Throwback Thursday- Our Trip to London

That's right... about two months ago we went to London!  But somewhere along the way, that trip got forgotten and left behind.  There is so much to do in London that it can easily be overwhelming.  We spent a lot of time eating, just like when we were in Barcelona, and speaking ENGLISH!  Which means we both got our hair cut while we were there.

When we arrived, London was like you picture it- rainy and dreary.  But it quickly cleared up and remained a decent and mostly sunny 50's-ish for the entire trip. 

After a minor mishap with booking our Book of Mormon tickets (we supposedly booked a matinee and showed up for evening show) we rebooked our tickets for the next night and ended up with better seats!! 

We had to stop by the Rapha shop for coffee... We've now been to nearly all of their locations- San Fran, London, and Mallorca.  And have never purchased anything but coffee. 

 
And we saw all the sights... and ate so much food...  There's so much to do!

 We stopped by the British museum because 1)  It's free (and London is expensive) and 2)  it houses the Rosetta Stone!

And mummified cats.

Being in London was a nice break from the Spanish lifestyle and gave us the chance to feel semi-American again.  This may have happened too...

No shame. 

Beers in Munich are THIS Big

Bus to Where?

As seen in Reims

Trains - Honeymoon/Semana Santa Pt. III

After our brief stint in Paris we went to the Gare de L'est and caught our train to Reims.  Since we live a life of ease and leisure, we booked first class seats facing each other with a table in between.

Train travel is by far one of the best things about Europe and, as you can tell, I am suuuuper excited about this (and the Gouda flavored crackers, which were delicious).

As you can see from the screen behind the girl with the silly cheeks, the train goes well over 300kph (186mph).  The highest speed we saw the screen get up to was 330kph, which is over 200 mph.

Just in case you were wondering why someone had silly, puffy cheeks.  The answer, as usual, is wine.

Checking out the scenery.  Even going really fast, its a great way to see parts of the country outside of the city.  And doing so with a Belgian beer and (amazing) French crackers makes it even better.

Barthelona!

So, in February, flights to Barthelona (the proper way to say Barcelona in Spain) were uber cheap.  Like, 18 Euros each way.  So off we went to Barcelona for a fun weekend!  We've both been a couple times now so we were looking forward to going back.  Coming from Grand Junction and Palma, we were surprised by how many amazing restaurants were there.  In the past we've mainly eaten at local cafes and places near our hostel.  This time we looked more places up and went out of our way to find some good food that our taste buds were craving!  (e.g. HAMBURGERS!).  That being said, our trip to Barcelona definitely consisted more of food than anything else.  Sure we saw the main attractions (ones we hadn't seen on past trips) and rode the metro and visited our favorite areas. But really, we just ate.  A lot. 

At a restaurant called Milk, we found real Bloody Marys!

And Brunch!!

Really, real brunch.  If you didn't know, brunch is significantly more American than apple pie.  People in Europe just don't do brunch.  Usually, if you ask them if they have brunch, they ask you if you're American.

This is the remnants of our Hamburger from the restaurant Bacoa.  

Look, its a bar, no, its a clothing store.  Wait, its both!  Its a bar in the back of a women's clothing store.  Best.  Thing.  Ever.

Happiness is an espresso followed by a martini.

Hanging down by the water, drinkin' some wine.

We went to the La Caixa forum, to see an exhibit on the architect Le Corbusier.  Along with most of his original architectural models, they also had several of his paintings.  Some of which Kelly took pictures of before she was asked to put the camera away because thats not at all allowed.

Ice Cream!!!

Cologne, Germany

After Kelly's parents went back to the States after Christmas, Kelly, Mike, and I caught a flight from Palma to Cologne, Germany.  Why you ask?  Because it was dirt cheap.  Lots of Germans come to the island for the holidays so the return flights are empty and cheap.

 Greeting us at the Cologne airport was this awesome sign because, you know, why not...

Once we were in Cologne, we wandered around the city center.  The city was bombed to the ground during World War II, so there are no old buildings like alot of Europe.  There is a giant cathedral and that is about the only building that is from before 1945 so the city has a different vibe than what you think of as a European city.

Eventually we found the Christmas Market in a square near our hotel.  It had a large ice-skating rink and lots of vendors selling food and things.  Oh, and there was a flea circus.  Like, for reals.  It took us seeing the guy playing around with a city in a briefcase a couple times to realize what it was, but it was a flea circus.  It was also all in German so we understood none of it, but from the look of the crowd, Germans really like flea circuses.

 Big 'Ol brat in Germany

Fried bread-y things, delicious

We wandered around the city center for most of the night in search of a cheap beer.  I always thought that beer in Germany was dirt cheap and served in giant glasses.  At least in Cologne, this is not true.  The beer (Kolsch beer is from Cologne or Koln in German) was expensive (note:we live in a country where there is 20%+ unemployment and so everything here is cheap, but still...) and came in little .2L glasses.  Who knew?

 Looking over the Rhine River at the cathedral

We literally stumbled over these small bronze plaques in the sidewalk.  They were in front of a house and had the names of the Jews who had lived there and were taken to concentration camps along with the number they were assigned in the camp and the date they died.  These were the only ones we saw so I don't know who put them there or how many there are.

All-in-all we found Cologne to be underwhelming.  We have heard great things about Germany but Cologne, with its newer building and industrial and touristy feel was not our favorite stop.  It has some great museums and is easy to get to and from by train though.  And lets be honest, if flights there are cheap again, we'll probably go back, traveling is never that bad!

Winter Travels

After Kelly parents left Spain we headed up to Northern Europe for a little holiday travel with our friends Mike and Michelle.  The trip started in Cologne, Germany where we had brats from the winter market.

Followed by a train ride to Brussels, Belgium where we saw the Superprestige CX race at Diegem and enjoyed plenty of good beer.

Then another train ride to Amsterdam where we rang in the new year in with a bazillion other people and the got some culture at the Rijksmuseum.

And we finished off with another train ride back to Cologne where we flew back to Palma. 

Details to come...

Trains are so rad!

So we are currently between Paris and Brussels doing 180mph on the train with free wifi, a stewardess, plenty of electrical outlets (4 to be exact), and a TON of legroom. I love Europe. Amsterdam, here we come!