, Chateau Abbadia, with gorgeous views of the beach on one side and mountains on the other.

Back past the bay you can go into town, which apparently is busy at times, but not when we were there. We visited the famous (on Wikipedia) Hendaye Cross which apparently predicts the end of the world (in 2012).

It was very interesting to walk into France. There was no border patrol or any kind of barrier to let you know you were entering another country. We simply saw the sign and French flag waving at the police station once we crossed the bridge. Plus, the signs changed from Spanish and Basque to French and Basque (and still a little Spanish and even English occasionally). We encountered a lot of people speaking Spanish, but the workers at the cafes we visited spoke French to us. Very interesting. Another thing to note: cappuccino in France is topped with whipped.

Instead of walking and then taking the train back, we took the Euskotrain directly from Hendaye into San Sebastian (costing just a few Euros and taking about 30 minutes) for dinner.

Hendaye was a cute little French city and a nice day trip for us. It doesn't seem to be much of a place for tourists, except local tourists in the summer or for surfing. It was nice to go somewhere that we probably wouldn't go to otherwise, and add another country to our list!

Enjoying coffee on the oceanfront

The beach at Hendaye

Drew's crepe and cafe and my cappuccino (w/ whipped cream!)

A tiny car(?!) we saw in Hendaye

Chateau Abbadia

Beautiful wildflowers on our walk to and from the Chateau

Hendaye looked more German than French to us!

The famous Hendaye Cross

A pizza machine...put in your money, out comes a pizza?!

For more pictures of San Sebastian, Spain click here

For more pictures of Hendaye, France, click here

Barcelona, Spain!

2013-04-08T13:01:00.001-07:00

We spent six days in Barcelona and it's safe to say that it has earned a place among my favorite cities. So you might ask, what exactly did I like about Barcelona?

Here's a list:

The Mediterranean Sea: any city located on water of any type is a huge plus for me, but the Mediterranean Sea?! Over four kilometers of beautiful beaches with an active and well-maintained boardwalk, great restaurants and clubs, easy access to many other countries by sea, and a great place for people watching or soaking up the sun!
The architecture: First and foremost you've got a bunch of amazing buildings designed by Gaudi, who I am now more obsessed with. This is on top of the gorgeous old Spanish architecture, innovative new designs sprinkled about, and other inspiring pieces from the Gothic period and beyond. In addition to buildings, there are modern sculptures to be discovered all over the city, oftentimes placed just feet from historic old structures.

Gaudi's Casa Batllo (right)

Which leads me to the next thing I loved: there is no fear of meshing old and new in terms of design, architecture, art. Here's an example:

Drew in front of a modern sculpture in front of the historic post office

Another cool piece in the city

Many beautiful public parks. I grew up in a small town, green space is important to me!

Outside the entrance of Gaudi's Park Guell

Cool view of the city from inside Park Guell

The Gothic quarter: An amazing old area full of cool buildings, narrow streets, public plazas, stores and restaurants with an endless supply of hidden things to be discovered.

The Cathedral in the Gothic Quarter

Ease of getting around: the city is big, but not that big. Drew and I walked most days. However, there's also a wonderful public transportation system of buses, trains and the subway to get wherever you need to go.
Gelatterias and patiserrias on every block. Literally...you can't walk a block without going past one!
The energy: like most cities, I suppose, but there's always something going on here. The only quiet time that we saw was the early mornings which we experienced when walking to our train at 6:30am.
The schedule: they don't go to work until 10am, allowing more time for fun at night. Athough, yes they get out of work later, but they still manage to fit in a lot more fun time than most Americans.
The amazing places close to the city: from wineries to the amazing Montserrat

View from our hike at Montserrat

So basically, I'm just saying that I love Barcelona and I look forward to the time I return. AND...you should go! (Check out more of our pictures here)

Have you been to Barcelona? I'd love to hear your favorite things about the city!

