Birthdays in Minneapolis

WE INTERRUPT THIS EUROPE TRIP REVIEW FOR ANOTHER SPECIAL REPORT:

Our recent trip to Minneapolis!

So, we finally overlapped our work trips to Minneapolis last week. It only took us 18 months. But, as good as I am about documenting our lives ... I didn't even get a picture of the two of us! I flew into town for work on Kyle's 29th birthday. Unfortunately, I will never be able to tease him for being old since I've got 6 months on him. :)

In between our days in the office, we took full advantage of seeing friends.

Rebekah and Jim are now expecting! Leave it to me to only get a picture from the neck up. ;) She has the most adorable little baby bump. Congrats, you two! Baby Archer is due in November.

We had a cookout at Adrian and Josh's house and enjoyed our time with their little boy, Austin. He just turned one and had a pirate party to celebrate last week.

The big event was a surprise 30th birthday party for Claire on Saturday. Her wonderful hubby, Mark, planned the whole day - starting at the spa and ending with a surprise dinner on the rooftop of a restaurant downtown. Due to some adult beverages, it also included a few splashes in the fountains of Minneapolis.

(Claire thought we were on the road back to Arkansas when she noticed me during the first surprise)

(The six of us, including Claire and her sis, a friend from college, a neighbor and two of her Gmills friends ... one of those from R-Kansas!)

(The above mentioned fountain splashing)

(our very own Kyle is on the right in the blue)

(The happy couple, Claire and Mark. Surprise accomplished!)

(The downtown skyline from the rooftop bar that we visited after dinner - boy do I love this town!)

After yet another 10 hour drive back to Arkansas, Kyle was greeted with a birthday celebration, including a decorated office and several gifts. It was a happy ending to a very happy trip.

Happy Birthday, Kyle!!!!

The Rain in Spain ...

I'll be honest, Barcelona is not as pretty during a torrential downpour. We only had 1 day / 1 night to spend in Barcelona (less the 3 hours we lost in the airport in Paris) so we knew it would be tough to see the city - but we didn't account for solid rain the entire time. As seen in this picture, our raincoats were our favorite accessory.

While we didn't get much of a flavor for the city, we did make sure we saw the most famous of sights that Barcelona has to offer - La Sagrada Familia. It's a temple created by well-known architect Gaudi. Construction began back in the early 1800's and ... get this ... it's still being built! That's right ... they expect another 20 years before they are finally complete. Not only was the temple breathtaking and absolutely massive, you really felt like you were a part of history stepping inside while construction was still going on around you. I've seen a lot of "touristy landmarks" in my years of traveling, but I have to say, this was definitely one of my all time favorites. Beth and I plan to go back in 20 years to see it after completion.

If you look closely at this diagram ... the colored portion of the temple is the completed portion, and the portion outlined in black is yet to come. I can't even believe how big it is going to be ... because it already consumes a ginormous city block.

A gorgeous 3-hour train ride along the coast took us to Valencia, the home of my friend Luis who also lived with me in Copenhagen. (Valencia - pronounced Balenthia in the local Spanish dialect) Get ready ladies, he's a Spanish Stallion!

He gave us a tour of his beautiful city, including the bull fighting arena in the center of town. Seriously, he was like "...and here is our bull fighting arena." As if it's totally normal! Well, in Spain, it is.



The city has a very modern section with a cutting edge Science Center and Opera House as well as the traditional old town with all the history. The weather was gorgeous, and Valencia more than made up for our soggy time in Barcelona.

We continued our strategy of eating through Europe and indulged in some juicy oranges (get it, we're in Valencia, people!) and endulged in a ginormous paella. Apparently, it's lunch fare, but Luis let us order it for dinner so we didn't miss out on the experience.

We were impressed (or disgusted, as the case may be) by the dent we made in this thing! I think that's the American in us.

