As I'm sure all of you out there know, the reason we are living in Barcelona in the first place is because of Josh's job. Josh has been with Vistaprint for over 10 years now, not a small feat in a world where people are constantly job hopping. So the majority of his tenure with VP was in their Waltham and then Lexington, MA offices and then a year a half ago we were off to Barcelona!
One of the things that I love about this company is how well they take care of their employees. That's not to say their employees don't work hard - there is no doubt they do and there is no room for slackers there. But again, in this day and age where most companies don't feel the need to reward their employees for all their hard work, Vistaprint has risen to the top. Aside from their great regular benefits, they offer what they call a VistaBreak for every 5 years of service.
So what is VistaBreak? After 5 years of service, an employee earns a one month sabbatical to be used on top of their regular vacation time. The one month must be taken all at once in order to ensure the employee is actually taking a break. And from what I recall, it must be used within 18 months of eligibility or you lose it.
Vistaprint started to offer this benefit to employees after Josh had been with the company for about 6 years so his last break he took right after Liam was born. He's had his 2 weeks of paternity leave (another great benefit) that I like to call "boat leave" since that's when he decided we needed to have a boat, in May and then he took the month of August off so that we could spend time as a family. It wasn't the African safari he had hoped for but at the time with a 3 month old and a 3 year old, that wasn't happening!
So fast forward another 4 years and we're now at Josh's 2nd VistaBreak and here we are in Europe. Hmmmm... decisions decisions. We looked at the safari idea again but think we need to wait for the next VistaBreak as the kids still don't look old enough from what I read on the websites AND a lot of places advertised how they were malaria free...great... I think I'll stay away from all safaris for the time being with small kids. We talked about Australia, but it's winter there right now and the kids only have this kind of time off in the summer. And then we talked about some places we want to visit still in Europe.
Originally we were going to try to hit 3 countries in 3 weeks but decided after much debate and planning that it was going to be too chaotic since the majority of home/villa rentals are Sat to Sat which meant flying and driving to our destinations each Saturday. It's too much on us and too much on the kids to do that each week. We knew we wanted it to be relaxing.
In the end we decided to do a week and a half in Ireland and a week and a half in Greece. For Ireland we are planning to stay in a little town called Fanore on the west coast. Then after our week in our rental we'll head to Killarney a bit further south in the Ring of Kerry for a few nights before one last night in Dublin before leaving for Greece. We'll start Greece out the opposite with the hotels first and then our rental. So we'll stay in Athens for a few nights where we'll explore the city (hopefully without any riots) and do a day trip or two if we can to a close island. Then on Saturday we'll fly to Corfu (in the Ionian Islands, between Greece and Italy) and then take a ferry to Paxos where we'll stay for a week.
The trips are complete opposites as far as what we are expecting which is going to be part of the fun. Fanore is expected to be in the mid to upper 60s (please let it reach 70) while Paxos is expected to be in the 90s. We've got caves and cliffs and horses to explore in Ireland and white sand beaches with bright turquoise waters in Greece. It's going to be a great time and we can't wait! So watch for blog posts coming at you often in the next few weeks!!
Julie
Friday, July 29, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
A Trip to Cava "Town"
Last week Michelle and I went with a few of my BCN friends on a trip to Cava Town. Cava Town has been on my list of places to visit for oh... a year and a half or so but just hadn't gotten around to doing as of yet. The Penedes region of Spain produces about 95% of all Cava in Spain. Luckily for me, this region is only about a 45 minute train ride from Barcelona.
So what is Cava? I'd like to say that it's the Spanish version of Champagne but I found out on our trip that that is not necessarily true. Yes, it is very similar to champagne but there are ways that it is differentiated as well. First of all, according to Wikipedia, "The word cava means "cave" in both Catalan and Latin, and "cellar" in Spanish. Caves were used in the early days of cava production for the preservation or aging of wine. Catalan winemakers officially adopted the term in 1970 to distinguish their product from French champagne." The type of grape used, the land and the weather all differentiate the cava from champagne.