What We've Been Up To

2013-04-08T12:39:00.003-07:00

It’s been a little while since I’ve written as we’ve been very busy hopping from place to place, so I want to catch you up on where exactly we've been and where we are going. I plan to write more detailed posts about the specific places soon, but for now here’s an overview.

Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday night, after a six hour or so train ride from Sevilla. Our friend, John, who we met on our diving boat in the Galapagos invited us to stay with him at his flat in the Barceloneta area, which is right near the beach. We stayed until Monday morning when we left for San Sebastian, a town up on the northern coast which was recommended to us by one of our AirBnB.com hosts in Toledo. (I wrote this quick post about Barcelona while we were there, and this one after which has a little more detail about why I love the city.)

San Sebastian and Hendaye (France!)

We took a bus from Barcelona to San Sebastian on Tuesday morning, and arrived in the early afternoon. We took another bus from the city to our accommodation for two nights – another AirBnB.com stay. Our host, Elvira, was wonderful and her place was extremely clean, homey and welcoming. The only downside was her apartment is about a 50 minute walk into the city. You can catch a bus easy or a train after a 10 minute walk, but we tend to like to walk, so we made the trek a couple times. While in San Sebastian we took a day trip up to France because why not and Drew really was hoping to get to France so this gave him a small taste! (I have a full post on our time in the city and our excursion to Hendaye, France coming soon).

Bilbao

Thursday afternoon we took another bus (about 1 hour 45 minutes) from San Sebastian to Bilbao. We both wanted to visit the famous Guggenheim, for different reasons. I took an architecture class my senior year at Canisius where I learned about the museum and architect and thought the building was amazing. (This class is actually what sparked my interest in Gaudi as well.) Drew, on the other hand, is a big James Bond fan, and apparently the Guggenheim Bilbao was featured in one of the movies. (More to come on this soon).

Madrid

Saturday morning we took another bus (just under five hours) back to Madrid. Before we left the states this winter we opened up a Marriott Rewards credit card which gives us no international fees and points towards nights at hotels and other perks. One such perk was a free night at a category four Marriott hotel. We had booked a night at the AC Marriott in Madrid (for free!) before we left and boy did it come at the right time! We’ve been staying at some decent places, some hostels and some people’s homes through AirBnB.com, but in Bilbao our accommodation was pretty terrible. The location was fine, but the apartment smelled like mildew and mold and was pretty much disgusting and we couldn’t wait to leave. On top of that, the weather the entire time we were in the city was the coldest we’ve experienced on the trip thus far, and rainy. Cold, cold rain. Oh, and hail. And we did see snowflakes. Yuck. So anyway, when we arrived in Madrid we were so excited for the fancy hotel room awaiting us! It was gorgeous: king bed, beautiful bathroom, washcloths (!) (read my post about One Month In: What it Feels Like to be a Backpacker if you don’t get my excitement about that one), a nice hair dryer, a bidet (lol), I could go on.

Anyway, we checked in and quickly made ourselves comfortable before heading into the city. There were a few things we knew we wanted to do (mostly for me and my gluten free food needs). We found a Pizza Jardin restaurant near our hotel and had a late lunch there. We ate at another location of this restaurant for dinner on our first days in the city because I had read about their gluten free pizza (yay!). So we had pizza and then headed to the wonderful Celicioso Bakery which is also completely gluten free. Drew stopped at a regular bakery for a treat for himself afterwards, and then we stopped at McDonald's because I had heard that all McDonald's in Spain have gluten free rolls. It’s true. I’m really not a big fast food person, ever, but I felt I had to get and try one of these rolls, so I got a plain hamburger to have for dinner later. (It was ok…a little hard. I guess if you really loved McDonald's in the first place you would probably be more excited than I was).

What’s Next

And now, I am writing from the airplane. We are on our way to Rome! Spain has been absolutely amazing; fun-filled, new sights and amazing places, beautiful architecture, good food including many gluten free options, moving around a lot. I've enjoyed every part of it, but I can’t help but be excited for all that’s ahead, beginning with Rome.

