Granada, Spain {June 2}

The first week of June we went to Spain. For an entire week. A week!! It was heavenly.

We stayed in Malaga at an old people resort ... well, really it was just a normal resort that lots of old people stayed at. But, it felt like an old people resort. And our bathroom smelled like sewage. But, we had an awesome patio ... so that made up for it. Plus, we were in Southern Spain. 

A little fact about Brad ... he speaks fluent Spanish. He served his mission in Uruguay. And he loves speaking Spanish so, I knew that we pretty much had no limitations during this trip. No language barrier!!!! It was pretty fun listening to him speak to all the locals and he was definitely in heaven getting to talk to everyone. I probably had a blank, confused stare on my face for about 87% of the trip. I was clueless. Okay, I would catch maybe, every fifth word but, not enough to know what was going on! Thank heavens for my little translator ... 

Sunday morning we headed up to Granada, Spain. First we hit up church. This was probably one of the highlights for Brad, he has missed being able to attend church in Spanish ... apparently English isn't good enough for him. Anyway: it was fast & testimony meeting and even though I didn't understand anything that was going on, it was an awesome experience. Brad got to bear his testimony and I'm pretty sure he was on cloud 9. I was overwhelmed by the hospitality and love these people had for us. I have never felt so welcomed in a ward as I did in this Spanish branch. Brad talked to several families for quite awhile and I was able to talk to some of the missionaries from America, that spoke English. I had a sweet old Spanish lady come up and give my very first faire la bise (where they kiss both your cheeks, although, I'm not sure the term for it in Spanish, that is the French term), I felt so European! We had a (very) broken conversation and she was so adorable, I wished I could understand her more!

The whole church experience was so wonderful. 

After church we headed into the city and found a place to eat in a beautiful plaza. This fountain was amazing! The Spanish have a very relaxed way of living, they are never in a hurry to get anywhere and when you're visiting, you can't help but enjoy that custom. Not once during our time in Spain did we feel rushed and feel like we were running out of time. It was fantastic!

The Alcaiceria is the old shopping district of Granada ... you can find anything there - jewelry, skirts, sunglasses, bowls, everything ... it was there I fell in love with the Moroccon tiles and the mosaic artwork. They know how to do it down there!

These LAMPS!!! If they hadn't been 220 Volt I most likely would have come home with one - they were BEAUTIFUL!!! 

Spices and incense are very popular in Spain as well, almost every shop had some incense burning ... 

The Cathedral was pretty impressive, it used to be a Moorish Mosque but it was conquered by some Christians who built their cathedral on top of the mosque. You can see parts of Mosque sticking up in the middle (not in the picture). I was a little disappointed the church wasn't open.

The main thing to see in Granada is The Alhambra. It was (is?) a Moorish palace and it was AMAZING. The details were so ornate and beautiful. The crazy part, is it was built during the Dark Ages, while the rest of Europe was in a slumber, the Moors were experiencing the complete opposite and it definitely showed in the palace decor. 

The Alhambra was up on a hill overlooking the city and the views were beautiful ... views like this will probably never get old! On the way up the hill they had little streams running down the side of the path and Kason had a blast playing in them!

Just like every other palace in Europe, the gardens were incredible. 

Charles V built a palace right next to the Alhambra ... Rick Steves told us that in the center of the courtyard there were perfect acoustics. So...naturally Brad and I had to try them out. We sang and harmonized a little and afterwards, we got a round of applause from the tourists. Apparently we're pretty awesome ... either that or the acoustics really are that good. 

Aren't the details fantastic!? 

And the VIEWS!!!

Inside the Alhambra I was blown away by all the work and details they put into it. Each area was originally covered in paint - reds, blues, yellows, greens - a lot of the paint had been worn off after all these years. I could only imagine how it looked when all the walls were freshly painted. 

The ceramic tiles were my favorite!

The Courtyard of the Myrtles: 

The Moorish women were rarely allowed to go outside of the palace walls so, the palace was scattered with a lot of courtyards under the sun for them to enjoy. 

The Grand Hall is where the sultan hung out ... his throne would sit in the middle archway. In this very room, Christopher Columbus 'made one of his final pitches to Isabel and Ferndinand to finance a sea voyage to the Orient.' (Rick Steves) Christopher Columbus stood in this very room!!! 

These 'W' shaped characters stand for "Allah" - they could be found throughout the palace. 

Some of the original tile ... 

This was the Patio de los Leones ... or the Courtyard of the Lions. The middle fountain had 12 lions circling it and it used to function as a clock with a different lion spouting water on the hour. 