We started off at the Recaredo vineyard / plant for our tour with Alex (http://www.recaredo.es/#en/welcome). Alex, I think, was rather entertained by our little group (this vineyard does not normally give tours but will do so upon request) and spent about 3 hours with us, educating us on what makes them special compared to the larger cava producers and why it's ok to be on the smaller side and how they never compromise their product to satisfy the needs of the customer (for example, in various countries there are preferred tastes that many vineyards will change their wines to better accomodate) - they are incredibly proud of their product and it shows.
Recaredo has only 25 employees for the 300,000 bottles a year of cava (this is considered a lot) they produce. Unlike most cava producers, they use cork thru the entire process. They are not looking to become a huge producer like Freixenet (the largest cava producer) but want to produce a product that they are proud of and are unwilling to make any compromises to it in the process. A few things I learned aside from the cork is to look for the year (many champagnes and cavas do not have the year because they tend to mix years) and how long it has been aged. We tried 3 cavas and all were amazing and even better, all were organic.
Our second cava producer was Juve & Camps (http://www.juveycamps.com/ingles/index.htm). They had a very different approach from Recaredo. First off, while our tour guide was nice, he wasn't as entertaining or lively as Alex. We had a private tour like we did at Recaredo though. They are a much larger cava shop with over 3 million bottles produced each year and so while the process is still primarily by hand, they do things slightly differently than at Recaredo. They froze the bottle neck rather than by hand to remove the yeast at the end of the process - there is debate on how this affects the taste of the cava and honestly I don't know enough about it in order to give an opinion one way or another. They also used a plastic stopper rather than the cork - his defense was that the cork can let in oxygen which affects the taste of the cava - again I can't say one way or another. However, we tasted 3 cavas here as well and I'll tell you, I liked the Recaredo better but still, the Juve & Camps was good too.
So the next time you are in Barcelona, make sure to make a stop in Cava Town - I don't think a lot of people get here. It's not a touristy area because many will spend their time in Barcelona proper or in the coastal areas rather than inland at all. But it's worth it to learn more about these great cava producers and taste some amazing cavas!
Julie
Pretty building in Cava Town
All the posts that prevent cars from driving on the sidewalk are in the shape of corks.
We started off at the Recaredo vineyard / plant for our tour with Alex (http://www.recaredo.es/#en/welcome). Alex, I think, was rather entertained by our little group (this vineyard does not normally give tours but will do so upon request) and spent about 3 hours with us, educating us on what makes them special compared to the larger cava producers and why it's ok to be on the smaller side and how they never compromise their product to satisfy the needs of the customer (for example, in various countries there are preferred tastes that many vineyards will change their wines to better accomodate) - they are incredibly proud of their product and it shows.
Recaredo has only 25 employees for the 300,000 bottles a year of cava (this is considered a lot) they produce. Unlike most cava producers, they use cork thru the entire process. They are not looking to become a huge producer like Freixenet (the largest cava producer) but want to produce a product that they are proud of and are unwilling to make any compromises to it in the process. A few things I learned aside from the cork is to look for the year (many champagnes and cavas do not have the year because they tend to mix years) and how long it has been aged. We tried 3 cavas and all were amazing and even better, all were organic.
Our second cava producer was Juve & Camps (http://www.juveycamps.com/ingles/index.htm). They had a very different approach from Recaredo. First off, while our tour guide was nice, he wasn't as entertaining or lively as Alex. We had a private tour like we did at Recaredo though. They are a much larger cava shop with over 3 million bottles produced each year and so while the process is still primarily by hand, they do things slightly differently than at Recaredo. They froze the bottle neck rather than by hand to remove the yeast at the end of the process - there is debate on how this affects the taste of the cava and honestly I don't know enough about it in order to give an opinion one way or another. They also used a plastic stopper rather than the cork - his defense was that the cork can let in oxygen which affects the taste of the cava - again I can't say one way or another. However, we tasted 3 cavas here as well and I'll tell you, I liked the Recaredo better but still, the Juve & Camps was good too.
The machine to the back actually says "Cork o matic"
So the next time you are in Barcelona, make sure to make a stop in Cava Town - I don't think a lot of people get here. It's not a touristy area because many will spend their time in Barcelona proper or in the coastal areas rather than inland at all. But it's worth it to learn more about these great cava producers and taste some amazing cavas!
