Kicking it with the Hathi-Fritz’s in Andalucia

We got to Seville and were almost instantly greeted by our good friends Neesha and Adam. They came to Spain to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary….Congratulations guys! ☺ We all stayed at the Vincci La Rabida which was in the El Arenal area of Seville, pretty central to the sights and restaurants. Somehow we got ridiculously upgraded to a 2-story suite...we've had some good hotel karma lately! (unfortunately Neesha and Adam did not and their experience was not as nice as ours….bummer!)

We’ve known Neesh and Adam since our Michigan years and it was so good to see them! The first thing we did was chilled with some Cava and beers. Seville is pretty small and very walkable. It’s full of narrow, winding streets that seem to all interconnect. You are constantly looking at your map but it’s really hard to stay too lost for that long.

It seemed like things were quieter since there weren’t too many people out but supposedly August is the busiest month for Spain so we really didn’t know for sure. It could also be that we still couldn’t get the timing right with Siesta and the late-night dinners….

Seville (and much of Andalucia) was under Muslim rule (many, many years ago) and much of its architecture is influenced by the Islamic Moors. We loved the Cathedral and Alcazar. The Cathedral is the 3rd largest in the world and was built where the original Mosque was. It’s also where Christopher Columbus is buried. The Alcazar (palace to many Kings and Queens) was also very cool....it once was a Moorish fort. The detailed Islamic artistry prevalent throughout the Alcazar is unlike anything we’ve seen before.

The weirdest place we went was El Garlochi for a drink. There really is no way to describe this place except that it is freaky. The bar is full of religious paintings, statues, candles, coffins, crypts, and other weird stuff. I was too freaked out to even go to the bathroom! Some of our other favs were El Capote for a drink along the river, and Al Medina for good Moroccan fo0d.

After 2 days in Seville, we made it to Granada. We stayed at the AC Palacio de Santa Paula which we loved….great service and the best part - everything in our minibar was free...including 2 beers a day! The boys loved this!! ☺

Granada is also pretty small and very easy to navigate. In addition to tapas bars there are outdoor restaurants in plazas everywhere. As opposed to northern Spain there were definitely more food options here. My favorites were Gazpacho (which I had every meal) and Espinaca con garbanzos (spinach with garbanzo beans). It was nice to have things other than mayonnaise and salty ham on the menu!

The main attraction in Granada is the Alhambra and it was pretty amazing! A massive, red fortress surrounds the Palacio Nazaries, Alcazaba, and gardens which were originally built by Moorish rulers. Much of the artistry in the Alhambra is typical Islamic Moorish style – I loved this style – really symmetrical, detailed patterns on ceilings, columns, floors, and walls. Who comes up with the idea to build stuff like this - it's just unreal!

We visited the Albayzin area in the evening which is just up the hill from the city center. The Albayzin is the old Muslim Quarter. It’s narrow, winding roads are full of Hookah bars and restaurants....so fun! We walked to the top of the hill, had great mojitos at Natural Siempre (an outdoor cafe), and watched the sunset with the Alhambra as backdrop. It was magical! We finished up the night with a great dinner at Restaurante San Nicolas. We had the only table on our floor so it was like our own place....and we had a great view of the Alhambra! Yummy food, good cava, and great friends! Perfection! :)

Thanks Neesh and Adam for coming! Good times!

Mountains, Wine, and a Fortress

From St. Tropez we left the coast for the mountains. Our first stop was Aix-en-Provence. We stayed right outside the city center at Hotel Le Mozart which was another great deal as long as you don’t mind the 1-mile walk into town. Aix-en-Provence is a fun city with a large University population. My favorite description, from our friend Zach, is that it's a mini Paris. I’d have to agree – I thought it’s especially like the Latin Quarter and Marais districts of Paris. We just leisurely walked through the old town, watched street performers, and people-watched.