If you've traveled with me at all, you know I like the secret-behind-the-scenes type shots that people don't even know you are taking. Well, Beth got me good on this one! Really cool shot strolling in Valencia. Funny that there's a Farmacia in the background (Pharmacy) as I had to find one of those in just about ever country to keep myself pumped with allergy medicine. I did not realize that Spring allergies are International - note to self, plan the next big trip in the fall.

Here is the gorgeous central market in town - with fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, spices ... absolutely amazing place to do your daily grocery shopping. Take note of the woman with the mini cart on wheels in the picture ... and if you're ever shopping in a fresh market in Spain - make room for those carts. The old ladies will literally run you over. Beth caught the evil eye from one little Spanish grandma.

Here is the old gate to enter the city, back when it was walled. You can even see holes in it from gunshots during the Civil War.



And, my Ansel Adams shot. I feel so professional anytime I set it to black and white or sepia tone - I just feel professional using the word sepia. I have as much artistic talent as my brothers have in their pinky fingers, so I do what I can.

We climbed to the top of the St. Michelina tower ... making sure to stretch at the top. (We learned the hard way when neither of us could walk the day after climbing Bunker Hill Monument in Boston on a previous trip together.)

Another country complete! And after 3 days here in Spain, Beth demonstrates one of our least favorite, but necessary tasks. If only we could backpack through Europe without having to haul the backpacks. (Similar to my request for Kyle to drive me to my massage, but that's a whole different blog ...)

Italy ... here we come!

A Piece of Paris

Bonjour, my dear blog readers!

After a 2.5 hour train ride, Beth and I arrive in Paris. After getting lost in the train station (give us a break, it's huge and all in French!) we finally found the lockers to store our bags for the day and set off to tour the town.

Beth has dreamed of visiting Paris since her French class in 7th grade, so this trip has been a long time coming. Here she is, living her dream at Notre Dame!

The Eiffel Tower is just as gorgeous as you would imagine. It's almost surreal to see it after its many appearances in movies.

Word to the wise ... it's an absolute zoo getting to the top of the Eiffel Tower - a "goat-roping festival" as my husband would say. Long lines with pushy tourists, squished like sardines into tiny elevators, and a bit anti-climactic peering at tiny white buildings below through a metal cage. In our opinion, not really worth it. (Sorry if I've crushed your dreams, but seeing it from the ground is breathtaking.) Here we are at the top!

After a long first day of "playing tourist," we met my friend Sophie at her apartment in a suburb of Paris. Sophie and I lived in the same dorm while studying in Copenhagen, so we were able to stay with her for the weekend. So nice to avoid the hotels and get a little local flavor. She and her husband Ced recently had their first child, Alexandre, the chunkiest little baby ever! SO adorable! And pretty hilarious to hear his little toys speaking French - they sounded so refined.

I didn't even realize, but Sophie worked at P&G ... the same company Beth works for! It was fun that their P&G lingo translated across the pond and we even swung buy to get a picture in front of the P&G Paris Office.

Our second day in town was May Day, a holiday in Paris, so most places were closed. We strolled along the Champs Elysees (famous shopping street,) saw the Arc de Triomphe, and ate lunch in a charming square with artists, called Montmartre. As most of my family and friends can attest to, I'm a bit slow at making decisions ... so after close to an hour wandering around the square deliberating about which painting I wanted to purchase, I came back to my favorite artist, only to see my favorite painting being purchased before my eyes. That darn lady came out of nowhere! Here's a face Kyle is probably familiar with ... (I learned it growing up as the baby in the family!)

We went out to dinner with Sophie and Ced to a fancy restaurant on the Seine River. So fancy, I got to inspect my lobster before they dropped him in the boiling water. Poor Beth - she's a vegetarian but held up very well as I said goodbye to my soon-to-be-dinner.

Mmm Mmm Good ... Good thing I lived in Boston for a year so I knew how to eat a Lobsta!

In thanks for hosting us for the weekend, Beth and I covered the tab. Let's just say, if I knew how much that bottle of wine cost, I would not have left two sips in my glass. :)

Our last day, we visited the palace and gardens of Versailles, home to the monarchs of France prior to the Revolution. (Louis XIII and all his Louis successors) The gardens were expansive, but we were surprised they only included hedges and no flowers. The fountains were gorgeous and the skies that day looked like a painting.

