We've landed

After a long day of flying, we finally got back to Fort Wayne last night and Michael came and picked us up at the airport. Ot was nice sleeping in our own bed last night. I will post about the flight and Madrid later tonight and try to fill in the gaps.

Barcelona / Madrid

So I never came back and posted after the game, bust better late than never. Barcelona was great. We spent the first morning on a guided tour seeing the city sites. We saw the old cathedral as well as the Sangra Famillia (the cathedral Gaudi designed). The Gaudi houses were very interesting to see and a stark contrast from the usual type of architecture. I'll just have to upload some pictures later. We made it to the top of Mountjuic to take some scenic pictures of the city. On the way up we passed by the olympic stadium from the 1992 olympics which was a real turning point for the city. We made our way back to the hotel to meet a colleague of Adrian's that lives in Spain for lunch. His name is Jordi and this was the first time we met him, but he treated us out to a great lunch on the Barcelona port. We had calimari, Spanish ham on bread, and fried Spanish peppers( some really hot like the first one I had and most very mild, its kind kind of like playing Roulette you never know how spicy the pepper will be) for appetizers. We followed that up with seafood paella for the main couse and some great desserts. At lunch he gave us the 2 tickets for the FC Barcelona game and told all about the team and what the locals like to call the cathedral in which they play. After lunch we spent the rest of the day walking around the gothic quarter of Barcelona and rested for the game.

We used the subway to go to the game mainly just following the droves of FCB jerseys to the stadium. Here are a couple of things I learned from the game:

1.) FCB is way better than Real Zaragosa. The final score was 4 to 1 in favor of FCB but it might as well have been 20 to 1 the way they dominated the game.

2.) I should have bought a Messi jersey. Before the game I bought a Henry jersey who is their center forward but he didn't convert any of the 4 scoring oportunities that he had. Meanwhile Messi scored the first 2 goals.

3.) You are apparently supposed to to whistle really load when you are mad at the refs.

4.) When you are really mad at the refs you pull out a white hankerchef and wave at them.

5.) They really love their soccer in Spain. Very very few people left early in what many would consider a blowout in soccer terms.

The seats were great and we had a blast and we went to the game by ourselves. Kind of a scary thing to do when you don't know the language very well.

The next day we left for Madrid. Nothing much happened that day as it was a long drive, but we did get to sleep a lot which we really needed since we didn't get back from the game until 1:00 that morning.

Well I have to get ready for dinner so I'll have to finish the update on Madrid later.

Adios!

2nd row midfield at FCB

So I was wrong about it being a champions league game but it is a national league game. The seats are awesome!!! The equivelent of being 2nd row on the 50 yard line at a Buckeyes game at the horseshoe for you non soccer fans. I'll post more later since the game will start shortly.

Yes I do like really thin pancakes.

I am sitting in a cafe in Arles where we just has hot dogs on baguettes and chocolate filled crepes (or really thin pancakes), trying to update on the last couple of days.

Monaco was great. We got to walk around and see Princess Grace's tomb, the starting line for the Monaco Grand Prix, Prince Albert's palace, and of course the casinos in Monte Carlo. We each went with 20 euros and expecting to lose it. Adrian had no problem losing hers quickly while I was able to come away with 34 so all in all we only lost 6 euros. The lights of Monaco were beautiful as well as the really expensive cars that were parked in front of the old casino. I think Adrian could have stayed there for hours.

The next day we slept in a bit and spent the day on our own. We walked to the contemporary art museum in Nice to find that it was closed on Mondays. So we took a walk around old town and stopped by the beach to jump in the Mediterranean. We didn't stay on the beach very long because it is a stone beach and not a sand beach. Instead we spent a nice relaxing afternoon at the hotel's pool and solarium on the top floor. It had a beautiful view of the coast line. Adrian likened it to being on the top of a cruise ship without all the wind. The quote of the day from Adrian "I never realized how much seeing bathing suit tops make a difference when determining if some people are male or female...". She said this as we were walking down the Nice beaches where tops are optional.