Julie
Monday, July 18, 2011
Can You Find the Americans?
I'd like to start off this entry by saying that I'm a proud American. What you are about to read is very tongue in cheek. There are many preconceived notions about how Europeans feel about Americans. In my time living in Europe, I have faced none of them (with the exception of this vacation!). However, the stereotypes exist and as we've traveled for the last week and a half, well, we can actually see why!!
Our Top 20 List of How Americans Stand out in Europe (in no particular order)
1. They drive on the pedestrian sidewalk - we did this in Rapallo, Italy looking for our apartment and wedged the car between two motorcycles and a rock wall.
2. Eating at 5 - Europeans eat much later than we do in the States (in Barcelona restaurants don't even OPEN til 8:30 at night) but we will admit to eating early a time or two while on vacation
3. Taking tacky tourist pictures like at the Tower of Pisa, check out Michelle's Godzilla picture in the Pisa entry.
4. Not being able to order straight from the menu - no special orders allowed
5. On that same note, splitting checks at a restaurant (hey they offered!)
6. Smuggling a pitcher of wine in a glass water bottle - well, the pitcher was half full and they wouldn't let us take it to go! (and perhaps Michelle was a teeny bit hungover)
7. Buying wine thru a bank drawer - a shady place in Nice, France
8. Kelly "Where do we get a good steak"...Night Manager at tacky hotel in Nice, France "Well, McDonalds of course!"...
9. Speaking loudly which includes also yelling at our children - why is it I never hear Europeans yell at their kids? Are they that well behaved?
10. Searching for and then ordering veggies on a menu - wasn't a common item on the menu in both Northern Italy or Southern France...weird
11. Tipping - we do it and they don't...trying to find a happy medium
12. Busting in at private beaches (even Haley asked what do we do if it's private and we said we'd bust in)
13. Not taking no for an answer at restaurants - it wasn't til after we finally had ordered that we realized that when they told us the restaurant was full, they didn't just mean outside and so when we plopped ourselves at a table inside they were just "slightly" annoyed with us...though it didn't bother us enough to leave.
14. Same restaurant - Not speaking other languages (and Spanish doesn't count) - owner asked if we spoke anything other than English and I offered up Spanish to which he waved his hand dismissively as though that doesn't count! All those lessons for nothing!!
15. When it came to our GPS, it doesn't matter that we booked it 4 months ago and that our confirmation page lists GUARANTEED. According to the woman at Sixt, guaranteed doesn't really mean guaranteed.
16. Parallel parking a minibus in a mini cooper sized spot (thank you Michelle for your "special" city saavy driving and parking...she also managed to get us towed).
17. Peeing in rosemary plants (Liam!!!)
18. Our kids have zero manners - why don't we ever see misbehaving European kids?
19. They seat us away from everyone else and yet we still get yelled at AND chide your kids!
20. Driving anything other than a 4 seater in Europe... as the locals told us as we tried to move between the rock wall and motorcycles "theeesss car is toooo biiiigggg" (while expanding his arms out wide).
Since the list is in no particular order and most definitely not complete (these were off to the top of our heads), please vote for your favorite and feel free to add your own displays of "American-ism".
Ah the joys of roadtripping in Europe with my fellow American friends (and children)...
Julie
Our Top 20 List of How Americans Stand out in Europe (in no particular order)
1. They drive on the pedestrian sidewalk - we did this in Rapallo, Italy looking for our apartment and wedged the car between two motorcycles and a rock wall.
2. Eating at 5 - Europeans eat much later than we do in the States (in Barcelona restaurants don't even OPEN til 8:30 at night) but we will admit to eating early a time or two while on vacation
3. Taking tacky tourist pictures like at the Tower of Pisa, check out Michelle's Godzilla picture in the Pisa entry.
4. Not being able to order straight from the menu - no special orders allowed
5. On that same note, splitting checks at a restaurant (hey they offered!)
6. Smuggling a pitcher of wine in a glass water bottle - well, the pitcher was half full and they wouldn't let us take it to go! (and perhaps Michelle was a teeny bit hungover)
7. Buying wine thru a bank drawer - a shady place in Nice, France
8. Kelly "Where do we get a good steak"...Night Manager at tacky hotel in Nice, France "Well, McDonalds of course!"...
9. Speaking loudly which includes also yelling at our children - why is it I never hear Europeans yell at their kids? Are they that well behaved?