This was part of the Sultan's living room. He wanted to prevent someone named Boabdil from getting the throne so he killed nearly all of Boabdil's family, assuming it would allow the son of his new wife to be given the throne. He stacked 36 heads in the pool of his living room!!! Unfortunately for the sultan, his plan failed and Boabdil ultimately gained the throne after all ... what a waste of 36 perfectly good heads! 

How did I not get a picture of the "head fountain"!? 

Oh, just look at that view! I could definitely get used to living in a palace like this one! Just as long as they let me outside the palace walls on occasion.

This room was so much fun ... you could stand in one corner of the room and whisper into the wall and the person on the opposite corner could hear you perfectly. We had a blast with this room!

The gardens were huge but, by the time we got through the whole palace, we were pretty ready to head home so we didn't spend much time enjoying them. 

After the palace, we grabbed dinner and headed back to our resort in Malaga!

Jolly Ole' London ...

One of Brad's Bucket List items in life has always been to see a Broadway Musical in London. Well, considering that we were on this little trip without a little K-man and we were dubbing this trip as our "Anniversary Trip" (1 year ... already! Crazy, right?) we thought we would just go for it! YOLO! Right? (That's 'You Only Live Once' in young people language ... I am probably WAY too old to be using acronyms like that). 

Okay, anyway ... so Tuesday morning we took the Eurostar train over to London. We had a few hours of sightseeing time and then we went and saw Phantom of the Opera Tuesday night. I pretty much hate all of these pictures but, what are ya gonna do, right? It was pouring rain the entire time we were out wandering the city and the pictures are just "blah" ... oh well. 

Try to ignore my mess of a hair-do ... humidity isn't kind to me. I ran out from under the umbrella, posed for a split second and ran back. This is as good as it gets in London. 

Last time I was in London (on my layover, moving to Germany) we didn't find Buckingham Palace and we didn't go up to the Tower Bridge so, it was kinda neat to get to see them this time around. Funny though, it was pouring rain LAST time I was in London, too!

This picture just makes me laugh. He kinda looks like a circus act with the umbrella and balancing the hot chocolate cups. Note: it was raining so hard that the guards weren't even out front, they were taking cover under the arches in the palace. I don't blame them one bit! 

After getting lost a time or two, in the extremely confusing (at first. to us.), Underground, we made our way back to the area where our hotel was to eat some of the top rated Fish 'N Chips in London at Poppies! This restaurant was adorable and the food was really yummy. I don't like fish, so I got chicken. But, Brad really enjoyed his fish.

Then we got all dolled up and headed towards the Theater district! 

Let us pose for a really awkward Prom photo really quick in front of the theater...

 (that's totally what this reminds me of ... awkward!)

Her Majesty's Theater:

Funny (to me) fact about this picture that I totally want to remember forever ... we were running a little late (note: late to Brad but totally on time in Jami land) and Brad was annoyed that I wanted a picture at a time like that! Can you see it in his face? I on the other hand was glad I grabbed this picture beforehand because afterwards, all the signs were being mauled by the show-goers. 

Oh, and we were still totally on time to the show. 

And in the theater. We were the front row of the balcony which made for some really fun seats, until you take into consideration the really obnoxious 8 or 9 year old sitting behind us who was fidgety and noisy but, other then that, they were great seats!

I sound so negative. Phantom really was AMAZING. It was one of the few Broadway shows I have yet to see so, it was pretty neat to see it in London. Phantom is Brad's favorite show so, he was on cloud 9. All in all it was a fun day, just wet and cold. 

Wednesday morning we headed home. Well, sort of. We got to the Underground station assuming that the tube lines were all running that early and we would be able to get to the airport in time ... wrong.

 Big. Fat. Negative. 

After wandering the station for a little bit, we realized one line was open but, it was under construction so we had to walk a couple blocks (in the rain. of course) to the next "Circle Line" to get to Liverpool Station. We got to Liverpool station seriously like 2 minutes too late to catch the train up to the airport. So ... we caught the next train 20 minutes later. When we got to the airport we hurried to the check in counter where the RyanAir lady told us "Your check in time was 10 minutes ago" Um ... yeah, we know. Then she told us our checked luggage was too late to be checked and we would have to take it through security with us. So, we go to security, wait in line for probably 15 minutes ... getting closer and closer to when our flight was leaving. When we got to the security gate first, they tell us we can't take our big luggage through with us and we have to go through a "special gate" (I am SO glad somebody told us about that!) so while they were searching through my luggage and revealing my underwear to all of London, Brad was having to stand in ANOTHER security line to get our luggage checked. At one point one of the workers asked me what flight we were taking and I snapped at her, "It doesn't even matter!!! We're going to miss our flight anyways!" Yep. Confession, I was NOT a kind soul that morning. When Brad got through the gate we went to find our gate and I kid you not, it was the farthest gate away possible. We had to take a shuttle all the way to the farthest terminal, go up two huge escalators and run to the end of the terminal only to hear the words ...