That night we had a really nice French dinner in the old town area near our hotel. Today we left Nice and headed to Barcelona with a stop in Arles. I just found out that thanks to some of Adrian's business contacts we will be going to the Barcelona Champions league soccer game on Wednesday evening with a 100,000+ crazy soccer fans. More on that from Spain.

Au revoire!

Bonjour! From Nice

We haven't had time to update the last couple of days and the network wasn't very fast when we did have time, so I guess we should update you with what has happened the last few days. Venice was great! I was glad I got to go in San Marco Basilica which was something I missed the last time I was here. The ceiling moziacs were incredible (I can't believe - missed it the first time). Adrian and I did take a gondola ride, which we both really enjoyed. We did a little bit of shopping and had to eat at McDonalds for lunch because we ran out of time. Our time in Venice was short but great none the less. Off to Florence...

For our first night in Florence, we took the optional Tuscan dinner excursion which turned out to be great. Adrian likened it to an Italian version of a Luau. We ate outside at this place outside the city of Florence. They provided singing and excellent food. For the main course they brought out the flaming remains of a cow(I'm sure I'm not doing it justice with that description). We enjoyed the dinner and some great conversations with the people at our table. All the older people on our tour have really enjoyed us and some have even invited us to stay at their houses should we ever be in the area.

The next day in Florence was a busy one as we did a walking tour throughout the city with our local guide. We got to see Michaelanglo's David, the inside of the Santa Maria Croce (the duomo), the Ponte Vechio, various other buildings and the Ufizzi Gallery (famous for its collection of Rennisance paintings like the Birth of Venus). On the way back we ran across a lost couple from our tour and brought them back to the hotel. At this point we have noticed that our tour guide is not always the best at giving directions, he told the group the hotel was 3 bridges past the Ponte Vechio when it was actually 4. We went to bed early after a long day and prepared to leave Florence in the morning.

This morning we stopped by Pisa to take a few pictures of the leaning tower. We didn't have much time there so Adrian and I rushed to the tower with the hopes of climbing it if the line wasn't too long. We arrived to find the line was very short, only a couple of people, but the price to go up was 15 euros per person, which would have been about 50 dollars for the both of us to go. We deemed that it wasn't worth it since we would only have time to be at the top for a couple of minutes. We took our token holding up the tower pictures and boarded the bus for Nice.

The drive from Pisa to Nice is really amazing and Adrian loved it. The mountains are on the right and the Mediterranean Sea is on the left. All along the way, small tiowns are tucked away in the mountains. We did have to drive through several mountains which (I think) made Adrian nervous as she is very clostraphobic. We have now made it into France and the town of Nice. Tonight we head to Monaco.

On a different note, sorry if the pictures are not very goodn but it takes a while to upload the high res ones so we have tried to take a few low res ones for uploading while we are on the trip. We also do not have control over how they get posted from here so if it is rotated there is nothing we can do. We plan on uploading more pictures once the trip is over.

Au revoir!

Rome to Venice travel day

This will be a short post since its time for bed. First, our dinner yesterday was incredible. We went to a restaurant near our hotel and loved every bite.

We got up early this morning to head to Venice. It was a long bus drive but apparently we made good time because we made a stop by the historic distric of Venice before heading to our hotel, which was not in the original plan. We took the attached picture on one of the many bridges and bought a few things. We also enjoyed a couple of great gellatos on our walk. After some negotiating we picked up a purse for Adrian and headed back to the bus.

Our hotel is outside of the historic Venice town center so we had our group dinner at the hotel Resaurant. After dinner we went for a walk with some people from our group and headed 1.5 miles in one direction not finding anything but some amazing homes. And now we're back in the room getting ready to fall asleep and prepare ourselves for tomorrow's day in Venice.

Salute!

Rome continued - Under construction

Today started early for us, very early. At 11:30 yesterday evening we go multiple calls for someone named Franchesca. The first time we thought it was our wakeup call because we had been sleeping so hard from the lack of sleep the night before. The second time they did not reply. The third time I answered in German hoping that would deter someone who just wanted to mess with some Americans. After the forth call I left the phone off the hook for several minutes which finally worked.

