Barcelona Spain

Hello!
Our newest adventure was to Barcelona, Spain. We knew we had to take one more trip before Nick "classed up." We were not sure exactly where we wanted to go so we researched multiple locations from warmer weather to ski locations. We found cheap flights to Barcelona through Ryan Air and found a 2 bedroom apartment with an amazing view of the Sagrada Familia for less than $80 a night so Barcelona became our destination! Unlike Ireland, where we saw 5 cities in 7 days, we decided to just stay in one place and see all that Barcelona had to offer. Also, we are learning that is the easiest way to travel with a toddler, and she does better with being able to sleep in the same place every night. One of the main attaractions in Barcelona is the Sagrada Familia and Gaudi's other works. The Sagrada Familia is a large cathedral that has been under construction for over 100 years and still is not scheduled to be completed for another 30-80 years. The details in this building and the magnitude of its size is unbelievable.We were only able to spend a couple of hours but even with days of exploring, I am sure we could not have seen it all.

The main cathedral, looking up. The columns are reminiscent of tree trunks with the tops like palm leaves.

The stain glass windows reflected throughout.

The back of the cathedral and the most finished outside area.

We had one audio tour between the two of us (to save money and because we can really only one listen at a time).

Back of the Sagrada Familia from the park.

 The next day we went to another piece of Gaudi's work, the Casa Batllo. Due to the nature of the house (multiple levels with stairs) and Em's mood, we decided that only one of us would tour the building and the other would entertain our baby. The hubs was very sweet and let me take the tour, with the condition that I take lots of pictures to show him. Out of the 3 Gaudi works we saw, this was my favorite. Gaudi designed this house and it was so interesting to see the detail he put into a home. I felt that I was able to appreciate the details more because it was on a more manageable scale. The entire home has a "sea life" theme and is can be seen from the curves in the walls and windows to the tile choice used in the atrium.

Casa Batllo

Balconies of Casa Batllo

Nick and Emily fighting for a picture in front of the Casa Batllo

The lighting in the livingroom, sea life inspired.

Top of the atrium looking down.

Rooftop view

 Nick found a market while he was walking around with Emily and we decided to buy lunch/dinner there one day. Markets are one of our favorite places to find on vacation and we love "self catering".

Check out the next blog for the rest of our holiday in Barcelona!

Ireland: The Final Leg

Hello!
Continuing on with our adventure in Ireland! We finished in Limerick and drove to the Cliffs of Moher. We had heard mixed reviews on the cliffs, some saying it was very touristy while others saying it was well worth the visit. We decided since we were there we might as well go! Unfortunately, the weather was terrible with 40 mph winds, very cold and foggy so we did not get the full experience of hiking around (much too cold to be out for long, especially with little girl!) It was beautiful and we are glad we made the trip though!

By this point, you can tell Em is done with the sightseeing.

And because you can not go to Ireland and not go to Dublin, we finished our trip there! In Dublin we stayed in a private room in a hostel, which was the first time I had stayed in a hostel. I was a little nervous about how Emily would do but the room was larger than many of the hotel rooms we stayed in and the breakfast was fantastic! While in Dublin, we toured the Guinness factory. I was very excited about it because Guinness is my favorite beer! I thought the factory tour was well done and although there were a lot of people, we never felt crowded!

We learned how to pour the perfect pint. Once again we used and loved the Ergo so that Nick and I could both participate and Em was close with all of the people around. 

We loved our time in Ireland and are so glad we got to check an item off of our bucket list! On to the next adventure! 

Ireland Part 2

Hello again!
Continuing on our Irish adventure, we went to Cork, Ireland. We stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast and enjoyed touring the city for 2 days. Out of the 5 cities we stayed in, Cork was our favorite. Cork had a wonderful, fresh market which we self catered many times.It was also a very young city and we were able to walk everywhere we wanted to go.

Emily loved the buckets of olives!

