In which we almost meet the Queen

We were thrilled that Marisa and Dave decided to vacation in the British Isles in June. We met them in London for their first weekend, and then they finished their trip with some time in Belfast before we all went down to Dublin and they flew home.

We met for dinner on Friday night and, after a quick jaunt through the Tate Modern, found our beds. They were ready to go again relatively early on Saturday morning (only God knows how) and we went to the Borough Street Market and stuffed ourselves first off. From there we moved on to the major sights: Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey to name a few.

No trip to London is complete without a visit to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard, but we, completely and utterly oblivious, bumped into the Queen. The Brits sure do love their queen; apparently if her birthday doesn't fall in the summer (it's in April), then she gets a summer birthday party nonetheless. It's officially called Trooping the Colour. Long story short, we went to see the guards move around a little bit, and within an hour we were about 20 feet from the Queen Mother, Kate, and Prince Hotty. I mean Harry. Not a bad morning's work.

In Dublin we checked out the Book of Kells at Trinity College and did the Guinness tour one more time. Andrew and I also found the smallest bar in Dublin. Not kidding. It really is the smallest bar in Dublin. It felt like we were in someone's basement in the '80s with a terrible home bar. Obviously the best part of this visit was getting to see Marisa and Dave (and you can see more of the trip on flickr).

A barnedåb for two

We made a triumphant return to Aalborg at the end of May. Our second visit, in fact, since we moved two and a half years ago. I honestly can't believe it's been that long, but when you think about it, little Finley was born as we were leaving and he's now about 2.5. Finley, big brother to our two newest little godchildren (ish). A few months back, Owen & Anne-Marie asked us to come to Aalborg for a barnedåb and serve as fadderbrev to the twins, Eluf and Harald. The word translates more roughly to "sponsor" than godparent, but we stood on an altar at a church and agreed to something of the sort (it was in Danish). We couldn't believe they would ask us, but it is such an honor.

  

By sheer chance (and kismet), this was the same weekend as Karnival. Karnival being the huge city-wide, party/parade that Aalborg hosts every year in May. Karnival being the very same party/parade that woke us up on our first morning in Aalborg in 2011. It was such an amazing weekend to come back, full of great memories. We walked around town and reminisced, ate some ristet pølser from our favorite wagon, visited some of our old haunts, ate some more ristet pølser from our favorite wagon, checked out what was new since we had moved, and then ate some ristet pølser from our favorite wagon again. We also went to our old grocery store to see if they still had the cheese we used to get and considered bringing some back. (We decided we couldn't.) Not surprisingly, we also found time to eat some amazing Danish pastry, too. All the sights and more photos are on flickr.

Denmark may just be my favorite country to visit. I'm looking forward to our next one, which is coming up shortly. See you in July, Copenhagen!

Barcelona: la segunda visita

Dave and Deb Stone were in Europe in early May, so we met up with them in Barcelona for a long weekend. It's always great when someone we know is on the same continent as we are - if nothing else, it's an excuse to get out of town. Unfortunately Deb was a bit under the weather that weekend, but we did get to spend time with Dave and get some heat. It was sunny both days and almost hit 80°! You can imagine how wonderful this was, as everyone says it was the worst spring on record here in Belfast and summer is proving to be just as bad (if you can even call this summer). 

It was a weekend of gluttony (as our vacations inevitably are). About 20 feet from our apartment was one of the best bakeries I've ever been to (Fork de Pa - as pictured below). We stopped there every morning and the pastries were better than anywhere else. I also got some churros at some point (obligatory on a trip to Spain, I think). And the cava was flowing.

 

We had wanted to ride the Funicular de Montjuïc last year, but the two-hour wait deterred us. This time around we got in line before it was open and ended up waiting only about 45 minutes... lucky us. The wait was worth it, though, because riding the funicular was pretty cool. It was a short trip and a bit scary when it actually took off, but getting to the top was amazing, especially because some of the best croquettes we've ever eaten were waiting. We explored Montjuïc Castle, an old military fortress, for several hours before heading down and meeting Dave for a late lunch. Later that night we met Dave and Deb for dinner at a restaurant that burned us the night before when it was booked and I was hangry. (That's not a typo. Hungry + angry = hangry.)

