6 Month Move-aversary

It is so hard to believe that today marks six months since we arrived here in Harrogate!  It has been an incredible experience - hard to be away from the familiar, but an amazing chance to explore.  I was reflecting on our time here and trying to find a good way to sum it up.  I went to use the search function for our Google photos and found this funny and accurate way to summarize the types of things I have taken photos of in the past six months.  Seems like a pretty perfect summary of all that we have seen and done:

The Goal I Never Knew I Had & Other Travel Tips!

I am a big fan of Trip Advisor.  I use the site constantly in planning hotels, restaurants, and sites to see for all of our trips.  I use it so frequently myself, that several years ago I made a commitment to be a contributor.  I review all of the places we go - both domestically and internationally - to be part of the community and help others in the same way they've helped me.

This week - after posting my Lisbon reviews - I got the Trip Advisor "Level 6" badge.  This is the highest badge for reviews and represents 10,000 points (you get reviews for reviews, ratings, photos, and helpful votes!).  More importantly... my reviews have been read by 70,000 people!  WOW!  That's a crazy number of decisions to influence.  

So below are other travel sites that we use often in trip planning - in case you're not using them! 

Trip Advisor: We always look up the top hotels in the cities as well as restaurants.  What I've found recently are the Travel Guides.  These are written by both commission writers and random fans who write itineraries for the cities (e.g., Shopping in Granada, Three Day Tour in Lisbon).  They have been helpful for planning 

SkyScanner: This is a crazy amazing flights site that allows you to plug-in a city you live in and a month and it'll show you the cheapest flights to anywhere in the world.  So far, this is how we've picked some our trips...the cheapest flights for that month.  The algorithms are amazing. 

Hotels.com: P was previously a big Hilton points person.  Now that we have diversity of small boutique hotels in these cities (and frankly during our Thailand trip), we try to use hotels.com when we can to book.  This means that for every 10 hotel nights, we get a free hotel night at the average cost of the room.  So, for example, we recently spent an average of $250 on rooms (this included Thailand...which is why it's so high!!!) so we get a free $250 dollar room to use at some point soon (London here we come!). 

New York Times - 36 Hours: The New York Times 36 Hours in X City have been great sources of the highlights of various spots as well as great restaurants.  We always consult these articles before we decide on an itinerary 

Instagram: If you're not an Instagram user, you should get an account!  You don't have to post photos, but you can use it to search for great photos of the city you're visiting.  This has helped lead us to some beautiful spots for P to take photos!

Happy traveling! 

Magical Pena National Palace

Over the past few months, we have quickly become castle experts.  I think we have visited 20 castles across the UK, France, and Germany and we've seen some truly magnificent buildings.  Pena Palace - outside of Sintra Portugal - quickly became my favorite of all that we've seen.  It looks exactly as one would envision a castle - with turrets, bright colors, intricate archways, and fabulous nooks and crannies.  I LOVED it.

It was a solid day trip to get up to Pena including a train ride and a harrowing bus ride up to the top of the mountain.  Mountain hint: castles are rarely on flat land and normally require both a steep uphill climb + other trekking.  But - they are worth it.

Pena National Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage site (as it should be) and was originally built as a monastery, then as a simple castle, and then later - as a modern palace.  Enjoy a few of our photos from this fabulous excursion:

A panorama that attempted to capture the splendor of Pena National Palace:

You could climb around the castle for some really cool pictures and because we went in January, there weren't TOO many tourists there:

An amazing turret (it looks to me like the Bowser character on Super Mario Brothers)

 The view of another (Moorish style) castle from the top - both were of strategic importance because the view went all the way out to sea:

Just incredible architecture:

If You Go: Lisbon Itinerary

Here is how we organized our three-day trip to Lisbon.  As I mentioned, we focused each day on a different spot - central Lisbon, Belem Neighborhood, and Sintra.  This seemed to take best advantage of our time.  Note that unlike some other cities, it's impossible to book timed tickets for most attractions, but we lucked out and did not have to wait at most spots:

Day One 

10 am Praca Commercial
11 am - Santa Justa Lift
Lunch  - Sacramento
1 pm - Castelo de Sao Jorge
3 pm - Explore Alfama Neighborhood 

