Costa Rica- Manuel Antonio

Last Thanksgiving, Hector and I decided that it was time to escape and go somewhere really cool! We decided on Costa Rica and it was amazing! I wish we had had more time to be there but maybe we can go back someday. There are three parts to this post. Part 1- Tortuguero is here and Part 2- La Fortuna is here.

We drove 4.5 hours from La Fortuna (where the volcano was) to Manuel Antonio which is on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. When we got there we saw animals all over- right in our hotel!

Costa Rica- La Fortuna

Last Thanksgiving, Hector and I decided that it was time to escape and go somewhere really cool! We decided on Costa Rica and it was amazing! I wish we had had more time to be there but maybe we can go back someday. There are three parts to this post. Part 1- Tortuguero is here and Part 3-Manuel Antonio is here.

Costa Rica- Tortuguero

Last Thanksgiving, Hector and I decided that it was time to escape and go somewhere really cool! We decided on Costa Rica and it was amazing! I wish we had had more time to be there but maybe we can go back someday. There are three parts to this post. Part 2- La Fortuna is here and Part 3-Manuel Antonio is here.

Turkish Food!

This post is going to be all about FOOD!!! yum. I realized as I was writing the post for Istanbul that I had so many things I wanted to share that it wouldn't fit in just one post so I'm writing a separate one for the food because it was just that yummy.

dried fruits in a spice shop

What You're Missing in Croatia: Part 1

Our last hurrah in Europe! Well, hopefully not forever, but for the time being. We had some time so we escaped for a week to do a tour of Croatia. We flew into Dubrovnik and rented a car to drive up the coast, and then flew out of Zagreb. This is only part 1, so be sure to keep an eye out for part 2 and part 3!

Our first view of Dubrovnik, on the way in from the airport.

It's Istanbul, Not Constantinople...

For our spring break this year, Hector and I decided to head off to the biggest city in Europe....can you guess which city that is? Actually I think I've already given it away, but it's Istanbul!

Eat, Drink, and Get Married- Twice!

It has been a really long time since I've actually written! I always think that during summer I'll write more, but it never happens. Oops.

But anyway, on to the real reason I'm writing: weddings!

Bachelorette-ing in Madrid!

So I'm pretty sure everyone that reads this already knows me, and knows the big news, but in case there's any readers out there who don't know me, I'm getting married!! The big day is in June (in Spain), and to prepare accordingly, last weekend my friends kidnapped me for a bachelorette party!

Giving Barcelona a Second Chance

This Semana Santa, or Holy Week (spring break) I decided I wanted to try Barcelona again. I've been before, two years ago, but it was a whirlwind fast trip as we passed through on our way to Italy. This time we had plans to stay for five days and I wanted to see EVERYTHING!!

What-uh? Couch Surfing Adventures in Florence and Pisa

This is the final segment of my 2012 spring break trip to Barcelona, Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice! We had two days to see both Florence and Pisa, which is no time at all. I would have liked just one more day.

Dear Rome, I miss you!

Today I have another reminiscing post for you! I've been dreaming of Rome lately, so I decided it was time to break out the pictures from when I actually went. It was so long ago I barely remember anything. I do remember the pizza though. This trip was part of a crazy spring break trip in 2012 where we went to Barcelona, Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Venice all in ten days! In the end I was able to check all those cities off the list, but I left so much behind that I wanted to see in every city, so I don't know if I would do another trip like that again.

Eskamelo- taking a hike with Eskimos and camels

Just kidding. Eskamelo has nothing to do with any of those things, that's just what the name makes me think of! It's actually a peak in the Sierra de Cantabria (Cantabria Mountains) which runs along the northern edge of La Rioja. Héctors dad gave us a book with a bunch of different hikes you can take in this mountain range, so we decided to do the Eskamelo one last weekend to take advantage of the spring weather while it lasted.

  A nice map of the peaks you can find in the Sierra de Cantabria. 

Eskamelo is the second from the left. (source)

Hiking, or trail blazing??

Spring has come to Spain! I'm not sure if it's going to last very long but for now, we have to take advantage of the sunshine as much as we can. Last weekend we went on a hike to celebrate the end of the rain! Unfortunately the air has been really hazy so the mountains were difficult to see, but it was refreshing to get out in the fresh air and shake the winter out of our muscles.

A town called "Bowls"

A traditional Spanish tazón, or bowl. We visited a town called Tazones. 

It's just one more of Asturias' creatively named towns. (source)

Birthdays and Bodegas

This weekend it was my friend Steph's birthday and so my friends who are spread out all over Spain reunited in Logroño for the weekend to celebrate. On Friday we went out to dinner and surprised her with cupcakes and trick candles!

Reminiscing about Paris

I've got a bit of a travel bug lately. I miss going somewhere new and discovering new foods and exploring back roads. But this year, I've decided to go visit my family, and I can't afford to explore new places and buy a plane ticket home! So, to try and tackle my travel bug, I'm going to write some posts reminiscing about trips I've taken that I haven't written about yet. So to start off this series, I'm going to tell you about my trip to Paris!

Prague in "Summer"

This summer my brother's girlfriend was doing a study abroad program in Prague. So of course, since she was in Europe, I had to go on a quick trip to visit her. My brother was visiting her also, so it was all four of us and we had a great time, even though we could only be there for a few days. Unfortunately, we hit a bit of bad weather-it rained almost the whole time! Even so, it was a great excuse to stay indoors and enjoy ridiculously cheap beer, and lots of meat and cabbage.

K and I enjoying some delicious beer! 

Let it Snow...

The cold is just now arriving to Spain. Up until a couple of days ago it has still felt like summer to me, but it is finally winter! We heard that it was going to snow up in the higher altitudes this weekend, so without hesitation we decided to head up to the mountains for some play time in the snow. And we weren't disappointed!

We started out in a very small town called Lumbreras headed towards another small town; Villoslada. We didn't make it quite that far though! 

Ghent, Brussels, Bruges and more food!!

Now that I have given you all of the information I possibly can on Antwerp--or I guess, detailed all the food that I ate--I'm going to do it for every other city we visited in Belgium! Yay!! Luckily Belgium is small and has a great train system, so it's fairly easy to travel around inside the country. We spent one day in each Ghent, Brussels, and Bruges.

Ghent

This was my favorite city behind Antwerp. It has a rich history but it's not over touristy like other cities in Belgium. (cough, cough, Bruges!) There is a little walk around the historical center which encompasses most of the scenic points.

To the end of the Earth and back

Back before Christopher Columbus set sail for the new world and proved that world was in fact round, people thought that the world was flat. They made pilgrimages out to the end of the earth, and when they arrived, they would burn all of their clothes to signify a new beginning. To this day pilgrims still struggle out to this spot to gaze over the sea in the same place where hundreds of pilgrims have stood for hundreds of years.

Last weekend, I went to the End of the Earth, or in Gallego, Fisterre, or in Spanish, Finisterre. (It comes from Latin: Finis-terrae) It's the westernmost cape in Galicia that was thought for hundreds of years to be the end of the Earth. (Galicia an autonomous community in Spain that is right above Portugal.)