 After Cork we toured the Jameson whiskey distillery on our way to Limerick. The tour was of the old distillery and was interesting. We learned the process of making Jameson whiskey and the differences between whiskeys made in various countries. 

After the Jameson tour we traveled onto Limerick, Ireland. We found a fantastic hotel with a playroom which was such an amazing find! Traveling with an active toddler has its own set of challenges and we are learning how to adapt and make it enjoyable for all 3 of us!

In Limerick, we visited King John's Castle. It had been newly remodeled, with an interactive museum and then the original castle. The view from the top of the castle was stunning, with a view of the mighty Shannon River!

Two more stops on our Irish adventure coming up in the next blog!

Catching up!

Well I am back after a LONG break! Last time I blogged we were about to take our trip to Ireland, which was amazing. I had every intention of coming home from Ireland and blogging immediately but the day we got home we received an email that all of our household goods had arrived and could be delivered the next day!
So after a million (I swear it!) boxes unpacked and the holidays, I'm back to tell about the traveling adventures of the last couple of months!
We decided the best way to see Ireland and more of England/Wales at one time was to drive then take the ferry over to Ireland. We drove across England and stayed one night in Wales. Wales is very interesting because they still use their own language and the street signs and such are in Welsh and English. The Welsh language was quite different from anything we have encountered before and most of the signs/town names seemed unpronounceable to us.

We drove past this town. At what point do you think you have too many letters?

We took the ferry out of Wales, which was a fun experience. We drove the car onto a large ferry, got out of the car and spent 4 hours upstairs in the ferry which was much like a cruise ship with restaurants, kids area, movie theater, etc. then we just drove the car off the ferry and we were in Ireland! Our first stop was the Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone.

Traveling with Em made the Ergo a necessity! The stairs climbing to the top of the castle were very narrow and steep so having the Ergo made it possible for both of us to make it to the top with Em.

Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle

Nick kissing the Blarney Stone. Here's to the gift of gab!

Me kissing the Blarney Stone.

Touring the grounds with the beautiful fall foliage.

The Blarney castle was a lot of fun and we loved that their were many fun activities on the grounds such as a "poisonous garden" with plants that are all poisonous, a witches kitchen with a fire that lights every night and the wishing steps. Stayed tuned for the rest of our Ireland trip and a couple of new trips!

Belton House

Hello All!
Another wonderful week has come and gone and we were lucky enough to have a few more adventures. Last week when we went to the Tattershall Castle we decided to become members of the National Trust which is an organization that manages many of the historic properties throughout England. The National Trust was founded in 1895 with the mission of saving the nation's heritage and open spaces, and they have succeed as far as I am concerned. The National Trust is the largest voluntary conservation organization in Europe. There are many old homes and estates, 65 pubs and inns, 49 churches, nine monasteries and many parks and gardens. With our membership we have access to all of the properties, and we hope to see a large majority of them! Every time we are leaving town, we check our guide book to see if we can stop at a National Trust along the way.
This weekend we decided to go to Nottingham to stop by an Ikea for new dining chairs. Along the way we found the Belton House, which is a beautiful 17th-century English country house set amongst beautiful gardens and a magnificent deer park!  We stopped and stretched our legs while we toured this beauty!Due to it being so late in the year, most of the houses have gone to winter hours and the actual house was not open but we could still tour the grounds.

The leaves are starting to change!

Em says hello from the garden.

The first of the gardens. The large building in the back is called an "orangery" which we just learned, is not actually a place to grow oranges (who would have guessed) but another term for a greenhouse or conservatory type of building. Silly us, we were looking for the orange trees!

Bellmount Tower

The Belton House

The Belton House

Emily loved all of the room to run around and the beautiful grass!

We found the maze on the grounds.

The ivy changes colors too! Absolutely stunning!

The back of the house, you can see exactly how large it truly is.

The Deer park, right next to the parking lot. There were at least 15 deer just walking around.

Emily loved watching the deer.