8 pm - Dinner at Mercado Ribeira 

Day Two 
10 am - Mosteiro de Jeronimos (Free Admission with Card)
11:30 am - Belem Tower (Free Admission with Card)
12:00 pm - Lunch 
1:00 pm - Berardo Modern Art Museum (Dali, Picasso, Jackson Pollack)
2:30 pm - Maritime Museum 

Day Three
9 am - Sintra Day Trip

If You Go: Lisbon

Lisbon was such a lovely trip!  It was quick and very tourist friendly!  A few notes before I include recommendations:

• Lisbon Card: You can buy a Lisbon card at various tourist kiosks around town.  They are $18/day or $31/two days.  For us, the two day card was well worth it.  It includes all transportation in the city (buses, metro, trains, trams, funiculars), admission to most museums, admission to the monastery, and discounts at a few other attractions. 
• Public Transportation: Lisbon has some SERIOUS hills. Your feet will get tired, so use all of the various modes of transportation to get around - they are easy to use with your Lisbon card and very much frequent.  One note for parents: many of the buses did not allow strollers, so you may want to bring a baby carrier for your chest / back (or plan a funicular / elevator route)

Hotels

• Heritage Avenida Liberdade: We loved, loved, loved this hotel.  It's right on the main boulevard and walking distance to all of the sites in central Lisbon.  The rooms are graceful - with the large door-style shutters and little balcony-ettes overlooking the avenue.  Breakfast is complimentary and offers a lovely continental style (with fresh squeezed OJ!).  Not surprisingly, this is well reviewed on Trip Advisor.  ($120/night) 

Sites 

• Sao Jorge Castle: This overlooks the entire city - go at sunset and enjoy some wine like we did!  There are peacocks roaming around the property, castle ruins to explore, and amazing views.  All around the castle is the Alfama neighborhood which has cute shops and bistros to explore after you've finished at the castle
• Santa Justa Elevator: This is one of the many elevators around town.  If you have a half hour break, it's a lovely ride up and the view of the city is just fantastic.  Check it out - it's included in your Lisbon card 
• Jeronimos Monastery: This was a beautiful gothic-style monastery on the Belem side of town.  A great way to anchor a visit to that area.  Take time to explore, enjoy the gargoyles, and stunning shadows.  
• Berardo Collection: This was a lovely modern art museum that was organized by style (cube-ism, surrealism, etc).  They had an impressive variety of artists from each type style including a Picasso, several Warhols, etc.  If you have time and inclination, stop by! If you don't care for modern art, then no need to visit. 
• Belem Tower: We loved Belem Tower.  Beautiful views of the waterfront and 25 of April bridge.  It was neat to climb up and see how they used the Tower to protect the city's waterfront.  A great spot for photos and climbing around. 
• Pena National Palace: If you have more than 2 days in Lisbon, you MUST go to Pena National Palace.  It was so crazy beautiful and impressive.  We spent several hours touring, exploring, and taking photos.  There are other items to see in the town too - including the Moorish castle.  We did not have time for this, but it looked neat! 

Restaurants 
We went to two very notable spots for dinner:

• Sommelier Lisbon: This was a fancy-ish, modern dinner.  The food was beautifully presented - I had beautiful seared tuna with sweet potatoes two ways and P enjoyed the prime rib.  Our dessert was stunning with caramelized pears.  Most impressively, this restaurant has Coke Freestyle-like machine to let you try about 50 types of wines using a card.  This was super fun and allowed us to try many fancy Portuguese wines.  Note: you need reservations for this restaurant! 
• Mercado Ribeira: This is a carefully curated, fancy food court organized by the magazine Time Out.  It includes stalls from some of the best restuarants in Lisbon serving their fare in a casual food court like environment (note: this is not like a US mall-type food court).  This was recommended by the New York Times and we ended up going twice to try things like Piri Piri Chicken, garlic shrimp, mussels, seafood rice, and more.  Best spot! 