The details aren't set yet, but we’ll be in Rome, then Sacile to visit family of our friends, up to Venice and into and around a few places in Austria, making our way to Prague. From Prague we fly back to Rome where we have two days before we depart on our Mediterranean Cruise! Yes, that’s right. We booked an eleven night cruise which will take us from Rome to several Greek isles, Turkey, Sicily and Naples. We found a good deal online a few weeks ago and decided we wanted to do it!

After the cruise we will fly to Romania, where we will go to Transylvania and somehow make our way down to Istanbul before we fly to Dubai on May 27. We are two months in, halfway through our adventure, but we have so much ahead, lots to figure out, and heaps to look forward to. I’m afraid time is going to fly by because we will be so busy, but I’m excited to take it all in and experience all of the places we are going to go! Stay tuned for more…

Update (Monday, April 8)

We're currently in Rome and it's AMAZING! I am finding lots of awesome gluten free food (including pizza and pasta!) thanks to Trip Advisor and some other great websites. This is where technology really comes in handy! Lots to say about this wonderful place...hope to post blogs and pics soon. Here's a couple, just to hold you over!

Drew and I at the Colosseum

The Trevi Fountain at night

The Pantheon at night

Barcelona! What a City!

2013-03-31T05:27:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter! It's been a while, and I finally posted about Sevilla, but currently we are in gorgeous, exciting Barcelona staying just blocks from the Mediterranean Sea with a wonderful friend that we met while diving in the Galapagos!

I hope to write more soon and share more photos, but I just have to say that this city is wonderful and share a couple pics to hold you over! One thing I just love: Barcelona isn't afraid to mix old and new...and it works!

Gaudi's Casa Battlo

Gaudi's Sagrada Familiar

Outside the Cathedral

Famous Lizard at Gaudi's Park Guell

Us at Guell Park

Guell Park

Overlooking the city at Guell Park

Montserrat

Inside Montserrat Cathedral

Us at Montserrat

Drew climbing

View from our hike at Montserrat

Drew's the King of the World

Back in the city: The Cathedral at night

I love the dichotomy here of an old door that is a work of art and the
graffiti artists' modern work

Another example of the old and new:
old post office, new sculpture (and Drew)

Sevilla, Spain: Faith, Flamenco and Flavor

2013-03-31T04:19:00.003-07:00

The Andalusian capital city of Sevilla (Seville in English) was recommended to us by many people when we spoke of our upcoming Spanish travels. One thing that especially intrigued me about the city was that around Easter religion dominates the highly Catholic region with a lengthy celebration know as Semana Santa (Holy Week). Semana Santa is apparently celebrated in many cities throughout Spain, and particularly in the Andalusian region, however in my research Sevilla’s celebration was rumored to be the most magnificent. So when our host in Toledo recommended we visit the city, and I realized our time could easily correspond with the beginning of these celebratory activities, I thought to myself (and said to Drew) “Let’s do it!”

Less than 24 hours later we had our train tickets in hand, a centrally located accommodation booked, and excitement building.

We arrived in Sevilla on Saturday evening around 10:30, after a six hour bus ride from Madrid. Our AirBnB.com hosts, Karren and Chris met us at the bus station to give us our keys, a map, and a warm welcome and a few minutes later we were walking up the steps to our next “home.”

The place was perfect; stylish, clean, and centrally located. We rested up Saturday evening and Sunday we began our exploration!

We wandered, walked, and absorbed the city. We immediately liked it. It was bigger than Toledo, smaller than Madrid. It had a great feel and a unique character with its gorgeous old buildings that you see so much in Europe that they almost become common, except for that fact that we just don’t get them at home so they could never get old! It had personality and style, old and new, hidden alleys and bustling plazas.

A typical gorgeous sight in the city

Drew and I in front of the Cathedral

The Cathedral

The Cathedral and fountain

Around two, after exploring for a few hours, we decided to take a rest on a fountain in a plaza near the Cathedral People had been setting up endless rows of chairs outside the church and in many different parts of the city. We had heard about the religious processionals that were supposed to begin today, but hadn't seen anything.