"Oh, I'm sorry, they JUST closed the door!" 

Well, can't you just UNclose the door!?!

I was so frustrated! We missed everything by about 2 minutes that morning, even though we left the hotel 15 minutes early. 

So, we made the long trek back to the RyanAir desk to see about catching another flight. At first the lady told us there wasn't another flight to Nuremberg until the next morning but, I really didn't want to wait that long so I asked if there was anything else into anywhere in Germany that same day. There was a flight flying into Frankfurt later that night, that would get us home early Wednesday morning. We took it. We had to pay 216GBP (that's like $333 people!!) for a "rebooking fee" which is apparently cheaper than booking a new flight. Whatever. So, thankfully our good friend Charee was able to take our babysitter home and grabbed Kason from the bus stop after school so I knew he was taken care of. And then we figured out how we would get home ... rent a car? Ride the train? But, then I was looking at the departure screen and noticed there was a flight that was flying into Memmingen (by Munich) about 7 hours earlier than the Frankfurt flight. We went BACK to the RyanAir desk and asked if they could switch us to that flight and, bless her heart, she did it for free. So, we were set to get back to Germany that same day!! It was a HUGE tender mercy that I saw that Memmingen flight! 

Once in Memmingen I was SO done with public transportation so, we just rented a car and drove home. And about $500 extra and 10 hours later ... we were home again. London travels are never fun for me, every single time something goes wrong! But, I was super grateful we had Charee to take Kason for us, and thankful that we were able to get home Tuesday instead of sometime Wednesday. 

What a trip. 

In all honesty though, it was a huge blessing to spend these days with Brad before he deploys. I know we will cherish this time and be grateful that we had it while we are apart for so many months. But, it was so nice to get home, see Kason and sleep in our own bed!! 

Paris, Paris, Paris ... the City of Love!

Monday we woke up and headed towards the Eiffel Tower ready for an awesome day of sightseeing in Paris. That quickly was put to the test by the transit workers doing random ticket checks in the metro. We had about ten of the (unused) metro tickets in hand but, for that particular journey, we had already tossed our tickets in the trash ... big Paris no-no. We got stopped by the metro "police" and they asked if we had our ticket with us, when they found out we had already thrown them away they told us we are supposed to keep them until the end of our journey. Um ... whoops! Even after trying to plead our case that "it was our first time in Paris" & "we didn't know any better" they still told us we had to pay up. "30 euro a person!" 

Awesome, right? 

Thankfully, he cut us a deal. Maybe he saw how annoyed Brad was by the whole situation? Or perhaps he was tired of having to explain things to us, as we were holding up the line for others who had to pay-up. We ended up only having to pay 15 euro a person. What a deal! We paid our dues and headed on our way, with legal tickets in hand. Hoorah for Paris tickets! 

I wasn't fully expecting to love the Eiffel Tower as much as I did. It's hard to explain what happens when you travel and something moves you to the core. It's somewhat of a spiritual experience for me and it has only happened three times here in Europe; the Statue of David in Florence, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam & most recently, the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Each time, upon first glance, I am moved to tears, initially making me feel foolish over my reaction but, I have lived my whole life only imagining a visit to the Eiffel Tower and to actually get the opportunity to see it, in person, with my very own eyes ... I can't help but be moved in all sorts of different emotions. 

It is amazing. Absolutely awe-inspiring and beautiful. I honestly have never seen a structure so phenomenal as the Eiffel Tower. 

I may, or may not, have taken a LOT of pictures of the Eiffel Tower. Um, sorry but I'm not sorry! Seriously, Brad had to pry me away from the Tower so we could go see the rest of Paris. I was mesmerized! 

Brad was there too, I'm not sure why I didn't edit any of the pictures with him in them. 

We decided to climb the stairs to the top, well, the 2nd level. We wanted to take the lift to the very top but, when we got to the 2nd level, the ticket offices were all closed and they weren't letting anyone buy tickets to go up. BUMMMER! But, we still got to see the views from the 2nd level. 