Here is the busy Hall of Mirrors, the most famous room in the Palace.

We shared a cab to the airport with Ced the next morning, as he was traveling for work. We scheduled an early early flight so that we could take advantage of as much time as possible for our one day in Barcelona. What happens next? A three hour delay! The French had a lot more patience than I've seen from any American passengers with a ridiculously delayed flight. Very short on updates, but we finally made it out of Paris.

Thank you to Sophie, Ced and Alexandre for an amazing weekend in an amazing city!

Join us next in Spain - Barcelona and Valencia.

The Tale of Two Cities

Kyle and I flew to London for the last couple days of Kyle's adventure. While we loved the location of our hotel, just along the northern edge of beautiful Hyde Park, it felt like one of those tiny rooms on a cruise ship. Here I am, touching two of the walls at once.



Our first mission was to hunt down some delicious fish and chips. I know us Americans get a bad wrap for our french fries, but I'd bet they eat more "chips" in Europe than we - seriously, they are a side dish for just about every entree in some countries.




We explored all the major sights and really fell in love with the city. Kyle did not expect to like it because of its size, and I didn't remember much of it besides seeing Big Ben and the Doc Marten store on my high school trip ... but we were both pleasantly surprised and wished we had more time here.

I know what you're thinking, "cute picture in front of London Bridge." And you would be right that this is a cute picture. But, we are actually standing in front of the Tower Bridge. Very common to mistake the two. At least you got the important part right. :)

Here we are in front of the London Eye - aka a ginormous ferris wheel. We didn't find time to go for a ride.

Kyle in front of Big Ben and a famously British phone booth. Really, people still use those things? I think they just keep them around for tourists like us to take silly pictures.

Kissing my Prince Charming in front of Buckingham Palace.

My favorite part of our visit, surprisingly, was the Churchill Museum and War Rooms. Clearly, not a place I would have seeked out but it was on Kyle's list so I obliged given that I had two more days here with Beth. It was just so surreal to be walking through the underground hallways and rooms where Winston Churchill and his men developed their strategies during World War II. We even saw Churchill's private room with a phone that would call direct to President Roosevelt. Very interesting visit.

Here is one of the underground deliberation rooms used by the British during the war - so crazy.

Then it came time for my dear hubby to head home. I jumped on the train to head to the airport with him and got him checked in with both of our bags. I was now going to live out of my backpack for the next two weeks. We had such a wonderful time together, and I have to admit, I shed a few tears as he walked through security to his gate. It brought back so many memories of our days dating long-distance, where we had to go through those goodbyes much more often than I care to remember.



Like the professional traveler that I am, I took the train to another airport in town to pick up my college friend, Beth Blue. Since Kyle didn't have enough vacation time to stay longer than 2 weeks, she came over to tour around with me for another 2 weeks, visiting friends from my study abroad days in Denmark. This was her first time in Europe so we packed every last minute. So glad she was able to join me! We decided we are BTB's - Best Travel Buddies. We've been to Boston, New York, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, and twice to Orlando together. We added 5 countries to our list, and plenty more destinations to come!



We hit up some of the same sights while riding a double decker bus - then we added some girly flavor. An afternoon tea party on the top floor of a high class department store, Fortnum and Mason. I do say, we had a lovely time. Just splendid!







We even caught a musical in Picadilly Circus ... Billy Elliot. Breathtaking show - literally. I thought the show started later than it did, so we were literally sprinting to the theatre and crawling over people to get to our seats during the opening scene, completely out of breath.



London was a beautiful city, and we lucked out with much nicer weather than the norm. I was lucky to get a man's view of the city (visiting war museums) and a women's view (with tea parties and musicals.) It really was like two cities for the price of one.


At this point, it was goodbye to my husband and hello to Beth and a jam packed 2 weeks of travel ahead. Next stop: Paris.