Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Viva Espana!

I just returned from an amazing 10-day trip to Spain and France. My two friends, Nicole and Samantha, and I decided a few months ago that we needed a European vacation and we actually made it happen.  This trip was a much-needed getaway for each of us.  I'm so glad that we took the opportunity to escape reality for a bit and enjoyed exploring new countries and cultures.
 
I don't even know how to begin sharing our experience with you, so I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking...
 
(this post will be dedicated to the Spain portion of the trip.  I'll post about France soon!)
 
departing Portland International Airport: we traveled light, each only bringing a backpack
 
our street view from our apartment in Madrid: we rented through www.airbnb.com which I highly recommend

catching up with my friend Elizabeth from Waco who now lives in Madrid

amazing statues and architecture everywhere we looked

Nicole enjoying tapas and wine, like a local

Retiro Park

Retiro Park

Palacio Cristal in Retiro Park
 
Samantha and I lounged in the Crystal Palace for a while

Flamenco dancing show

packed up and headed for Barcelona
 
catching the train to Barcelona
 
endless tapas

we lucked out with some pretty great weather

Fat City Bike Tours: my favorite part of our time in Barcelona

such a fun way to explore the city

Catedral de Barcelona

overlooking the city
 
I went for a run one morning in search for this free outdoor rock climbing tunnel - so awesome!
 
we found an amazing Mexican restaurant in Barcelona with legit margs and guac

we met up with some of my cousin Madison's friends from Spain who used to live in Portland

train ride from Barcelona to Nimes
 
Next post will be all about France, the even more wonderful part of the trip!

2 comments:

  1. The first pic looks like one of Van Gough's paintings.

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  2. Uncle Les, I think you meant for this comment to be on the France post. As far as I know, Van Gogh never painted a picture of me with my backpack on. I'm impressed that you actually figured out the whole commenting thing, though!

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