Lisbon: Sunshine, Seafood, and Sightseeing

We just got back from a few days in Lisbon over MLK Day Weekend. Visiting Southern Europe in the winter is the best deal - nice touring temperatures (60's), no crowds of tourists, and cheap deals.  That is our plan to avoid all of the rain of the UK winter!

I didn't really know what to expect in Lisbon, but it was really a treat. Lisbon is set on a bay off the Atlantic at the tip of the Iberian peninsula.  This avoids the full ocean winds, but gives it some beautiful ocean-front scenery to enjoy (along with some delicious seafood!).  Our itinerary broke into three days / focus areas: (1) Central Lisbon; (2) Belem Area; and (3) Mountains of Sintra.  Each was a wonderful experience - below are the photos from the first two days.  I will share the Sintra pictures separately as they are worth their own post.  Also note that P shared all of his photos with me - so you'll see the quality of these is a bit better than my usual - ha!

This is a view of Lisbon from one of the many elevators - you'll see the Sao Jorge Castle at the top.  Note that Lisbon is VERY hilly.

So hilly that to save your feet (and lungs) you have to depend on trams and funiculars to get around.  This funicular was just behind our hotel:

Here is a close-up view of the castle.  We went just before sunset and enjoyed seeing many many peacocks on the ground and having a glass of wine in the sunset. 

Speaking of sunset...this was the sunset view from the castle.  It's over the 25 of Abril Bridge (my birthday!) so special! 

The next day, we went to the San Jeronimo Monastery.  The architecture was just stunning and it's hard to take enough photos to do it justice.

We stopped by an art museum before making a final stop at the Belem Tower which was a mini-castle on the water.  The building was really neat - as was the design

The Belem Tower offered some beautiful views of the sailboats on the water.  Amazing! 

I also insisted Prasad take a photo of me in the Tower because it was so empty and such a cool view! I kind of feel like I am Evita in this photo (yes, I know, wrong country)

Lisbon was an unexpectedly fabulous destination! We love Lisbon!

If You Go: Barcelona

This was our first visit to Barcelonaof what I hope will be many.  Below are the recommendations we have on the hotels, sites, and restaurants of the city.  It's hard to go wrong in such a beautiful spot!   What is more complicated is the dispersed nature of the city and making the most of your geography.  Also, a few more notes:

• Pre-Book Everything Online: Barcelona is a true world-class city and the crowds follow it.  We booked nearly all of our tours and some restaurant reservations before we left.  This was critical to avoid wasting time in lines and making the most of our time there. 
• Cruise Ship Season:  After our experience in Venice, we will avoid any destination during the height of cruise ship season.  Apparently this season is between April - October in Barcelona, so if you can avoid it - you should!  December weather was just lovely - mid 60's and perfectly sunny. 
• Public Transportation: The metro system is very efficient and cheap.  In addition, there is a wonderful bus to/from the airport that is very inexpensive and direct to Plaza Cataluna. 

Hotels 

• Alexandra Hotel: This is a Doubletree property so we finished out our free Hilton nights here in Barcelona.  This hotel in incredibly centrally located and pretty modern.  One personal complaint, our room smelled moldy / mildewy, but it may have been room-specific.  In the summer months, it has a lovely outdoor pool (Price: $160/night)

