Madrid

All Spanish Roads Lead to Madrid

Madrid
Spain’s capital city, Madrid, sits at an elevation of 2,188 feet. Compared with Barcelona’s near sea-level, it makes for quite a difference especially when considering weather and temperature in December. We left Barcelona in the mid 60s (F) and arrived to an average of ten degrees … [Read More]

Barcelona

In the heart of Catalunya

May I suggest one of my favorite books: “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. This is an enchanting book I read years ago, taking place in none other than Barcelona. It takes place in 1945; the protagonist is a young man named Daniel who takes you on a thrilling adventure … [Read More]

Southern Spain

Please sir, may I have some Moor?

Ryan and I left lovely Porto and headed for southern Spain. Luckily for this portion of our trip my brother, Grant, and his girlfriend, Lili, came to visit! We met in Malaga, rented a car, and drove to Granada. Granada is a small city located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range (not … [Read More]

Porto

Drinking port in Porto, Portugal, near the port

Porto
Porto was a mere three hour train ride north of Lisbon, but the much colder weather we encountered felt more Baltic than Mediterranean. It was smaller and gave us a cozier vibe. Just like Lisbon, we had no problem communicating in English here and quickly established a favorite coffee shop that … [Read More]

Lisbon and Sintra

Black and White and Colorful All Over

Lisbon and Sintra
Rather than risking another unpleasant night train all the way from France to Portugal, we opted to take a cheap RyanAir flight from Marseilles to Lisbon. After grabbing a bite to eat and settling in at our Airbnb, we busted out the Rick Steves Europe app, and began the audio tour for Lisbon. It … [Read More]

Trading One Riviera for Another

A Nice Time in Nice

After spending over a month in Italy, it was finally time to go. We boarded the train from Genoa and started making our way along the coast into France- specifically the French Riviera. We arrived in Nice in the late afternoon and checked into our new Airbnb a block away from the train station. … [Read More]

The Colors of Liguria

Primarily green- it's all about the pesto

The day prior to us leaving the Amalfi Coast was the final day the ferry to Salerno would be operating earlier than 10:00 AM. This was very unfortunate for us because it meant we’d have to take a bus to Salerno in order to catch our 10:00 AM train. Up to this point, we had managed to avoid … [Read More]

The Amalfi Coast

Sunshine and Lemon Groves

We took our second (and mercifully last) night train from Siracusa to Salerno- ending up with not much more sleep than our first time, but thankfully there was running water and electricity this time around. Once in Salerno, we boarded the ferry to Amalfi. We spent the better part of the day … [Read More]

Sicilia

Land of Granita and Mandarinetto

We left Arezzo by train at 8:30 AM to Rome, dropped off our bags, explored Rome all day (by walking over 18 miles), then hopped on the night train bound for Sicily at 11:00 PM. Yes, you read that right: you can take a train to the ISLAND of Sicily. There are no bridges from the mainland. The train … [Read More]