 

On Sunday we rented bikes and thought we would bike up to Park Güell. If you want a tip, don't try to bike up to Park Güell. This park is on top of a hill and they actually have a funicular and outdoor escalators for people to get up it. Thanks for nothing, Lady Who Rented Us Bikes - we told her our plan and she said nothing of the lunacy of it. Anyway, after a seriously awful trek up (which started with biking but ended with me very angry and pushing my bike), we did find a back entrance. However, we were so tired and annoyed by that time we ended up leaving after about ten minutes. We'll explore the park next time. The trip back down (blissfully all down hill) wasn't half bad, though. We met Dave on the beach after that and got some of the seafood we'd been craving. Also, we spotted another cousin David lookalike. A real rarity.

We rounded out our short vacation with a trip to Can Paixano on Monday, now our favorite spot to hit when we're in town. The cava is €1 a glass with the stipulation that food must be purchased. Delicious, cheap, wonderful food. Done. More photos on flickr.

¡Feliz Año!

Fresh off the boat from Luxembourg, we stopped home just in time to say hello to the cats before turning right back around to the airport. Uncle Bob and Barb are spending the month of January in Spain and invited us along for a few days at the beginning of their trip, so we met them in Madrid to ring in the new year.

Andrew's taking over for the rest of this:

Bob and Barb were meant to call us first thing after landing on New Year's day, but when we didn't hear from them, we figured their flight was delayed and that we had time for a trip to the supermercado. Luckily, it was a quick trip, because we returned to the apartment to find them waiting at the front door, looking panicked. It turns out dialing international numbers can be a bit tricky. We spent our first day together walking to el centro de Madrid, including La Latina -- the old town.

Just off Plaza Mayor we found a purveyor of "el mejor churros del mundo" (which was, sadly, a gross exaggeration). The slow service allowed our newly arrived companions time enough for a quick snooze.

We walked home that night through a very dark, but surprisingly populous, Parque del Retiro, which is located near our apartment and also where we began the day on Friday.

We emerged from el parque on Friday just behind El Prado, with pangs of hunger and a bit of thirst. After admiring the baroque door of San Jerónimo el Real, we stopped for a bite and a caña (draft beer). After a bit more wandering, we rendezvoused with our companions (after we had parted in pursuit of separate meal plans) at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza for a chronological stroll through art history.

Saturday we were off to an early and frigidly cold start on not-quite-the-first (but near enough) train to Toledo. The town was stunning; particular highlights included the cathedral (Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada Toledo), the excellent meal at Restaurante Locum, the incredible views, and the absurdity of staffing the ticket office of a museum that was closed until February (thanks for nothing, Museo de Santa Cruz!). We also met Pollock's (much more active) Spanish cousin, El Pollocko.

We came back from Toledo in the afternoon, just in time to get a quick visit to the Reina Sofia, the museum where Guernica lives. We toured El Prado on Sunday before strolling down the Gran Vía and ending up at the palace. We arrived too late to get in, so it's on our to-do list for our next visit. We're excited to get back at some point again!  (More photos on flickr.)

Passengers Kennedy & Hamilton. This is the last call for your flight to Luxembourg. Please proceed to your gate immediately.

We were sitting in Schiphol, agreeing that it was one of the nicest airports we travel in, enjoying a drink or two before our connecting flight to Luxembourg, when Andrew looked very panicked. "They're paging us!" For the second time in our lives, we sprinted through Schiphol in an attempt to catch a flight.

Rest assured, we made it. KLM is possibly the nicest airline ever, with the nicest employees. They very generously called a bus to take us to the plane all by ourselves, and we even got to sit in the nicer seats so as not to disturb all the timely passengers who were ready to go when they should have been. This was an excellent start to a truly wonderful Christmas, made even better upon landing in Luxembourg with Sara waiting.

On Christmas Eve, we spent some time in Luxembourg City, ice skating and going to a Christmas market. Andrew was the fastest skater, Julia was the cutest, and I was the grumpiest. We got to ride a giant ferris wheel at the market, ate some lunch, and indulged in a bit of mulled wine.

Christmas morning was wonderful. Santa spoiled us all, but everyone except Julia was left wanting a My Little Pony or Frozen gift - it seems none were left for the rest of us.

We went chateau-ing on Boxing Day - three in one day, oh my!