Things to Do

• Tickets to Palau de Musica: We went to see a lovely 90 minute guitar / flamenco show at the Palau de Musica.  It is an architectural wonder from one of Gaudi's proteges and the mosaics are just stunning - as is the stained glass.  We loved seeing a concert in the daytime and having the opportunity to admire the beautiful space.  Price was ~$35/ticket - so not terribly expensive. 
• Wine Tour - Spanish Trails: Barcelona sits in the middle of wine country.  P and I never miss a chance for a good wine tour.  We visited the Pendes region to stop at two wineries as well as a wine lunch.  I had no idea that the Cava making procress in Spain replicates that of the Champagne region because when a blight hit Champagne, the French turned to Barcelona to continue their production so they passed along all of their 2nd fermentation techniques.  It was a very informative tour - highly recommend this company!  Wine tours are never cheap, but we never regret going! 
• Sagrada Familia: It's impossible to come to Barcelona and not visit Sagrada Familia.  We fully enjoyed the self-guided look at the architecture, but also appreciated signing up for a guided tour.  We learned a tremendous amount on the tour that we would never have picked up by visiting each of the signs in the church. 
• Park Guell: As I shared in the pictures, this was a beautiful and impressive park that further expands on Gaudi's architecture.  This is another spot to pre-book ticket if you want to see the bench and architecture up close. 
• Casa Battlo: We both really enjoyed this tour through the seven stories of the house.  Getting the opportunity to see the intricate detail Gaudi used inside the house was amazing.  This was the most tourist-packed place we visited and despite pre-tickets, we had to wait in line ~25 minutes.  If we were there in high-season, we would have DEFINITELY needed / wanted the fast pass. Also, it has an alternative reality tablet device that also includes the audio tour.  I didn't really get it, but P thought it was very cool. 
• Barcelona Cathedral: This was an impressive gothic Cathedral in the center of town.  You don't need to pay to get in in the mornings or evenings - only between 1pm - 5 pm.  Note that the coolest part of this was actually the elevator ride to the roof where you could look at the spires up-close-and-personal.  That is not something to do if you are afraid of heights as it is pretty scary. 
• Miro Museum: We are big fans of Miro - and the museum had a very, very impressive collection of his work.  We loved it, but I do admit that Miro is an acquired taste. 
• Montijukic Castle: This is an impressively preserved port castle.  Compared to the British castles, it's quite large and in some ways, unprotected.  There is not much of a history lesson within the castle, but the views of the city are vast.  In addition, you take a very cool funicular to the top that has beautiful views...but again - not for those afraid of heights. 
• Picasso Museum: This was my least favorite of our visits, even though I am a big Picasso fan.  Apparently most of it is from Picasso's home, so much of it is his early painting and drawing - very few famous pieces as most of these are at major art galleries around the world. 

Restaurants 

All of the food in Barcelona is excellent - even the little corner bakeries are fantastic.  So jump into any yummy looking restaurant for some great tapas or sangria.  Below are a few of my most favorite spots that we visited (substantiated by Trip Advisor!) 

• Paco Meralgo: This was one of the best meals I have had in my life.  If you love fresh, creative tapas - run to Paco's! We popped in one night without reservations and waited a bit to get a seat at the bar.  The food was awesome - amazing garlic steak, patatas bravas, vegtables.  Highly recommend - good times for reservations take 2-3 weeks, so call ahead if you want a table. 
• Fred y Elsa: This spot had great ambiance - a nice fire, cute tables, neat lighting - very romantic.  They also had fantastic food and cheap wine.  A short menu, but the tapas we had were very good.  Their cheese plate was particularly good!
• Buenos Aires Grill: We both love a great steak and Argentine beef is still the best.  This restaurant flies its beef in from Argentina and the food is very good. Not quite like a brasserie in Buenos Aires but pretty darn close.  A bit pricey, but good food!  

If You Go: Barcelona Itinerary

Barcelona was one of our most planned trips of all times.  In large part because the city is large and there is SO much to do (and most requires a timed ticket).  Below is a high-level overview of our five day itinerary.  I think we used the time well and you may want to consider mixing and matching some of these days if you make it to Barcelona.  Also, Barcelona has tons of adorable shops and streets, so make time to just wander a bit... it's well worth it



Day One
9:30 am - Parc Guell * 

12:15 pm - Tour of Sagrada Familia *  
2:00 pm - Walk around Gracia and grab lunch 
4:00 pm - Walk down Las Ramblas and Plaza Cataluna 

Day Two 
10:00 am - Wine Tour * 

3:00 pm - Visit Barceloneta Beach 

Day Three 
11:00 am - Miro Museum * 
1:30 pm - Monjukic Castle *  
3:00 pm - Walk through downtown 

Day Four 

10:00 am - Barcelona Cathedral 
12:00 pm - Palau de Musica*
1:30 pm - Lunch at Tosca
3:15 pm - Picasso Museum*



Day Five 

11:00 am - Casa Battlo*
1:00 pm - Lunch
3:00 pm - Leave for Airport

* - Pre-book tickets if possible 

Barcelona: Beyond The Architecture

Our time in Barcelona went so much beyond the architecture.  We enjoyed beautiful views of the city, saw stunning art museums, and ate so many delicious tapas!  Two of our favorite things on the trip - a day trip out to wineries in the Piendes region and tickets to a Spanish guitar show at the Palau de Musica.