Resting by the Cathedral

Then we heard something; a marching band. We walked a couple hundred feet to the main road outside the Cathedral and the procession had found us! It consisted of a marching band, followed by hundreds or thousands of people walking in white robes with tall pointed hats. Eerily they reminded us of KKK costumes, but of course they were nothing of the sort. (Apparently the KKK adapted the costumes from these religious processions in Spain into their outfits, which most people now associate with a fearful and gruesome symbolism).

In addition to the robed walkers there were massive “floats” (for lack of a better term) emblazoned with gold, figurines of different religious scenes, and detailed adornment. As the first of these passed us, just inches away, we realized that these “floats” were not moving on wheels or motorized – they were being carried! We saw the human feet along the edge marching perfectly in sync, and even watched the men lower down, and later, pick up the structures. It was incredible! These things are huge, old, and must weigh a ton!

We watched the procession for an hour and decided to walk against its flow to find the end – it seemed that the robed people just kept coming! Finally we found the “caboose” which consisted of a second elaborate float with the virgin atop it. Behind the procession, people were swarming, heading to their favorite bar for a drink and some tapas. This is clearly one of the most important days of the year – everyone is dressed beautifully – men all in suits, women in cocktail dresses and their highest heels (I didn't envy them walking on the cobblestone streets!), and children fancied up in their special outfits.

Taking a break...this is how these "floats" are powered.
Apparently people pay to carry them!

Later that night we headed out to dinner at a restaurant that I read about online, Al Solito Posto – supposedly they had gluten free pizza and pasta and even prepared it in a separate kitchen from the gluten-containing food. I ordered meat tortellini and I even received my own (large!) gluten free roll and crunchy bread stick things. Drew got spaghetti and his was OK – mine was fabulous – but anytime I can get gluten free pasta safely prepared is an amazing moment, so it no longer takes as much to impress me. I guess my standards are lower – if I can eat it I am excited!

GF place mat to alert servers I need GF food!

My gluten free tortellini!

On our walk home from dinner we started to hear music. We quickly came upon a procession. The streets were flooded with people again and our route home was blocked. We managed to get around it for a moment, but quickly realized that they were heading in the direction we needed to go and we would simply have to follow them! And so we did. It was a long, drawn out walk until we got to the plaza where they split off from us. It was exhausting, crowded and a bit frustrating, but overall a pretty special experience.

During our next day in the city we ran into processionals two more times and saw robed people several additional times, walking from point A to B. It seemed that their outfits changed day to day, with the colors evolving and seemingly having some type of important symbolism that was unclear to us.

The next day we walked some more, visiting the famous Plaza de Espana and later the Plaza de Toros where we took a tour and learned about the history and current controversial practice of bullfighting (which is now illegal in several parts of Spain). Little did we know, six bulls are killed in every bullfight, and occasionally horses (and humans) get killed as well. That night we went to a local bar to get a taste of flamenco that is so famous here!

Plaza de Espana

One of the bulls who was a casualty - notice the ear missing - this is part of the "game"

The blur of a flamenco dancer in motion!

Overall, our time in the city was fun, exciting, and varied. We got to experience firsthand the importance of religion to the people, and we also got to see the way they gathered and celebrated post-processional. We watched a flamenco show, enjoyed gluten free food. We walked a lot and didn't find any use for the public transportation available. At one point Drew asked me if I had to pick RIGHT NOW to live in Madrid, Toledo or Sevilla which would I pick? I picked Sevilla; preferring its medium size over the hugeness of Madrid and the slightness of Toledo. Madrid was cool but didn't have a real character of its own – it could be anywhere in Europe to me. Toledo had a ton of character, but everything is almost too similar. Sevilla has character, but variety. It meshes the old and new well and seems to be a great place to live, not just to be a tourist.