When we finally woke up at 6:00 we got ready for our first real day in Rome. The day started by going to the Vatican Museum. Our local guide took us through quickly as we saw some of the highlights and ultimatley made it to the Sistine Chapel which was just as amazing as I had remembered it. We then headed to St. Peter's square as we found out that we would not get to go inside St. Peter's Basilica because the Pope here. This was a major disapointment because I that was one of the most memorable parts from my first trip and the view from the top is one of the best in "Rome". Since we couldn't go in the Pope blessed us even though we aren't Catholic. Okay, so maybe the Pope blessed us because he blessed everyone standing outside for his Wednesday blessings. Either way we left and headed with the group to the Colliseum and the Roman Forum.

We didn't stay too long at the colliseum, but we stayed long enough totake few pictures and look around. After the guide gave us the run down on the forum, we left the group and headed out on our own. We started by spending some more time at the forum. We then left the forum and headed past the Victor Emmanuel Monument. Once we got there we saw that the monument was under construction so it wasn't as impressive as I wanted it to be for Adrian. Anyways we left and headed toward the Piazza Navona to see the fountain of the four rivers. On our way we stopped in a small restarunt for pizza. We continued on our journey with full stomachs.

We finally arrived at the Piazza Navona to find the fountain of the four rivers was drained and under repair. Again Adrian missed out on seeing a truly amazing sight. We left and headed to the Pantheon.

As we walked down the small alley like streets, we came upon the amazing grandour of the Pantheon. Finally something that wasn't under construction.
We left and head to the Trevi Fountain. Once we arrived we made our way through the mob of people to toss our coins in and hope we one day will return. We left the fountain and headed to the Spanish steps passing down the via condotti (which is the Italian equivilent to Rodeo drive, and non we didn't buy you anything, or us for that matter). We arrived at the steps and rested. The attached picture is from our time there. Guess what, the obilisk at the top of the steps was under repair. From there, we left and headed back to our hotel with a great scenic walk through the Burghese Gardens. All in all the day turned out to be great, and we still haven't finished it off with dinner. Sure everything didn't turn out as we had planned, but we're in Romen and when in Rome...

Rome Picture

From our hotel balcony

64

Buongiorno!! You are probably wondering what the title of this post means. From the people we have met so far, that would be the median and the mode age. For you math geeks, we are certainly an outlier. We have met one other couple from New York that are also outliers.

We arrived safe and sound and have made it to the hotel. I am thankful that the flight is over, that no screaming children were sitting next to us and that we have our luggage. The weather here is partly cloudy with some rain showers. High 75.

Oh, the hotel has Adrian's favorite color carpet and very eclectic style.

Salute!

Lessons Learned

If you read the bottom of our last post you will see that I accidentally posted from my work account. Oops! Will use yahoo next time but I'm glad it's working!

FWA

Update from the airport:
We are sitting in the Fort Wayne International Airport with all systems a go to Cincinnati and then Rome! We will enjoy our last supper in Cincinnati.

Questions you might ask:
Where's Nemo? He is safe at home with Michael Whitton, who is house sitting for us.
Have you ever been to Europe? Adrian has never been and David spent a month there in 2001. Neither of us has been to Spain though!

How will you update the blog? Adrian has an international phone with email capabilities (Blackberry) and will be updating via email.

That's it for now. Salute!

 

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Confessions from Adrian

It is Saturday morning. I'm up doing laundry and worrying....I mean, thinking of the million things that need to get done before we leave for two weeks starting Monday. And for those of you that know David know that he is fast asleep and will be until noon if I don't wake him up. How can he sleep with so much to do? To be fair, I went to bed at 9, yes, on a Friday night. (I'm sick, does that justify it this time?) And he stayed up watching a movie he rented for a dollar. I love RedBox! No guilt if/when I fall asleep during the movie.

Today's agenda:

• Laundry
• Wal-mart
• Wash the S2000 (I can't leave her sitting in the garage dirty :) )
• Get over this cold fast
• Unpack from Oklahoma and Repack for Europe!!!

The washing machine just stopped. Time to switch!

Test Post

This is the first entry to make sure this is working