The next day we made our way to wine country. France is full of vineyards….everywhere you look. It made for a really pretty drive! We stayed at a B&B, La Sommellerie, in Chateuneuf du Pape which is right in between Orange and Avignon. It rained that day so we didn’t do our wine tasting tour by bike (we drove instead). ☹ The wine was good but the best part of our stay was dinner that night at La Sommellerie. The food was great, topped off by Darsh’s dessert platter, which unfortunately for us we finished! We hardly ate the next day to make up for it! ☺

On our way to Montpellier we stopped by Pont du Gard to see this massive Roman Aquaduct built in the 12th century. It was pretty cool! Luckily for us it was also a French holiday so they had free live music. We got there just in time for the “Electronic” set. Darsh snagged us two lawn chairs and we chilled for a few hours listening to beats. We both kinda wished we could have stayed longer but we made our way to Montpellier to do nothing and enjoy our splurge of a room at the Montpellier Pullman Antigone (I’m sure the town of Montpellier is great but “doing nothing” won.) It was nice to have a comfy bed again! You need that sometimes. ☺

We woke up the next day and forced ourselves to use the lame gym….but it did the job and we both felt better afterwards! We stopped on the coast at Palavas-les-Flots for lunch. It was actually one of the prettiest sandy beaches we’ve seen. And then finally we made our way to our last stop in France, Carcassonne.

Carcassonne is known for La Cite de Carcassonne, a massive fortress with an enclosed city. It is the grandest fortress/castle/medieval city we've seen! And it's in perfect condition. We got there in the evening so we could see it by day and night. It was awesome! We spent the night drinking French wine, eating French food, and finishing up with a Nutella crepe. Pretty fitting for our last night in France! :)

Almost Home....Yippee!!!!

I just booked the last hotel of the trip. And we have less than 3 weeks to go! We’re both really excited. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been amazing traveling. And we both realize how lucky we’ve been but we're homesick and tired. Although I will say beach time has really helped rejuvenate us.

I’ve never been so excited to sleep in my own bed, wear different clothes, and eat the best damn bean burrito (from Taco Bell of course) of my life!! Can’t wait to see all my peeps at home! Yippee!!

The Glitz and Glam of the Côte d'Azur

I’ll have to say we’re pretty tired right about now. Who knew not working and traveling could be so tiring! ☺ This is why coming to the Côte d'Azur (French Riviera) now was perfect timing. It is exactly what we needed – sun, beach and the most crystal clear blue water you have ever seen. And the best part is that our friend Zach gave us his France trip itinerary so I didn’t even have to think!

We first hit Nice for a few days and stayed at the Hotel Little Palace, a great little hotel about a 10-minute walk from the beach. This was a great find (great rates and well maintained….I don’t get how it is only 2 stars!) Nice has a great beach boardwalk, Promenade des Anglais, which I was very happy about as it allowed me to run! I really think running is the best way to see a new city….especially in the morning when it isn’t crowded. Honestly we really didn’t do much else in Nice. Just walked around the Old Town, hung out at the beach, read magazines, and relaxed!

Just outside of Nice, we went to St. Paul de Vence, a cool medieval town enclosed in stone walls. It was really cool driving through the mountains looking at this city…..which just looked like one gigantic castle from afar…..not to mention that everywhere you looked there seemed to be other castles and medieval towns. Inside St. Paul de Vence are tons of art galleries, jewelry shops, and restaurants.

On our way to Cannes we stopped by Antibes, which is know for it’s ridiculously insane yachts! The whole time I kept thinking, who can afford these yachts….and why don’t I know any of these people! ☺

When we got to Cannes, I instantly wished we had more time there. The beaches are beautiful….it’s the only sandy beaches in the French Riviera (all the rest are pebbly). Unfortunately we didn’t spend too much time on the beaches since we only had a night there….next time! We stayed at the Hotel Montaigne, which was about a 10-minute walk to the beach and Palais de Festivals, where the Cannes Film Festival takes place.