Holy Toledo! (Spain, not Ohio)

2013-03-22T15:29:00.002-07:00

Before we left and while traveling we heard from many people that we had to go to Toledo while in Spain, as it's only 30 minutes from Madrid, where we were flying into and out of.

So...we obliged.

And we are both very happy we did. What an amazing city!

The place we are staying we booked on AirBnB.com, another absolute winner, it overlooks the river and is an easy walk to anywhere we wanted to go. Our hosts, Heidi and Chiqui have been fabulous, and Heidi's lovely mother from Austria even invited us to visit her and her husband while we are in Austria!

We've spent a lot of time wandering and just taking in the city. It's got a very rich history (I'll let you read up on wikipedia for more info), beautiful architecture, and crazy mazed streets (to confuse any would-be attackers back in the day and get them all turned around!)

We bought mazapan (a sweet made by nuns), browsed damascene jewelry, and checked out the swords that Toledo is known for! Check out the city and our experience through the photos below.

A small park near "our" home

A walk by the river

Spring beginning in Toledo: the monastery in the background

The narrow, maze-like streets

On another of the bridges over the river

Plaza Zocodover and the keyhole arch

The city and the river

I'm in love with all the arches

A close up of the monastery

Overlooking the city

Sunset over the city

Many interesting doors and knockers

The Cathedral

The cathedral on the right

The cathedral at night

Tomorrow (March 23) we head to the capital of the Andalusia region of Spain, to the city of Seville, where Holy Week (Semana Santa) activities should be going on strong! Should be an experience!!!

Continent #3: Europe

2013-03-19T15:38:00.005-07:00

I don't have time to write a formal post, but here's a quick update for all who are following us:

We arrived in Madrid safely yesterday around 5:00pm, took the subway to our apartment and unloaded our bags, and were happily eating pizza (gluten free for me!) by 9:00pm last night. (It would have been earlier, but the pizza place didn't open until 8:30pm, which is typical for Spain!)
Today we (accidentally) slept until 11:30am! Hello jet lag!
I got "lunch" at a spectacular gluten free bakery! (A brownie and chocolate covered coconut cupcake!) Drew tried some cheap sandwiches from the Museo de Jamon. (Picture a fast-food restaurant with lots of pig legs hanging from the ceiling and beer taps at the order bar!)
We looked into train tickets and bought some for a two day trip to Toledo, leaving tomorrow.
We wandered about and ran a couple errands before heading to El Museo del Prado for their free entry hours from 6-8. We spent just about the full two hours exploring the amazing works of art from legendary artists! Incredible to see works from as far back as the 12th century from famous artists like Goya, Valasquez, and Rubens.
Had a shared dinner of tapas (not so exciting when it has to be gluten free!)
Now back to rest before our big day tomorrow - off to Toledo, just a short 30-minute train ride from Madrid!

The view from our apartment into Santa Ana Plaza

My first pizza in almost 2 months!

Drew's lunch at el Museo de Jamon

The start of Spring flowers in Madrid

El Museo del Prado through the trees

Also, we are both in love with Madrid! Maybe it's just because it's our first European city after being in South America for a month and a half and there are a lot of things that are much more similar to home, but for whatever reason, we are truly enjoying it!

Cuzco, Peru: It's Like an Onion; It Has Layers

2013-03-14T15:45:00.002-07:00

Plaza de Armas, the main square in the city

Cuzco, Peru, at first meeting might seem loud, overwhelming, frustrating and a bit dangerous (in regards to crossing the road or simply walking along the narrow cobblestone streets with 12-inch wide "sidewalks"). However, once you get past the cars beeping, traffic cops blowing their whistles, street vendors constantly trying to sell you their goods, and get used to the cars speeding around corners on cobblestone streets, the city becomes something else. It's charming, energetic and fun, there are tons of hidden restaurants, shops and markets that become found when you take a moment to look, and the people are extremely friendly, down to earth, kind and curious when you open yourself up to conversation while sitting on a park bench in the sun.

