I Will Never Be a Travel Writer, part 3

My third and final installment detailing our vacation. (Check out Part 1 and Part 2, if you haven't already.) I do recognize that there are numerous sentence fragments in my descriptions. It is on purpose to be as brief as possible.

Dec. 20 - Left San Sebastian early in the morning to drive to Barcelona. Our only snafu on the drive was when I accidentally drove into the wrong line at a toll booth. Oops! When we finally arrived at our hotel after gassing up and dropping off the rental car, we felt so exhausted that we fell asleep for a long nap. That evening, we walked down La Rambla admiring Christmas lights, stopped in at another Starbucks for our Barcelona mug, checked out La Boqueria, and had paella for dinner at La Taverna Catalana.

Barcelona had pretty good Christmas lights, but I think La Rambla has twinkle lights year round.

Michael is excited about our first paella in Spain at La Taverna Catalana

Dec. 21 - Our first rainy day of the trip, so we bought an umbrella at H&M. Breakfast at Pinotxo bar, which is part of La Boqueria. I'm pretty sure Michael would have been content to eat every meal at La Boqueria because he enjoyed the food and atmosphere so much. Walked to the ocean to check out a statue of Christopher Columbus and the ships at the piers, wandered through the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter) and explored the Barcelona Cathedral (La Seu). We also checked out a site that I'm willing to bet most tourists skip: Carrefour (a major grocery chain), where we bought Spanish rice, olives and spices to bring home with us. Lunch was simple jamon sandwiches at La Boqueria again, and then we took the metro to Montjuic where we visited the Olympic museum. Dinner (delicious tapas and sangria) was at Cerveceria Catalana. We spent the rest of the evening just walking around the beautiful Christmas lit streets.

In front of his favorite Barcelona sight, La Boqueria Mercat

We enjoyed cafes, tortilla, and pan con tomate here

Mirador de Colón aka Columbus Monument

In front of Olympic Stadium on Montjuic

Christmas lights at El Corte Ingles reminded me of Saks Fifth Ave lights in New York City

Dec. 22 - Breakfast at Cafe L'Opera (good thing we're on vacation b/c I had churros and chocolate again!) More walking through Barri Gotic and passed the Picasso Museum (Do any other artists have their own museums?) We chose to get tickets to the Museu de la Xocolata (Museum of Chocolate) instead where we learned about the history of chocolate and admired a variety of chocolate sculptures. The rain kept us from exploring Parc de la Ciutadella, though we made an attempt. Totally impressed by Gaudi's Sagrada Familia even though the towers were closed. The unique design and architecture are astounding. A subway trip and a long walk took us to Parc Guell. We stopped for lunch along the way at a place that was called Bar American but that served Spanish food and was run by Chinese people. We felt right at home and completely disoriented at the same time. Saw more of Gaudi's work at Parc Guell before making the long walk back to the metro. Tried to see the beach but it was dark by the time we got there, so we headed back to the hotel to find a final place for dinner. The winner was a Basque place called Zarautz, and it really was a winner. We sat at the bar and kept ordering various tapas from a very friendly and multilingual bartender.  Once we had our fill, we went back to the hotel for our last night in Spain.

Our tickets to Museu de la Xocolata were actual chocolate bars!

Depiction of Don Quixote, made entirely out of chocolate

Arc de Triomf at Parc de la Ciutadella (you can see how wet it is from the rain)

La Sagrada Familia cathedral, designed by Antoni Gaudi. Construction continues today as he died before its completion.

The passion facade on La Sagrada Familia

Stained glass window in La Sagrada Familia

Showing off one end of the longest bench in the world, designed by Antoni Gaudi, in Parc Guell

Parc Guell has multiple architectural elements designed by Gaudi

We searched all over Parc Guell looking for this dragon. He's quite famous.

Alone on the beach, admiring the Mediterranean

Dec. 23 - A long but uneventful trip home, again through JFK with a several hour layover. A friend who had been house/dog-sitting for us picked us up from the airport. It felt good to be home, and we were both actually ready to crash when we got to our house near 11pm. Fortunately we didn't experience much jet lag going either direction. I feel very blessed to have been able to take this trip with my wonderful husband who basically planned the whole thing. (Thanks, Babe!) I hope we can return before long.

