Back in Barcelona – It’s Like We Live Here!

We spent the last few days of our trip in Barcelona. This was our 4th stop here on this trip (although the 1st one was only at the airport). Crazy! It’s like we live here. We did all the normal things locals do – eat tapas, drink wine, do laundry, did nothing during siesta time….we even had visitors, our good friends Berni and Dan from Chicago!

Berni and Dan were celebrating their 2 year wedding anniversary and decided to come meet us…..Congratulations guys! We only spent a day with them but we did so much it felt like longer. Darsh was the best tour guide. Since our hotel (Barcelona Catedral Hotel) was literally right next to the Cathedral we took them there first and then walked around the Gothic Quarter and El Born. We stumbled upon a great find of a restaurant, Casa Delfin, which had a nice selection of tapas. After lunch, we went to the Sagrada Familia and then walked through L’Eixample so they could see Gaudi’s other masterpieces, La Pedrera and Casa Batllo. Finally, we ended the day with a stroll down La Rambla. We covered a lot of Barcelona ground in a few hours….we were all beat by the end! It was so good to see them – thanks for coming!!

Since we had already been to Barcelona we had lots of time to just chill and walk around the different neighborhoods while stopping whenever we felt like. We did make it to Casa Batllo, which was one of my favorites. It’s not at all like me – totally asymmetrical and wacky but so very cool. We couldn’t decide if it was more Dr. Seuss or Willy Wonka. We also finally made it to the Picasso Museum which did a really good job of telling Picasso’s life and how his style changed throughout the years….I also liked it because it was small.

By this point in the trip we were both pretty tired of tapas but we got a recommendation for Tapas 24 so we had to try it. I’m so glad we did. It was amazing! Really innovative tapas….and I’m amazed at the staff - it was packed but they were so on top of things! It was not the healthiest meal but totally worth it. Some of our other favorite restaurants the last few days were Les Quinze Nits (nice Placa Real location and great Menu of the day), Bun Bo (pretty health Vietnamese), and Udon (good Japanese).

Our last day we were hoping to do nothing but relax but somehow we ended up shopping for gifts all day. We really hadn’t shopped at all on the trip since we couldn’t carry much so it came down to the wire….and I really hate shopping! But we got it done and we ended the day with a fabulous meal at La Crema Canela. We randomly came across this place after doing our routine 1-hour search for a decent place to eat. I’m so glad we found it! It was so cute and non-touristy with great Mediterranean food and good wine. It was the perfect place to have our last dinner.

I really can’t believe we’re almost done. Wow! I’m so happy we ended the trip in Barcelona – It still is my favorite European city. Until next time! ☺

Irish Beats, Riverdancing, and some Chill Time

In Galway, we stayed at the Clayton Hotel which was a 10-minute drive from the center of town but it was a nice hotel so we didn’t mind….and it had a much needed gym! ☺ We spent the day walking around town, doing laundry, having a yummy lunch at Food for Thought (totally vegetarian friendly and mostly organic), and dodging rain with a pit stop at Quay’s for a mid-afternoon Guinness.

Galway is a great little town with shops, a ton of pubs, and cute cafes. It is known for its music scene and since we all love music we were on a mission to find some good Irish beats. Unfortunately by evening time it was pouring! So we went to the bar our car driver (and Lonely Planet) suggested even though we knew there were more local ones across the river (in the less touristy section of the city). But the bar, Tig Coili, was packed and the music was excellent….and honestly we wouldn’t have known if the peeps were local or not. ☺

The next day we made it back to Dublin. It was nice to drop the car off….I’m sure even nicer for Darsh. We had a relaxing day walking around Trinity College and Grafton Street, a great shopping street, and having lunch at Bewleys Café. We saw the Book of Kells sign but not the actual book as it was closed….oh well it's almost the same thing! This time in Dublin we stayed at the Conrad, which is South of the River Liffey, a really pretty, upscale part of town. (Our first night we were North of the River which I guess is the “keeping it real” part of town….definitely edgier!) I’m glad we could experience both.

We were lucky enough to get tickets to the Riverdance show at the Gaeity theater. It was AMAZING! It was definitely a highlight of the trip for me. The dancers feet moved so fast….unreal! My dad loves music and dance just as much as I do so it was great to be able to see Riverdance with him in Ireland.

Our last day in Dublin (and in Ireland) we dropped my dad off early morning so he could catch his flight back home and then we met up with Fiona and Kiran. We learned the story behind the “perfect pint” at the Guinness Factory and then drove around Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey, and Blackrock (neighboring suburbs just south of Dublin). Dun Laoghaire and Dalkey are super cute seaside towns (Bono lives in Dalkey…..we drove by his house!) And again, everything is so green and perfectly manicured!

We had dinner in the Dublin Hills at Johnnie Fox's, a really cute, traditional pub. We actually all had grand plans to go out on the town in Dublin but we were tired so ended up chatting away at our hotel. It was nice to just chill and catch up with Fiona.

I can’t believe our Ireland journey has come and gone. We really had the best time here. The culture and the peeps were some of the best we’ve experienced on our trip!

Thanks Dad and Fiona! xoxo

Friends, Family, Guinness, and Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road

We walked into our hotel in Dublin and were greeted by my Dad! How fun! He had gotten there hours earlier, checked in, and had already explored the area. It was so good to see him (although it was a bit surreal)!

