Allie in the South of Spain

A trip that shouldn't have been This post is another one that seems long overdue, especially considering it is about a trip that should have never happened but that ended up introducing me to one of my FAVORITE places in Spain thus far. A while back Jose and I were scheduled to spend a five day break from work in Germany, more specifically in Berlin. The day we were to fly out was the same day that the air traffic controllers went on strike in Spain. (Read about that here ). We were in the car on the way to the airport, bags packed and ready to go when we found our out flights were canceled. We made a last minute decision to change our route and instead visit the Pueblos Blancos (white villages famous for their white-washed buildings) that are scattered throughout a region in the north of the Malaga and Cadiz provinces.  First stop: Ronda The first place we visited was Ronda which is absolutely beautiful. It has a famous, historic bullring that you can visit and the vist...

As promised, here are some links to some old blog posts that I have recently updated with mostly photos of our adventures. When I first started this blog I didn't include a lot of visuals so though the stories pretty much remain the same, I wanted to add our pictures in the mix as well. I hope you enjoy. Our visit to Lisbon, Portugal with friends Honeymoon cruise with stops in Athens and Olympia Then on to Venice and the Greek Isles Heading to Rome and Florence In case you missed it yesterday, our time in Vienna Spending Christmas in North America ( The U.S. and Canada ) Our time in the north of Spain ( San Sebastian, Pamplona and Bilbao ) My sister's visit to Seville and Cordoba Besides these I am going to make an effort to post on some other places that I have visited but that for some inexplicable reason never wrote about. There seem to be several and I am not sure why. It is fun to look at old pictures and see what I can remember about these visits. It i...

Lately I have been making an effort to go back through my older blog posts to update them and add photos, since this was not something I did from the very beginning. It has been fun to re-read these memories and then to find the right pictures to go with them. During this process I have come to realize that I have left out some places that I traveled in the past and though these experiences aren't exactly fresh in my memory, I would at least like to record them now (with photos) so that in the future I at least have something written down. My first new/old addition is the second half of our visit to Eastern Europe, a trip during which we visited first Vienna and then Budapest. We made this trip in the spring of 2011 (over 2 years ago). Thankfully having a Facebook album dedicated to our vacation helps me to preserve a lot of memories. I already wrote about the Vienna part of our tour here . We visited there first and then spent some time in Budapest.  I really enjoyed our time...

Recently Jose, my parents and I visited our local county fair, in Fowlerville. This fair has everything you might expect to find: farm animals, greasy food, rickety rides, carnies and impossible-to-win carnival games. Plus they offer tractor pulls, concerts and a pageant.  We started with the animals since it is my mom´s favorite part of the fair. We arrived just in time for the pig races. Then we headed over to the barns to check out the horses, pigs, sheep, fowl, rabbits, etc. Stand-out animals included the creepily large bunnies (bigger certainly than our dog), the llama that looked a lot like my redheaded brother-in-law and the mini goats. I have decided I need one; they are adorable! Jose was not convinced. This was what this couple has dedicated their lives to after retirement. I think my parents could have racing cats. All mini animals are cute. That horse? Come on. Next it was time for lunch. Jose and I went with corn dogs (since he had never had one) and de...

José and I spent this last week staying with my sister in Grand Rapids where she lives with her husband and my niece. I have been before on a few occasions but never for a longer period of time. I really like Grand Rapids; there is a lot to do, see and eat. Downtown  It was super hot the whole week we were there so the first day we went to the beach in Grand Haven. Unplanned matchies Another day we went downtown and visited the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum. José and I are museum nerds so we enjoyed this more than other people might. I learned a lot about this Michigan native while chasing Daphne around. She successfully found each and every clock there was to see. We also ate at Charley´s Crab which is the restaurant that my brother-in-law manages. The food was amazing, go if you get a chance! We tried hard to avoid the heat so we also hung around the house in the a.c. José got back into playing some old school video games with my brother...

Jose and I  arrived in Michigan after basically 24 hours of travel about a week ago. Yay! We had no real issues with our flights besides one 2 hour delay (typical). We even sighted some famous people on our trip (like the president of the F.C. Sevilla and famous Latin American author Mario Vargas Llosa). My one big complaint was being on a nine hour flight and not having my own personal t.v. in the seat in front of me. I know that sounds really bratty but believe me, it makes that long trip over the ocean go by much faster. On this particular flight there was only one film shown and my sound didn't even work for that so it ended up being LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. Love lake life In the past week we have been inundated with family visits at the house on the lake. First my sisters and then my adorable niece who has been staying with my parents as well for the last few days. She is a completely different baby from the last time we saw her. Now she is walking and talking. Sh...

Counting on nice weather Jose and I leave tomorrow EARLY in the morning to begin our day-long journey from Sevilla to Michigan. We have connections in both Madrid and Chicago but this time it seems as if we have enough time between flights to 1)not get too bored in the airport and 2)not have to sprint across the airport trying to make it to our gate before they close the cabin doors (both of which have happened in the past). Today we have been packing and cleaning our apartment since it will be a while before we are back again. This summer we have decided to bring just one big suitcase between the two of us along with our standard carry-on items. Not only does this make traveling more comfortable but it also leaves us room for the inevitable things we buy at home (see crockpot, I really want one!). Luckily since we have international flights we get our one free checked back each but we have chosen to cut back since summer at the lake never requires all the clothing we have brought...

At least you both have jobs The overwhelming sentiment here in Spain when it comes to Jose and my work situation is that we should be very thankful that we are both working (and we are). Current unemployment statistics for the youth here is Spain is hovering around 56%. That is a really scary statistic which for us personally has translated into many friends looking rather unsuccessfully for jobs that just do not seem to exist. A lot of them are considering or are looking outside of the country for positions. People are constantly telling us how fortunate we are that as a young couple we are both employed and I understand that feeling but we should be the norm, not the exception to the rule . We are young, able bodied and well educated (just like most of our friends). We SHOULD be working and rather than feeling lucky about it, I sometimes get indignant about the whole situation. What has cracked here during this economic crisis that what was once considered ordinary and was expe...

U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A! Happy belated Fourth of July to all my fellow Americans both at home and abroad. Jose and I actually headed to the beach in Portugal to escape the heat in Sevilla for the last few days. But not before proudly hanging up the flag that my dad made sure was in my suitcase before I moved last spring.  Top floor balcony What about Cooper? Also, some people have been asking about what will happen with Cooper this summer when we are back in Michigan and though we looked in to bringing him on our flights with us, we have too many connections for me to be comfortable with this kind of situation. Instead we found him a great woman who runs a private doggie watching business. I am sure he will miss us and I am positive we will miss him so without further ado, here are some pictures for me to refer back to over the summer. (These are also for you, Andie): Big ears Enjoying some t.v. Does not want to share his slice of turkey Cr...

A little history This week my friend (from Michigan via Chicago) Jenna and her husband Mikael came to Seville for a visit while they were traveling through Italy and Spain. It was wonderful to see one of my oldest friends and be able to spend some real quality time together as it has been years since we coincided for more than a wedding or quick get-together. When we were explaining to our husbands how we had actually met and became friends we figured out though we began to go to school together in the sixth grade, we have known each other for several years longer via a mutual friend. It is wonderful to be able to catch up with someone who you share so much history with, someone you basically grew up with. We share a matching tattoo with two other friends, Kim and Claire Visiting Sevilla and Portugal Jenna and Mikael are really laidback travels and were fun to have as visitors. They let us plan our days together and we did some light sightseeing but mostly focused on taking ...