Looking out over the city of terracotta rooftops

Drew and I spent a few days in Cuzco before our trek to Machu Picchu, and we immediately liked it. It was beautiful, set in a valley surrounded by mountains, all the rooftops the same clay terracotta color mixing with the green of the hills. The bustling plazas had an energy that was upbeat without being intimidating, with historical churches lining the streets, and hilly cobblestone roads that seemed to have no particular order or organization. It was always buzzing and therefore a bit dizzying at times!

La Iglesia de San Blas in San Blas Plaza near our hostel

However, living in the city for this week after returning from Machu Picchu, I am beginning to see it in a different way. It's still loud, colorful and energetic, however there's more to it. The maze of roads has become familiar and make sense. The street vendors don't seem so obtrusive, and are actually interesting to talk with. Walking on the narrow streets can still be a bit scary, but now I know what to expect and I know how to pass people on the 12-inch wide sidewalks when cars are coming, by squeezing into a doorway to wait for them to pass by or quickly hopping around them into the street and back up on the narrow strip of safety!

It's a very different city than anywhere we've been so far and I like it. It's slower paced than the US, yet hectic. It's loud, yet mysterious. There's no lack of places to eat, whether you want a fancy French dinner served on white linen or a crispy empanada fresh out of the fryer to eat on the street. You can take a photo with a baby llama or try an alpaca burger. There are signs all over for "cuy al horno" or baked guinea pig. Pastelerias (pastry shops) abound, as do markets with expensive American candy, shampoos and lotions, and cheap helados (ice cream).

There are probably a hundred young men who approach tourists with nearly identical portfolios filled with paintings that were painted "by them, their friend, their teacher and their father." Interestingly, there are only about five different styles of paintings...

There are older women in colorful traditional clothing carrying their handmade goods on their back with big scarves. They are sweet and like to talk, and of course, want you to buy their things. But most of them aren't pushy. They're curious to talk with you if you start a conversation and open and eager to answer questions and explain their wares and their culture.

A talkative local showing me how she made
the woven belt I bought from her.

The dogs in Cuzco have lives more exciting than some people I know! They meet up with each other in the morning after searching for hidden treasures (food in the trash or on the street) from the night before. They congregate and play and sometimes "argue" with each other. Later in the day, most can be seen taking a siesta, maybe outside on the stoop of their home, or their owner's store, or maybe in one of the plazas. In the evening they come alive again and begin to hunt for dinner, for their friends, and for a mate. It's quite interesting to see how differently they live here, not like our pampered, spoiled pooches in the States who only go outside to go to the bathroom!

One of the many Peruvian pooches taking a siesta on the street

Cuzco is a charming city with a lot of soul. Religion, culture and history is very important to the people as is tourism. It's easy to get annoyed by the never ending noise, people asking you to buy things, and having to constantly climb cobblestone hills. But it's also easy to become enamored with the culture, beautiful setting, and different way of life. Mucho gusto, Cuzco. I'm glad we've had the time to get to know you at a deeper level than simply "the city you fly into to go to Machu PIcchu."

Part 2: Setting Foot in The Lost City, Machu Picchu Revealed

2013-03-13T17:56:00.004-07:00

Continued from Part 1: Our Journey to Machu Picchu: Biking, Trekking, Climbing

Day 4

Waking up at 4:00am is not usually on my to-do list, but for our visit to Machu Picchu, it was a "must-do" in hopes of seeing the sunrise and arriving at The Lost City as it opened. By 4:30 we were walking from our hostel towards Machu Picchu. About 30 minutes outside of town we found the check-in booth where we had to show our passports to the guards before walking through the gate. Then, it was time to climb. Almost 2,000 steps. Not an easy task after trekking a full day and climbing a mountain the previous day. There was some minor complaining along the way, as legs got tired, stomachs got hungry, and sweat soaked through clothes. But as we got closer to the top we were expectant of the amazing place that awaited us and it got easier. Especially as the sun rose and the few clouds around the mountain tops turned pink.