We ended up doing the opposite of “chilling” our one night in Cannes. David Guetta was playing at Le Palais, right on the beach, and while we’re both huge fans I really didn't want to go clubbing 'til dawn....can't say the same for Darsh. :) That said, we decided you only live once and it would probably be amazing to see him here. Soooo we made a night out of it. We headed to this cute little area with tiny streets (Rue de Suquet and Le Saint Antoine) that had restaurants lined up next to each other. We had drinks at Charly's, dinner, at L'Oulivie, and then headed over to Le Palais, which didn’t even open until Midnight. David Guetta finally went on at 2ish. He was amazing! I’m glad we did it….but we were tired the next day….my clubbing days are pretty much over! Yikes!

Let’s just say we moved slow the next day. Good thing all we did was drive to St. Tropez for some more beach time. St. Tropez is pretty glitzy. It has great shopping and again tons of yachts. I was on the look out for Diddy the whole time! I felt like it was full of high rollers….well I guess all of the French Riviera is to some extent. I’m pretty sure there were some French celebrities there while we were there (based on the millions of people staring and taking pics of one insane yacht). It was almost like we were home. Almost, but not quite. ☺

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

Living on the Edge on the Cliffs of Moher

Our last day of “being one with nature” we spent driving through the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren to get to Galway. We took a car ferry over the River Shannon to get to County Clare. This was a first for all of us– kind of cool sitting in your car while on a ferry. Driving in general wasn’t too bad although there were a few minutes of driving through roads barely big enough for one car. I mean we were toast if another car came the opposite direction. But we made it out ok and the locals are pretty good about helping you out.

I was really excited to see the Cliffs of Moher. These are the cliffs you often see in Ireland travel brochures. They were simply amazing! They are totally vertical limestone cliffs against the sea. And they are high….214 meters to be exact! There are protective walls all around the north end of the cliffs (so you won’t fall) but if you walk to the south you can walk pretty far without the walls. You can even sit on the cliff’s edge. Which in my opinion is just plain stupid….I barely even walked the south side. It was so windy I was convinced the wind would throw me over the edge! It was my dad that convinced me. I figured if my dad was doing it, I probably should too! :) Anyway they are just breathtakingly beautiful! Oh and the food at the visitor center was really good again!

The last part of the trip to Galway we drove through the Burren which is another National park but very different from Killarney (and the rest of Ireland). It’s very desert-like full of rocky landscapes, more limestone, and some beaches. We didn’t really stop but it made for a nice drive into Galway.

Being One With Nature in County Kerry

We used Killarney as a base for exploring County Kerry – Killarney National Park and Dingle Peninsula. We stayed at Larkinley Lodge, a cute B&B right in the center of Killarney. Thankfully everything was pretty close and we took a tour bus to Dingle so Darsh got a break from driving.

Killarney National Park is huge. It’s full of lakes, hikes, bike trails, and even a waterfall. Luckily, the day we decided to hike it didn’t rain much….although I was really cold. We did a 2-hour hike around Muckross Estate and Torc Waterfall. It was really pretty and great to finally get some kind of exercise.

The next day we toured around Dingle Peninsula. It was really nice being driven around because the streets are insanely tiny. Honestly I have no idea how the bus maneuvered itself around some of these roads. We also covered so much ground – we would have never been able to do this on our own.

The Dingle Peninsula is really, really pretty. It’s full of rolling green hills with some stone age ruins, stone walls, and some great beaches. We liked Inch – you could see some surfers braving the cold – and it was freezing at the beach! Driving through different towns I kept thinking I’ve never seen so much green! And everything is perfectly manicured. People really take care of their yards, lawns, even cities. (Fiona later told me that Ireland has competitions between cities for cleanliness….I totally think this is a good idea!) The Dingle Peninsula is also part of the Gaeltacht region (traditional Irish speaking region). So you see signs in Gaelic and some people speak in Gaelic….kinda cool and also weird for us because after being in non English speaking countries for so long we got used to speaking in English again.

Finally the food…..I gotta say I’ve been pleasantly surprised! They even had vegetarian options for my dad. It sounds weird but some of our favorite meals were at the Visitor Centers (in Killarney National Park and somewhere on Dingle Peninsula) – really yummy, organic food. We also liked Murphys (pub food with some healthy options) and Bombay Palace (good Indian). And if you want to listen to some good music, Scott’s in Killarney was pretty good.