Next stop Mount Everest

Our last day in Luxembourg dawned snowy and cold. I was glad to get a bit of snow for Christmas and I was pretty lucky to have a pal who wanted to play in it with me. Andrew and Paul went out cross-country skiing for a few hours before we had to pack in it and head back to Belfast. We were seriously sad to leave, as it was a really incredible trip. Check out more of it on flickr.

Thank you for being a friend!

Andrew and I threw a 'fancy dress' party for Halloween this year. (They call costumes 'fancy dress' here, which I like. It makes a costume party seem much cooler.)

We like to represent the USA as much as possible and we thought this was a great opportunity. Halloween is not nearly as big a holiday here in the UK, but it has been gaining popularity in the past few years. So much so that I was unable to get a pumpkin! I had one ordered with our groceries for Wednesday night, but was told by our delivery guy that Tesco is all out. "Good luck finding one - maybe if you go at 10am when the delivery comes in?" Thanks, buddy, I'll try that... Thursday after work I checked our local store. I was following around a woman and her stroller-bound baby, and was prepared to wrestle one away if she found one first. Lucky for her, the only thing left in the huge bin was a sad, small, green blob that neither of us wanted. Three of my coworkers looked at various places for me throughout the day on Friday, but to no avail. Sadly, we had no jack o' lantern at our party.

We did have a penguin, a pussycat, a castaway and Wilson, a lady frankenstein, a Roman soldier, the girl from The Exorcist, Beetlejuice, Austin Powers, and THE GOLDEN GIRLS! I sincerely thank my friends for being friends. Susan, Aisling, Richard and I were Rose Nylund, Sophia Petrillo, Dorothy Zbornak, and Blanche Devereaux, respectively.

Andrew's costume was among the best:

We celebrated late into the night and a good time was had by all! More photos to enjoy on flickr.

Winter is coming (but you wouldn't know it in Florida)

We spent last week in sunny Florida, which is especially amazing since the clocks have now changed here and we have about five solid months of darkness headed our way. Memories of our week in the sun will have to get us through.

I started the trip with a stop in Chicago, visiting my nearest and dearest for one night. Thanks to everyone for a great little birthday dinner! Thanks to my sister for picking me up and providing me with Portillos! Thanks to my nephew for all of the hugs and kisses he packed in! Thanks to Giordano's for making pizza!!!

The next day was Dave and Deb's wedding, the real impetus for our trip. Ceremony right on the beach, excellent food, good music, and a great bunch of people. They are a beautiful couple and we are so glad we could make it in!

The rest of the trip was spent with the Hamiltons/Lapps in a mansion on the beach: not too bad! The house we were meant to have for our week in the sun wasn't available, so we got upgraded to an insanely large substitute - Andrew and I got to stay in our own wing of the house! We spent a lot of time relaxing by the pool, swimming, taking the sea kayaks out, and I won a pretty great game of Uno one night. One day, Jon rode a jetlev for an hour. It was pretty cool:

On Tuesday, Eric, Mom & Dad, and Andrew & I spent the day in Key West. After an exciting drive down in the pouring rain (during which we had a brief brush with the local law enforcement...), we got there and had some amazing Cuban food at a little cafe. We hopped on a trolley and explored town a bit: we saw Hemingway's house, the little White House, the US Naval Air Station, a house that Calvin Klein once owned, a very tall lighthouse, and for some odd reason, a lot of roosters wandering the streets. We were also the farthest south we could be in the U.S. and the closest to Cuba.

Jon rented a boat on Wednesday, and Andrew, Eric, Jon, and I went out for a ride and some snorkeling. We ran into a small snag on the way out to sea when we lost power for a few minutes - our trusty mechanics got us on our way again in no time, though. Snorkeling was fun for a little while, despite the fear of jellyfish and the copious amounts of salt water I ingested. I was feeling a bit rough by the time I got back into the boat, and I ended up feeding the fish some of the pumpkin muffins I had eaten for breakfast not too long before. We headed home soon after...

All in all, it was a really excellent trip home. I got to see both of my families, enjoy some warmth and sunlight, and celebrate with friends on such a wonderful day in their lives.

More pictures on flickr (there are a lot of jetlev photos!).

p.s. Here's the view from the mansion. It was AMAZING!