10. Searching for and then ordering veggies on a menu - wasn't a common item on the menu in both Northern Italy or Southern France...weird
11. Tipping - we do it and they don't...trying to find a happy medium
12. Busting in at private beaches (even Haley asked what do we do if it's private and we said we'd bust in)
13. Not taking no for an answer at restaurants - it wasn't til after we finally had ordered that we realized that when they told us the restaurant was full, they didn't just mean outside and so when we plopped ourselves at a table inside they were just "slightly" annoyed with us...though it didn't bother us enough to leave.
14. Same restaurant - Not speaking other languages (and Spanish doesn't count) - owner asked if we spoke anything other than English and I offered up Spanish to which he waved his hand dismissively as though that doesn't count! All those lessons for nothing!!
15. When it came to our GPS, it doesn't matter that we booked it 4 months ago and that our confirmation page lists GUARANTEED. According to the woman at Sixt, guaranteed doesn't really mean guaranteed.
16. Parallel parking a minibus in a mini cooper sized spot (thank you Michelle for your "special" city saavy driving and parking...she also managed to get us towed).
17. Peeing in rosemary plants (Liam!!!)
18. Our kids have zero manners - why don't we ever see misbehaving European kids?
19. They seat us away from everyone else and yet we still get yelled at AND chide your kids!
20. Driving anything other than a 4 seater in Europe... as the locals told us as we tried to move between the rock wall and motorcycles "theeesss car is toooo biiiigggg" (while expanding his arms out wide).
Since the list is in no particular order and most definitely not complete (these were off to the top of our heads), please vote for your favorite and feel free to add your own displays of "American-ism".
Ah the joys of roadtripping in Europe with my fellow American friends (and children)...
Julie
One Last Beach Day - Cap d' Antibes, France
In an effort to keep cranky children at bay during sight seeing we've been using the beach as a lure to behave. It's worked overall and yesterday was no exception. Regardless of the fact that Kelly, Michelle and I really wanted to see Antibes, the kids really wanted to hit the beach one last time before heading further inland to Arles in Provence.
Antibes is just south of Nice on a little penisula in the French Riviera just about 20 kilometers from Nice. We had researched a few beaches but of course the GPS couldn't tell us how to get to any of them. So we just followed the signs for the beaches and continued driving and figured we'd turn around when we felt we'd seen enough or saw the beach we wanted to go to.
In typical fashion, we ended up blocking a bunch of traffic in our ginormous minivan at one of the beaches. A 50 point turn later we were back on our way to a public beach. The private ones were way too pricey in this area and really didn't offer much more than the public ones with the exception of the ability to rent a lounge chair and umbrella (to the tune of 18 euros each - by comparison, Barcelona is 6 euros).
We ended up on one of the public beaches and at first the kids were disappointed that these were not wavy beaches, but in the end they loved it. Because the waters were nice and calm it made for great exploring - the rocks, the sea life and of course, the beach itself. This was one of our first non-rocky beaches since we set out from Barcelona (we had one near Nice but we were only there about 45 mins which just wasn't time enough to truly enjoy).
The kids found a sea anenome (probably spelled that one wrong), a sea urchin and several fish. Aidan is a lover of the sea and all aquatic life and spent quite a bit of time snorkeling - again I can't wait to see how he does in Greece in a few weeks - I think he's going to love the snorkeling there! Liam did amazing with the water - he went in all the way up to his neck!! This from a kid who wouldn't leave the shoreline for the longest time, huge progress! Zach and Haley enjoyed exploring all the rocks and what was living inside the crevices between them - anything to climb is good in their book! And the adults got to relax for a while since the kids were occupied - that was great in and of itself.
By 4 it was time for us to move on as we still had a long drive ahead of us to Arles, France. We grabbed dinner at one of the only places open in the center of town (after all it was only 5). It was decent but the service took forever since there was only one waiter for all the tables. Finally we were on the road to Arles. It rained for the first time as we were driving and the temps dropped to 18C which was huge considering we'd been seeing temps 10 degrees warmer in Italy. But it was a nice reprieve for just a bit.
