Carcassonne, France

Our first day trip from Perpignan was to Carcassonne, this cool restored fortified medieval village with a castle. The place was so realistic! We loved climbing and walking on the huge, long outer wall the most. The view was great!

Escape!

The hostel we had in Barcelona turned out to be the exact opposite of us, so after one unpleasant night in a smelly room full of 15 people in drunken slumber, we just had to get out! Sunday night around 11 pm, we realized that we really could not stay there any more.
Quickly, we drafted an escape plan: leave the hostel and see what sights we could on foot in Barcelona, stay out all night, and catch the earliest train to Perpignon France Monday morning (3hrs away). We reserved a hotel online, bundled up, and went out and about in Barcelona. Have you ever walked all night? It gets pretty tiring by 4am. We visited the Columbus monument and tthe Arc del Triomf and Sagrada Familia church in the dark.
We were starving around 2am, and, oddly enough, there was a Burger King open, of all places. So yes, we each had a Whopper at 2am. shudder. Well, to make a long night shorter, we got our train reservations at around 6am, got our stuff from the hostel, and left! Freeeee from Barfalona forever!

On Sunday afternoon at Montjuic castle/park. We took a pleasant stroll along the Mediterranean.

L'Arc del Triomf at around 3:30am.

Sagrada Familia just after 4am. Sadly, we couldn't go in and climb its towers at that hour.

Shaina out like a light on the train to France.

The Sunny South

Ahh, southern Spain in Febrary...60-70 degrees, bright sunshine all day, palm and orange trees everywhere... it's close to paradise! During our stay in Córdoba (Mosque/Cathedral and castle), we also visited Sevilla (Real Alcázar and Cathedral) and Granada (Alhambra). The best food we ate was in Sevilla: couscous and vegetables with cheese and herbs...who knows if it's actually Spanish, but it was sure good! We also loved the ice cream in Córdoba: super rich and full of flavor!!! We particularly enjoyed the massive gardens in all of the castles and palaces we visited. Many artistic photo opportunities!


Where's Shaina? This is in the Sevilla Cathedral, the biggest in Europe!


Jeff next to Columbus's grave in the Sevilla Cathedral.


The ducks in Sevilla's Royal Castle walked right for Jeff when he sat down!


Shaina in the sweet bushes maze in Sevilla's Royal Castle.


Another of Jeff's artistic photos. This one is at the Alhambra in Granada.


At a fountain in the Alhambra.


Jeff admiring another fountain at the Alhambra's gardens.


The view from the Alhambra's hill onto the old part of Granada.


Shaina in the castle at the Alhambra.


At La Mezquita (mosque/cathedral) in Córdoba. nice orange and palm trees!


Jeff in the Mosque/Cathedral in Córdoba. The arches were sweet!


Another Jeff masterpiece photo. This one is at the Córdoba castle.


In the garden of the Córdoba castle.

Segovia

On Jan. 31st, we went to nearby Segovia and visited El Alcazar~the castle. It's our favorite place so far! We loved climbing the 152 spiral stone steps up to the tower. We even found a super steep trail up to a sweet view of the castle. Segovia also had an old Roman aqueduct.


Peeking out of the aqueduct


Climbing up up up


up to the tower!


view from the top of the tower


Nice view...


Jeff's masterpiece picture


At the bottom of the tower staircase

First Stop: Madrid

Our ''well decorated'' hostel room... the bathroom is down the hall.

At El Palacio Real.

In front of El Palacio de Comunicaciones.

We had Kabobs every night!

Happy Holidays!

We had SO much fun with the Brown family in Seattle for the holidays. We all loved seeing sweet little Steve, playing classic games, eating Christmas treats, and watching our favorite movies. It even snowed on Christmas day! Our good friends from SVU, Jan and Jordan, got married after Christmas, and we went to their reception. 2008, here we come!

We went on another hike today to cure our cabin fever. This part of the Appalachain Trail has swings in a field!

SVU Orchestra: Christmas Concert 2007

Since it's a Christmas concert...how about that hat!





Shaina's faces while she was describing the joys of receiving new music at the last minute!

Snowy Hike

We went on a hike on the Appalachain Trail up to Little Ottie's memorial last Friday, and it was snowy up in the mountains! This trail was a lot steeper than it looks in the pictures.


Jeff on the snowy trail.








Shaina on the snowy trail.













Little Ottie Powell's memorial. Look at all the gifts people have left him!












Us at the windy sleety top of the mountain. Burr!