I Will Never Be a Travel Writer, part 2

If you haven't already, you may want to check out Part 1 of our travels. Part 2 covers leaving Madrid, our time visiting family in Barcena, and San Sebastian.

Dec. 17 - After a quick breakfast at Starbucks where I bought my souvenir mugs, we head out of the city in our rental car with Dad driving the whole four hours to his family's town, Barcena del Bierzo in Galicia. Michael met just about everyone on my dad's side of the family. We visited a castle, took a long nap, and ate a late dinner (10pm may be normal for Spaniards but not us) to celebrate my birthday with the whole family. They fed us REALLY well and in great quantities.

Only the demitasses are souvenirs.

A - Barcena del Bierzo, where my abuela lives

One of Michael's favorite things he saw in Spain was the room where my grandma smokes and dries all her own pork.

 After my birthday dinner: Michael, me, Aunt Eva, her son Victor, her husband Roberto, and her daughter Maria (in front)

Alejandro, my cousin Cristina (his wife), Michael, me, my cousin Monica, their mom Rami, their dad Uncle Pablo

Aunt Pili, Michael, me, my cousin Jonny, my abuela, Pili's boyfriend

Carlos's girlfriend Teri, Michael, me, my cousin Roberto Carlos, his girlfriend Jenny, Uncle Carlos

My birthday mil hojas. Three cheers for turning 30 in Spain!

Dec. 18 - My official birthday! saw my cousin's new house, had lunch with the family, left in our rental car for San Sebastian, and arrived after dark. We successfully checked into our hotel in Spanish (no more Dad to translate as he stayed behind with his family), walked around the city, and found a decent but ordinary place for dinner.

Our Nissan Micra rental car. Good thing I still remember how to drive a manual!

Playa de la Concha, San Sebastian - just a few minutes walk from our hotel

Dec. 19 - a very laid-back day as San Sebastian is very small; we mostly walked around taking in the beautiful scenery of the beach and cobbled streets, hike up Mt. Urgull (very unfortunate that we forgot our camera for this), lunch at Bodegon Alejandro, more walking around enjoying the beautiful weather, pinxtos for dinner at Cuchara de Santelmo, churros and chocolate for dessert at Santa Lucia

View of Monte. Urgull with the statue of Jesus on top

Michael wanted to touch the Bay of Biscay

Monte. Urgull at sunset

Playa de la Concha at sunset

I Will Never Be a Travel Writer, part 1

Spain won the World Cup last year and decided our vacation fate. Yep. Michael and I couldn't decide where we wanted to go on vacation, so he suggested (back in May/June) that we go to whichever country won the World Cup. Crazy? Maybe, but it made soccer much more interesting to me for a while.

I feel that I should share a few tales of that trip with you, but I've been putting it off for far too long because I just don't seem to have the passion or skill to tell travel stories (or any stories, really). Also, I seem to use parentheses more than the normal, healthy writer. It would be great if I had some awesome photography skills to make up for my lack of story-telling skills. Then I could let the pictures tell my story. Alas, I am an untalented nitwit. Nevertheless, I will share a time line and a few pics and short blurbs highlighting our trip. Part 1 will cover our time in Madrid.

Dec. 13 - We depart from Columbus in the afternoon to New York (JFK) where we had a 4ish hour layover. Then on to Madrid without much delay and arrive the morning of...

Dec. 14 - Our luggage does not arrive :( We file a report and wait for my dad who arrives from Phoenix via Chicago about an hour later. Checked in to our very nice hotel: Husa Paseo del Arte. Visited El Prado museum which has a large collection of Goyas, el Grecos, Velasquez and other classic Spanish and Italian artists. Lunch at Museo de Jamon. Some sightseeing that included Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, and el Corte Ingles which is like the Macy's of Spain. Dinner @ Cañas y Tapas (not so good). Checked out Plaza Santa Ana at night.

in front of El Prado

lunch at Museo del Jamon: various cured meats, cheese, and bread

I really enjoyed all the plazas they had in Spain. I love the pedestrian atmosphere and the old world architecture that surrounds them.

A woman we met on the plane told us that Madrid has some of the best Christmas lights ever.  They were pretty spectacular hanging over almost every street in the city.