We got to Arles around 9ish and of course Conchita got us lost. We were on a tiny side street (this is becoming a bad habit!) and a woman approached us immediately. She must have known that we were American by our huge bus of a van going down a tiny little street. I showed her the paper with the name of the hotel. She told us, in French, where we needed to go. I was lost after the first left but was doing fine perpetrating like I know what she was saying til Michelle and Kelly started to laugh and then I burst out laughing. I'm sorry super nice French woman - you were only trying to help us and that was soooo rude of me!!
Finally we made it to our hotel and I remember seeing this place when I was here in October with Josh and the kids. It's a gorgeous little hotel tucked into beautiful little sidestreets right near the Arena and Roman Ruins. Today we'll do some exploring of all of those. Originally I was a little disappointed knowing we were going back to some place we'd already been when there is so much we haven't seen in France still but in the end I'm actually glad to be back. Not only is it familiar but of all the places we've seen this town was one of my favorites and I'm glad to get a chance to explore it even more, this time in the nice warm weather of the summer!!!
Julie
Antibes is just south of Nice on a little penisula in the French Riviera just about 20 kilometers from Nice. We had researched a few beaches but of course the GPS couldn't tell us how to get to any of them. So we just followed the signs for the beaches and continued driving and figured we'd turn around when we felt we'd seen enough or saw the beach we wanted to go to.
In typical fashion, we ended up blocking a bunch of traffic in our ginormous minivan at one of the beaches. A 50 point turn later we were back on our way to a public beach. The private ones were way too pricey in this area and really didn't offer much more than the public ones with the exception of the ability to rent a lounge chair and umbrella (to the tune of 18 euros each - by comparison, Barcelona is 6 euros).
We ended up on one of the public beaches and at first the kids were disappointed that these were not wavy beaches, but in the end they loved it. Because the waters were nice and calm it made for great exploring - the rocks, the sea life and of course, the beach itself. This was one of our first non-rocky beaches since we set out from Barcelona (we had one near Nice but we were only there about 45 mins which just wasn't time enough to truly enjoy).
The kids found a sea anenome (probably spelled that one wrong), a sea urchin and several fish. Aidan is a lover of the sea and all aquatic life and spent quite a bit of time snorkeling - again I can't wait to see how he does in Greece in a few weeks - I think he's going to love the snorkeling there! Liam did amazing with the water - he went in all the way up to his neck!! This from a kid who wouldn't leave the shoreline for the longest time, huge progress! Zach and Haley enjoyed exploring all the rocks and what was living inside the crevices between them - anything to climb is good in their book! And the adults got to relax for a while since the kids were occupied - that was great in and of itself.
Testing the waters
Liam is slowly becoming a little fishy
However his favorite thing is the fact that he can pee in the water - I know, it's becoming a habit!
Look how far he's venturing!
Aidan snorkeling
Zach found more crabs!
And Haley found this anenome!
Some of the many beautiful boats off the shore
One of the views from the beach
Liam exploring the rocks
Aidan running back in the water
Playing catch
These were just a few of the yachts that were off the shore
Sea urchin
Haley's sand castle
Liam's sand castle
Aidan's sand castle
Aidan laid down and Liam immediately followed suit... typical little brother!
By 4 it was time for us to move on as we still had a long drive ahead of us to Arles, France. We grabbed dinner at one of the only places open in the center of town (after all it was only 5). It was decent but the service took forever since there was only one waiter for all the tables. Finally we were on the road to Arles. It rained for the first time as we were driving and the temps dropped to 18C which was huge considering we'd been seeing temps 10 degrees warmer in Italy. But it was a nice reprieve for just a bit.
We got to Arles around 9ish and of course Conchita got us lost. We were on a tiny side street (this is becoming a bad habit!) and a woman approached us immediately. She must have known that we were American by our huge bus of a van going down a tiny little street. I showed her the paper with the name of the hotel. She told us, in French, where we needed to go. I was lost after the first left but was doing fine perpetrating like I know what she was saying til Michelle and Kelly started to laugh and then I burst out laughing. I'm sorry super nice French woman - you were only trying to help us and that was soooo rude of me!!