Smiling through the pain because the scenery was amazing
and we were getting close to the top!

About an hour after we began our hike up the steps we arrived at the gate. (Machu Picchu is still just an image in your mind at this point, nothing can be seen until after you show your passport (again) and pass through the gate.) We met up with our guide and began to walk forward, towards a place we've only seen in photos, yet dreamed about. Suddenly we were inside, and there it was: The Lost City, found. The energy of the place was amazing, especially at 6:30 in the morning. My eyes were searching, scanning, hungrily trying to take in everything around me, but it was impossible, overwhelming. Instead I tried to simultaneously focus on our knowledgeable guide and the awe-inspiring sights as we walked through them.

One of my favorite shots, "con llama "

After our two hour tour of the ruins, we had some time to explore some more and then relax before our scheduled time to hike up Waynupicchu Mountain. We found a sort of secluded spot climbing over some rocks to get a nice view of the ancient city around us. This was a great time to soak up the energy and magic of the place and try to take it all in.

Just after 10:00am we walked over to an unexpected queue which we had to wait in for 20-30 minutes before we were allowed to hike up Waynapicchu with the other 198 people who purchased a ticket for that time. It was a relatively difficult hike, but not as intense as our hike up Putucusi the day before. The biggest difficulty was the many other people around, especially at the top. To get to the very top for the best views and to be among the Inca terraces located on this mountain, it was necessary to climb up (and then back down) very narrow stairs (which you can see on the left hand side of the photo below).

Looking down from the top, see the narrow stairs on the left

View of Machu Picchu from the top of Waynapicchu

After our hike up and back down Waynapicchu we took more time to explore the beautiful ancient city and soak up its energy. Here are a few more of my favorite pics!

Us in front of the classic Machu Picchu photo spot

It was an incredible day - magical, mystical and gorgeous. (And yes, exhausting - we took the bus back down the mountain!)

Check out our Shutterfly page for more pics (we are adding them slowly each day)!

Part 1: Our Journey to Machu Picchu: Biking, Trekking, Climbing

2013-03-12T15:50:00.003-07:00

We set out on a four day, three night “Inka Jungle Trek” on Wednesday morning. We knew we would be biking, trekking and (most importantly!) visiting Machu Picchu, but no amount of research, dreaming or anticipating could prepare us for the experiences ahead of us!

Day 1

After an included breakfast and a couple hours riding through the mountains by van it was time to gear up for the mountain biking portion of our adventure! 55 kilometers (three to four hours) of biking from high up in the Andes mountains down into a sleepy mountain “town” (if you can call it that) for a traditional homemade lunch. From there we continued by van to the town of Santa Theresa where we rested for the night after a relaxing soak in the relaxing natural hot springs.

All geared up for biking through the mountains!

A stop along our gorgeous biking route

Day 2

The next day’s agenda was over six hours of trekking and we woke up to pouring rain. The rain delayed our departure for an hour or two, but we had an agenda to keep, so once it let up enough we were off! We hiked through the jungle, along a winding mountain road, through some more paths along the raging Urubamba river, and then following a path along the railroad tracks. After about four hours we stopped for lunch, when it stopped raining. We continued two more hours until we reached Aguas Calientes – getting a small glimpse of the splendor and magic of Machu Piccchu that awaited us in the days ahead through a few ancient terraces that were visible along the trek.

Our sexy ponchos to protect our bags from the rain
(they clearly didn't do much for our heads!)

Hiking over the railroad tracks

Happy because we dried out after lunch!

Aguas Calientes, an adorable town situated on either side of
the powerful Urubamba River, connected by several bridges

Day 3

On our third day, Drew and I hiked up Putucusi Mountain on our own. Our guides from the previous day had told us about it and we were intrigued. It was a free climb and supposedly provided an incredible and unique view of Machu Picchu, which we were getting anxious to see! It is not a very well-known climb, but is becoming more popular as a way for people on a budget to glimpse The Lost City without paying the steep costs of entering Machu Picchu. (Sidenote: the hike was incredible and view pretty awesome, but it does NOT substitute for actually being in Machu Picchu and experiencing it face to face.) The best part of the hike was the ladders, the view, and the fact that we only passed three other people the entire time, on our hike down.