Our trip to the wineries was terrific.  We had a beautiful sunny day and tried many of the wonderful wines of the region.  I didn't know much about the Pendes region and assumed we would be trying traditional Spanish Gioja wines, but I was pleasantly surprised that the region is known for its sparkling cava whines.  When France had its wine blight in the 1800's (thanks America!) they transferred their champagne processes to the area around Barcelona so the Cava wine making process mimics that of champagne including the second fermentation.

We also enjoyed a lovely Spanish guitar concert with Flamenco dancing at the Palau de Musica.  The grand architecture of the building dwarfs any concert hall I have ever visited - stunning mosaics, stained glass, and sculpture.  The beautiful music gave us time to really soak in the elegance of the building.  It was well worth the ticket price!  So below are a few photos from these experiences as well as some of our other favorite photos from Barcelona:

Beautiful wine tasting

P took this cool photos of the bottles:

Palau de Musica was a stunning venue:

This is the stained glass window that covers the ceiling

This is just one pillar...there are hundreds with this beautiful mosaic:

We loved the Barcelona Cathedral: 

The coolest part was taking an elevator to the roof to see the spires up close (and hear the bells in our ears!):

We took a funicular to the top of the Montjukic castle:

...and took in the incredible view of the city:

How can you not love a city that sits on the Mediterranean and offers a beach like this (photo courtesy of P):

Barcelona: An Ode to Gaudi

Barcelona truly blew me away!  I have always said that my heart belongs to Buenos Aires, but Barcelona comes a very close second.  The architecture, Mediterranean climate, amazing food, and delicious wine - it's a city that gets me.  We spent five full days in Barcelona.  We had a very full agenda each day, but I could easily spend another week there and not run out of things to do.  We used the remaining free nights in Hilton properties to stay at a beautiful hotel in the center of town (more on that in another post) and spent hours each day walking the beautiful boulevards and enjoying the 60 degree Mediterranean sun.  Barcelona is my favorite European city (so far!). 

One of the most obviously beautiful parts of the city is it's architecture, much of it designed or inspired by Antoni Gaudi.   Few people have the ability to influence an entire city's architecture in the way that Gaudi and his beautiful modernism style and mosaics did for Barcelona.  The only city I can think of that is similar in its singular inspiration in Brasilia which is designed primarily by Oscar Neimyer.  In any case, we had the chance to see several of Gaudi's works and the intricate detail of each site was just stunning.  Below are a few of my photos from our Gaudi stops.

Sagrada Familia is Gaudi's ultimate masterpiece - a cathedral in the center of town.  P remarked "this is the most impressive building I have ever been in."  If you know my husband, you will know that this is the ultimate compliment (he speaks in superlatives). The structure was started in 1882 and is still not complete.  They have continued to build on Gaudi's vision based on his plaster models for what the church should look like.  The symbology, reflections of nature, and use of light were the most impressive I have ever seen.  They hope to finish the final spires by the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death in 2026. 

One side of the outside - you'll see the careful carving of the passion.  The other side depicts the the birth of Christ.  The detail is amazing. 

The grand nature of the inside is hard to capture because it is such an enormous space, but below is one vantage point of the beautiful ceiling and columns: 

 The light of the church is surprising. It appears that there are almost colored lights illuminating the space, but in reality, it's just light from the stained glass.

We also visited Park Guell which was designed for one of Gaudi's patrons, Mr. Guell.  It is famous for a bench that is not only the longest in the world, but also impressively decorated in the mosaic style.  We were there early in the morning, so it was hard to capture good photos in the light, but I gave it my best shot.

The amazing mosaic bench surrounded by palm trees: 

Th view from below - check out the amazing cave like structure of the columns:

A close up of one of the mosaics - they are all quite different in the tiles used:

A beautiful Gaudi-designed building in the park: 

 

On our last day, we visited Casa Battlo which was designed for a wealthy Catalan family.  It is a seven-story town house that contained no straight lines.  Often called the house of bones for its outward, bone-like structure, the tour gave you insight into the detailed nature of Gaudi's design.  He not only designed the house, he also designed many pieces of its furniture.  Genius!