Finally we made it to our hotel and I remember seeing this place when I was here in October with Josh and the kids. It's a gorgeous little hotel tucked into beautiful little sidestreets right near the Arena and Roman Ruins. Today we'll do some exploring of all of those. Originally I was a little disappointed knowing we were going back to some place we'd already been when there is so much we haven't seen in France still but in the end I'm actually glad to be back. Not only is it familiar but of all the places we've seen this town was one of my favorites and I'm glad to get a chance to explore it even more, this time in the nice warm weather of the summer!!!
Julie
Sunday, July 17, 2011
It's Nice in Nice (France)...
On Saturday we left our apartment in Rapallo, Italy to make the journey back home to Barcelona. We had decided when planning the trip that we would stretch out our return over a few days (even though it's only a 9 hour drive). So on Saturday afternoon (after LOTS of traffic) we arrived in Nice, France in the French Riviera.
It sounds fancy to me to just say French Riviera. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be visiting some of these places - like Monaco last week or the Italian Riviera. I just finding it amazing and think we are so lucky to have this opportunity for travel. Aside from the fact that Josh working so hard has enabled us to fund all these trips, I'm lucky that my job is so flexible that I can take it anywhere with me. Though I will admit that keeping up with it has been a challenge with our schedule over the last week and a half.
Anyways, I digress... we got to Nice yesterday around lunchtime. At first when we entered the city we were like, no way, this cannot be it, it's a dump. But as we worked our way towards the port area where our hotel was, I can see why it's such a beautiful city (you just have to be in the "right" part of it). But it is a huge city!!
Our hotel was a bit of a disappointment but it was the cheapest we could get in the city near the water and it was just for a night so we managed. Interestingly our hotel tonight in Arles is 1000x better and not much more expensive. Just goes to show, city versus country.
We checked in and immediately hit the road looking for some food. It was after 3 and everyone was starving. Unfortunately most places were already closed for lunch and so we ended up at an Irish pub that had super fabulous food. Don't get me wrong, I am a major carb addict - Italy was a carb addicts wet dream. But after a week of pizza and pasta I was ready for something more hearty and since French food was out (since they were all closed), this was the next best choice. Since it was just a snack we asked the waiter for somewhere good for dinner. He recommended a restaurant by the name of Snug that he said was great.
So we wandered around the old city area and went up to see the panoramic views at the top of the hill which was stunning. The kids were less than thrilled to walk uphill but the adults won in the end (there was a small battle between myself and Aidan that wasn't pretty but we've moved on from it). Our original goal was to go to Snug to make a reservation for later on though once we saw it, it was yet another Irish bar so we said we'd play it by ear. You can't do Irish twice in one day when visiting France, right?
After walking along the promenade by the beach we meandered back to the hotel to freshen up before going in search of dinner. I almost fell asleep while waiting to go out. I think the lack of sleep is catching up with me! Michelle and Kelly asked the night desk person where we should go for dinner for a good steak. We're not sure but we think the answer "McDonalds" was a stab at us being American (see more on this later in our future entry - Find the Americans).
We walked thru the same area that we had gone thru in the afternoon which reminded me of the Gottica and Borne area in Barcelona - very windy narrow roads. Everything looked fantastic, albeit a bit touristy. In the end we realized that the restaurants that were off the beaten path that would be great for the adults, might not be so great for the kids.
So we ended up at Snug, yes, the Irish bar. Which interestingly enough was a gourmet Irish bar - seriously, the food was fantastic and everything is completely fresh each day and the menu changes daily. They have no microwave and no refridgerator. What was funny though is two people actually recommended the restaurant for their steak ...and yet, there was no steak on the menu. Ah well, it was fantastic.
We ended the night with crepes which I must admit were yummy but still not up to par with my Creps a Barcelona. But my sweet tooth was satisfied, I had the kids in bed by 11 and I was asleep before midnight, so I'm going to call it a very good day for all of us!
We left today to head to Arles, France so keep your eye posted for that trip!!
