Spain, Part 1

This will be a multi-part post. We took over 430 pictures in Spain. Obviously it will take more than one post to cover that ground. But, first off a shout out. We love these travel guides:




We got one of these Day by Day travel guides for New York City when we went a few years ago. We loved it so much, that I picked up the same guides for Madrid and Barcelona. And, they were excellent! We were constantly consulting them and, if you look closely, you might see me holding one in some of the pictures. I highly recommend them for your next vacation.

Okay, on to our adventures in Spain. For Mr. Frisby, it was business. He didn't have quite as many adventures as me. Mr. Frisby's co-worker Ryan and his wife, Miranda (who happen to be in our ward), also went. So, while the boys were working, Miranda and I explored Madrid. We arrived in Madrid, Spain on Saturday evening after many hours of travel. After checking into our hotel and cleaning up a bit, we headed out for a little sightseeing and dinner.


Don't judge me. 20 hours of travel takes its toll.



After dinner, we went to bed - exhausted, but ready for our upcoming adventures. On Sunday, we went to church in the morning and then headed off to Toledo which is a half hour train ride from Madrid. Toledo is famous for their big cathedral (and, thus, the source of the phrase "Holy Toledo").


Heading out on the train


Mr. Frisby in front of the Toledo cathedral

We loved Toledo! It's an old town with lots of little streets and alleyways. We had a blast just walking through the town and checking out all of the old churches/castles/streets, etc.







We were very tired when we returned to Madrid, but we had a great time and it was a lovely start to our adventures in Spain.

Home At Last

Well, I have safely returned from Spain (and am obviously trying to adjust to the time change since I find myself awake and in desperate need of a snack at 4 in the morning) and posts of our adventures will come when I've had a chance to adjust and go through pictures. But, I will tell about my favorite moment from the journey home.

On the flight from New York to SFO, I was sitting in the middle seat with a guy on my left at the window and an older lady, probably in her 70's or 80's on my right at the aisle. The older lady was very nice and was returning from a trip to Milan. We settled into the flight and found our various things to do to keep busy on a cross-country flight. All three of us were watching movies from the airplane's in-flight entertainment system. I found it mildly entertaining when, at different points of the movie, this little old lady would jump a little or gasp quietly in her seat at whatever had happened on screen (it must have been a little scary), but it was quiet enough that nobody else noticed.

So there we all are, watching our movies, everyone else on the plane doing whatever they were doing, the flight attendants coming down the aisle with beverage service and all of a sudden, this little old lady jumps in her seat and screams bloody murder. Me and the man next to me knew that something scary must have just happened in the movie and we immediately started cracking up. But, nobody else on the plane knew what was going on and they all turned to see what had happened. Of course, the flight attendant came rushing over to see what was wrong, asking who screamed and what the problem was. Well, the little old lady explained that it was she that had screamed and it was just the movie. I believe her words were, "it's really a thriller." Anyway, the incident still brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. Hopefully, it will bring one to yours.

Adventures and pictures to follow. I think I need another snack...

A Blessing

Yesterday I was reminded in a very small way that Heavenly Father loves me. He knows that I'm not super excited about being stuck here in Spain (though I am making the best of it and seeing some awesome stuff. As for the suggestions to see other parts of Europe via the railroad, that would be a great idea. Except thousands of people are trying to get around Europe via methods other than air transport. That makes train tickets virtually impossible to come by and ludicrously expensive.), so he has provided me with a little pick me up. I'm pretty sure that He was somehow involved in my stumbling upon a little shop that makes these:

*Please excuse the picture quality. It's the best I can do with Photo Booth in my hotel room.



It's a gigantic churro. But, this is not just any churro. If it was just any churro, I wouldn't be impressed. This churro is filled...



con Chocolate!!!! And, yes, it's as tasty as it looks.

Thanks, HF, for making my stay here in Barcelona that much better.

Stuck

Remember how a volcano erupted in Iceland last week and created a huge cloud of ash in the air? And remember how said ash cloud hovered right over Europe causing the shut down of most of the airports there? And remember how, because of the airports shutting down, thousands of people were left stranded throughout the world? And, remember how I'm one of them? Yep, I was scheduled to come home from Barcelona yesterday, but I'm stuck here for 5 extra days. I know what you're thinking. Barcelona was open. Flights out of there shouldn't be a problem. Well, Barcelona is indeed open, but since most of its flights connect through parts of Europe that aren't open (like mine, that connected through Amsterdam) it doesn't really matter. Sounds like it might be fun, you say? Well, it might be if Mr. Frisby were stranded with me. But, since he was here on business, he was on a different flight and connected in Atlanta which had no problems with volcanic ash and he was able to return home. And, it might be fun if I had an unlimited supply of clean underwear. But, I don't. And underwear is not the same when you have to wash it by hand. And, it might be fun if I didn't have to stay in a hotel that costs 100 dollars a night. But, I do. And, it might be fun if I hadn't already seen everything I wanted to in Barcelona because I thought I would only be here a few days. But, I did. So, being stuck in Barcelona is not really as fun as it sounds like it might be. But, I will try to make the best of it and see what I can. And, hopefully, there will be no problems with my flights scheduled for Sunday.

*So as not to make it sounds like Mr. Frisby grabbed his chance to get out and just left me here to fend for myself, he was very helpful and even tried to change his flight so he could stay the extra days with me and we could come back together. But, since I had managed to get the last seat on any Delta flight for Sunday (at least that's what the Delta guy told me), there were no open flights for Mr. Frisby to switch to. So, instead of having him stay even longer than Sunday and taking the chance that something would happen with those flights, we decided it best for him to just get home while he could.

So, here I am in Barcelona until Sunday. Anyone want to join me? Oh wait. You probably wouldn't be able to get a flight here until next year.

Mallard Resort: A Duck Update

A little while ago, I blogged about our new neighbors. I put forth my theory that they had eloped. I think I was right because this is what I saw when I looked outside this morning:



Yep, that's mama and 8 little ducklings.

Obviously, the honeymoon was a success and the ducks feel that our "honeymoon resort" also makes a great "family resort". And word is getting out because the numbers are increasing.



And don't even think these ducks are above a little morning dip in the hot tub.



(In truth, I was a little worried when I saw them heading for the hot tub. I thought maybe it would be too hot and would cook the little ducklings. I guess mama knows best. She pushed them right in and they appear to be fine. Who doesn't need a little hot spring action?)

It's like having Animal Planet right in my backyard. But, I do wonder what all the chlorine is doing to their little systems.

Date Night

Is anybody as excited about this movie as I am?

Away We Go...

Mr. Frisby and I are headed out for more travels. In one week, we are off to Spain!



What takes us to Spain you might ask? Well, for Mr. Frisby, it's business travel. For me, it's leisure travel. And by leisure, I mean seeing everything there is to see! We will spend a week in Madrid while Mr. Frisby does the work thing. Then, when he's done, we will take a few extra days and head to Barcelona. We are very excited! Mr. Frisby has never been to Spain before and I have had only a short amount of time in Madrid and I've never been to Barcelona. So, off we go. And I have been doing lots of research in preparation for the big trip and already have lots of plans for what we should do there. We are ready for good times. Don't worry - I will tell you all about it when we get back!

If anyone has any suggestions of things we should do while there, please feel free to tell me!