Amazing mosaic chimneys: 

This light was truly incredible:

Remember I mentioned not a single straight line in the house...this was on the top floor where the servants / maids worked.  Especially incredible:

2015: A Year in Review

What a year!  I think that I learned more in 2015 than I learned the previous 30 years before...new home, new job (essentially), new routine.  It was a lot and for someone who had spent a decade building a very comfortable and predictable life, I was challenged to be as flexible and adaptable as I have ever been.  I was rewarded with the chance to see some of the most beautiful places in the world - from start to finish.  And... I got to have friends and family alongside me for every step of the way.  What a lucky person I am.  So without further ado, my favorite photos of 2015:

January

A trip of a lifetime...Hong Kong and Thailand. I spent many years hoping to visit Thailand after writing my thesis and my wish came true!  

Beautiful monastery in Thailand to start the new year: 

Kayaking through the Phi Phi Islands:

Clowning around in a red pool at the Houban:

Visiting the amazing temples of Bangkok

February 

In February, the weather turned cold and we spent a good chunk hibernating!  Poor Alfie also had surgery, so he spent much of the month in his baby onsie.  But...we did get one good "mommy & me" photo:

March 

I got to spend some major quality time with my niece, nephew, sister, and brother-in-law in Wisconsin.  We did all of our favorite things... we ate Mexican food, enjoyed custard, saw museums, and I even got to see their dance recitals!  So lucky!

Alfie continued to be dressed in absurd costumes:

April

In April, I took a crazy last hoorah trip to Indianapolis for a client meeting...thankfully, I did not take many photos of that because it would have been tres boring (read: lunching at TGI Fridays). We did get to celebrate Easter with my family and Alfie got a hair cut:

Enjoying an amazing brunch with my Mom: 

P put peanut butter on Alfie's nose to make him stick his tongue out.  He is such a good sport:

May

We met the George Tech friend posse in Clearwater Beach for Memorial Day - a reunion that has lasted many, many years.  We also celebrated our one year anniversary:

June 

June and July marked our busiest months!!!  I managed Booz Allen's sponsorship of the Aspen Ideas Festival and we prepared to move.  It was a crazy, crazy time, but seriously fun.  This was on a break ...a hike to the Maroon Bells. The natural beauty of Aspen amazes me:

July

Between Aspen and moving, my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew came for one final trip to see me.  I am so lucky to have such an amazing family:

Then we packed up our bags to move to England...Alfie wanted to make sure he was definitely on the packing list:

August 

We celebrated August with lots of local trips and ended with a finale in London.  Wow, what a city!  I felt very royal in trying out a throne in Kensington Palace:

And we moved seeing so many iconic sites, like the Tower Bridge: 

September 
In September, we loved our trip to the Lake District...it was so incredibly beautiful and wild.  Alfie loved coming on the adventure too!  He is so spoiled to travel in his Alfie sack:

Checking out another beautiful castle:

This is my most favorite photo I shot all year  - P taking his beautiful shot in the sunset.  My handsome husby:

October 

We loved visiting the iconic city of Venice in October!  What a true treat - it's like a post card: 

Alfie also solidified Baltzersen's as his favorite spot to visit for a morning snack.  He even has a dog fleece to match the decor:

November 

This was a crazy month of travel!  I managed to squeeze in a trip to the States for work, a weekend in Edinburgh, and a week in Bavaria.  Such lovely adventures!

I loved seeing my brother and my neph-dog Charlie. 

Bavaria was amazing in so many ways. The natural beauty was just stunning: 

Alfie wishes he came on the trips, but took consolation in his new sheep skin rug:

December

We had a cozy December learning British holiday customs, celebrating winter solstice (yay sun!), and visiting beautiful Barcelona.  What a year it has been!

Enjoying Christmas morning by the fire: 

Wearing matching trapper hats:

What a year!  I can only imagine the fun and adventure that 2016 will bring!  Happy New Year!