After climbing back down the Eiffel Tower we headed towards the Louvre. This park was right outside the Louvre and it was pretty fun to people watch, plus you could see the Eiffel Tower AND the Arc de Triomphe!

We went into the Louvre, fought the crowds of Asians (and others) to see this: 

The Mona Lisa. It probably is about 16 x 20 in size. Nothing too glamorous. I honestly don't even know why it's so famous ... maybe I should do some research before I admit that to all of you. But, there you have it. I've seen it. 

This is also famous: 

And this? Is just the most comical statue I have probably ever seen! 

We wanted to go to the Orsay Museum & the Rodin Museum but ... they were both closed on Monday and we were pretty bummed. Orsay has some original Van Gogh paintings (namely 'Starry Starry Night') and Rodin has the original Thinking Man statue ... we were hoping to see them but, no such luck! So, we headed over to Notre Dame! 

I have seen a lot of churches in my Europe days but the Notre Dame blows them all out of the water! It was so majestic! 

Out front is the exact center of Paris. 

Joan of Arc:

While we were there a couple Priests (maybe?) came out and started singing some Gregorian Chants. It was BEAUTIFUL. So, we sat down and enjoyed it for a bit. Honestly, amazing and so pretty to listen to. I loved the arches and the detail that was carved into them. 

Right next to the Notre Dame is the "lock bridge". People come from all over the world and lock a padlock onto the bridge and then throw the key into the river symbolizing their love. Well, we couldn't go all the way to Paris and not participate in the tradition! 

Don't we both look so thrilled in this picture? We're in love ... promise! 

Throwing our key(s) into the Seine River ... 

This guy ... oh he just added to the fun of our day. I thought he was a fun street performer to listen to so, I grabbed a picture of him and turned my attention back to Brad. Mr. Accordian-Man started yelling at me, trying to get my attention and yelling, what I could only assume, something like, "hey! if you're going to take a picture of me, you need to give me money!!" But, I didn't. Then, as we were leaving Brad tossed in 30cents and we walked on. This guy STOPPED his performing, grabbed the coins and chased after us. He called Brad a cheapskate and THREW the money back at us!!! Kid you not. We started cracking up...WHO DOES THAT!? Apparently 30cents wasn't enough for him ... watch out for this one, he's feisty!

We wandered around Paris, looking at shops and just meandering our way back towards the Eiffel Tower. I bought a super cute Eiffel Tower necklace that never made it home with us ... seriously, something called Karma was out to get us this trip! I was pretty bummed about that one, if I buy a replacement on Amazon, can I claim that I bought it in Paris? Hmm ... 

Anyway: We came across this adorable little bakery and we had to try some goodies. (Side note: We would get some croissants each morning for breakfast and they were AMAZING. We're talking, melt in your mouth deliciousness!!) So, we got some macaroons and some other chocolates. The Raspberry macaroons were easily my favorite, other then that, I wasn't too impressed with the overpriced cookies. 

We found a place to sit, opposite the Eiffel Tower and just enjoyed the sight, before finding a place for dinner. The weather was beautiful and this particular area hardly had any tourists so, it was a nice spot to just sit!

We ate a late dinner and had a great view of the Eiffel Tower. I got some ravioli and Brad got a steak and it was definitely one of the top 5 most delicious meals I have ever eaten. Honest. At 10:00 every night the Eiffel Tower starts to twinkle. This was the best shot I got of it, once we got around the trees, it was done twinkling. But, this was the view from our dinner table that night ... 

And the adorable Paris cafe we enjoyed so very much!

I love this view. I love Paris. I love everything about that city. 

I made Brad kiss me in front of the Eiffel Tower ... he's a lucky guy. I sure love him. I feel so blessed to have gotten to spend this time with him in Paris. 

We really wanted to get to climb up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe since it was closed when we were there on Sunday so we headed back that way. And ..... it was closed again. Darn! We have bad timing! But, we got to see the tip-top of the Eiffel Tower twinkling on the 11:00 hour!

While we were hanging around the Arc, I think I was honestly trying to stall. I didn't want to head back to the apartment because I knew that the next morning we were leaving Paris and that made me a lot sad. Paris has been my favorite "big city" trip that we have done and I wasn't willing to accept that we were leaving the next morning. I wasn't okay with it!! So, I decided to play around with the shutter speeds on my camera. And this, my friends, is the last picture I took in Paris, France. 

So long Paris ...