Plaza Santa Ana

Dec. 15 - tour of Estadio Santiago Bernabeu where Real Madrid plays, lunch at Terra Mundi, Museo de Reina Sofia, taxi to 29 Fanegas for tapas dinner (SO good!), realization that my pre-travel freak-out about what to pack now seems ridiculous after wearing the same thing for three days

Definitely a highlight for the men was visiting the Real Madrid soccer stadium where we took a self-guided tour and got to sit in the players' seats on the sidelines.

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu

in front of Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

Dec. 16 - San Miguel market, Palacio Real (loved the armory), lunch at La Sanabresa (good but salty, classic Spanish-homestyle), suitcase arrives and we change into clean clothes!, walk through Parque Retiro, dinner at Museo de Jamon again

Mercado de San Miguel

monkfish @ Mercado de San Miguel

Who needs a palace when you have a mansion? The royal family only uses theirs for special occasions, so we got to take a tour. The king had a huge room just to get dressed in!

lovely photo op in Parque Retiro

in Parque Retiro

A city where anything can happen

According to Jay-Z, "In New York, concrete jungles where dreams are made of, there's nothing you can't do." There is a certain magic to New York City that gives one a sense that anything can happen. I feel blessed to have spent two years living there and grateful for wonderful friends who let my husband and me crash on their couches now when we come to visit.

On Labor Day, Michael and I were looking for something to do and discovered that much of New York City shuts down for the holiday. We didn't let that stop us though. Our friend Celia suggested a visit to MoMA PS1, and fortunately the museum was actually open, so Michael, Celia, Laura, and I headed out. As soon as we arrived, our olfactory senses were overwhelmed by a strong scent of baking bread. It smelled like a delicious combination of french bread and cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven. Walking through the museum, we would occasionally be in a room with open windows or a stairwell, and the smell would just waft in suddenly. Mmm... We wondered where the source could possibly be and how we could get our fill of this tasty treat. Was it the museum café? At the end of our tour, we checked the café to no avail. On our way out, Laura plucked up the courage to ask a museum security guard if he knew the source of the smell. In response, he vaguely motioned to a direction behind us. We headed the way he pointed and tried to follow our noses, but canines we are not. As we approached a gas station, we lost the trail (go figure). Again Laura, ever the brave and undaunted one, asked for help. The woman working in the gas station booth, sitting in her tiny cube behind bullet-proof glass, was only too happy to help. She knew exactly what we were looking for, and she came out from her place of safety to point out the exact building where the bread was baking, telling us that she stops for bread there every morning. Hooray! We could almost taste victory. 

We crossed the street and began circling what looked like a large brick warehouse with a sign indicating it as the home of International Delights. That sounded good, right? However, there did not seem to be any kind of store front or public entrance. How did that woman buy her bread here? Undismayed, we decided to ring a bell outside the only door that seemed like an entrance. A surprised man opened the door and looked at us questioningly. We tried to ask him about the bakery, if there was a place where we could buy bread. He did not speak very much English but offered the word "manager," which we quickly jumped at for surely a manager could help us. We followed the man up a flight of stairs and through a set of double doors into a large space where people wearing hairnets were pushing baker's racks. We definitely found the source of the smell, but how were we supposed to buy bread? This was clearly a factory not a retail bakery. Our foreign friend returned and told us the manager was busy. We tried asking again where we could buy the bread. The man motioned for us to wait a moment, walked away, and returned with a box. He handed it to us, but when we tried to pay, he replied, "No money, no money." As we walked back down the stairs we thanked him profusely. Once outside, we peeked in the box and found a dozen freshly baked, delicious smelling banana nut muffins. Score!

Laura, Celia, and Michael showing off our International Delights (Queens)

Other highlights from our New York City weekend getaway:

Washington Square Park, which was under construction when I left last May (Manhattan)

Michael, Celia, and Laura enjoying the "art" at MoMA PS1 (Queens)

Playing frisbee in Prospect Park (Brooklyn)

Visiting The High Line, a newly built park in Chelsea (Manhattan)

Returning to NYC

Michael and I are leaving for New York tomorrow morning, and I'm so excited. I haven't been back since I moved in May '09, so it's definitely about time. I get to see some of my favorite people in one of my favorite cities with my favorite husband. Okay, he is my only husband, but he's the best, especially on road trips.