Julie
It sounds fancy to me to just say French Riviera. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be visiting some of these places - like Monaco last week or the Italian Riviera. I just finding it amazing and think we are so lucky to have this opportunity for travel. Aside from the fact that Josh working so hard has enabled us to fund all these trips, I'm lucky that my job is so flexible that I can take it anywhere with me. Though I will admit that keeping up with it has been a challenge with our schedule over the last week and a half.
Anyways, I digress... we got to Nice yesterday around lunchtime. At first when we entered the city we were like, no way, this cannot be it, it's a dump. But as we worked our way towards the port area where our hotel was, I can see why it's such a beautiful city (you just have to be in the "right" part of it). But it is a huge city!!
Our hotel was a bit of a disappointment but it was the cheapest we could get in the city near the water and it was just for a night so we managed. Interestingly our hotel tonight in Arles is 1000x better and not much more expensive. Just goes to show, city versus country.
We checked in and immediately hit the road looking for some food. It was after 3 and everyone was starving. Unfortunately most places were already closed for lunch and so we ended up at an Irish pub that had super fabulous food. Don't get me wrong, I am a major carb addict - Italy was a carb addicts wet dream. But after a week of pizza and pasta I was ready for something more hearty and since French food was out (since they were all closed), this was the next best choice. Since it was just a snack we asked the waiter for somewhere good for dinner. He recommended a restaurant by the name of Snug that he said was great.
A square by our hotel
Road off the square by our hotel :)
More of that same square (but hey it's pretty)
Statue with horses on it's head
Cool building, though I can't remember what it is
Castle we could see from where we had lunch - we walked up by it to get the most amazing views (see below)
Kelly and Michelle
Street we had lunch on
Liam and "Jake", yes named for our Jake
Me, Liam and Jake...
Liam "borrowed" my hat which is now his... he looks so damn cute!! I think he looks like he could take part in a barbershop quartet though!
Aidan had a paper heart from a wedding we saw - he broke it apart and told me that I did that to him... at least this time he said it with a smile on his face. Not sure if that makes it better though.
Cutie pie
Another nice building - don't know what it is though
More cool buildings
We went to a local toy shop and Aidan got a dragon and Liam got a fake knife that you can stab people with and the knife part goes into the hilt. He thinks this is the best toy EVER and has stabbed us all several times. Hopefully he is not a serial killer in the making...
Everyone getting along... finally!
Brothers
Not sure how we worked it out that they all matched...
View as we start walking up up up
Exhaused from all the stairs - I don't blame him
The initial view, but it gets better
Haley, Kelly and Zach
Me and my boys!
Liam "stabbing" Zach
Loving his ensemble today I have to say!
Now this is a view!!
Liam is throwing a tantrum as we take this picture...
Liam, me and Auntie Michelle
Me and my Liamey
And me and my Aidan...
Love their hats!
View as we go down
Just about street level...
After walking along the promenade by the beach we meandered back to the hotel to freshen up before going in search of dinner. I almost fell asleep while waiting to go out. I think the lack of sleep is catching up with me! Michelle and Kelly asked the night desk person where we should go for dinner for a good steak. We're not sure but we think the answer "McDonalds" was a stab at us being American (see more on this later in our future entry - Find the Americans).
We walked thru the same area that we had gone thru in the afternoon which reminded me of the Gottica and Borne area in Barcelona - very windy narrow roads. Everything looked fantastic, albeit a bit touristy. In the end we realized that the restaurants that were off the beaten path that would be great for the adults, might not be so great for the kids.
So we ended up at Snug, yes, the Irish bar. Which interestingly enough was a gourmet Irish bar - seriously, the food was fantastic and everything is completely fresh each day and the menu changes daily. They have no microwave and no refridgerator. What was funny though is two people actually recommended the restaurant for their steak ...and yet, there was no steak on the menu. Ah well, it was fantastic.
We ended the night with crepes which I must admit were yummy but still not up to par with my Creps a Barcelona. But my sweet tooth was satisfied, I had the kids in bed by 11 and I was asleep before midnight, so I'm going to call it a very good day for all of us!
We left today to head to Arles, France so keep your eye posted for that trip!!
Julie
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