It was raining and we were tired but somehow both of us were totally energized. The second we got into the Temple Bar area (Dublin’s main party district) we both wanted a drink even though I swore I was detoxing. ☺ Just something about being in Ireland! Of course, our first drink had to be a Guinness. I’m totally not a Guinness drinker (or really any kind of beer) but it was actually really good….they seriously just taste better here!

The next day, our good friend Fiona came to meet us for a coffee with her son Kiran and niece Kelly. It was so good to see them….again totally surreal….even though she’s one of the reason’s we came here! It was a short visit and unfortunately all she did was end up waiting at the car rental place with us because they totally screwed us by giving our car away. ☹ We were both pissed but somehow it didn’t seem so bad since we had Fiona and our Dad there to hang with. ☺

Luckily after a 2 hour wait we were finally on our way. And of course, the second we got into the car it started raining….just in time for Darsh to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road. Even though I wasn’t driving it was just weird! Fiona gave us the best advice though – just remember you (the driver) is always in the middle of the road.

Despite the rain and learning how to drive all over again we made it to Kilkenny with no problem....well thanks to our driver and handy GPS. Thanks Darsh for all the driving! ☺ Kilkenny is a cute little town and it’s main attraction is the Kilkenny Castle which was exactly what you would think an Irish castle would be – a huge medieval building with perfectly manicured grounds that went on forever. We also walked by St. Canice’s Cathedral which was a bit eerie in the late evening with a cemetery on its grounds complete with creepy crows….we didn’t stay long!

After a long day of driving we finally had a chance to sit down and eat at Grapevine, a cute tapas place. And then we just chilled at our B&B, Rosquil House. Our room was lovely, and the service phenomenal. Even better was the breakfast the next day. It was one of the best stays we had on our trip!

Ain't No Party Like a Hong Kong Party

I love Hong Kong!! Seriously by the end of our stay we were both trying to figure out how we could move here….at least short term anyway. This was the first city in which we knew people so it was nice having people show us around…..Thanks Jay, Kevin, Nate, and Holly (and Tam for recs)! Hong Kong really is an easy place to travel. Many people speak English (including taxi drivers), it’s full of expats and travelers from around the world, and the Metro system (MTR) is amazingly easy. It‘s also pretty small so you can get to different places of the city pretty quickly.

Our hotel, Cosmo, was in the Wan Chai area. The hotel was fine for our needs but if you can, you’ll probably want to stay in Central or Soho. The first day we took it easy as we arrived late in the afternoon. We walked through Wan Chai Market in our search for a Wash and Fold service. I totally didn’t expect it, but Wan Chai Market was quite a scene in terms of live fish, chickens/ducks/other full birds hanging from storefronts. I had no idea live Shrimp can jump so high! I’ll have to remember to post the video clip. :)

Much of our time in Hong Kong, we just walked through different neighborhoods – Wan Chai, Central, Soho, Lan Kwai Fong, and Kowloon. I didn't know that Hong Kong is actually very green (I think something like 70% of the island is lush, tropical jungle-like) – it’s pretty cool to see buildings and condos in the hills. It’s like a mini New York in a tropical jungle!

We spent a whole afternoon in Kowloon (which is a separate island from Hong Kong Island but a ten minute ferry ride) walking through the main shopping areas, the Avenue of the Stars (took pics with the Bruce Lee statue!), and seeing the city’s skyscrapers. We saw the daily lightshow (projected from the skyscrapers across Hong Kong island) from Aqua, which had an amazing view of the Hong Kong skyline.

We totally lucked out on the weather – the forecast said thunderstorms but it hardly rained. This was perfect for our excursions to Lantau Island and Victoria Peak. On Lantau Island, we took a cable car to see the Tian Tan Buddha (or Big Buddha). This Buddha really is huge….it’s the world’s largest seated Buddha. You can also hike to it which I didn’t realize….or I for sure would have chose that option. It was pretty cool to see and thanks to Kevin we walked to the Wisdom Path which had some pretty cool views and words of wisdom written on tall beams (too bad none of us could read/understand the actual words). We also took the tram to the top of the Peak, which is a must-do in Hong Kong. The view really was incredible and somehow it wasn’t foggy when we got up there.

One of our favorite areas to walk around was Soho, which is lined with great restaurants, cafes, and bars. I think much of this area is catered to expats and tourists. We had dinner at Posto Pubblico....twice! Such good food! A short walk away from Soho is Lan Kwai Fong. This is the party district. I had no idea that it was such a scene! There are people partying everywhere – in the millions of tiny clubs, bars, etc, and in the streets. You’ll see anyone from locals, to tourists, to senior executives drinking the night away. We were so tired that I thought we’d stay out til 1am-ish. Let’s just say we stayed out way past that! :) Which made for a really tiring next day….especially as that was our “shopping” day. Somehow we powered through and ended up with some pretty nice new bags and watches!! Hong Kong is heaven when it comes to shopping - seriously they have everything.

Some of our other favs for food were City Hall Maxim’s Palace for Dim Sum and Snow Sushi in Mong Kok. You really can eat pretty much any cuisine here and it was so good to be able to eat a salad again! Oh and Ajisen Noodle was pretty good too even though it is a chain....it was always packed which is a good sign!

Our time in Hong Kong was so fun and felt too short. But I’m pretty sure we’ll be back!