Since we cook most of our meals at home, we buy a lot of fresh food, so I spent the day trying to find ways to use those ingredients that I didn't think would last the long weekend. I made broccoli soup and mashed potatoes, and I put them in the freezer. I also made applesauce since we had leftover peeled and cored apples from making apple dumplings earlier this week, and we had "leftover night" for dinner. After packing lunches for tomorrow's road trip, I think we will have done a pretty good job on cleaning out the fridge.

This will be our first time boarding Polo, and I'm a bit nervous about it. There isn't any good reason to be; I just hope all the people and other dogs like him and get along with him. He still gets very rambunctious around others. I can't imagine what it will be like to leave my child with someone for the first time, but hopefully I don't have to worry about him/her jumping on others.

We don't have too much planned for this trip. Pizza is definitely going to be eaten, and we are planning a long run in Central Park on Saturday morning. I know we'll be going back to Redeemer for church on Sunday morning and having brunch afterward with my cousin who lives in the city and some other friends. I'm sure there will be pictures and stories in a future blog post. I can't wait :) Gotta go make our trip playlist now.

Summer Vacation, part 2

I know, I know... it's been over a month since our trip, and I'm just now getting around to sharing with you. I just haven't been much in the bloggy mood lately. It was a fantastic trip though, so hopefully I do it justice here. As I mentioned, the first part of the trip started in Lake Tahoe where my brother-in-law's wedding was, so we flew to Hong Kong out of the San Francisco International Airport. There were six of us on the trip: Michael, his parents, his brother and new sister-in-law, and me. The flight is approximately 14 hours long. We stayed in Hong Kong three nights, and then we flew to Taipei. That flight is only an hour or so, but they gave us a free snack anyway. (Take note, cheap American airlines!) Michael and I stayed in Taiwan another three nights and then flew back from Taipei to Hong Kong to San Fransisco to Chicago to Columbus. We spent 30 hours traveling home and were ever so grateful to sleep in our own bed that night.

Hong Kong Thoughts
I didn't actually mind the incredibly long flight since I had my own TV screen and could choose from a wide variety of shows, movies, and games to keep me busy. I also was not too terribly affected by the 12 hour time difference between California and Hong Kong. I woke up the first night at 2am but was able to go back to sleep until my alarm went off at 7:00. After that, I slept normally the whole trip. Hong Kong was a lot like what I expected only less crowded. I am used to the big city bustle after living in New York for two years, but I had anticipated much more congestion in Asia than what there was. We stayed in Kowloon, which is kind of like the Brooklyn of Hong Kong, and it is where my father-in-law grew up. All of Michael's aunts and uncles are known by their birth order number, which is common in Asian cultures. We spent most of our time with Aunt 8 and her husband, but Aunts 9 and 10 also hung out with us one day. On our last night in the city, the whole family (two uncles, six aunts, their spouses, numerous cousins, and the six of us) had a huge dinner together. I enjoyed most of the food we ate, and I think they went easy on us for most meals, but I did get to (was forced to?) try a few strange things including durian, a fruit that smells so bad one has to wonder why a person ever thought to crack it open and eat it in the first place.

Hong Kong Highlights

Ferry boat ride from Kowloon to Hong Kong island

Dragon boat races at Stanley

Dim sum with Aunt 8, 10, 9, Uncle 8, and Jason

Tram ride up Victoria Peak with views of the city

The city lights night show. The lights flashed and moved to music.

The Yuen aunts and uncles

The Yuen cousins

Taiwan Thoughts
While in Hong Kong, which is full of international business people and tourists, Stefany and I had a much easier time blending into the crowd than we did in Taiwan where we were often the only white people around. Stefany, with her strawberry blond hair and freckles, caused double-takes from numerous people as we walked down the streets. We also had fewer family members to visit here, just my mother-in-law's parents and youngest sister. I tried more "interesting" foods like quail eggs, stinky tofu, and sea cucumber. It was incredbily hot and humid, especially the day we went to the zoo, but we didn't let that stop us from having fun. We sped up the second tallest building in the world in the fastest elevator in the world to see panoramic views of the city from the 89th floor of Taipei 101. At the National Palace Museum, we saw art and artifacts from Chinese history, and we braved the overwhelming crowds to check out the famous Shilin Night Market. My favorite meal of the whole trip was the xiaolongbao we ate DinTai Fung.
Taiwan Highlights

Taipei 101

 

National Palace Museum

Xiaolongbao aka soup dumplings

So many funny signs

Shilin Night Market