One of the several ladders we climbed along the way

View from the top (Machu Picchu behind us)

Drew gazing out at the incredible Andes

A much-needed jumping photo
(Machu Picchu is just across the mountain just to my right)

A better sneak peak of Machu Picchu

Next Post: Part 2: Setting Foot in The Lost City, Machu Picchu Revealed

One Month In: What it Feels Like to Be a Backpacker

2013-03-05T17:05:00.002-08:00

So we've been away-on the road, in the sky, and on the sea-for just over a month now. When March 2nd came it was the first time it really hit me that this was different than anything I'd ever done, and I took some time to think about the fact that we'd been away from home, work and our everyday lives for an entire month. It got me thinking about a few things and I wanted to share with you some of the realities of being a "backpacker," which I think we can officially call ourselves now.

You Know You're a Backpacker When:

"Doing" your hair means putting gel in it and scrunching it instead of braiding it or simply pulling it into a ponytail.
When you check into your hostel and find not just towels, but WASHCLOTHS(!!!) you feel like you just won the lottery. (Side note: we're not gross - it's not like we haven't brought our own washcloths (bandannas actually, because they dry quicker) - it's just super exciting when they are provided for you-so far it's only happened once!)
You meet new people every day but rarely see them again, so when you run into someone that you had a five minute conversation with a few days before it's like you're seeing one of your best friends.
Candy, chips and yogurt constitutes dinner. (Not every night, don't worry. We typically eat one big meal a day, and have smaller things for the other meals (in many cases breakfast is included with out hostel). And it just so happens you can find yogurt, chips and candy (all in gluten free varieties!) no matter where you are!)
You've worn the same socks for three days and will probably wear them again before washing them. (Sorry, may be a little gross, but it's true!)
You go through your backpack on a regular basis to see if there's anything you can ditch because you just don't need this much stuff!
You bought (and are wearing) a handmade, woven bracelet you bought for 50 cents and you are thinking it's about time to get another.
You haven't watched TV in a month and you don't care.
You always have ear plugs and an eye mask nearby when going to sleep. (Between the roosters in the Galapagos, the horns in Quito, the traffic in Lima, and the dogs in Cuzco, they're a must for a light sleeper!)
You have to specify that you want a room with hot water (and air conditioning - if they even have it).
You know where people are from and where they are going before you know their name (and that's how you remember and refer to them).
Finding toilet paper in a public bathroom is a wonderful surprise.
You can pack up everything in your possession in five minutes or less and be completely organized.

Flying High: Paragliding in Lima, Peru

2013-03-05T16:09:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Drew and I decided to splurge and take a full day to learn how to paraglide with AeroXtreme Paragliding School (who we would highly recommend).

All geared up for take off!

The day began with about a 45 minute drive to the Sand Dunes of Lurin where we got a quick lesson on the controls, set up the gliders, and began to fly!

Drew and I each got the chance to do five solo flights over the dunes and they were awesome! The only bad part was hiking back UP the dunes after the flight was over. But knowing you got to fly down again was enough motivation!!

Check out my first attempt here:

Our instructor, Michael, told me that I had one of the best first flights he'd ever seen, and that I must have been a bird in a past life!

After our solo flights we drove to another site in Pachacamac where we would complete a tandem flight with our instructor. This flight began by running off the side of small mountain (or large hill, depending on your perspective.) The flight was longer - about 20 minutes for me - and completely different. We were just along for the ride on this one so the focus was really just taking in the views and enjoying the fact that we were flying among the birds. It wasn't really adrenaline pumping, but it was serene, peaceful and beautiful. A truly unique and mesmerizing experience.

My tandem flight and another paraglider above

Flying high about Pachacamac

Drew flying!

Drew coming in for a landing