Merry Christmas - Feliz Navidad - Veselé Vánoce

Merry Christmas to you all. We are cozy in Prague, Czech Republic, loving this time with one another but missing our families. Wishing you the peace and joy that only Christ offers! More updates on our travels to come...

Feliz Navidad from our flat in Alcala de Henares, Spain

Veselé Vánoce from Old Town Centre, Prague, Czech Republic

Veselé Vánoce "Eve" from Prague - Thanks Keely!
(Check out Cory's amazing decorations on the tree - we didn't have to buy a thing

Obrigado Portugal

So, the posse of four continued on to Portugal the next weekend. We left Madrid in another diesel supercharged economy car (we love Europe) with two bags of Jamon (ham) flavored chips, some donuts, Fanta, and Ryan's black licorice candy...only the best road snacks. The road trip was about 6 hours and full of ham scented burps that no one fessed up to. Half way through we stopped at Antonio Jesus Ramon Rodriguez 's, or AR Cerveceria as the sign said, for a quick lunch. Fifty eight euros later ($90), we found our selves with more sausage and ham in our bellies than we had planned on, and a lot less money in our pockets. Antonio, with his super fast Spanish and jolly smile, suckered us into numerous sampling plates of "the best cured ham in Spain". We left nauseous and grumpy...

We continued on our journey to Lisbon; where we found out that our magnificent cook, Ryan, is a animal at the wheel, cutting off Portuguese drivers and running through tollways without paying. We set off the tollway alarm just as we entered Lisbon..."Well, none of us speak Portuguese, we can just play tourist if we get in trouble." Our tollway adrenaline rush lead us through the windy maze of the Bairro Alto streets in Lisbon. Ryan narrowly missed hitting cars, spoke French to get directions, peeled rubber after stalling the car a few times up a crazy steep hill...and finally...parked the car in a SmartCar sized spot right outside our flat. Phew...ding free! Go Ryan!! We were all glad he was driving.

Lisbon treated us to cheaper food (yummy custard tarts), a world class oceanarium, a mix of ancient tiled buildings in the area of Bairro Alto and super modern architecture along the Tagus river. The night time brought us back to our rented bohemian decorated flat for a homemade dinner and a round of Loaded Questions (classic fav of the Lyons). Tim hit the sack early each night because he is allergic to Portugal! My husband has chronic allergies. Those of you who know him, know what I am talking about (however, he is pretty sexy when he comes to bed with those little kleenex balls in his nostrils). Poor guy.

The next day the troops were roused for a Saturday on the beaches of the Atlantic. We Colorado kids acted like we've never been to a beach before! We played this amazing game called "Chase the Wave". Feeling like we were ten, we ran after the water as it receded, and then retreated as quick as we could as the wave formed and crashed down. Cor got a little too cocky and was the first unfortunate victim to get her jeans soaking wet. All in all, the beach was amazing and we had a great time being kids with Jess and Ryan. We were slowed down on our way back to Lisbon because Allergy Tim got the car high centered in some deep sand...

A quick note about our last stop in Portugal - a town named Sintra, just northwest of Lisbon...first off, go there. Amazing. Really cool castle, lush forest and great (but expensive) food. We need to give a shout out to our waiter who was full of coarse joking and funny stories. He had a bad case of the poopy mouth, but did speak amazing English.

We returned home with leftover ham chips and black licorice candies.

See some fun pics (here)...get comfy, this is a long slide show thanks to Jess' nice camera and her skills. If you'd like to speed up the slideshow, click on the link in the lower left of the slide show screen. Don't forget to click the (i) in the middle of the pictures during the slide show for a comment.

TIMandCOR

The Travelin' Posse at the palace in Sintra



Looking out our bedroom window in Lisbon...LOVE those tiles!

Chase the wave! So fun!

Barth...Colorful Barcelona

Last month, our friends, Jess and Ryan, arrived in Madrid to taste the Spanish life and be our travel buddies for three weeks. We’ve managed to do a lot with these fellow Coloradoans, and have had a total blast sharing a bedroom and life with these friends. It has been the highlight of our time in Spain so far…

We took our first trip to Barcelona (or Barthelona in Catalan) in the Northeast part of Spain. All of us agreed in loving the city, the mixture of Mediterranean beaches, seafood, and warm air, and the art and culture. We stayed in Barrio Gotic, a historic part of the city near the old town of Barceloneta where we found grilled squid our first night. Tasty. The street we stayed on was forever shadowed by the buildings that practically touched, a site we’ve grown accustomed to in Europe, but nevertheless amazing. Our studio apartment looked like it had been designed for a Pottery Barn magazine, and served as a place for tons of laughter, playing of Settlers of Catan (our new favorite board game) and fresh homemade seafood dishes (Ryan is a amazing cook…rock on.) We found plentiful mariscos (seafood) for cheap prices at an indoor market off one of Barcelona’s main avenues, Las Ramblas. Mussels, crab legs, clams, and shrimp. SO GOOD!

The city of Barcelona is a mix of both modern and ancient – ranging from the latest in architecture to old ancient Roman ruins to a variety of Antoni Gaudi’s works, the latter serving as the highlight of our time there. Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia, which has been in construction since the late 1800s, was phenomenal, breathtaking and the most unique church we’ve ever seen. We’re sure to return upon completion some day. Barcelona is also host to Park Guell, a showcase of Gaudi’s creative architecture in a number of different structures and arrangements. Park Guell also gave us a great view of the city. Perched atop a hill we saw how congested the city actually is, spreading through the hilly terrain right out to the Mediterranean Sea, La Sagrada Familia a beacon in the distance.

See pics (here) (and don't forget to click the (i) in the middle of the picture when the slideshow opens)

Our friend and professional photographer, Jess, composed these picture videos on a new site she came across. They give you a good 30 second glimpse of our trip. I feel like I’m in a photoshoot. Be prepared to dance while you watch…

Barcelona Flat (here)
Mercat de la Boqueria (here)
Gaudi (here)

On the beach...short sleeves in November!

Dining over a fabulous homemade Barcelona meal of seafood (thanks to Ryan!). This was taken at our way cool flat we rented for the weekend.

Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia still remains unfinished almost 100 years later, but it is spectacular.